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THE FOURTH MONTH IN THE NAME
OF THE FATHER AND THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT, On this day died Nahum the prophet. This holy and righteous man was of the tribe of Simeon, and
he was in prophecy the seventeenth from Moses the prophet. This
righteous prophet prophesied in the days of Amos, the son of Yodae and he
was also named Iyoas in the days of Uzza his son.
And he rebuked the children of Israel because of their backsliding
and because of their worship of idols, and he revealed in his prophecy
that although God the Most High is merciful and compassionate, and
abundant in mercy, yet will He take vengeance upon His adversaries, and
upon those who are His enemies and heap up judgment for them.
And he prophesied concerning the preaching of the Holy Gospel, and
concerning the apostles who should preach it, and he called them
“heralds of good things” and “preachers of peace.”
And he prophesied concerning Nineveh and how waters and fire would
destroy it and lay it waste. And it came to pass even as he prophesied, for God made a
great earthquake to take place in it, and a fire broke out in it and burnt
up the half of it, and those who had turned from the path of righteousness
and worked iniquity died. Now
upon those who continued steadfast in their repentance before God no evil
whatsoever came. And having
finished his prophecy and pleased God by his work he died in peace.
Salutation to him that preached the coming of the God Whose path
from Sina (Sinai) was in the earthquake. And on this day also Saint Isidore became a martyr.
Salutation to Isidore the blessed martyr. And on this day also the blessed Eugenia became a martyr.
This holy woman came from Rome, and her father’s name was Philip.
there was an emperor in the city of Rome who was an infidel and
worshipped idols, and whose name was Mamdeyanos, and her father was a
worshipper of idols. This
holy woman was born in the city of Alexandria and her mother was a
Christian, and taught her the Christian Faith, and when she was grown up
[her father] betrothed her to a great nobleman.
When her father told her this she said unto him, “Permit me first
of all to go forth into the desert of Alexandria, and let me open my eyes,
and rejoice in the sight of the monasteries.”
When her father heard this he assigned two eunuchs to her, and
permitted her to do what she wished.
And she went out into the desert and traveled about to the
monasteries of the monks, and she came to a church where there was a holy
and righteous bishop whose name was Theodore. And when she had come in to him she told him everything,
which was in her heart, and she and her eunuchs were baptized.
And she became a monk there and the abbot called her name “Eugenius,”
not knowing that she was a woman. When
she did not return to her father he searched for her everywhere, and when
he did not find her he made an image in her likeness, and he continued to
worship it evening and morning. After
she had dwelt there one year, the abbot of that religious house died, and
the monks chose Eugenius, and appointed her in his place.
And God gave her the gift of healing, and she could cast out
devils, and open the eyes of the blind; and a certain woman who had a
devil in her came to her, and Saint Eugenius healed her.
After this Satan cast an evil lust into the heart of a certain
woman so that she spoke to Saint Eugenius, and asked him to abandon his
ascetic life and marry her. And
Saint Eugenius hearkened unto her voice and said unto her, “Get thee
from me, O my mother, for Satan hath afflicted thee.”
And having been put to shame the woman departed to the governor of
Alexandria, and she said unto him, “When I visited a certain religious
house a young man came unto me by night, a monk, and he wished to put me
to shame, and when I cried out to my slaves and to my handmaidens, he
departed from me.” When the
governor, the father of Eugenia, heard this he commanded the soldiers to
bring the monks before him bound in fetters.
and when they arrived he handed them over to another governor to
punish in his house, and some of them died.
And when Saint Eugenius saw the miserable condition of the monks
she said unto the governor, her father, “O my lord, swear unto me that
if I tell thee the mystery which concerns me that thou wilt not hold me
back from my desire.” And
when he had sworn to her she took him into a secret place and showed him
her mystery, and told him her desire and that she was his daughter
Eugenia. When the governor
heard this he said unto her, “Art thou indeed Eugenia my daughter?
I will believe in thy God.”
