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THE NINETH
MONTH IN THE NAME
OF THE FATHER AND THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT, On this day died Saint Abba Isaac the martyr, who was from the city of Defra, in the north of Egypt. Unto this holy man the angel of the Lord appeared, in a vision of the night, and he woke him up and said unto him, “Go thou to the city of Tuw, that thou mayest receive the crown of martyrdom”; and he rose up to salute his father and his mother before he departed. And they wept over him, and they would not let him go until the angel of the Lord came a second time and brought him out from his city and took him to the city of Gemwa Tuw. When he arrived there, he found that the governor was in the bath house, but as soon as he came out the saint cried out boldly before him, saying, “I am a Christian. I believe on our Lord Jesus Christ.” And the governor commanded one of his soldiers to take Saint Isaac with him to his house, and to guard him until he came back from the city of Nakyos. And as Saint Isaac was passing along the road with the soldier, a certain blind man, who was sitting by the wayside, begged him, saying, “Have compassion upon me, O saint of God, and heal my eyes.” And Saint Abba Isaac petitioned God for the blind man, and his eyes were opened immediately. When the soldier saw this miracle he believed on our Lord Jesus Christ, and became a Christian. And when the governor returned, the soldier confessed the Lord Jesus Christ before him, and received the crown of martyrdom. After this the governor tortured this saint very severely, and he sent him to the city of Behnesa [to suffer] divers tortures. And when the saint was on the ship he begged that someone might give him a cup of water, and a certain sailor, who was blind in one eye, gave him a cup of water; and the saint sprinkled some of the water over him, and his eye was opened, like its fellow. And when the men of the city of Behnesa saw the tortures which were inflicted on Saint Abba Isaac, and the mighty signs which he performed, they took him and carried him to the governor, and said unto him, “kill he, or send him away; act quickly and immediately.” And straightway the governor commanded the soldiers to cut off his head, and they cut off his head with a sword, and he received the crown of life. And there were there certain believing men, and they lifted the body of Saint Abba Isaac upon a wagon, and they drew it with oxen, and brought it to the city of Dafra. And when they could not find a boat to carry it over the river, the oxen forded the river, carrying the body of the saint upon their backs, and the believers brought it into his house. And they pulled down the church, and built another church in his name, and they laid the body therein, and many signs and miracles took place [there] through it. Salutation to Isaac. And on this day also died the holy and honored father Abba Macarius, the Alexandrian priest. This holy man lived in the days of the honorable Saint Abba Macarius the Great; he was the father of the monastery of Scete, and performed many excellent deeds therein. It is said of him that a gnat stung him and he killed it, and he repented and reproached himself for having killed it. And he went down to the valley which was in the desert, and he exposed his body to the gnats, and remained there for six months, when his body was like unto that of a man suffering from elephantiasis. And he returned to his cell, and nobody recognized him as Abba Macarius. One day he stood up in prayer for five days and five nights, with his heart in heaven, until the Satans burned him. This labor, and this fight, was the greatest of all the excellent things which he performed. One day he wanted to see the regions which were beyond the range of his vision. And he went out into the desert, and lived there, and wandered about for ten days, and he had with him some reeds which he intended to place [at intervals] on the road, to serve as guide marks when he returned so that he might not lose his way; when he drew near the place he sought, he felt weary, and lay down to rest a little, and Satan plucked the reeds from him as he slept, and tied them round the head of the saint. When Abba Macarius woke up from his sleep, he looked about for the reeds and missed them, and straightway he marveled. And he heard a voice, saying, “O Macarius, if thou hast faith put not [thy] trust in reeds, but believe that the same pillar of cloud which guided the children of Israel will also guide thee.” And when the saint had seen the district round about, he turned back and became thirsty on the road; and God sent to him a she-buffalo of the desert, and he drank of her milk until he was wholly satisfied, and returned to his cell. One day a she-wolf came to him, and seized his garment, and pulled him along, and he followed her to her den, and she brought out her young ones to him, and looking at them he found that their eyes were blind, and he marveled at the sagacity of the beast. And he took the cubs in his hand, and cried out, and spat into their eyes, and made the sign of the Life-giving Cross over them, and the cubs were healed immediately, and they ran after their mother and sucked her milk, and they followed her until they went into her den. And after this the wolf returned to the saint, and brought