B When the martyr heard these things, she lifted her eyes toward heaven, calling upon the help that comes from thence, and having fenced herself with the sign of the Cross, she said: "You are fickle in your manner, O proconsul, and your character is insidious and deceitful; but this crookedness of yours will clearly turn out to be of no profit to you. For you will not win me over by flattering, nor will you terrify me by threatening; nor, by counseling me, will you be able to make me change my mind, or soften the readiness that is in me to suffer for Christ’s sake. For I trust in the one and true God, and to Him I have entrusted the whole of my life. If, therefore, you will be persuaded by me, pity yourself for your deception. Advise yourself of better things; which is, not to attend to deaf idols, concerning which our prophet once said in the Spirit: 'Let the gods who have not made the heaven and the earth perish,' and: 'The gods of the gentiles are demons.' And again: 'The idols of the gentiles are silver and gold, the works of men’s hands. Let those who worship them become like them.'"
III. Since the judge heard these things, once again filled with anger, he commanded that the hair of her head be shaved off to the skin; and this was done, and a very great miracle followed it, for her head was again covered with hair. The judge, moved by greater anger, ordered hot coals to be placed upon her head, and then for vinegar to be poured onto it, thus providing for even sharper pains. Upon which the noble maiden said: "Lord Jesus Christ, the sure help of those who have placed their trust in Thee, who preserved Thy three holy children in the midst of the burning flame unharmed, do Thou also stand by me now and confirm me against the punishments being inflicted for Thee, lest it ever be possible for the enemies of the truth to say regarding me: 'Where is their God?'" And after this prayer, the martyr was released from her pains, and she was thus glorifying God with words of thanksgiving. At these words the proconsul again grew angry and ordered iron obelisks, heated in the fire, to be driven into the breasts of the martyr. So, when this cruel torture was applied to her, the flesh was being consumed by those iron obelisks, but the flame of her heart’s love for Christ was kindled all the more. Then, he also commanded lamps of fire
to be applied to her sides; but she, even as the lamps were being ignited, held all the more intensely to her prayers, and being released from the torture, was compelled to sacrifice to the gods.
IV. But since she was immutable in her confession both in heart and on her lips, the judge, who was just as unyielding in his wickedness as she was constant in her torments, orders a stone to be tied to her neck, and thus for her to be cast into the depths of the sea. A This having been done, "I give You thanks, O Lord," the martyr cried out, "that it has seemed good to You that I should pass through the sea water for the sake of Your blessed name, so that I may be found pure on the day of the resurrection; but show Your miracles in me, as You always have and do even now, through which Your great name may be glorified more and more for ever and ever. Amen."
She prayed thus, and her bonds were loosed, and the stone alone sank into the deep. But she (O the miracle!) stood with an unshaken foot upon the surface of the sea, and treading upon the waters as if on solid ground, she went toward the shore. B Meanwhile, seeing the proconsul waiting and appearing to expect to see what the end of the matter would be, whatever it might come to, she says: "Greetings, proconsul. Have you not yet understood the power of Christ who works in me? Or do you still persist in being blinded and in fighting against the truth? If, therefore, abandoning the darkness, you should run to the true light, you will procure salvation for yourself; but if you wish to persist still in your former ways, you will be the cause of many good things for me, but for your own soul you will be the agent of destruction." C
The accursed man, not bearing this outspokenness, and being struck with amazement at the miracle concerning her, was beside himself and was seized with speechlessness. But when, at length, he had with difficulty recovered, he still did not wish to understand. But he says: "The things that have taken place persuade me to think the power of the Galilean is great, but I will endeavor to prove that these things were rather brought about by sorcery." Thus he spoke, and immediately casting his eyes upon those standing by, he orders them to strip the blessed one at once, and to bind her arms behind her back, and to [bring her to the wheel... D
and heap a pile of coals beneath it, and indeed to turn the wheel A more frequently, so that by the gradual crushing of her limbs the martyr might depart this life in agony. The machinery was completed with haste. But again, the help from on high displayed its accustomed power, and an angel descending quenched the flame of the coals, and indeed relaxed the strength of the executioners, so that they could not turn the wheel at all.
V. The governor, therefore, being perplexed here, did not, however, lack the ability to devise other tortures. He orders, then, the nails of her hands and feet to be torn out. And they were immediately cut away; but to her, it was as if another were suffering the torture. And he himself, adding other things to the previous ones, commanded her teeth to be knocked out as well; but just as she did not tire of bearing the dreadful things, so he himself did not cease from finding further dreadful things. The wretch then devised a plan to insult her pure body, and turning to his ministers, "Take her," he said, "and bring her to one of the high and most central places, and let heralds going throughout the entire neighboring region summon a choir of the profligate to offer her abuse. After she has been sufficiently insulted and disgraced, bring her back to me, so that I may add the things that remain." But the martyr of Christ B answered him: "Christ is my [Lord], who transforms all things by his will alone and a nod of his mind; and he shall receive my soul immaculate today, having scattered and dispersed your counsels, O profane one." Having said these things, lifting her hands at once, and her mind and eyes toward heaven, she prayed to the God whom she desired. And when she had finished praying, she entrusted her spirit to him in peace, sacrificing both body and spirit in purity to him for whom she counted all things as nothing, judging it better to die than to sin even against her will.
VI. But what does the proconsul, wishing to nurture his immortal madness C even after her death, devise? He commands her body to be cast into a sack together with much sand, and to be thrown into the deep of the sea, not so much tormenting her as thereafter afflicting Christians, and wishing to deprive them of the wealth and glory of her relics. And thus, then, the order of the proconsul was carried out, and the body of the martyr was thrown into the waves. But not even then, Charitine, did God—who in his turn glorifies those who glorify him—forget you; but even then, as is his custom, he showed himself doing great wonders, and D
the sea held the corpse for three whole days, keeping it well and without any damage whatsoever; but, surely out of reverence for the body that had served the common Lord, it then yielded it kindly to the adjacent land. A certain man, named Claudius—gentle and moderate in his ways, who had raised the martyr from her earliest infancy—faithfully took it up, anointed it brilliantly, and having wrapped it, laid it to rest in a certain honorable place, having constructed a tomb for her on the spot, not as was fitting for her, but as the time allowed, and as the fear of those who held power at that time urged. Such was the end of Christ's martyr Charitine, on the fifth day of the month of October, in our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power for ever and ever, Amen. B
MARTYRIUM OF THE HOLY MARTYRS SERGIUS AND BACCHUS.
(Acta SS. Bolland., for the 7th day of October.)
C I. When the tyrant Maximian reigned, and almost the entire world lay in the deep darkness of impiety, and people were forced to worship stones and wood as gods, and—alas—to taste of most defiled sacrifices, Sergius and Bacchus, both Roman by race, shone forth at that time in the palace like brilliant stars through their confession of and faith in Christ. They were not ordinary or obscure men; rather, Sergius was primicerius of the schola of the Gentiliani, and Bacchus was the secundicerius of the same. They possessed great influence with the Emperor Maximian, but they had prepared for themselves even greater confidence with the
A immortal King and God, regarding this life as a tabernacle, a sojourn, an exile, or anything else of little worth. Being good merchants of their own salvation, they traded by means of the present life for the life that is to come; and, as if to acquire the art and discipline of possessing that life, they occupied themselves with the divine Scriptures and kept them always at hand. Because of this, envy could not endure these things; and since some were envious of the noble men for their other virtues and indeed for their influence with the Emperor himself, they accused these men to the Emperor—the source of that very influence. They claimed that the two men had disregarded his friendship and neglected the worship of the gods, and that they had now inclined toward another religion, declaring themselves Christians and servants of God.
B II. Maximian, however, even though he knew that for many people calumnies are often the cause of envy and not of truth, and was not unaware of the great goodwill these men felt toward him, and moreover kept in mind his own cruelty and severity (for he prided himself on excelling others in this above all), reasoned that if they had decided to hold in contempt the goodwill of the gods and his own friendship, they would surely have feared the danger. He considered the report to be implausible and false, and concluded that it was reasonable not to accept these things without an examination. What, then, does he do? Having prepared a splendid and magnificent sacrifice, and having commanded that all those who were distinguished and illustrious should gather in the temple and participate with him in the sacrifice, he resolved to examine the matter thereafter. C He himself entered first, and with him entered a great multitude, and all who were gathered in the temple. While the others were diligently performing the sacrifice and honoring the presence of Maximian, Sergius and Bacchus, those most noble of men, did not even approach the door of the temple, but stood somewhere outside. They were offering to God a purer and truer sacrifice, and praying for the others, saying, "Lord, Lord, God, King of all, hearken to the voice of our supplication; be propitious to Thine inheritance. Spare, O Lord, and do not deliver them to be a boast for the adversary; but enlighten, O Lord, enlighten the eyes of their hearts, and lead them to Thy knowledge—those who now walk in the darkness of ignorance and have changed D Thy glory, Who art the only God and alien to corruption, into the likeness of beasts, and quadrupeds, and serpents (Rom. I, 23), and have fallen away from Thee, and have sacrificed to their graven images, and have held Thy holy name in contempt. Convert them, O Lord, and may they know Thy wonders, and Thy only-begotten Son and our Savior, Who by His voluntary cross and death procured our salvation. Moreover, preserve us also blameless in the way of Thy testimonies and in the keeping of Thy commandments." Standing thus outside before the gates of the temple, they prayed such things, and in this way they placated God.
A III. Maximianus, however, having entered and looked round here and there, when he did not see just those men, Sergius and Bacchus, present within the temple with the others, then he resolved openly to test the accusation laid against them. Immediately his habitual harshness, ferocity, and anger were kindled; and, "What are you delaying for?" he said to those standing by, and frequently repeated it. "Drag the accursed ones out," he ordered with a terrible command. The blessed men are therefore led out in the same robes, tunics, and girdles, reciting with one voice that sweet prayer. B Then, rearing his imperial brow and looking at them in a haughty and savage manner, "You seem," he said, "to have abused my confidence at an inopportune time; and because of this kindness which we have shown you, you have judged us very foolish and have risen up against our authority; you have been shown to be impious toward the gods themselves, and ungrateful and unjust toward us. But unless you sacrifice and propitiate the gods and also us, I shall sufficiently avenge my grievance; and you shall immediately know clearly, since you were unwilling to enjoy such great benevolence and gentleness, what kind of anger you have just stirred up in me against yourselves." C When those noble men heard this, and understood that they now were clearly exposed to the emperor, and that they must no longer hide their piety and let the opportunity pass, but rather make it public as much as possible and bring to it great confidence and freedom of speech, with a free soul and tongue they confessed Christ to be the true God. They clearly denounced their gods as idols, the works of human hands, devoid of breath and deaf. "For your gods," they said, "are silver and gold, the works of human hands," and whatever words follow those, and added: "As for us, O Emperor, we owe you only this: that we serve you with a grateful spirit in this earthly military service, and that we fulfill the office assigned to each of us. But we will neither sacrifice to these deaf and inanimate gods, nor will we depart from our own and truly sole God, even if you should rage more fiercely, and even if you should show us no kindness, but should hand us over to the sword, to fire, and to other tortures. For what is stronger than piety, or what is more blessed than to suffer for it?" D IV. Moved more sharply by these words, Maximianus immediately orders that their badges of office be taken from them; but that they should be dressed in women's clothing, and with iron collars placed around their necks, they should be led through the middle of the city as far as the palace itself. The blessed men were then led down that path, truly blessed and leading to Christ Himself, not thinking the matter to be a disgrace, but rather, as if puting impiety itself to shame, they were openly rejoicing and content. Their feet were moving, but their lips were engaged in thanksgiving, and in communion and prayer with God. For they said: "Even if we should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil, for Thou art with us, O Lord."
A Therefore our soul shall exult in Thee, because Thou hast clothed us with the garment of salvation and wrapped us in the tunic of gladness. But arise, O Lord, to our help, and redeem us for Thy name's sake.
The prayer was not yet finished, and they were led forth before the emperor, who had returned from the temple to the palace. He, therefore, having tempered flattery with his customary cruelty, and desiring at the same time to soothe the shame by which they were, as it seemed, affected by the ignominy cast upon them, said: "It is grave, and very grave, O you who are present, to betray the greatest honors so lightly and inconsiderately. For benefits that fall fortuitously to the undeserving are wont to incite the foolish not so much to benevolence as to raise them to temerity against their benefactors. For these men, as you see, having attained great glory with us, and having obtained our friendship, and the greatest confidence, and the power of speaking with us, to such a degree that they not only themselves held the first rank in familiarity, but were also able to make others familiar with us, and to render men happy and objects of wonder in a short time—of all these things they have become forgetful, and finally, having despised even the greatest gods and Jove himself, who is believed to be the creator of all and the father of all gods and men, they have preferred him who is called Jesus, who is said to have been the son of a woman and a carpenter, and who was condemned by the Jews to the cross with two malefactors, and underwent a death that was truly most bitter. But I am entirely the cause of all this, who, while wishing to be kind beyond measure, made them friends and partners of my happiness."
V. When he had stretched this speech to such intensity, trying again to entice them with bland words, and looking kindly and in a friendly manner: "But if you are still," he said, "the same Sergius and Bacchus, and no envious demon has blinded your mind, respect the great authority, respect pure and unfalsified friendship, and do not be seen behaving so impiously toward the gods, introducing a new and unusual religion and differing from us in their worship, whereas you ought to conspire with us in friendship even unto death itself. For I, indeed, although I could use more severe punishments and, O friends, tyranny to do you violence (for I will still use the customary term), nevertheless, O gods, I revere friendship, and for that reason I delay the torments and willingly put off the violence."
VI. When the noble men had heard these things, skillfully, calmly, and clearly they said: "That we have not forgotten your friendship, nor have we been ungrateful for your benefits and honors; but that we love you, if any other, and esteem you lord, and you are everything to us, there is a clear proof in that we have served faithfully up to this point and have diligently sustained the state with you, nor in any matter, neither small nor great, have we been seen to be ungrateful, nor have we betrayed or neglected any of those things that are appropriate. We therefore,"
A deserve to be accused of no ingratitude or disregard of friendship, nor are we at variance with you out of hatred, most benevolent emperor. It is rather this vain error concerning idols that has separated us, and the fact that you are rushing toward a clear and manifest destruction, and compelling us to be dragged into the same danger. For as long as we were evaluated only with regard to worldly military service, we omitted nothing of what was necessary. You yourself will bear witness to us that we were never faulted for any sloth or negligence in those things at hand, but that we had a fervent zeal concerning them; and whatever we performed in the customary manner of Christians, we again rendered God as propitious to you as we were able. B Since, however, you contend to take away from us the very head of all good things—namely piety—and to deprive us of God, which is the ultimate loss and one that no pious soul could endure; and since you remind us of honors and benefits on account of this, how could we not rightly say that you are ignorant of what is good? For you compare these things to one another at all, and as it were grant us the choice of the better—namely, piety toward God—against human friendship and glory, which flows past like water. How then shall we hold communion with you in this, and not rather refuse both the friendship and the honor, and if there be anything else even greater? How, moreover, are you not more clearly convicted of the crime of ingratitude toward God, C who provided you with the very thing of your being and your breathing—He who, being without beginning and co-eternal with the One who begat Him, established the heavens and the earth by His word, fashioned man with His own hands, honored him with immortality, and set him as king over things on earth, assigning to him paradise, the most beautiful of all things, as if it were a kind of kingdom?
VII. Nevertheless, do not be angry with us, O emperor, if our speech makes for a somewhat longer narrative. For God was indeed, as I said, so munificent in conferring benefits upon man. But man, stolen away by envy and (woe is me!) miserably lured by pleasure, fell from all these things; and he who was once enviable was seen to be wretched and worthy of tears because of his calamity. D God, therefore, who fashioned and created us, seeing again with benevolent eyes the work of His own hands—not changing as God what He was—became for our sake, without sin, what we are. And having voluntarily undergone the cross and death, which from of old had been cast against our race as an enemy, and having rescued us from that bitter captivity, He kindly restored our former liberty; and from where we had fallen through disobedience, He led us back again through His benevolence. Him who had suffered such things for your sake, and had deemed you worthy of such things again (for as the loss was common to humans at first, so too is the liberty), this One you yourself despise and mock His cross; what excess of ingratitude do you leave behind? Know, therefore, that we will not be yours
nor will we deny our Benefactor and true God. As for the things proposed by you, O Emperor, whether they be good or difficult, and even if they bring death itself, these are all equally to be despised by us for the sake of Christ, and are worthy of no consideration.
B VIII. By these words, so opportunely and pleasantly spoken by the martyrs, Maximian was indeed moved, and he wished to punish the saints harshly. Yet, on the other hand, he hesitated and delayed the undertaking, fearing their brilliance and not wishing to cause the loss of such men. For he feared that if they were tortured, having spoken the truth freely in the midst of many, they would nonetheless remain completely unmoved. He decided, therefore, to send them to Antiochus, the Duke of the East, as he was the most cruel of all who were in his power, and one who could terrify them by his name alone; and because, out of a desire for greater honor, he, being careful to observe Maximian, would shrink from no contrivance to attack them and bring them over to his own opinion. C Furthermore, he hoped that the long and ignoble journey would relax such intense constancy, and gradually move them away from piety, and especially since Antiochus himself had previously been subject to them—the very person before whom they were to be brought, and by whom they were to be judged. For this touches most deeply the spirit of those who are born of honest rank: that those who once obeyed them should afterwards command them, and treat them as subjects, when not long before they had been their masters and benefactors. For Antiochus had obtained this ducal magistracy through the intercession of the admirable Sergius himself. But in truth, nothing seems so easy to wither away as a benefit planted in an ungrateful soul. For he not only appeared to have no memory of the benefit, as the following narrative will show, D but treated them as if he had been wronged by them in the highest degree, and inflicted upon them grave punishments. The saints were therefore sent to him, bound in a heavy chain. There was also written to him a letter from the Emperor, which held as follows:
"The greatest providence of the gods wills that all men, and especially the attendants and guards of my empire, be pious toward them and, in turn, obedient and grateful toward those whom they have judged worthy of authority. Therefore, because this Sergius and Bacchus have appeared impious toward the gods and have joined themselves to the religion of the Christians, and have been convicted of the crime of ingratitude toward me, and have already been judged by our tribunal and by our own examination as unworthy, we have sent them in very safe custody and in chains to your firmness. If, therefore, led by repentance, they sacrifice to the gods, let them be released from the chains imposed upon them, and let them be deemed worthy of honor and benevolence; for they will be recalled again by our power, and will receive their former honors, or even greater, and will henceforth be in a place and rank convenient to them. But if they adhere immovably to their former opinion, let them be subjected to the severity of the laws, and let them be deprived of their very essence and life by the sword, together with the others. Farewell."
A IX. Upon receiving such letters, the soldiers took the holy men and set out on their journey. Some of their servants, overcome by a similar zeal for piety and by benevolence toward their masters, followed them as well, wishing to serve God not only with their bodies but also with their souls. These servants heard the holy men talking to one another, saying that on the night they left the city of the Romans, a divine vision had appeared to them, bidding them to be confident and of good courage for the contest, and to enter upon that good journey for Christ’s sake more readily. Therefore, even though they were bound in iron chains, they walked along and sang joyfully and without sorrow: "In the way of thy testimonies I have delighted, as in all riches. I will meditate on thy justifications, and I will not forget thy law. In thy commandments will I meditate, and I will seek thy ways. We shall live, and shall keep thy words." Having thus accomplished that whole journey without fatigue, they arrived at a city called Barbalissos, near the region of the Limitanei. There, they were brought before the Duke Antiochus, who was residing in that place. They were cheerful and bright in countenance, and they displayed the nobility of their souls through their generous manners. Naturally, the eyes of all who stood around were fixed entirely upon the sight of them; nor did they easily wish to avert their gaze, but looked at them intently, and they were a pleasant spectacle to the theater of onlookers.
B X. When the Duke saw how they bore themselves, and then read the Emperor’s letter, he was silently amazed within himself and contemplated them again, thinking that it was something great and novel that they should have reached such a height of nobility and boldness as to despise penalties, threats, glory, and indeed the Emperor himself, and to value death as of the least account. Nevertheless, having summoned the officer of the guard, he said, "Take these prisoners and keep them for me under the securest guard, but see that they suffer nothing harsh or unwanted; for I shall behold them again for a second examination." These men, therefore, having been locked in the safety of the prison by the Duke’s command, when evening came, gave themselves over to prayer, saying, "Look down upon us, O Lord, from thy holy dwelling place; for the enemy has insulted us for thy sake, and an unwise people has provoked thy holy name. And do not deliver to men more savage than beasts the souls that confess thee; C but look upon thy covenant, and help us, O Lord, and redeem us for thy name's sake; for the pride of those who hate thee has become strong against us." And when the prayer had been finished, as they had turned briefly to sleep, an angel stood by them, in form resembling the sun, and emitting a bright radiance from his very vestment. "Take courage," he said to them, "servants of Christ, and be not afraid; but stand firm and stable D in the confession of our Lord Jesus Christ. For He himself is with you, your defender."
He indeed said these things; but when they had shaken off their sleep, they recounted that angelic vision to each other and to the servants who were with them. And their souls being filled with courage, they sang with joy again: "In my distress I cried to the Lord, and he heard me from his holy mountain. I laid me down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord will support me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who surround me. Arise, O Lord, deliver me, for salvation is yours, and your blessing is upon your people." A XI. Immediately, therefore, at early morning, the duke was sitting upon his exalted tribunal, and the whole military company stood by him. Having, therefore, summoned the holy ones from the prison, he ordered the letters to be read in their hearing. When this was done, he himself took up the speech and said, "It was proper, from the beginning, that you should have been persuaded by the command of the glorious emperor to sacrifice to the gods and not to provoke his humanity to anger. Since, however, I know not how it happened that you provoked him—and have fallen from such glory, and have cast away those deep riches—yet now, at least, be willing to obey us who counsel you in what is B profitable, and be willing to sacrifice to the gods. For thus you would obtain glory far greater than what you had before, and wealth, and the other good things in the presence of the emperor. And what is so terrible, if you were not able to perceive what was right before, whether by fortune or some other mishap, that now at least you should consider it and choose with care what is proper? For it is much lighter to sin through ignorance of what is good and beneficial than, having once recognized it, to persist in worse things and not turn toward the better. For the one is a sin of ignorance, but the other is of a willful and wicked mind, and of one who chooses evils of his own accord. As for me, I am genuinely kindled with regard to you, both C as I contemplate your other kindness, and indeed as I remember the good and the benefit I received from you, especially from you, my lord Sergius, through whom I even acquired this command. But I do not know what I am to do, with fortune having arranged matters in such a way that I myself sit as judge today, while you, as defendants, stand before my tribunal, about to render an account for your impiety toward the unconquered gods themselves and for your disobedience to the pious emperor." D XII. Thus, therefore, and with such alluring words, Antiochus held converse with the holy ones and spoke to them in a friendly manner, as it were, counseling them and suggesting what seemed to be good to them, in order to gain for himself the goodwill of the emperor. For he knew how great was his love for them, and how he valued above much else not losing such men—conjecturing this from many other things, and from the fact that he had not wished to subject them to any torture, but through this sole and ignominious sending of them back, he endeavored to turn them to the opposite course.
A Since indeed Maximian was most crafty and ingenious in devising such things, Antiochus, as we have said, first attempted to entice them with such flattering and seductive words; then he added that he might move them from their purpose and task with more fearsome things. "If you do not obey my exhortations," he said, "it will be absolutely necessary for me to do what has been commanded, and to treat you as enemies to your magnificent rank." B And thereafter he was long in enumerating the names of the tortures and in issuing threats. But the holy martyrs, neither softened by flattery nor dejected by threats, said, "O judge, for those who have chosen to gain Christ alone, and the life hidden with Him, there is no concern for these fleeting and perishing things—not for honor, not for glory, not for power, nor for anything else of those things that are able to soothe or to inflict pain. For we equally despise both your threats and your blandishments. Cease, therefore, you also, like a serpent, to counsel us toward evil. For we see the venom under your lips; and for this reason we turn away from your counsel as from a grievous trap. Do not therefore be deceived, wasting time in vain and clinging to empty hopes; for you will neither overcome us by punishing, nor persuade us by threatening, to abandon the living God and offer sacrifice to deaf and insensible demons. For to us, to live is Christ, and to die for Him is gain. But you, however, could not say anything similar about your own idols. For they are truly 'silver and gold, the work of men's hands,' which can profit nothing those who have placed their trust in them. Let those who honor them become like them, and all who trust in them."
XIII. C The duke, therefore, when he saw them speaking thus openly, and saw that they were endowed with such frankness and greatness of soul, and knew that he could never persuade them by words, proceeded to make the trial through torture; and he committed the blessed Sergius to a most secure guard, thus rewarding him for the benefit [he had supposedly] received. But as for Bacchus, he ordered him to be strongly stretched out by four men and cruelly beaten with ox-hide scourges. But it was possible to see a mind much stronger than nature, and a resolve higher than any physical force. D For parts of that most holy body were torn away by the lashes and scattered into the very air; rivers of blood flowed along the ground, and the entrails of the flesh were laid bare, revealing the shaping of its nature to those present. And the soul, even though it was altogether hastening to abandon the athlete, nevertheless endured and kept seeking further torments, so that it might obtain altogether more magnificent prizes. The angels rejoiced, seeing the supernatural constancy of the martyr. The demons were tormented, because the victory won over them was being led in triumph in the sight of all. The exhausted executioners lay on the ground; but the martyr, you would have truly said...
seeing him thus disposed, was not so much struck with lashes as A sprinkled with spring flowers. At last, called by heavenly voices to the blessed place of rest, he committed his soul into the hands of the Creator.
XIV. The iniquitous judge, however, exposed his martyred body to be devoured by beasts. Yet he was ignorant of what kind of care the God of those who love Him takes of them, He who knows how to change even the nature of wild beasts into gentleness, and through them to perform even greater miracles. For the beasts, revering the struggles that had been undertaken by him for the sake of piety, not only could not endure to touch any of his limbs at all, but, while he was being carried to the tomb by the Christians, they followed him, performing the office of attendants, and openly convicting the enemies of God of madness. Thus, then, the illustrious Bacchus, having attained what he desired, passes to the B heavenly dwellings.
XV. Sergius, his companion, being left behind, was torn between sorrow for the separation and joy for the things expected. But his sweet friend and intimate did not despise him as he bore the separation with difficulty; rather, the divine Bacchus, appearing to him by night with a joyful face and in his accustomed military garb, approached his friend, and having filled him with boldness, dispelled his sadness and the sickness of his soul, and rendered him more firm and courageous for the torments to follow. On the next day, the duke, again sitting on the tribunal and having had the blessed Sergius brought forward, the shifty man, casting off the lion’s skin, put on the skin of a fox. And having feigned a certain benevolence toward him, showing that he had obtained that magistracy from him in order to make his faith seem credible, he coaxed him with flatteries to sacrifice, wishing to repay his complete and total separation from Christ as a favor; the godless and senseless fool spoke to him gently: "I am ashamed, dearest Sergius, of that ancient happiness and the favors you bestowed upon me; I am ashamed of the gods, and I cannot bear to see you any longer as a criminal standing before our C tribunal, at which I am the least, if compared with your splendor, and it is through the help of your friendship and power that I have obtained my present magistracy." He was saying these things craftily, scheming only this: how he might entirely allure him with smooth words and fraudulently lead him to the same religion. But he said: "But if you wish, even now, to receive me as a benefactor in the greatest of goods, I will be ready and eager to serve you in this matter. For when I have freed you from this deep deception, I will lead you to the light of truth, and I will make you intimate with the immortal King."
XVI. The man who was habituated to destruction did not willingly hear what was being said; but immediately looking at Sergius more D gravely and severely: "Do not blaspheme," he said, "the immortal gods." The martyr, however, using his freedom of speech more keenly, did the complete opposite; he even reviled those gods of his, calling them names only, void of reality; and he showed those who adored and worshipped them to be endowed with far less sense than those deaf
A gods. Now, when the Duke saw that Sergius was superior to both flatteries and threats, and that he did not yield his freedom of speech in the slightest, he immediately cast off that feigned friendship and the mask he had evidently been wearing, and as one might expect, he said: "My great gentleness, and this ill-timed kindness of mine toward you, have lifted you up to arrogance, and have thus provoked both us ourselves and the great gods. But you will un-learn this pride, I know well, and you will take care of your insolence. You will realize that you are no longer a mediator for public affairs, nor do you have great power with the emperor, but that you are a condemned man and a prisoner, and subject to whatever other evil follows those who think this way." And straightway, the Duke, set out from the garrison of Sura to the city of Rosaphus, caused the athlete to be shod with sandals driven through with sharp iron nails; and mounting his own carriage, he forced the saint, who was thus afflicted in his feet, to run before him for about seventy stadia as far as Tetrapyrgia. B Now, as many as saw the blood flowing from his feet, it simply came into their minds to marvel and to be astonished at the athlete’s endurance. To him, however, the hopes of the things expected were drops of consolation which kept falling from heaven and lightening the weight of his pains, and he proceeded on his way without distress, and with joy he chanted these things: "With expectation I have expected the Lord, and he attended to me. And he heard my supplication; and he brought me out of the lake of misery, and from the mire of dregs, and he set my feet upon a rock and directed my steps."
XVII. When they had already reached Tetrapyrgia, C the prison received him, as the Duke had ordered; but the Duke was kept occupied by the cares of public business. Now when it was evening and the martyr had been left alone in the prison, he kept chanting: "They that ate my bread have magnified supplantation over me. And with ropes they stretched a snare for my feet, and they devised to supplant my steps. But you, Lord, Lord, go before them and supplant them, and deliver my soul from the ungodly, and my only-begotten soul from the hand of the dog." Wherefore He who was weaving crowns for him from above did not again overlook his soul as being without consolation; but He showed great providential care for him, and sent an angel to him in the middle of the night, who, having first pleasantly refreshed his soul, next also took care of his body, and healed his feet which were in a bad state from the wounds; and having conversed with him most amicably, D as if with a companion and fellow-citizen, and having embraced him, he made him much more eager for the struggle.
XVIII. In the morning, therefore, the Duke sitting on the tribunal, commands some of those standing by to take the blessed one from the prison (for he did not think it possible for him to use his feet on account of the wounds) and bring him to himself and the tribunal. But when they had approached the prison,
A the martyr was like an eagle renewed, not by the shedding of old age, but by the shedding of all his wounds. For he had no need of a hand to support him, nor of any help at all for walking; rather, he stepped lightly and moved with dignity, and was truly a trustworthy witness to the unconquerable and all-powerful strength of Christ.
When the dux saw him from afar in this state, he marveled silently to himself. But when he had arrived nearby, he called the matter sorcery, and swore by the gods, and called them as witnesses to what he was saying. "For what else is it," he said, "which granted him such confidence before the emperor previously, and which now has instantly quieted and dulled the sharp pains of his wounds, if not clear sorcery and words that are for the most part curiously and sophistically chanted?"
From this point he already began to despair of Sergius, and having placed the man as close as possible, in order to see if he might perhaps entice him through such intimacy, and becoming as mild as possible and returning to his former flattery, he said, "I consider it something divine and incredible, how you, having been reared in great luxury and wealth and other habits, have borne this most grievous torture so bravely." But the martyr immediately cut short his speech: "These present things are not a torture to me, O judge, but a holy procession and festival for the sake of Christ, most pleasurably escorting me to heaven itself."
The dux, therefore, despairing still more, sends the saint back to prison. And he himself spent the time in between with the enjoyments of the table and mirth, as one who wished to be a slave not only to anger and cruelty, but also to pleasure. B C
XIX. When he was about to set out on the road again, and was hastening towards the fortress of Rosapha, toward which he had been headed when he set out from Sura, he had the athlete again shod with the former sandals, and drove him from Tetrapyrgia as far as Rosapha. And when he saw the martyr struggling under the same necessity again, and exhibiting the same or even greater fortitude, and having traversed the road from Sura as far as Rosapha with those iron sandals without labor, despairing completely that he would ever change, he orders the blessed martyr's D head to be cut off with a sword.
The martyr is then led by those belonging to the ranks to the place of consummation. A great multitude of men and women of every age followed him, as if light were going before them in the darkness, all following so that they might see him struggling, and winning, and being crowned. But even wild beasts, as if they had fallen in love with the athlete, left their own lairs and escorted him mildly and gently, in a way approving of his blessed journey and commending it, while convicting the impious by their very deed, in that they, blinded, are killing him whom even wild beasts have revered.
And he, having asked the soldiers who were leading him for a short time for prayer, and having obtained it from them, immediately lifts up his whole soul_
along with his eyes. Then, having reminded Him of His own compassion, A he now called out for mercy even for those executioners, saying: "O Thou who didst create all things by goodness alone, who didst fashion man after Thine own image, and didst appoint him to rule over his fellow-servants; who didst not reject those who had transgressed Thy commandment, treated Thee as Lord with contempt, and appeared ungrateful toward their Benefactor, but rather didst Thyself become man for our sake, taking the form of a servant, and didst willingly endure all things, and didst not in the end refuse even death: do Thou now also forgive those who have sinned against us. And having broken through this thick cloud of impiety, and having delivered the wretched from the tyranny of the enemy, shine upon them with the divine light of Thy grace, and recall them in their wanderings by Thy great and marvelous name and by Thy truth. And as for us who are being slaughtered for Thy sake, O Lord, and who are offering up our own souls and bodies by our own choice as acceptable sacrifices, as a well-pleasing offering, receive us, and lead us rejoicing into Thy B altar which is above the heavens." He prayed these things, and a voice from there immediately called him; and having heard this gladly and with joy, he immediately and most readily offered his neck, and was beheaded with a martyr’s death, it being then the seventh day of the month of October, and he runs to the Lord who calls him, and gazes upon the crowns, and receives them, glorious upon his head. And some of those who had gathered to witness the consummation, having taken up that precious body with pious and yearning hands, and having performed those things which are customary for burial, laid it gloriously and honorably at the very place of his martyrdom.
C XX. When much time had elapsed, some of those who were more fervent in piety, having come from the fortress of Sura, attempted to steal away the martyr's relics. But he, whether not wishing to cause the city injury, or not bearing for a common treasure to become the private property of some, caused a great flame to be a sign of the theft; and fire, having been ignited from there, suddenly made the treachery public, and immediately revealed the loss. Those in Resapha, therefore, supposing the event to be an incursion of enemies, all armed themselves and suddenly stood at the martyr's tomb. And having learned what the matter was, they prevented the removal and would no longer suffer those from Sura to remain D at the place. Nevertheless, after many requests, they eventually and with difficulty allowed them to remain for a short while. They, not wishing their standing vigil to be in vain or without result, built a small temple over the tomb, and thus returned with joy, preferring to give rather than to receive, having satisfied their yearning for the athlete. And as the piety toward our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ gradually increased, fifteen bishops entered the city of Resapha and raised a magnificent temple to the saints, and having consecrated it, they deposited therein the divine relics of the martyrs, to the glory of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom belong honor, power, and majesty
magnificence, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
THE CONTEST OF SAINT DEMETRIUS THE MARTYR
AT THESSALONICA IN MACEDONIA
In the following volume, in the Supplement to the Metaphrast, there exist various Acts of the most celebrated martyr, collected by Cornelius Bieus in the Bollandist October for the 8th day. Among them is read the work of Symeon the Metaphrast which you see here; for the commentary prefixed to the Acts of St. Demetrius does not allow a part to be torn away from the whole.
LIFE AND CONDUCT OF OUR HOLY FATHER DIONYSIUS, BISHOP OF ATHENS, THE AREOPAGITE
A Formerly, indeed, the things of the faith were in types and riddles, and the light of truth was covered by the cloud of shade. But after the great mystery of our salvation was accomplished, and He who fashioned our hearts one by one, through the mercy of His own kindness toward us, was born sinless as we are, and underwent the other things that belong to human infirmity, that I might receive back my first nobility; and at last was condemned to the death of the cross: and that I may not speak of each thing (for the mysteries in the midst of His economy are many), His bodily converse received its end; but the spiritual one begins; and my Christ ascends into the heavens, and returns to the paternal throne; and the Spirit B who proceeds from Him He sends down to the disciples as a guide for the nations of the infidels. By whom the blessed Paul also was led by the hand from the shadow to the truth; then, indeed, he, being caught by the zeal for Christ, in the same manner as he was caught unto piety, he hastened to draw the world to himself, and to join it to Christ through faith. And that I may omit those things which were done by him at Amphipolis and in Thessaly, and in all the places in which his discourse, like some net, hunted many unto piety, I shall only mention those things which were done at Athens, through which also the truly great Dionysius was caught by the Apostle himself; who, having attained to a clear fatherland and clear parents, arrived at great glory. For they were just, if any of the Athenians were, C if not indeed alone, so that justice was a mark of distinction for them, fair to friends,
being gentle to strangers, benevolent to their own kin; goodness in them was not a display, which for the most part involves a certain hidden malice, but a clear offspring of the soul and a character of inward disposition. A When Paul arrived in Athens, and encountered the Epicureans, who were strengthening the dogmas of Pythagoras, he applied himself to the task of turning them away from the dogmas of impiety and moving them toward piety, and to overthrow the temples of the idols, and to persuade the Athenians that they were to rise on the last day of judgment, and give accounts of the things they had committed. But they, being more superstitious than others and divided into many opinions and beliefs, attempted to mock him, calling him a proclaimer of certain new and strange demons. But in order that he might not be attacked by them with mockery alone, but might also undergo some of the hardships by giving an account of the things preached by him, they apprehended him and led him to the Areopagus, which place was one of assembly and was still established as the court of Athens. For even if the Romans ruled over everyone at that time, they still left the Athenians and Lacedaemonians self-governing. It is said mythically, just as they themselves say, that the court received its name because Neptune sustained a case there against Mars, because he had killed his son Halirrothius. B Having brought him, therefore (since they were also high-minded on account of the height of the thrones and the supposedly vanity-emptied wisdom, and at the same time were sitting as hearers and judges of what was being said, among whom was Dionysius, who held the preeminent place in both rhetoric and judgment), they said to Paul: «What is this new doctrine spoken of by you, and these clever and sophisticated quibbles? And who is the God-man Jesus? And the Life-giver on the wood and the judge who is being examined? For you are bringing certain strange things into our ears. We wish therefore to know what these things might mean, and to what they lead.» And he, firstly praising and lauding their things, so that they would not be irritated by unusual and strange words (for as it is said, a submissive answer turns away wrath), «Men,» said he, «Athenians, C concerning the things you ask, I will explain later, if it seems good; but now I see you to be superstitious in all things. For passing through and examining your objects of worship, I found also an altar on which was inscribed: To the Unknown God. Whom therefore you worship in ignorance, him I proclaim to you; that you might perhaps feel after him and find him, and yet he is not far from each of you. For in him we live and move and have our being.» When they heard these things, and because the discourse was full of elegant thought, they were like those struck by the sound of thunder, and were held by speechlessness. But slowly and with difficulty, saying, «We will hear you the day after tomorrow,» they released him from the court. D Paul therefore goes out, not with empty hands, as the saying goes, but having taken with him him who followed him, the president and leader of the company of sophists—I mean this great Dionysius—and just like some Olympic victor or general, a trophy of his own tongue.
A For when the herald of the truth spoke about Jesus, he pondered the change in the heavenly bodies that he himself had observed at the time of the Passion, and, despising this human wisdom, he became a follower of the word of truth and joined himself to the Apostle. Perfected by the laver of regeneration, he became at once a disciple and a herald of Christ, who is the first teacher of truth. Having received his primary training and discipline in the faith from the blessed Hierotheus, he was instructed by him in both word and life, and was deemed worthy of the same communion of the Holy Spirit as he had. Placing ascents in his heart, he philosophized on the truth. He sought, along with the truth, concerning the soul, the body, and the nature of the things that must be done. He mortified all his members that were upon the earth, subjecting many laws of the flesh to the obedience of the Spirit. He taught his ears to listen to what is divine and what must be heard concerning God, but for things outside these, he set the fear of God as an inexorable doorkeeper. He turned his whole eye toward the contemplation of the truth. As for his tongue, even if it had previously not been practiced in the proper matters, it had nonetheless been trained philosophically, in the Attic style, and with much diligence. B And, O the miracle! In a short time he surpassed all who had come before him, not by stealing the authority nor by snatching it, but by passing through the lower grades. Having learned well how to be shepherded, he quickly became one of the shepherds, and later he shepherded with experience. Having learned to rule with moderation, he ruled even more moderately. And after having taught with truth and having gone through every good order, he was finally entrusted with the presidency of Athens, and takes his seat at the helm of the Church. He showed the nobility of his mind, warred on behalf of the flock, drove away the beasts, cared for those who were sick, and brought back those who had wandered away. To put it briefly, he became all things to all men, just as his teacher was. Having taught in this way, and having discoursed on the Trinity, he clearly handles the other powers. C And having attained such grace that, when the spirit of the Mother of God departed from the body that had contained God, he was present together with the apostles, who had come by spirit and cloud to her holy burial, he no longer thought it right to circumscribe such riches of grace in one city, namely Athens. But wishing to multiply the talent and follow in the footsteps of his master, he left Athens. Having suffered many grievous things by land and many by sea, and yet not being held back by them, but having surpassed all earthly things through the contemplation of the heavenly, he arrived at the royal city of Rome. He approached Clement, who at that time held the apostolic throne, and who had been taught by the great Peter, and to whom the throne had been entrusted by him. To him, therefore, Dionysius approached, and when he had set forth his own Gospel and that of the ministry D and of the heavenly virtues.
A he encouraged him also to depart for the western regions. Having therefore distributed others of the ministers following him to various villages and cities, and having urged them to preach the saving Gospel of God, he himself took along Rusticus and Eleutherius—the former honored with the chrism of the priesthood, and Eleutherius with the diaconate—as helpers, just as the great Apostle took along Silvanus and Timothy. And having reached the western Gauls, he performed the tasks of the apostolate not only with words of doctrine, but also with works of signs, appearing in the midst of those who assembled in each city and unceasingly stirring up words of piety, and leading the listeners to the knowledge of Him who created them. Thus, then, as the word of truth was being preached, and the divine faith was being strengthened, and all demonic deception was being uprooted from the earth, he sent one of those who accompanied him—I speak of the illustrious Lucian, who was also honored with the dignity of the presbyterate (for many of those who sought after virtue were attached to him; for, they say, like is drawn to like) B to the city of the Belvacensian island to preach piety. He himself, together with Rusticus and Eleutherius, having left Gaul, and having received a command from above, arrived at the city called Paris, that by sowing the word of truth in it with boldness, and by binding upon himself the crown of martyrdom, he might also appear with boldness before God, the Judge of the contest; which indeed was the greatest of his desires, and which my narrative will show as it proceeds.
Being, therefore, in this Paris, and finding the city full of unbelief—in beauty and size and quantity of those in it falling far short of great cities, but in impiety so far surpassing them all that none could even be compared to it, C surrounded on all sides by cruel inhabitants, and fortified, as it were, by a wall of their cruelty, which they offered as a guard—and furthermore, being a city fertile in the bounty of all fruits, and abounding in all things luxurious and superfluous, which even more spurred the citizens toward wickedness—having arrived in a city thus affected, he went about searching to see if he might find some place suitable for himself for quiet. And having found the temple he sought, as soon as he had the power—and being, as it were, a stranger and visitor in a foreign land, and having many who opposed him because of his divergent belief—he erected a house of prayer and a temple, a very sanctuary of souls. For having gathered in it a very great multitude of pious persons, and having set forth pure sacrificers to God, he made the temple, so to speak, a holy flock, of which he was a pastor not hired; calling back everyone who wandered in unbelief with the pipe of truth to faith, D and curing those who were sick with error with the saving medicines of the Scriptures, and those who were already contrite with the teaching...
A binding and leading to true health. But so that our discourse may proceed on a certain path, I shall also relate this admirable thing of his, as can be known from his letters. Dionysius had several ministers [therapeutae], and one of them was Demophilus, who was a citizen of the province of Athens, and a monk in habit and life; the pure and holy hands of Dionysius had imposed monasticism upon him, and this order and ministry was given to that man by Dionysius: that he should preside over the doors of the temple.
This Demophilus, then, having once seen his presbyter receive with compassion a certain impious man and sinner who had turned toward repentance, did not bear it lightly, but became exasperated; and existing within the adyta of the sanctuary—which it is by no means safe to enter, nor pious to touch—he makes the Holy of Holies a public mockery, and subjects that good and gentle priest to intolerable blows, and, striking him in the face, he resists, and kicks away one who was approaching with great reverence, calling him impious and a scoundrel, him whom he had decided to overlook in the ignorance of the people out of mercy. And he describes B to Dionysius the bishop and prince of pastors what had happened, as if he had done some great thing for virtue, and boasting up and down in that audacious letter that he had avenged not so much himself as God. What, then, did he [Dionysius] do? Was he perturbed in spirit, as the common crowd is wont to be? Or was he thought to have changed even in the slightest from that goodness which had become second nature to him? By no means; this cannot be said. For he did not avenge himself by action upon him who had sinned; but he instructed him with a saving deed and word, forming and composing him to all virtue and moderation, writing a letter and holding up Aaron, David, and others as examples of meekness. Of this letter, so as to omit his other exhortations to the good, I shall certainly mention the vision which he relates to him, as one that appeared to the holy Carpus. For it stands word for word as follows:
When I had once come to Crete, C Carpus received me into his hospitality—a man, if any other, most apt, by reason of the great purity of his mind, for perceiving God. For he would not begin the sacred rites of the mysteries unless first, during those prayers which are accustomed to be performed beforehand, a sacred and joyful vision had appeared to him. He was relating, therefore, that when he had been offended by someone who abhorred our faith and religion (the cause of the sorrow was that he had led someone away from the Church to an impious cult), at a time when festive things were even being done by him (a Christian through baptism), since it was necessary to pour out a kindly prayer to God for both, and to join God the Savior as a helper—to convert the one and to overcome the other with kindness, and not to cease to admonish them throughout the entire time of his life, even up to this very day, and thus at last to bring them to the knowledge of God, as if the things about which they formerly doubted had already been judged, and [they had been turned] from those things which they had inconsiderately dared, according to legitimate
A repentance they were compelled to come to their senses; yet, how it happened I know not, he was overcome with a great and bitter sorrow of soul, and resigned himself to rest, and indeed slept, though deeply troubled (for it was evening). But about the middle of the night (for he was accustomed at that time to stay awake by himself for divine hymns) he arose; yet he had not enjoyed his sleep, which was heavy and constantly interrupted, without perturbation. Standing for his divine prayers, he felt deeply aggrieved and indignant in an ungodly manner, saying that it was not just for impious men and those who pervert the straight ways of the Lord to live. While saying these things, he besought God to bring to an end the lives of both men at once, mercilessly, with some fiery blast.
Having said these things, he related that he seemed to see, all of a sudden, the house in which he was standing shaken as it had been before, and cleft in two down the middle from the roof, and a certain multifold pyre appearing before him—and this (for the place seemed henceforth to be under the open sky) B being brought down to him from the heavenly space. He saw the heaven itself opened, and upon the back of the heaven Jesus, with innumerable angels in human form and appearance standing by Him. And while these things were being observed from above, and he himself was marveling, Carpus said that he looked down and saw the earth itself rent open toward a gaping and dark abyss; and those men, whom he had cursed, standing before him at the mouth of the abyss, trembling and wretched, and as good as already falling in by reason of the instability of their own feet. From below, out of the abyss, snakes were creeping up, and winding about their feet, sometimes dragging them away, coiling around them at the same time and weighing them down and pulling them back; sometimes stinging or tickling them with their teeth or tails, and exerting every effort C to cast them into the gaping void. And there were also certain men in the midst, attacking those men alongside the snakes, shaking them at the same time, pushing them, and striking them down. And those men seemed to be on the point of falling, partly against their will, partly willingly, being little by little constrained and persuaded by evil.
Carpus said that he himself was pleased to look downward, but neglected those things that were above; he was annoyed and indignant that they had not already fallen, and he had often set himself to this task, but being unable to do so, he had become vexed and had pronounced curses. But having with difficulty looked up, he saw the heaven again, just as he had seen it before; and Jesus, moved to mercy by what was taking place, arose from the super-celestial throne, and descending to them, stretched out a kindly hand, and the angels who were helping Him took hold of the D two men, one from one side and one from another. And Jesus said to Carpus, while His hand was already outstretched: "Strike me now; for I am ready even to suffer again for the sake of men being saved, and this is pleasing to me, not that others of mankind should sin. But see if it is well for you to exchange the dwelling in the abyss and with the serpents for the dwelling with God and the good and mankind-loving angels."
A These are the things which I, having heard, believe to be true. Dionysius, therefore, was in all things so mild, merciful, and averse to anger, that the higher he rose in his deeds, the more he humbled himself in his disposition; becoming a rule for all toward virtue, and a lamp to lead unto that which is better. Wherefore He who is the sole author of all things did not allow him to be hidden under a bushel, but placed him on high through his virtue; and his fame, immediately spreading, was sung in the mouths of all, that in all things Dionysius surpassed everyone. Moreover, all were flowing to him, not only those of the common people and the marketplace, but also those who were learned and illustrious; for even those who were previously seized by madness, and were tearing at the Church more cruelly than beasts, upon coming to that man and hearing his admirable and divine tongue, softened the hardness of their hearts, and approached the true and prime B light through baptism; and by how much they had previously been more inflamed toward vice, by so much the more fervent they showed themselves in Christianity; and, in sum, there was nothing so much in the mouths of all as Dionysius. When, therefore, this fame thus spread abroad, and doctrine was being extended, and the faith was being confirmed more evidently, the matter was reported to Domitian—to the most savage Domitian, I say, or, to speak more properly, Damonian, who had spoken iniquity against God in pride and contempt, and had raised a hand inimical to God against the faith of the Christians. C What, then, does this man contrive? Or rather, what is he taught by his father, Satan? To despise all those who hold the sentiments of the Christians, but to remove Dionysius alone from the midst; knowing that if he should overcome him alone, he would be superior to all; but if not him, then all would be stronger than Domitian. And since he was considering these things, his anger incites him against the martyr, and seeking a remedy for his madness, he finds nothing else but his death. Having therefore gathered all those who were under his command, and having taken those who were similar to himself in madness, he sends them to seek the martyr, saying, “If, indeed, you can persuade him to change to our worship, this is what I desire; and having taken him with you, return. But if he still persists in his impious religion, condemn him to death.” D They, therefore, having heard this from the emperor and being kindled by the madness which dwelt within them, and wishing to seem energetic to him who had sent them, after they arrived in Gaul, rushed in like certain wild beasts; and having thrown the whole surrounding region into turmoil, they corrupted the simpler folk so that they might teach them and tell them where the blessed Dionysius was staying. But when they learned that he was staying in the city of the Parisians, they had not yet learned everything, and they descend upon the city. Then they inquire about the matters of the Christians, and find the doctrines of the faith scattered everywhere. They become more certain about the wonders of the martyr, how he had healed all those who were in any way suffering ill; and from thence the crowd of unbelievers flowed to him and joined itself to the true worship of God; and how all Germany, having previously been enslaved to many and grievous vices and deeds, nay, also to idolatrous
A rites, had withdrawn its neck from these and submitted it to the yoke of Christ through the teachings of Dionysius. When, therefore, these things and many others came to their knowledge, and they saw the flock of Christ increasing, and their own gods held in contempt, their mysteries scorned, and impiety brought to its knees, they were kindled the more, and they inquired where the author of these things might be residing. And suddenly rushing upon the blessed man, together with those who were with him—who had the divine teaching still upon his lips—they seized him and sat in judgment, breathing out something rabid and frenzied. The noble man then entered, together with Rusticus and Eleutherius, with a firm mind and a free soul, as if he were called to a feast, not to a struggle. B And indeed, so boldly and harshly, that they might terrify him at the very outset, they said to him: "Are you, O accursed head, the one who considers our gods as nothing, and who strives to remove our religion from the midst? Answer, then: what is your lineage, the land that bore you, and your profession?" But he, being made the more courageous by his love for Christ, said: "I indeed, O man, to omit my lineage and country for the present, confess that I am a servant of Christ, and that I worship him alone, and the Father who is without beginning, and His co-eternal Spirit. I have fled from your error; for I trust in my Christ, a most resolute destroyer, a most ready exhorter of Christians toward virtue. To these things, do what has been commanded you." But the malevolent ones, perceiving the saint’s steadfastness combined with prudence, changed their anger into flattery, and said, "Do not dishonor your honorable gray hairs, C O Dionysius, nor deliver your dear companions to a bitter death; obey those who counsel you rightly, and be persuaded to revere the power of the emperor, which beseeches you through us; be persuaded, dear and good Dionysius, to sacrifice to our gods, be persuaded; and you shall be first among those under the empire, together with your own." But he said, "You are deceived, and your error is no better than the former, if you think that you shall seduce me or any of mine. For know well that neither honors, nor dishonors, nor flatteries, nor torments, nor any other thing of all that is, shall separate us from Christ." Thereafter, since they were unable to persuade him, they ceased from their pretense and hypocrisy, and, boiling over with more D anger, they rose up from the judgment seat in a frenzied and deranged manner. "By you, O senseless ones," they said to Dionysius and those with him, "the gods are dishonored, and the emperor is mocked, and by magical contrivances, as if they were miracles, you plunder and appropriate those who are under their authority!" But the saints, with one voice, said to them: "May those who worship them become like them! As for us, we do not perform these things by magical contrivances, as you say, but by the invocation of our God and the operation of His life-giving Spirit, we provide sight to the blind, speech to the mute, the power of walking to the lame, and healing to the demon-possessed."
