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THE SEVENTH
MONTH IN THE NAME
OF THE FATHER AND THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT, On this day God sent Michael unto Balaam the magician, when he was called by Balak to curse Israel. He stood before him on the road and frightened him, and at length his ass spoke with human speech, and God turned his cursing into blessing. And on this day also took place the manifestation of the virginity of the glorious Saint Demetrius, Archbishop of the city of Alexandria; now he was of the number of the fathers who became archbishops the twelfth. And the cause of the manifestation was Saint Julianus, Archbishop of the city of Alexandria, his predecessor. On the night wherein he was to die, on that same night the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, “Thou art going to our Lord Jesus Christ, and he who shall come unto thee on the morrow, having with him a bunch of grapes, is the man whom it is fitting to be made archbishop after thee.” And when the morrow had come, this holy and honorable man Demetrius came to Saint Julianus, the Archbishop, and with him was a bunch of grapes. And Saint Julianus began to say unto the people, “Behold this man is he who shall be your archbishop after me,” and he told them how the angel of God had spoken concerning him; and when Saint Julianus was dead they took Demetrius and appointed him archbishop. Now Demetrius had married a wife, and no man who has ever been appointed Archbishop of the city of Alexandria has ever married a wife, except this holy man. And Satan entered into the hearts of the people of the congregation, and they talked against the holy man and abused him because of his wife. And the angel of God appeared unto Saint Demetrius and said unto him, “Inasmuch as some of the people are reviling thee, it is meet for thee to remove doubt from their hearts, and thou must reveal unto them thy strife with thy wife. This matter is hateful.” And the angel said unto him, “It is not meet that thou shouldst save thy self and destroy others for thy sake; but if thou wert a good shepherd thou wouldst fight to save thy people.” And when the morrow of that twelfth day of Magabit had come, Saint Demerius consecrated the Offering, and he commanded the people, saying, “Go ye not forth from the church, but tarry here a little on my account.” Then he ordered them to light a fire in the church, and he sent a messenger into the place of the women, and had his wife brought out; and the congregation wondered at his action, because they did not know what he was going to do. Then the holy man rose up, and prayed, and walked into the blazing fire and stood up in it. And he took fire in his hand, placed it in his fillet, and he prayed again a long time as he was burned by the fire; now the fire lay in his fillet, which was unconsumed. Then he called his wife, and threw some of the fire into her garment, and again he prayed for a long time, and the apparel of both of them was not burned in any part. And the congregation marveled and gave praise to God, and asked Saint Demetrius the Archbishop to tell them why he had done this thing. And he told them of his strife with his wife, and how his father had compelled him to marry against his will, and how his wife herself had had no wish to marry. [And he said] “Behold, we have lived together for eight and forty years, and never once have we had union. We sleep in one bed, and the same covering covereth both of us, and I have never known her as men know women for one day. And during all this space of days the angel of the Lord hath come down from heaven each night and hath covered us over with his wings. I have not revealed this matter to any man whatsoever during all this space of days, and I never wished to reveal it at all, but it is God Who hath commanded me to do this in order that ye may be saved from error.” And the congregation marveled exceedingly at what they had seen and heard, and glorified God; and they besought the holy man to forgive them their sins, and their abuse. And the saint forgave them their error, and said unto them, “This hath not happened through you, but through Satan, the hater of every good thing.” Then he blessed them and sent them away to their houses, in peace, and they praised God and thanked Him that they had seen some of the wonders of this Saint Demetrius the Archbishop. And on this day also Saint Malazi, of the city of Felte’em, became a martyr. Salutation to Joseph, who was renewed in his belly.
Glory
be to God Who is glorified in His Saints.
Amen. |
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