And straightway he commanded them to set free the monks and to bury
those who were dead. And her
father and her mother and all the men of her house were baptized in the
Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, One God, and became
Christians. When the men of
Alexandria saw the Faith of Philip, they enthroned him archbishop on the
throne of Mark, and he sat for many years, and taught the Faith of Christ.
And another governor, an evil man (or heretic), sent his soldiers
to kill Philip secretly whilst he was praying in church; and they killed
him and he became a martyr. And
when the Archbishop of Rome heard the story of Saint Eugenia, he received
her into his house and made her abbess of the religious house which he had
built, and which contained three thousand women, and three hundred nuns
who were virgins; and the two eunuchs who were with her he made bishops of
the cities. And the governor
seized Saint Eugenia and tortured her with divers kinds of tortures, and
at length she delivered up her soul and became a martyr, for the Name of
our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom be praise! Salutation to Theodore and to Eugenia. And on this day also Saint Victor of the city of Shaw, in the
district of Asyut, became a martyr. The
name of the father of this holy man was Marmar, and the name of his mother
was Martha, and they were righteous folk and they served God without fear.
Now they had no son, and they prayed for one continually, and gave
large alms to the poor and needy. And
God heard their petition, and that year the blessed woman conceived this
blessed Victor, and she brought him forth on the ninth day of Genbot
(May-June); and she brought him up most carefully and piously in the fear
of God. When he was twenty
years old his father took him to the emperor, and the emperor made him a
judge in his father’s stead; now his father was far advanced in years.
Then after a few days there arrived the Edict of the Emperor
Diocletian to the governor of Ansna (Asna or Esneh), ordering him to kill
the Christians who would not worship the gods; and the governor himself
came to the city of Shaw, seeking for Christians.
And certain men informed against Saint Victor, and told the
governor that he worshipped Christ . . . in sincerity, and the governor
forthwith ordered his soldiers to bring him to him; and they did so and
set him before him. And the
governor tried to force Saint Victor to sacrifice to the gods, and when he
refused to do so, he commanded his soldiers to bind him in fetters in the
prison house. And as he was
praying there the angel of the Lord, Saint Michael, came down to him and
carried him up into heaven; and when the keeper of the prison house missed
him he was exceedingly disturbed. And
after three days he found him, and took him to the governor who took him
to the Emperor Diocletian, he himself being pitiful and tender-hearted
concerning him, so that he might turn him from the worship of God.
And having become weary and being unable to make Saint Victor
consent, he sent him and deposited him with the governor Eutychianus,
saying, “I have sent him to thee. If
he offers sacrifice to the gods [good and well], and if he will not,
hesitate not to kill him.” Then
the soldiers tied his hands and his feet, and put an iron gag in his
mouth, and he commanded them to put him in the hold of a ship; and they
took him away. Whilst he was there the angel of the Lord came down and
released him from his fetters. Then
they brought him before the governor, and the saint kept silent before the
governor as before the wicked emperor; and straightway the governor was
wroth and condemned him to be tortured severely, and chained him in the
prison house. Whilst he was
there our Redeemer appeared in a chariot of light, and made a covenant
with him. And from that day the saint performed many signs and
miracles, and healed all the sick. When the governor heard this he was
wroth, and commanded his soldiers to bring him to him, and he treated him
kindly and urged him [to worship the gods]; but the saint reviled him and
cursed his filthy gods. And
straightway he commanded them to tie him to a horse’s tail and drag him
about for one day, and after that they threw him into the furnace which
heated the baths, and he finished his strife nobly.
Now they could not bring his body out from the bath furnace, so
they went down the steps, and wrapped it up in costly cloths and anointed
it with scented unguents and they built a church over it.
Salutation two-fold to Saint Victor. And on this day also are commemorated Philip, and Ananias, and
Barachus, and John, and Philip, the father of Eugenia the martyr. Glory
be to God Who is glorified in His Saints.
Amen. |
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