And your gods can provide nothing A of these things, seeing that they are wood and stone. For they have a mouth, and speak not; eyes, and see not; ears, and hear not. Only this one thing they do for you: they kindle the fire that never ends." Unable to gainsay these things, the tyrants looked upon them with bitter and insane intent, and drawing their swords, made ready for the slaughter. And when, as if by a signal, they had led them out of the city, they brought them up to a certain summit in chains, and handed them over to the executioners to be put to death. In the interval, the saints asked for time to pray, and knelt down. In that moment the holy martyr of Christ, Dionysius, raising his eyes to heaven, said: "Master God Almighty, only-begotten Son, and Holy Spirit, B O holy Trinity, without beginning and indivisible, receive the souls of thy servants in peace, for we are put to death for thy sake." And when the saints had cried out "Amen," he turned to the executioners and said, "Perform what you have been commanded." They then cut off the head first of the blessed Dionysius, and then of Rusticus and Eleutherius. But not even in this did He who suffered for thy sake, Dionysius, forget him who died for His sake; but He also displayed a miracle in the beheading. For when the martyr had received his own head as if it were a prize in his hands, he moved to a more remote spot. He carried his head, therefore, C as a kind of trophy in his hands, borne entirely by divine grace, and did not let it go until, meeting with a woman by a truly divine providence, he deposited it in her hands like some treasure. Now the venerable bodies of the holy martyrs lay neglected, exposed as food for beasts and birds, nor had they obtained the customary burial. The executioners, however, did not cease their wrath even at this point; but they raged even against the relics themselves, desiring to cast them into the depths of the sea, so that even though inanimate, they might not work miracles and thereby draw many to the knowledge of the truth. Which, as they thought, would have happened, had not God prevented this evil counsel from being carried into effect. For the woman who had received the precious head for God D (the woman's name was Catula), having perceived their plan, communicated a certain intention, well-pleasing and acceptable to God, to the faithful; and having prepared a splendid and lavish table, she received the executioners for a banquet. In the meantime, while they were feasting at the woman's house, some of the faithful took the precious remnants of the martyrs and hid them in a secret place. Then, when the banquet was over, when the executioners discovered the matter, they were greatly enraged; but gifts calmed the heat of their anger, and with money the woman dissolved their violent fury. When they had departed, the blessed Catula deposited the martyrdom relics in a certain building, on the third of the month of October, with miracles flowing in abundance, just as if from some fountain flowing beautifully and sweetly. Not much time pass
as the month of October is occurring. And of the miracles, which like a spring are flowing forth together and most sweetly, in abundance, not long after[wards], the Christians gathered together and raise a temple to the victors, and deposit their precious relics within it: to the glory of God the Father, and of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom belongs honor and adoration, now and always, and for ever and ever. Amen. A
THE LIFE OF ST. ANDRONICUS AND HIS SPOUSE
(As recorded by Surius on the 27th of February; it does not exist in Greek in the Parisian manuscripts; the Bollandist associates present the Life of St. Andronicus in Greek and Latin from the Menaia for the 9th of October.)
I. In the days of the Emperor Theodosius the Great, there was in the great city of Antioch a certain young silversmith named Andronicus. He took as his wife the daughter of a silversmith named John. Her name was Athanasia. For she was truly Athanasia, that is, immortal, both in her deeds and in her thoughts. Andronicus was very pious and full of good works. His wife was the same; and they were very wealthy. They lived their life as silversmiths, but they divided their assets into three parts: one part for the poor, another for the monks, and the third for their own estate and workshop. The whole city loved master Andronicus because of his modest nature.
II. Andronicus knew his wife; and when she had conceived, she bore a son, and they named him John. When she had conceived again in the womb, she bore a daughter, and named her Maria, and after this Andronicus no longer approached his wife. He began to devote himself to working diligently and willingly, alongside other God-loving silversmiths. On Sunday, and on the second and fourth days, and on the Day of Preparation (Friday), from evening until morning, Andronicus went to wash his brethren. Likewise, his wife also went diligently to wash the women. After twelve years had passed, on a certain morning, the lady Athanasia entered from that voluntary labor to see her children, and she found them sighing. Troubled, she went up to her bed and placed them both upon her breast. Then blessed Andronicus arrived and began to call out to his wife, because she was sleeping so much. But she said: "Do not be angry, my lord, for the children are in poor health." And when he touched them, he found they were gripped by a fever, and he said with a sigh: "The will of God be done." And he went outside the city to pray to Saint Julian. For his parents were buried there.
III. And when he saw the infants lying together in the bed, he entered his oratory, and cast himself before the Savior, and weeping said: "‘I came out naked from my mother’s womb, and naked also shall I return thither. The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; as it seemed good to the Lord, so it is done. Blessed be the name of the Lord, from this time forth and for evermore.’" But his wife sought to strangle herself, saying: "I will die with my children." The whole city gathered to carry out the boys, such that the patriarch was present there with all his clergy. They deposited them in the martyrium of Saint Julian, above their ancestors. The bishop then took blessed Andronicus and entered his dwelling. His wife, however, refused to go to her own house, but slept in the martyrium. In the middle of the night, the martyr appeared to her in the habit of a monk, saying to her: "Why do you not allow those who are here to rest?" She said: "My lord, do not be angry with me, for I am deeply afflicted. I had only two children, and today I buried both together." He said: "How old were your children?" She said to him: "One was twelve years old, the other ten." He said to her: "Why, then, do you weep for them? I wish you would weep for your own sins. For I say to you, woman, that just as the nature of man requires food, and it is impossible that it should not be given for the sake of eating, so also the children on that day are asking future blessings from Christ, saying: 'Just Judge, you have deprived us of earthly things, do not deprive us also of heavenly things.'" When she heard this, she was pricked in her heart, and she turned her mourning into joy, saying: "If, then, my children live in heaven, why do I weep?" And turning, she sought the abbot who had spoken to her, and when she had gone through the whole place, she did not find him. And she inquire-
inquired of the doorkeeper, saying: "Where is the abbot A who just entered here?" The doorkeeper says to her: "Do you see all the doors locked, and do you say: 'Where is the abbot who just entered here?'" The paramonarius instructed her, as he had known that she had seen a vision. She, however, seized with fear, asked to be allowed to go to her home. The doorkeeper received her and brought her into her home, and she told her husband what she had seen.
IV. Then the blessed Athanasia says to him: "Truly, my lord, I wanted to tell you even when our children were alive, but I was ashamed. Behold then, even after their death I say it to you. If you will listen to me, you will place me in a monastery, and I will weep for my sins." And he says to her: "Go, test your resolve for a week, and if you persevere in this purpose, we shall speak." When she had come again, she said the same thing. The blessed Andronicus then summons his father-in-law, and entrusts to him all his possessions, saying: "We are setting out for the holy places to pray. If, therefore, anything human happens to us, you will have these assets, so that you may do with them what seems right to you. I beg you, therefore, that you deal rightly with your soul, and from these things which are here, make a hospital and an inn for monks." And having set his servants free, he gave them legacies, and having received a small blessing B and two horses, he departed at night from the city, he and his wife alone. But blessed Athanasia saw her house from afar, and looking up to heaven said: "God, who said to Abraham and Sarah: *Go forth out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee*; do you now also lead us into your fear. For behold, we are leaving our house open for your name's sake: do not close the door of your kingdom before us." And they both went away weeping; and when they had arrived at the holy places, they worshipped; and when they had visited many Fathers, they came to Saint Menas of Alexandria, and they enjoyed the martyr.
V. Around the ninth hour, however, Andronicus looks and sees a monk contending with a layman and saying to him: "Why do you injure the abbot?" He, however, was saying to him: "Lord, I hired my beast for Scetis. But I say to him: 'Let us go now, so that we may walk the whole night, and tomorrow until the sixth hour, so that we may arrive before the heat of the day'; and he does not want for us to go now." Lord Andronicus says to him: "Do you have any other animal?" He says indeed: "Certainly." He said to him: "Go, lead it to me, and come, and I will take one animal, and the abbot one, since I also wish to go to Scetis." But Andronicus says to his wife: "Wait here at Saint Menas, until I go down to Scetis and receive a blessing from the Fathers, and return." His wife says to him: "Take me with you." C But he says to her: "A woman does not enter Scetis." She, however, says to him with weeping: "You will have me at Saint Menas, if you remain, and do not place me in a monastery." D When they had greeted one another and embraced, they were separated. He, however, went down to Scetis: and when he had worshipped the holy Fathers in the Laura, he heard about the abbot Daniel; and when he had approached him, not without great difficulty was he able to meet with him: and he explained everything to the elder. But the elder says to him: "Go, and bring your wife, and I will write letters for you, and you shall place her in the Thebaid in the monastery of the Tabennesiotes." Andronicus did as the elder had told him, and away, he brought her to the elder. He spoke to them the word of salvation: and having made the letters, he sent them to the monastery of the Tabennesiotes. Andronicus having returned, the elder gave him the habit, and taught him what pertains to the monastic state, and he remained with him for twelve years.
VI. After twelve years, however, he asked the elder that he might dismiss him to the holy places. He, however, having prayed well for him, dismissed him. But the abbot Andronicus, making his journey through Egypt, sat under a thorn-bush to refresh his soul from the heat. Behold, however, by the dispensation of God, his wife was coming in a male habit, and she too was going to the holy places. And when they had greeted one another, the dove recognized her spouse. He, however—how could he have recognized such beauty, which had withered, and which seemed like an Ethiopian? Therefore he says to her: "Where are you going, Lord Abbot?" He, however, says to her: "To the holy places." She, however, says to him: "I also wish to go there." She therefore says to him again: "If you wish, let us both go together. But as though we are not together, let us walk in silence." Andronicus says: "As you command." Then she says to him: "Are you not truly a disciple of the abbot Daniel?" He, however, says to her: "Certainly." She says: "The prayers of the elder will accompany us." Andronicus says: "Amen." When, however, they had once entered and worshipped at the holy places, they returned to Alexandria. The abbot Athanasius says to the abbot Andronicus: "Do you want us to remain together in the cell?" Andronicus says: "Certainly, as you command. I wish, however, first to go and receive the prayers of the elder." The abbot Athanasius says to him: "Go, and I shall wait for you at the Eighteenth milestone; and if you come, just as we made the journey, we shall remain in silence. But if you cannot bear it, do not come. For I shall wait for you at the Eighteenth milestone." He, however, having departed, greeted the elder, and reported to him about him. The elder says to him: "Go, and love silence, and remain with the brother, for he is a monk, as one ought to be." And when he had returned and found the abbot Athanasius, they remained together, fortified by the fear of God, for another twelve years: and the abbot Andronicus did not recognize that she was his spouse.
VII. Often, therefore, the elder would go up to visit them, discussing with them those things which pertained to their benefit. Once, however, when the elder had come up and had bidden them farewell, before he went to Saint Menas, the abbot Andronicus came to him, and says to him: "The abbot Athanasius is going to the Lord." Having returned, however
to the A senex, he found him much distressed, but still alive. From whom when they had received a blessing, the abbot Athanasius began to weep; and the old man says to him: "Since it behooves you to rejoice because you are departing to the Lord, do you weep?" The abbot Athanasius says to him: "I do not weep, except for abbot Andronicus. But do this act of charity: after you have buried me, finding the note placed at my head, read it, and give it to the abbot Andronicus himself." And when they had said prayers, he took Communion and fell asleep in the Lord. They came, however, to perform his funeral rites: and behold, he was found to be a woman in sex; and it was heard throughout the whole laura. And the old man, sending out, called together the whole of Scetis and the inner wilderness; and all the lauras of Alexandria came, and the whole city gathered, and the monks of Scetis, bearing legumes; for thus is the custom in Scetis. With branches, therefore, and palms they carried out the venerable relics of Athanasius, glorifying God, who granted such endurance to the woman. The old man, however, awaited the seventh day of the blessed Athanasius. Afterwards, the old man wished to take abbot Andronicus with him, but he could not sustain it, saying: "I shall die with my mistress." And when the old man had again B bidden him farewell, before he himself went to Saint Menas, a brother came to him, saying: "Abbot Andronicus is laboring hard and is reduced to distress." The old man, however, again sent into Scetis, saying: "Come hither, for abbot Andronicus follows after abbot Athanasius." But they, when they had heard, approached and found him.
VIII. A war arose, therefore, between the Fathers of the Eighteenth and the monks of Scetis, saying: "He is our brother, and we shall have him in Scetis, so that his prayers may bring us help." The Fathers of the Eighteenth, however, were saying: "We shall place him with his sister." The Scetiotes, therefore, insisted vehemently, and the archimandrite of the Eighteenth says: "Whatever the old man says, let us do." But abbot Daniel was saying that it was fitting for him to be buried there. They, however, were not listening to him, saying: "He is an old man, and no longer fears the war of the body. We, however, are younger, and we want the brother, so that his prayers may bring us help. It is enough for you that we have left you abbot Athanasius." When, however, the old man saw there was great perturbation, he says to his brethren: "If you do not listen to me, I also shall remain here C and be buried with my son." And then they were quiet, and they carried out brother Andronicus. They say, therefore, to the old man: "Let us go into Scetis." The old man says to them: "Allow me to perform the seventh day of the brother," and they did not allow him to remain. Thus did abbot Daniel trust in his disciple. Let us also pray that we may come to the measure of abbot Andronicus, through the prayers of all the saints of Christ, to whom be glory and power, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
THE MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY MARTYRS EULAMPIUS AND EULAMPIA
(In Latin in Surius, October 10th; in Greek from the Paris manuscript codex, no. 1480)D Α'. As the knowledge of God was now spreading throughout the whole world, and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who alone is our God, was strengthening and fortifying His own martyrs, while the wicked devil, who hates the good, was inciting his own servants to impiety, a certain youth, illustrious by birth, beautiful in appearance, and of noble lineage, known to be born of good and renowned parents...
possessing his native land of Nicomedia and adorned with works of piety, since he would not sit in the tabernacles of sinners, and deeming it unendurable to see the divine name of Christ so impudently mocked and ridiculed, departed from living in the city and embraced solitude. Having purified his inner man through abstinence in life and retreat, and having a soul entirely filled with zeal like the great Elias, he similarly left the solitude and descended to dwell in the city.
B II. But when he cast his eyes upon the imperial decrees which were posted above the gates, laughing greatly at such an endeavor, he was immediately apprehended by the impious, and was at once bound and cast into custody, like some prey to be brought before the judge. When what had occurred was reported to the ears of the magistrates, the judge ordered him to be led to the tribunal. And immediately looking at him who had been brought, and—since because of his tender age he had hoped to be able to overcome a most sturdy man—he said: What is this so-called madness of yours, which almost made me turn to severity, had not the very appearance that was seen persuaded me that the matter was not so? For it is entirely alien and incongruous that one of such noble form and possessing an open character of nobility should embark upon such audacious deeds. Behold, therefore, a multitude of gods is proposed to you, which through diverse operations and invocations plentifully secures veneration for itself; the temple itself is also open to you. Altars are seen sprinkled with the gore of blood, a public festival is celebrated, and everything suitable for sacrifice is prepared. You will therefore consult your own best interests, and do us a gratifying favor, if you venerate the gods and sacrifice to them. These were the words of the tyrant.
C III. But the martyr, altogether filled with the Holy Spirit, and having fortified himself with the sign of the cross as though with certain arms, replied: Vain, O president, are the things proposed by you. For piety is not to be measured by external things, which are not in the power of anyone, but which openly belong to a good resolve and are situated within our free will. And if indeed it is impossible (not to say that you do not wish it) for you to look toward the one and triune principle of all things, learn at least the God of the universe from the order of those things which were produced. But if you prefer a multitude of gods, through whom you lead the simpler ones down to the chasm of destruction, I, for my part, neither endure to hear what you say, nor do I bring myself to be delighted by such sacrifices, as one who is endowed with a soul partaking of reason and who is clearly hastening toward the heavenly world. But to God alone, D who is by nature invisible, I shall offer a sacrifice of praise, and I shall render my vows to him before all his people. Having said these things, the tyrant, laying aside his mask of kindness, orders the martyr to be stripped, and, being stretched out upon the ground, to be beaten severely.
A IV. After the martyr had resisted the torments generously and bravely, without having suffered even the slightest change, the judge redoubled the bitterness of the punishment and ordered him to be beaten cruelly with the finest cords. These, falling upon the martyr’s body like snowflakes, caused the wounded parts to feel great pain; but even so, the martyr was seen to have yielded nothing of his courage, nor to have relaxed his faith in our Lord. Thenceforth, successive kinds of torments broke over the martyr like waves. For the tyrant immediately turned to another invention of punishment, and, hanging the indomitable statue upon wood, consumed his flesh with tearings, and the pain entered even into the marrow and the bones themselves, and touched the vital parts of the body. The martyr, however, tempering the torture with prayer and calling upon the Giver of his prize for help, was deemed not so much to be suffering as, while another was suffering, to be a spectator himself. But when he had struggled enough against the lacerations, and the whole body lay torn and misshapen, the demons, as was expected, were stirred up, but God from above strengthened His own crowned athlete. Then the judge, seeing himself defeated, since he was able to persuade the sufferer neither by words, nor by blandishments, nor by any other devices, proceeded to such a torture that the mere hearing of it, falling upon the ears, can throw into confusion and confound mind and thought. B For he ordered the fingers of his feet and hands, bound with fine thongs, to be pulled violently backward, and, bending the martyr's limbs like a young shoot, he made the punishment thus unbearable. For as the elbows were shattered, the ankles crushed, and the legs broken, and as they were as if creaking from the violence of the tension, it happened that the athlete was nearly put to death, as the joints of all the limbs of his body were moved from their own seat and order; to such a degree that, because of the immense pain, even inanimate things were drawn to pity.
C V. But the tyrant, since he had not succeeded in persuading him by deeds, turned again to persuading him by words, cloaking his own impotence with the mask of a disputation. And first, as one who was superstitiously disposed towards his own religion, he tore apart the divine incarnation of the Word, and His sufferings, and the cross itself, and whatever are the signs of our salvation, regarding them as causes for scandal and offense. After these things, he brought forward also the fabric of the elements, as being sweet and lovely, and set before men for their enjoyment, and as something that not even one who were exceedingly blind would want to be deprived of the pleasure arising from it. The martyr, however (for he was full of true wisdom), retorted against the weakness of his gods and their effeminacy, their battles and seditions among one another, and their wallowing in bodily passions; and that none of those things which have been produced has its origin from itself nor is without beginning, but is at once referred to the first and efficient cause, D
and that he who leaves these behind passes over to the Creator of these things, exchanging the stream of things which flow and do not stand for a perpetual and stable dwelling, and for the ineffable and unending pleasure which is found there. A Stunned by these true words of the martyr, the tyrant, kindled to intolerable wrath and fury, proceeded entirely to every kind of torture, and immediately ordered an iron bed to be heated. When it had been heated, he ordered the martyr to be stretched out upon it. But he, having armed himself with the sign of the cross, was stretched out with his whole body. And immediately, as the flesh touched the ignited iron, it was consumed and dissolved, and changed into pus and ulcers and wounds. Indeed, some parts were turned to ash, offering to view the naked articulation of the bones. But he, B enduring the torments bravely, as if reclining on some soft bed, gave thanks in vocal prayers to Him for whose sake he was enduring these things.
VI. But when no satiety captured the martyr of the sufferings which he endured for Christ, but rather he was even more incited by his zeal for the faith, deeming it intolerable that the true God of all should be mocked, while the vanity of the idolatrous weakness was sung and magnified by those who held dominion at that time, he conceived a plan, noble and youthful, and worthy of his magnanimity. For by feigning in words that he assented to the idols, and by that means having deceived the tyrant, he arrived at the temple of the idols with a certain pomp and escort of many satellites, C to the pleasure of those who were allies of the impiety for the sudden change of the martyr, while others were entirely waiting to see what would happen. But the martyr, having greatly pitied the folly of those who were worshipping, approached one of the notable statues on his right hand, and having used only prayer and a word with the authority of command, immediately caused it to fall to the ground and crushed it into dust. The assembled people, having witnessed this and the weakness of the things worshipped, having simultaneously known and condemned it, immediately cast off their deception and, embracing piety, proclaimed the powerful and only God; D whom, while ignorant, they had formerly mocked. And the martyr becomes the cause of salvation to them, by whom, while they were previously foolish, he was thought to be a herald of folly, as if he were a fool.
VII. While these things were a source and occasion of anger for the governor, something else new occurred that disturbed him and incited him to an intolerable rage. For a young girl, who had just recently come out of the maiden chambers and, having emboldened herself to look upon the faces of men, had mingled herself with the crowd; and, having recognized the athlete as her brother, she advanced into the midst of the theater and, having embraced him, immediately began to recount the tokens of their lineage, that they knew the same parents, that they had come from the same womb, and that they had sucked the same breasts. Then she began to recall the affection of their parents, and
A their dwelling together and living together, and other such signs. And finally, she said that she wished to partake of the same faith and religion, and to share the same sufferings with her brother. These things filled the wretched tyrant with doubt, while they provoked the spectators of what was happening to piety. But he, being wicked, turned his thoughts to wicked things, and he imagined that she was adhering to the martyr because of bodily affection and habit, not because of a blood relationship and a desire for Christ. B Therefore, glaring at her bitterly and fiercely, he said, "What, O woman, does this pretense of yours mean, and how is it that you have changed your religion because of a mad passion for this present youth? But come to your senses, casting off this mist of passion that surrounds you, and appease the clemency of the invincible gods. For what is it that has so suddenly changed you, that you should depart from this most sweet light and from the things that are pleasant in life, only to cleave to a deceitful youth, and to stand before our tribunal with an impudent face, feigning a kinship and twisting the habit of your association into a bond of brotherhood? But you shall not mock our tribunal, nor shall you hold the emperors in derision. I call all the gods to witness, along with the kindness and clemency of our tribunal, that nothing more shall happen to you than to Eulampius, except that you shall be subjected to worse torments." C
VIII. To these things the martyr replied fittingly with a masculine spirit and boldness: "Hear, judge," she said, "and recognize what my aim and purpose are. I am a handmaid of Christ. Christ is my life and the exultation of my soul. I love Him; I am eager to be sacrificed to Him. For His sake, prepare fire, lead in beasts, make ready wheels, bare your swords, and devise every other torment, so that you may learn that I am not so ignoble and faint-hearted. No, by this struggle for piety, which I will fight and run even unto the end, I will present myself to every kind of punishment, so that you may know that I am his sister, and that I think the same things as my brother, who did not fear your torments and who destroyed the idols that you worship. Furthermore, I say to you again, do not, by looking to the weakness of the female sex, expect anything unworthy of our mind, nor think that the softness of my age can be easily deceived by your inventions. For He who raised us to His divine love, and armed us for the war to be waged against you and the devil, He Himself will provide the strength and will work a most glorious victory." D
IX. As the martyr said these things openly and with a free tongue against the tyrant, she received cruel blows to her cheeks, and her face was severely bruised. The grace of her features was changed, and the instrument of her voice was silenced by the continuous onset of the blows. Yet she had her brother confirming and inciting her, and making her bolder for the contests. She herself was also virile, as far as was possible, and was imbued with noble thoughts.
A But these things were in no way tolerable to the governor, who saw both the unalloyed freedom of speech and the unyielding endurance of the saints; whence again a newer invention of tortures, and again the ministers were inexorable. For a boiling cauldron was immediately prepared, that it might receive the martyrs: into which Eulampius indeed entered confidently; but Eulampia (for so she also was called), as if becoming faint—as being by nature more delicate, and because the evil one was prompting her heart toward fear—was wavering. But her brother, her fellow-combatant, emerging from below as if from some feast and rest, was calling to his sister and encouraging her, and urging her to enter the cauldron, saying: "Fear nothing, merely attending to what is seen, and not fixing the eyes of your soul upon God, in whom we have both believed in common, and from whom we find the greatest help. For if you but touch this boiling water, you will perceive much of the help from Him, of which I, your brother, am a witness, who am seen by you as unimpaired and feeling no pain."
X. B Persuaded by these words, and yielding entirely to his exhortations, Eulampia immediately and courageously entered the cauldron. Then, both rejoicing in the Spirit, they received the punishment with gladness, and the cauldron immediately appeared cold, and contained the martyrs suffering no harm. Nor did the miracle stop here, but it also led not a few of those who stood by to piety. Furthermore, it even shook the thoughts of the tyrant himself; and although it did not draw him purely to the true worship of God, it nevertheless caused him to doubt his own religion. Yet the Ethiopian was not made white, nor did the crab learn to walk straight. For since the athletes were winning, while the impious one was being defeated, and he was unable to tear them from one another or from their faith in Christ, he returned again to his accustomed practices. He is armed anew against the martyr alone, and orders C that the pupils of his eyes be gouged out—he who was blinding the eyes of his own heart—striving to torment him all the more, and contriving that by this the boldness of his sister might be broken. But in this also he was convicted of laboring in vain and for nothing against the servants of Christ.
XI. On the following day, he orders the martyr Eulampia to be hung aloft by her hair. Now this is a most grievous punishment, but it was considered sweeter than delights by the handmaid of Christ. Whence, even mingling prayers with it, she said: "I give thanks to you, my God and Creator, that you have deemed me, your handmaid, worthy to be adorned with the torments received for your sake." But since it was necessary for the athletes to pass through every manner of torture, even if what was brought against them was considered as the weapons of infants, the governor orders a furnace to be lit, in no way inferior to that Chaldean one, and material was brought to it that was intended to feed it as it was lit, with the lictors contributing all their zeal to this. When, however
the flame rose so high as to strike terror into those who beheld A it from afar, the judge ordered the martyrs to be brought forward and thrust into the middle of the furnace. The martyrs were therefore brought up: the divine Eulampius, because his eyes had been gouged out, was carried by certain men; but the noble Eulampia ran forward with great boldness, as though about to enter a bridal chamber, not a furnace. When they were delivered to the fire, the flame did them no harm at all, but immediately curved like an arch and, taking great care to keep away from their midst, enclosed the athletes as if in a most pleasant bridal chamber, and transformed the scorching intensity of its nature into a cooling breeze. And the martyrs, dancing as if in a dew-drenched and pleasant meadow, sang that recorded and divinely taught canticle of the children.
XII. At these things the tyrant again both felt doubt and was overcome and enfeebled by such a prodigy, and was reduced to extreme helplessness of counsel. Then, having abandoned all hope, he decreed the final and ultimate punishment for the athletes, to wit, that they should end their lives by the sword. Immediately, therefore, they were led off to death, being bound; and the martyr, having readily undergone his end by the sword, was taken up to the heavens carrying his crown. His sister and companion in the struggles was perfected even before the sword, becoming a martyr in intention; and it is not unreasonable that the wisdom of God ordained this, but rather that C impure hands might not touch a pure body, untouched by commixtures of the passions, and that the impious might be thwarted in their own hope, having failed to bring about that punishment by which they thought they would torment the martyr. These are the contests of the unconquered martyrs of Christ; this is the much-desired end of the renowned athletes. All the intellectual powers called these blessed, the patriarchs gave their blessing, apostoles and martyrs praised them, and, as equals in their labors and in their balanced confession, they received them as a sacred addition. But the Agonothete himself, and Lord, for whose sake they chose to suffer and whom they confessed martyricly before men, he himself, D I say, honored them before the Father with public proclamation, as he had promised, and made them partakers of his glory and kingdom. For to him is due all glory, honor, and power, greatness and majesty, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY MARTYRS PROBUS, TARACHUS, AND ANDRONICUS
A I. Diocletian, holding the Roman empire, a man who was addicted in a marvelous way to the error of the worship of demons, wished to force every Christian to abjure piety and the true religion, spreading this impious vanity by letters and edicts throughout the whole world. On this account, the spirit of many of the faithful was shaken; others, out of fear of the torments whose threats had been brandished, were hiding in deserts and mountains, unable to speak freely of piety, for everywhere snares and traps were being set for the pious. At that time, however, the most valiant soldiers of Christ, who were three in number, were divided only by race and by the difference of their fatherland, but were clearly known to be one in their love and faith toward God. For to Tarachus, the first of the martyrs, the city of Claudius Caesar was known as his home; to Probus, Pamphylia, which is situated toward the East; and to Andronicus, the third in age, the illustrious metropolis of the Ephesians. These men, considering even the mere association with the impious to be a denial of piety, cut themselves off from the common multitude, and in silence and by themselves cherished their longing for Christ. B Indeed, they did not think life itself worth living if they were not to be partakers of the sufferings of Christ for the sake of Christ. The goal of their prayer to God was that they might not miss the martyrdom, nor suffer the loss of Christ, whom they had chosen to hold above all things.
II. While these blessed athletes were C thus engaged, a certain governor named Maximus was sent by the emperor into those parts, a man who had proceeded to the extreme of superstition in the worship of demons, and whose cruelty was boasted of by the testimony of the common people. When he had come to the city of the Tarsians—for he had obtained the governorship of that place—he immediately sat down on a high tribunal for an examination, judging or
rather, preparing for a contest that was as difficult as possible. A great multitude of lictors stood by him, signifying by their nods and gestures that they were ready to obey him. A Since the martyrs had become clearly known to the demon-worshippers of that time for their piety, and had already been seized in shackles and prisons, those charged with their custody signaled their status to the judge. He forbade them from being brought forward together, but instead, by introducing them one by one, he conducted the interrogation, disposing himself toward this with a malicious intent and thinking that he would thus more easily overcome the unconquered.
And first, Tarachus, who was the elder, came into the midst. When he was asked what he was called, he confessed himself to be a Christian, saying to the unjust judge, as it were, "That which you pursue as a crime is for me an ornament and a proper name." But since you also contend to learn that which was given by my parents, I am called Tarachus. Being a soldier, I refused to serve in the military below, since our weapons, who are Christians, are not carnal, but powerful in God (as Paul says) for the destruction of the adversary. B Do, therefore, what you will; for I shall be for you, through the God who is in me, a stimulus and a disturbance. And do not remind me of old age and gray hairs, for I am young in the alacrity of my spirit; nor should you call that which is done inconsiderately and irrationally by your emperors a ancestral law. For one is our true Father, God, who also brought us into being. Your gods, however, since they are wood and stone, are abominations; such are the idols worshipped by your emperors.
III.
By these words he inflamed the anger of the judge, as if he were insulting the gods and the emperors; he immediately suffered an injury to his jaws, then he was beaten for many hours on his neck. This spectacle those who stood by could not bear to behold, and for this reason they undertook to admonish him to cease from his foolish speech, as it seemed to them. C To whom the martyr [replied] quite cleverly and appositely: "Having diligently practiced this 'foolish speech' for sixty whole years, shall I cast away in one hour what I have acquired over such a long time? Not so, through this contest which I undertake for piety, and through my confidence in Christ my true God; nor [would I change], even if another Maximus were to threaten us, who would be far more grave and harsh than this one." The lawless judge, not bearing the boldness of these martyr's words, ordered the athlete to be cruelly whipped with rods. And since after the blows he remained even more unshakable in his soul, he was encased in heavier iron chains than before and led off to prison.IV.
D Then he who was second in age was also brought to the tribunal. He, however, without delay and in a few words said everything, so as not to postpone his suffering. "I am called," he said, "by the divine and preeminent appellation, Christian; by my human one, Probus. I am a Thracian by birth, a private citizen, [and stand] against the emperors and yourA false religion, O judge, and rejecting your friendship, since it separates one from God. For I purchased at a great price the being a Christian, having despised all my possessions—which were not few—on account of the command of the Spirit." Having said this, and having been bound and stretched out, he received strokes from ox-hide whips, more numerous than falling snow. And as the ground was being drenched with blood, and those who stood around were struck with amazement and called out to him, "Look at this most terrible flow, and spare yourself," the martyr looked at them and said, "I consider this blood to be a wrestler's oil; therefore, I am even more eager for the contests." Then, having been beaten similarly upon his stomach, and having dyed the ground even more copiously with his blood, he said nothing else but, "Christ, help me." And when the governor said, "If he were helping you, he would surely have snatched you away from these tortures too," the righteous man replied with great wisdom: "I do not seek not to suffer, but to bear my sufferings bravely and steadfastly. For no one who is competing, if he is of sound mind, would ask to be removed from the contests by which he wins the crown and the rewards. It escapes you, therefore, O judge, that I have been heard, and that help has been given to me. For I despise your torments, not being conquered by those things through which you thought me to be defeated, and having gained a soul more robust from the bitter pains of the body." With this having ceased, and the judge having dismissed him, he ordered him to be bound in iron, to be taken to prison, and to be stretched out in the four holes of the stocks constructed for torture. B
V. After him, Andronicus was introduced, third; a young man in body, but in mind as mature and perfect as those who had fought before him. Therefore, he displayed the same steadfastness, the same boldness in speech, and the same words, calling himself a Christian and a servant of Christ. But when, after the interrogation, he was ordered not to play the fool, but to sacrifice, he answered the judge in a way both more novel and more truthful: "You would have rightly termed our contests folly, O Maximus, if they were frustrated of hope; but if one looks to the hope and the recompense which the saving Word promised, he will surely say with Paul, 'The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us' (Rom. VIII, 18)." And that man, being stung by this philosophy of the martyr, and wishing to prove his words [to be only words], found the very deeds themselves bearing witness to them and confirming them. For ordering him to be hung on the wood/stocks, he commanded that his shins be imprinted with iron; then, that his sides be pricked with certain very sharp goads, that they be rubbed with salt, and that his testicles be torn—attempting by this to make the athlete fail through the bitterness of the pains. But he said that the salt made his body firm and solid, so that it could be sufficient for the rest of the contests. Wherefore, C being again worn out, the punisher ordered him likewise to be kept in prison.
VI. And as this most approved trial of these three most valiant men...
having been received, he again brought them forth one by one, using the former order, to the tribunal. And again Tarachus, appearing with the greatest freedom of speech, most stoutly refuted the governor, the emperors, and their most feeble gods. Whence it is that his mouth is shattered with stones, and again he receives fire into his hands not with a small or dejected spirit. A Then, being suspended on high head-downwards, he receives the torment of smoke penetrating his nostrils in an agonizing way; and not only this, but also adding an accessory to this grievous trial, because a sharper mixture had been made from the combining of vinegar, salt, and very pungent seeds, they cruelly dripped that resultant mixture through his nostrils. But he, enduring this unendurable torment and reckoning the fire cool in comparison with the eternal fire, and deeming that bitter quality sweet, was thus again cast into prison bound in iron.
VII. The second after him, Probus, stands before the judge, mocking his ridiculous gods from those things which the Greeks relate in myths about them, and the emperors as those who equally commit and command nefarious things. B And not caring in the least, but being himself also struck on the mouth and, as it were, leaping and springing about in this torment, he is condemned to stand upon red-hot iron. But since this torment seemed to gladden rather than afflict the martyr, the judge orders the iron to be made hotter, and the athlete to be placed upon it as quickly as possible, assuming the fortitude of the martyr to be from the negligence of the attendants and not from divine help from above. The athlete called this cold, and mocked the judge's inventions as those of a fool. But he who was being mocked, C in turn furiously inflicts stripes upon his back, and orders his hair to be shorn, and hot coals of fire to be placed on his temples, and his tongue to be drawn out to be amputated. But the martyr, having previously said to the judge, "I have a tongue which cannot be cut out, and which is otherwise immortal, which God hears, who even said He hears the voice of the blood of Abel crying out," immediately held it forth. And when he had caused it to be cut, he sent him to prison.
VIII. But when he had turned to the divine Andronicus and had become convinced by experience that every kind of torment was D ineffective and fruitless against him, he turned to deception and said to him: "Act wisely in this matter, and sacrifice, before you suffer something most grievous for which there will be no remedy. For what advantage did your friends gain from their vain obstinacy, who finally, after many torments, were converted and learned what was profitable for them, and worshipped the gods?" But the martyr of Christ to these things said: "If indeed you have persuaded me, I believe that they too have been persuaded. But if I am not persuaded (for may it never be that I should ever depart from myself, or so go mad!), I hold my own judgment as a pledge of their constancy. For one is indeed the pious intention in all, since we are all one in Christ Jesus." Toward these things, again the
A tyrant, enraged with anger, threatened to cast him into new torments. And being immediately whipped vehemently with hardened sinews, and having become one entire wound over his whole body, the athlete laughed and said: "You have lied in your threats, O judge, being unable to devise anything newer, but you return again to the same and equal punishments." The judge, therefore, thinking to overwhelm the saint with greater pain, commands that much brine be poured into his wounds. But the martyr says to him: "Even if you command sharp salt to be sprinkled upon my wounds with evil intent, know that in doing so you do not inflict a sharper pain upon me, but rather render my body free from putrefaction. For you yourself also see that, although I am all wounded from the previous blows, I appear different now, bearing not even the slightest mark upon me, having been miraculously changed by the power of my Christ." B IX. Pierced by these words as if by a goad, the judge was fierce against his attendants and could not restrain himself. For he thought that physicians had secretly entered and had cared for the martyrs. But since they offered their own heads to be cut off if any such thing were detected, the judge, thinking their defense to be an accusation against himself, was grievously vexed, not enduring to see the power of the truth testified to by its very enemies. Wherefore, ending in threats (which is the only refuge left for those who are at a loss), he commands that he also be cast into prison, reserving the rest of the contest for the following day. What, then, followed? Another theater, most crowded with people, is gathered again, and sitting for the third time on a high tribunal, the judge led the martyrs to the torments, as if leading them in a dance in a circle. And having omitted nothing of what pertains to ignoble flattery or obscure craftiness, and having achieved nothing, he turned to a beastly and murderous manner; and in his individual torments, like some wild C beast, he gnawed the flesh of the saints—flaying the skin of Tarachus’s head and sprinkling it with burning coals, cutting off his ears with a razor, and mutilating his lips; and gouging out the eyes of Probus, and pouring into his mouth wine mixed with blood from the altars, and by this involuntary participation, he devised a most tyrannical punishment. And having cast into the mouth of the third [martyr] flesh polluted by abominable sacrifices, and forced him to taste the wine of the defiled libations, he finally commanded his eyes to be gouged out. And, applying glowing iron spits to all of them alike—upon their breasts, sides, shins, and between their fingers—and having burned them even to the bone, when he saw that all things were disproven, and that the engines of his punishments had failed, he mockingly reproached Probus and Andronicus alone with the taste of the sacrificed meats and the unholy libations. D X. Then Andronicus, laughing greatly at his madness, replied for himself and Probus: "After your many
inventions and all those various tortures, you cast aside your weapons and confess defeat. For if this had been of greater concern to you—not to struggle to overcome our free will and turn it to what seems right to you, but merely to force a sacrifice into our mouths against our will, and thereby appear to have won—you should have done this from the beginning, so as to be quickly finished with these matters. But since you sought to conquer our reasoning by B shifting it from piety to impiety, all your labor upon us has been spent in vain. For martyrdom is a contest of the soul by means of the tribulations of the body. We have been taught by our God not to fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul (Matth. x, 28); but if you think we have sinned in any way because some meat of sacrifice was cast into our mouths against our will, and you charge us with the crime of idolatry, then remove also the lips that have touched, however unwilling
A they were, and she checked her impulse and prostrated herself at the feet of the saints. Tarachus, having stretched out his holy hand and having seized her partly by the hair and partly by the ear, drew her toward himself; but she, having shaken off the touch gently like a sheep, ran to the door and fastened her teeth into the planks. And she struggled to go out, and did not release her hold until the people shouted that she should be let go outside. Let no one, when reading the epistle which the God-bearer Ignatius sent to the Romans, think that these things and those similar to them are not to be believed. For it holds in this way: "May the beasts that are prepared for me be beneficial to me, which I even pray to be found quick for me, and which I even coax to devour me quickly. And if they themselves are unwilling, I will force them."
B XII. From this point, Maximus, doubtful in his mind and plainly not knowing what he should do, when he saw the holy martyrs resplendent in all things and held in admiration, condemned them to death by the sword. And they, as if receiving some promised treasure, having accepted this final sentence, and having had their heads cut off, passed on as crown-bearers to the true life, about to enjoy the rewards of immortality and the beatitude that is there. But the envious and most wicked judge, begrudging us the relics of the saints, commanded that the bodies of the martyrs be mixed with the profane bodies of those slain by the gladiators, instructing a decury of soldiers to guard them. But the God of wonders, while the guards were feasting and had already lit a pyre, by the force of suddenly falling rains and a mighty earthquake, extinguished the pyre C and put the guards to flight. And when the bodies of the saints were mingled with the others and were unknown because of the darkness, a most luminous star shining from heaven onto the earth, and standing over each one of the bodies, provided light so that they might be recognized, perhaps imitating that star which, at the birth of Christ according to the flesh, summoned and led the Magi from Persia. These things were happening while certain of the faithful on the mountain, having bent their knees, were suppliantly begging the Lord that they not be deprived of the gift of the holy limbs, which had striven beyond measure for the sake of His glory. And they, having descended, took them up; and with great zeal, because of the fear of the governor, they hid them on the mountain in a hollow rock, glorifying the most holy name of Christ our God; for to Him is due all glory, with the Father who is without beginning, and with the Holy Spirit, now and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
LIFE OF SAINT ANDREAS IN CRISI. CONCERNING SAINT ANDREAS OF CRETE, CALLED IN CRISI
(Acta SS. Bolland. for the 20th of October, Vol. VIII. Brussels, 1853.)§ 1. The memory of the Saint in the calendars, his cult and acts. A St. Andreas, martyr of Constantinople, is celebrated greatly in the East; he is honored in almost all the Greek calendars which we have seen, provided they were written after his passion. Nor is he enrolled in the ecclesiastical calendars only among those nations that once used or now use the Greek language, but also among the Muscovites, the Ruthenians, and the Melchite Antiochenes. However, in the most ancient *Eclogadia* or Menologies, which are appended to codices of the New Testament and exhibit the simple names of the Saints with an indication of the lessons to be instituted on their feast day, St. Andreas in Crisi is announced on the very day on which he is reported in our Acts to have died, namely the 20th of October. Of this kind are the Menologies of Jerusalem and Constantinople written in the tenth century, as judged by Aug. Scholz, who saw to their publication; then another Menology of the eleventh century, which was published by Mingarelli and announces our Saint in exactly the same words as the two preceding ones: *On the same day, the holy martyr Andreas in Crisi*, the same day (October 20th) of the holy monk (for *hosios* designates a monk) and martyr Andreas in Crisi. B Ancient *Menæa*, which are preserved in the Ambrosian Library at Milan, and also in those at Turin and Paris, and from which the Antwerp Hagiographers long ago excerpted many *Synaxaria*, or compendia of Lives, likewise refer him to the same day, the 20th. Yet, since on that same day, October 20th, the memorial of another martyr was most celebrated among the Greeks—namely, Artemius the general—the feast of St. Andreas began to be transferred to the 19th, on which day he occurs in all the ancient exemplars of the Metaphrastic collection. This is manifest from very many codices of the Paris Library, from historical codex 17 and 18 of the Vienna Library, and from very many others, and finally from the *Synaxarista* of our Sirmond, which the Bollandist associates received to be transcribed long ago from the Clermont College in Paris.
C ...are mentioned, but a place in the aforementioned codices in Metaphrastes they do not obtain. Yet at what age the day of his cult was so changed is not well known to us; however, the Metaphrastic collections of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries kept the 19th day, and the 17th day first appears, so far as we have been able to ascertain, in a fifteenth-century codex which exists in the Paris Library and is signed no. 1558. In the Menology of Sirlet, which Basnage conjectures to have been wrongly written in the 11th or 12th century, since it is a mere compilation taken by Sirlet from printed or manuscript *Menæa*, sometimes with work sufficiently light—which seems to have escaped Baronius—in this Menology, I say, the 17th day is likewise assigned to St. Andreas. In the Greco-Muscovite Ephemerides, in the Capponian Tables, and in printed *Menæa*, our Saint is constantly referred to the 17th day, whence it also arrived at the Roman Martyrology on that day. D In the Capponian Tables, therefore, where St. Andreas appears last in the third part of the month of October in the habit of a monk, and likewise in the Papebrochian ones; for although he has the appearance of a stole hanging from his neck, we shall not for that reason say with Assemani that he is vested as a priest, since all monks and hermits come forth in such a way, indeed, as St. Andreas appears to be blessing with his right hand. These things can be distinctly seen in Papebroch, who saw that the images were diligently engraved on copper and prefaced some curious things about their origin and use; but the Capponian images are so negligently cut that hardly anything can be discerned in them. Yet let no one think that on this account they are to be preferred by us in all things, since Papebroch detected very many errors in his own Tables, where the Capponian [Tables] accurately present their own material. Once again St. Andreas appears in a Constantinopolitan diptych which Papebroch appended to his Ephemerides and also saw to be engraved on copper; there, however, since only forty of the more famous Saints of Constantinople are recounted, it is clear with what honor the Greeks treat that martyr. Furthermore, in the Ruthenian and Muscovite manuscript *Synaxaria* which Father David, S.J., in 1688 and the Count of Sparwenfeld in 1712 transmitted to the Hagiographers...
2. But this change did not endure, and St. Andreas was again transferred to the 17th of October, on which day the prophet Hosea and the holy Saints Cosmas and Damian...
A are likewise celebrated.
3. Here we should not overlook the explanations of Papebroch regarding the Diptychs in his Supplement to Gori’s Thesaurus, which are, to put it mildly, quite singular. For Passerius, who declares that he added the fourth part to this remarkable work, says that he had obtained an impression of the Constantinopolitan Diptych, but when seeking light from the Bollandist work, he asserts that he observed many names of Saints were omitted, others were scrambled, and that the Commentaries were written in no order at all, so that, falling not into light but into darkness, he himself had to straighten everything out. Yet of all these claims, not one is even close to the truth, nor did that writer correct anything or obtain an impression; rather, by attempting to reproduce the Papebrochian images, he admitted errors that are not light. For Papebroch testifies that, when the whole Diptych could not fit on a page, he had asked the artist to engrave the icons on copper with the order slightly changed; but the artist, not correctly understanding the request, deviated somewhat from the true arrangement of the Diptych; which, however, Papebroch, while illustrating the names of the Saints (which are presented much more clearly in his impression than in Gorius’s Supplement) with Commentaries, followed exactly. If, therefore, B that writer had possessed the impression, he would not have repeated the sculptor’s blunder, nor would he have excised the case of the Moschus Triptych—because it would not fit on the page again—as Papebroch did, nor finally would he have described the Bollandian likeness so accurately that not even the slightest difference can be detected. But Papebroch indicated that the order had been changed, and in the review of the icons of the prototype itself, the order was preserved; the other writer did neither, and because he wished to attach a short commentary to each name, where he did not have our Hagiographic work as a guide, he admitted very grave errors. Thus, he affirms that St. Stephan the Younger, a most well-known martyr, suffered not under Copronymus but under Leo the Isaurian, which Papebroch would certainly never have written. He seems to proceed in the same manner when he explains the Moschus Triptychs, but there is no time to investigate the matter more diligently. Let no one object here that the aforementioned grievances were published in the Venetian edition of the Bollandist work. For he cites the Antwerp edition first, and then in both editions the Commentaries are the same, which, if he dared to find fault with and change them without cause, he brought upon himself a punishment worthy of his arrogance in having allowed the most grave errors to fall from his pen. C
4. St. Andreas is celebrated not only on the aforementioned dates, but also on the 28th of November with St. Stephan the Younger. For Andreas, who appears in the sacred lists with this Stephan, is the same person whom I shall endeavor to show as our Cretan saint below in § 11. And here I will note only these few things. St. Stephan did indeed suffer on the 28th of November, but since he is the preeminent martyr of the Copronymian persecution, he often appears together on the days when other martyrs of that same persecution are announced. Thus, St. Stephan, St. Andreas, St. Peter, and St. Paul are frequently joined together as having suffered under Copronymus, although, as is clear from the acts of each, they did not proceed to martyrdom at the same time. In the Ambrosian or Milanese manuscript Menaia, these four holy martyrs are assigned to be celebrated together on the 20th of October; then in the Synaxarium at the Crisis of St. Andreas, a short history of his life and passion is appended. The same is to be seen in other manuscript Menaia, such as in a certain Mazarin codex which our predecessors often used. Now we offer the Milanese Synaxarium here in its entirety from the manuscript codex, since it differs not a little from that which is printed for the 17th of October in the common Menaia, and it marvelously agrees with our previous Acts, such that one may rightly conjecture it was derived from them. It is given, however, just as it is, with the errors and locutions of the lowest age of the Greeks retained throughout, concerning which, if one likes, some observations can be seen in the edition of Leo the Deacon by the distinguished Hase. D
On the 20th of October, of the holy, newly-appeared martyrs Stephan, Paul, Peter, and Andreas, who suffered under Copronymus.
