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THE
ELEVENTH
MONTH IN THE NAME
OF THE FATHER AND THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT, On this day took place the ascension of the body of Ezra Beher, who was also called the “scribe of the commands of God.” This saint was of the house of Levi. And he began to speak words of awe with the Highest, and he said, “Thou didst create the earth, and Thou didst command the dust and it produced Adam.” And again he spoke saying how the waters of the Flood went forth at the appointed time and destroyed everyone, and how Noah, and Abraham, and David, and Solomon were chosen. And he mentioneth in his Book that the soul doth not go forth from its body and wanders about for seven days, and is then redeemed according to its work. And then he speaketh about the Day of Judgment, how there will be neither sun nor moon nor stars, [but] the splendor of the lightning of the glory of God. And then he saw Zion in the form of a beautiful woman, whose soul was suffering grievously, and her garments were rent, and she was covered with ashes, and she told him that her son had died on the day he came into his palace. And whilst he was talking to her face lighted up greatly, and her appearance was like that of the lightning. And he saw the place of her foundations. And he saw in the night how, as it were, and eagle ascended from the sea, and he had twelve wings and three heads, and how the heads went forth from his wings and how they were punished and blotted out through them. And he prophesied concerning the birth of Christ, and he said, “A lion rose up roaring out of the desert, and I heard him speak with the voice of the children of man, and he reviled the eagle.” And again he prophesied concerning the birth of Christ, and said, “I saw in the night a great wind which went forth from the sea, and it troubled all the waves thereof. And I saw that that wind which went forth from the sea was like the figure of a man, and he saw that the appearance thereof was like a cloud of heaven, and there was power and many praises with him, and his position was at the right hand of the Father. And [he saw], as it were, seven tribes gather together to him, and he set them on the other side of the Tekaze.” And then when he hath mentioned the blotting out and destruction of the Books of the Prophets, he saith that the offspring of the Fathers went out into the desert, and made himself to shrink by means of fasting and prayer. And he took with him five wise men, who were scribes, and a voice called unto him from the tree opposite, and said unto him, “Ezra, Ezra, Ezra, open thy mouth.” And he gave him a cup full of water with which there was, as it were, fire, and he took it and drank it, and wisdom welled up in his heart, and understanding was weighty in his breast. And his spirit took good heed, and his mouth was opened, and it closed not again, and the Highest gave wisdom unto these five men, and they wrote down everything which happened, and the miracles, but they did not know what followed each of them. And they dwelt there forty days, and he spoke by day, and did not keep silence by night, and in those forty days nine and ninety Books were written. And then the Highest spoke unto him and said unto him, “Observe this: give these [Books] to the wise men of the people in whom is the lamp of light”; and wisdom sprung up and knowledge flowed forth [like a spring]. And he did this for four years of the Sabbaths of the years. And after the judgment (or, punishment), in the five thousand and twelfth year of the darkness, in the third month, on the ninth day of the month, on that day they took Ezra Beher and all those scribes who were with him. Salutation to thee Sutuel, the remaining [one] of the Prophets. And on this day also died the holy woman Saturnina. This saint was of the people of Jerusalem, and aforetime she was a sinner. And then she repented and turned to God, with burning of heart and bitter weeping; and she rejected the lust of the flesh and at length became an abbess. And she excelled in performing works of ascetic virtue, and when one looked at her behold one saw that her body had dwindled away through her excessive spiritual fighting, and through her renunciation of food. And the nuns said unto her, “Eat a small amount of lentils that thou mayest help thy body,” and when they set them before her she said unto them, “O my daughters, I will not trouble myself for the sake of a few lentils, for I should return to penitence for my former sins, and because of this I should increase greatly my eating.” And then she died in peace. Salutation to Saturnina. And on this day also the holy Apostle ‘Alempeyas (Olympius), who was called Paul, became a martyr. This saint was of the number of the Seventy-Two disciples, and he followed the Apostles and went with them to the preaching. And he carried the Epistles of the Apostle Peter, and ministered unto him at the time of his tribulation, and he suffered with him, and came with him into the city of Rome. And he preached the preaching of the Holy Gospel, and he taught and converted many of the pagans to the Faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. And when Saint Peter the apostle became a martyr, this apostle came and took him down from the honorable Cross, and he wrapped him in fine and costly cloths and laid him in the house of one of the believers. And certain men informed the Emperor Nero that he was a disciple of Saint Peter, and the emperor had him brought, and he questioned him about it, and the saint confessed that he was a disciple of Saint Peter the apostle, and he confessed that our Lord Jesus Christ was God indeed. And Nero tortured him severely, and beat him, and crucified him, and he burned the lower part of him as he was hanging. And after this the emperor said unto him, “How dost thou wish to die?” so that I may kill thee. And the saint answered and said unto him, “I wish to die for the Name of my Lord Jesus Christ, kill me any way thou wishest, and bring me speedily to my desire.” And Nero commanded the soldiers to beat him and to crucify him, head downwards, like his master Saint Peter; and they did thus to him, and he received the crown of the apostles and martyrs. Salutation to ‘Alminas (Olympius), who was called Paul. And on this day also are commemorated Bartholomew of Darasa, and one thousand martyrs, and seventy little ones, and Kaladyanu (Claudian) the archbishop, the ninth from Mark. And on this day also the holy woman and fighter of the spiritual fight Theodosia, the mother of ‘Abrokoronadeyos became a martyr, and two prefects, and twelve women, became martyrs with her. And this happened because this holy woman heard that certain men had laid information against her son ‘Abrokoronadeyos, and informed [the governor] that he was a Christian, and the governor tortured him very severely and ‘Abrokoronadeyos was nigh to die. And our Lord Jesus Christ appeared unto him that night, and healed him, and raised him up whole and uninjured. And when the two prefects, and the twelve women, and his mother also, saw him, they marveled and cried out, saying, “We believe in the God of this saint ‘Abrokoronadeyos.” And the governor commanded the soldiers to cut off their heads with the sword, and they received the crown of martyrdom in the kingdom of the heavens. Salutation to Theodosia and to the six (sic) women, and to the two prefects.
Glory
be to God Who is glorified in His Saints.
Amen. |
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