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THE THIRD MONTH IN THE NAME
OF THE FATHER AND THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT, Month
of Hedar the blessed. In this
month the length of the [first] day is ten hours, and then it diminishes. On
this day the fighters and saints Maximus, and Manfius, and Victorius, and
Philip [of Africa] became martyrs. These
holy fighters were natives of the country of Phrygia, and they were
brethren in the Holy Spirit though not according to the flesh, and they
gathered together and became companions for the sake of the love of
Christ. And in the days of
Decius, the infidel emperor, the Seven Children fled and hid themselves in
a cave in the top of a mountain. And
when these fighters [and] martyrs Maximus and his companions saw the
infidel emperor denying Christ, and torturing the Christians, they rose up
and gathered themselves together, and they agreed together with one
consent that they would declare publicly their faith.
And they drew nigh unto that infidel emperor, and they cried out,
saying, “We are Christians openly, and we believe on Christ, the Son of
the Living God, and we bow down before Him and we serve Him.”
When that infidel heard these words he was wroth with them, and he
commanded [the soldiers] to beat them and they beat them very severely for
a long time with whips made of leather.
And they beat them again with iron rods, which had been made
red-hot in the fire, and then they rubbed their wounds with bits of rag
made of hair, which had been soaked in vinegar and salt.
When they would not obey his commends, and were not afraid of his
tortures, and would not turn from their good counsel, the emperor waxed
exceedingly wroth, and he commanded the soldiers to torture them very
severely, and [the soldiers] did unto them even as he commanded.
And when those who were there saw the patient endurance of the holy
martyrs, many of them believed on our Lord Jesus Christ.
Then straightway the emperor commanded the soldiers to cut off
their heads, and to hack each of them in twain with a single blow of their
swords, and thereupon they all received crowns of martyrdom in the kingdom
of the heavens. Salutation to
Maximus and his brethren. Glory
be to God Who is glorified in His Saints.
Amen. |
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