This man was living in asceticism under Constantine the Caballinus, on the island of Crete. Hearing that the tyrant had punished the orthodox, he sailed to Constantinople to rebuke him, and finding him beyond at the palace of St. Mamas, punishing those who would not deny the holy icons, he said, "Are you a Christian, O king?" The king, turning to him in anger, ordered him to be seized. And they, dragging him by his hair, others tearing his tunic, and striking him from behind, dragged the saint, and he said to him, "Is this what you were taught, to dishonor a king?" He replied, "No one sins by rebuking a king who breaks the law." The king replied, "It is you who punish those who break the law, who approach and worship the icons as gods." He replied, "You are ignorant, O king, of what is relative veneration and what is worship." The king ordered him to be stretched and flayed with ox-hide scourges upon his back and chest; then he commanded that his mouth be struck with a stone. On the following day, having brought him out, as he did not persuade him to deny Christ and the holy icons, he had him struck again, and having tied ropes to his feet, ordered him to be dragged by the head and exhibited through Constantinople. They, having hurried across and dragging the saint, were dyeing the ground with his blood. And when they had reached the Forum of the Bous, someone who had just unloaded fish, seeing them, asked...
the cause of the torment; and having learned the truth, the wretch snatched a butcher's knife, wishing to please the servants of the devil, ran with speed, and cut off the right foot of the holy man, who in the meantime had surrendered his holy and blessed soul to the Lord. Those who were dragging him, seeing he was dead, cast him away as if he were a carcass in a dunghill place; but when night came, certain of the orthodox took him up and buried him in the place called that of the Crisis. A His Latin translation is as follows:
6. The 20th of October, the memory of the recent holy martyrs Stephanus, Paulus, Petrus, and Andreas, who suffered under Copronymus. — This (Andreas) lived in the island of Crete, addicted to the ascetic life; and when he heard that the tyrant was harassing the orthodox with torments, he sailed to Constantinople for the sake of rebuking him. He found him beyond the city (i.e., at the western part; see below, no. 30) at the Palace of St. Mamas, raging against those who were unwilling to abandon the cult of the sacred images. The Emperor, addressing him, said: "Are you then a Christian?" But he, having turned to him in anger, ordered him to be brought. Then some, snatching him by the hair, others tearing his tunic and striking him from behind, dragged the Saint along. B The tyrant said to him: "Have you been taught to treat the Emperor with such insults?" He replied: "No one does wrong by rebuking an emperor, so long as he flouts the laws." The tyrant said again: "We notice you to be rather the corrupters of laws, who, having fallen down before them as if they were gods, follow the images with adoration." He answered: "You know not, Emperor, what it is to pay relative worship, and what is latreutic." Then, when he was extended for the whips, he C ordered his back and chest to be cut with ox-hide thongs, and then his mouth to be bruised with stones; on the following day, having cast him out, inasmuch as he could not persuade him to abjure Christ and the holy images, he forced him to be whipped again, and with his head lowered to the ground and his feet bound, he ordered him to be dragged and exposed publicly in Constantinople to be mocked. Those who were dragging him with great speed dyed the ground with blood in the dragging. Thus, when they reached the Forum of the Bous, someone who had just unloaded fish, seeing them, inquired about the cause of the torture; and having learned the matter, the wretch snatched a butcher's knife, D wishing to please the servants of the devil, ran with speed and cut off the right foot of the Saint, who in the meantime had surrendered his holy and blessed soul to the Lord. Those who were dragging him, as they looked upon him as dead, threw him as if he were some carcass into foulest place; but when night came, certain of the orthodox took him up and buried him in a tomb in the place which is called Crisis.
7. In the printed Menæa, the same holy men are commemorated very often on different days because the editors employed various manuscripts. Papebrochius (15) assigns another cause for this thing, namely that the Greeks commemorate them frequently on the same or the following day; and because they are related also to other holy men who are celebrated together with a chief saint, and yet the former also obtain their own proper day. In the Menæa, therefore, the aforementioned four saints are assigned to the 20th of October, which is next to the day on which St. Andreas in Crisis suffered (namely the 21st, as is allowed), and they are celebrated with the following brief encomium: "On the same day, the memory of the holy newly-appeared martyrs Andreas, Stephanus, Paulus, and Petrus. Verses: Three, O Stephanus, you have as crown-wearers who struggled with you from one sword." To wit: On the same day (Oct. 21) the memory of the recent holy martyrs Andreas, Stephanus, Paulus, and Petrus. Verses: You have three co-crowned ones, O Stephanus, struggling with you strenuously by the same sword. Again, on the 22nd day of October, in one of the two Menologia which Scholzius edited (16), the holy martyrs Stephanus, Petrus, and Andreas appear, and on November 28th, again, St. Stephanus the Younger, martyr, alone; but in the other, St. Stephanus the Younger, monk and martyr, is commemorated once on October 26th. Likewise in the Laurentian codex of the 10th century: October 28, of St. Stephanus and those who suffered with him. Led by conjecture, as we shall explain in no. 23, we judge that this Stephanus was once commemorated who, having suffered many things under the same Copronymus, then ended his life holily as an exile in Sugdæa. For so say both the Menæa and the Menologia of Sirletus and the Basilian manuscript for the 28th of November. To this, then, according to the custom of the Greeks, were added the holy Petrus and Andreas, from which it also resulted that on the 28th of November, on which St. Stephanus the Younger suffered, the same two saints are again recollected both in the Menæa and in various Menologia (cf. no. 14).
8. Of the Acts which we subjoin, accept these. We produce a twofold version, both unpublished in Greek, the former also in Latin; we do this both because those that are later did not flow from them, but with a few things omitted, they add some things, and also because we have obtained their most perfect copy, that is to say, one collating five manuscripts, which we refer to in the margin. These are attributed to the Metaphrast, as Allatius flatly states, who in his diatribe about the Symeons produces their beginning (18): wherefore Pagi (19) did not see this place, who denies that those Acts were adjudicated to Symeon Metaphrastes. However, that the testimony of Allatius is valid in this matter, no one is ignorant; nevertheless, if there were need, we could prove the matter by many more arguments taken from the Acts themselves. The former Acts were transcribed from an old codex of the Parisian Library, which B. Montfaucon ascribes to the 9th century, and that they may be compared by perpetual comparison with those of the Metaphrast, we have marked both with the same numbers where the same things were narrated. As to the time, however, when they were written...
being unable to be defined A; for we find nothing except a chronological note of the least importance, from which it is certain that the writer lived a sufficiently long time after Copronymus. The passage which occurs toward the end of number 3 is this: "This man was indeed Constantine..." whom the faithful of that time (οἱ ἐν τοῖς τότε χρόνοις) deservedly maligned under the surname of Copronymus. But those former Acts are commended by this, that they minutely report the saint’s birthplace, the day of his passion, and many other circumstances, and although the holy martyr sometimes seems to speak in wordier terms, yet the same things almost always occur in other Acts, frequently expressed in the same or similar wording. In this matter, the numbers 7 and 10 especially may be compared. From the designation of the places, about which we discourse more fully below, and from those things which are written at the end of the Acts, as will also be said below, we judge that they were not written in Constantinople. We only know that the greatest part of the sacred codices of the Coislinian Library, as the lauded Montfaucon attests in his preface, proceeded from the monasteries of Mount Athos, and that the arm of St. Andrew of Crete, who is perhaps the same as our Saint, was once preserved there. Concerning which matter, see more under number 37.
9. It is sufficiently certain to us that Metaphrastes, whose Acts appear in the second place, did not see those former ones. For he himself, in his narrative, did not record the place of birth, nor the day of death—which we know he had diligently inquired into even from the Life of St. Theoctistes of Lesbos. Nor, moreover, was he accustomed to change much of the order or style while he was in possession of a sufficiently accurately written life; and since similar things are generally obvious in both writers, we assume that each derived his narrative from older, though now lost, Acts, having added those things which they could gather from elsewhere. Metaphrastes, however, seems to be of a later age from the fact that in his collections the Life of St. Andrew occupies the 19th of October, whereas our writer, where he reports that the Saint suffered on the 20th, mentions nothing about an altered feast day; but since that reason might seem light, we argue this otherwise, namely that the collections of Metaphrastes were so widely circulated immediately after their writing that they could not have escaped the former writer. Therefore, those things which are narrated by him concerning St. Andrew embracing the monastic life in Crete, and then concerning the miracles by which God glorified him in the city of Constantinople even in the time of Metaphrastes, as he himself testifies, the same former writer would not have omitted. These things being posited, since it is known that Metaphrastes flourished in the middle of the 10th century, from this it is permitted to deduce that the Acts which we edit in the first place are older than that age. B It is gathered that he was a very famous martyr from the 8th century by his many miracles. For Joseph the Hymnographer, who, from the Acts brought to light by Papebroch, is known to have flourished in that century, celebrates his miracles in ten different places in his Canon, which were being performed before the eyes of the saint’s tomb in Constantinople. Rightly, therefore, he is called Thaumaturge in the title of the Acts, and in the Kontakion, as they call the Greek Office, he is extolled by these words: Ἑορτάζει σήμερον ἡ βασιλεύουσα πόλις ἑορτὴν ὑπέρλαμπρον τῆς φωτοφόρου σου μνήμης, ἅπασαν προσκαλουμένη πόλιν καὶ χώραν· χαίρει γὰρ ὡς κεκτημένη θησαυρὸν μέγαν, τὸ πολύαθλόν σου σῶμα, Ἀνδρέα μάρτυς, ὀρθοδοξίας φωστήρ. That is: "Today the queen of cities (Constantinople) celebrates the illustrious feast of thy memory, calling together the whole city and region; for it rejoices as one possessing a great treasure, thy body glorified by struggles, holy martyr Andrew, light of orthodoxy." Here, however, we give notice in passing, if anyone should happen upon names taken from the Greek Liturgy here that are not sufficiently known to him, he will find the explanation of each individual one in the dissertation of Rye on the *Acoluthia* of the Greeks, which was published in our June volume; but that person will use them more easily who wishes to employ the final index appended at the bottom by Ghesquierre in the first October volume.
§ II. Seven Martyrs are confusingly presented in most calendars, they are distinguished from one another, and their Acts are briefly illustrated. A brief history and chronotaxis of the persecution of Constantine Copronymus is exhibited.
11. The seven saints, who all suffered various torments and death, with one exception, under Copronymus, we here append according to the series of months and days on which they are venerated, from which it will simultaneously appear in what place in our work they have been dealt with, or are to be dealt with in the future: 1. On the 17th of March, St. Paul, monk and martyr in Crete; — 16th of May, St. Peter the Calybite C and martyr in Blachernæ, near Constantinople; — 4th of June, St. John, Hegumen of Monagria, martyr in Constantinople; — 5th of July, St. Paul the New, martyr in Constantinople; — 20th of October, St. Andrew the monk of Crete, called "in Krisi," martyr in Constantinople; — 28th of October (?), St. Stephen who was relegated to Sugdaea; — 28th of November, St. Stephen the Younger, martyr in Constantinople. It is pleasing to discuss something about all of these, from which I hope some light will be shed on the Copronymian persecution. Regarding the first of these seven, namely St. Paul the martyr in Crete, our predecessors dealt with the day of March indicated, and there, from the Acts of St. Stephen the Younger, published in Latin by Lipomannus from Metaphrastes, they conclude, from an illustrious passage cited concerning St. Paul, that he suffered in Cyprus; truly, however, that he suffered in Crete itself is for us entirely manifest. For the Acts of this same Stephen the Younger are at hand, most accurately written by a certain Stephen the Deacon. Thus, while he was D
A narrating, we immediately perceive that either the name of Cyprus had mistakenly crept into the codex of Lipomannus, or that the interpreter himself is to be accused of negligence. Here is how these things are narrated in the older Life of St. Stephen: "And so there came forward Antony from the island of Crete, who spoke in these words concerning the victim sacrificed to God: 'How, venerable Fathers, shall I bring the struggles of the Abbot Paul—by which term people of that time generally designated not only the moderator of a monastery, or *hegoumenos*, but all the monks—before your sight? That noble man was seized by Theophanes, surnamed Lardotyros, the archisatrap of the island, and brought to the Praetorium of Heraclius to be interrogated,' etc." Therefore, while Antony mentions the archisatrap of the island, he does not speak of Cyprus—of which no mention is made in these Acts of St. Stephen—but of Crete, from which he hailed when he arrived at Constantinople. But since all the rest also flowed from these same older Acts of St. Stephen, and from the Metaphrastic version which Lipomannus exhibits in Latin, even if the name of Cyprus appeared somewhere, it should be rejected in favor of the more reliable Acts. However, it leaves no room for doubt that Constantine Porphyrogennetus reports in the first book of the *Thematics* that Cyprus, indeed, was occupied by the Saracens from the time of Heraclius until Basil the Macedonian, into whose power it returned after they had been driven out during the reign of Basil for seven years. From which it is manifest that Copronymus never ruled Cyprus, nor could it have been spoken of by that Antony from Crete, when he concluded his narrative, as a prefect of Cyprus. "Thus the wicked prefect—namely, that Theophanes Lardotyros of whom we spoke above—made the holy man a holocaust by fire, more wicked than the Emperor (himself, of course, Copronymus)." But it could certainly be said of Crete, which the same Porphyrogennetus affirms was not captured by the Saracens until the time of Michael Balbus.
12. The time of the martyrdom can be estimated by comparing it with the Acts of St. Stephen. He narrates that in the year of the world 6257, under the fourth indiction, Copronymus commanded all his subjects to take an oath not to show veneration to images; and in the following year, the fifth indiction, he sent prefects into the provinces, or *themata*, to perform there the same tragedies against the monks which he himself had performed in Constantinople. Furthermore, the monks who in the year 767 were detained with St. Stephen in the prison of the praetorium, recounted many things concerning the cruelty of the prefects in the provinces. Now, one day, as the holy man was sitting with other captive Fathers, a conversation began concerning the persecution which the Emperor's prefects were employing in various places. And so there came forward Antony from the island of Crete, etc. (cf. above, num. 11).
On the other hand, that fifth Constantinian indiction, during which new prefects were sent to the provinces, ran from September of the year 766 to September of the year 767, and furthermore it is certain that St. Stephen was crowned with martyrdom in this year 767, on the 28th of November. Therefore, the martyrdom of St. Paul in Crete, of which that Cretan Antony speaks, must have occurred under that very fifth indiction, before September of the year 767. But since St. Paul is commemorated in the Greek fasti on the 17th of March, B we shall pronounce, perhaps not without reason, that he suffered on this day, under the fifth indiction, consequently in the year 767.
13. St. Theosterictus, a monk of the monastery of Pelecete in Asia, situated on the Hellespont—not that he died on this day (for the Menaea call him a confessor and say he died in peace), but because Theosterictus begins his narrative of the martyrdom of the thirty-eight monks of his monastery in the same place in the Acts of St. Stephen, after the aforementioned Antony the Cretan. He says, therefore, that they were seized by the prefect Lachanodracon on Holy Thursday in the Lord's Supper, in their monastery of Pelecete, and that, having devastated it, he took them to Ephesus, where they obtained the palm of martyrdom. Furthermore, among the prefects whom we said in the preceding number were sent into the provinces by Copronymus during the fifth indiction, is named Theophanes, and also Lachanodracon himself, to whom he writes that the *thema* of Asia Minor was entrusted, otherwise called that of the Thracesians. Therefore, that Goarus erroneously interpreted this here as the *thema* of the Thracesians is something I note in passing; for their *thema* was located in Europe, whereas that of the Thracesians comprised Asia Minor. Constantine Porphyrogennetus distinguishes them well in his praised work on the *Thematics*, while also providing the etymologies of the words.
The fifth indiction, already indicated, began, as we said, from September of the year 766; but since Theosterictus narrates that the monastery of Pelecete was invaded by Lachanodracon on Holy Thursday, it must be said that this occurred in the year 767, on the 16th of April, when Easter was on the 19th. The martyrdom, moreover, of the thirty-eight companions of Theosterictus, which occurred in the parts of Ephesus, must certainly be assigned to the same year 767, since it was narrated to St. Stephen in prison before the end of November of that year. We might perhaps be able to assign the day of the martyrdom in this way. This cohort of martyrs does indeed occupy the 12th of January in the Roman Martyrology, on which our predecessors treated concerning them C D
A but they admit that they have found them recorded in no fasti for that day. Later, however, they encountered them in the most precious Chiffletian Synaxarista, under the 11th of June; for that they are the same, it will become manifest to anyone from the narrative of Theosterictus when collated with that synaxarista, although our Henschenius could have missed this at the time. Moreover, the cited synaxarista not only marks them for the 11th of June, but further suggests quite openly that they obtained the palm of martyrdom on that day. From these things we probably conclude that these monks, a month and a half after they saw their monastery at Pelecete ravaged and burned, were suffocated near Ephesus, namely on the 11th of June of the year 757.
B (touched) for the image of Christ, he was scourged, and freely calling that Dacian a traitor, and lifting his eyes to God, saying, "I give thanks to you, O Lord," he expired in the midst of the torments of the lashes. Concerning this, we first observe that he who is called here Dacian, that is, the most savage persecutor, is called by the Metaphrast in the same Life in Surius under the 26th of November, Julian the Apostate, which is completely consistent with Theophanes (above, number 14). Then, all the remaining things which St. Stephen narrates about Peter, the recluse in Blachernae, have nothing different except for the name alone from those things which Theophanes writes about Andrew the Calybite in Blachernae. Furthermore, if Theophanes, where he writes about Peter the Stylite (no. 14), indeed designated Peter the recluse in Blachernae, the things which are narrated about that man could not be reconciled with the history of St. Stephen. For St. Stephen, as we will prove in its proper place, was in exile from the month of November, 763, until the end of the year 766, and from about the beginning of January, 767, he was living with the aforementioned monks in the prison of the Praetorium. From these facts, it is probable that the martyr Peter, about whom he narrates, died before 763; for otherwise, who would have better related this martyrdom to the monks than St. Stephen, C or he to them? Nor did St. Andrew live in Blachernae near Constantinople, as Theophanes writes, but arriving from Crete, he betook himself to the Blachernae, where Copronymus was raging against the martyrs in his palace of Divine Mamas, with whom he was immediately seized. The Acts and Synaxarion cited above (number 5) testify to this. Nor did the tyrant order him to be beaten with lashes to death, as Theophanes again writes, and then to be thrown into the current, but to be cruelly dragged through the public square; nor could he have had his sisters in Constantinople, he who, living the monastic life in Crete, had arrived there in order to defend the cult of the sacred images before the tyrant; nor finally could he be granted an honorable burial in the emporium of Leucadius at the Asiatic shore of the Bosphorus, he whom, while he was being dragged in the city itself, expiring, they threw into a most sordid place, namely the Pelagia, with criminals, and whom orthodox men then deposited in the holy place of Crisis, again in the city itself. Since each of these details is clearer than light from the Acts of St. Andrew, it is manifest that Theophanes did not alter the circumstances of the martyrdom, but only transposed the names of the martyrs. And these things we have again, I will not say, placed after St. Paul the Cretan, for many details also become known from the Acts of St. Stephen. Papebrochius, on the 16th of May, from the cited manuscript synaxarista received from our Chiffletius, extracts the following about St. Peter: Ὁ ἐν Βλαχέρναις Πέτρος, βουνεύροις τυπτόμενος τελειοῦται; that is: Peter, living in Blachernae, being struck with taureis (bull-whip lashes), D finishes his martyrdom. Papebrochius rightly conjectures that this concerns either one of the two martyrs whom Theophanes refers to the 21st and 27th years of Copronymus; behold the words of this historian translated into Latin: "In the same year also (of the world 6253, of Constantine 21), Constantine the persecutor killed the venerable monk Andrew, called the Calybite, who lived at Blachernae, in the circus of Saint Mamas with lashes, because he had argued against his impiety, being called Valens the younger and Julian; he had ordered his body to be thrown into the current, but the sisters of Andrew, carrying it away, gave it burial in the emporium of Leucadius. And in the year of the world 6259, of Constantine 27. But from this time he was carried with greater madness against the holy Churches of God; for he sent those who would disturb the venerable stylite Peter from his rock, and as he was resisting his dogmas, ordered him, bound alive by the feet, to be dragged through the middle of the streets of the city and thrown into the Pelagia, but others, enclosed in sacks and having their feet tied, were submerged in the sea." that he had combined into one; for Theophanes himself here placed one martyr for another, as it becomes manifest from the narrative of St. Stephen the Younger, by which he exhorts the monks held with him in the prison of the Praetorium in the year 767 to patience: "Let us imitate," he says, "those holy Fathers who finished their lives by martyrdom among us. I mean that holy monk Peter, the recluse (ἐγκεκλεισμένον: recluse, in French *reclus*, in which sense this word very frequently appears; therefore Lipomannus is wrong: "thrown into chains in Blachernae" who before the face of the emperor with intolerable bull-whip lashes...) are confirmed, but are truly demonstrated from those things which the Menologium of Basil has for the 26th of November after it dealt with St. Stephen the Younger. Similarly also St. Andrew (in Crisis), bound and dragged, departed from life. But St. Peter (of Blachernae), having previously been thrown into prison, then brought out, is beaten with lashes so long until he gave up his spirit to God. But whether St. Andrew can be called the Stylite, we inquire below. But concerning the surname of the Calybite, since many things are confirmed...
by Bollandus for the fifteenth day of January, A where he deals with John the Calybite, it will be sufficient here to have said that it is derived from the little word καλύβη, which signifies a hut, so that that Calybite is one who lives in a hut. But how rightly St. Peter is distinguished by this surname, whom St. Stephen calls "the venerable one," he who is "the one enclosed in Blachernae," just as Theophanes himself calls St. Stephen "the enclosed one" [being that personage at St. Auxentius, which is the name of a mountain], no one fails to see.
16. But how did Theophanes arrive at this confusion? We know of no other cause except that he was then quite an adolescent, as he himself admits in the year of Christ 763 [which is for him the year of the world 6255], while he recounts that he played with boys on the sea when it was frozen. Versed in the monastery far from Constantinople, B diligently indeed, as he testifies in his preface, he examined many volumes, but of the recent ones, I think, he could not gather much; in these he follows for the most part the Breviary of Nicephorus, who is called an approved writer by Photius, but he composed a history, not a chronology or annals. We dwell longer, however, on assigning the causes of that error, because in the martyrdom of St. Stephen he admitted some oversights again, as will be more fully explained on November 28th. What wonder, therefore, when we diligently sought in the Menaia, in the Menologia, and in other Greek fasti for some mention of that Calybite Andrew, that we found nowhere any obvious traces of this surname? Nevertheless, St. Andrew, a monk who suffered under Copronymus, C is commemorated by everyone, and usually words [from his life] "in Crisi" are appended. The Greek writers of the fasti had evidently detected that the things reported by Theophanes, if not [in conflict] with the historians, were certainly not consistent with the hagiographers, and therefore, abandoning Theophanes, they preferred to derive their own Synaxaria rather from the Metaphrast or other writers of the Acts, as they were accustomed to do for the most part. The Latins, on the contrary, following Theophanes or his interpreter Paul the Deacon, retained from there what had been confused by the former. Consequently, we interpret the statements thus: In the year of the world 6253, or the 21st year of Copronymus, the martyrdom took place, not as Theophanes writes, of Andrew the Calybite in Blachernae, but of Peter the Calybite in Blachernae; and in the year of the world 6259, D the 27th of Copronymus, St. Andrew, who from the place of his burial is called "in Crisi," found a martyrdom similar in some respects, but a different death and burial. Concerning the years assigned by Theophanes, Henschenius had long ago noted, from the reign of Phocas, to which one year was subtracted up to the final year of Copronymus, where the preceding error is covered by a new error [that either the years of the world or the indictions are perpetually lagging], that he had published a special dissertation on the emendation of Theophanes, from which the very learned Bonn editors could have greatly adorned their Theophanes. But in this place, another way remains for accurately reducing the years just indicated to the vulgar era; for Theophanes, at the year 6252, which immediately preceded the year of the martyrdom of Peter of Blachernae, very diligently records an eclipse of the sun in these words, from the version of Goar: "With the appearance of a solar eclipse on the fifteenth day of the month of August, on a Friday, at the tenth hour of the day, thus in the year 760," as is established by astronomical tables. And because the year of the world 6253 began in Constantinople, according to the custom of the Greeks, in the month of September of the year 760, so that it might run until September of the year 761, from this it becomes probable that St. Peter of Blachernae was killed on the 16th day of May of the said year 761. For that day is assigned by the most ancient manuscript Synaxaristes which Papebrochius received to be transcribed from our Chifflet in the college at Dijon.
18. The year of the martyrdom of St. Andrew in Crisi can be sought in a twofold manner. The first way is this: Nicephorus and Theophanes record various, mostly successful, expeditions of Copronymus into Bulgaria, but the one which he undertook in the fourth indiction, in the month of January, in the year 763, was by the same witnesses most unfortunate; from which, indeed, he returned shamefully in the month of July, and seized by a certain fury, he began to enact tragedies of cruelty against the monks and the worshippers of the holy images. It is said that in the same indiction he exacted an oath from all his subjects, by which they pledged that they would not show veneration to images in the future. Furthermore, we find these individual things in our Acts on both sides. There, under number 8, Copronymus himself says that he had issued a decree by which whoever worshipped images was to be punished. Then, under number 10, it is argued by St. Andrew that he neglected the war against the Barbarians and the administration of the political order, and that he had decided to demonstrate a proud spirit against the Christians. Moreover, in numbers 6 and 7, when St. Andrew first appeared before the emperor, he found very many subjected to questioning, beaten with whipcord, tortured by the gouging out of their eyes, and suffering other similar things, which by the two aforesaid writers are nowhere recounted before the fourth indiction, but are described in that indiction in almost the same words, as they are also often thereafter. From these things, therefore, we rightly conclude that the martyrdom of St. Andrew did not occur before that indiction, that is, before the year 766.
A We determine here the year of St. Andrew as 6259 of the mundane era, as has been said in numbers 14 and 17. Theophanes, at the same year, commemorates the martyrdom of St. Peter the Stylite who was executed together with St. Andrew; but he also indicated the indiction for the same year, which he does quite frequently, though not everywhere. When, however, he does so, Pagius and other very serious authors do not hesitate to admit the indiction before the Antiochene era, which Theophanes uses, even though he professes to employ the era of Julius Africanus. It has, however, been ascertained by me that the era is occasionally cited correctly, whereas the indiction is erroneous—for example, at the year 6253, as is evident from the added indication of an eclipse. It is nonetheless clear that those who generally preferred the indictions were correct. Therefore, for this year 6259, Theophanes marks the indiction with these words: "In this year, on the sixth day of the month of October, the sixth indiction," etc. But this indiction does not accord with the year 6259 of the mundane era, since, by the rule of St. Maximus, a unit must be added to the era, and then, after the division is established by 15, the remainder should constitute the indiction. Furthermore, by this method we obtain not six, but only five. Nevertheless, that the indiction is correctly inscribed here is confirmed in a twofold way. First, because Theophanes writes that for the following year, the seventh indiction, the first day of April was a Saturday; from which it is manifest that that seventh indiction is correctly inscribed; therefore, the sixth was also correctly inscribed for the preceding one. Furthermore, Theophanes marks the first year of Pope Stephen at this sixth indiction, and yet in reality Stephen III was elected in this indiction, in the month of August. Thus, the indiction having been established in which St. Andrew suffered in Crisis—for whom Theophanes said "Peter of Blachernae"—the year itself is easily deduced. Indeed, in our earlier Acts, it is said that the martyrdom occurred on the 20th of October, from which it is clear that it must be fixed to the year 767.
20. The year of the martyrdom of St. Andrew in Crisis had to be established alongside that in which St. Peter of Blachernae suffered, although some things remain to be said regarding the latter saint. His body, after he was killed by scourging in the circus of Divine Mamas, was to be thrown into the flowing stream (above, number 14 sqq.), B *en tō rheumati*, as Theophanes speaks, but his sisters, carrying him away, consigned him to burial in the emporium of Leucadius. What that stream was is easily gathered from the Topography of Constantinople by Pierre Gylles, in whose book IV, chapter vi, these things are read: "Not only historians, but also the grammarian Suidas, report that at Divine Mamas there was a bridge consisting of twelve arches; for many waters flowed down there." Theophanes, therefore, when he speaks of a specific stream (as is evident from the added article *tō*), designates these waters at Divine Mamas; unless perhaps he wished to signify the Ceratine gulf, which stretches from the Bosporus towards the west. Goar seems to have understood it thus, who translates "stream of the sea"; but *rheuma* is used of rivers and their force, not of a gulf of the sea; nor would it have escaped Gylles, Du Cange, and others if this name had belonged to the Ceratine gulf among Byzantine writers. Furthermore, Gylles teaches that the temple and circus of Divine Mamas, as well as the palace named after it, were situated in Blachernae, outside the walls of the city; for all the region heard of Blachernae, which lies between the western angle of Constantinople and the Ceratine gulf, by which gulf the city is closed off from the north; Gylles also established that this was the fourteenth region of Constantinople. You may see more about those places in Papebroch on the 16th of May and in the outstanding work of Du Cange, which is entitled *Constantinopolis Christiana*.
21. The Emporium of Leucadius, in which the sisters of St. Peter of Blachernae buried his body, is no different from the place which Dionysius of Byzantium calls the Leucadium promontory in the Anaplus of the Bosporus, and it was on the eastern shore of the Bosporus, situated not far from Chrysopolis. This is confirmed again by the chronicles of Symeon the Magister, George the Monk, and the anonymous continuator of Theophanes. It is not improperly distinguished here by the name of "Emporium," which is known to be attributed primarily to places situated by the sea. Moreover, the place is entirely the same, since similar things are recorded everywhere about it for the same year, and it is called Leucadium by Symeon and John Scylitza, C but by others Leucates; wherefore it clearly seems to be the same, on the 22nd of July, where our Pinius discusses St. Anna *en tō Leucate*. For the promontory Leucatas or Leucactas near Nicomedia in Bithynia, to omit other things, was too far from Constantinople for St. Anna to go there to Emperor Basil the Macedonian, by whom it is said she was demanded as a bride. However, it seemed not useless to us to accurately assign the location of that Emporium, of which Byzantine writers frequently make mention. We add only, in as much as we could obtain it from Gylles, Du Cange, and the learned geographer Hammers, D
A that the place which is called Keurfus today, and lies between Kandlische and Anatoli, and is distant about two hours' journey across the Bosphorus from Constantinople, is where it is to be located, in the month of July, in the year 771, as it seems. The remaining matters which concern him, in our Acts, should be sought for on the said day. Here we intend only to distinguish him from Paul of Crete, concerning whom we spoke above at no. 11 and following, and then to offer something more accurately corrected concerning the year of his martyrdom. It is recorded in his Acts that, 122 years after his passion, by a revelation made to Anthony Cauleas, Patriarch of Constantinople, his sacred body had been committed to an honorable burial in Constantinople in the monastery of Cajuma, from which the Venetians received it in the year 1222 and perhaps treasure it to this very day. However, it has been demonstrated by Henschenius that Anthony Cauleas began to preside not in the year 888, as was previously believed, but in 893; from which number, if 122 are subtracted, 771 will be the remainder. But Pinius, not having grasped the correction of Henschenius which Pagius and all others embraced, erroneously retained the year 888 with Baronius. Therefore, he had assigned the year not 771, but 766 for the martyrdom of St. Paul. Now, from the series which we are following, we arrive at St. Andrew in Crisi, who we argued above at no. 18 ff., suffered on October 20 in the year 767; but since the matters remaining concerning him are reserved for the following section, we have now touched in few words upon the 28th day of the same month. It has already been said above at no. 7 that on that day St. Stephen, Peter (of the Blachernae), and Andrew (in Crisi) are to be venerated, according to the most ancient Eclogadia or Menologies. In the Typicon of St. Sabas and other calendars, this same Stephen the Sabaitic, a writer of canons, appears on this same day, concerning whom the canon of the new edition of the Menaea treats, written by Theodore Graptus, Metropolitan of Nicaea. B In the Synaxarium of the Menaea, this Stephen is said to have been a bishop and to have contended against heresies; in the Menology of Sirlet, he is announced as a martyr. These things, however, can fit neither the Stephen the Sabaitic who is celebrated by Theodore Graptus, nor another homonymous Sabaitic, whose noble Acts Pinius illustrated for July 12. For this reason, I conjecture that this concerns that Stephen who was cast out by Copronymus into Sugdaea, a part of Lower Moesia, C perhaps the same one who, almost twenty years later, in the Council of Nicaea in the year 787, subscribed: "Stephen, unworthy bishop of Sugdaea." But more on these things on October 28.
22. Regarding St. John, prefect of the monastery of Monagria, who during the time of the Copronymian persecution was enclosed in a sack and cast into the sea, our Henschenius has a little to say at June 4, which he again brings forward from the Synaxaria received from Chiffletius. St. Stephen in the prison of the praetorium thus celebrates this John, after he had spoken words about St. Peter of the Blachernae: "Let us imitate also him who followed him (Peter), that divine John, prefect of the pleasant monastery of Monagria, whom the tyrannical emperor (Copronymus), having tyrannically seized him because he had refused to trample underfoot the image of Christ and of His Mother, enclosed in a sack and suffocated him in the depths of the sea, having tied him to a huge stone." What is more bitter than death of this kind? But it offers a crown all the more glorious. From which, as also from the chronological observations brought forward under no. 17, we seem to deduce rightly that St. John, Hegumen of the monastery of Monagria, obtained the palm of martyrdom on June 4, in the year 761, on the same day, that is, as St. Peter. With Henschenius indeed it is said not prefect of Monagria, but of Menagria: but it is concluded that this happened from the slip of copyists, since from four MS codes which Jac. Lopin testifies he had consulted, as well as from the Metaphrast himself who similarly writes at Surius for November 28: monastery of Monagria. Papebrochius, therefore, does not fully attain the whole truth while he inquires into the naming of this monastery; it is probable, however, that it was situated in that Sigrian region which he mentions, because, as he argues elsewhere, there existed there very many monasteries that attained a name not very different, as were those which were called Parvi Agri and Magni Agri. Furthermore, if it had been near Constantinople, we do not doubt that Du Cange, having searched with incredible diligence through so many published and manuscript writers, would have provided notice of it in his *Constantinopolis Christiana*.
23. Regarding the martyrs whom we have assumed to treat here (supra no. 11), and in what order of months we have followed, after John, Hegumen of Monagria, there comes forward St. Paul the New, leader of the militia, then monk as appears from certain documents, finally martyr on the 8th [day].
24. Regarding the martyr of the whole Copronymian persecution most celebrated, Stephen the Younger, who is venerated on November 28, we arrive [at him]. But here it will be enough [to define] the chronology of the latter part of his... D
of the life, which we have frequently relied upon in this Commentary, we A establish briefly. S. Stephen was born at Constantinople in the year 715, after the ordination of patriarch S. Germanus, which occurred on the 11th of August of that same year. He was led by his parents, while still very young, to the anchorite John of Mount S. Auxentius, situated in the region of Constantinople near the Gulf of Nicomedia, in which place, having lived for a long time, in the 42nd year of his age—that is, in 756 or 757—he withdrew to the very summit of the mountain into a most cramped cell. Meanwhile, Copronymus in the year 754 had convened an iconoclastic synod, whose decrees he subsequently championed, and which he wished to have approved again by the pseudo-patriarch Constantine before he handed him over to death, in the year 768. The emperor ordered the decrees of this synod to be brought to Mount S. Auxentius in the year 763, so that they might be signed by S. Stephen. Being that he refused to do so, he was strictly guarded at the cemetery of S. Auxentius for seven days, until he was set free while the emperor was compelled to wage war against the Bulgars. B Furthermore, Copronymus set out against the Bulgars on the 15th of June, and on the 30th day of the same month, a Thursday, in the first indiction, he defeated them in battle; from which indiction and day it is most certain that this occurred in the year which I mentioned above, 763.
25. Then, after the return of the emperor to Constantinople, with a few events having intervened, S. Stephen was dragged from his hut to the sea after the monastery of S. Auxentius was burned, and having been placed upon a small boat and brought to Constantinople to the monastery of Philippicus, C after he had spent seventeen days there, he was sent into exile to the island of Proconnesus. But since it is said there that, at the beginning of his exile, in the 49th year of his age, he entered a small dwelling constructed by himself in the form of a column, if we remember that he was born after the 11th of August in the year 715, it will be established that this happened at the end of the year 763 or the beginning of 764. From which [dates], those things which we brought forward in number 24 concerning the year 763 are confirmed again. Again, it is handed down in his life that his mother died in the second year of his exile, that is, in 765 or 766; finally, with a few other things intervening, he was recalled to Constantinople. In which city, after having been held for some days in the prison of the Phiale, when he had publicly rebuked the emperor, he was incarcerated in the praetorium for eleven months D and finally, in the 53rd year of his age, on the 28th of November—hence in the year 767—he received the crown of martyrdom. For since he was born in the year 715, it is clear that in said year 767 he had entered his 53rd year of life. Furthermore, if he remained in the praetorium prison for eleven months, we conclude from that that he returned to Constantinople at the end of the year 766, and consequently lived for almost three years as an exile in Proconnesus. Wherefore, when we dealt with Peter of Blachernae (above num. 15), who suffered in the year 761, we rightly said that his martyrdom could have become known to S. Stephen and could have been recounted by him, six years having elapsed, in the prison of the praetorium; but not likewise the martyrdom of S. Andrew at the Crisis, which happened on the 20th of October, 767; for at that time S. Stephen had already been detained for a long time in said prison, soon to depart from there to attain that same palm [of martyrdom]. Again, it is concluded from the same things which we have deduced that S. Stephen appeared in public three times and was cruelly bound and dragged about, namely in the final months of the years 763, 766, and 767. And from this it came about that both Nicephorus in his *Breviarium* and Theophanes narrated everything in anticipation and confusedly, nor is there any need to inquire into another cause with Pagi. Furthermore, this narrative of Theophanes has sometimes misled Baronius and others concerning the establishing of the year of S. Stephen’s death.
26. But now, since this inquiry into the history and chronology of the second iconoclastic persecution has become more prolix than we initially estimated, we have deemed it useful to exhibit it here in summary according to the sequence of the years, with the numbers of the Commentary added, to which it has been treated on each point:
In the year 761, 16 May, the passion of S. Peter of Blachernae. Above, num. 17. In the same year, 4 June, the passion of S. John, Hegumen of the monastery of Monagria, num. 22. In the year 763, towards the end, S. Stephen the Younger is dragged from the hut of Mount Auxentius and carried by sea to Chrysopolis, and soon sent into exile in Proconnesus, num. 24 seq. In the year 766, towards the end, S. Stephen the Younger returned to Constantinople and is handed over to prison, first for some days in the Phiale, then in the praetorium, num. 25. In the same year, Copronymus orders all subjects to take an oath that they will not show veneration to sacred images, num. 12. In the year 767, Copronymus sends most cruel prefects to the provinces, num. 12. In the same year, 17 March, the passion of S. Paul the monk, num. 12. In the same year, 16 April, the monastery in Crete is invaded, under Theophanes Lardotyros, prefect of the island.
SECTION III. Inquiry into the Life of S. Andrew. Some passages of the Acts are illustrated.
27. S. Andrew was born on the island of Crete, as his Acts and all the synaxaries, both printed and in manuscript, attest. Assemanus asserts that the printed Menæa make him out to be born of one of the cities of Crete, but that most learned man may not have accurately weighed the Greek words: «He became a product and nursling of the most law-abiding city of Crete.» Our Raderus, who has translated all the Menæa synaxaries into Latin—and whose manuscript work is preserved in the Burgundian Library in Brussels—preferred to translate the same passage obscurely: «He was born and educated in a state with excellent morals.» But Metaphrastes, from whom the Menæa Synaxarium, as often happens, has been transcribed, removes all doubt A: «For the most law-abiding of cities once brought him forth, Crete» (below, num. 3). From which it is manifest that Metaphrastes is speaking of the laws which Minos once handed down to the Cretans. It is indeed unusual for *polis* (city) to be used by writers of the Middle Greek period not of some particular city, but of the citizens who are governed by common laws; however, in Metaphrastes, who clearly was not moderately versed in ancient letters and loved historical allusions, this should not seem surprising. Moreover, it is beyond controversy that among Hesiod, Thucydides, Isocrates, Aristotle, and others, *polis* has designated whichever citizens are ruled by the same laws. Furthermore, in our earlier Acts, S. Andrew is said to have been born in a place which was called *Castrum* (the Fort) (below, num. 6): «In the place called the Fort of Crete»; and that these words are to be so understood seems manifest from what is read in the same Acts (num. 16) about the place of the Crisis: «In the place called the Crisis»; for here, no one will doubt the meaning of the words. Although any town, especially if it be fortified, is called a *castrum*—as our Gretser and Goar in their illustrated Codinus Curopalates attest—it certainly cannot be said of the whole of Crete, and the Greek words clearly reject such an interpretation. Furthermore, *Castrum* would not have been a very significant place in Crete, since it never appears in geographers. Recent B writers mention "Castel-priotisa," located not far from Candia, inhabited by a vulgar folk, but there is absolutely nothing to indicate that it is the same as the place that was called *Castrum* in the Middle Ages, and it would be ridiculous to offer even a conjecture on this matter. However, from the fact that S. Andrew the martyr is said to have been born in Crete, Baronius and others before him have not unworthily called him a Cretan, nor can it certainly be said with Pagi that Baronius did not distinguish this martyr from Andrew the bishop, who was likewise called a Cretan; for in his Annotations to the Martyrology, on the 16th of October, he openly distinguishes between the two.
28. Very little is known about the life of S. Andrew in Crete. Who could possibly conjecture that Peter of Blachernae, whom Theophanes placed under the year of Christ 767 in place of our Andrew (see above, num. 14), is called a *Stylite* by the same author, and that this title should be transferred to S. Andrew? I observe on this matter that maybe they could also be called *stylites* (pillar-dwellers) who had their cell in a high place, or whose cell was built in the form of a column; for it is clear that this was sometimes done from the Acts of S. Stephen the Younger, whose small cell, which he had built for himself on the island of Proconnesus, is called *styloeides* (column-like) by his biographer: «Having built a small column-form enclosure in that place.» Furthermore, the same S. Stephen calls Peter of Blachernae, whom Theophanes called a *Stylite*, «the one enclosed in Blachernae,» which could not be said C of a true *stylite*. If, therefore, S. Peter of Blachernae was a *stylite*, it must be taken in a broader sense; but since Theophanes in this passage put Peter in place of Andrew, and does not add that he lived in Blachernae (see above, num. 14 seqq.), while writing in the year 761 in turn "Andrew" instead of "Peter," and adding that he lived at Blachernae and was called a *calybitan* (hut-dweller) (see above, ibid.), it is almost certain to me that Peter of Blachernae—going by the designation S. Stephen uses—was in fact a *calybitan* or recluse in Blachernae, and not a *stylite*. Therefore, just as Theophanes transferred the name of *calybitan* from Peter to Andrew, he could have conversely transferred the name of *stylite* from Andrew to Peter. For no one called S. Andrew a *calybitan* except Theophanes and those who are accustomed to explain him, namely Zonaras, Cedrenus, and Paul the Deacon in his *Miscella*. But this is the only proof that can be brought forward, unless perhaps Joseph the Hymnographer alludes to the *stylitic* life of Andrew in the most ancient canon of the Menæa, namely in the third and seventh odes, in the first troparion. If anyone desires to know the mode of life of the *stylites*, he will find more about them in our Acts, on the 5th of January, when S. SiD
Ameon, the leader of the stylites, is honored, and that he was situated there, is evident from Gyllius and Du Cange, whom we have cited in note 20, and from very many other places. The illustrious B. Hase, a man of the greatest Greek erudition, in his notes on Leo the Deacon, observes that the stylites lasted in the East until the twelfth century, while Papebroch discovered that their institution flourished among the Russians even to his own times. That he embraced [a certain way of life] is less evident, but that he was a monk or an anchorite, no one will doubt. It would be easy to prove this by very many testimonies, but it would be superfluous; nor do we bring forward anything here other than the canon already praised, written before the middle of the ninth century by S. Joseph. There, therefore, in the first ode, the third troparion, it says that the Saint, captured from his youth by the desire for Christ, joyfully embraced the cross and his own self-denial; indeed in the ninth ode, the second troparion, it calls him the ornament of monks or anchorites: Μοναζόντων ἐγκαλλώπισμα. In a certain manuscript Moscow Menologium, to which, as with the illustrated tables about which we speak in number 2, we cannot always trust, he is called S. Andrew the Hieromartyr, which it is well known is said only of martyr-presbyters; but in all others he is proposed as a Hosiomartyr, that is, as a monk and martyr. In the manuscript Sirmondian Synaxarist, which our predecessors once received in Paris, it is said in Crete [that he was a] monk, from which and other similar titles, S. Andrew would seem to be an anchorite or solitary, rather than a monk or coenobite. Moreover, that such anchorites were not uneducated men, but for the most part quite well taught in sacred learning, could be easily proven from the Acts of S. Stephen the Younger and other monuments.
30. We now approach the matters that S. Andrew performed at Constantinople. B The earlier Acts, at number 6, while narrating his arrival at Constantinople, say he arrived at *Byzas*, not Byzantium, or Constantinople: Τὴν Βύζαν κατελάμβανε. We do not find this name among the city's ports in Du Cange’s *Constantinopolis Christiana*, nor have we seen it used for Constantinople by any writer. Gyllius writes of the Barbyses river near Constantinople, Ortelius of Bisa, Bizya, [or] Bizo, cities of Thrace and Moesia, but we cannot discuss all these here. From these, however, it is already easy to judge that these earlier Acts were not written at Constantinople, which will become almost manifest again from what is to be said below. Furthermore, when S. Andrew had arrived at Constantinople, he immediately betook himself to the palace which is called S. Mamas, because the emperor was staying there and continuous spectacles of martyrdoms were being presented in the adjacent Hippodrome. That palace [was] outside the city, toward the west, in the fourteenth region, and since it was beyond the city for those arriving from the harbor, for that reason in the earlier Acts in the Milanese synaxary, which was printed in § 1, and in the Sirmondian manuscript, the palace of St. Mamas is said to be situated πέραν, that is, beyond the city. The same palace is called by Symeon Metaphrastes, who lived at Constantinople, in Acts number 6, not beyond, but before the city; finally, Du Cange in the *Chronicon Paschale* translates πέραν as: towards the strait, insofar as the house of S. Mamas, of which there is talk in this place, was close to the Sycean or Ceratine strait.
31. S. Andrew, having inveighed against holy images and their worshippers under Copronymus, having suffered various things, as is related in the Acts, was finally cast into a narrow and foul prison. You would not rashly say this was the prison of the Phiale or of the Fountain, of which there is frequent mention in the Acts of S. Stephen, and which appears from the same to have been not far from the Hippodrome—the ordinary theater of martyrdoms in this persecution—and to have been very gloomy. Metaphrastes here implies that S. Andrew spent many days in the prison and confirmed the captive companions; the earlier Acts seem to contradict this, and the synaxary extracted from them, cited at number 5, explicitly contradicts it; for there he is said to have appeared again before Copronymus on the very next day, which the synaxarist of the Menia also asserts, in all other things speaking in the very words of Metaphrastes. In the same printed Menia, on November 28, where it is said of S. Stephen that he was held in the prison of the praetorium, it is added that he found Peter and Andrew there, but that is evidently erroneous and flowed from a poorly understood Basilian Menologium. In its synaxary, on the same day, the title has: *The Contest of S. Stephen the Younger, monk and martyr, and those who suffered with him, Peter and Andrew.* Then S. Andrew is indeed called a monk, ὁ ὅσιος, but S. Peter is called simply: ὁ ἅγιος, and after the martyrdoms of both are briefly narrated, just as they are described above and in the Acts, it is added of St. Peter that he was previously held in prison (cf. num. 15 near the end).
52. The synaxarist of the Menia, without having accurately discussed or mended D the authentic Acts, distinguishes S. Peter and S. Andrew from the monks, although he does not openly say they were not monks; and likewise he seems to distinguish the four hundred and forty-two captives, to whom S. Stephen was joined in the praetorium, into monks and others. But both that distinction and the presence of S. Andrew in the prison of the praetorium with S. Stephen are refuted by that most diligent and contemporary writer Stephen the Deacon, who 342
A expressly asserts that all those captives were monks, and mentions neither any Peter nor Andrew as then detained in prison, nor any companion handed over to punishment with S. Stephen; these matters ought to be rectified. B This appears again from the canon of S. Stephen in the Menaea for November 28, which canon honors the same writer S. Joseph, who composed the canon for Andrew and was accustomed to sign his name in the acrostic of the final ode, and whom the reader will be able to recognize from the Acts edited by Papebroch for the third day of April. In this canon, ode 6, there are also celebrated S. Paul, whom we called the Cretan, the 38 Ephesian martyrs (cf. above num. 13), and S. Peter of the Blachernae, in exactly the same order, and being attributed to them the same genus of martyrdom as they are distinguished by in Stephen the Deacon. Therefore, the hymnographer of S. Stephen must have perused the genuine Acts, but not so the synaxarist of the Menaea; and this we could prove even by the fact he reports that his body was cast into the sea, ἐν τῷ πελάγει, whereas in the case of Pelagia it should have been said otherwise. And here we also note, as Papebroch has already long ago warned, that the Offices and canons of the Menaea are generally much older and more approved than the synaxaries. Furthermore, in this same canon of Joseph concerning S. Stephen, there also appears S. Andrew the martyr, but outside that series which we said was excerpted from the Acts of S. Stephen, namely in the eighth ode, third troparion; and it is not added that he was kept in the prison of the praetorium with S. Stephen, but in a few words, in this single troparion, the martyrdom is set forth in this manner: "Boldly resisting the persecutor, S. Andrew, endowed with divine wisdom, is struck with scourges, and the just man suffers a savage death, now singing to the Lord Christ for ages." It was therefore impossible for Joseph the Hymnographer, who lived in Constantinople and was the Skeuophylax of Patriarch Ignatius, when he was dealing with S. Stephen, the primary martyr of the entire Copronymian persecution, not to mention also S. Andrew in Crisi, even if there is no mention of him in the Acts of S. Stephen, which he seems to have followed in his canon. This will again be evident from the praises with which he heaps upon S. Andrew in the canon which he composed about him, and from which we bring forth many things below. C
33. S. Andrew is led out from his prison, which we have said it is more likely to have been the Phiala, to the emperor, and before him, having again boldly defended the veneration of images, he is ordered to be dragged from the palace of S. Mamas into the city (in Acts, num. 14 and 15), and when he had reached the Forum of the Ox, irrigating the earth everywhere with his blood, there, his right foot having been cut off by a certain fisherman, he gave up his soul to God. When those who were dragging him saw this, they cast the lifeless body into the most foul place. These things are illustrated by the following. The "Ox," or the Forum of the Ox, is a name borrowed from a bronze oven in the shape of an ox, in which it is said the martyr S. Antipas was burned, before he was brought to Constantinople from Pergamon by Theodosius the Great, and which stood out in that forum. Our Morcellus argues excellently about this instrument of martyrdom in the most learned Commentaries with which he adorned his Constantinopolitan Calendar. The Forum of the Ox occupied the eleventh region, situated not far from the Keratin gulf, nor from the gate of the Blachernae, where many fishermen lived. Papebroch also once collected more about the Ox. From the fact that it is said there was a forum there, it is easily understood what is written in our Acts, num. 15, that that truculent fisherman used a spear, having seized it from a certain meat-market there. The Anonymous Combefisianus is also to be consulted, who reports that coins were minted from the bronze Ox by Heraclius, so that it might appear that the Ox did not remain until the times of Copronymus, but only the name was given to the forum. That most foul place, into which S. Andrew was cast, is the burial place of Pelagius, which Nicephorus also testifies in his Breviary to have received S. Stephen the Younger, and it will be declared more fully from his Acts on the day of November 28. Behold the words of Nicephorus, with Petavius as interpreter: "Dragged from the palace to the Forum of the Ox, they tore him to pieces most miserably. His body they cast into that place which they call the sepulchers of Pelagius, as if of some criminal; for into that place the corpses of both profane pagans and those who had been condemned to capital punishment were carried." D Metaphrastes num. 15, and the synaxarist of the Menaea say that S. Andrew was cast into the place of criminals, and found among a heap of bodies; but Theophanes openly points to Pelagia (above num. 14). But why the same sepulchers were called by some not those of Pelagius, but of Pelagia, τῆς ἁγίας Πελαγίας, Janningus diligently inquires in the Acts of S. Pelagia of Antioch, and it seems he rightly proved there that the explanation of Du Cange, handed down at the end of the Annals of Zonaras, could not be admitted.
