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THE
TWELVETH
MONTH IN THE NAME
OF THE FATHER AND THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT, On this day ‘Entawos (Entaeus), the ‘Amorawi, became a martyr. Originally this saint was a wicked man, and knew not Christ, and he devoted all his toil and thought to heap up money. And having arrived in the city of Damascus, he went into the church of Saint Theodore, the man from the East, whilst the congregation was assembled there, now it was the day of their festival, and having entered the church, he set fire to the furniture thereof, and broke the cross. And when he went up into the upper part of the church, he saw with his own eyes fire coming down from heaven in the form of arrows, which transfixed all his soldiers, and one of the arrows pierced his right eye, and he suffered great agony, and the sweat dropped from him. And he cried out from the depth of his heart, and, shedding tears, said, “I believe in Thee, Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, the God of Saint Theodore, and in the Holy Trinity”; and he pledged himself never again to worship any other [god]. Now the Christians, who were celebrating the Offering, did not know what had happened, and when they heard they marveled, and their Faith was increased. And when Saint ‘Entawos (Entaeus) had gone to the bishop, whose name was Elias, he told him everything that had happened, and he asked him to baptize him with Christian baptism. And when the bishop prayed over the water in the vessel for baptism, a pillar of light, like unto the rainbow came down, and all the people saw it. And Saint ‘Entawos (Entaeus) and those who were with him, both Jews and pagans, sixteen hundred and ninety-eight in number, were baptized, and received the Body and Blood of Christ. And Saint ‘Entawos (Entaeus) said, as he marveled at this, “I saw in a dream a shining Lady, and she took me by the hand and led me to the altar, and she brought me near with her hand. And then I went to Jerusalem and I received the Body of Christ. And again I saw on the altar a White Lamb, and having been slain with the knife (?) of the cross, its blood ran into the cup. And when I had partaken of the Body of Christ, the Body became pure bread, and His Blood became wine.” And then, when he was departing from Damascus, the people thereof seized him, and took him to the king. And when the king knew that he was strong in the Faith of Christ, he commanded his soldiers to beat his mouth with clubs (?) until his teeth were broken, and his blood filled his mouth. And then they tied him up in strips of hide for several days, without water and food, and they took him out from them and cast him into a furnace, which was heated with pitch, and sulfur, and bitumen, and fat, and there came forth there from a sweet and pleasant odor. And when the soldiers looked at him they found him standing up in the middle of the fire praying, and they took him to the king. And the king said unto him, “Where didst thou learn the power of magic?” And the saint said unto him, “I know nothing of magic, but [I know] that the might of my Lord Jesus Christ hath put thee to shame.” And being filled with wrath, the king commanded the soldiers to cut off his head with the sword. And when Saint ‘Entawos (Entaeus) stood up facing the East, he stretched out his hands, and committed his soul to God; and as he was praying, a voice came from heaven saying, “Come, My servant, in peace, so that thou mayest rest with George and Stephen.” And when he had finished his prayer the soldiers cut off his head with the sword, and having finished his martyrdom innumerable signs and wonders were made manifest through his body. Salutation to ‘Entawos (Entaeus). And on this day also ‘Akrates, the brother of Antaeus, became a martyr. Salutation to ‘Akrates. And on this day also Saint James, who was from a small city the name of which is Manug, on the borders of Abus, in Lower Egypt, became a martyr. The parents of this saint were Christians, and fearers of God, and they had begotten three daughters before they begot him. And when they were grown up a little, they committed them to a nunnery to be taught, and brought up, in the fear of God, and they learned many of the Books of the Church and of the Old and New Testaments. And when their parents wished to bring them back from the nunnery, the maidens did not wish to return, but they dedicated themselves as the brides of Christ; and their parents sorrowed because of their separation from them, but God consoled them by means of this Saint James, and they rejoiced in him when he was born to them. And when his days were six years, they sent him to the city of ‘Awesu, to school, and he studied learning of every kind, and was perfect in every branch of knowledge; and his father deputed him to take charge of his money and possessions, and his herds and flocks. And there lived with his father a certain old shepherd of sheep, and he used to perform many works of excellence, and he used to go down into a well of water during the days of winter and stand up therein the whole night praying; and Saint James used to do even as did the old shepherd of sheep, and he continued to do so for many days. And Satan having brought tribulation upon the Christians, many of them became martyrs. And the old man handed over the sheep to the father of Saint James, and when Saint James departed to become a martyr, the father of Saint James asked the shepherd to go with him. And he left [him] with that old man, and [told him] to return. And when he had gone with him, he found that the governor was in Upper Egypt, passing judgment upon Justus, the king’s son, who had forsaken his kingdom and become a martyr. And the old man said unto James, “Observe, O my son, if this king of Egypt hath rejected a kingdom of this world, and followed Christ, and hath separated himself from his wife and family, how very much should we, who are poor folk, be consoled. O my son, be not sorrowful because of thy separation from thy parents.” And then the old man approached the governor, and confessed the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ before him, and cursed his gods. And the governor condemned the old man, and cut off his head with the sword speedily, and he became a martyr. And he tortured Saint James very severely, and he beat him with whips made of cords, and then he made [an iron] red-hot and laid it on his belly. And Saint James lifted up his eyes to Christ, and prayed, saying, “O my Lord Jesus, help me under this tribulation”; and the Lord delivered him from the torture and raised him up whole and uninjured. And then the governor put him in a sack, and cast him into the river, and the angel of the Lord raised him up from the river whole and uninjured. And the saint stood up before the governor, and cursed him and his unclean gods; and the governor was wroth with him and sent him to the governor of Farma, who tortured him very severely. They cut out his tongue, and tore out his eyes and his eyelids, and they tortured him on the wheel, and they made slits in every part of his body, and at length all his limbs were crushed, and his blood flowed down on the ground like water; and Suriel, the angel of God, came down and delivered him, and health his wounds. And when the governor was tired of torturing him, he commanded the soldiers to cut off his head with the sword, [and they did so,] and he received the crown of martyrdom in the kingdom of the heavens. And when he was in the city of Farma there were two other men who became martyrs with him, that is to say, Abraham and John, who were of the men of the city of Gamnudi. Salutation to James, who was learned from his youth. Salutation to the aged shepherd who followed the Law of God.
Glory
be to God Who is glorified in His Saints.
Amen. |
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