announcing to him the prayer and commanding that he should take the relics of Cyrus, the great among the martyrs, from the church of Saint Mark in Menouthis and deposit them in the church of the Evangelists; for thus they also named the village, out of reverence and affection for the demon, the angel having indicated the two martyrs by means of the one name, as will be shown from the account of the blessed Cyril. For the most beloved bishop of God did not delay, but performed what had been commanded him, effecting the translation of the martyr's relics on the twenty-eighth day of June. He also addressed brief words to the Christ-loving people, which we shall likewise append, for the faith and benefit of those who chance upon them; in God the Father, together with the Only-Begotten Son, along with the all-holy and life-giving Spirit, be glory, majesty, and magnificence, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
ANOTHER ACEPHALOUS LIFE OF THE HOLY MARTYRS CYRUS AND JOHN.
C...bravely exercised himself against the spirits of wickedness. John had served the emperor in the rank of a soldier, but he strove rather to please the King of heaven. Therefore, these saints were seized in the place called Canopus, for there they had their dwelling. They were not seized alone, but together with three perpetual virgins along with their mother, the first of whom was named Theodote, who was in the fifteenth year of her birth; the second was named Theoctiste, and she was in her thirteenth; Eudoxia was the third, and she was in her eleventh year. Their mother was called Athanasia, who having nurtured the maidens with the doctrines of piety more than with milk, persuaded them to choose purity and to be betrothed to the immortal bridegrooms, whence, holding the unextinguished lamps of virginity, they awaited His coming. But as they were well accomplishing the voyage of virginity, the struggle of confession overtook them. Yet these noble martyrs of Christ were not dismayed by the incursion of the wolves; for they had D no small consolation in the holy martyrs Cyrus and John, who, through their godly instruction, were anointing the holy virgins for the struggle on behalf of piety. For while the saints were indeed struggling fervently and preparing themselves more abundantly for the counter-battle against idolatry, they feared for the holy virgins because of the youth of their age, lest they might at some point not endure. But the saints said to them: "Remember the words of the Lord, and be not terrified by the things coming upon you; for He Himself has said:"
A 'Fear not them who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul' (Matth. x, 28); and again: 'He that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved' (ibid. x, 22). Imitate your mistress, whose purity you desire, and emulate her confession." With these and similar words and examples, the holy martyrs of Christ, Cyrus and John, armed those blessed virgins and thus entered into the stadium against superstition. For when they had been led by the soldiers who seized them to the tribunal of Syrianus, the governor of the city of Alexandria, they cast aside every other care, according to the commandment of the Lord; for they did not stand ready with prepared answers for the judge's questions, but, instructed by the Holy Spirit, they replied to his words. B For the governor summoned the saints and the virgins together, urging them to deny Christ and sacrifice to the demons; but they taught him that God is the unique Creator of all visible creation, and that the gods venerated by the pagans were not gods, but destroyers of men, and therefore ought to be abandoned. Then Syrianus approached them with blandishments and promises of gifts, assuring them that they would be established as the most cherished and well-known figures in the kingdom. But the holy martyrs, mindful of the rewards reserved for the just and of the kingdom of heaven, and of their boldness before Christ, despised the governor’s promises and made manifest how far earthly things differ from the higher and heavenly gifts.
C When the judge had emptied his entire quiver of poisonous words and had in no way wounded the martyrs (for they were armed with faith and clothed with the breastplate of Christian charity), Syrianus proceeded from words to torments, and cruelly agitated the sides and the whole body of the saints and virgins with tortures. But the servants of the hostile governor grew weary, accomplishing nothing; for the saints did not even utter a word in response to the tortures, but encouraged one another in their pains, as if they were not in punishments but at luxurious banquets. When Syrianus had tested the invincible constancy of the noble martyrs of Christ, he perceived that they would bear away the trophies over his false deities; unwillingly, he ordered their heads, along with those of the virgins, to be cut off with a sword. The command of the leader was carried out, for by shedding their own blood, the strong athletes exchanged their mortal life for D celestial joys, and from the contest, with God looking on, they bore away the crown of victory. These things were accomplished according to the Egyptians on the sixth day of the month of Mechir, and according to the Romans on the thirty-first of January, as testified by the most holy bishop of Alexandria, Peter, a perfect imitator of that Peter to whom the keys of the kingdom of heaven were entrusted and upon whom the Church was founded. He overthrew the most impious Arius, the bitter detractor of the holy Trinity, just as the apostle Peter overthrew Simon Magus.