§ IV. The relics, miracles, and place of burial of S. Andrew.
34. The body of S. Andrew was found in the Pelagii by a miracle and, separated from the others, was deposited by pious men in the holy place of the Crisis; and indeed this, as they say, from the anonymous Acts num. 16, seems to have been done on the following night. However, the aforementioned miracle, which Metaphrastes and the printed Menaea report, does not appear in the same Acts, but they merely omit it, and add nothing dissonant which cannot be reconciled with Metaphrastes. And this is another reason why those Acts do not seem to have been written in Constantinople.
A seeing that out of so many miracles, which Saint Joseph the Hymnographer, already exercising the priesthood in Constantinople in the year 814, and Metaphrastes in the following century, extol magnificently, not one is commemorated by them, nor do they even utter a word about them. For if the author of the Acts had lived in Constantinople, he would not have implored the patronage of Saint Andrew in such a manner, asking him, in fact, for such a favor as is experienced by those who honor your holy memory and venerate the casket of your relics. Now, from the Canon of Saint Joseph, we present those things which commend the miracles of Saint Andrew; but we translate in its entirety the final Ode, to which the hymnographer was accustomed to weave his name by acrostic for the perpetual memory of his own devotion, the same acrostic being preserved. It is also worth noting that, just as this final Ode had a *Theotocium*, or little verse in honor of the Mother of God, annexed to it, so too did all the remaining ones, B as Theophanes and other Greek hymnographers had already been in the habit of doing before Joseph; so that it may become clear how great was the devotion, I say, of the Greeks—not yet separated from the Roman See—toward the Blessed Virgin. From these Canticles, the little work of our Wangnereck was excerpted, which bears the title: *The Marian Piety of the Greeks*, and Maracci was able to compile his *Mariale* almost entirely from the hymns of Saint Joseph alone, even though very many still lie hidden in manuscript in libraries.
[35.] Health flows from you, whether you are still living or already dead, as if from a fountain to the sick, powerful through the divine Word, Saint Andrew, who drive away unclean spirits and cry out to your Creator: "You alone are holy, O Lord." Ode 3, troparion 2.
Breathing sweetly with the fragrance of virtues, where you now lie in the sepulcher, holy Father, you gladden the countenance of those who approach you with a confident heart. Ode 4, trop. 2.
You abhorred the shadows of sin, Father, and free from lust you shone like a lamp; you who illuminate those approaching your holy tomb with the splendor of healings, God granting it. Ode 5, tr. 1.
You have become a dwelling place of God, Father, who lived holily and fought bravely; but now you lie in the monument, safe and indestructible, dissolving the diseases of all the faithful. Ode 5, tr. 2.
As a treasure of great price hidden away, you have been made manifest to the eyes of the faithful, Father, and you enrich with miracles all who honor you. Ode 6, tr. 3.
Your spirit, brilliant through divine communication, C has shown you, wonderful Andrew, to be a shining star to all, and everywhere you illuminate with miracles the faithful who praise you. Ode 7, tr. 3.
Carried away into a rage against Christ, they ordered you, like wild beasts, to be slaughtered; wherefore, dragging and beating you, they cast you into the abyss, and thus you were made a manifest martyr of the truth. Ode 8, tr. 2.
Like a stream, you irrigate the faithful with wonders, and you put to flight, O blessed man, the spirits of wickedness, and remove infirmities, having received from Christ our God the grace of healings from heaven. Ode 8, tr. 3.
Ode 9. Therefore, holy Father, your course having been finished, and the orthodox faith kept unblemished, because you struggled lawfully, you have received a double crown from above, as an invincible martyr, as an illustrious ascetic.
Like a fragrant lily, like a rose, Father, you flourished in the meadow of divine asceticism; like a cedar you breathe sweetly, having attained the splendor of the martyrs, blessed Andrew, ornament of monks.
Deservedly famous for signs and portents, you remain indestructible before the eyes of all, blessed Andrew, who illuminate the mind of those approaching you with ardent faith and giving thanks to you.
Behold, celebrating your festive, holy, and most sweet memory today, we cry out to you, Father, with confidence: By your holy prayers to God, deign to deliver us from every vicissitude of life.
*Theotocium.* You whose most chaste womb became a dwelling place for the true Light, who brought light into the world through the splendor of the Deity and put the shadows of ignorance to flight forever; therefore we glorify you.
[36.] D Here the words of Metaphrastes are to be written, by which he testifies that, even in his own time, no one afflicted with any disease or evil whatsoever had approached the Saint's tomb without returning healed from it; which, if he had been living in Constantinople, he would not have addressed to his fellow citizens so confidently, had not Saint Andrew rewarded the piety of the faithful with frequent miracles. But, leaving these things aside, since in his Acts, no. 17, one can read about the place "in Crisis" to which the sacred pledge was entrusted, some things must be brought forward. In both versions of the Acts, but more clearly in the Metaphrastian, that place is called "the holy one." There was, namely, a monastery there, to which, about the year 1284, according to our Possinus's calculation, the Protovestiarissa Raulena added a very large and exquisitely crafted temple. Elsewhere, however, Pachymeres, according to the interpretation of the same Possinus, speaks almost to this effect: Patriarch Gregory hid himself in a little monastery called Aristina, adjacent to the monastery of Saint Andrew "in Crisis," following the proximity in the choice of such a place to the Protovestiarissa Raulena, who was living in that monastery of Saint Andrew, by whom he was kindly cherished. Whether, therefore, because of the proximity of either of these monasteries the place "in Crisis" may have been called a holy place as far back as the eighth century cannot be defined; we have not discovered any other reason for the appellation. Furthermore, from the former passage of Pachymeres cited, we learn that Raulena, a woman celebrated by many writers of the thirteenth century, had raised a magnificent temple to Saint Andrew; which Maximus Planudes the monk, who was living at that time and was one of the biographers...
A Palæographia Graeca reproducta; we know indeed that the Acts and Life of St. Andrew, Bishop of Crete, were less well known, and that our martyr is very often called a Cretan, both in the calendars and in the Acts, but these facts do not resolve the doubt. Here, however, is the passage from the said Description: "Likewise in the monastery of Vatopedi there was once the head of St. Andrew of Crete; but for many years now the Fathers have offered it, as a precious treasure, to the most pious and great emperor of all Russia." In the monastery of the Iberians on the same Mount Athos, the relics of St. Stephen the Younger, who we have said suffered at the same time, were seen, and the Synaxarion of the Menæa asserts that they rest in Constantinople. Now we give the double Acts, the former of which we have translated, but we warn that they are written diffusely and in the form of an encomium. The reading itself will show how accurately the ancient codices, from which they have been transcribed, present both versions; there are hardly any obvious iotacisms, and the scribal errors are very few, and those themselves were later corrected in the margin by another hand, or are here corrected for the Acts of the Metaphrast, namely, from a collation of four codices. See more regarding both above in numbers 8 and 9.
MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY VENERABLE MARTYR ANDREW WHO IS IN CRISIS
MARTYRIUM S. MONACHI ET MARTYRIS ANDREAE IN CRISI
(From Coislin Codex 145, fol. 121 verso, of the Royal Library of Paris, with a collation of five other complete codices. A. Coislin Codex 140. B. Royal Codex 1484. C. Codex 1495. D. Royal Codex 1501. E. Royal Codex 1503. F. Royal Codex 1543.)
Sole Chapter. The pious life of Saint Andrew in Crete; he comes to Constantinople to oppose Constantine Copronymus, and having suffered immense torments, expires. His sepulcher is radiant with miracles. He is buried in Crisis.
C 1. Great is the malice of the devil against the martyrs of Christ, and especially when he sees them walking in piety constantly and without any offense; and since it is also varied, there is need of a great soul against it, and one rightly armed with love for Christ.
A so that they might not be overreached by him, nor fall into his defiled hands, as he leaps upon them more shamelessly than all enemies; and he afflicted the servants of Christ in many ways, partly by himself, and partly by those who were attached to him; for some he pushed down over precipices, others he cast to the teeth of wild beasts; for some he kindled a furnace, for others he opened an abyss; for some he devised the wheel, for others he sharpened the sword; and for others he prepared different stripes and deaths.
II. But nevertheless he was mocked, when the martyrs had deemed all these things of little account, and sought out other, newer torments, so that through them they might display the great desire they had for Christ. For even if the enemy removed many of Christ's servants from the midst, and overcame their nature, yet he did not overcome their purpose, their will, and their mind, which conquers all things. And for this reason he was all the more defeated, and his pride was cast down, because while the flesh and human nature B were suffering, their mind remained unturnable and unconquered. The contests of the noble and blessed martyr Andrew bear witness to these things; for he, having endured such things and many that were far heavier than these, not only abundantly overcame the common enemy of all, but also became a very great argument for those who followed after him to be of good courage. Whose contests are not only to be admired for their brilliance, but his right deeds are also to be imitated; nor is it sufficient to be hearers of the things that are told about him, but also to become imitators of his virtue.
III. C Crete, which was governed by the best laws of all, brought him forth; and he, having imitated the piety of his fatherland from his youth, displayed within it also those blessed toils. For he did not praise glory, he did not admire wealth, he did not love luxuries, he did not pursue a soft and remiss life, but a hard, rigid, and rough one, which was prepared to face contests in every way. Being therefore most ardently captivated by the love of virtue, and having remained free from the slavery of pleasure, he enjoyed brilliant trophies against those enemies which are perceived by the mind; and he became an excellent way of salvation for all; and he persuaded many to despise the present life, and to run toward heaven, D where our citizenship is said and believed to be by those who are wise. Such then was his life, and he held accurately to the apostolic and patristic doctrines. And the whole world was then enjoying a pure and sincere religion, and nothing at all of the enemy's tares was sprouting up within it. But when the malignant one had already for a long time seen these things flourishing, and the church being filled with pure tranquility, as though he had been afflicted with a great injury, he could in no way endure it, but most craftily he strove to attack piety.
For he knew that it was difficult and arduous for him to persuade the Christians to deny the divine incarnation of Christ, which had already for a long time been established among them. And concerning that which the divine David says, *extending its branches unto the sea, and its shoots unto the rivers; and its shadow covered the mountains, and its boughs the cedars of God* — knowing this, like a wild boar from the forest and a savage beast, he attempted to ravage it in another way, one which would lead to almost the same disaster; and through the denial of the venerable icons, he contrived a denial also of the Economy, if indeed it is necessary that what belongs to the icon should pass over to the prototype. B
IV. And stealing stealthily into the heart of him who then happened to hold the rule—I mean Constantine, the wicked and evilly named, who in his disposition toward religion was the opposite of the Constantine who was his namesake and the first planter of piety—he persuaded him that it was not lawful for Christians, and for him himself to think so, and for those under his hand to decree, that the truly holy icons should be honored. He claimed this was the worship of the Greeks, and by so thinking and designating them, he was acting wrongly, and most dangerously, and foolishly. For he was doing that which is said by the ancients, mixing things that cannot be mixed. For if the prototype is impious, its image is equally profane to those who wish to be pious; but where the prototype is to be adored and venerated, the icon of it is consequently also worthy of all honor. C
V. Thus, then, having been taught by the evil spirit, he commanded that this monstrous edict should proceed throughout all the earth under heaven and pass to the ends of the earth, threatening with harshness every kind of punishment against every race and every age, if anyone proved not obedient to his excellent decree, and did not receive it most readily, but appeared to honor any of the divine characters even in mere word. For those who happen to hold the rule are harsh and absurd punishers, and possess no forgiveness when they find someone disobeying what has been ordered by them, especially when the command seems to be for the benefit of many. These men grow angry, not because they care for what is of common advantage, but because they are satisfying their own arrogance. D By reason, therefore, of these harsh and grievous threats, it was possible then to see cities become solitudes; and cities, though deserted, yet becoming full because of the multitude of those who came into those solitudes. The prisons were cramped and filled, not with thieves, O the pain, not with robbers, not with other such evildoers, but with men who were lovers of God and who feared the Lord, whose all-night vigils,
A and the sweat shed for God's sake, and the nocturnal tears, and those whom Jerusalem the free city called, were to be honored as guests within her.
VI. When, therefore, so great and grave a war had been stirred up, and many had immediately yielded to the times, speaking in an altogether slavish and ignoble manner, this blessed Andrew, unable to endure this new mode of captivity, nor deigning to disregard the pious souls miserably deprived of the heavenly city, but judging it an opportune time to display with a great and exalted spirit the zeal he had long been laboring with for piety’s sake, left behind the land, the fatherland, and the soil that had nurtured him, and came straight to Byzantium, like some brave and noble athlete who had sufficiently labored in his training and had recently descended into the stadium. And reckoning neither the fear of magistrates nor any other of the hardships, he came into their midst, freely refuted the evil sect of the emperor and of those under his hand, and taught and established the honor owed to divine images. Thus, he said, God ought to be worshipped; thus ought the icons to be venerated. From there, he claimed, he had come to destroy the snares B wickedly contrived by the devil, and to bring those who had betrayed their own salvation to repentance, encouraging them to fight again, and to fortify and make secure those who remained standing with entreaties, exhortations, and counsel.
VII. When he was preaching these things publicly, and the noble man was not abating one whit from his freedom of speech, these things became known to the emperor. And indeed, before the city, in the place called the basilica of the martyr Mamas, he had sat down with his accustomed arrogance; and, having put on great pride from that theatrical display, and great glory from that fawning retinue, he could not even endure to look at those who hated him, but he looked grimly and fiercely at the orthodox, and, no less mildly C than a wild beast, he was borne against them. And some he was most cruelly flaying with ox-hide scourges, and others he was handing over to fire and other tortures; and of many he was even gouging out their very eyes and tongues, so that the former might not see the nobility of spirit of other athletes, nor receive from this a great solace for endurance; and, this being taken away, they might not be able to excite others to the contest, nor offer them as it were a hand through counsel and persuasion. To others, because of his excess of wrath and savagery, he removed both hands and feet. This blessed Andrew, being wounded in his soul, and breathing forth virtue and greatness of spirit for the sake of the Lord, D having prayed a prayer for himself from the middle of his heart, and having repeatedly said, "Lord, save; Lord, direct," he threw himself into the middle of
A the dangers. Cutting through the crowd of those standing about, and escaping the notice of those who were driving people away, he came into the sight of the emperor. "Why," he said, "O emperor, if you are a Christian, do you contrive such evils against the image of Christ and His servants?" But he, not enduring this freedom of speech, and considering the matter to be an open insult, immediately cut the brave man short as he was speaking, and ordered those standing by to seize him. These men, rushing upon him with murderous intent and heavy hands, some seizing him by the head, others by the hands, and others still by the shoulder-piece and the tunic with the utmost insolence—and all to gratify him who had commanded it—cast to the ground one who was lofty in his thinking; and they did not cease dragging him until the emperor himself, having sated his vengeance upon the athlete’s boldness and wishing to appear, forsooth, a man of philanthropy, ordered him to be released.
VIII. B Having caused him to be brought very close and placed upright, so that having first terrified him with cruelty, he might then entice him with gentleness, he said, "Whence have you such audacity and ignorance as to oppose the commands of an emperor, and to speak so untimely, and without reason, with such freedom to his very face? But it seems you have taken this path wishing in some way to become known to us. Your will, therefore, has been brought to effect, and your aim will succeed for you rightly, provided you agree with our opinion and acknowledge the religion which is held to be most correct. For then all things will turn out according to your wishes." C To these things the admirable Andrew said, "It was not moved by audacity, nor by ignorance, O emperor, nor to become known to you and your power that I came here. For what business have I with your affairs? And similarly I can say the same concerning those things of the world, by which I have long since been disdained as if they were a dream; for quiet is the only thing acceptable, and to dwell alone with God. But after I learned that you hold views alien to the Orthodox faith, and that you deprive Christians of the honor which is due to divine images—and in this way disturb those who obey your rule, and disturb the Church as well—I could not endure this injustice. But, having left my country and my kin, and having crossed such a sea, I come, my heart burning with great zeal, to either free you from this error or to lay down my own soul for my Christ; who, although He was Lord, laid down His own life for me and for His own image." The emperor D said, "You have come, surely, intent upon a great vision and imagining in your mind that you might lead the emperor himself, and all the magistrates, and all the venerable, gray-headed men of pontifical dignity—however great it may be—to that which seems right to you? But let us put aside long-winded speech; listen to me, who advise what is fitting, and emerging from this profound
A heaviness, yield to what our authority ordains, and be content yourself to follow the common judgment. If, however, not so, experience will certainly teach you what an evil is a lack of counsel and conceit, and for one to stand by his own judgment and act arrogantly toward emperors.
IX. The martyr heard these things, and looking toward the heavens: "I will not deny you," he said, "Christ, Saviour; I will not deprive you of my beautiful confession; I will not hold your image in contempt; I will not, as far as it concerns me, overlook it suffering injury. Let my body be flayed, O emperor; let my tongue be cut out; let my feet, with which we B did not walk well, be hacked off; for I am prepared to suffer everything rather than discard, even to its shadow, my Christ, whom I hold above all things, and whom I have long ago chosen to follow alone."
To these words the tyrant said: "What is this great folly and callousness, to attach the glory of the incorruptible and immaterial God to perishable and decayed matter? Did you not even hear what is forbidden by the lawgiver Moses, who says: 'You shall not make any likeness'? Whence, therefore, has this irrational disease attacked your mind, and caused you not only to resist so ignorantly, but even to cast yourselves into danger? But understand that you will suffer these extreme things not for the sake of truth, nor for Christ, but for this irrational audacity alone."
At this point, the noble man, not enduring the affront C of the blasphemous tongue, but regarding the patient toleration of the insult to the sacred image as a betrayal of the Good: "Accursed head," he said, "does it not seem to you that he who suffers for Christ's form suffers for Christ? Or do you not believe that the ignominy with which the image is affected passes to the archetype? And yet, how is it that you often visit with the ultimate punishments those who have insulted imperial statues, as if they had acted insolently against you yourselves? Those statues, I know, even if they are bronze or gold on the outside, are filled within with pitch, D and tow, and wood, and other vile and cheap material. If you, who are dust today and will not be tomorrow, wish to be honored through statues and images, to be adored almost as gods, and to punish most bitterly those who have sinned against imperial statues, do you not deem it an insult to the archetype itself to dare anything against the sacred image of Christ? Nor do you judge those who are prepared to suffer everything for Him to be entering into danger for the sake of the truth?"
Then, when the martyr had already said these things, and wished to explain concerning Moses, whose likeness he had commanded not to be made, and how he himself had modeled the Seraphim, when even that archetype was incorporeal—the emperor cut off his speech: "It is time to"
instruct those who stand around to make him temperate and to compensate him for that rash tongue. For if those who insult the royal statues, as he himself says, undergo bitter and inexorable punishment, what punishment should he suffer who has so impudently and boldly cast his foul tongue against us, in order to pay the price he deserves?"
So he spoke; and looking immediately at the martyr with an angry face, and waving his hand according to custom, and shouting loudly, he ordered him to be stripped, and then to be stretched out with ropes and severely scourged.
B X. He, however, did not show even then a base or fainthearted spirit toward the sentence, nor did the blows and scourges already expected blunt his zeal; rather, they rendered it greater and more fervent, as if it were kindled by the spirit to irrational impulses and by the threats of the ruler. The emperor, therefore, seeing the brave man in such a state, and one who was not at all timid—but, rather, more ready to endure the scourges than to abandon his line of reasoning—and fearing that if the saint were to make trial of the torture, he might become more steadfast in his confession and could not be swayed, just as the more spirited animals do after being struck; therefore, putting on a mask of benevolence, he said, looking at the martyr: "Before you make trial of the tortures, yield to our decree and be delivered from the evils that await you."
But the martyr of Christ, raising his eyes to his own judge—both the eyes of his body and those of his soul—and having prayed for firm and unchangeable veneration for the divine icons within himself, then looked down and cast his eyes slightly upon the tyrant: "O emperor," he said, "having abandoned the wars against the barbarians and the administration of civil affairs, I see that you have openly set your whole zeal against Christ and His servants; and doing these things, do you think you can hold in peace the scepters of the Roman empire? Do you not even fear the judgment of the Lord, nor do you anticipate Him as the examiner of your actions?"
C XI. Here, the feigned gentleness of the emperor was exposed, and his hypocrisy was revealed; for, with his usual ferocity unmasked, the martyr was most violently beaten with ox-hide cords. Those, however, who stood around, wishing to satisfy the emperor's anger—some of whom were commanded to strike—dealt the blows with such cruelty that streams of blood flowed from that precious body, and the ground underneath was stained deep red. Others, drawing their swords, rushed to kill the athlete.
XII. Many also cast stones at him and insulted him in every way—not him, but themselves;
A for those wretches, while hastening thus to ingratiate themselves with a temporal king, were utterly ignorant how far they were distancing themselves from God by doing these things, and what sort of joy they were miserably storing up for that man in the time of judgment, and what tears and sorrows for themselves. But the emperor was leaving no stone unturned, that he might have the saint in his power. For I know not how it is that, although he was unwise, yet he was not ignorant—behaving himself wisely in this matter—that if he were to gain him, he would immediately capture many other orthodox believers, they following him as a body follows its head and its members. Knowing this, he ordered him to be released once more from scourging, and attempted again to approach the saint under the pretext of persuasion and benevolence. Having therefore ordered him to be brought near, and having softened his speech more than oil—though it was truly an arrow sharpened and a sword whetted against the pious—when he saw that the man was not enticed in the slightest by his flatteries, but was rather rebuking his madness with even greater boldness, he cast off his fleece and was a manifest wolf; and he ordered the martyr’s jaws to be shattered with stones, B giving these in exchange for the words by which his heart had been so severely pierced. But the other was truly a second Stephen, rendering prayers for those who were doing him injury.
XIII. Then the emperor sent the martyr back to prison as if he were a condemned criminal; but he was unaware that he was sending a very ready teacher to the Christians who dwelt therein. For he himself also rejoiced, according to Paul, in the sufferings and afflictions for Christ, and gave great thanks to the benevolent God, that he was considered worthy to suffer scourging and imprisonment for His name. Wherefore, he greatly instructed and confirmed those who were present by the things he said, and by the fact that he bore the painful and harsh things with thanksgiving. And though his body was fettered in the custody, his soul, even before its departure C from thence, was already intelligently perceiving the heavenly things by vision, so that he was almost ready to reproach the tyrant for not setting him free more quickly from the weight of the flesh and from his natural bonds; for his body was to him a prison, restraining his soul and partitioning it off with its own covering from the tabernacles that were destined to receive it, and from the ineffable blessedness that is there.
XIV. Not many days passed in the interval before the emperor again summoned the athlete from the prison, thinking that his spirit had perhaps been broken for what was to come by the fear of what had been expected and by the pain of the evils that had occurred, and that he would be much softer and more cowardly. But when he saw the saint standing before him even more courageous, and breathing even more ardently with love for Christ, he stripped him of his vestments, and again ordered the executioners to stand by him, and to beat him vehemently with scourges, still D
A bearing on every limb the clear traces of his previous wounds. But they continued to lacerate his flesh and tear open his sides, and they stripped away most of his flesh; yet not even thus were they able to steal the treasure of his faith. When, therefore, the tyrant saw that all things were done by him in vain and to no purpose, and he was now altogether at a loss and perplexed at his own admitted defeat, he came finally to judge him to death. He orders that his blessed feet be tied with ropes B and that he be dragged along the ground through the entire main street; then, having led him to the place of the evildoers, he commanded him to be cast there—he, who was worthy of Eden, of the tabernacles on high, and of the heavens themselves.
XV. As the martyr was running this course of combat, and was being dragged along the ground through the midst of the city across the crowded marketplace, a certain man who had just caught some small fish from the sea, and was offering them for sale in the market, was seated on a chair of pestilence. When he saw him being dragged so shamefully, and had learned what the cause was, he immediately sprang up as if moved by some evil C demon; and, having snatched a butcher's knife from nearby, he struck down into the middle of the holy body's foot and cut it off. He thus brought the martyr’s race of combat to a halt, and put an end to his long struggles for Christ. For at the immediate amputation of the foot, the most noble man also departed this life—or rather, he ran to heaven and ascended to Him who made his way blameless, and who set his feet as the feet of a deer and placed him on the heights.
XVI. This is the race of the champion; this is the stadium of his struggles upon earth; such was the courage of his soul; such were his contests. As for that unexhausted treasure, I mean the body of the martyr, those who D were dragging it through the midst of the marketplace, having already brought it into a state of death, cast it aside at the place of the evildoers. And it remained there for a long time, lying in a vile and shameful place, this which was worthy of every safeguard, abandoned to be devoured by wild beasts and birds, so that upon him might again be fulfilled that which David says: "They have given the dead bodies of thy servants to be meat for the fowls of the air, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth. Their blood they have shed like water." And this was indeed consistent for them, and "there was none to bury them." Until He who gave him help in the weakness of his flesh, so that he might struggle well and not fall away from the crowns of glory, He himself also provided for pious souls that they should not be deprived of such a treasure—I mean that fine and holy body. He did not, therefore, allow it to remain hidden forever, but clearly made it manifest. And He did it in this way: twelve men, upon whom demons—which had long been evil—had leaped, coming one from one place and another from another, in order that his
A inclination of the spirit dwelling within each might drive him; they came together all at once to the same place, and having chosen the communion of the affliction, and the communion of that wandering and delusion, and having crossed much land, suddenly, as if drawn by a single soul, they arrived at the place of the evildoers, where the martyr's body had been cast. And they called upon the saint with indistinct cries. And indeed, digging up the earth with their hands, and altogether eager for his manifestation, they encountered a heap of bodies; and passing over the others—O, the miracle!—they immediately recognized Him who was calling them, and they took up the martyr's body, for the grace that descended upon it, and perhaps also for the great fragrance, was invisibly drawing the men to itself. B But it immediately obtained the appropriate adornment, and by desiring hands it was sacrosanctly deposited in a sacred place. The name of the place is Crisis. And those who were troubled by the demons subsequently obtained healing, and returned home with great joy, receiving their cure as if it were a wage for their discovery.
XVII. And now, from that time, this is for us an everlasting treasure, and a sure consolation for the evils that ever overtake us. For whether someone is oppressed by disease, or is afflicted by injury, or is held by any other adversity, he shall lay down everything if he approaches there with faith, and shall enjoy C more abundant grace, through the kindness and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom belongs all glory, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
COMMENTARY ON LUKE THE HOLY APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST
A I. If a certain divine and wise man has established by divine law that the memory of the just should be celebrated with encomia, how much praise is it appropriate for us to offer to the apostle of Christ? For justice has made this man worthy of the apostolate, and has caused him to be especially beloved by Paul. But since he has found his praise in the Gospel, we shall bid farewell to the laws of encomia and relate whatever it is necessary to tell about him in the manner of a history.
B II. Who is ignorant of the city of Antioch, its position and magnitude, and the boundaries it possesses? Or what kind of city it is, how much land it occupies, and by what river it is watered? This is the Orontes, where man was first enriched with the title of Christian; and from this city divine Luke emerged. He possessed a noble and ambitious nature (as is evident from the fact that his life proved most diligent, and his discourse was most in harmony with his life). Having devoted himself from childhood to every kind of discipline, and having been instructed to the highest degree in the Syrian and Hebrew tongues, like a tree planted by the springs, already flourishing and grown, he progressed in a marvelous way in the study of the divine Scriptures.
Approaching youth, he frequented the schools that were then in Greece and Egypt, and he gathered the most beautiful education among the Greeks. He attained complete mastery of grammar and poetics, and reached the summit of rhetoric and the art of speaking well, nor yielding to any other in the dignities of philosophy, but using logic as a step toward ethics, and ethics as a step toward the practical life. Thus, devoted to all good things, he finally perfected the most excellent and humane art of medicine, and to such an extent that for the most part, even by this
he was designated and known. A Since he surpassed all arts with the speed and greatness of his genius—more swiftly than a bird passes through the air—and had attained sufficient human learning, he passed on to a higher and better state.
III. But what was the mode of this transition? He who was free from sin, who had come to call sinners to repentance, was indeed having discussions and meetings regarding the salvation of the world, and this after his struggle against the adversary and the trophies won over him, and after the testimony of the Father heard from above and the descent of the Spirit. B The report spread through all Judæa and Galilee, and in some places even beyond the borders the things belonging to the evangelical preaching followed. Many, indeed, blocked the ears of their hearts and closed the eyes of their minds against this true doctrine, as they were not worthy to receive the word of life nor to see the true light. But those in whom a trace of truth had been impressed, and who held the condition and proportion of good soil, looked with their whole eye (as they say), and kept the ears of their soul attentive to the listening, and were most swiftly transferred to the truth, and left nothing undone that was proper to do so that they might attain to such a good, and receive the assurance into their very soul, naked and bare. One of these was this admirable herald of truth and teacher. Who, having been illumined by the eye of the mind toward the pious preaching, despises all kinship, despises also the entrails of nature, C throws away money, possessions, and every substance, as if it were the dust of the feet and the filth of the hands; no one was ever so ready to throw it away, nor was he even detained by this very thing, through haste, so as to distribute his wealth to the needy. And to speak briefly, having despised all inferior things, he quickly embraces those above, and approaches Judæa, and goes to him whom he desired, and straightway at the sight and the words of Jesus, he becomes a splendid receptacle for the precious ointment of grace. Nor did he have need of frequent words and miracles for the knowledge of him; but by as much as he excelled others in doctrine and prudence and dexterity of soul, by so much the more swiftly did he recognize both the truth itself purely and the preached word. D From this time he becomes a genuine disciple of Christ, and being frequently with the Teacher, and having followed his signs and wonders, he is not even absent during his saving afflictions. And just as he was present at them all, so truly was he also a spectator of the resurrection.
IV. For when the Lord, after the resurrection, stood by Cleopas as he was journeying to the field of Emmaus (O that awesome presence!), he reproaches the slowness and the incredulity of their heart, and by the interpretations of the Scriptures confirms his own passion and the great mystery of the resurrection.
A Yet what was the cultivation of this divine discourse? The divine fire already shines in their souls, and as the day was just declining, they compelled the Lord to remain with them. He, however, wishing to instill in them a greater knowledge of God, not only walked with them in a common way, but even reclined at the table; and by that breaking of bread, he—the same who had been dead for three days—was more precisely recognized, after which he vanished, their perception failing to grasp it, having thus wrought in them a firmer conviction of the resurrection of the dead.
B V. Furthermore, following the Savior’s assumption into heaven and the descent of the all-holy Spirit from there, having associated with the twelve apostles and having been filled with the same grace and power, he is designated a teacher of the Gentiles, theologizing the mystery of the dispensation, and guiding many from error to the knowledge of Him who created them, and perfecting them with baptism. For this divine Luke ran everywhere, scattering the proclamation, and with the net of his words brought the majority from the depth of ignorance to God, suffering for the Gospel, entering into discourse with the most wicked of the Greeks, and enduring many hardships on land, on sea, and in cities. The desert was called his friendly soil, provided he could find in it any to bring to God and transfer to piety.
C VI. But when Paul also had been destined to ascend to heavenly things, to see and to preach the truth clearly, having cast off the darkness of error and consented to piety, and having been numbered in the choir of the disciples, Luke becomes his constant fellow-traveler and companion in peregrination, longing for the struggles on behalf of piety, and for this reason, he joined himself to such a soldier, even suffering alongside him as a criminal even unto bonds, and sending forth the rays of the knowledge of God to the ends [of the earth], having thus been fitted to him and rendered familiar, and having become in all things pleasing to him, so that Paul, in writing to the faithful, frequently calls Luke his beloved. D He who, from Jerusalem and in the circuit as far as Illyricum, filled the Gospel together with him, and was bound with him from Judea even to Rome, has participated in the same toils, the same afflictions, the same shipwrecks, desiring to be proved an absolute participant also in the crowns to be received for such labors. Thus, therefore, having lavishly traded together with Paul with the talent of the proclamation, and having brought over and netted so many nations to piety, the disciple who truly loves and is loved by the teacher of the whole dispensation is shown to be a sacred writer and at the same time an Evangelist, D inasmuch as he had followed it from before, and had learned these things from those who were ministers from the beginning, or even had been instructed in sacred things from above. For this Evangelist set forth the mystery of Gabriel, the paranymph, brought to the Virgin, who had announced the common joy to the world. He also clearly depicted the birth of Christ, as if just
A revealing it, and the swaddling clothes, and the shepherds, and the angels who were the heralds of joy. He set forth those doctrines and opinions which surpass every mind, manifesting them at the same time with a love of truth and of honor, blending the straight-forwardness of his speech with the truth of the events, so that he might display the virtue of his mind simultaneously with his tongue. He also wove together saving doctrines in parables, and in this he was more abundant than others. And to speak briefly, just as he clearly made known the descent of the Word to the earth, so also he explained his ascent into the heavens and his return to the paternal throne, B as one who had come from heaven. And what is most pleasing of all among these other things is that he was the first to color with wax and outlines the very type of the assumed humanity of my Christ, as well as the emblem of her who gave birth to him and provided that assumed humanity, so that even until these times they might be honored in an image. He handed this down, as though he did not consider it enough that he should not also dwell in image and type with those whom he loved—which is a token of the most fervent love. Nor this alone, but he also graciously bestowed those things which were greatest to all the faithful and to those who love Christ.
VII. But Luke did not confine the grace of the Spirit that was in him to these things alone, nor did he possess a tongue that served for the Gospel alone; C but after the conclusion of Christ's miracles, he also sets forth the actions of the apostles: and first, the divine assumption of the Savior into heaven, then the descent of the Spirit upon them in tongues of fire; and then in this way, the stoning of Stephen, the conversion of Paul—I mean the calling by Christ from the heavens, and the transition from the letter to the spirit; the bonds of this man in individual places, the prisons, the blows, the scourgings, the various plots of the nations; how he arrived from Jerusalem at Rome, the labors on the sea, the afflictions, the dangers, the calamities, the shipwrecks—of which he was not only a spectator, but also a participant; and for this reason, he is a thorough narrator of these things. But leaving Paul at Rome, he departs again toward the East, and having traversed the whole of Libya, he arrives in Egypt; and when he had brought Upper Thebaid into his own teaching, and had led it to the Master through the Gospel, he approaches the Lower Thebaid, the city of seven gates, D in which he is also appointed pontiff and pastor by the Spirit. Having cast down to the ground the statues and impure shrines of the demons (for this was his zeal, to demonstrate that error was fleeing on all feet, as they say), he erects sacred temples to God alone, and for those who were held in the deep darkness of ignorance, having regenerated them through the Gospel to the knowledge of God, he prepares them to become children of light.
VIII. Having therefore offered such fruits to the Master, having removed impiety from the midst, having erected temples, having established and consecrated altars, and having appointed presbyters and deacons among the believers in these places, and having delivered to them the definition of the right faith; and now indeed from the
Old Testament drawing testimonies, and now from that Gospel which he himself had composed, interpreting to them the things concerning Christ, and showing how the Old Testament altogether agrees with the New, and that it is one and the same God who established both the one and the other, full of days, he now A departs in peace to the God of peace, leaving the dust to the dust, and having commended his soul into the hands of Him who gave it; passing over to the place where the land of the living is, where there is the sound of those celebrating, where is the dwelling place of all who rejoice.
IX. Such are the narrations of the labors of the apostle for piety, and this was the end for him of the toils suffered for Christ, the sheaves of which he now even reaps in gladness, so that he can also say with Paul: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.” * Furthermore, I think it consequent to these things to mention also whence, and how, and in what times the holy relic of him, having been brought back from Achaia as a divine treasure, was rendered to the bright and royal city.
X. Constantius, the son of Constantine the Great, and the third of the brothers in age, was once passing from Sirmium to the Ister B. And having encamped on this very bank of the Ister for no short time, he heard that the Barbarians who were beyond the Ister were about to wage war against the Roman empire. And he, fearing lest they should do some evil to his principality, rode off at once toward Thrace and Byzantium. And when he reached the region of the Odrysians, where the Roman emperor Adrian had built a city and given his own name to the place, a certain bishop approached him C as if bringing a most pleasing gift, indicating that the bodies of the disciples of Christ, Andrew and Luke, were buried in Achaia.
He rejoiced at the news, and Artemius, whom he greatly utilized and whom he knew to be a fervent lover of charity towards Christ (the struggle and danger for Christ in the times of Julian bear witness to the divine love of this man for the Lord)—this friend Artemius, then, who breathed so much zeal for piety, he immediately sends for the translation of the precious bodies. For this Constantius D was also moderate in other respects, and mild and modest in his character, and greatly occupied with love for the building of churches. Hence, he also builds a most great temple from the very foundations in his father’s city, around the latter’s tomb, as if rendering honor to his father. And in this, when Artemius had brought back the relics of the sacred apostles from Achaia, he deposited them in the divine sanctuary of the holy table; Andrew’s body having been transferred from the city of Patrae, and Luke’s from Thebes in Boeotia. And in a short time
he brought from Ephesus in Ionia Timothy, who had shone forth in the choir of Christ’s disciples like some brilliant star, having again employed Artemius as his minister for this purpose. A But the divine sanctuary of the holy table also received him, as if a debt were being paid to his co-workers in piety. And such was the translation of Timothy’s body.
XI. Furthermore, regarding the translation of the divine Luke, such a miracle is told, worthy of speech and memory: An Anatolius, a eunuch who was one of those in the imperial bedchamber at that time, was held fast by a grievous bodily ailment. As he knew the sickness to be greater than could be cured by the art of physicians, and he knew well that what is impossible with men is possible with God, leaving all others he took refuge in the disciple of Christ, Luke, and used him as a helper against his disease. For when the urn which contained his precious corpse was already being carried to the holy temple, which Constantius had raised from its foundations, this aforementioned Anatolius came up and helped those carrying it to bear the weight, and straightway he was delivered from the pressing B affliction. And he who had been delivered from death, having obtained such a benefit, did not cease throughout his whole life to give thanks to the apostle and to God, who through him wrought such miracles.
XII. Thus, therefore, the body of the most divine Luke, having been initially translated from Thebes, was deposited very honorably and magnificently in the temple built by Constantius, along with—I say—Andrew and Timothy; and many works of faith and of the fervent desire of Constantius were demonstrated concerning the deposition of the holy relics, even if he was later ensnared for a little while by the traps of the wicked one (O wretched fall! Alas, for the turbulent overthrow!) and drank in the dogma of the Arians. But a long time C afterwards, Justinian, having taken up the scepter of the empire, dealt much more generously with these holy bodies of the apostles, and, having enclosed them in a silver casket, deposited them by the very divine altar itself, in a very God-beloved manner—the precious, I say, in a precious reliquary. And indeed, the casket serves as the table of the holy altar, and this temple is called by the common name of the Apostles. All the faithful who assemble there praise him as a disciple, acclaim him as an evangelist, and count him blessed as one who always shared in the holy sweat and labors of the divine Paul; and, participating in the sanctification from there, they are filled with spiritual joy through the grace and philanthropy of our Lord Jesus Christ, D to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
MARTYRDOM OF ST. VARUS AND HIS COMPANIONS
A I. When the tyrant Maximian had issued an impious edict throughout almost the entire world, and had sent it also to the governors who were in Egypt, that either all the Christians existing therein should taste of the execrable sacrifices and abjure their own faith, or else be deprived of life by various torments and tortures; and when for this reason many of the faithful had been seized, and some had gloriously sustained death for Christ, while others had been cast into prisons and chains and were being oppressed by hunger and thirst: there was a certain man from the rank of the Egyptian soldiers, who was of great value indeed to Maximian, and to the army itself, and was no less terrible to the enemies. His name was Varus; in lineage he was illustrious, in glory conspicuous, and by his virtue, renowned. He, entering the prison secretly by night, would partly care for those who were in chains, and partly beseech them to pray for him, so that he might run the same race as they. For he still feared to disclose his religion, because the satellites of impiety breathed slaughter and madness against the pious, and whomsoever they caught as Christians, some they would deliver to fire, others to the sea, and yet others to various other tortures and to death.
II. When, therefore, it was announced to the governor that certain of the faithful who lived in the wilderness had been seized by the ministers of impiety, he, rejoicing at the report, ordered them to be locked up for the time being in safe custody, and that the instruments of torture should be prepared for the following day, so that they might be brought in for examination. When the matter had thus reached the ears of the blessed Varus, having given money to those who were in charge of the custody, he entered to the men by night, and released them from their bonds, and removed their feet from the stocks. And when he had cared for them and had seen to it that they partook of food—for they had remained fasting for eight whole days—he fell to the ground and besought them, saying: "I entreat you, O genuine and sincere servants of Christ, to supplicate God for me, that He may deem me worthy of the same portion as yourselves, and may grant me fortitude against my trials and hardships. For I too am a slave of Christ, and his sancto-
- A ry of Christ and of His saints; but the varied and harsh nature of the tortures, and the cruelty of the judges, deter me and fill me with cowardice, even while I wish to bring myself forward into their midst. Pray, therefore, for me, holy martyrs, pray; for tomorrow you shall be perfected in the Lord. To this the saints replied: "No one, brother Varus, can reap in exultation, unless he has first cast the seeds in tears, and endured the labors involved in scattering them. Similarly, an athlete is not crowned unless he has first contended lawfully. Come then, brother, be our companion on the journey, and a perfect soldier of Christ. For we have that very One for whom we undergo these tortures graciously defending us from above, and invisibly providing us with great help." As the saints were speaking these things, some of the soldiers who had been ordered to lead them to the governor arrived. When they saw the blessed Varus lying at the feet of the martyrs, they were as if struck with amazement at the novel spectacle, and therefore, using words they deemed kind, they said to him: "Are you mad, man? Do you not fear at all that, if this matter becomes known to the governor, you will lose not only your military rank but your life as well?" To them the blessed man said: "Would that I might be found a perfect Christian, and be permitted to be a companion in contest and a fellow-dweller in the same tent with these saints. For friendship persuades me to trust in you, and to have no suspicion of what is said or done here."
B III. These things having been said, the soldiers led away the holy martyrs, who were six in number (for although there were seven in all, one had already died in the desert), bound in chains to the governor. He was sitting on a high tribunal, and a multitude of soldiers surrounded him, entirely dependent on his words and nod. Having ordered the saints to be brought out stripped, he immediately asked: "Of what lineage are you, and what is your status, and what are your names?" And he demanded an answer from them with haste. "For I swear to you," he said, "by the paramount power and justice of the gods, that I will set you still living before wild beasts and dogs to be devoured." But the saints, in no way daunted by either the arrogance of his demeanor or the harshness of his words, said: "To us, O judge, there is no fatherland on earth; for we are strangers and sojourners. For a true fatherland and city has been built for Christians in the heavens. Believe us that this is so. But we care little for your threats; nay, we even pray that your threats may not end in mere words, but that they may be carried into effect. For thus will our longing for Christ be made manifest, and you too shall surely know what manner of aid we obtain from Him." When the saints had said these things, the tyrant, turning to his assessors, said: "I see that these miserable wretches are meditating C one and the same thing, as if by agreement. Let whips, therefore, be prepared, and let them receive blows in abundance." And when they were beaten violently, yet answered nothing, the judge added his interrogation,
A saying: "Where is that seventh man of yours who is sought after above all others?" Upon these words being spoken, the most noble Varus instantly rushed forward from the crowd, and standing in the midst, said to the governor: "He departed this life long ago, and appointed me his heir. If, therefore, there is any debt owed by him, I am here to pay it."
IV. The governor heard this, and became wholly possessed by rage; he asked, "Who is this, and from what legion does he come? Let his rank be declared." And he answered: "I am a soldier of the legion from Tyana, and one of the distinguished class." The governor, struck by this, said: "What evil demon has compelled you to thrust yourself into such manifest danger, as to hold for naught the dignity of the illustrious military service you enjoy, the grain rations provided by it, and to involve your own soul in such great evils?" But the blessed Varus replied: "I have preferred the bread that comes down from heaven and the divine chalice of the precious blood of my Lord Christ to your honors and stipends; I have preferred the glory that remains B forever to that which passes away, and life that never ends to that which is subject to destruction and lasts only for a short time." Then the judge, revealing by his distress how perturbed he was in his soul, looked at the saints, and said with much agitation and bitterness: "May the power of the greatest gods be my witness, I shall take away your lives in the midst of torments before I let you deprive me of such a soldier. For this shall be your doing, and no one else's." But the martyrs, making nothing of his words, said: "Wait a little, O judge, and you shall behold what the arms of this present warfare are. For we have brought the man to the order of the angels." Upon this being said, that vain and foolish man attempted to persuade C the saints to assent to impiety and offer sacrifice to empty things. They, however, not even lending an ear to his words, replied: "Let the gods who did not make heaven and earth perish." After them, the blessed Varus, inflaming the judge’s anger still more, said: "Why do you cause trouble for the saints, saying foolish and useless things? 'For the fool will speak foolish things.' Isaiah the great says this to you, and not I; and this even though you are unable to look them in the face or even engage in discourse with them at all."
V. Having heard these things, he could no longer restrain himself; filled with greater rage, he ordered Varus to be lifted up on the wood. D As for the saints, he said: "If I am overcome by your steadfastness, I shall utterly renounce the worship of the gods." So powerful and sharp is the truth, which often convicts the infirmity of a soul that cannot bear its freedom. But the martyrs of Christ said: "Test your power, then, upon this brother of ours; and if you happen to be superior to him, as you hope, perhaps you may succeed in our case as well." To this, the judge, having threatened the saints with the most grievous things, ordered the martyr to be led into the stocks, and, as if judging he were not sufficiently [daunted by the wood]...
this punishment, he ordered him to be stretched on the ground with raw-hide thongs and scourged, and then to be dragged by four men to be crushed and broken by heavy clubs. The athlete, bearing these terrible things with a brave and noble spirit, turned to the saints while all were listening and said: "Bless your servant, holy fathers, bless him. Pray that strength may be confirmed in me by the Lord, and that His right hand may uphold me. For He Himself knows human frailty, He who deigned to bear it Himself, having said: 'The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak' (Matt. xxvi, 41)." The saints, having lifted their eyes to heaven, said: "God, the God of hosts, He Himself will send you power from on high and will place upon your head the helmet of salvation, and will clothe you in the garments of vengeance. His hand will help you, and His arm will prevail, and may He grant you brilliant victories against the adversary. 'Arise therefore, arise, put on the strength of your arm' (Isa. li, 9)," B being taught this by the divine Scripture, and knowing what kind of helper attends us from on high, and what enjoyment of good things awaits those who have chosen to suffer these things for His sake. The martyr of Christ, meanwhile, while he was being beaten, and feeling in some way the hand of help from heaven on high, said to the saints in the exultation of his soul: "Let no sadness enter your hearts on my account. For behold, your prayer, which prevailed with God, has made the rough nature of the torments smooth, and has transformed the painful into relief, so much so that I do not even feel the blows."
VI. After these things, the tyrant attempted to persuade him again, and tried to draw the athlete toward renunciation, promising him good things, and attributing the blame for these very torments which he had suffered, not to himself, but to the other martyrs of Christ. But when he saw the holy man mocking his cunning inventions C and sophistry even more, he was inflamed with yet greater anger and ordered Varus again to be suspended on the wooden frame prepared for torture and to be torn with iron claws. And while the martyr's body was being flayed and many pieces of flesh fell to the ground, and the floor was stained with his blood, the good Varus was quiet as if suffering nothing; but the spirits of the saints were gravely affected, and their inner parts were torn because of their union of spirit. Unable to bear the cruelty of the judge, they said: "Why do you not understand, you who are more savage than the beasts themselves, that even stones and iron would have suffered as much by being struck so many times?" But he, even so, could not be softened, and in a way treated the matter with mockery: "Let your Christ," he said, "come and deliver him from my hands," the foolish man not knowing that being able to bear these things with a great and brave soul was a manifestation D that He was indeed present and delivering him, and that He was bestowing His dew as a medicine for his pains. But the blessed man, even while he was being torn, said: "May it not be my lot to be delivered from these transient torments, but from those which re-
remain; my Christ shall have delivered me, but He shall justly condemn you and your cruelty to such punishments."
B VII. Avenging this speech by his deeds, the judge thrust a razor into the martyr’s bowels, saying, "Let the accursed one see his own intestines pouring out before his eyes like water." But not even the bitterness of this torture could cause the martyr of Christ to yield anything in his suffering for Christ, nor to utter any unmanly word, nor to display anything great or small that might signify his surrender; rather, it kindled in him a greater love for Christ and, against the grave tortures, forced him to strike the judge with even graver responses. "For you indeed," he said, "O wicked minister of evil demons and enemy of men, who mightily oppose the good, you may perhaps be able to draw out my intestines, but the faith of my heart in Christ can never be taken from me." When the saints saw the martyr’s intestines being torn and thus scattered upon the ground, tenderly and miserably weeping, they invoked the aid of Christ, for whom he was suffering these things. When the judge cast his eyes upon them and saw their tears—the sign of human kindness, or rather of brotherly love—as though filled with a certain pleasure, he cried out aloud, "You are utterly conquered, you are conquered! And the proof is this great sorrow and these tears. For if your God," he said, "could grant to you this immortal life which you fable, for what reason would you mourn for your friend who is perishing so miserably?" But they said to him, "This drop of tears signifies natural compassion. For in our own judgment, we would never weep for a brother who ends his life by such a death; rather, we hold him to be blessed because of his end, and we call him happy, because by this torture, which is but for a time, he has gained the kingdom that lasts forever. Therefore, it is not for him, as we said, but rather for your own destruction that we weep, and for the grievous evils you are destined to inherit. For the law of Christ commands us to weep even for our enemies, by the law of love and kindness."
C VIII. Meanwhile, as these things were being said, the prison received the saints once more, until the judge should consider to what punishments he might deliver them. The blessed Varus was still hanging on high on the post—for so it had been commanded, that he remain until he should yield up his soul—and when he saw the saints being led under bonds and guards into the dungeon, he said with a loud voice: "Be of good courage, my fathers, be of good courage! I make nothing of the punishments being inflicted upon me; rather, commend me to my Christ and Savior, and I shall go confidently to Him, guarded by the shield of your prayers." When therefore he had borne himself bravely in this torture for five hours, he committed his spirit in peace to the God who gave it. But those who were in charge of the tortures, thinking him still alive, did not cease even after that, but like ravens they tortured him even after death. But when it was made known to them and to the tyrant that Varus was dead, they took down the corpse, and through
the middle of the city they dragged it, and delivered it to the dogs to be eaten. And Varus indeed found such a happy ending. A On the next day, the parricide brought forward the martyrs, and since he was not able to persuade them—for he wished and labored with all his might to be seen as a victor by persuading those who were so steadfast—after many and varied tortures, he condemned them to death by the sword. And indeed, the martyrs having been perfected with joy and eagerness, some Christians took up their holy relics by night and piously deposited them in a notable place.
IX. Now a certain woman from among those who had placed their hope in God alone, originating from the land of the Palestinians, Cleopatra by name—who was present nearby while the martyr Varus was contending, and was seeing those bitter torments which he underwent for Christ—was struck in her heart with a heavy blow, and was filled with grievous sorrow. B She besought the Divine, wasting herself away with fasting and prayer, to visit His inheritance for the reversal of their evils. She, I say, having taken her own child, who was in the first stage of life, along with others by night, and having reached the place where the body of the martyr was being cast, took it up, anointed it with costly spices, and clothed it in splendid garments. And since the wave of impiety against the Christians was vehement, and grave dangers were then hanging over their heads, fearing to display her piety openly, she dug out under her bed as much earth as was sufficient, and reverently placed him there, lighting a lamp and paying him honor with incense as she was able.