him a sheep’s skin and he kept it by him, and slept upon it until the time of his death. One day he changed his apparel after the manner of the laity, and he went to the monastery of Saint Abba Pachomius, and stood for four days during the Great Fast, without eating, or drinking, or sitting down, and he cried out “Hosanna” as he stood. And the monks said unto Abba Pachomius, “Cast out this man from us, for he is not human.” And Abba Pachomius said unto them, “Have patience with me until I can ask God to show me his work”; and when he had asked God concerning him He told him that he was Macarius the Alexandrian. And straightway Saint Abba Pachomius went to him, and with him went all the monks, and they embraced him and were blessed by him, and they rejoiced in him with a great joy. And when those who were magnifying themselves in the monastery of Saint Abba Pachomius saw the grace of this Saint Abba Macarius they became humble; and after this Macarius returned to his cell in the desert of Scete. And when rain was withheld, and no rain fell upon the city of Alexandria, the Archbishop Abba Timothy sent to him, and asked him to come to him to the city of Alexandria to pray with him to God to make rain to fall, and to destroy the locusts. And he rose up and went with the messengers to the city of Alexandria, and the people received him with great joy, and he prayed in his heart secretly, and a great rain fell, and it continued to rain for two days and for two nights in such torrents, that men began to think that the earth would be destroyed by overmuch rain. And Saint Abba Macarius said unto the archbishop, “Why did ye bring me hither?” And he answered and said unto him, “The people made us bring thee to pray for us to God, that He might bring down the rain upon us, and that we all might not perish.” And straightway he prayed, and the rain ceased, and the sun appeared in the sky by the might of God. And this father performed many great and excellent works, and God made manifest many signs and wonders by his hands, and he healed many men in whom there were unclean spirits. And he used to say when he was performing some good deed that men ought to know how to do the good deeds which he did now; the good deeds which he did were innumerable. When he heard that any man did some good deed he never slept until he had done a similar good deed. And having finished his fight, he died in peace at a good old age; and he remained eight years without spitting on the ground for the sake of the honor of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. And all the days of his life were one hundred years. Salutation to Macarius the Alexandrian. And on this day also Bandela’an (Pantleon), the father of Saint Isidore, became a martyr. And on this day also died Amon the Just, who refused the office of bishop, saying, “It is better for me to acquire the practice of the ascetic life.” [Wanting in the Bodleian MS.] And on this day also Saint Dilagi (Pelagia), and her four sons, whose names were Sures, and Kherman, and Yanufa, and Santonya, became martyrs. This holy woman was strong in the Faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, and when Arianus the governor of the city of Ensena came, she met him, and said unto him, “O Arianus, the governor, I am a Christian, and a believer on my Lord Jesus Christ, Who created the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and all that therein is.” And her children also cried out boldly, saying, “We are Christians, and followers of the Messiah.” When the governor heard this he was wroth and he cut off their heads with the sword, and they finished their martyrdom, and delivered up their souls as missives to our Lord Jesus Christ. Salutation of Dilagi and her children. And on this day also died Saint Salome, the mistress of purity and holiness, and the devotee of virginity. This holy woman came from the city of Warab; her parents were God-fearing folk and they brought her up piously. When she grew up, a certain man betrothed her to himself, and he brought her into the state of marriage against her will, and he wished to have union with her, but straightway the power of God prevented him, and it smote him in his flesh, and he was not able to approach her. And whilst matters were thus she hid herself. And she departed by night, and was carried away by the power of God, and she continued to go about visiting all the saints, and she asked God day and night, with fasting and with prayer, to direct her into the right path. And God heard her petition, and by the Divine Will she came to Dabra Libanos, and took the garb of the ascetic life, that is to say the Law of the angels, through John Kama. And she fought many fights, which would terrify hearts, and she followed that life of the fathers with fasting and with prayers, and with every kind of praiseworthy gift. At length she was able to work many miracles, even as it is written in the book describing her fight; and then she died on the sixth day of Genbot. Salutation to Salome. And on this day also died the holy father Dionysius who finished his fight by the edge of the chopper, and the Samaritan woman [Pelagia]. Salutation to Dionysius, the teacher of Isaac. Salutation to Sinoda, the chief of the anchorites.
Glory
be to God Who is glorified in His Saints.
Amen. |
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