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THE
TWELVETH
MONTH IN THE NAME
OF THE FATHER AND THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT, On this day Abba Benjamin and Eudoxia became martyrs. The parents of these saints were believing folk of the city of Sabersir, and they showed affection to pilgrims and strangers, and they preserved their purity, and devoted themselves to God, and fought the spiritual fight. And they brought up their two children very carefully, and in the manner which befitted the followers of Christ; and when the children were grown up, this Saint Benjamin wanted to shed his blood for the Name of Christ. And he went to the governor of the city of Setuf and confessed the Lord Jesus Christ before him; and the governor tortured him severely, and shut him up in prison. And when his parents and sister heard about him they came to him, and when they saw him under torture they wept and were exceedingly sorry for him. And he comforted them and said unto them, “The life of this world is as nothing, and the days thereof pass quickly, but life everlasting hath neither end nor finish.” And when his sister heard this beautiful teaching from him, she said unto him, “O my brother, as God liveth, from this time onward I will never leave thee, and whatsoever death thou shalt die I myself will die that same death with thee”; and forthwith she confessed our Lord Jesus Christ before the governor. And the governor seized her, and commanded the soldiers to set her with her brother in a dark place, and they did as he commanded; and the saints remained in that dark place for twenty days without food and drink. And after this the soldiers took them out, and hung heavy stones about their necks, and cast them into the river (?). And the angel of God came down, and untied those stones from their necks, and they kept their strength in the river (?) until they arrived at the port of a village the name of which was Batra. And a certain virgin found them and brought them up from the river, and they went and stood before the governor, and cursed him, and his idols; and the governor tortured them severely for many days. And when the governor was weary of their tortures, he commanded the soldiers to cut off their heads with the sword, and the saints received crowns of martyrdom in the kingdom of heaven, and inherited everlasting life. And a holy church was built in their city of Sabersir, and they laid their bodies therein, and from them there appeared many miracles, and great healings for the sick. Salutation to Benjamin and Eudoxia. And on this day also is commemorated Samuel the prophet, and how God called him in the days of Eli the priest, and how God made him a prophet to the children of Israel. Salutation to Samuel, who sealed David. And on this day also are commemorated Victor (?), the Alexandrian, and his mother Sara. And on this day also is celebrated the festival of Suri’el, the fourth archangel, who remembered the twelve sons of Jacob.
Glory
be to God Who is glorified in His Saints.
Amen. |
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