As time went on and the impiety of the idols withered, it came into her mind to leave the foreign region and return to her fatherland. C But since she could not transport the body of the martyr unless she first gave notice to the governor, having arranged all her affairs well, she approached the governor of the place through one of those who were enrolled in the number of advocates, and approaching the man with money, she asked that he grant her to carry away the dead body. Explaining what the body was and what the manner of death had been, she said that it was her husband, who had held the first ranks in the army and had often erected many renowned and conspicuous trophies against the enemies, having performed many feats against them strenuously and bravely, who had departed from this life, without having attained even the burial that was proper. D "This one's dead body," she said, "I am eager to transport to his own region now." The governor of the province therefore yields to the request and permits her to do what she asked. But she had previously delivered the body of her own husband, who had departed from the living in a foreign region long before, to a monument, having cast dust upon it.
X. When, therefore, she had taken up the martyr's body and had anointed it again, and had composed it more splendidly, and so that no Christian might be able to know of this, she had placed it in a chest of olive wood and hidden it (for at first she feared the madness of the heathens, afterwards
A however, and even more so the fervor of the pious, as all—as was fitting—were making it their most earnest business that the relics of those who had suffered for Christ should not be taken away; these people, therefore, being most eagerly occupied with these things, she arrives in Palestine). Having arrived there, at a certain village situated near Mount Tabor—the name of which was Edra—she deposited the divine body of the martyr, lighting lamps, burning many spices, and holding it in all honor. Seeing as a great multitude of people were coming to the chest (for it was already celebrated in everyone’s speech, and the scent of its graces quickly called all—both those who were suffering from some grave disease and those whom the operation of an evil spirit afflicted, for all indeed upon approaching the chest were immediately freed from those things that were bringing them distress), the martyr-loving woman thought it necessary to raise a venerable temple to the martyr. But while she was engaged in the construction, at great expense and with great zeal—what graces, with what sheer joy the hour shone upon her; being filled with joy, for the soul rejoices when taking care of a beautiful deed, partly B because the good is by nature innate so as to reconcile joy to those who perform it through the assurance of the conscience, and partly also because of the expected reward—she sends money to those holding authority, asking that they might deem her son worthy of the honor she sought from them; and immediately imperial letters were sent to her, granting the dignity to her son.
XI. She, however, puts the matter off for a time while laboring most diligently at the construction. But when the temple was finished and stood erected in honor of the martyr, she invites the bishops and presbyters of the province for the consecration of the temple. She also invites all the monks who were resplendent in their life of virtue. And having taken up the sacred body of the martyr from the chest, she deposited it magnificently upon a costly bed. She laid upon it the chlamys and the belt of the dignity which her son was about to don, wishing that they should first be blessed by those who had gathered there, and then that he should put on both. And so, when she had together with the whole populace performed a nocturnal glorification, both she and her son first approaching the body of the martyr, and bearing it, they sacredly place it in the holy altar of the temple. C After these things, however, Cleopatra, the lover of martyrs, ardently pressing forward and weeping, faithfully sought good things from the martyr for her son and for herself. In the meantime, the divine ministry having been sacredly performed, a varied and splendid table received those who had gathered there. As for the things pertaining to this ministry, she entrusted them to her son and to herself. But the mother had ordered her son not to partake of any food or drink until the banquet was finished. Then, with the banquet finished and the day already declining (yet that which is now to be spoken will indeed trouble the ears and souls of those who are pusillanimous and of small mind; D of those, however, who, as far as it is possible, know the way of God and the admirable providence of that great wisdom, it will move the tongue rather to
A praise, and they will accept the event as a turning point towards what is beneficial. For the boy, being toward evening and quite exhausted, was lying down on his bed; and his mother, having kissed the eyes of the boy, said: "Arise, child, and partake of food with your mother; for how could sleep be sweet to one exhausted and without food?" But he, being possessed by a violent and acute fever, could not even answer his mother. And she said: "Truly, neither will I taste of food or anything else unless I first learn how this matter turns out for my son." And so, sitting by the child sleeplessly and cooling, as much as she could, the heat of the disease—or rather, herself kindling a greater fire from her own vitals—around midnight (such are the judgments of God!), she sees the boy overcome by the illness, and lying dead, voiceless, and breathless.
XII. Perceiving therefore this bitter drama, she first falls to the ground from dizziness, and speech immediately failed her, since a sudden grief had become like a shackle upon her tongue. But when she had returned to herself a little and had somewhat recovered, taking up the dead body of the boy on her shoulders, she reaches the martyr's temple, and carrying him to the holy altar, she places him there; and pulling at her hair, she wailed over the boy, saying: "I have lost, my child, the hopes I placed in you! Woe is me, O child; woe is me, dear flower, so miserably withered before your time! Alas! That I should see your end, I who hoped to be fostered by you and your hopes in my old age! Is this the return you now make to me, dearest one, for my care? Are these the fruits of my hopes that I, miserable woman, am reaping? With what mouth, with what tongue shall I utter your laments, with what eyes shall I weep? Would that I had seen my own death and had been committed to the tomb by the dear hands of my child! Would that I myself were lying dead before you, and were being honored by your procession to the sepulcher! For so I would be happy. Thus, at least, the law of the fathers would have been kept in me." B C
XIII. Thus she spoke, and falling again, she lamented, and as though the body of the martyr were still alive, she spoke to it: "What great thing," she said, "O martyr of Christ, have we done wrong that we should fall into such a bitter calamity? Did I not, leaving my husband in a foreign land, count the carrying of your body as more important than all else? Did I not build you a temple from its very foundations? Did I not, if nothing else, offer you the intent of my soul? What then do these things mean? Was not that which was sought for these things good, the safety of my child? Was it not that he should remain with his mother until old age and elderhood? Woe is me! From what hope I have fallen! What things I have seen in exchange for what I hoped! But, O martyr of Christ, either return my son to me alive, like Elisha did for the Shunammite woman, or do not begrudge me a useful death; but since I have so unhappily borne and reared him, grant that I too perish with my child." Meanwhile, while Cleopatra was bitterly weeping for her son and moving those who were present so that they pitied her misfortune and admired the deep abyss of God's judgments, D
A a light sleep came over her and refreshed her, and the child appeared to her with the martyr. For she seemed to see the athlete standing there, holding her own son in his bosom as if he were his own, and the clothing of both was exceedingly extraordinary and brilliant; and crowns adorned their heads most delightfully. And for the crowns, you would have called their beauty divine, and something that cannot be expressed by tongue.
XIV. And the martyr appeared to say: "Why do you not rejoice, O woman, but instead a heavy grief has shaken your heart? For am I so ungrateful, and have I come to no sense of those things which have been done by you, or have I not generously returned the rewards for them? Do you not see what glory your son has been counted worthy of? What grace shines around him? Why, then, do you not leave this gloom and transition yourself to cheerfulness? B But, if it seems good, let the child approach even more, and let him be clearly set before your eyes, so that you yourself may also well learn how things are with him." Thus he spoke, and he seemed to call the child, saying: "Come, O child, to your mother, so that in other respects, and in order that you might comfort her in her many tears by being seen just as you are." But the child clung all the more to the martyr, not wishing to leave him at all, nor desiring to come to his mother in any way. But, "Go, my mother, go to him," he said, resisting and remaining at his side, and paying no heed to these lamentations; "for I deem it just as absurd to exchange life for death and grief, as it is to prefer a fleeting life to non-ceasing pleasure and eternal time." C When the mother heard these things from the child, and as though she had forgotten her lamentations, she earnestly begged the martyr that she herself also might be taken up with the child and be comforted by the things she saw; and he advised her to hold fast even more to the path that leads to salvation, and finally, having given her peace, he departed with the child to his own dwelling; and both vanished from her eyes.
XV. And she, having immediately awakened and returned to herself, related to those who were present how much tranquility of mind and joy she had enjoyed due to the coming of the martyr and the child, and a sense of wonder filled the souls of all at the marvelous nature of the account. D Then, having splendidly anointed and wrapped that desirable little body of her child, the blessed woman entrusts it to the martyr, keeping the thanksgiving all night long with her kinsmen and those who were otherwise appropriate. Then, also, when she had seen to the completion of the mystical sacrifice, in which she needed to be initiated, she invited to a lavish meal those who had shared with her in the sacred hymns. Then, having thus bidden farewell to the world, and having deposited all her wealth into treasures that cannot be plundered—I mean, into the bellies of the poor—and having put on a simple tunic, she served at the tomb of the martyr; and thus, applying herself to fasts and prayers, she was, and she purified her inner self to such a degree that even every day she...
A observed the martyr appearing to her with her son in the same garment as before, comforting her grief. But in the seventh year of her change of life for the better, when she was full of days in the Spirit, she committed her spirit in peace to God, the God of peace, and her body to her son, so that those whom one house held, one tomb might also receive, and not even the dust of both might be separated. With whom may God grant us also to be of the portion of those who are saved, and to see the land of the living; for to Him is due all glory, honor, and adoration, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
THE MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY GREAT MARTYR ARTEMIUS
B 1. After the ascension of our Lord and Savior into the heavens, when His disciples and apostles had encompassed the whole world with the Gospel, and the preaching of piety had already been distributed everywhere, he who from the beginning is the adversary of the human race was subjecting the faithful to intolerable torments through those who then held power. It was necessary, therefore, that at some time the Christians should be released from their evils and troubles, and that with the bitter cloud of impiety, the storm of torments with which they were being afflicted should also be dispelled, and that the rod of the sinners, which was being sent forth against the inheritance of the just, should be stayed. Since, however, the task required a man who possessed C noble nobility of soul, such a man was the son of Constantius and Helena, Constantine, surnamed the Great. He departed from his ancestral error by a certain secret and divine counsel and approached the truth. For he conquered, as all know, his enemies through the apparition of the Cross in the heavens, and was immediately called Great, both for the greatness of his piety and for his victory over his enemies. Then, also rendering thanks for the victory to the great King and common Lord of all, he sends through
A the world everywhere decrees contrary to the decrees of the former emperors: namely, that the temples of the idols should be pulled down and razed to the ground, but that there should be built up again in the name of Christ and of His disciples and martyrs, illustrious houses, and that those churches which the impious had formerly destroyed should recover their former splendor.
II. What, then, of the devil, who envies the good? Unable to endure such a change, and knowing besides that it was not possible for him who then held the empire to return to the vain worship of idols, he stirs up war against us from elsewhere, and having introduced the impious Arius into the Alexandrian Church, and having used his tongue as if it were some instrument, he dares to proclaim the Son of God to be a creature, and to dogmatize that He is alien to the essence of God and the Father. B But this wicked opinion of Arius having been quickly shaken and extinguished, inasmuch as the pious emperor had gathered the synod of the divine Fathers in Nicaea, and had himself driven Arius from the company of the priests, and had proclaimed anew, as before, the true God and our Lord Jesus Christ to be consubstantial with the Father and coeternal, the enemy grew mad again, and strove to stir up his former religion once more, and sought very diligently for one who might fittingly serve his purpose in this. C When, therefore, the great and first Christian emperor, piously and gloriously in the thirty-second year of his reign, in the province of the Bithynians, when he was setting out on his expedition against the Persians, had laid down his reign, and Constantius, his son, had succeeded to the rule of his father, and when he too had paid his debt, his cousin Julian—who was also called the Apostate, because he had spurned the true faith and had transferred himself to the Gentile religion—tyrannically seized the scepter. We have called him a cousin of Constantius, since he was born from Constantius, the brother of Constantine, though of a different parentage. For from the truly blessed Helena, Constantine himself alone was born to the father. But from Theodora, the daughter of Maximian, who was also called Herculius, these three were born: D Dalmatius, Anaballianus, and Constantius. From Constantius came Gallus, and this present most base Julian. When he, as we have said, had received the imperial power by tyranny, a war is fanned again against the Christians, and the most severe persecution of any ever recorded is raised.
III. At which time also the great and famous in piety, the divine, I say, Artemius, was crowned with the crown of martyrdom. The discourse will show this more clearly as it proceeds. When the great Constantine had just left this life, as the discourse has already explained, the Roman power was divided into three jurisdictions, when his sons, Constantine, Constantius, and Constans, had divided them, and to the first, namely Constantine, the upper
A Gauls and the lands beyond the Alps, as well as the British Isles and everything up to the Western Ocean, were allotted as his portion; to Constans, however, who was the youngest, were allotted the lower Gauls, that is to say, Italy, and Rome itself. Constantius, the second of Constantine’s sons, who at that time was managing affairs in the East and struggling against the Persians, chose the region of the Orient. He made Byzantium—which he renamed Constantinople and a new Rome—his capital, and he placed under his own empire and administration the entire territory from Illyricum to the Propontis, whatever was subject to the Romans, as well as Syria and Palestine themselves, Mesopotamia, Egypt, and all the islands.
The great Artemius, being very familiar to the Emperor Constantius, spent his time with him constantly in every season and matter, as someone who was his best friend and one of those who were distinguished by virtue and learning, and a burning lover of the Christian faith. For this reason, he was recognized as the most diligent seeker of his company and friendship. No one has recorded his fatherland or genealogy in writing, except that the thrice-blessed man was from a high and illustrious station, tracing his lineage from noble ancestors, and was renowned for his courage. From these facts, it has been written about him that he is the one who was commanded by Constantius to carry out the transfer of the holy relics of the Apostles of Christ—I mean Andrew, Luke, and Timothy—as the narrative will make known in due time.
B C IV. Therefore, as has been said, there being three emperors, and each one of them reigning over his own share, the first of them, Constantine, departing from his own portion and returning to the inheritance of his youngest brother—since the latter had set out for Rome—attempted to commit an act of injustice against his brother. He slandered him, though he was absent, claiming that things had not been divided fairly and that his brother had usurped a large part of the authority that belonged to himself. But the generals and guards of the region, whom Constans had appointed, said that they could not move anything at all, small or great, without his judgment and will, for it would be impious; but he immediately donned his armor for war and moved weapons against one who had done no injury. D Consequently, this Constantine falls while fighting in the war, and, desiring the portion of another, he lost even that which he seemed to hold securely. Hence, his people immediately went over to Constans, and the authority of the West came under him, though he had put forth no effort for it; for God had judged the whole matter in a just balance, He who had once established by law not to move the landmarks of the fathers or to drag away anything from a neighbor’s furrow, so that he who acts wickedly against his neighbor might not, unawares, be condemned by the just wrath of God. Constans therefore attains command
of the entire Western realm, joining the two hereditary portions into one and establishing a single rule for both. [E] V. Not much time passed before Constans, turning his attention to feasts, drunken revels, and exotic loves, sluggishly managed the whole empire, squandering such a great magnitude of imperial power through games and dancing. Therefore, plots were laid against him by a certain general named Magnentius, and together with his empire, he also lost his life. When he fell, Magnentius seized power, with whom Nepotianus and Brettanion also conspired in the tyranny. When Constantius learned of this from his sister’s letters, he departed from the East, arrived in the West, joined battle with them, and conquered decisively, after Brettanion had defected to him. At that time, a great and wondrous sign of the cross appeared, such that with its marvelous brilliance it surpassed the light of day. It was seen in Jerusalem at about the third hour on the day of the feast called Pentecost, extending from the place called Calvary to the Mount of Olives, from whence our Savior had made his ascension. Constantius, therefore, held the empire, being the only one left of the sons of the great Constantine. When he fixed his eyes upon the magnitude of the empire and grew dizzy, as a man would, having no one of his own kin to support him—for no son had been born to him, nor had any of his brothers remained—and fearing that another tyrant might rise up against him, he considered taking one of his relatives as a co-heir and defender of the empire, which he indeed did. He made Gallus, the brother of Julian, a Caesar. Gallus was his cousin (for Constantius, the father of Gallus and Julian, was the brother of Constantine the Great). Having appointed him at Sirmium, he gave him his own sister, Constantia, to wife, for the sake of fidelity and stability, and he gave him administrators whom he himself had appointed; for it was not permitted to Gallus, while he was Caesar, to choose them himself. He sent Thalassius as Praetorian Prefect and Montius for imperial affairs—whom our account calls quaestor—honoring the latter also with the title of Patrician. [F] VI. Gallus, then, having been sent by Constantius to the East, was intent upon affairs. When the Persians caught wind that he had arrived in Antioch, they were suddenly struck with fear, having learned that he was a young man, sharp and vehement in his actions, and they made no further incursions into Roman territory. He, for his part, was in Antioch of Syria, as has been shown, while Constantius established affairs in the West; and at that time, especially, the Roman empire remained remarkably calm, being protected by them both. And things had proceeded in this fashion. But Gallus, having donned the Caesar’s purple and already beginning to ascend the first steps of the imperial hierarchy, did not remain in the same mind and faith that he had pledged to Constantius, but rather, over-eager for power,
A acting with great audacity and arrogance, he made decisions. For the magistrates whom Constantius had sent along with him to be the arbiters of imperial and civil affairs—the Praetorian Prefect Domitian (for Thalassus had died), and the quaestor Montius—because they did not obey and serve his irrational and unbridled impulses, he commanded the soldiers to tie ropes to their feet, and ordered them to be dragged through the forum, and killed both of them, though they were men who had distinguished themselves in high offices and were found to be above any greed or illicit gain. These the bishop of the city gathered up and buried, revering their incomparable virtue.
B VII. When Constantius heard what had happened, he summoned Gallus to him. Although Gallus knew that he was not being called for any good purpose, yet considering that if he refused to comply, he would necessarily have to go to war, having taken up arms immediately against Constantius, he chose peace instead. Having sent his wife on ahead to appease Constantius, he himself also went of his own accord into danger. Now Constantia had set out first, eager to meet her brother and to plead with him on behalf of her husband, so that he might not resolve upon anything harsh against him; but, while she was carrying out her journey with great eagerness, she fell into an illness while traveling, and once she had entered Bithynia, she died at a station of that place called Gallicanum. C Gallus, although he considered this—which had happened contrary to his expectations—a great calamity, nevertheless proceeded on his way, not deviating from what he had determined. When he arrived in Noricum, at their city called Poetovio, the commander of the army, Barbation, was sent there from Mediolanum—where Constantius was at that time—who stripped Gallus of the purple, and having reduced him to the status of a private citizen, consigned him to exile on an island in Dalmatia. When Gallus had arrived on the island, the eunuch Eusebius, who at that time held the office of praepositus, and those with him, persuaded Constantius to remove Gallus from the scene as quickly as possible. Having been persuaded, he sent men to kill him; but when they were already on their way, Constantius was again moved by pity, and sent letters with great speed which released Gallus from death. D However, Eusebius and those with him persuaded the magisterian who had been sent not to arrive to show the letter until he had heard that Gallus had been removed from the scene. These things came to pass, and Gallus was dead.
VIII. Constantius, fearing that he would not be able alone to keep control of the entire empire, especially because the Gauls—being very quick and, whenever they were so inclined, easily stirred to insurrection, both on account of the strength of their bodies and the lightness of their minds—were already regretting that he had removed Gallus, and having calculated that those connected by kinship were safer by far for the administration of the state than those of foreign and alien lineage...
A, summoned his brother Julian from Ionia to Milan, declared him Caesar, and gave him his own sister Helen in marriage. Having received pledges of fidelity from him, he sent him to the Gauls, to be the guardian of the empire there, while he himself arrived in the Illyrian lands and resided at Sirmium.
Having heard that the barbarians across the Danube were intending to march against the Roman state, he set out from Sirmium and crossed the Danube. After spending no small amount of time on that very bank, and learning that the movements of the barbarians were once again peaceful, he marched again toward Thrace. When he happened to be among the Odrysians—where the Emperor Hadrian, having built a city, had left his own name to the place—he learned from one of the bishops that the bodies of Christ’s apostles, Andrew and Luke, were buried in Achaia: Andrew in Patras, and Luke in Thebes of Boeotia.
When the Emperor Constantius heard this, he was delighted and exclaimed with a loud voice. He said to those present, "Call my friend Artemius to me." When he arrived in haste, the Emperor said, "I congratulate you, O most godly of all men, and I rejoice together with you." He replied to him, "May you be joyful always, O Emperor, and may no sorrow ever overtake you." B The Emperor then said, "Do you seek anything, my best of friends, more pleasing or delightful than the discovery of the bodies of Christ’s apostles?" The great Artemius asked, "Who and from where, O master, is he who has revealed this treasure to us this day?" Constantius replied, "The bishop of Achaia, who at present presides in Patras. But go, best of friends, and bring these to me in Constantinople with all haste."
Having heard this from the Emperor, the great man set out on the road to the apostles to bring back their holy relics. Having brought them back in a most marvelous manner, he deposited them in the church built from the foundations by Constantius himself in the name of the apostles, near the tomb of his father. As a reward for this service, the Emperor—at the request of the bishops—granted C him the governorship of Egypt. Such was Artemius even before his contests of martyrdom, and so venerated was he by all.
IX. Thus the great Artemius set out for Egypt, having just taken up the rank of *dux*. Constantius, for his part, having departed from Constantinople, made his way toward Syria. Upon reaching the great city of Antioch, he pitched his camp there, preparing for war against the Persians. While he was waiting there in the city, letters arrived for him informing him of the insurrection of Julian. For Julian, as I have stated before, having been appointed Caesar by Constantius for the defense of the West in Gaul, no longer enduring to remain in the habit of a Caesar, put on the diadem and proclaimed himself by the title of emperor. D Since he had usurped the empire, he no longer thought of anything small, nor did he decide to delay any longer;
A but wishing to bring under his power all of Europe which obeys the Romans, he drew up his army and marched through the land of the Germans to the Danube. Having seized the further bank, he led his army through those regions. Evading the prefects—both Taurus, as he was called, of the Italians, and Florentius of the Illyrians—because he had occupied enough time there, he crossed to the other side of the river and immediately brought the whole Illyrian region under his own power, along with the Italies and all the nations extending to the Western Ocean that were part of the Roman Empire.
X. Constantius, B hearing these things, was troubled, as was to be expected, and fearing especially for Constantinople, lest Julian should anticipate him by bringing it under his own power—as indeed the latter was intending—he hastened with all his might to secure it first. Meanwhile, as his army was being collected, having been dispersed throughout the cities of the East, and as he was preparing for such a long journey, he signaled the bishops to go ahead and meet him as quickly as possible at Nicaea; for he intended to convene a second synod there, being spurred on by the impious Arians against the Homousion. But when he had passed through Cilicia and arrived at the springs called those of Mopsus, a sickness suddenly befell him, and he was unable to proceed further. C When he perceived that he was already in a bad state and would live no longer, he summoned Euzoïus, the bishop of Antioch, with all haste and asked to be baptized. Having been baptized and having lived a little longer, he departed this life there, having reigned for a total of forty years—twenty together with his father, and the remaining ones alone.
XI. The army mourned him, and having performed the customary rites for him, they placed him in a sarcophagus, having prepared the corpse in the usual manner so that it would endure; and placing it on a carriage, they bore it to Constantinople, each of them following with his own weapons in the same order as when he was alive and stationed among the leaders. D These men came to Constantinople bringing the corpse. Julian also arrived, coming from Illyricum, already firmly holding the entire empire, as no one dared oppose him after the death of Constantius. When the corpse was being carried to the church of the Holy Apostles, where they intended to lay him near his father, Julian himself preceded the bier with the diadem removed from his head. After they had buried him, as he was returning to the palace, he put the diadem back on. He was then in control of affairs, having alone girded himself with the entire Roman empire. So, since Constantius was out of the way, Julian directed the heat of his anger upon those who remained, and especially those who, by their envy, had provided the cause for the slaughter of Gallus. And immediately, he took the head of Eusebius, the praepositus, because it seemed entirely clear that he had orchestrated the slaughter of Gallus through his calumnies; and he handed Paul the Spaniard, who was one of the emperor's scribes, over to the fire, as he had been harshly
as it first appeared from his own calumnies, having brewed up the entire slaughter for Gallus. A He delivered Paul the Span, who served among the secretaries of the emperor, to the fire, as he had greatly embittered Gallus. Having therefore sent both of these to Chalcedon, he subjected each to his own trial there; he also slew Gaudentius, the general of Africa, and certain others who had acted insolently against him. But while he punished these by letter, the martyr of Christ and brave athlete Artemius he punished inhumanely in Antioch, being present himself and confronting him in person on account of his confession of Christ, and he stripped him of the authority he held, not bearing his boldness of speech and resistance. For Julian, as has been shown, having assumed the Roman empire, was eager above all to restore Hellenism. Therefore, sending letters everywhere, he ordered them to raise up their shrines and altars with all possible zeal and promptness. And all the revenues that the great Constantine had assigned to the churches, and which his son Constantius had taken away, he consecrated to the temples of the idols, and in place of bishops, presbyters, and deacons, he appointed shrine-keepers, temple-wardens, sprinklers, sacrificers, basket-bearers, and all the names that the Greek error B bestows. These things and others were being done in Constantinople.
XII. Concerning Julian the comes
XII. After these things, since he had a brother of his mother named Julian, who, in order to gratify him, had abjured the faith of Christianity and was showing great zeal for Hellenism, he sent him out as ruler of the East, whom they call *comes* [Count], C with instructions to harass and ruin the affairs of the churches, and everywhere and by every means to increase and exalt Hellenism. When he had come to Antioch, he tried to show himself in deeds even greater than what he had been commanded, and he actually took away from all the churches everything of value they possessed, both in silver and gold and in silk vestments; he even closed the churches so that no one might enter them for the sake of prayer, having fastened bolts and bars upon the gates. And these things the ruler of the East was doing in the city of Antioch; but the Emperor Julian, still lingering for some time in Constantinople, was strengthening and confirming matters in it, according to what he thought was most beneficial to his empire, and was devising strategies for how Hellenism might be more magnificently exalted for him. D Having therefore set out from Constantinople with his whole army, he made his journey toward Syria.
XIII. Having therefore passed through all of Phrygia, and having reached its most remote city, which is called Iconium, he turned aside, leaving Isauria behind. And having crossed the mountain called Taurus, he came to the cities of Cilicia. And having approached the station which is at Issus, he encamped there, imitating Alexander of Macedon. For there even he, in Issus, had joined battle against Darius, the King of the Persians, and having conquered him, he rendered the place famous. From there he crossed the Issic gulf and came to Antioch, breathing fury against—
the Christians, and threatening to wipe them out entirely. When the tyrant, therefore, had come to Antioch and had taken up residence in the imperial palace, without even sparing a single day of rest, Eugenius and Macarius, who were themselves part of the presbytery of the Church of Antioch, were brought before him as though by a given signal, having been denounced. When he had immediately ordered them to be presented, he said: "Who are you, and what is your way of life and profession?" Eugenius said: "We are Christians, and we are shepherds of Christ’s flock; this is our life, this condition, and this profession." The emperor said: "Where then is this flock of Christ that you speak of?" Eugenius replied: "The whole world, as far as the A sun beholds, and all the men who are upon it." Julian then said: "But over whom do we hold sway and over whom do we rule today, you wretched and miserable little man, if Christ possesses all the land that the sun beholds?" The martyr answered: "You preside over the same flock and fold, O Emperor, of which we are also shepherds; for through Him kings rule and tyrants hold power on earth. And He Himself has given you your kingdom today, even if you have shown yourself ungrateful B toward your benefactor; tomorrow, however, He will give it to another. You yourself rule over beings of but a day, but to Him belongs an eternal kingdom, and one which never receives an end."
XIV. The apostate said: "You impious man, and alien to the benevolence of the gods, since your Christ is of yesterday and of a single day, having begun from the times of Augustus Caesar, is He today proclaimed an eternal king by you?" The martyr replied: "So far as concerns the human nature and the mystery of His ineffable and unspeakable dispensation, or the taking on of flesh, it is indeed so, O Emperor. But regarding His divine generation, which is before the ages, no time will be found prior to it." The emperor, C thinking the martyr to be some sort of boor and destitute of education, mocking him, said: "Your Christ, therefore, O wretch, was twice generated, and you boast of this? There are among the Greeks men of the greatest wisdom, who were not only twice, but thrice generated. For Hermes, called Trismegistus, came into the world three times, revealing himself, just as his sacred and marvelous books declare; and for this reason he is named Trismegistus, that is, thrice greatest. Similarly, Pythagoras, who was later than he, also came into life three times, a man who was first an Egyptian shipmaster, then Euphorbus, of whom Homer makes mention, and last of all Pythagoras, son of Mnesarchus, the Samian."
XV. The martyr, D smiling slightly at the trifles of the learned emperor and the foolishness of the impious Greeks—and perceiving that the tyrant was now attempting through these words to mock the generation of Christ—said to him with great severity and nobility: "It would have been proper not to answer you at all, you most lawless man, nor to deem you worthy of any address, but because of the multitude present,
A seeing that the majority belong to the flock of Christ, I have said what I have said, and now I will say a little more, being concerned for their salvation: that Christ was heralded long ago and many ages before by the prophets, and there are many testimonies to His advent, both from the oracles among you and from the Sibylline writings themselves. The cause of His incarnation came about for the salvation and restoration of the fall of mankind; for having come upon the earth, He drove away every disease and every infirmity, and miraculously, with a single word, He raised the dead, even those who were putrid. But most wonderful of all, for the salvation of the world, having suffered the passion on the cross, He rose on the third day from the dead, with five hundred witnesses, and soldiers guarding His tomb, so that he who wishes to calumniate His resurrection might have no opening. B And having risen from the dead, He was seen by His disciples, conversing with them for forty full days, and while they were watching and looking on, He was taken up into the heavens, having sent down upon them the gift and power of the Holy Spirit, such that they were able to speak in the tongues of foreign peoples and have no need of an interpreter. For the Holy Spirit was speaking in them, and He gave them to see things that were far off and to prophesy future events; and they, going forth, preached Him everywhere, carrying nothing with them but only His invisible power, holding neither shield nor spear nor sword, but being naked, unarmed, and poor, they captured the whole world, raising the dead, cleansing lepers, casting out demons. And who were these men? Fishermen and unlettered men, and those without a share of the world's wisdom.
XVI. C But those whom you have introduced, mocking the birth of Christ—men wise and theologians, as you have just said—even if we were to grant that this nonsense were truly so, what, having been born twice and thrice and four times, have they profited the world, or even some small or insignificant part of the world? Who from the books of Hermes and Pythagoras raised the dead, or cleansed lepers, or cast out the demons whom you worship? But Hermes, who is called Trismegistus by you, was an Egyptian man, and being raised in the laws of the Egyptians, and having taken a wife, he fathered children, of whom the eldest they name Tat, to whom he himself speaks and dedicates his own discourses, as also to Asclepius of Epidaurus, who, as you would have it, was the author and prince of the science of medicine; to whom he also unfolds his own theology, which holds as follows: "To conceive of God is difficult, but to express Him is impossible; for He is a trihypostatic, inexplicable essence and nature, having no assimilation among mortals." As for those whom men call gods, they have drawn upon themselves many dangerous fables. Furthermore, D even he himself utters a certain obscure prophecy concerning the coming of Christ, as one who did not draw it from himself, but from the theology of the Hebrews. But what have I to do with the putrid and ill-smelling Mer
A words of Hermes, which are honored by you, even though they have long since rotted and decayed? For it is not right to ask the dead about the living, when we have in the God-inspired oracles true martyrs who have proclaimed the coming and the divinity of Christ.
XVII. But what great and marvelous thing did Pythagoras, the founder and prince of the Italic sect, accomplish in his life, having been brought into the world repeatedly? Was it that, when he was at Olympia, as you say, he showed his golden thigh to the Hellanodicae? Or that, as he was about to sacrifice a lowing ox, he said: "It possesses the soul of a man most dear to me, and the wretch salutes me by its lowing," and that he made an eagle flying on high fall to earth by means of an enchantment? B These are the miracles that Pythagoras, the thrice-born, performed at Olympia, he being vain-glorious and given to fantasies, the thrice-wretched man, who instituted the quaternion as an oath and called it the source of eternal nature, who worshipped beans, on account of which he perished with his companions, being driven out by the Tarentines. For as he would not tread upon the place where the beans happened to be sown, he was slaughtered there together with his companions and disciples, and became a prey to his enemies. Theano, his wife and disciple, not wishing to tell the reason why they do not eat beans, had her tongue cut out and she too perished.
XVIII. These are the noble exploits of the wise philosophers, who were born twice and thrice, as you have eloquently said; but those C are the miracles of my Christ for the salvation and restoration of the human race. And Pythagoras and Hermes indeed lead the souls of men to the abyss of Hades, introducing certain transmigrations and conveyances, sometimes transferring them into irrational animals and beasts, and sometimes dragging them down into fishes and plants and other such cycles and revolutions. But Christ, being God, true and eternal, having made the soul immortal and exempt from old age by His primordial divine spirit and by the breath with which He created the first man—as the divine and unimpeachable books of Moses make clear—when it had fallen again through disobedience and the deceit D of the soul-destroying serpent, He came down to earth, lived among us, and showed us the way of salvation through baptism and His resurrection from the dead, and led it back from the depths of Hades to the heavens. And coming again to judge the living and the dead, He will cause the bodies to rise, will unite them to their own souls, and will render to each according to his works.
XIX. When the martyr had spoken these philosophical truths, the wicked Julian said: "See, O Romans and Greeks, this villainous and execrable man, how many trifles he has poured into our [faith] from the Greek disciplines."
sun most dear to me, I will not suffer the most godless race of Christians to be instructed in Greek disciplines. For behold, even this dog, having partaken of sacred learning—if not in a straight and level way, yet nevertheless holding a great deal of tiresome nonsense regarding history." Having said this, he ordered the martyr to be handed over to the lictors and to be scourged with up to five hundred lashes. Those who took him beat him inhumanely with scourges, and the herald cried out: "Do the will of the emperor: cease your foolish talk, and you shall be freed from those who are punishing you." But the martyr bore it bravely while being beaten, remaining silent and saying nothing at all. Fixing his gaze upon the martyr of Christ, Macarius, the emperor said to him, "But what do you say of yourself, you unhappy little man?" The blessed martyr said, "You are truly unhappy, and the most miserable of all men; but I am truly blessed, having a name consistent with the reality, because I confess and adore Christ, while you have denied Him, adhering to the demons and the devil, who will dispatch you, even against your will, to the eternal fire." And the transgressor Julian said: "I know that you desire death, and you hasten to move me to anger so that I might finish you quickly. But it shall not be as you have hoped."
XX. "But answer me this first: what has possessed you, O accursed ones? Since no authority has commanded you, why do you run about everywhere in every place, striving to overturn the libations and sacrifices of the great gods, teaching men that these are not gods, nor saviors of the world, nor providers and guardians of the human race, whom the habit of men, passed down from their fathers from ages past, has handed down to be honored and worshipped? Yet you proclaim Christ, who began to exist yesterday and not long before our own age, as the pre-eternal God and King of all." B Macarius replied: "Have the wise demonstrations of Eugenius not sufficed for you, O most wicked man, that you always ask the same things about the same subjects? Yet I will also give you answers in the same way as he did: because Christ, whom you treat with laughter and mockery, Himself said to His own disciples: 'Go into all the world, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to keep all things whatsoever I have commanded you.' C And they, having gone forth, taught these things—to flee from vain idols and to turn to the living God, who created heaven and earth; but your gods, whom you yourself worship, are the fabrications of demons, the inventions of fables, and the offspring of diabolical energy. For our Scripture says of them: 'Let the gods who have not made heaven and earth perish.' And not only this, but another imperial law, that enacted by your kinsman Constantine, expels them from worship and dissolves their cults: who, when they believed in Christ D
utterly destroyed the temples of the idols and openly caused the sacrifices offered to them to cease. A What wrong, then, do we do, O Emperor, if we keep what God has commanded and the great Emperor has legislated, and exhort men to worship accordingly, while forbidding and in every way obstructing that which the ignorance of men of old, as you said, devised through the machinations of demons?
XXI. The transgressor Julian replied: "But Constantine, having innovated most miserably because of the unholy deeds pleasing to him, defected from the gods, deceived by you Galileans, as one who was void of learning and confirmed neither by Roman nor Greek laws and customs. But I, O impious one, who have reached the pinnacle of Greek and Roman erudition, and have been exercised in the theology of the men of old—of Hermes, I say, and Orpheus, and Plato—and have been no less conversant in the Jewish scriptures, counting your jugglery as naught, B command men to return to the custom and worship handed down by the fathers, which is most ancient and pious, bidding the empty opinions of the unlearned to be of no account. But let this one also be stripped of his garment and put to the test of the lash, so that, becoming more modest in effect from this, even if unwilling, he may submit himself to our laws."
XXII. As these were being inhumanly tortured and afflicted with most grievous stripes, the blessed and pious Artemius—who, as has been shown before, was appointed Dux and Augustalis of Egypt by Constantius and, because he conducted himself rightly and uprightly in his administration, had received the procuratorship of the affairs of Syria—having heard that Julian held the empire and was hastening to the Persian war, and having received C letters commanding him to come to the Emperor with his whole army, he also came to Antioch as he had been ordered. With the honor and the guard appropriate to him, he stood by the Emperor when he was conducting the examination of the holy martyrs. Seeing these things, and pierced to the heart, and judging that he would be a defender of error if he let what was happening pass by in silence, he spoke freely about piety and the true religion, and said to him: "O Emperor, why do you so inhumanly torture holy men and those consecrated to God, and compel them to deny their own faith? Know, therefore, that you yourself are also a man, subject to the same affections and a participant in the same nature and the same sufferings, even if God created you Emperor—if, indeed, it is from God that you have received the empire, and not rather that an evil demon, D having sought you out as he did Job in former times, has taken you against us, in order to sift the wheat of Christ and sow tares upon it. But his attempt is in vain. For he no longer has strength as before; for from the time that Christ came, and the cross was fixed, and Christ was raised up on it, the arrogance of the demons has fallen, and their arts have been held in contempt. Do not be deceived, therefore, O Emperor, nor, by gratifying the demons, set about to persecute the race of Christians, but learn that the virtue of Christ is in every respect
invincible and unconquerable; and you yourself have assurance of these many words, if you are not willing to deceive yourself, from the oracles which Oribasius, your physician and quaestor, has recently brought you from Apollo at Delphi. I will read you the oracle itself, even if you do not wish it, for it runs thus: Tell the king: The stately hall has fallen to earth; A No longer has Phoebus a hut, nor prophetic laurel, Nor the speaking fountain; the babbling water has dried up.
XXIII. When the emperor heard this, he was filled with amazement and awe, and, rousing his anger, he shouted in a loud and resonant voice: "Who and from where is this wretch, who has poured out such a harangue against us upon the tribunal?" For he had not yet caught sight of the man, because he had been appointed to the command by Constantius, while he himself in the interim had been spending his time in Gaul. B "He is the Duke of Alexandria," the military band replied, "O Master." And the emperor, recognizing him from the symbols of his office, said: "Is this Artemius, who prepared a bitter death for my brother?" "Yes, most powerful of emperors, it is he," the band replied again. And Julian said: "I owe thanks to the immortal gods and to the Delphic Apollo, because they have revealed this wretch to me, a deserter and one who has exposed himself; therefore, let the belt of dignity be taken away from him, C who has unworthily girded himself with it, and let him pay the penalty for the things he has just dared, for the slaughter of my brother and his blood. Tomorrow, gods willing, I shall exact an account from him, for I will not destroy him with a single death, but with a myriad, and I shall punish him as a murderer, or rather as something far worse than a murderer, because he shed not the blood of a common man, but of an emperor, and that without having suffered anything unjust at his hand." D When the emperor Julian had thus orated against the martyr, the saint was immediately seized by the guards, and stripped of his belt, he stood naked before the tribunal, and was handed over to the hands of the executioners. They, having fastened ropes to his hands and feet, stretched him in four directions, and struck the stomach and back of the martyr with ox-sinews so cruelly that those who were beating him were changed four times. And it was possible to witness his strange and superhuman endurance; for neither a groan, nor a voice, nor anything else of those things which men suffer when examined by tortures, was emitted by him, but he appeared with a completely unmoved and unchanging countenance, and the ground was filled with blood, so that all who were present, and even the emperor himself, were struck with wonder at the event. He therefore orders the saint to be untied and led away to prison with the other martyrs.
XXIV. When the martyrs of Christ were being led away, they were chanting, saying: "You have proved us, O God; You have refined us as silver is refined; You have put afflictions upon our backs; You have laid men upon
our heads. It remains, then, for us to pass through fire and water, so that You may bring us out into a place of refreshment." And when the prayer was fulfilled, the great Artemius, as if speaking to himself, said: "O Artemius, behold the stigmata of Christ are carved upon your body; therefore, you must also lay down your life for Him." And adding to this, he said: "I thank You, O Lord, that You have been pleased that I should be glorified by the sufferings I have endured for You, and that I have been numbered among the choir of Your saints. But, O benevolent Master, finish my course in Your confession, and do not judge me unworthy of this undertaking." Having prayed these things to himself, he arrived at the prison with the holy martyrs Eugenius and Macarius, and they were handed over to the jailer for safekeeping. And thus they were together glorifying God.
When morning came, the covenant-breaker Julian had the martyrs of Christ brought before him, and without deigning to question them at all, except to order only the great Artemius to be separated, he passed a sentence of exile upon them. He sent them to Oasis, which is a pestilential place in Arabia, where the winds blow with lethal force; from which no one who was sent there ever lasted even a year, but rather, being seized by severe illnesses, they all perish very quickly. The tyrant, having exiled the saints B Eugenius and Macarius there, further ordered that their heads be cut off. And thus, after a few days, on the twentieth of the month of December, they received their martyric end. In that place, a miracle worthy of being recorded occurred; for when the place was suffering from a lack of water, a spring gushed forth, healing every disease and infirmity, which remains to this day, preserving the name of the saints.
XXV. The emperor, having summoned the divine martyr, said: "Your rashness has compelled me, even against my will, to bring disgrace upon your lineage, to cast insult upon your inherent splendor, and to lay hands upon your very flesh. But if you will comply with me, O Artemius, and approach and sacrifice to the immortal gods, and especially to Apollo of Daphne, not only will it come about that you are absolved of the slaughter of my brother, but you shall also receive back a dignity greater and more honorable: I shall appoint you prefect C of the praetorian guard, and, honoring you as high priest of the great gods, I shall call you my father, and I shall deem you worthy of the second rank in my empire. And you shall be with us for the whole time of your life, enjoying all prosperity. For you yourself also know that my brother was not rightfully or justly murdered by Constantius, but envy brought him down, along with that most impious of all men, the eunuch Eusebius—though that most foul man did not suffer punishment sufficient for his impious crime. Furthermore, you also know this, that the empire belongs more to our lineage; for my father Constantius was born D to my grandfather Constantius from Theodora, the daughter of Maximian, whereas Constantine was born of Helena, a base and abject woman, born in an obscure place, and this when he had not yet been made Caesar, but was living...
A a private life. This Constantine, having seized the empire through boldness of judgment, unjustly put to death my father and his brothers; and his son as well, Constantius, acting like his father, has murdered my brother Gallus, and this even after he had provided him with horrific oaths for his safety. And he would have done the same to us, had we not been preserved by the providence of the gods. But they themselves prevented it, and showed us plainly the salvation that comes from them. Trusting in these, I have abjured Christianity and inclined to the Hellenic worship, knowing well that the most ancient life of the Greeks and Romans, employing good customs and laws, calls upon the gods who draw their trustworthiness from the truth of the things themselves.
B XXVI. For who can be doubtful in mind, upon seeing the sun riding through the sky, and likewise the moon in a golden-wheeled chariot? For the one makes the day bright and rouses men to their works, while the other provides light for the night, and affords something of great utility for those who are watching and for those who are traveling. Greeks and Romans hold these divine and worship them, and have hung their hopes upon them, calling the sun Apollo and the moon Artemis, and the greatest of the stars, which they also call planets—those which occupy the seven celestial zones—they name, one Saturn, one Zeus, one Hermes, one Ares, and one Aphrodite. C For these govern the whole world, and through their powers the whole of the world beneath the sky is managed. Men, therefore, having set up images of these, worship and honor them, at the same time weaving certain myths for the sake of pleasure; but they do not honor the images as gods—far from it; this is what the simpler and more rustic sort of men suppose; since those who desire wisdom, and who accurately examine the things of the gods, know to whom they offer honor, and to whom the worship of divine statues passes.
XXVII. I therefore exhort your excellency D to be with us, and to live as is pleasing to us, to follow the Hellenic religion rightly, and to hold fast to the ancient customs and practices. For Constantine, as you yourself do not ignore—being a man most easily deceived, ignorant, and witless—made changes in religion, and having set aside the gods of the Greeks, inclined towards Christianity, being ashamed of his impious deeds, and because the gods, as one who was impure and wicked, had thrust him very far away from their holy and most sacred religion, as one who had been the cause of the shedding of kindred blood; for he killed his brothers, who had done nothing wrong, and his wife Fausta, and his own son Priscus [Crispus], who happened to be a temperate and good man. Therefore, O most admirable of men, seeing the weightiness and steadiness of your mind, I wish you to be of our company and party. Come then, Artemius, to the ancestral and most ancient and most enduring of the Romans and Greeks
and enjoy with us the goods bestowed by the gods. B
XXVIII. To this the martyr of Christ, having paused a little, replied: I indeed, O Emperor, regarding my religion and faith, will make no defense at present, although I do not lack proofs ready for it. But concerning the death of your brother, I shall answer you this: that I could never be shown to have harmed his soul, neither by deed, nor by word, nor by any thought of the mind, even if you were to labor at inquiring into this ten thousand times; the truth is immutable. For I knew him to be a true Christian, God-fearing and just, and diligent and eager in observing the laws of Christ. Let heaven and earth then know, and the whole choir of the holy angels, and Christ the Son of God, whom I serve in my spirit, that I am innocent of his slaughter and death, and that I contributed nothing to his unjust murder to those impious men who wrought it; for I was not even present with Constantius at that time, but I had my residence and living in Egypt until the present year. And this is my defense concerning your brother. As for the abjuration of Christ and the embracing of the way of life of the nations, I shall answer you by borrowing the voice of the three youths who were under Nebuchadnezzar: "Be it known to you, O king, that I do not serve your gods, and the golden image of your most beloved Apollo, I will never worship." C
XXIX. Regarding your having cast evil upon the blessed Constantine, the greatest of all emperors, and his family, calling him an enemy and detestable to your gods, and furthermore mad and bloodthirsty, I shall answer you for him, that rather your father Constantius, and his brothers, began the injury, having mixed a poisonous drug for him, though they had suffered no wrong from him at all. He, however, put his wife Fausta to death quite justly, for she had imitated the ancient Phaedra and slandered his son Priscus [Crispus], claiming that he was seized by love for her and had attempted to use force against her, just as she did to Hippolytus, the son of Theseus. And indeed, he punished the one who had thus acted with such madness toward his mother as her words suggested; but later, having learned that she had lied, he put her as well to death, passing against her the most just sentence of all. He turned, moreover, toward Christ, being called by Him from heaven when he was engaged in the most difficult battle against Maxentius. For there appeared to him then the sign of the cross in the middle of the day, shining brighter than the sun with its rays, and with golden letters indicating the victory of the war. For we ourselves also saw the sign, when we were participating in the war, and we read the letters. Moreover, D
A the whole army beheld it; many witnesses of this fact are to be found in your army. And why do I say this? For the prophets long ago announced Christ beforehand, as even you know very well, if indeed you do not wish to be willingly deaf. There are many testimonies to his coming; and, to pass over other things, the very responses and proclamations of the gods whom you worship, the Sibylline writings, and the poetry of the Roman Virgil—which you call the Bucolics—sufficiently declare the things concerning him. Furthermore, even Apollo himself, who is held in great admiration among you and whose specialty is divination, uttered such a statement concerning Christ. For, when questioned by his own ministers, he replied as follows:
Would that you had not questioned me for the last and final time, O wretched of ministers, concerning the heavenly gods, And concerning the breath that encompasses all things round about like a cluster of grapes, The stars, the light, the rivers, and Tartarus, the air, and the fire; He who compels me, even against my will, from this house. Only this dawn still remained for my tripods. Woe, woe to me, tripods, lament; Apollo is extinguished, Extinguished. A celestial man destroys me with his light. And the God has suffered, yet the Godhead itself has not suffered.
B XXX. The apostate, replying, said: "I think, Artemius, that you have not come to Egypt as a general of the army, but rather as some sort of oracle-monger, or better, a buffoon, or indeed a charlatan collecting the lore of drunken old women and ancient, superannuated myths and fables."
The martyr replied: "You have not judged rightly, O Emperor, nor in a manner befitting your wisdom and virtue. For I draw my proofs from your own gods and the disciplines that are pleasing to you, so that from the things known to you, you might learn the mystery of the truth. C Nor should you think that I delight in the ornate words of the Greeks—'Let not the oil of the sinner anoint my head'—but, having care for your soul, I move every stone so that you might be persuaded. For I suppose that just as Satan blinded the ancient Adam, our first father, through disobedience and the eating of the fruit of the forbidden tree, so also he has stripped you, O Emperor, of the salvation of the faith of Christ, envying it for you. And that you call the sun and the moon and the stars gods, I am ashamed of your ignorance—not to mention your perversity—that you have determined to worship them. And among the other stars you fondly embrace the sun, and you appoint it as an imperial oath, up and down, both in your letters and in your speeches, and in your salutations, it is much, 'By the Sun.' But why is there a need to use many words? Do I renounce my Christ? Far be it from me! I do not embrace the detestable impiety of the Greeks, but I will remain in those things in which I was taught, and I will hold fast to the traditions of my fathers."
D XXXI. At these words Julian, forced into complete bewilderment, was struck dumb, not knowing what to do, and having greatly marveled at the
A manifold wisdom of the martyr and his extreme readiness in answering. To him again the martyr of Christ says, "Dismiss, O emperor, the now dead and fetid religion of the Gentiles (for it has long since rotted), and draw near to Christ; for He is long-suffering and merciful, and will not reject you if you are led to repentance." But it was impossible for the martyr to resist the impulse of a soul that willingly and gladly followed after evil, or to recall a spirit that was of its own accord tending toward destruction. For Julian, long laboring in his mind with the false religion of the Gentiles, which he had conceived in Ionia from his meetings with the philosophers surrounding Maximus of Tyre—so long as his brother was alive and Constantius after him, he dared not reveal anything for fear of them; but when they had departed from among the living and he himself was now master of affairs, then, casting off his disguise, he suddenly broke out with all his might into the vanity of the Gentiles. B Therefore he answered the martyr, "Since you have despised my words, O wicked head, and have dared to make the trial, that I might be converted to the same worship of Christianity as you, I also will recompense you in kind with words worthy of you." He orders, therefore, the martyr to be stripped and his sides to be pierced with red-hot iron skewers, and his back to be pricked with sharp thistles and torn while he is dragged face upward. These things being brought upon him with all haste, he showed the same constancy as before. For when the martyr had stood firm under the torments for many hours, uttering no voice or groan, Julian, sullen and gloomy as if defeated, rose from the tribunal and commanded the martyr to be led back to prison, and that neither bread nor water should be provided for him, nor anything that men consume for sustenance. C He himself immediately set out for Daphne, the most pleasant place in Antioch.