A After the holy martyrs Cyrus and John, together with the celebrated virgins, had been brought to completion by the sword, their most holy bodies remained unburied, laid out as food for wild beasts and birds. But by the providence of God, the pious and devout portion of the people of Alexandria, armed with zeal and divine desire, seized the relics of the saints, safe and unharmed, and deposited them with great honors and reverence in the venerable church of the holy apostle and evangelist Mark. They placed the holy Cyrus and John in one casket, and the holy virgins—Theodote, Theoctiste, and Eudoxia—together with their mother Athanasia, in another casket of their own. For they knew truly that those who were guardians of the evangelical commandments and imitators of the struggle of Mark should dwell together with him, just as they would also be deemed worthy of standing at his right hand in heaven—in the land of the living, as it were, as well as in the heavens. And these were the things concerning the struggle of the saints. B
I think it necessary to say a few words also about the reason for the translation of the holy relics of Cyrus and John from the house of prayer of the holy apostle and evangelist Mark to the church beyond Canopus, which had been built formerly in the name of the evangelists but is now called [the church] of the Holy Martyrs, as we have been able to learn from the writings of the Fathers. For in the place where the oratory of the holy Cyrus and John was, near the sands, an impure demon appeared in the guise of a female, creating many phantasms and pretending to give oracles that possessed no truth, and feigning prescriptions for certain medicines, which were of no benefit at all but rather drew those [who sought them] to ruin. Many, therefore, were snared by the hidden trap of the evil spirit, and they would offer sacrifices and burnt offerings—which they thought were an honor to the demon—upon the altar that they raised up in its name, which the Egyptians called Menouthis. C
In the times, therefore, of the Christ-loving emperor Theodosius the Younger, Cyril, who was truly occupying the chair of Mark among the saints and had succeeded to the most fervent zeal for orthodoxy, hearing of the phantasms brought about by the evil demon in Menouthis (for that is what they began to call the place because of the demon that appeared there), the holy bishop was deeply grieved and distressed on account of the souls being lost through this deception. He turned to prayers and supplications, beseeching God to manifest a way by which He might rescue His own creation from the destructive demon and its phantasms. D After he had prayed for a long time and fallen prostrate with tears, an angel of the Lord appeared to him by night, saying: "Since you bring this supplication as a good shepherd for your rational flock, your Creator and ours, God, commands you through me: Go to the cemetery of Mark the Evangelist, and you will find the casket in which the relics of my martyrs Cyrus and John are treasured. Take these up and transfer them to the church built in the name of the evangelists, beyond Canopus; for when this is done, the phantasm that is occurring in that place will be brought to an end."
A St. Cyril, being filled with joy, gave thanks to God, who always cares for His creatures and grants them salvation; and, neglecting nothing, he set about carrying out what had been commanded him through the divine oracle. For, having gathered the God-loving clergy together with the most faithful people, and having explained to them the things that had been revealed to him by God, he proceeded with almost the whole city in prayer to the oratory of the holy Apostle and Evangelist Mark. Having spent many hours there in prayer together with all the people, he approached and opened the precious chest of the athletes of Christ, and found the relics of the holy Cyrus and John intact, shining with the grace of the Holy Spirit. Emboldened by both fear and spiritual love, he took them up, wrapped them in pure linen cloths with myrrh and aromatics, and placed them upon a carriage. And thus, with the clergy and the people accompanying him and praying, he departed from the temple of the Evangelist Mark and returned to the church of the Evangelists at Canopus. Having celebrated the divine mysteries there, he deposited the relics of the martyrs of Christ—which are far more precious than gold and costly gems—into the casket prepared for them.
Hardly had the noble soldiers of Christ, Cyrus and John, stood in that place, when they began to overturn the trophies of the wicked spirit that had been lurking there. For many who were possessed by demons and held in the grip of other infirmities were healed during the deposition of the holy relics; and even the very ministers of the wicked demon were healed of their mental error, so that they immediately approached the holy Archbishop Cyril and were sanctified by the laver of grace in holy baptism. The temple, or rather the filth of the unclean spirit, together with the image and altar contained within it, were destroyed. For the sand that had accrued there—and indeed the sea itself—did not by any other means than by the waves of the sea, excited and invoked by the holy martyrs, overturn everything and reduce it to nothing, B so that even to this day the place cannot be found. Silent grace flourished through the presence of the martyrs in that former place of deception, and the sick hasten from all the ends of the earth to the church of Cyrus and John; and those who flee there in faith receive relief from their ailments. For it is said: "Whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." These things were addressed to the apostles, and through them to all who are of sincere faith; our Lord Jesus Christ taught this in the holy Gospels, to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit be glory, honor, and power, now and always, and to the ages of ages. Amen.