XXXII. About midnight, Christ appeared to the martyr as he was praying in the dungeon, providing him with courage and promising that He would be with him altogether, saying, "As you yourself have confessed me before men upon the earth, so I also will confess you before my Father who is in heaven." When the martyr had heard these things from the Lord, he took heart and spent the whole night glorifying God and giving Him thanks. For he was suddenly eased of his blows and wounds, so that not even a trace of a bruise appeared upon his holy body. For fifteen days he remained fasting entirely D in the prison, nourished by the bread of angels, or rather by the grace of the good Spirit. Julian, however, when he had come to Daphne, as we said, was preparing sacrifices to Apollo, being full of hope that he would quickly receive responses from him. Daphne is a suburb of Antioch, situated on higher ground, and shaded by every kind of tree; in which place a very great multitude of various trees, and especially cypresses, had been planted, of a beauty, height, and magnitude in no way to be imitated. There flow
A in every direction currents of potable water, with very great springs gushing forth there; from which the city also seems to be among the few best-watered cities. Moreover, the place has been magnificently constructed and adorned with brilliant buildings for lodgings, baths, and other structures, both for utility and for beauty. Here were temples and statues of other demons, but the temple of Apollo was especially honored from the beginning. For the Greek myth invented the story concerning the maiden Daphne as having happened there; and the place seems most especially to bear her name.
B XXXIII. The statue of Apollo was constructed in this manner: its body was fashioned from vine-wood, joined with a certain marvelous art so as to present the appearance of a single growth. The garment covering it was entirely gilded, and where it left parts of the body bare and ungilded, an unspeakable beauty was revealed. Standing, it held a lyre in its hands, imitating someone playing music, and the hair and the laurel crown were interspersed with gold, so that a great grace was destined to shine forth to the beholders. Two large hyacinth stones filled the form of his eyes, in memory of the Amyclaean boy, Hyacinthus. The beauty and magnitude of the stones always added the greatest adornment to the image, so that it happened that very many were deceived by him, being lured to worship him on account of the beauty of the form that appeared. This was a thing that Julian himself also experienced. He certainly offered it greater worship than to all the other statues, sacrificing thousands of every kind to it and expecting oracles in return.
C XXXIV. Since deep silence possessed all the images, Julian, thinking that what was needed was the sorcery which the Greeks call *hierurgia*, sent for a certain Eusebius, who possessed very great fame among the Greeks for being able to do these things, and commanded him to make the statue as breathing and effective as possible, sparing nothing that he judged necessary for this work. When he had contrived everything and had left nothing undone that could come into his mind, it remained silent in the same way, speaking no more than before. Being questioned by Julian as to why it was particularly silent, even though all D the customary rites had been performed upon it, he said that Babylas was the principal cause of the silence of this and the remaining images, being stationed there in Daphne, as the gods loathed his corpse and therefore could not endure to visit their accustomed haunts. For he did not wish to speak the truest cause, being a man altogether insensible to it—that there was clearly a greater power that had fettered the operations of the demons—especially since the demon who was acting as Apollo had clearly and explicitly answered him, as it is said, that he could not speak on account of Babylas.
XXXV. For this Babylas is said to have indeed been bishop of Antioch, and when the emperor Numerian
A desired to enter the church of the Christians on a certain feast day, he stood before the doors and prevented him from entering, saying that he would not, to the best of his ability, see a wolf entering the flock. The emperor, being at that moment repelled from the entrance—whether he suspected that some sedition on the part of the crowd might occur, or whether he had otherwise devised some plan—was nevertheless deeply vexed at the bishop's resistance. But when he had withdrawn to the palace, he gave orders for him to be brought forward before the tribunal to defend his cause. And when he was brought forward, he first accused him of the audacity of daring to prohibit him; then, however, he ordered him to sacrifice to the dēmons, if he wished to escape the punishment for his crime. He replied to the accusation but rejected the exhortation; B regarding the former, he said that since he was a pastor, it behooved him to willingly suffer all things for the sake of the flock; but regarding the latter, that he would never consent, by departing from the true God, to sacrifice to those who are called gods falsely and are in fact baneful dēmons. Then the emperor, when he saw that he would not comply, ordered them to bind him in chains and fetters and lead him to death, to have his head cut off. But as he was being led away to die, he took up and sang these words of the Psalm: 'Turn again unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.' They say also that three boys, brothers by birth, and very young, who had been reared by him from infancy, were seized by the emperor; and since they would not sacrifice, even though C all manner of force was brought to bear upon them, the emperor also ordered their heads to be removed. When they came to the appointed place, Babylas placed himself before them and led them to the sword first, so that no one, overcome by fear, might refuse death. And when they were being beheaded, he uttered this saying: 'Behold I and the children which God hath given me,' and then he himself stretched out his own neck to be finished by the sword, having instructed those who were to collect his body to bury the chains and fetters with him: 'So that these,' he said, 'may be an ornament to me even as I lie there.' And as they say, he still lies there with them. XXXVI. When Julian heard from Eusebius that this Babylas was the impediment to the statues being able to give responses, he immediately ordered D his casket (which is made of a very large stone) to be moved from Daphne. Immediately, therefore, a great multitude of the city, as if gathered for a great cause, dragged the casket. But it moved quickly, as if not drawn by men so much as by a more powerful force that was moving it, following the eagerness of the spirit of those who were drawing it. And when they had carried it more than fifty stadia that same day, they placed it in what is called the cemetery; which is a house before the city that has received the bodies of men of old, and in which many are honored for piety. Then, indeed, they brought the casket there, while Julian was preparing a multitude of priests and offerings, so that on the following day with them
he might ascend to Daphne—certainly hoping, if not for others, that he at least would receive an answer from Apollo himself. For on this very thing his whole hope of fervor was fixed, and because he thought that such a place was more excellent than any other in the art of divination, and because Daphne was consecrated to him alone. Eusebius, along with the aforementioned priests and the multitude of temple-keepers, awaiting the emperor, were in great distress and kept watch around the image, doing everything in their power so that when he arrived, he might find it speaking, since no other excuse remained for them to delay.
XXXVII. But when the night was far advanced, fire suddenly descended from heaven and struck the temple, and grasping it from every side, set fire to the image itself and the offerings as well. As everything was burning together, and the fire was rising to a great height, there was immediately a great cry B around the temple and a tumult like no other. Although many were eager to bring aid, there was no one who could stand against the fire; some indeed ran to the city to report it to Julian, the governor of the East, while the rest of the multitude stood in astonishment, becoming spectators of the strange catastrophe that had overtaken them. The fire was touching none of the other things, although so much and such abundant material was lying all about there, except that it utterly consumed the temple together with what was within; so that the image and everything that was in the form of offerings were entirely destroyed, C and few edifices of Daphne remained—signs of the disaster—which even now more clearly show the proof of the heaven-sent fire. Julian, having heard what had happened, was filled with rage and, considering it a terrible thing if the Christians were planning to mock him on account of the events, immediately ordered them to be driven out of the great church, and declared it completely inaccessible to them, in order that they might be most securely barred from it, and that all its precious items might be confiscated for the state. He also gave the Gentiles authority to enter the churches of the Christians and to do whatever they wished.
XXXVIII. Since, then, these things were ordered by the tyrant and impious one, what great evils were not performed? What absurdities or shameful things were not said, with everyone speaking unspeakable things against the faith of the Christians with an unbridled tongue, and blaspheming against our Lord and God Jesus Christ in all the cities? For D in the city called Sebaste, they brought forth the bones of the prophet Elisha and of John the Baptist from their caskets and, mixing them with the unclean bones of brute animals, burned them and scattered the ashes into the air; and the statue of the Savior, which had been magnificently constructed in the city of Paneas by the woman who was suffering from a flow of blood and had been healed by Christ, and which had been set up in a prominent place in the city—which, having been recognized after a time by the healing herb growing there, the Christians took up and placed in the diaconicon of the church;
the pagans dragged it away, and, having bound its feet with ropes, they hauled it through the forum until it gradually perished, with only the head left behind, which was snatched away by someone while the pagans were in an uproar, uttering blasphemous and most hateful words against our Lord Jesus Christ, such as no man had ever heard before. A
XXXIX. To the most wicked tyrant, however, hearing these things was a delight, and they brought him great pleasure. Whence, after these things, he ordered the temple of the Jews that was at Jerusalem to be rebuilt, and having expelled the Christians from the city, he left it for the Jews to inhabit. For this reason he sent a certain Alypius, a man most devoted to the false religion and honored with the rank of count, ordering him to rebuild the temple with great zeal, which Vespasian and his son Titus had destroyed and burned along with the city. For it was necessary that the word of Christ, who is Truth itself, be brought to fulfillment, namely: “There shall not be left stone upon stone that shall not be thrown down” (Mark XIII, 2). Wishing to prove this false, that foolish man strove to rebuild the temple, even though he labored in vain, attempting things that could not be done. For when the Jews, who had killed God, flocked together with great zeal and set about the work with all their strength and readiness of mind, and were digging the trench for the foundations with silver spades and shovels, as some say, and were about to lay the foundations, a most violent storm blew in during the night and filled up what had been emptied; and as lightning and thunder were continuously sent down and day was already approaching, there was an earthquake so great that many perished; and fire sent forth from the foundations that were being laid burned up all who were found there. And these things were done in this way.
XL. But Julian, when he had sat before the tribunal in the place they call the Basilica, and had caused the martyr to be brought forward, said: “You have surely heard, you too, most impious man, from those who dare to attempt such things as you do, what the wretches have dared against Apollo who is in Daphne, and how they burned him with his very sacred objects and votive offerings, so that a work to be admired and most revered was consumed by fire. But they shall not rejoice in mocking our things. For I shall exact vengeance for this seventy-seven times, as your Oracles say.” The martyr replied: “I have heard, he said, that divine wrath sent and fire sent from heaven consumed your god and destroyed his entire temple. If, then, he was a god, why did he not save himself from the fire?” The oath-breaker Julian then said: “You seem, O most impious one, to want to insult these things yourself, and to laugh gladly, as one who has obtained some vengeance from your God.” But the martyr said: “It always occurs to me to laugh and to exult at the fall of your
of your gods, most foolish one; rather, I shall glory and rejoice in the things which my God performs each day. As for the vengeance for what you inflict upon me, I shall receive it there, when that fire takes hold of you, and the unending punishment. And here, too, there is not long to wait, for A *“Your memory shall perish with a roar.”* But the apostate said: “If you rejoice in these things, I shall provide you an increase of pleasure. But I spare you out of my own kindness, and I wish for you, having ceased from your own folly, to use wise reasoning and approach to sacrifice to the immortal gods. For you have been honored with the greatest dignity, and sufficient wealth has been amassed for you from above and from your ancestors, and the gods have adorned you with many gifts of virtue, even if you yourself have been found ungrateful toward those who have benefited you.” But the martyr said: “Why are you raving, most lawless one, and wasting time on these profitless things, having abandoned the barbarian uprisings and deferred the Persian war, on account of which you have shaken the entire world, all so that you might spend all your leisure time on me, the servant of God? Pronounce, then, whatever death for us you wish; for I neither worship your gods, nor do I obey your commands.”
B XLI. When the apostate heard these things, and his heart was filled with rage, he summoned stone-cutters and masons, and said, “Do you see this rock?” pointing to a crag opposite the theater. “Divide this in two, and after you have placed one part supine on the ground and laid this evildoer upon it, cover him with the other part with great force, so that he, being caught in the middle, may have his flesh and bones crushed, and may learn by the very deed whom he is resisting, and whether he finds help from his God.” The work being carried out quicker than speech, and the holy man being caught in the middle of the rocks, such was the force pressing upon him that, as his bones were shattered, a certain sound and crashing C was heard by many. For all that was within him was ruptured, the entire framework of his bones was crushed, and the pupils of his eyes had leapt from their sockets. Yet even in such dire straits, he did not neglect to sing to God. For he chanted, saying, *“On a rock Thou hast exalted me, Thou hast guided me, because Thou hast become my hope, a tower of strength from the face of the enemy. Thou hast set my feet upon a rock and directed my steps.”* “Receive, therefore, only-begotten Son of God, my spirit, and do not shut me up into the hands of my enemies.” Thus, then, the martyr remained in the midst of the rocks for a whole day and night, D and the lawless one ordered the rocks to be parted, believing that he had perished completely and that no part of his spirit remained, given the weight of that great load. But when the rocks were separated, he came out walking and using his own feet—a marvel truly incredible to those who only hear of it. A naked man, who had had his eyes gouged out, his bones crushed, and his limbs and flesh compressed by the crushing together of the rocks, while all his entrails had miserably spilled out; he (O new and strange specta-
A (O wonderful sight!) was walking and conversing, and speaking back to the tyrant. He astonished even him, appearing as a kind of prodigy to him and to those present. "Behold," he said, "a thing truly new and full of prodigy. Is not this man a sorcerer and a magician? By the immortal and invincible gods, I did not think, O men, that this accursed man was still numbered among the living. Yet this man, even with his entrails and his entire frame dissolved, both walks and speaks. But the gods have reserved him for the correction of many foolish people, that he might be a specter to those who do not worship their supermundane power."
XLII. Thus he spoke, and said to the martyr: "Behold, wretched man, you are deprived of your eyes, and all your limbs are useless and destroyed. What hope, then, is still left to you? In whom have you hoped in vain? But invoke the kindness of the gods; approach them. Perhaps they will become propitious to you, and will not deliver you to the punishments that are in Hades." But the martyr of Christ, when he heard "punishment," smiled and said to the tyrant: "Will your gods deliver me to punishments? And how will they, B not having escaped their own pains, become the punishers of others? For them is prepared the eternal fire; for them the tartarus, and the gnashing of teeth; with whom you yourself also shall be delivered to immaterial fire, to be punished eternally; because you have trodden under foot the Son of God, and have thought his precious blood, which he shed for us, common, and have treated with contumely the Spirit of grace in whom you were sanctified. But for me, in return for this small labor and brief torture, many and glorious gifts and crowns of victory shall be given. But what are these things to you, who have altogether surrendered yourself to demons? Depart, therefore, from me; depart, worker of iniquity, since there is no fellowship for light with darkness; C and bring any sentence you wish against us. For you have already been assured by words and deeds that I shall in no way yield to your will."
XLIII. When the faith-breaking Julian heard these things, and was altogether brought into the utmost doubt, he said: "Artemius, who has denied the religion of the gods, and has abandoned Roman and our own traditions, having chosen to be called a Christian instead of a Roman and a Greek, and instead of Duke and Augustalis, is more eager to be named a Galilean; let him have his accursed head cut off by the sword." D When the martyr of Christ had received this sentence, he went out from the tribunal rejoicing, and following eagerly those who were leading him away. But when he had arrived at the place, he asked from those who wished to kill him a brief time for prayer. Having received it, and having looked up to heaven, he said: "O God, I thank you, because you have strengthened me, your unworthy servant, to trample upon the goads of the devil, and to crush his snares, which he had prepared for my feet, and with shame and
A to cover with ignominy the face of him who abandoned you, the light of the world, and followed him who led him astray, the devil. I give you thanks, only-begotten Son of the Father, because you have deemed me worthy of the prize of the upward calling and of the choir of your saints, and have perfected me in your confession. And now I call upon you, Master, look upon me and upon my humility, and give refreshment to your inheritance, for it is weak, and you have not finished it. “For behold, your enemies have made a noise, and those who hate you have lifted up their heads, and have taken counsel against your saints, saying, 'Come, and let us destroy them, and let there be no mention of the name of Christ any more' (Ps. LXXXII, 3, 4).” This Julian boasts, this his blasphemous tongue spews forth, this he threatens against your people, Master, for whom you poured out your own blood. For behold, your altars have been torn down, your sanctuary has been burned, and the beauty of your house has been taken away, and the blood of your covenant has been set at naught because of our sins. But you, patient Lord, stay your indignation against us, and in your wrath remember mercy, and quench your anger, which we have kindled while provoking you, the lover of mankind, to the same. Crush the proud head of idolatry, which now again is being stirred up and is being lifted against your servants. Grant that her evil infants may be dashed upon the ground, beneath the unbroken rock of your confession and faith, so that in every place of your dominion, a pure and blameless sacrifice may be offered to you, and your all-holy name may be glorified, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and unto the ages.
B C XLIV. And having knelt for the third time, and having worshipped toward the east, he said again, “God out of God, sole out of sole, King out of King, you who are in the heavens and sit at the right hand of the God and Father who begot you, you who lived upon the earth for the salvation of us all, the crown of those who piously contend for you, hear me today, your humble and unworthy servant, and in peace receive my soul, and cause it to rest with your saints who have pleased you from of old.” And a voice came to him from heaven, saying, “The Lord has heard your prayers, Artemius, and has granted you the grace of healings. Hasten, therefore, to complete your course and to receive the prize prepared for the saints and for all those who have loved the appearing of Christ.” Having heard this voice, the blessed man, and having received it as a kind of assurance, was clearly filled in his soul with joy, and even now, as it were, contemplated the delight and glory he was about to enjoy. Wherefore he gladly stretched forth his neck D and received the blow, the twentieth day of the month of October then being current; and he himself ascends into the heavens, to appear before the face of Christ, for whose sake he also alacritously embraced death. He left his body and head on earth, a great solace to Christians,
for which he willingly chose to die; and he leaves his body and his head to the earth, a great comfort to Christians, a remedy for the soul, a healing for the body, and a protector against every snare and harm. B XLV. This, a Christ-loving woman named Arista, who was a deaconess of the Church in Antioch, having taken up, and having deemed it worthy of care, and having placed it in a casket, she sent it to the most blessed Constantinople, being eager to build for it also a worthy temple, as a token of more fervent charity toward him; but not having been able to bring her intention to its end, for this reason his sacred relics have remained to this day in the temple of the Forerunner, preserved like an inexhaustible treasure, to the glory of Christ our true God, to whom belongs honor, power, majesty, and magnificence, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
LIFE AND CONVERSATION OF OUR FATHER AMONG THE SAINTS ABERCIUS, BISHOP OF HIERAPOLIS.
(In Latin in Surius, October 22; in Greek from MS Paris 1484.)
1. When Marcus Antoninus and Lucius Verus were holding the Roman empire, a decree made its way through the entire land that was subject to the Romans, ordering public libations and sacrifices to be offered to the gods, as they are called. When, therefore, such a decree was sent at that time to Publius, the governor of little Phrygia, it was possible to see all who were under the Roman rule keeping festivals and sacrifices, and diligently serving the command of the Romans; and the senate of the Hierapolitans and the people were by no means absent from that common ritual. But this man himself, who is the subject of our present account, Abercius, who had been entrusted with the bishopric of the Hierapolitans, when he saw the citizens in white garments celebrating those calamitous festivals to the ruin of their own souls, and the true God being held in contempt and deaf idols being worshipped—a "false phantom," as I may say with the divine Habakkuk, and a mist of error over many
A a thing difficult and dreadfully absurd, and, as if struck in his soul on behalf of his brethren, he prayed to God in secret, saying: "God of the ages, and Lord of mercy, who didst create this universe and dost sustain it, who didst deign for our sake that thy only-begotten Son should become man, look even now upon the world which Thou didst create; and do not despise this city of Thine, in which Thou hast set me as a shepherd of Thy sheep, and whose episcopate Thou hast entrusted to me, unworthy as I am, while it is so given over to these abominations made by hands; but having delivered it from the cloud of error that casts darkness upon it, bring it into proximity with Thy light."
II. After having prayed thus for a great part of the day B and having given himself over to sleep, he beheld a young man, elegant and fair in appearance, who handed him a staff and said: "In my name, Abercius, go now, and with this staff shatter the authors of the error." Having awakened, and having well understood that it was the Lord who had appeared to him, he straightway arose and was filled with courage. Having snatched up a very large piece of wood, he departed, breathing zeal and wrath, to the temple of Apollo, where most of the libations and sacrifices were carried out. It was about the ninth hour of the night; and trusting in the divine vision, he first struck the doors of the temple with his own hands; and when the keys and the bolts were broken by him, and the doors were opened, he ran into the midst of the temple and smashed the idol of Apollo that stood there, and broke it into small pieces. Then, going around to the other gods as well, he treated them in the same way. And the gods did not defend themselves; and they who were deaf and vain were indeed deaf and mute, yet by the very deeds themselves they uttered a loud voice, that men are insane who attend to such things as these and call them gods, and that what they suffer now, they suffer justly and most laudably.
III. The devotees of the gods, however, and the ministers of the temple C when they saw these things that had been done with such high daring, stood full of astonishment and perplexity. But he, having turned toward them and looked upon them with righteous wrath, the righteous man said: "Go, tell the council and all the people that your gods, having become drunk on the banquet and the feast provided for them yesterday, smashed one another and thus cast themselves to the ground. But you, if you have any sense at all, consign these shattered remains of the idols to the furnace and to the fire. For perhaps thus your gods might prove useful to you, by means of the lime, I mean, that is to be made of them." D Having done and said these things, Abercius returned home like some champion who has slain common enemies—those who were in reality the authors of the destruction of many souls. Having returned, he taught the crowds that flocked to him to hold to the true religion and to concern themselves with a sober life. Under the same night, the sacrificers and temple-attendants approach the council, and they report Abercius, and inform them of the things that had come to pass; and as soon as it was light, the story immediately circulated among all, that the great Abercius had fallen into a great error, and had risen up against the gods, and that
from this he owed penalties not only to the gods and the emperors, but also to the people and the whole city. Therefore, all gathered in haste at the temple, and deliberated and consulted with one another regarding the man. Those who were the first among the citizens, and far excelled the others, advised that public ministers be sent to bring Abercius, so that he might render an account of why he dared such things, and whom he had as co-conspirators; for it is not probable, they said, that one attempting such great things would not have many accomplices. B Once we have apprehended them, we shall send them in bonds together with Abercius to the governor, so that they may pay a fitting penalty for the insults they offered both to the gods themselves and to the emperors.
IV. To those, therefore, who excelled the many in prudence, as we have said, this seemed expedient; and, "It must be done by us this way," they said. But the populace, having seen the hands and feet and faces of the gods cast upon the ground, were greatly shaken, acting—one might say—like madmen for the sake of madmen, and having seized wood and stones (for such is the whole crowd when once moved to anger, and using its impulse so thoughtlessly), and, "Let us go," they shouted to one another, "let us go; let us cast fire upon his house and burn it with all speed, so that not only he, but also everyone who dwells with him and thinks as he does, may perish miserably." The senate, however, fearing that if the house of Abercius were burned, the houses of his neighbors and many other innocent persons might also share in the calamity, and that the people would then have to pay the penalty to Publius because C they had joined themselves to the multitude, tried to calm the enraged and to restrain their boiling spirits. In the meantime, while a delay of no small duration occurred, some of those who had already learned the piety, having heard this, arrive in great haste at the house of Abercius. And having found him with a calm and joyful countenance receiving those who were present with the teaching of piety, just as if nothing new had happened, they tell him of the plot, and beseech him to grant a little room to the insolent uproar of the populace, and to depart the city immediately; so that they might not lose two most important things—a father and brethren—that is, the divine Abercius himself, whom the Holy Spirit had appointed for them in the place of a father, and those brethren whom, if he were to survive, he might bring to piety.
V. But he said, "We would surely be thought runaways from the sufferings to be endured for Christ, D O brethren, if we were to avoid suffering for His sake in such a cowardly manner; and this when the holy apostles were commanded by Him to preach the word of truth to the nations with boldness, and to fear not one of the unpleasant things for the sake of His name in the time of the bringing in of those who treat us spitefully. For to suffer evils for His sake is pleasant, and to die for Him is truly sweeter than any life. Nevertheless, you must be obeyed in your wanting this: and those who are coming against us are to be fled
A outright. Having said this, and at the same time having gone out with them, he proceeds through the middle of the city towards the marketplace. There, having sat down in a place which among them was called the Fragellium, he taught the proclamation of truth to those present and deemed them worthy of the knowledge of God, as far as it was possible for them to be deemed worthy; and he kept saying that he who had been perfected by holy baptism, and who was already rightly acknowledged and called a Christian, ought to disdain the things that are present—for they are fleeting—and to desire only the immortal life. For that is truly the only life which God has prepared for those who love Him. B While he was conversing thus with them, the multitude that was being carried against him, having learned the matter and that he was not content to discourse about his own faith at home, but was even preaching and speaking freely of piety in public, being stirred up to greater madness and boiling with a fiercer spirit, could no longer be restrained; nor were they able to yield to the best men of the city, but with tumult and shouting they rushed upon him, wishing almost to tear him and those who were with him to pieces with their teeth.
VI. C But when they had already arrived at him, and were on the point of laying hands upon him, behold, three young men, into whose souls evil demons had long ago entered, suddenly tore their garments and ran out from the crowd, biting and twisting their own hands, rolling their eyes, spitting foam from their mouths, and uttering a certain indistinct and strange voice. These, having run up to Abercius, cried out loudly, "We adjure you by the true and only God whom you preach, do not torment us before the time." This indeed restrained the irrational impulse of the multitude; but to the young men, it was the end of the evil, or rather, if one must speak more truthfully, it extinguished the madness in both parties: in the young men, the madness that originated from the demons, and in the multitude, the one that had been stirred up against the saint from their uneducated nature. D All therefore stood looking at him intently, their impulses reined in solely by the decorum of the man and the serenity of his character, and they were waiting to see what would come of the matter.
The divine Abercius, however, without delay, turned himself toward prayer. "Father of your holy child Jesus," he said, "who, even if we should sin a myriad times, yourself ordain the things that lead to salvation; I ask and implore you to release the young men from the assault of the demons, so that they too may walk according to your will for the future, and may cause many others to be added to you by the miracle performed upon them; so that all may know that you are the only God and there is no other besides you." Having prayed these things to God, and looking at the young men, he strikes their heads with the staff he held in his hands, saying, "In the name of my Christ, come out of these young men, you evil demons, without doing them any harm." And they indeed, having seemed to let out a very great voice, immediately departed; but they, having cast off that which was then besetting them on account of the demons,
and having peered about a little and as it were recovered themselves, gave A themselves to his holy feet, and remained voiceless before them for a long time, so that they were thought by all to be dead. He, however, taking each by the right hand, raised them up in their right minds. And they, having sought out garments and put them on, appeared thereafter clothed and in their right minds, departing not at all from Abercius.
VII. But the crowd, having seen these things, all as if with one mind and tongue, cried out with a loud voice: "Thou art the only true God, who art proclaimed through Thy servant Abercius." The sudden transformation of that multitude bears witness to the fact, for they were so thoroughly taken by the miracle that none of them remained without the knowledge; but all ran to the divine baptism, having made their own salvation a beautiful incidental outcome B of the snares set for Abercius. Yet they said that there was something which troubled them most: for they feared and trembled lest, because of the great shame which the multitude of their sins had cast upon their souls, they might remain unacceptable before God. Approaching therefore, they said: "Teach us, man of God, whether God will look upon us with forbearance, or will render evil to us for those sins which we committed in ignorance, for which we also shudder, and for which we grieve, fear, and dread." He, however, drawing closer, with as loud and clear a voice as he could, said, "Men who have now believed, if you do not persevere in your former deeds and ancestral traditions, but abstain from all vice—I mean envy, hatred, impurity, and all other things C which you previously committed while in ignorance—He in whom you have now sincerely believed will be gracious to you; He who also calls those who are burdened by sins: 'Come,' He says, 'to me, all you that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you.' We have countless examples of His goodness. Therefore, believing in Him, dedicate all your souls to Him, and you shall not be frustrated in your hopes." "But," they said, "we have received grievous wounds, having previously surrendered our whole selves to the shameful pleasures of the body, and served in large part the desires of the flesh, and we still possess the evil habit, exercising tyranny within us." He, however, said: "Run as quickly as possible to the Physician, and to fasting, labors, prayers, tears, the confession of sins, and of those very thoughts which D vex you and urge you to the practice of evil; which also God long ago reproached the Jews through the divine Hosea, as not having been done by them, saying: 'Why have you kept silent about impiety, and reaped the fruit of it?' Apply these most useful medicines to yourselves, and not even a trace of your wounds will remain."
VIII. As the divine Abercius was thus speaking to them,
the ninth hour of the day had already drawn to its close, bringing an end for him to his exhortations. He A brought his discourse to a conclusion, as the customary prayers drew him away to another conversation with the one for whom he longed. He arose, and having laid those sacred hands upon them that were suffering, he quenched their pains and restored them to perfect health. Then, having prayed for all and blessed them, and indeed having imparted the kiss in the Lord, setting it upon them as a kind of seal so that what had been said might be well kept by B them, he went homeward with the brethren. The multitude followed him and begged to be baptized by him. He accepted their prompt eagerness, as was fitting, possessing himself in this matter a far greater eagerness than they; but because the time was not suitable, he deferred the baptism until the next day. Many of them, therefore, on account of their warm love for baptism, not enduring even to return home, slept there near the little house. When it was the middle of the night, C Abercius, shining with grace, having prayed to God, went out of the house; and having seen the crowd standing around and waiting, he lifted his eyes to heaven and said, "I thank Thee, O Master and God, that Thou hast had mercy on me, the shepherd of Thy rational sheep, and that Thou hast rendered in vain the wolf who was gaping toward us, and hast called back the part of the flock severed from the truth, and hast already deemed them worthy of the adoption of sons through baptism." Having D spoken thus to the God of all, he urged the multitude to follow him to the church. When they had arrived, having repeated the customary prayers over them, he initiated five hundred men in number into baptism. From that time on, many flowed toward the man, not only from great Phrygia and the entire surrounding region, but also all those who inhabited Asia, and those who dwelt in the provinces of Lydia and Caria. For the report about him spread through every city, a report that was not empty and vain—and therefore able to be quickly extinguished—but one that possessed great power from the truth. Men flowed to him, therefore, some so that they might be taught the things of salvation, and others so that they might be delivered from things that caused them distress, such as those whom some disease pressed, or whom some other evil held. For he was most apt at teaching the word of truth, most ready to make those approaching home to Christ, and most swift to deliver them from evils.
IX. A few days passed, and having taken with him the presbyters and deacons, and the rest of the brotherhood besides, he went forth; and having sat down in the place where he was accustomed to be, he poured forth from his mouth the most sweet streams of doctrine, as if from some most sweet spring. Meanwhile, there approached, led by a guide, a woman of the illustrious, blinded in her eyes, by name Phrygella, the mother of Euxenianus Poplion. He was one of those who held the first places of honor both before the emperor and in the whole city;
A for, as we said, his mother, having learned that the great Abercius was already sitting there and teaching, ran to him with haste, and taking hold of his feet, she begged him at great length, and said, "Have pity, O most venerable of men, and friend of the only and true God, have pity on this suppliant; give me back my eyes, that great work of God; enable me to behold again the pleasant sun, and do not overlook me in such a miserable condition. Console my calamity; be moved by the greatness of my visible misery. I have a son, Poplion, who has great influence before the emperor and in the city, yet I do not see him. I have wealth of every kind, servants, money, property, yet I am worse off than the needy in this respect. For they can enjoy the sight of the little they have and dispose of their possessions as they wish, but I cannot even see these things of which I am believed to be the mistress. Would that, deprived of all these, I had only my eyes! Therefore I beseech your merciful soul—I beseech and entreat you, miserable as I am—that you open my eyes, and by your boldness before the true God, grant them the power to see." B X. But he said, "But I, too, am a sinner, O woman, and one more in need of mercy, and I hang entirely upon the goodness of God. But if you also believe in the God in whom I trust, it is entirely possible for him, just as to the man blind from birth, to grant sight even to you." She said, "I believe in the true Lord, Christ; therefore do you, touching the eyes of me who believes, grant to them the desired light." She did not say these things in empty words alone, but confirmed them also by her manner and by fountains of tears. The saint, therefore, having compassion, and looking up to the heavens, of which he was truly worthy, said, "Come, O true light, Jesus Christ, and open her eyes." Then, turning and touching her eyelids, he said, "If Phrygella has truly believed in Christ, let her receive her sight immediately." When he had said this, the blindness was dissolved, and her true faith in Christ was made manifest. C For the restoration of sight to the eyes of the body signified that the eyes of her soul had been illuminated. Moreover, she was also recognized as grateful for the gift, saying, "I thank you, Lord, that you have granted me light doubly; for to these eyes of the body that see, you have opened far more for me the eyes of my heart. Whence it is fitting for me also to utter the words of your David: ‘You have delivered my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.’ For I have been truly delivered from stumbling, no less in the steps of the soul than in the footsteps of the body." Hence, also, seized by a fervent love for Christ, and having wholly devoted herself to keeping his commandments, "Behold," she said, looking toward the saint, "Father, in the presence of these many witnesses, I entrust to you half of my possessions, that you may distribute them to the needy." The multitude, therefore, which was standing around, marveling at this new miracle, itself also cried out
"Great are you, and this is the God of the Christians," for those who call upon your name do indeed enjoy great graces. A And in response, the divine Abercius said, "Behold, woman, you have known how my Master munificently rewards those who hope in Him. Go, therefore, in peace, paying attention to yourself, and rendering to Him the thanks that are due." He spoke these words, and she withdrew for the present; yet she returned again and continued to revere him greatly, and she never swerved from what followed. And so, Abercius returned to his customary teaching.
XI. When the miracle that took place in Phrygella had spread to many parts of the land, there approached him three elderly women, who also were deprived of their sight. "We also," they said, "believe in Jesus, who is preached by you. May His mercy now appear to us, and show us, O wonderful one, just as you did for Phrygella, the light." He replied, "If your faith in the true God is sincere, as you say, you shall see Him with the eyes of the heart, which fall under the intellect." Having said this, he lifted up his eyes and said, "Lord Jesus Christ, I entreat you, let these too see the light of your knowledge, and being freed from the darkness spread over them, may they look, Lord, upon the rays of your truth." B Thus he prayed, and behold, a great light shone down from above upon the place where they were standing, and all those present fell to the ground, struck with amazement at the sight; and the light was not such as comes from the sun or lightning, but was altogether new and wondrous and strange. They, therefore, stood unmoved, while all others had fallen upon the earth, and that light that appeared, having shined upon their eyes, immediately caused them to see, and to gaze upon this solar light which is sweet and pleasant for men to behold. C When he saw them with their sight thus restored, he asked, "What, then, has appeared to you, and what did you first see when you looked?" One of them said, "I saw an old man, whose beauty of form and alacrity is inexpressible." Another said, "An adolescent appeared to me." The third said, "A child touched my eyes." Having heard this, Abercius gave thanks to God for the wonders and ceased his teaching.
XII. Then, taking those of the bystanders who were his familiars, he returned home, and having offered the hymns of the ninth hour (for this was his custom, as it were a secondary task, to take care of the body at the end of the day), he partook of a little bread. D When these things had been done by him, it was possible to see many from the surrounding region flocking to the man and being baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Meanwhile, Euxenianus, having learned what had happened to his mother, and how she had been led to approach the holy man, and how, though blinded, she had recovered her sight, and having inquired into everything precisely from her, came to him, and having greeted him, said, "If I knew, father, that you would gladly look upon money, I would not have distributed
a small part of my wealth to you, in return for the great benefit you rendered to my mother. But since, along with other things that God has gifted you, He has also made you superior to riches, with what, according to reason, could we recompense you for this gift? What else but this gratitude of mine shall be laid up with you?" Having said this, he grasped the feet of the saint. But the saint, taking his right hand, said, "Know, most excellent one, that I have need of nothing from you, except that you, being so prudent, should become a believer from an unbeliever, and changing from your impious religion, come to the acknowledgment of the truth. For I would rather have you be a faithful poor man than an unfaithful one who is renowned and rich." B XIII. Then Euxenianus replied: "Since it is so, O sacred head, if you are willing, we must inquire about this. For often, sitting by my mother, I heard that she had been taught by you that God is at one time merciful and good, and at another time terrible and just; and that He rewards the ones with good things, as being exceedingly good, and avenges and punishes the others, as being just. If, therefore, benefit and rewarding come from love, but punishment and chastisement from hatred, how can the same being be both good and bring about just punishments?" "Because," says the great Abercius, "since to each is rendered what is due, He benefits those who do good things, being good by nature, but He punishes those who pursue wicked things, as one who does everything justly, with nothing that we do—and which we only take into our minds—escaping His knowledge. For He is the most accurate examiner of those things that are in the depths of the intellect, probing hearts and reins, and reaching even to the division of soul and spirit, of joints also and marrow, and is a critic of the thoughts and intentions of the heart." C And Euxenianus said: "This, indeed, has been rightly resolved; but teach me this also: if God delights in the good, why did He not from the beginning make man such that he was able to perform the good, but unable to do any evil at all? For so we would both be doing what is in accordance with His will, and we would have remained untouched by any punishment." The other said, "This too belongs to Him who has great care for us, and who altogether wills our good. For if we had no power to do evil things, we would gain nothing from doing good things. For we would be worthy of neither praise nor commendation on that account. For then D what was done would not have been done by our own free choice, but by the nature of the matter. For it is not the one who cannot do evil who is to be praised for not doing it, but the one who, being able to do it, abstains because of his desire for the good. Since, therefore, both are in our power—whether we be good if we wish, or evil—'For if you will,' He says, 'you shall be gods'—why do you take away the cause of approval, and cast out the occasions for crowns?" To this Euxenianus [said], "I am perfectly convinced that man is of his own right, and possesses free will, and his own
judgment in choosing to sin." As they were thus contending with one another, the ninth hour coming on again brought their questions to an end. A For the divine Abercius stood up, greeted those who were standing about, and after offering a blessing, sent them home with Euxenianus.
XIV. A few days passed after this, and he went round the villages in the vicinity—and before all others, those nearest by—along with the brethren; for he had already learned that many there were oppressed by various diseases. Having therefore gone about and healed them by prayer and the laying on of hands, and seeing that the place lacked a bath—a truly excellent comfort for the sick—he came to a place called Ager, where a river flows nearby, and bending his knees to God, he fell to the ground. B And lo, a thunderclap suddenly broke from the clear sky, and the earth poured forth springs of warm water, and God was praised for everything, having thus heard the prayers of a just man. But that blessed tongue, having instructed those present to dig cisterns so that a confluence of the warm waters might gather in them and be for the recovery of the bodies of those suffering, returned to his house. C Meanwhile, the father of temptations and deception, the wicked demon, having put on a woman’s form, approached the holy man, wishing to receive a blessing from him, or so he pretended. But he, casting his eyes upon him and not being unaware of the wolf hiding within, even though he had donned sheep’s clothing, immediately turned away and struck his right foot against a stone. Being then in great pain, he touched his ankle with his hand, for he had struck that very spot. Then the wicked one, changing back into his own form, laughed most sweetly and most vehemently, and with his customary pride: "Do not imagine me," he said, "to be one of those lowly demons whom you know how to drive away often even with a single word; but I am the centurion himself, of whom you have just now made trial, and you see how you are affected by grievous pains, you who have delivered many others from their sufferings." Thus the accursed one attributed praise to himself from his act of harming, though never from doing good. D He said these things to the wonderful Abercius, and then he leaped upon one of the youths who were standing about him, whom, after having grievously torn and troubled, he cast down pitifully in the midst of everyone.
XV. The great Abercius, however, immediately moved with pity for the youth and having prayed to God, delivered him from the evil and set that accursed demon aside, showing by his deed who is a disciple of the good and taught to do good, and who is evil from the beginning, and a teacher of doing evil things to others. But he did not stop there, nor did he consider it enough to have been defeated once, but announced another battle against him, the first of which he was not even able to sustain. For when he withdrew against his will, having left the youth, using a harsh and impudent voice, he said: "I will make you, Aberci, see the city of the Romans, even against your will." And this occurred not long after, as the subsequent [narrative] of the divine
A word will show. For the holy Abercius, having returned to his own house, spent seven whole days in fasting and night-vigils together with his brethren, praying that the enemy might not have such power over him that, wherever he might lead him, he should follow. Yet in the seventh night, the Lord appearing to him in a dream, said: "To Rome, Aberci, you shall come by my providence, that those who are in it may know my name. Be of good courage, therefore; for my grace shall be with you." Then the saint, having awakened, said: "Thy will be done, O Lord," and declared that divine appearance to his brethren. But thus it had been foretold to him, that he would indeed arrive at the city of the Romans.
B XVI. But that wicked demon who, a little before, had threatened the saint with this arrival, delaying nothing, makes his way to Rome and enters into the daughter of the Emperor Antoninus—a girl already marriageable and sixteen years of age, who had been betrothed to Lucius Verus, and whose name was Lucilla; she surpassed all her peers in beauty and stature—and immediately drives her to frenzy, so that she was agitated and cast herself down, and would gnaw on her hands with her teeth and tear her own flesh. Her mother, Faustina (for this was the name of the Augusta), together with Antoninus, was dreadfully troubled with grief and perplexity, and C they considered the matter a disaster of the greatest magnitude. Yet what most increased their distress of mind was that the girl had been betrothed to Lucius; for Antoninus had already sent him to the East to wage war against King Vologeses. It had been agreed between them that, on certain appointed days, the one from the East—Lucius—and the other from Rome—Antoninus—should arrive at Ephesus, and that in the temple of Diana which was there, Antoninus should entrust the girl to Lucius, with the goddess as witness, and that Lucius should receive her. When, therefore, Lucius, according to the agreement, was sailing in haste to Ephesus, Antoninus—not knowing what to do, as his daughter was seized by the demon—prolonged the time with an excuse, writing to Lucius that the nation of the Germans, having crossed the Rhine, was plundering the cities and villages of the Romans, and therefore he could not now come to Ephesus with his daughter, as agreed, but only in the following year. But when, midway through his voyage, letters were delivered to him from the Emperor, he was affected with great grief, and taking it very hard, he returned to Antioch. The Emperor Antoninus, on one hand, being greatly anxious for his daughter of his own accord, and on the other hand, being urged forward by his wife, did everything and left nothing untried that had any reason to it.
D XVII. Therefore, having brought together the priests of the Romans and Italians, and having sent for soothsayers from Etruria, he adjured the demon through them, and thought of everything to effect a cure for the evil, but it was found to be in vain.
They were proven to be empty, and merely made the evil demon more savage toward the maiden. Indeed, the demon even caused such a voice to be uttered through that child: that unless Abercius, the bishop of the Hierapolitans in Lesser Phrygia, should come, it would not depart from that tabernacle. Since it cried these things out for many days, Antoninus pondered by himself what this might mean. Having at some point summoned the praetorian prefect, Cornelianus, he inquired whether there was any city in Lesser Phrygia called Hierapolis. He replied, "Very much so, master; and from it comes Euxenianus, to whom you have often written concerning public affairs." Hearing this, Antoninus rejoiced as if freed from a care, inasmuch as Euxenianus, who was residing there, would manage this matter for him admirably. Having ordered Valerius and Basianus, the *magistriani*, to be ready at once, he wrote him as follows:
"Antoninus, Emperor Augustus, to Euxenianus Poplio, greeting. Having experienced the ingenuity of your intellect in actual deeds, and especially those things which you performed at Smyrna by the command of our power, relieving the Smyrneans of the calamity which had befallen them from the earthquake—as was fitting, I was gladdened, and I praised your diligence in the conduct of affairs. For I learned everything with accuracy, just as if I had been present. For both the report sent by you, and he who delivered it, our procurator Cælicius, narrated everything to me clearly. Now, however, since it has been made known to our power that a certain Abercius, a bishop of the Hierapolitans, is residing with you—a man so pious in the Christian religion that he cures those possessed by demons and heals other diseases most easily—and since we have pressing need of him, we have sent Valerius and Basianus, *magistriani* of our divine offices, to bring the man to us with all honor and reverence. We therefore command your Excellency to persuade the man to come to us with all alacrity of mind, knowing that you will gain no small praise from us on this account. Farewell."
C XVIII. Having given this letter to the *magistriani*, he sent them from Rome, saying: "You will do me a most pleasing favor if you bring Abercius to me with the greatest possible speed." Having received these letters, they neglected nothing in terms of speed and diligence. But when they had reached Brundisium and boarded a ship prepared for this purpose by the prefect Cornelianus, with the wind at their stern, they crossed the Ionian Sea in seven days and made landfall in the Peloponnese. From there, having used public horses, they arrived in Byzantium on the fifteenth day. Then, having crossed over to Nicomedia that very same day and again used the public post, they reached Synada, the metropolis of Phrygia, and having received guides for the road from the governor who was there, named Spinther—as it had been ordered for him by Cornelianus—at about the ninth hour they entered the city of the Hierapolitans. Therefore, while entering the city, they met Abercius, as if...
by chance; for at the ninth hour he was accustomed to return home from teaching to offer his customary prayers to God. Those who met him inquired where Euxenianus might be, and where they reached the man. He asked what their business with the man was, and why they had come. Valerius, bearing his questioning ill—because he did not answer quickly what was asked—dared something more insolent, perhaps moved by the evil one, and raised his right hand against the saint, wishing to strike him with a whip. A But the hand that guarded him from above was not negligent; rather, the arrogant right hand was punished and remained motionless, as if bound by some shackle. Fear seized the other one also because of this new spectacle, and both, descending from their horses, fell at the feet of the saint and became very humble suppliants, so that the hand which had withered and was as if dead might bloom again and revive, and not remain dead in that way.
B XIX. But he, in this instance also, used his customary compassion, and he touched the withered hand and immediately rendered it healthy. Then, having asked again for the reason of the man's need, and learning that they were bringing imperial letters to him, he became their guide and led them with speed to the house of Euxenianus. He, however, having taken the letters into his hands and perused their contents, immediately handed the epistle to the saint and requested that there be no delay, but that, just as the emperor wished, he should begin the journey as soon as possible. And when he himself had also read it, "I will come," he said, "and I shall complete the journey with a prompt and eager spirit. For this happens by the will of God, as it had already been signified to me by my Lord." C The magistriani, who had been splendidly entertained by Euxenianus and had stayed with him for two days, and having reported to him the entire journey and the voyage, departed on the third day after receiving letters from him; the wonderful Abercius had promised them that after forty full days they would meet one another at the place called Portus, which is near Rome, and that he would thus enter Rome together with them. They, being unable to disbelieve—for they judged correctly from what they had suffered and seen that it was impossible for a man deemed worthy of such things to have an unhealthy conscience or tongue—again mounted the public horses and returned.
D XX. The divine Abercius, having poured wine and vinegar and oil into one and the same skin, and having taken a few loaves of bread besides, then spoke appropriate words to the brethren, and comforted them most beautifully as they were lamentably weeping over his departure, boarded a public carriage and went out of the city. Having proceeded a little way, he saw a certain vine-dresser digging and diligently tending the vines (the man's name was Trophimion). Having called him by name, "Come here," he says, "brother, join me..."
on my way to Rome.” He heard this, and immediately leaving behind his mattock and spade, and seizing his own garment which, because of the labor of working the earth, he had laid aside, he followed the saint. And when they were traveling together—but now I ask you to pay close attention, for you will hear a miracle mixed with pleasure—it happened that whenever Trophimion, at the saint’s command, opened the mouth of the flask for a common need, only that which was needed at the moment would come out, unmixed (be it wine, perhaps, or vinegar, or oil), while the rest remained in place. But whenever he, being in need of something else, would open the flask against the saint's counsel, the opposite of what he wanted would miraculously come out: vinegar or oil if, perhaps, he were thirsty and tried to drink, or if he were in need of these, pure wine would flow from the flask. Thus, he who was deceitful of his own will was faithful against his will, touching nothing of what he desired for his own use, the event itself clearly teaching him to behave rightly and sincerely, and to do nothing contrary to the judgment of him who had lent it to him. Such were the divine gifts that Abercius enjoyed from God. Having thus easily completed the whole journey, they arrived at Attaleia in Pamphylia. There they boarded a ship bound for Rome and arrived at the appointed place, just as the time agreed upon for the days had come to an end.
C XXI. Three days later, the *magisteriani* also arrived; for the voyage had lasted a long time due to the winter season, and they frequently blamed themselves for the delay. They had even concluded that if they did not meet the saint according to the agreement, they would either kill themselves or, if they appeared before the emperor empty-handed—as the saying goes—they would be put to death by him. While they were pondering these things, once they had stepped off the ship and were searching the inns and walking along the shore, they met the saint. He, reaching out his right hand and greeting them, looked upon the men with affection and gently reminded them of the agreement. They, seeing him unexpectedly, were filled with joy; they immediately knelt before him, embraced him, encircled him, and performed all those other acts which are signs of a soul moved by great delight. D Then, taking him with them, they entered Rome and brought him to the prefect, Cornelianus. Because the emperor Antoninus had set out on an expedition against the Barbarians who had crossed the Rhine and were plundering the Roman lands, he led the man to the Augusta Faustina. When she saw him—so grave and venerable, and displaying such comely moderation and tranquility—she was filled with awe, and she greeted him with great reverence. She said, “It is evident that you are a servant of the good and omnipotent God, from what many others have previously reported, and what the *magisteriani* who have returned just now have announced” (for indeed, Faustina had already learned about the man from them). “I beseech you, therefore, not to delay at all, but to show favor to the emperors, and heal and cure our humble
daughter. Thus, great honors and gifts from us will reward your kindness.” B
XXII. She said these things with great emotion; for the necessities of nature bent her, and made her seek as a helper him whom (to speak with the divine David) they hated without a cause, and whom they could not bear to worship as the true God. But he said, “Your good intention is acceptable, but we take no pleasure in any of your precious things, having long ago spurned this vain illusion. Furthermore, we do not provide for payment the graces given to us by God, having received them freely, and having been commanded to give them freely.” “But where is your daughter?” he asked. And Faustina, with all the speed she could, ran straight to the bedchamber, and taking the child herself, dragged her toward the holy man with as much fervor and zeal as one could describe.
But the most wicked demon inhabiting the girl, once he realized he was being led to him by whom he knew he had been previously overcome, began to tear at the girl, casting her down, and making her fear, be troubled, tremble, and grow dizzy. Then, it also sent forth a voice from her, saying, “Behold, Abercius, I have led you to Rome, as I promised.” But he said, “Indeed; but you will not rejoice on this account.” So he spoke, and ordered the girl to be taken into the open air. The girl was led through the Hippodrome, with the emperor’s bodyguards and guards having previously occupied the space; and in this place, that shameless and foul demon, while tearing and casting down the girl, and shouting nothing else but only what signified that he was boasting and bragging that he had led the saint through such a distance of land and sea—Abercius, having lifted his eyes to heaven and prayed to God, looked sharply at the girl and said, C “Come out of her, you wicked demon! Christ my God commands you to do her no harm.”
And he, instantly changing that leonine boldness into the cowardice of a fox, said, “I also adjure you by the same Christ, do not send me into the wilderness, nor to any other place, but to where I dwelt before.” But the saint said, “You shall go, not into the wilderness, but to your ancestral place. And because you made me see Rome, I myself also command you in the name of Jesus to pick up this altar” (pointing with his hand to the stone altar) “and carry it to my Hierapolis and set it up by the southern gate.” The demon obeyed, and immediately, like a servant who has learned to yield in all things to a terrible master, he departed from the girl, doing her no harm at all. Then, with countless eyes watching (oh, who would not admire all your works, Christ the King?), D he went under the altar and carried it, groaning heavily, and passed through the middle of the Hippodrome (which indeed seemed like a strange spectacle to the Romans), and deposited it at the preordained place in Hierapolis.
A
XXIII. The maiden, having been delivered from the demon that troubled her, remained speechless for a long time, holding the feet of the saint; this especially disturbed her mother and those who were present, fearing that the demon had taken away the soul of the child along with himself. Faustina, however, could not endure this in silence, but with a heart full of sorrow and mental anguish, she said to the saint, "Surely in casting out the demon, you have also cast out the life of the child." Seeing her in such a state, and having pity on her, he stretched out his hand to the child and, as if she were held in a deep sleep, he raised her up, restored to her right mind. Turning to Faustina, he said, "Behold, the child is standing before you, neither deprived of her life nor lacking freedom from the demon's assault." When the mother saw her child thus, she embraced her, and shedding tears of joy, she pressed cheek to cheek, mouth to mouth, and fixed hand in hand; and as if desiring to lay hold of her within and to commune with her soul, naked, she knew not what to do. When the child was already quite recovered, the empress very fervently implored the divine Abercius not to refuse to accept from her a recompense, he who had been the cause of so great and necessary a grace for her. But he did not even endure a mention of money, saying, "What need would there be of money for one whose bread and water is a lavish and magnificent feast?" He asked, however, that a bath be built in the field by the river, where he had himself bent his knees in prayer, and where the earth had sent forth springs of B warm water; and that three thousand modii of grain be allotted to the poor who were in that city.
XXIV. As soon as the empress heard these things, she gladly granted what had been requested, and immediately sent for Cornelianus the praetorian prefect, commanding him to apply all diligence to carry out the requests, so that the grace of the promised gifts might not be dulled and obscured by the slowness of the service. Such is the nature of men, and so are we affected: we are more gratified to bestow favors upon those who hesitate to accept gifts than upon those who are ready to receive them, despising the latter, because they appear to be conquered by gifts, but embracing the greatness of soul of the former. The praetorian prefect, however, without delay sent an architect to the governor of Phrygia who was in office at that time, with orders to receive from him as much money as was required for the construction of the bath, and to distribute three thousand modii of grain to the poor who were in Hierapolis. When the bath that was being built was finally completed, that place by the river was no longer called just "the field," but "the field of the warm springs" C; and the distribution of grain remained in effect until the times of the impious Julian. For he, out of envy toward the Christians, just as with all other good things, immediately put an end to that allowance.
XXV. The divine Abercius, therefore—to return to him—after having associated with the Romans for a long time and having handed down the sound doctrine of the faith of the Christians to the churches, once saw in his sleep the Lord standing near
the Lord, and to say: "It is necessary, Abercius, that you also take care of the regions that are in Syria." Awaking, therefore, from sleep, he asks the empress to let him go. For she was restraining him most vehemently, fearing that after he had departed, the demon, having regained its freedom, might attack her daughter again. But he, having said, "Take courage with regard to this," asked once more that a ship be prepared for him, by which he might sail to the parts of Syria. At length, therefore, persuaded by his perseverance, she orders Cornelianus to prepare a ship for him, and to load the necessary provisions as soon as possible. When, therefore, the ship had been brought for him into the port, he boarded it, and on the seventh day of the voyage reached Syria. And first he stays at Antioch; then Apamea receives him, B and from there he moves on to the remaining cities, and reconciles the churches that were at odds with one another; for the evil of the heresy of Marcion was then spreading very strongly through them. Having crossed the Euphrates, he comes to the churches which were in Nisibis and in all of Mesopotamia, and affects them in the same manner. From there, money is brought to him by all, an35 adequate reward for his great suffering on behalf of the churches. But they were unaware that they were acting just as if they were providing shackles to one of those who can run most swiftly as a reward for his agility, or, if you prefer, just as those who try to dress someone who has already learned to wrestle quite well while naked, so that the opponent might have a handle by which to seize him.
XXVI. When, therefore, he indeed refused to accept, saying that there had been more which the empress gave, and which could have been accepted for a more just cause; but those who were insisting could not persuade him, a certain man standing in their midst, by name Barchasanes, a man most illustrious in lineage, most copious in wealth, said, "To apply force to him on account of money, brothers, is neither fitting for him, nor at all useful for us. Yet what is given must not be set aside, and what his own actions grant him more than this, that is what must be provided by us. Let us resolve to name him 'Equal-to-the-Apostles,' C since we know of no one else who has traveled so much of land and sea to take care of the brothers, except for those supreme disciples of Christ, whom indeed he himself has followed." This he said; and to the others it seemed that this should be done. Thus from that time he received this title, which even before their decision he had attained by his deeds. Having departed from there, therefore, and having been in both Cilicias, and having visited Lycaonia and Pisidia, he comes to Synnada, the metropolis of Phrygia Minor. Having been received hospitably by some of the Christians who were there, and having refreshed himself a little, he hastened to his own city.
XXVII. When, therefore, in the summer he had come to the place which is called Aulon, he sat upon a nearby rock. But since the wind was blowing against him, and the grain was being winnowed by the rustics upon the threshing-floor, and the breeze, lifting up the thin chaff, was casting it upon the face of the saint, he asks the farmers D to abate their labor for a little while. They
A did not listen. Then, he indeed quieted the spirit with prayer alone, and for them, even against their will, their labor ceased. Since they did not know what to do, they turned to their meal; but he, since he happened to be overcome by thirst, asked them for water. But they, being terribly inhospitable and downright boorish, disregarded his request and made the matter a subject of mockery, saying, "Are we to abstain from our meal for the sake of one old man?" Abercius, the most philanthropic of men, therefore rebuked this inhumanity and cursed them so that they might never be satisfied. And this, which has remained with them to this day, is a truly human retribution for their inhumanity.
Then, departing from the rock, he reaches his own city. The multitude, perceiving the arrival of the man, came flowing together from every side, longing to behold his sweet face and to hear his desired voice. He, therefore, having gladly blessed and greeted them, would go about the city, once again teaching the word of truth with boldness, and perfecting those who approached him through divine baptism, providing relief to the demon-possessed, healing illnesses, and manifesting the power of the Spirit that was in him, which was stronger than any affliction. Having also composed a book of doctrine highly advantageous to have, he bequeaths it to the presbyters and deacons under him, so that even after death he might speak through it, and in a way, never cease from being useful. B
XXVIII.
Having once ascended a high mountain, as the occasion required, since he himself and those who were with him were suffering from thirst, he takes refuge in Him who can do all things. He himself, having inclined to prayer, sets his knees upon the ground; and the earth immediately brought forth potable water. And the place was from that time called the place of genuflection. But then, indeed, he returned to his own house; not long after, however, he again sees in a dream the Lord standing by him and saying, "Abercius, the time is already at hand for you to rest from your long labors." Having been roused from sleep and having understood that his departure was being prefigured to him, he relates to the brothers what had appeared, and he fashions for himself a stone, square, equal in length and width, as a grave; and he places upon the stone the altar which, by his command, had been brought there from Rome, having inscribed upon it for himself an epitaph of this kind: "I, C a citizen of an elect city, made this while living, that in time I might have a resting place for my body, by name Abercius. I am a disciple of a chaste shepherd who pastures flocks of sheep on mountains and in fields, and who has large eyes, seeing all things. For He taught me faithful letters, He who sent me to Rome to behold the sovereignty and to see a queen adorned in golden robes and golden sandals. And I saw there a people bearing a brilliant seal. And I saw the plain of the land of Syria, and all the cities, Nisibis, having crossed the Euphrates. And I had all as fellow travelers, with Paul within. Faith, moreover, led the way for all, and set forth as nourishment a fish from the fountain, D very great, pure; which a chaste virgin grasped, and this she gave to friends to eat always, with good wine...A having, giving a mixture together with bread. These things Abercius, standing by, commanded to be written, being truly in his seventy-second year. And may everyone who reads this pray for Abercius. But if anyone shall place another tomb over mine, he shall pay two thousand gold pieces to the Roman treasury, and one thousand gold pieces to my good fatherland, Hierapolis. These were the words of the inscription, for time had little by little detracted from their precision and had caused the writing to be erroneous.
XXIX. He himself, bringing together the presbyters and the deacons and some of the people, said, "Little children, for me the end of life is now at hand, and I depart, O flock dear to me; I depart toward the manner of life I have desired from my youth, and toward Him for whom alone I have longing, and by whose divine love I am vehemently inflamed; I depart to see Him. But it is for you to consider whom you will choose as your own bishop, who will shepherd you after me, and whose voice my sheep will heed well, being shepherded by him just as is pleasing to God." When the saint had said these things to them, they, having spoken briefly among themselves, with one accord chose the archpresbyter of the church, whose name was also Abercius. And he himself, having confirmed the episcopate for the man by his own vote, laid his hands upon him, and having blessed him, said, "I grant to you, O Abercius, to be bishop, God granting it, and I so far as it is in my power." Then, having lifted his hands together with his eyes to heaven, and having prayed to God, he departed from this life in spirit, and passed to Christ, being escorted to the choirs of angels, he who had truly lived as an angel. The multitude, however, who dwelt in the city, having gathered at that holy body of the man, and having sung holy hymns over him, and having borne him away as if he were some common treasure, deposited him in the stone on the twenty-second day of October. Then, having led him who had received the episcopate from him up to his throne, they together glorified God who is above the throne of the glory of the kingdom: to whom is due all honor, glory, and worship, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY AND GREAT MARTYR ARETHAS AND OF THE HOLY MARTYRS WHO CONTENDED WITH HIM, AND A HISTORY OF THE EVENTS THAT TOOK PLACE IN THAT REGION AT THAT TIME
A I. The fifth year was already underway since Justin had assumed the scepter of the Roman Empire, a time when Elesbaan was also reigning over the Ethiopians—a man who, on account of his piety and justice, had attained a very great reputation among all, and who had established his royal seat in the city of Auxume. Now, Dunaan, a Hebrew man who was impious and especially hostile to the race of Christians, held sway over Arabia Felix, which was once called Saba but is now known as the Homerite territory. He kept all who were under his rule circumcised, some following Jewish superstition, while others were entirely pagan, sacrificing to the sun, the moon, and demons, whom they honored in the customary fashion of the region with statues and columns. Furthermore, the Hebrew was hated by Elesbaan because, while almost all those under heaven proclaimed Christ as God and the true Son of God, who had become like us in the flesh, he himself, holding Him in contempt, rejected and denied both the Son and the incarnation, obscuring the crime that his ancestors had committed upon the cross. So it was that the pious king had often joined battle with him, forced him into retreat by sheer power, and compelled him to pay tribute. Yet, because he did not stand by the ratified agreements, he rose up against King Elesbaan. But Elesbaan, [having mustered] a strong army against him again, forced him to do battle, and having bravely overcome him, [put him into exile]
A and sent him fleeing. Then, having left behind an army for his guard, he returned again to his own dominion.
II. Meanwhile, the Hebrew could not remain quiet; but as if recalling his defeat, having gathered his own men and attacked those who held the guard, he destroyed all of them in battle, and ordered that all who were found confessing Christ as God should be destroyed without any mercy. B There was, therefore, not one of the Christians living under him who did not submit to this impious decree, fearing the ferocity of his spirit. Now there was a certain populous city situated in Homeritis, called Nagran, which had already come long ago to the knowledge of the truth and had embraced piety, ever since Constantius, the son of the great Constantine, sent an embassy to the Sabaeans—who are now called Homerites, having descended from Keturah, as children of Abraham—and, by winning over the king of that nation with gifts, built churches in this city, and sent a certain pious man, who had turned to the monastic life and was great in both moral and active virtues, and had become superior to all those of that time, to preside over those who had approached the true religion. At which time, although the Jews were resisting and persuading the barbarian not to admit a stranger to his city so easily, nor to introduce innovations regarding divine matters unless the religious man first displayed some sign—as is the custom for such people to demand, as they are unbelievers—and only then to grant him entry into the city, he, trusting in the divine promises that signs would follow those who believed, C agreed without hesitation and displayed the great operation of the miracles requested. From that time on, the city, purely worshipping the Lord and following the orthodox dogmas of the divine Fathers, continued to repel whatever was evil and to flee from, or even to avoid hearing of, strange religion.
III. The malignant one, therefore, envying this, and entering wholly into the Hebrew, armed him against the city, D partly thinking that this would be irksome to the pious king of the Ethiopians, and partly aiming to satisfy his madness against Christ and to utterly destroy the Christian race. Therefore, he came, bringing a powerful army; and having encamped round about and surrounded the walls with a rampart and a trench, he besieged Nagran, threatening that he would take it and kill all who were in it, unless they destroyed the cross of the Lord set up in a high place by the citizens—which in his folly (alas!) the senseless one called a sign of execration—and then denied Christ who had been suspended upon it. This the accursed one did with the intention that, having stripped them of the protection coming from thence, he might thereafter attack them, abandoned by such powerful aid. Certain ones, therefore, of the satellites of this wretched king, going around the city, were shouting these same things: and if they would obey, they [promised them] gifts
and honors; but if they refused and adhered to the Galilean, introducing a plurality of rule in place of a monarchy, they would be delivered to fire and sword. And Dunaas himself, with his bold and impious tongue, added false things to these, and boastfully said: "Jesus was not able to bring any aid to the Christians who were under my hand, all of whom, along with their priests and monks, I have already consumed with sword and fire, not even sparing their holy temples; and now, having gathered a very great army, of about one hundred and twenty thousand men, I have come to you, either to persuade you completely or to destroy you."
B IV. The citizens, however, said: "We see, O king, that you indulge your tongue greatly and attribute weakness to the only God. But Rapsaces, the general of the army of Sennacherib, is certainly no small example for you; for he, too, once vibrated his tongue in great and boastful language against God, yet there are few who do not know how many myriads he destroyed, and with what disgrace he retreated. But as for your accusing us of introducing a plurality of rule or polytheism, we, who have received the true religion from our ancestors from of old as a kind of inheritance, do not confine the Godhead by a monarchy, nor do we introduce a plurality of rule through a multitude of persons, but we confess one nature, undivided, divided into three persons: Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit. And the Son, whom you insult, we confess, according to the divine oracles, to have become man, C and to have been crucified by your ancestors for the salvation of all—those who miserably ignored the mystery of the Economy—and to have risen from the dead on the third day, and to have ascended to the heavens again, and to have been exalted to his own Father; and this we believe, and this we preach."
V. The profane ears, therefore, not enduring to hear these holy words any longer, turned to action. And so, turning to the siege, the king moved every siege engine against the city, diligently guarding and walling off the exits, and thinking that he would force those within to surrender through a famine of many days. And having gathered all the Christians who were in the fields and suburbs, some he slaughtered, while others he sold into slavery to those under his command. But when the pious citizens defended themselves bravely against everything, and the time that was passing made the hope of the tyrant very slim, he decided to take the city by ruse. And so he asked that it be permitted for him to enter the city, in order, as he said, D to see the things that were in it; having first resorted to fearful oaths, and having placed in the midst of his words the God of the law itself, that he would do nothing more to them than what they were accustomed to, nor would he compel them to abjure their ancestral religion, nor would he do any other evil, small or great, than this, but would only enjoy the sight of what was in the city, and having received the annual tax which was previously given, he would then immediately depart from there.
VI. Having said these things, and having settled the agreements,
A and having made a final oath, he persuades those in the city. Since they had entrusted everything to God, the witness of the oath, and had only said: "We have learned to submit to kings, and if he should change his mind regarding his words to us, then God, the overseer of oaths, will surely avenge it and will not be slow to exact vengeance." For they said, "O Christ, our Savior, and Son of God, and God, to be deprived of all our possessions and even of life itself for Your sake is a gain. Far be it from us to deny Your name, as is the goal of the impious, nor, O Sun, may You look upon us if we should commit such an act." As soon as they had said these words, they throw open all the gates and, within the very city, admit the evil king like a wolf into a sheepfold. But he, having praised the form and location, as well as the populousness of the city and the splendor of its citizens, departed, B contemplating grievous things against those very people who inhabited the city, as the outcome showed, considering the oath, the agreements, and whatever else he had offered them to gain their trust to be a childish deception.
VII. When he was now preparing to overthrow them, he calls them outside the city. There were present all those who were distinguished by wealth and glory. But above the rest, he who was most preeminent in gray hair, and wisdom, and modesty of character—I mean the divine Arethas, to whom, indeed, the governance of the city itself had been entrusted. And they were C applauding, praising, and offering every honor to him who appeared to be a savior and king. But he, thinking it a fault that he was seen to be evil by waiting, no longer delayed, but exposed Dunaan, who was hiding inside, and immediately commanded that all be bound in chains. Then he also stripped them of their possessions, and inquired where Paul, their bishop, might be. And when he learned that he had already been dead for two years, having no one upon whom to vent his rage, he turned against the dust and ordered the tomb to be dug up and, burning his corpse, to disperse it into the air. His frenzied soul devised yet another scheme, and it could not find satisfaction in plotting evils against Christians; but he ordered a pyre to be lit, fueled by much material, and commanded that the priests of the city and the surrounding region, and the monks, and the virgins consecrated to God, and also the women who had chosen the monastic life, all be thrown into it at once. D For these, he said, were absolutely the cause of the destruction of the others, persuading them to pay heed to the Crucified One as God. Furthermore, as if it were not sufficient to show his incomparable wickedness by what had already been done, so that he might bring the others under his control, he vehemently persisted and ordered heralds to run through the city and the region, proclaiming that they should deny Christ and live Judaically, holding the same views as the king himself.
VIII. Furthermore, the king himself also advised those around Arethas in a similar manner, adding that even the Romans themselves knew that his ancestors had crucified the man whom they...
A honor as God. For how, he said, could God be scourged, possessing an incorporeal nature? How, moreover, could an immortal nature taste of death, and such shameful and inglorious death? Furthermore, many among us Romans, boasting of having Nestorius as their teacher, themselves also say, in turn, that one ought to honor Christ not as God, but as a man and a certain prophet. And I have not been driven to such a degree of madness that I would myself deny the faith in God and summon you to a similar denial. For how, since I hold fast to the law and strongly cling to ancestral customs, and reject anything that is novel, could I not also hate Jesus, a man who impudently attributed divinity to himself? For I do not compel you to offer worship to the sun and moon, and to other created things, nor to the gods of the nations (far be it that I should fall into such madness!), but to God alone, who brought all things into existence, and who is the Father of things generated, who, being impassible and immaterial, does not know how to generate in a passible manner.
B IX. To which the noble Arethas, with his companions, replied: Why did you say these things, O king? We do not say that God generates in a passible manner, but impassibly, as the mind generates a word. And we declare that He, having been moved by compassion for our nature, sent His Son for the benefit of men, so that He even took flesh from a maiden virgin, and became in all things like us without sin, and fulfilled all things which were spoken concerning Him by the prophets many years before—things which you yourself also know, having pored over their books. And He, who often by miracles that are above man revealed His very divinity, did not deny that He had taken on flesh. And what need is there of many words? We confess Him to be both God and the Son of God, and we answer on behalf of the entire city and the other Christians who are subject to us; and there is no kind of torture which we are not ready to suffer for His sake. For what shall separate us from the love of Christ? C But we have nothing to do with Nestorius or others who are afflicted with his same malady, who, with supreme impudence, tearing apart from the divine hypostasis of the Word the man who was indivisibly and hypostatically united to God the Word, dared to say that the Word who appeared in the flesh was a self-subsisting and mere man; they who were deservedly cast out—as was fitting—from the catalogue of the orthodox by the divine Fathers and were delivered to an eternal anathema. But do not think—know this, you who are under his judgment—that the Lord who is blasphemed by you will fail to exact from you, forthwith, the penalty for these bold deeds, for your other blasphemy, I mean, and also for the oaths trodden underfoot and overturned by you, O most impious and most wily of men.
D X. But he, having tolerated the frank speech of the men for only a little while, but having been moved with respect for the wisdom of Arethas and his other splendor, began to soothe them with gentle words, and he offered them gifts and honors
A engineering in this way to dampen the heat of their zeal for piety. But when he saw that the martyrs were turning a deaf ear to his promises, and on the contrary were crying out in as loud a voice as they could: "We do not deny you, the one of the Trinity, O Word of God and Christ, nor do we mock your dispensation of the flesh assumed, nor do we insult your sufferings endured for our sake and your Jewish cross"—he kept these men bound for the time being, but pronounced the sentence of death upon the other multitude that had been gathered from every race and age. Bringing the wives and children of the imprisoned martyrs before their very eyes, he called upon them to deny Christ, partly by threats, and partly by assailing them with dangerously subtle flatteries; sometimes he even brandished every kind of torture before them, menacing them with the loss of their children, their parents, their wealth, and their own fatherland. B But they said: "O king, we gladly renounce today all the things offered by you, whether they be good or otherwise, and we exalt the cross of Christ which is maligned by you; and we follow Christ, who performed our salvation upon it. For it would be truly unreasonable and altogether effeminate, for those of us who have lived with such men, who chose to risk all for Christ, and for others among us who practice virginity, as having been betrothed to Christ, not to display a manly spirit and endure your thoughtless wrath with our own bodies."
C XI. But the king said, "O women, I may justly accuse you of great foolishness, in that you choose the grace of a man who was a deceiver, a trickster, and one who perished by a violent death, and have decided to prefer to the joys of the present life a hope whose outcome is uncertain." But some of the more ardent mothers and nuns, unable to bear the insult against Christ, used harsher words toward the king, calling upon the very Lord who was being blasphemed to take vengeance; at which the Hebrew, angered, pronounced a common sentence of death by the sword upon them. It was therefore possible to see the holy women being dragged by their hair D and thus led to execution, or rather, moving with ready and eager feet, and thirsting for death for the sake of Christ. And indeed, there was a noble rivalry among them over this; for the nuns and virgins would not at all yield the first place to those who were bound in marriage. "Remember," they said, "that even formerly we were preferred before you in the entry into the holy places, and in the participation of the sacraments, and in our standing and our seating; and therefore it is right that even now we should be counted worthy of martyrdom before you and your husbands." But the wives of the martyrs, who were already also called mothers, would not at all endure to take second place for the present. The infants, too, prattling as they ran alongside their mothers, were calling the executioner to death for themselves as well. For they knew that even on other occasions children had been offered to Christ as holy sacrifices for His sake. Thus indeed did those blessed ones [eagerly awaited] death
away before their time, causing great lamentation among those who saw them, so that even the most cruel king with wonder uttered such a voice: "What an error the Galilean has sown among almost all men, persuading them even to despise death itself, and for His sake to surrender their own souls and bodies!"
XII. B Meanwhile, a certain woman, who was believed to hold the first rank in the city in lineage, wealth, glory, and beauty, and who was still in her youthful age, having been left a widow, was denounced to the tyrant. And immediately he ordered his ministers with some honor and reverence to bring her to him, and to prepare an easy approach for her to him. She, however, though led in this manner and having not yet come to the sight or speech of the Jew, was nevertheless grieved to be left out of the martyrdom of the other women. After the third day, according to the order, she was brought with honor before the king. And he, having looked at her kindly, and beginning to entice her from the outset: "Fame," he says, "announces that you are modest, refined, and prudent; and indeed, your very posture and appearance bear witness to what is said. Furthermore, it is commonly reported that you are distinguished by birth, that you abound in wealth, and that you lack no splendor. C Do not, therefore, like the senseless women whom I justly destroyed, endure to call Him God who was crucified—a man who was a glutton, a wine-bibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners, and who did not even hold to the ancestral laws. But doing what is fitting for your nobility, renounce the Nazarene, and wish to think with us, and be willing to dwell in the palace. For thus you will live more freely from now on, and having been delivered from the evils which spring from widowhood, you will be able to help others more. The report has come even to us, and the facts themselves testify, that although you flourish in vast wealth and have acquired great possessions from your ancestors, and have many who serve and attend to you, yet, placing everything else behind your own modesty and virtue, you have not come into the sight of any other man at all, except him who was lawfully joined to you in marriage. Do not, therefore, even now—I counsel you this—surrender your beauty and youth, and the virginity of your daughters, to the hands of executioners, who affront more than they punish; but desisting from attributing glory to the Crucified, and yielding to our laws, D secure what is profitable for yourself and your children."
XIII. And that blessed woman, responding aptly and learnedly, said: "If you, O king, were to honor Him who granted you power, and this purple and this diadem, and indeed your very being and life, as Son of God and God, you would not with an ungrateful soul and bold tongue offer insults to Him who is despised, nor would you fear lest the lightning sent from above by God might consume you. But since you wish to honor me, I consider your honor to be the greatest ignominy. Cease from driving the sword against yourself. Far be it, that...
I should be praised by such a tongue, which has armed itself against God; nor would I fall into such madness as to associate with those who are so hostile to God, and to dwell in the tabernacles of sinners. A When the king heard these things, ignited in his heart with wrath, he looked upon those who were present, and saying, "How shamelessly this cursed little woman behaves toward us," he ordered the covering to be taken from her head and from her daughters’, and thus, bare-headed and with hair unkempt, to be led through the camp in ignominy.
B XIV. Coming out, therefore, the noble woman, when she saw a great multitude of women weeping and wailing that such nobility should be treated with such insults, looking toward them severely and majestically, said, "I know, O friends, that you feel grief for us, partly perhaps because of the kinship of nature, and partly because I seem to be suffering things unworthy and shameful with my daughters. But do not grieve. For we shall not for this reason deny the Creator of heaven and earth, nor shall we prefer things that are for a time to those that are eternal. For to me, indeed, from my ancestors by succession, piety and true religion, and to be named for Christ, and to know Him as God, were handed down as an inheritance; and not to me alone, but to my entire kindred as well. Because of whom I, having embraced continence, preferred widowhood to marriage; and of the resources that I had, I distributed the greatest part to the poor. And there are still great riches for me in gold and silver, and a great multitude of servants, and many possessions and herds; but C although such goods are at my disposal, I was unwilling, as many other women are wont to do, to look toward another husband, even though I have often struggled with many misadventures and calamities, such as are wont to happen to widows; a thing which indeed alone suffices to incite a spirit, still soft and tender, to second nuptials. And perhaps no one would have condemned my youth, which had the divine Apostle himself as an advocate for this. But setting all these things as of less account, I intend my spirit for one thing alone: to be with Christ together with the holy women and martyrs who have preceded me. I, however, appear to you now for the second time; for formerly in the marriage of a bridegroom who was for a time: but now, you see me in the nuptials of the immortal and incorruptible One, to whom I hasten, and for whom I have kept my continence immaculate. I am also endeavoring to betroth my daughters to D Him, as I have kept their virginity intact until now for this purpose. Hence my soul is full of joy and good hope; and I beg you also to rejoice with me, and not to lament with such an abject spirit, and to transform my feast into sadness for me. Furthermore, I would also counsel you to fortify yourselves on all sides, and to exercise great caution, lest, while you are not paying attention, he who is a cunning artificer of theft might steal away your treasure, and bring upon you this greatest harm, which reaches even to the soul itself. But as many of you Greek and Hebrew women as are here—for I see that many of you are present at this spectacle—lay aside, you also, some your long myths and trifles, and
with gods that are so only in name, and the latter with shadows, types, and riddles; learn at last, though it be late, the truth, and draw near to the Word and God, who is one of the Trinity. Be enlightened through His worship and the regeneration of divine baptism, and do not perish thus together in your impieties.
A XV. When the martyr had said these and many other things to the women who had assembled, some of those who sided with the king reported them to him, and said that she was perverting the multitude. The king, having summoned her again and feigning gentleness, said, "I have used much patience with you, doing this with forethought and not unreasonably, so that, if nothing else, you might at least be softened by the tears being shed over you and your daughters, and be persuaded by us." But she said, "And who, O king, if I were to be persuaded by you, would deliver me from the unquenchable fire?" Having spoken thus, she looked straight toward heaven and said, "Far be it from me, O immortal King, to deny Thee, the only-begotten Son of God, and to be persuaded by a man who has held Thee in contempt and has deceived us with perjury." The Hebrew, not bearing the outspokenness of the noble woman, but laying aside the facade and removing the pretense, and looking at her with a fierce and murderous gaze, said, "Most audacious of women, I shall now tear and lacerate your flesh, and I will grope through your entrails; and if any part of these remains, I will set it as food for the dogs. B And I shall see who will deliver you from my hands, even if you do expect the Nazarene to stand by as your invincible ally." Thereupon, the first of the martyr's daughters, already in about her twelfth year, not bearing the words of the vile man, filled her mouth with saliva and spat into the eyes of the tyrant. Those who were standing around, not praising her zeal and the justice of the act, but rather serving the exigencies of the moment, immediately dispatched both her and her sister with the sword; and the beastly men, having caught the flowing blood in their hands, brought it to the mother, for the king had so ordered. She, however—O noble soul!—tasted it gladly, and, lifting her eyes to heaven, said, "To Thee, my Master Christ, I offer this sacrifice of mine, and C I present to Thee as martyrs the chaste virgins who came forth from my womb; with whom, having numbered me also, lead me into Thy bridal chamber; and, as the divine David says, show a mother rejoicing over her children."
XVI. The king, struck with a most burdensome sting of despondency, inasmuch as he had utterly despaired of all hope, pronounced sentence against her, speaking as follows to those who were present: "We have admired her beauty and that of her daughters—for I shall confess the truth—but I have been vanquished much more by their temperance and moderation. And for this reason, it comes into my mind to wonder to what a degree of madness the Christians have proceeded, that they should pay heed to a man who died a violent death, and entrust their own salvation to him—a man who became a deceiver and a charlatan, and who D rashly declared himself to be God."
A XVII. On the following day, having sat down in a high place, he called for Arethas and his companions, who were three hundred and forty in number. When they stood before him, looking upon the great Arethas, who was affable and moderate and displayed the greatest virtue in his character, he said: "What is this boldness of yours, you abominable creature, that you should rise up against our power, and persuade an entire city and such a great region to heed you alone as a tyrant, and to use your words as if they were laws? Yet you pay no regard to our own laws and words, and you call a man who was accursed 'God'—a man who, when he could not bring aid to himself, you yourselves invoked as a helper! You have not even imitated your father, who ruled Nagran before you, for he was most obedient to the kings who preceded us. But unless you change and, returning to your senses, cast off this empty opinion, neither your deep old age nor this feigned appearance will assist you; rather, you and all those with you shall suffer the same fate as the men and women previously destroyed, as everyone knows how much the son of Mary and the carpenter helped them."
The old man, standing there in deep thought and clearly showing that he was deeply grieved by the arrogance of the king’s words, pulled himself together, gathered his breath, and sighing from the depths of his heart, said: "The cause of what is said or done, O king, is not you, but our citizens, who disregarded my counsel, which did not fear your entering the city, but instead urged them to fight against you and to join battle with your many thousands, as Gideon once did with a few against the Midianites, with Christ—whom you now despise—adding strength and confirming them to defeat you, to cut you down, and to utterly destroy an impious and treacherous man, who is unmindful of the agreements and covenants by which you promised to preserve the city and us."
B XVIII.
Discourse on the King's Blasphemy
Now one of those who sat with the king, wishing to catch the holy man out with a show of cleverness and serving the occasion well, said: "But the law of Moses does not teach you in this way to offer insult to the Christ of the Lord. For it says, 'You shall not speak evil of the ruler of your people.' Furthermore, your own scriptures also command you to honor the king, whether he be good or otherwise."To whom the holy man replied: "But have you perhaps not heard what was said by Elijah to Ahab, when he accused him of subverting Israel? And how he answered him, saying: 'I am not subverting Israel, but you and your father's house,' not confining the reproach only to Ahab, but including those who were in that house as well? How, then, can anyone who conducts himself piously toward God, and reproves a king who is acting wickedly, ever offend and violate the law? Is it he who has not feared to set his mouth against heaven and to speak blasphemy against the Creator? Or is it that you despise His patience and long-suffering, and compel us to do the same? As for you, O king, since you are by nature so unjust and prepared to do evil...
and neither holy toward God nor gentle toward men, do you think you shall escape the eye of Him whom nothing escapes? Yet it behooves a king to be truthful and kind, so as to draw to himself the goodwill of those under his rule by his words, and by the end and outcome of events to provide proof of truthfulness, and to obtain the glory of acting divinely—such as those I have seen in India, in Ethiopia, and among the Homerites. These men, speaking truthfully and acting kindly toward their subjects, did not perjure themselves as you do, O king, but kept the promises they made to others, just as the people honored God. And God, who is witness of all deeds, having hated your impiety and faithlessness in the things done against Him, will soon depose you from power and deliver it to a faithful and good man; He will strengthen and exalt the race of the Christians and will enlarge His own Church, which you have consumed with fire and leveled to the ground. But I am blessed, not merely because I have lived well in this life, but because even in deep old age (for I am now passing my ninety-fifth year), having seen sons of sons and daughters of daughters, I am undergoing a martyr’s death, and I offer to God a city so great and populous, and a whole nation, who will preserve the memory of me forever, attributing all things to Him in thanksgiving.
C ΙΘ'. And turning toward the multitude and his fellow-martyrs (for he was not only most pleasant to behold, but also most eloquent in speaking to the crowds), he spoke as follows: "Men, fellow-citizens, friends, and kinsmen, and all who are bound to us by custom and the community of affairs, we have learned by experience—having shared in the afflictions of those outside—the things that have befallen our country and us citizens, after having first scrutinized and investigated what was to come, yet having been persuaded by a deceitful man who was eager to capture us through fraud. As for what this proud man uttered, moving his tongue against God, you have heard it with your own ears. That he also incites us to the denial of Christ our God is testified to by the great and multifaceted slaughter of those who have preceded us, and these chains which we bear for the sake of piety are also witnesses. D And it would have been wise for us not to appear cowardly and fearful of death, nor to be persuaded by such a clever and malicious man, by trusting and taking courage in his oaths—the readiest artifice of the wicked—but rather to wage war against him, and with God joining in the fight for us, to punish this unholy and impious man. But since our affairs have reached such a necessity, that we must either, by obeying the tyrant and acting impiously, lead a wretched life, or by disobeying and practicing piety, obtain a blessed end, let us strive to acquire immortal glory through martyrdom. And let no one think, because I am already an old man and full of days, that I desire the end and for this reason urge others to hasten toward death; rather, let each of us consider that the debt of
death is common to both the young and the old, and the dissolution of the body is inevitable. Therefore, let no one wait for the common and spontaneous end, but let everyone hasten, as far as possible, to make it glorious and blessed. For what else could B anyone call more glorious or, for pious men, more blessed than an end attained through martyrdom? For if it were possible for me to die for Christ many times over, I would have advised it, and in this way the glory would be greater and the gain far more abundant. But since this cannot be had from nature—which, even against our will, performs it of its own accord—let us seize it with glory, and by counting it as our own, let us outwit necessity by our wisdom. Let no one among us, brothers, be seen to be so fond of life, so small-minded, and so abject in spirit, as to exchange eternity and a blessedness that is never dissolved for a short and miserable life. Let no share be given by us to the common enemy of all, so that the wicked one may not boast, as if by stealing one he had captured everyone. But let such a person be far removed from this choir of martyrs, and let him not falsely participate in their name. For if anyone, out of desire for this present life, should deny you, O Christ and Word of God, let him fall away from it, and let the earth, opening its mouth, swallow him while he is yet alive. And if any of my kin or companions, in desire for present pleasures, should abandon you, the Creator, and follow this king who is subject to ruin and is impious, may it not be granted to him, O King Christ, to enjoy here the things that are seen to be pleasant and delightful, but let him be delivered to the torments that are there. C
XX. Having said this, the whole multitude immediately cried out with bitter tears, "Be of good courage! For there is no one who will abandon you; since, as you can see, we all desire this, to even die before you out of desire for you, and to seize this blessed and desirable end." To this he replied: "I," he said to all, "I will go before you all, and I will appear to you in God as a sure guide of the way. As you grant me the primacy in all things, so grant me to stand first before Christ. Nevertheless, I also give you this final commandment: If any of my children, or those who are related to me by birth, should be left behind, remaining in this pure worship of the Christians, let them be the heirs of my possessions. And I desire that three of the most beautiful estates I have remaining be assigned to the catholic church that is to be built; which I now consecrate." Having said this and having blessed the people, and having added, "Glory to you, O Lord, for all things," he turned and said to the king: "I praise you, O king, for having used patience and for not having confounded me or interrupted my speech, as was the custom of kings of old. Since, therefore, you know our purpose and intent—namely, that it is impossible for us, having abandoned the worship of Christ, to agree with you—do what remains, D and do not waste more time."
XXI. The king, therefore, knowing that their mind was immutable and that he could never move them, and [knowing] that the change was altogether
A impossible, ordered them to be taken to a certain torrent called Odias, and for their heads to be severed there. When they had arrived there, they B turned themselves with alacrity to prayer, saying, "Lord, Lord, strength of our salvation, You have overshadowed my head in the day of battle (Ps. CXXXIX, 8). Lead us now also into the way everlasting, because nothing of all things has been esteemed by us above Your love—not country, not kin, not riches; but we have abandoned everything, even life itself, for Your sake, and we have been accounted as sheep for the slaughter (Ps. XLIII, 22). And now we beseech You: let there be vengeance for the blood of Your servants that has been poured out. Lift up Your hands against their pride (Ps. LXXIII, 3). Protect the children of those who are dying for You. Strengthen this city of Yours, which glories in Your precious blood, and [Your] cross, and [Your] sufferings. You see how Your enemies have treated it: they have despoiled its ornament, they have profaned Your sanctuary, they have burned Your holy temple; may it please You that it be raised up and strengthened again, by giving scepters to Christian kings and magnifying them in Your name. And to all those who hold our martyrdom in honor, grant a life free from stumbling, an abundance of goods, and remission of sins; and receive us who have loved Your appearing into the eternal tabernacles, and number us with those who have been well-pleasing to You from eternity." Having said these things, they embraced one another. The divine Arethas, having first bowed his neck, is supported by two others, and then his head is severed. Then the rest of the choir, that sweet and indissoluble fellowship, as they had speed, used his precious blood as a kind of costly ointment, and proceeded to the slaughter, and with all haste received death by the sword, almost grudging the time to one another, as if the one who came later were assigning something more to the honor of the one who died before him.
XXII. A certain woman who had a child running by—no more than five years old—seeing these things being done, and being kindled with a similar fervor, ran up the swiftest way; and when she had likewise received some of the blood, she anointed both herself and her child with it with maternal hands. Then she also mocked the king, calling him a tyrant, and with the shrillest voice she could muster, she said: "It shall be for the king of the Hebrews as it was for Pharaoh." His bodyguards, therefore, having heard what was said, immediately seized the woman and led her to the king, and reported with great exaggeration the curses with which she was bitterly attacking him. He, however, without even granting her the opportunity to speak, and not even questioning her, condemned her to die by fire. Immediately, therefore, wood was piled up, and fire was applied to her, and the flame rose high, fed by sulfur, pitch, and vine-twigs. Then the woman was bound, and the hands of the lictors gripped her, so that, the burden being easy for them to carry, thus in
A the very midst of the flame she might be accurately cast. But the child, left behind alone, was distressed, vexed, and aggrieved, just like newborn foals, unable to bear the loss of his mother. And indeed, turning his eyes round about everywhere, and seeking his mother with his dearest tongue and eyes, he saw the king sitting on high, and ran to him, his eyes full of tears. Then he prostrated himself at his feet, pleading as best he could for his mother. The king, having picked him up and placed him on his knees (for the child was graceful and charming in appearance, and sweetly prattled in the way children do), asked him with whom he would rather stay, and whom he loved more. He, however, said "mother," and kept calling for his mother and weeping for her incessantly. "For her sake," he said, "I have come, and I beseech you, O king, to set her free, so that she may take me with her to martyrdom. For she has often urged me toward this."
XXIII. B Paying heed, then, to the child's words, "And what is this," the king said, "that you call martyrdom?" "Oh, the grace," the boy replied, "which makes even infants wise, O Lord—it is to die for Christ, and to live again." "But who is this Christ?" the king asked again. And the child said, "Come to the church, and I will show Him to you." Meanwhile, having caught sight of his mother, he said, weeping, "Let me go, let me go to my mother. For I see her being dragged and suffering ill treatment by the executioners." The king then said, "And for what reason did you come hither, abandoning your mother? Stay here with us, and I will give you the finest of all fruits." The king said this thinking he was speaking to a simple and naive child, and as one would speak to C a child. But the boy, endowed with wisdom far beyond his years, flatly refused, saying: "I will not stay here; I long for my mother. For I came thinking you were a Christian, in order to plead for her; but since I have found you to be a Jew, I do not wish to remain with you at all, nor can I bear to receive anything from you whatsoever. Only grant me this one thing, O king: that I may return to my mother." The wisdom of the child filled the king with astonishment. Some of those standing by, thinking to act more cleverly, suggested that the child be taken to the queen, attempting to beguile such a tender age. For they supposed that intercourse with the king was unfamiliar to the child, being manly and harsh; if, however, he heard a queen and a woman, he would eagerly follow them, since he was still being raised gently by his mother and would D delight in softer discourse. But the child's intelligence again surpassed their cunning, and he gave them no answer at all to these things, but only called warmly for his mother and kept his eyes fixed upon her with his whole soul.
XXIV. And upon seeing her cast into the fire, and his own bowels scorched, the child immediately dared something even more daring; and as he stood at the knees of the tyrant Dunaan, bowing his head, he bit the king sharply
A on the thigh. He, feeling the bite and being disturbed, pushes him away and hands him over to one of the senate, in order that he might be reared by him in the Jewish fashion and abjure Christianity. And he, having taken the child, went away, marveling at what had happened and, in the meantime, telling others of it. But in the meantime, the child, without his knowing it, ran with great speed toward his mother, leaped, just as he was, into the middle of the furnace, and embracing his mother as it seemed to him, gave himself to her as a most beautiful funeral shroud, and together they inherited the martyr’s crown.
When these things were being accomplished in this way, those around the king and the senate, having taken pity on the Christians who were suffering these things, begged him to relent and not utterly destroy such a great and populous city, which provided a great number of annual tributes. Since he yielded to this, what does that hard and Pharaonic soul of his do, when two passions were struggling within him and cruelty had been overcome by greed? The youth of this city and of the whole land, both male and female, he reduced to slavery, numbering many myriads; and having kept some himself and distributed others into slavery to whomever he wished, he returned to the palace, having enslaved a free city which had been dedicated to the Trinity alone, which Christ Himself had redeemed with His own blood, and which had brought to Him such a choir of martyrs, proclaiming their struggles and victories brilliantly to the inhabited world.
B XXV. And these things were indeed such and in such a state. As the Hebrew returned, fire appeared for many days, filling the air all through the night, which terrified Dunaan himself and his army, and provided evidence of the wrath of God against the impious. Then, too, fire rained down from above upon the earth, a perfect scourge. But not even then could the wicked man understand, or be brought to his senses, or be sheltered under the mighty hand of God. For he was driven to such madness against the Christians that he even sent an embassy to the king of the Persians, asking him also to do the same, and to destroy utterly all the Christians found under him, if he wished, he said, to have the sun favorable, and its father—as that man prattled regarding the God of the Hebrews. He sent these same things to Alamundarus, the leader of the Saracens under the Persians, promising also that he would give money if he would stir up a C persecution against the Christians who were under his hand. But although he was thus hostile to the Christians and did such things, justice did not remain inactive toward the deeds being done. For Justin, the pious emperor of the Romans, when it seemed good to him, encouraged Alamundarus to enter into peace treaties with the Saracens who were tributaries of the Romans; and Abraamius, a pious man and a priest, was sent out as an envoy. There were present there also others from the king of the Persians, including Isaacius the priest, who D also served the responses to the orthodox Christians in Persia. There was present
A also Silas, the bishop of the Nestorians, with certain others, at once fulfilling the embassy of the Hebrew, and at the same time wishing to enter into discourse with the orthodox and to contend regarding the precision of dogmas.
XXVI. When the letters of the king of the Homerites were read in the presence of the said envoys, and Silas agreed with the intent of him who had written, saying that Christ is a mere man and not God—a thing of which he had also fully persuaded the king of the Romans himself: "For how," he says, "could one who is born from a woman, and is mingled with the blood that is in her, and is wrapped in swaddling clothes, and who gradually receives growth, and thereafter also labors and thirsts, and is finally led to the cross and dies, be called God, as seems irrational to those around Abraamius and Isaacius?" When these things were being said, those pious men, not enduring that God be longer insulted, rent their own garments and called them heretics, and B zealously cast them out of the catholic Church, condemning them and their master Nestorius, as one who had sown such tares. Then they also recounted more fully the matters of the dispensation, and how, following the orthodox dogmas of the divine apostles and Fathers, they confessed Christ to be perfect God and perfect man, conjoining the two natures in one hypostasis without confusion. And so, having missed their mark, those with Silas returned with empty hands, as the saying goes, and thus their hopes were frustrated. Those with Abraamius, having themselves also made peaceful treaties with Alamundarus, and having bidden farewell to Isaacius as he returned to Persia, also returned themselves and explained everything to the Emperor Justin, and especially what had been done and written by the king of the Homerites against the Christians.
XXVII. He, however, without delay, wrote to Asterius, the bishop of Alexandria, to incite the king of the Ethiopians to move C arms against the Homerites. The same things he himself also announced by letter to the king of the Ethiopians himself, and informed him how the Hebrew had destroyed all the Christians who were in his power, and how he had made the city of Nagran, which was pious and populous, uninhabitable, having slaughtered some who were of nubile age and having reduced others to slavery; and how the same man had also incited the king of the Persians and Alamundarus to do likewise. He added that if he did not rise up for vengeance, God would straightway be angry with him. And these things were by the Emperor Justin. Furthermore, the patriarch of Alexandria himself, after he had poured out many supplications to God with the orthodox monks who were in Nitria and in Scete, signified to that king the things which seemed right to the pious Justin. The king of the Ethiopians was not unaware of the things that had happened even before, but the season of the year prevented him (for it was winter), and he remained quiet, though D against his will. And so, having collected a strong army, both from his own and from auxiliaries, reaching up to one hundred and twenty thousand, and Indian ships
as seemed right to Justin, nor was he himself unprepared: for he happened to have collected a formidable force from both his own territory and that of his allies, amounting up to the twelve myriads. A And he had also prepared vessels, around seventy during that winter; moreover, having also collected from the Persian and Ethiopian merchants who had landed there for the sake of trade, about sixty more. Whatever of these had been damaged, he repaired and restored, and having made everything ready, at the beginning of spring he set his army in motion, and with weapons, horses, and the rest of the equipment, he hastened to engage the enemy. And by land, from the lower part of Ethiopia, he sent ten thousand of the B barbarian Ethiopians towards the more easterly parts of the Homeritae, so that while he himself might come by sea with the ships, they, making an incursion by land from the east, might hem the enemies in the middle. The Barbarians, however, having spent many days journeying through waterless and impassable places, all perished, being able neither to reach the Homeritae nor to return to their own land.
The King, being already about to set sail, came to the temple, and before the entrance in the vestibule, having taken off his royal robe and laid aside the other badges of authority, he entered in a private habit; and standing C before the altar, having prayed much to God, and having brought to memory the miracles performed by Him in Egypt and in the desert for the Hebrews, and—those men, he says, were ungrateful toward the Benefactor, and not they only, but their descendants also have become so. You know, Lord, how wickedly they have acted in Your city, how they have dealt craftily against that people, and have taken counsel against Your saints, and against those who remain still devise evils. But if our sins deserve this, yet do not deliver us into their hands; but what else You Yourself desire, impose that punishment upon us, lest they say: Where is their Christ, for whom they boast, and His cross? Having prayed these things with tears, D he goes out of the temple and the city, and goes on foot to a certain monk who, on account of the practice of virtue, was deemed worthy to foresee the future, and had been shut up in a cramped little tower for forty-five years already, in that same habit, to inquire about the war. He also brought composite incense, in which he had secretly mixed some gold. When he had handed these to the old man, he sought prayers and signification of what was to come. But he, having detected the deceit, and knowing precisely who he was, says: May God be with you, who also reigns with you. But come, go, fortified by the sacrifice of the martyrs, which God has smelled, and by the prayers of the bishop of Alexandria, and the tears of Justin.
XXIX. Having heard these things, Elesbaan, and adding naught further to test him, having received the blessing, went away rejoicing; and having commanded the army not to carry provisions for more than twenty days, he made the voyage. Nor was the king of the Homeritae negligent; for he himself
A having collected his own forces and those of his allies, kept watch both on land and at sea. When he learned that the land army of Elesbaan had perished from affliction and hardship, no longer fearing an enemy from the continent, he devoted himself only to the guarding of the sea. And having observed that the strait between the Ethiopians and the Homeritae was very narrow, not exceeding two stadia in breadth, and also that it contained underwater rocks in many places, he constructed a heavy iron chain, capable of withstanding the force of the winds and the violence of the waves. Having fastened this to each shore, he blocked the passage, as he thought, against Elesbaan. Where there were submerged rocks, he poured lead into the links and let the iron rest; but where there was depth, he fastened it to the lightest woods, buoying up the chain, and then, leading there a strong army, he arrived at the place where the king of the Ethiopians was expected to arrive. B XXX. But he [Elesbaan], having met with a favorable wind, arrived to scout the place, and sent ahead ten of his ships. These, not knowing of the treachery, entered the narrowest part of the place unexpectedly, where God also works a miracle, showing that human ingenuity is not of small power, when He Himself is willing to assist and bring aid. For a certain great, curving wave, having created a kind of reflux in the water, lifted one of the ships and placed it over the chain, so that the ship seemed to be resting on a rock. Then a storm arose and, disturbing the sea, raised waves equal to mountains; and some of the waves lifted the woods bound to the chain, while others, lifting the ship to a height, carried all of them over the chain. And the chain, broken both by the force of the violent wind and by the waves that dashed against it, provided an unobstructed passage for the remaining ships against the Homerite. C Ten therefore of those mentioned arrived at the shore, which was two hundred stadia away, where the king was with the army. The remaining ships, driven back by the wind, could do nothing. Dunaan, therefore, having sent out thirty thousand armored horsemen, prevented those who were in the ten ships from disembarking onto the land. Twenty of the dispersed ships, however, where Elesbaan himself was, arrived not long after in that same place. On the third day, the remaining ships also appeared and likewise anchored much further down. And Dunaan, thinking that the king was among the larger number, took the greater part of the army and went there, leaving a small guard where in truth Elesbaan was. As time was consumed and there was no engagement, water and food failed those in the ships; D and the sun was also troublesome to the horsemen, attacking them severely throughout the day. XXXI. Dunaan, therefore, fashioned large tents for his horsemen, and with their shade warded off the heat that was causing them trouble. Furthermore,
he sent out one of his own kinsmen with twenty thousand horsemen to scout the region where Elesbaan was located. And one of the king’s eunuchs, supposing that he was setting out for exercise, took five golden spears and went out with him. When [the kinsman] found the forces around Elesbaan keeping watch—since a portion of them had already disembarked from the ships and occupied a place on the shore—he took the eunuch and three of his own men and went off far away to hunt. A Yet some of those from Elesbaan’s army, being pressed by hunger, had mounted their horses at night to escape to the enemy; and when they encountered them, they killed the others, but capturing the king’s kinsman and taking the golden spears, they returned to the ships. The pious king, having received these, immediately dedicated them to God. Then, placing his armed army into the smaller ships, he went out against the enemies who were on the shore; and having joined battle, he put the Hebrews to flight and slaughtered them all according to the laws of war, so that not even a messenger was left of those deeds. And holding the king’s kinsman, who pointed out the road to the city of Phare, where Dunaan’s palace was, he ascended to it; and having taken possession of this, meeting with an unguarded city, he captured all the wealth that was in the palace, and the queens themselves.
B XXXII. But when Dunaan heard of the capture of the city, the destruction of the palace, and further, the captivity of his own people, fearing lest any of his kinsmen might defect to Elesbaan, his mind was taken away by God, and having bound himself and them with a golden chain, he sat there, having no care for matters. The Ethiopians, however, who were in the ships, having heard nothing about their king Elesbaan or the things he had accomplished, and being destroyed by a lack of necessities, and being in distress and despair, turned to supplication of the Divine. And having tied the great ships together in a circle, and having bound the long timbers and sails above them, and having fashioned a kind of city in the sea, C they then arranged the smaller ships on the outside in the flanks, imitating a kind of defensive wall. Being gathered together, with tears they offered a long supplication to God. Then, after they had tasted the holy mysteries and armed themselves, they went down into the smaller ships; and standing on the side, so as not to endure any harm from the missiles of the enemies, they pushed them toward the land, they themselves and all the fleet; and those [ships] tied to the large ones were also dragged along until their flanks had run aground and made fast upon the shore, so that the ships became a wall for them and for the Homerites. But the enemies, rushing up with spears and shields, began to smash the sides of the smaller ships and were causing the Ethiopians great distress. D They, however, for defense, again with tears called upon the aid of the Lord. And He heard them; and immediately a voice was heard from heaven, saying, “Gabriel, Gabriel, Gabriel,” and one of those who were pushing the ships, carrying an iron rod which had above a cru-
cross, but below a spear, swam across, and taking hold of the tail of one horse, he thrust the spear into its side, so that the horse, being immediately disturbed, threw off the warrior, and the other horsemen, seized with fear, turned back toward the land. A
XXXIII. The Ethiopians, having taken courage and disembarked from the ships and joined battle with the enemy, routed and destroyed them all; and having entered the royal tent, they found Dunaan the Hebrew himself bound in a golden chain, together with those who related to him by blood. When they had learned that their own most noble king, Elesbaan, who had occupied the royal city, was there, they went to him with haste and recounted all that had occurred. Leaving a guard in the city, he departed with speed, and having found Dunaan bound in that golden chain, he slew him and his kinsmen, praising God and insulting the enemies of Christ, who were paying the penalty for their daring crimes which they had committed against Christ and the cross of Christ. B “For the righteous man C shall rejoice (said the great David) when he sees vengeance.” On this account their wounded were not “wounded by the sword,” as the divine Isaiah says, “nor were their dead dead of war.” For that the wrath of the Lord is strong and hard, he D himself teaches me again, as hail carried downward not having a covering, as a great multitude of water sweeping the land.
XXXIV. Therefore, Elesbaan having again returned to the city of Phare, slew all those who were in the palaces, and having determined to build a church there, he himself was the first workman of the edifice. He reported all that had been accomplished to the high priest of Alexandria, and through him to the emperor Justin. The patriarch of Alexandria, having ordained a bishop, sent him to the Homerites. And he, having consecrated the temple which had been built, baptized all those who were in the cities and districts of the Homerites in the name of the holy Trinity; and he ordained deacons and presbyters from among them and restored the accustomed order to the churches in the region.
XXXV. The most divine king Elesbaan himself went with him to Nagram, the city of the martyrs; and having built a church there and assigned to it five royal estates, and then having added three from the possessions of the martyr Arethas, as he had commanded at the end of his martyrdom, he gathered together all who had been reduced to slavery, as well as those who had been otherwise scattered in the time of the persecution, and having established the son of the martyr Arethas as leader of the nation, and having taken care of the place where the relics of the martyrs were lying, and established the right of asylum there
relics, and having established immunity there, he departs again for the royal palace. And having appointed as king over the Homerites a certain Abramius, a man beloved of God and one who gloried in the name of Christ, and having entrusted to the most holy bishop about ten thousand of the Christian Ethiopians, he returns rejoicing to his own royal palace with spoils and booty, which could not easily be measured, having given also no small portion of the wealth to the army. B XXXVI. Giving thanks to God for such a great victory and grace, and deeming himself worthy of even greater things, he sent the royal diadem to Jerusalem and dedicated it in the divine and life-giving sepulcher of Christ. He himself, having put on haircloth, and having gone out by night from the palace and the city itself, ascends one of the mountains to a monastery of men who were training therein. And having shut himself in a small cell, and having agreed not to leave it for the whole remaining time of his life, he took up the monastic rule, possessing nothing of the things of the world except only a mat and a cup for the drinking of water, living on a little bread and water, and green herbs if anyone should bring them, not having seen any of the worldly during his whole life, not having his mind lifted up to anything else, except to being occupied with God alone. Having thus practiced asceticism, he thus departs this life, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom is due all glory, honor, majesty, and magnificence, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
THE MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY MARTYRS MARCIAN AND MARTYRIUS THE NOTARIES
A I. The dogma of the Arians had indeed already wandered into the Roman empire, and was ravaging parts of it, and did not allow the multitude to hold to the *homoousion* purely; but the evil did not yet use such great boldness, nor did it have so many who adhered to it. But when the empire had now come to Constantius, the third son of the great Constantine—whom even the ledger of his deeds called "Great," [the enemy of] his father's envy, since he was not able to persuade the Christians to abandon the Christians, for—
A through certain men who had unworthily attained the dignity of the priesthood, he insinuated himself into Constantius’ favor, and brought him over entirely to Arianism. Hence that impious dogma of the Arians, like some weapon imposed upon the power of the emperor, was then spread abroad and grew, and struggled to force its own opinion upon every region that the Roman empire possessed. For this reason, then, those who held the opinion of the *homousion*, and practiced what belongs to Christians as it becomes Christians, were affected by innumerable evils—especially since Eusebius and Philippus (of whom one had been honored with the dignity of the *praepositus*, while Philippus administered the affairs of the prefecture) had become the kindling for Constantius’ love of Arianism. These men both sought for the blessed Paul to be expelled from the Church and for the impious Macedonius to be introduced in his place, and they did everything. From what words, from what deeds, or even from what injury did they abstain against those who defended the *homousion*? For some they caused to leave the city, others they condemned to perpetual and unjust exile, and for others they even brought about their departure from this life. Hence, shameful marks were inscribed upon foreheads, silently signifying the orthodox faith, and other countless evils were devised against the Christians; even if all these things seemed small to the pious for Christ's sake, and not worthy to be compared to the hope of the future. Hence this second Paul, who had his surname from his confession, is driven from the throne of his high-priesthood, and with unwashed feet, as the saying goes, the holy things are profaned.
B II. Of these times of Constantius, then, are Marcianus and Martyrius. Their fatherland was the great and royal city, and their upbringing and education were such as any god-fearing man might pray to obtain. Kindliness and moderation were the precise hall-mark by which they were known. If one must speak briefly and truly, they were to all men in virtue what their fatherland was recognized to be among cities. And just as that city presides over all other cities and holds the first honor, in that it is both royal and so named, in the same way they also held the mastery in all good things, and there was nothing excellent at all in which they did not hold the first rank. Dwelling with the divine Paul, and being the scribes of his actions, and reading the divine books to the people, they nurtured so warm a love for Christ that, valuing the madness of the emperor as nothing, they strove with vehement force against the enemies of Christ. They did not think it at all tolerable to lead the Word of God down to the point where He might be considered a created thing, but they showed Him to be co-eternal with the Father and of the same essence, and they reduced the profane and empty nonsense of the Arians to nothingness.
III. Therefore, wounded by their words as if by missiles, the wretches, since they could neither resist them, nor
A endure them in dispute—no differently than fire hidden in ashes, concealing the fraud within their own minds—first of all attacked them with the blandishments of words. Then, those fools, promising to give them money, tried to persuade those who were grieving because their souls were not being taken immediately for the sake of Christ. They, therefore, neither enticed by flatteries nor conquered by money, but wishing to be precise guardians of piety and of the right dogma, pressed on toward the prize of the heavenly calling, which was the only thing desired, and which they fully longed to attain. When, therefore, both the threats of the Arians and their flatteries and promises of all good things had no strength, and they saw the martyrs' constancy to be inexpugnable, they condemned them to the death they desired for the sake of Christ.
IV. But when they had now arrived B at the place of consummation, they asked for time for prayer. And when they had received it, they lifted their eyes and hands together to heaven, and said: "Lord God, who individually fashioned our hearts, who understand的所有 our works, receive in peace the souls of your servants, because for your sake we are being put to death and are considered as sheep of slaughter; and we rejoice to depart from the present life for your name, and we hasten with eager foot to that which is with you." When they had poured out these prayers to the God of the universe and had added the Amen, they received the stroke of the sword; and Marcianus and Martyrius received their martyric end on the twenty-fifth of the month of October. C When some orthodox and faithful people had taken up their precious relics and arranged them beautifully, they laid them honorably in a notable tomb by the walls of the city, where they had also undergone that martyric and blessed consummation, to the glory of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and always, and to the ages of ages. Amen.
THE LIFE AND CONDUCT AND MARTYRDOM
OF THE HOLY MARTYR
ANASTASIA THE ROMAN
(This is Anastasia the Elder, so called with respect to another Anastasia, about whom [see] December.)
(In Latin in Surius under the day of October. In Greek from the Paris manuscript codex, no. 1480.)
I. The account knows to make known to us two Anastasias, both of them illustrious by birth according to the flesh, but far D more illustrious by their confession of the faith; and it clearly ascribes Rome the Elder as their fatherland. One of them, having been joined for a short time to a husband who was previously not a good man—having not yet shared with him either a bed or union, but still preserving the beautiful flower of her virginity—and then having lost the husband in the meantime by death, she lived out the rest of her life in sober widowhood and the practice of virtues, emptying her paternal wealth with both hands to the needy, gladly visiting those who suffered for Christ, diligently searching out the prisons for their sake, and caring for them in every way, wiping away the corruption, and making their pains easier to bear; and while they were living, strengthening them with instructions, counsels, and advice; and when they had departed, beautifully wrapping their bodies and handing them over to tombs, until she also offered herself as a beautiful corpse to them, having been wholly burnt through fire, and carried up to God as an odor of fragrance. II. The other chose the solitary and quiet life, having experienced neither marriage at all from the beginning, nor any of the disturbances arising from marriage; but having taken upon herself the yoke of Christ the Lord, and having borne His light burden, she later also stripped herself for the struggles on behalf of piety with a very noble spirit, and was adorned with a double crown, I mean, that of virginity and that of the contest. The account wishes to detail from above her upbringing from childhood and her training and those greatest struggles for the sake of Christ. This one, therefore, having left behind her parents and relatives, and all that had fallen to her as an inheritance, enrolled herself at twenty years of age in a certain convent; in which, being at the same time instructed and regulated by the holy Sophia (for this was the teacher named), she was soon to bring forth worthy fruits, approaching with such seeds and such instruction. But the wicked one was not about to let these things pass without jealousy; but first of all he attacks the noble one from within, and stirs up against her the war of the flesh, striving to dissolve that intense and diligent devotion of her asceticism; but since she securely walled off the devices from the enemy, and was henceforward unexpendable and unconquerable to him, he proceeded again to another scheme; and he denounces her to his own and to impiety's ministers and deacons, whose business it was with great care to search out those who pursued the things of the Christians; and they, having run at once to the governor (this was Probus, who was governing the kingdom at that time of Diocletian), inform him concerning her, how she honored neither the gods nor the emperors of those gods, but proclaimed a certain Christ as the true God, and embraced the solitary and unwedded life rather than the social and mixed one, showing to the virgins an unaccustomed way of life. Probus, therefore, having immediately gathered a populous theater, orders the blessed one to be brought. And those who were serving in these matters, having reached that holy convent, having forced the doors with iron bars and keys, and as they were in their rush; having gone inside they sought Anastasia by name; and not having anything to say to them in discourse, as those who had hidden the fraudulent within their own minds like fire in ashes, they first of all approached the men with the inducements of words; then also those fools promised to give money to them, who were grieving because their souls were not being taken immediately for the sake of Christ. They, therefore, not being enticed by flatteries, nor yielding to money, but wishing to be precise guardians of piety and of the right dogma, were hastening toward the prize of the upward calling; which was the only thing desired, and which they were entirely longing to attain. As, therefore, threats and flatteries and promises of all good things were weakening against the Arians, and they saw that beautiful stance of the martyrs to be an unconquerable thing, they condemn them to the death which they were longing for for the sake of Christ. IV. And when they had also reached the aforementioned place, they asked for time for prayer. And having taken it, they lift their eyes both together and their hands to heaven, and say, Lord God, who alone formed our hearts, who understood all our works, receive in peace the souls of your servants, because for your sake we are being put to death, and are considered as sheep of slaughter, and we rejoice thus to be released from the present life for you, and we hasten with eager foot to that which is with you. Having prayed to the God of all and having said the Amen, they suffer the stroke by the sword; and Martyrius receives the martyric end with Marcianus, the twenty-fifth of the month of October approaching. And some of the orthodox and the faithful having taken up their precious relics, and beautifully having wrapped them, they deposited them honorably in a notable hill by the wall of the city; where also they underwent that martyric and blessed consummation to the glory of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and always and to the ages of the ages. Amen.
THE LIFE AND CONDUCT AND MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY MARTYRESS ANASTASIA THE ROMAN.
I. The account knows to make known to us two Anastasias, both of them illustrious by birth according to the flesh,A far more illustrious in their confession of the faith; and it clearly attributes Rome, the elder, as their homeland. Of these two, one was joined for a short time in marriage to a man not of good character, yet she had no intimacy or intercourse with him, but still kept the fair flower of her virginity. When her husband subsequently died, she lived the rest of her life in chaste widowhood and the practice of virtues, pouring out her paternal wealth with both hands to the needy, gladly visiting those who were suffering for the sake of Christ, diligently searching out the prisons for their sake, and caring for them in every way—wiping away their discharges, making their pains easier to bear, and when they were still living, strengthening them with doctrines, counsels, and exhortations; and when they had departed, she would splendidly dress their bodies and commit them to the grave, until she offered herself as a beautiful funeral ornament to them, having been sacrificed through fire and carried up as an odor of sweetness to God.
B II. The other chose a monastic and quiet life, being entirely devoid of marriage and the turmoil that arises from it; but having taken upon herself the beautiful yoke of the Lord and borne his light burden, she later took up the struggles for piety with a very noble spirit and was adorned with a double crown—that of virginity, I mean, and that of martyrdom. The account wishes from the beginning to follow through her upbringing from childhood, her training, and those greatest struggles for Christ. She, therefore, having abandoned her parents and relatives and everything that fell to her as an inheritance, enrolled herself at twenty years of age in a certain convent; and there, being both educated and disciplined by the holy Sophia (for this was the name of the teacher), she was soon to produce fruits worthy of such seeds and such instruction. But the malicious and envious one could not bear these things without envy; and first he attacks her with his own domestic forces, stirring up against her an enemy from her own flesh, striving to dissolve that intense and vigorous exercise of hers. C When she had easily repelled the enemy's machinations and could not be caught or defeated by him in that way, he turned again to other snares; and he denounced her to his own ministers and servants of impiety, whose great care it was to search out those who followed the religion of Christ. They, running immediately to the governor (this was Probus, who was at that time administering the empire under Diocletian), reported to him concerning her, that she acknowledged neither their gods nor their emperors, but preached a certain Christ as the true God, and preferred the solitary and celibate life to a social and married one, showing an unusual way of life to virgins. Probus, therefore, immediately D gathered a crowded assembly in the theater and ordered the blessed one to be brought. And when the ministers arrived at that holy convent, having broken the doors with levers and keys...
A, they entered with great force, asking for Anastasia by name.
III. Now her teacher, Sophia, when she had seen that sudden irruption and, not unaware of the cause, had at once surmised the matter, asked the soldiers for the favor that they might wait for a short time. And taking Anastasia, she stood with tears before the altar in a secret place, and having made God a witness of the words she spoke to her, she said: "I indeed, most beloved daughter, having taken you as a child, have lacked nothing in my power regarding your instruction in God from the first day until the present time; but you, having now reached the age of the fullness of Christ, go to him rejoicing. For today I betroth you to him, and lead you to him, and entrust you to him. Behold, the bridal chamber is ready, and he who calls you is truthful; and the angels of joy are present, that they may welcome you as the bride of Christ and lead you into the chambers of the King. Walk, therefore, this narrow and straitened way, until through the testimony on his behalf you place your feet in a wide place. Since it is also just, O child, not only to suffer for Christ, but often, if it be possible, to die for his sake. For if he, being the Lord, died for us, how ought we not, being servants, to imitate his death with a ready and eager mind? Furthermore, death for Christ is not a passing away, O my limb, but mirth, joy, pleasure, splendor, beauty, a light far sweeter and more beautiful than this light. All things there are incorruptible, all firm, all stable, all perpetual, B and never-ending. Do not, O my heart, look toward the harshness of the tyrants, and the bitterness of the punishments; for Christ himself, your bridegroom, will stand by you, lightening your pains and delivering you from your constraints. But if he should even permit you to suffer a little, so that the proof of your faith may work out endurance; yet he will not abandon you at the end and despise you; but while you are still laboring, the bitterness of the torments will be extinguished, and consolation will arise for you, and light and life will clothe you, and the glory of the Lord will encompass you." To this the virgin said: "It is an object of prayer, O mother, and one that should be prayed for, that it proceed from divine assistance, so that I may not fail before such harshness and madness of the tyrants. 'For the spirit C indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak' (Matt. xxvi, 41); but pray to our common Master, and beseech him that he may send down to me power from on high, by which I shall be able to stand against such a heavy infliction of evils; and I shall strive, my mother, strengthened by his power, to keep your instructions to the end, and I will not neglect or forget any of them."
IV. When the virgin was saying these things, and making such sweet and desirable promises to her teacher, the soldiers fell upon her suddenly, and tearing her away from her mother like a lamb, they placed an iron collar upon her, and led her to the governor. Now she, standing before him D
A in her mind she stood much more firmly before Christ, her own bridegroom; and with the whole gaze of her soul she looked toward Him, and was mentally intent upon His beauty and comeliness. All those present were struck with amazement, both at the beauty of her body and at the composed dignity of her bearing. Probus asked her first what her name was. The martyr said, "I am called Anastasia. For the Lord has raised me up, that I might put to shame today both you and your father, who is the Evil One." Probus, therefore, seeing that the virgin had given such harsh replies at the very outset, determined to approach her with flatteries, and by this means to soften that bitterness and severity and austerity, not knowing what kind of soul he was trying to soften, or that he was imagining he could crush a character of adamant regarding the faith. B "Believe me," he said, "I counsel you, daughter, to choose those things which are profitable to you, to join yourself to the great gods, and to become a participant with us in their sacrifice. For thus you shall be joined in marriage to a man who holds the greatest authority in the city; and there will be added to you money, gold, silver, garments, a multitude of slaves, and you shall quickly become brilliant and highly renowned. Consider then within yourself, making a decision that is fitting both to the beauty of your appearance and to the nobility of your soul; and do not wish to put our anger to the test, nor to learn how great an evil is impiety. For I, as one sprung from the same blood as your beauty, and regarding you as a father according to the flesh (I call the gods to witness), suggest what is profitable. But if you do not obey these things, nor yield to my persuasions,4 it will be necessary for you to experience thereafter such great severity from me as the kindness and gentleness you are now enjoying, at which time, even if you are led by repentance, it will perhaps benefit you nothing."
V. C Hearing these words, the martyr immediately came into remembrance of those maternal exhortations of her wise teacher Sophia, and quietly replying, she said, "To me, Judge, Christ is bridegroom, and wealth, and life; and death for His sake is life much more precious to me, for whom neither gold, nor silver, nor any other of the things that are sweet on earth has been considered sweet by me, except Him alone, and His communion and enjoyment. But fire and sword and iron, and the amputation of limbs, and blows and scourges, and if anything else has been devised by you for torture, are pleasures to me, not torments, while I look with an intent gaze toward Him; and I am eager not only to suffer such things for His sake, but if it were possible, to die a thousand times. D Do not then make a pretense of pitying the beauty of my body, which fades no less than the flowers of the field; but do rather that which is in your power, or is situated in the cruelty of your character. For I truly would never offer reverence to wooden or stone gods." With these words the martyr incites the governor to anger. And first he inflicts blows upon her cheeks; then he tears her tunic, and lays bare the whole of that which, even to the angels
was A worthy of reverence, intending to show her entirely nude, without any veil or covering, so as to afflict with greater shame the virgin, who was unaccustomed to the crowd and to the sight of men, and who had known nothing beyond her chamber and quiet. "Thus," he said, "it is fitting for you to be afflicted with such shame and disgrace before the eyes of all. But recovering from this madness that possesses you, approach the kindness of the gods; and do not wish to see such beauty perish miserably before its time and wither away. For no one, if you do not obey, will be able to snatch you from my hands; but, having cut you into small pieces, know well, I will set you before wild beasts to be devoured. May you be persuaded of this."
B VI. But the martyr said, "To me, O governor, this stripping of these garments is not shame or disgrace, but rather a very bright and most elegant adornment. For having put off the old man, I shall put on the new one in righteousness and truth. It is not me, therefore, but you rather who ought to blush on account of these things, because you have put on impiety as a garment, and it has entered like water into your inward parts, and like oil into your bones." Meanwhile, however, seized by a more fervent love of the contest, and fearing lest the governor, becoming softened, should shut her out from the stadium of martyrdom in the midst of the struggles, she added these things also: "Cruelest of judges, you threaten to bring death upon me; for this C I am ready for you; for this is to me precisely the most desirable and most longed-for thing. But if you were to cut me into limbs, and excise my tongue, and teeth, and hands, and nails, then you would rather be bestowing a greater benefit upon me. For I owe my whole self to the Creator; and this is always my desire, that He may be glorified in all my members, and I may stand before His tribunal with all my members shining with the ornament of confession." By these words Anastasia astonishes the judge and the theater. And, having ceased his exhortations, he proceeded to the punishments. And first, he commands her to be stretched out prone by four men, and bound to certain stakes fastened in the ground, and to be lifted aloft, and that fire, fiercely ignited with oil, and pitch, and sulfur, and brushwood, be placed beneath her entrails; and again, by three men from above, to have her back beaten simultaneously in one assault with rods. These things were thus, and the command which the governor ordered was carried into execution.
D VII. While she was suffering for a long time in this manner, and her back was being lacerated from above with scourges, while her entrails were being burned from below, and her veins were being reduced to ash, and her blood was coagulating and being consumed—with the torment bringing sharp pain even to the ears of those who heard it—the martyr (O truly noble soul for Christ’s sake, and superior to the necessities of nature!) was intent only upon prayers and God; and bringing to memory and to her lips the wonders of Him from the ages (for she was also accurately trained in the understanding of the divine Scriptures), she was extinguishing that fire of pains as if with a certain dew of prayer. On account of which the beast
having forbidden this, orders her again to be stretched upon the wheel. And the command was immediately put into action; and the wheel received the noble maiden, another excess of torture and succession of evils striving to obscure the former ones by those that followed. A Then, as she was turned by that certain machine, her bones were crushed, but her nerves and muscles were stretched, and the entire structure of her body (alas!) departed from its natural harmony. But she called again upon Him who hearkens to her prayer, and who is able to shield her in the time of affliction, and to deliver her from the hand of enemies, saying: O God of gods, O God of powers, O God of my salvation, from whom is my patience, in whom my soul trusts, my tower of strength and my refuge, do Thou also now grant help in affliction; O God who girdest me with power; O God, my God. And be not far from me, “for my life has failed in pain,” for my belly has cleaved to the earth, and my bones have been parched like a withered herb.
X. Having prayed these things (O what swift visitation! O what most rapid outcome!), she is immediately released from that grievous machine, without showing even a trace of a blow or of fire upon her body. B And although this ought to have struck the judge with wonder, and to have dispelled the cloud of impiety that held him, he was not able to look even a little toward the power that worked such miracles, nor to turn his heart toward her; but he was still thick-headed and foolish, still wrapped in that drunkenness of disbelief, and in madness and darkness. And again, having suspended her upon a beam, he tears her most cruelly with iron claws. She, however, raises her eyes again toward Him who from death, and in war, and from the hand of iron brings deliverance (as the great Isaiah says), and straightway she obtained from Him such a moment of help that, while the executioners were exhausted from the continuity of the tortures, she appeared as though she were suffering no pain whatsoever. C Upon which, the governor, being at a loss and not knowing what he should do, was beside himself and jumped up frequently from his throne, and could no longer contain himself, nor remain in order and moderation as is fitting.
IX. But since, on account of his doubt, he had withdrawn so much from himself and was acting madly, the devil, who was speaking with him apart, suggests such a thing to him; and he commands that the breasts of the martyr be cut off with a razor. However, the amputation of the breasts is a very grave matter, and one that can bring about most bitter pains, especially since the heart is located in that part. But the martyr, who was held by a more vehement affection of love for Christ, despised that which was of less account. D The tyrant, meanwhile, striving again to overcome her excellent fortitude with immoderate tortures, pulls out her very nails. But she, as if having no sense of pain, thanked Christ even more fervently, that she had been deemed worthy to become conformed to Him, and a companion of His suffer
- A ings. She also heaped insults upon the tyrant's gods, calling them darkness, error, and demons, and whatever else leads to the ruin of the soul. Unable to endure hearing these things—for just as light, which is pleasant to all, is an enemy to a diseased eye, so truth is hostile to the depraved—the tyrant ordered her tongue to be pulled out from her throat and cut in half, and for her teeth to be knocked out along with it; such were the rewards the fool gave for a free mouth. But although he deprived her of her teeth and tongue, he could no longer take away her boldness or her freedom. Yet she, neither showing any weakness nor behaving timidly, endured the cutting only so long as she could still use the instrument of her voice to pour out her final prayers to God; for she knew that He knows how to hear even those who are silent.
B X. Having, therefore, duly given thanks to Him, and having asked to end her martyrdom with a good conclusion, and having next made intercessions for those who are sick and were to come to her, and having heard a voice from heaven confirming that what she requested had been granted, she said: "Come, do to the executioner what has been commanded." And the martyr stretched out her tongue, which was always meditating upon and speaking of divine things, and the iron—alas!—immediately cut it in half. Then her teeth were also knocked out, and her mouth became a fountain of blood, staining the entire garment of Christ’s bride and making it more precious than any valuable purple or royal robe. It is said that at this time, when she had fainted slightly, she asked for water and received it. The man who provided it was named Cyril, whose piety was not so apparent as to make him appear such to the impious, yet in other respects—I mean in the state and disposition of his soul—he was most faithful and most pious. He received a great reward for a cup of cold water, and for so paltry a thing he bought the crown of martyrdom. For when C Probus learned about him, and that he was moved not merely by natural compassion or by pity for the amputation of her limbs, but rather by the fellowship of faith and because he could not bear to see the most genuine servant of the common Master in need of water—the man having offered drink to the martyr and in this way fulfilling the Lord's command—Probus inflicted the punishment of death upon him. Next, he passed the final sentence upon the martyr as well, and condemned her to life’s end by the sword. This having come to pass, and her sacred head having been severed outside the city, her body lay neglected on the ground for some time, yet it remained untouched and guarded by both the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth, as if they, D I suppose, were in awe of the marks and injuries she had received for their Creator. Then, by the nod of God, it was miraculously restored to Sophia, who had taught and raised her, which was truly the outcome of her prayer and a rest for a mother's heart.
XI. For when the virgin was seized and led to her martyrdom, her teacher Sophia was in agony for her, and she feared and trembled, as if it were not the maiden but she herself who was experiencing [this] in her own mem-
-Aory, lest, becoming softened, she might suffer that miserable loss of the crowns. And therefore, lying prone upon the ground, in the fire of prayer and with hot streams of tears, she besought, supplicated, and implored God that the martyr might not be overcome by torments. But after Anastasia had already put a most beautiful end to her martyrdom and had crossed over to the supernal bridal chambers, and to those firm and stable goods that are desired, then the angel of the Lord, drawing near, freed her teacher Sophia B from fear and anxiety, and whispered into her ears that which she most desired and which was for her the most pleasant thing to hear, and truly distilled an unspeakable sweetness into her soul: he announced the consummation of the virgin. Moreover, he also became her guide to the relics, and that which she desired to attain, and just as she prayed to see, so he restored the desired one to her, adorned with such a beauty of confession and such a garment of martyrdom. She then, as she was, immediately threw herself upon the relics, and clinging to her whole with her whole being, and kissing every limb fervently, and shedding hot tears of joy and longing over them, said: "O most pleasant daughter, O daughter most dear to me, daughter whom I nurtured beautifully in exercise, in silence, and in labors, I give thanks to you that you did not despise maternal precepts, that you kept what you had promised, that you stood by your vows, and were not forgetful of my admonitions; but you stood before Christ your bridegroom, clothed in the garment of virginity, varied with the stigmata of martyrdom, surrounded by a crown of precious stones; and now you dwell in the place of the C wonderful tabernacle, in the house of the glory of the Lord, where is the dwelling of those who rejoice. Therefore I ask you, dear daughter and spiritual mother (for so it is more fitting for me to invoke you), be to me in this brief and fleeting life a good nurse of my old age, and for me as I migrate to eternal life, be both mediatrix and intercessor, placating for me the common Master."
XII. This woman, so fond of children, pious, and religious, who knew how it is proper to bear and educate daughters, having said these things to the martyr, and having embraced her with her senile arms and composed her with her hands—but being in need of a hand to serve her in transferring the relics, as she was, D as we said, an old woman, and herself having more need of a hand and a staff—and because for this reason she had no means of transporting them, and so stood there grieving to herself and anxious in spirit, suddenly two men appeared, venerable in both appearance and manner, who, placing their holy hands under the relics, and having lifted them up together with her, they deposited them near the city of Rome, brilliantly and honorably. To the glory of God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom, and with the Holy Spirit, be honor and power for ever and ever. Amen.
MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY MARTYR ZENOVIUS AND HIS SISTER ZENOBIA
A I. Aegae is a city situated on the Ionian Gulf, inhabited by Cicilians. That part of it which turns toward the mainland is not large, but a harbor of the neighboring sea receives it, extending wide and sufficiently in length. This city brought forth blessed Zenobius, born of godly parents, a truly good sprout from a good root. When his parents had died, he was left with his paternal uncle. The uncle, being a truly divine man and a lover of virtue, seeing the child keeping to his ancestral piety, and having become heir of all his estate, and so also heir of all his virtue, joined him in marriage to his own daughter, Thecla, a couple pleasing to God, noted for piety and all good works. From them, therefore, Zenobius is born, and then also his sister Zenobia (for this name was given to them by their parents)—a holy pair, branches fertile in spiritual works.
B II. When the excellent Zenobius reached the age of young manhood, his parents died, and his property was consumed, partly for the bellies of the poor and partly for the care of the sick. For Zenobius had been trained in medicine so well, and demonstrated such a working of miracles among the sick, that the diseases could not withstand not only the touch of his hand, but were put to flight by the mere presence of the man. This was not the work of art, but a gift of God’s grace and a reward of the man's virtue. Zenobius was not only a provider of health to them, but also of a livelihood, and to all who approached him he provided both what concerned the healing of their disease and what C concerned the nourishment of the body, according to what each one was obviously suffering, and what kinds of food they required. He did not only give freely, but he even exceeded the commandment by a great interval. For the commandment says: "Freely you have received, freely give" (Matt. x, 8). But he, in addition to the medicine, was providing...
A also the compensation. Such a man as this did the holy Zenobius fall to the lot of the Cilician region, at a time when the emperor of the Roman state, addicted to idols and stuck fast in an impious and false religion, died in his impious dogmas. But Diocletian was left behind as the heir of his empire, and of his fury against the Christians. And he immediately appointed Lysias as prefect of Cilicia, a man most violent in torturing and possessed of the greatest power to entice with flatteries. Having arrived at the city of Mopsus, he stirred up a persecution against the Christians, and such a one as was most grievous and most horrible. In this persecution, three youths in number—Claudius, Asterius, and Neon—were also tested B; Isauria had brought them forth, and Laranda had trained them. For they, having been subjected by Lysias to many and severe tortures, and having been nailed to crosses outside the walls, suffered the death of evildoers; and their bodies were cast out to be devoured by beasts and birds. And Lysias truly showed such madness against the Christians.
III. Of the Glorious Zenobius
Zenobius, therefore, the excellent, having lived in such virtue and having taken up the shepherding of Christ's flock through divine revelation, and having been appointed bishop of the Cilicians, displayed thereafter a double healing: for he was healing not only bodies but also souls, freeing the former from diseases and the latter from impiety. Hence it is said that the wife of a certain Indian prefect was afflicted with one of the incurable maladies. It was, in fact, a cancer that had settled into the interior part of her chest. C Wherefore, all the hands of the physicians were gathered, and all arts and medicines were revealed to yield to that disease. Anxious, therefore, on behalf of his wife, the Indian, diligently searching from where he might find a solution for such a great evil, learned from one of the merchants about Zenobius, and that he healed many of the sick with a word only and the laying on of hands. And he, immediately, without delaying in any way nor putting it off, but just as he was, having set out on a journey with his wife and children, arrived at Aegae. For such is the soul that is afflicted, and it is most keen to pursue what it has heard, on account of a better hope of freedom. Having arrived there, therefore, he kept asking about Zenobius, where he might be and with whom he was staying, and he spent every effort so that he might see the man. While the Indian was in this state, and making so much D of seeing him, a vision appears to him, which in truth, and not in dreams, commanded him to go to the Christian church: for in it, it said, you will find him whom you seek. When he had risen, therefore, he immediately went to the temple with his wife. And when they found the saint standing in the midst of the multitude, and sending forth from his mouth the most sweet fountains of doctrine, having pushed aside those who were standing around, they seized with great fervor his beautiful feet, which were truly evangelizing good things, and as suppliants they besought that compassionate and merciful soul, and begged him that they might be freed from the evil. For although the disease was in the wife's chest, the husband's [soul], however, to a much
more. A He seeks from them, as a reward for the healing, piety, and that they, departing from their father’s error, should defect to the knowledge of the truth. Which, as they promised to do with a prompt spirit, the saint answered: “In the name of Jesus Christ, who healed the woman suffering from an issue of blood, be whole, woman,” he says, “and be freed from the disease.” And immediately that grievous disease was driven out by the word, as if by some whip; and he himself, and his wife, and his children, being judged worthy of holy baptism, and then having partaken of the sacred mysteries, returned home rejoicing, having together with the woman's disease of the chest cast off the disease of deception, and each having been enriched with the health of the soul.
B IV. Then also another woman in Antioch—which is near Daphne—living in virtue and providing for many of those in need, falls into a most grievous disease; children of physicians call this a phagedæna. C It having broken out between her breasts, it was ravaging everything round about. Despairing, therefore, of all other healing, she herself also departs from the city by night; and having come through Seleucia, and having arrived at the shores and boarded a ship, she arrives at Aegae. And approaching the saint with fervor, she points out that terrible disease, and requests of him and beseeches him so that she might either die before his eyes and quickly pay the debt [of nature], or be delivered from the evil that oppresses her; for she had suffered so much from the disease, and was held by such great pains, that she asked for death in the guise of a benefit, and for this to seem to be a liberation from evils. The saint being moved by these things, and having traced the sign of the cross with his hand, and afterwards having invoked the divine name of Christ (O the judgments of God! O the ineffable goodness!), the disease was immediately ruptured, filling the floor with sanies, but the woman is released from her pains, and returns whole to Antioch.
D V. The things which follow after these are the persecution of Diocletian against piety, and the edict from him, the hater of God, and Lysias, the most fervent minister of that cruelty and inhumanity. Being one who had learned the things concerning the divine Zenobius, and how he proclaims one only God, and diligently adheres to His commandments and will, and how by his invocation he easily resolves all diseases, and stretches out a hand flowing abundantly to those in need, he immediately arrests him, and having sat down in the midst of the city, and having brought the man before his face, “Many things,” he says, “O Zenobius, have been heard by me regarding you. But I, not being easily able to believe in rumor alone, so as even to make my eyes witnesses of what has been heard, that I may cut short much of the speech, propose these two things to you: either to be persuaded by the pious edict of the rulers, and to sacrifice with us to the gods—which will prepare you to enjoy the greatest honor, and of the abundance of wealth, know well, and of a brilliant life
and the rewards of other good things—or else to be condemned to blows, and racks, and other tortures, the end of which is nothing other than a death that is altogether most savage and full of the greatest pain?” To this the noble Zenobius replied: “For me, there is one true God, the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom I trust, from whom is my very being and life, and for whose sake to die is gain for me. For there is nothing of the pleasures here that is worthy to be compared with the reward that is there.” Enraged at this, the savage Lysias raises the athlete aloft upon a wooden stake, and applies racks and scrapers to his body, saying, “Let us see if Christ will come to aid him.” B [VI.] Meanwhile, his sister Zenobia arrived, running from somewhere; and when she saw him upon the stake, she was filled with courage from the very sight, and casting off everything soft or weak or womanly, she showed herself to be truly the sister of such a man. “Arrogant tyrant,” she said, “what kind of crime has my brother committed, that you torture him so?” The man (O base, and guileful, and ignoble soul!) replied to the woman’s freedom of speech with the utmost calmness and gentleness, so that he might insinuate himself into her—being a woman—with flattering words, and lead her on as someone weaker: “Sacrifice, Zenobia,” he said, “you also, to the gods, and do not endure to see the beauty and vigor and flower of your own body miserably given over to many and varied punishments; for, O woman, the shame of these is far more grievous than the pain itself.” But she, beginning to speak together with her brother, as if by one impulse and disposition of soul, said: “You will not persuade us, O tyrant, to exchange the living and true God for the idols of mortal men, not even if it were possible for you to bring upon us countless deaths, and not just this one which is, even by nature itself, necessarily owed to us.” When they had said these things, iron beds immediately receive the martyrs, and fire is kindled beneath the beds. Lysias was also present, crying out, “Let Christ come, let Him aid those who suffer for His sake.” But Zenobius, with a decorous disposition, said, “He is present, behold, bestowing upon us His dew as medicine, even if you are unable to see this, being surrounded by such a thick fog of impiety.” C [VII.] The tyrant, therefore, seeing them endowed with such a great and strong spirit, for the present causes their torture to cease, partly because he supposed it was not sufficient for a more bitter sensation of pain, and partly because he was flattering himself with certain hopes that they would perhaps be persuaded and change their minds, and would not thus continue to spare nothing of themselves to the end. Accordingly, when he had made them rise from those iron beds, he said: “Pity yourselves now at least, take some compassion upon yourselves, and let not the sight be pitiable to one another, a brother being cruelly destroyed before the eyes of his sister.” But they, brothers more by their character and souls than by their bodies, said: “We advise you, O judge, rather to take some care for your own soul, and to fear the gehenna, the threats of which are aimed at you, and
A to depart from this manifest deception, and to approach the true God and piety. And we ourselves will be at once your intercessors and sponsors before Him, that He will accept your conversion, receive you graciously, and deem you worthy of ineffable goods.” Whereupon, Lysias, having grown even more hot with that same rage and madness, orders that true and good pair to be cast into the cauldrons. And the cauldrons had fire burning fiercely beneath them. But they, standing before the cauldrons and raising their eyes along with their souls to heaven, said: “Lord Jesus Christ, God of peace, receive our souls in peace.” And after the prayer, the cauldrons immediately took them in, and the water that was in them seethed even more fiercely than the fire itself; but the pair of martyrs, perceiving a certain divine dew from above, went forth singing quietly. The song was: “You have saved us, O Lord, from those who afflict us, and you have put to shame those who hate us.”
B VIII. Thereafter Lysias, having given up all hope of their change, passed the final sentence against them by the sword. And when the saints had gone outside the walls of the Aegaeans according to the command of Lysias, and had again given themselves to prayer, they said: “We give thanks to You, Christ God, that You have deemed us worthy to finish our course, to keep the faith, and to fight the good fight. Do You, then, O Lord, also deign to make us partakers of the prize of the upward calling, and number us with those who have been well-pleasing to Your holy and admirable name; for You are blessed unto the ages.” And immediately the prayer was effectual. And a voice C echoing from above promised them the crowns and called the athletes to those things which they desired to attain through martyrdom. And those present, having heard this voice, fall prostrate upon the earth and weep at the miracle of the audition. On the thirtieth of October, then, the martyrs are beheaded.
IX. And their sacred bodies, thrown outside the city, were taken up by the presbyters Hermogenes and Caius during the deep of night; and having most reverently and holily placed them in coffins, they hide them in the cave that was there. For they feared the insolence of the impious, lest they might envy them even these relics. Thus in all things was the D brotherhood preserved for them, and they made a common confession and a common struggle; and just as they came forth from one womb, so also did one place receive the bodies of both, and one tabernacle receives them back in the heavens, to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom is due all greatness and majesty now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
THE MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY MARTYR EPIMACHUS
A I. Truly, in those days the haze of impiety was diffused over the whole world, and all men were being driven to offer sacrifice to idols, fearing the threats of the rulers and the bloodthirsty impulses of the judges. Even nature was disowning itself; the bonds of kinship were trampled down and overturned, and the union of ancient love was fractured into division. Yet in the midst of this, Epimachus shone forth like some great star among the soldiers of Christ, though he was neither manifest nor known to the multitude. For Egypt alone possessed him for a time, like a lamp hidden under a bushel—the very land that had enjoyed his education and most excellent instruction, and had observed the progress and growth of his virtue and his age. He not only had virtue growing along with his age, but he displayed it as being far greater than his years required; and though he used no master or guide for his life, he himself became, as it were, a rule and pattern for himself, regulating both his soul and his character—making the former gentle and serene, and the latter always thoughtful and attentive. Hence the mountain of Pelusium claimed him as its inhabitant, just as the desert once claimed John the Baptist, and Mount Carmel claimed Elijah.
B There, as he resided and practiced all philosophy, and had given himself over completely to hardship, living a life of pain and toil for the sake of Christ, a judge most savage and cruel, distinguished by his ferocity, arrived in Alexandria. This judge considered all other matters to be of no account, but applied all his zeal, industry, and ingenuity to ensnare the entire city within his nets and gather a bitter harvest of impiety, abstaining from no artifice whatsoever to achieve this. Consequently, all the Christians, fearing the threats of that judge, were either fleeing into the deserts, or, by concealing their Christianity, were feigning impiety. But as for those who wished to profess their piety openly, they were handed over to the most bitter tortures.
A III. Then, therefore, the solitude was no longer desirable to Epimachus, nor was that manner of life pleasant, by which he avoided the company and impiety of men; but being most vehemently inflamed with the ardor of love for piety toward God, and excited by a certain great zeal, he despised life, solitude, and that quietude together, and descended from the desert into the midst of the city. Moreover, he approached the tyrannical tribunal, fearing nothing of the things seen, nor being terrified by those things capable of causing fear; and this he made the first noble achievement of his admirable soul. Then he pulled down that idol altar and overturned it to the ground, using both a noble hand and an invisible power. He even rushed against the judge himself with righteous anger, avenging the offender of God and the sacred laws. And if he had not been restrained from his rush by the tyrant's bodyguards, that tyrant would have lain as a corpse worthy of tears.
B IV. This the tyrant could not endure, but being inflamed in his very heart with rage—because such a base man, with disheveled hair and a miserable cloak, had dared to show such boldness toward him—he ordered the saint to be cast into prison and chains, *as though* he had done something reckless and rash, and was to pay the penalty due. There were, indeed, many others in the prison who were locked up for the sake of piety. But to all of them, the noble Epimachus became a source of great support and an exhortation to gladly endure martyrdom; for he, ignoring the terrible things that were prepared and proposed for himself, was concerned only for their salvation. Furthermore, he instructed and strengthened them with many admonitions and teachings, arming them on all sides, making them sober, and working to make them entirely impregnable to the schemes of the enemy.
D V. When, therefore, the judge had them brought before him and saw them showing a far longer and more fervent endurance than before, and having inquired as to the cause of the matter, and learned that these were the counsels and advice of Epimachus, he cut out the tongues of these men after many and unbearable tortures; for these were what most stung his own soul through the refutations of the truth. Then he also had their martyr-heads removed by the sword. After them, he had the noble Epimachus brought in bound, and, looking at him, he said: "Why, O man, you who are dignified and of a sightly appearance, have you fallen into such impiety, that you despise not only us, but also the gods themselves and the emperors? It is necessary for men, being human, often to err from what is proper; but it is not right to remain in these errors, but to change one's purpose and correct things wrongly done by one. Therefore, since you too have sinned in human fashion, repent at last and obey our commands, sacrificing with us to the gods and showing goodwill toward them, lest, if you do not reverence the lords of all,
you too suffer the death of criminals.
A VI. To these things that truly fervent champion of the truth, Epimachus, condemning his manifest insanity—in that he attempted to draw him toward impiety through his feigned exhortations and doctrines—from the very beginning of his speech caused the tyrant himself to see his mind at once and to be cast down from all hope. "You will never, O judge," he said, "be able to turn me away from that piety of which I am a disciple and friend. Therefore, do not urge me further to deny the confession of Christ, nor hope that I will do or say anything else that might signify a weakness of spirit or mind. For I confess Christ, I proclaim Christ, through whom all things were created, through whom man was formed, and the law was given; who gave us the mind as leader and teacher of all, who for the salvation of us all, which had already perished, clothed himself in human flesh, and was crucified and buried, and rose again, and has been taken up into the heavens, and is believed to be coming again with glory. Would that you, too, might cast off that blindness of the idols from the eyes of your soul, and behold the sweet and saving light of Christ. For I would not have anyone think that we yield our bodies to tortures rashly and in vain. We are not such enemies and traitors to ourselves. But since there is another life far better than this which is seen, and another world, and an everlasting pleasure of good things, not measured by time but bringing eternal joy, for this reason we despise this visible world and this fragile and decaying flesh. Such is our confession. In it we stand firm and stable. For its sake I am ready to suffer any torture. But if you bring me a swift death, you will do me a great favor, and you will free yourself B from disgrace. For the longer you afflict me with torture, the more ready I shall be found to despise your commands. For if there were nothing else, at any rate I revere those martyrs who underwent the struggle before us, and those others who live with us in the prison again: and on that account I myself strive not to depart without a crown, but that, after I am numbered in their choir, I may show them the desirable course of my contest."
C VII. These words of the martyr brought great hesitation to the tyrant: who, since he could not persuade Epimachus, ordered him to be suspended on a wooden frame and to be torn with iron claws. But he rejoiced all the more in such torment, in that he considered himself blessed on account of it, certainly because he was an imitator of those things which the Lord Jesus had suffered. And so he said: "If our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified for our sake, and received a drink of gall and vinegar, if his side was pierced with a lance, if his palms were pierced with nails, why ought I, his servant, not share in these same things with great pleasure with Christ my Lord?" Indeed, that martyr even desired to be struck with a lance: nay, he even craved the gall itself. D
"And let the reed be put into my hand." And he said: "Where, where are the buffetings? For the present things appear to me to be small, and to be reckoned as nothing, when I look toward those future blessings and desire them."
B IX. When the martyr said these things, to the former torments were added others, and that noble athlete was beaten with sharp stones by the order of the tyrant—that is to say, of a soul utterly cruel and inhuman. "For," he said, "as the body is being densely shattered, he will the sooner cast off his soul." But he did not see that he was actually making him more glorious and procuring for the martyr a greater confidence before God. But let us follow the narrative of the things which are to be told. For it will become clear hereafter how Epimachus followed after the more manifest grace of God and miracles.
X. He was being lacerated, suspension-style, upon a wooden beam, and was struck with stones so that his very bones were broken. A certain maiden was standing there, being herself one of the spectators, who was blinded in one of her eyes. As she was gazing intently upon him and lamenting his most grievous tortures, a piece of the martyr’s flesh was torn off from him and carried through the air, and a drop of blood trickled onto the maiden’s eye. And the drop, having immediately solidified C (O miracle beyond comparing! O kindness of God surpassing all speech!), was straightway turned into light, and made the maiden’s eye whole. But this was indeed a secondary matter in the martyrdom of Epimachus, and thus even a single drop of his blood was able to provide such a great healing.
XI. When that man was seen to be unbending and unshakable in his piety, the final sentence was passed against him, and the holy head of the martyr was removed by the axe. However, his precious body, having been piously prepared by the hands of the faithful, was laid to rest there, where he underwent the completion of his martyrdom. The people of Alexandria, and all those who cultivate the rich lands of neighboring Egypt, greatly admired and revered the testimony of this man; but the whole world now celebrates that same event. Him, the Author and Judge of the contests, God also crowned from heaven with a brilliant crown—He for whom Epimachus chose to suffer, and whose imitator he thirsted to become in his sufferings; to whom is due all glory, honor, and adoration, now and always, and to the ages of ages. Amen.
ORDER OF SUBJECTS CONTAINED IN THIS VOLUME.
SYMEON METAPHRASTES. LIVES OF THE SAINTS (continuation).
MARCH. Day 12: Life of Saint Theophanes. Day 16: Life of Saint Longinus the Centurion. Day 16: Life of Saint Abrahamius and his niece.
APRIL. Day 1: Life and martyrdom of the Holy Agapes and her companions. Day 5: Life of Saint Theodora. Day 5: Life of Saint Thermes and her companions. Day 7: Life of Saint Calliopius. Day 10: Life of Saint Terentius and his companions. Day 13: Life of Saint Carpus and his companions. Day 18: Life of Saint Eleutherius. Day 23: Life of Saint George. Day 25: Life of Saint Mark the Apostle and Evangelist. Day 27: Life of Saint Anthimus.
MAY. Day 1: Life of Saint Philip the Apostle. Day 1: Life of Saint James, brother of the Lord. Day 8: Life of Saint Acacius. Day 8: Life of Saint Boniface. Day 14: Life of the Holy Martyrs Victor and Corona.
JUNE. Day 27: Life of Saint Sampson.
JULY. Day 11: Life of Saint Stephen and his companions. Day 17: Lives of the 45 Holy Martyrs. Day 17: Life of the Blessed Eugenius and his daughter Maria. Day 18: Life of the Holy Martyrs Maurice and his companions. Day 21: Life of the Holy Prophet Daniel. Day 22: Life of Saint Plato. Day 27: Concerning the Seven Sleepers. Day 27: Life of Saint Panteleemon. Day 29: Life of Saint Gallinicus. Day 29: Life of Saint Eudocimus.
AUGUST. Day 1: Life of Saint Sophia and her daughters. Day 2: Life of Saint Stephen, Pope and Martyr. Day 12: Martyrdom of Saint Euplus. Day 15: Oration concerning the Holy Mary, Mother of God. Day 17: Martyrdom of Saint Mamas. Day 17: Martyrdom of the Holy Martyrs Paul and Julia. Day 19: Life of Saint Andrew and his companions.
SEPTEMBER. Day 5: Martyrdom of Saint Eudoxius and his companions. Day 7: Martyrdom of Saint Sozont. Day 9: Martyrdom of Saint Severianus. Day 9: Martyrdom of the Holy Menodora and her companions. Day 11: Life of Saint Theodora of Alexandria. Day 12: Martyrdom of Saint Autonomus. Day 15: Martyrdom of Saint Nicetas the Goth. Day 16: Martyrdom of Saint Euphemia. Day 19: Martyrdom of Saint Trophimus and his companions. Day 21: Life of Saint Matthew the Evangelist. Day 23: Martyrdom of Saint Thecla. Day 24: Life of Saint Cyprian of Antioch. Day 27: Martyrdom of Saint Callistratus. Day 28: Life of Saint Chariton. Day 29: Life of Saint Cyriacus. Day 30: Life of Saint Gregory the Illuminator.
OCTOBER. Day 5: Martyrdom of Saint Charitina. Day 7: Martyrdom of the Holy Martyrs Sergius and Bacchus. Day 8: Life and various Acts of Saint Demetrius. (See following volume at the end.) Day 9: Life of Saint Andronicus and his wife. Day 10: Martyrdom of the Holy Martyrs Eulampius and Eulampia. Day 11: Martyrdom of Saint Probus and his companions. Day 18: Life of the Holy Martyrs Maurice and his companions. Day 20: Life of Saint Andrew of Crete. Day 20: Life of Saint Luke the Evangelist. Day 20: Martyrdom of Saint Varus. Day 20: Martyrdom of Saint Artemius. Day 22: Life of Saint Abercius. Day 24: Martyrdom of Saint Arethas and his companions. Day 25: Martyrdom of Saint Marcian. Day 28: Life of Saint Anastasia the Roman. Day 30: Martyrdom of the Holy Martyrs Zenobius and Zenobia. Day 31: Martyrdom of Saint Epimachus.
END OF THE HUNDRED AND FIFTEENTH VOLUME.
[index: entries preserved]