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THE SIXTH MONTH
YEKATIT 10
(February 17)

IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT, 
ONE GOD.  AMEN.

On this day the holy and blessed disciple, that is to say apostle, James, the son of Alphaeus, became a martyr.  This blessed apostle after having preached the preaching of the blessed Gospel in all the cities, returned to Jerusalem, and went into the synagogue of the Jews.  And he preached openly the Faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, and revealed to them that He was the Son of God in truth; and that before the world was He was with the Father; and that He is His Word, for He saith, “In our own image and likeness”; and that He dwelleth in heaven, above the Cherubim and Seraphim, who praise [God]; and that it is He Who existeth at His great right hand in heaven, and that it was He Who was carried in the womb of Mary the Virgin, and that He was God, Who became man.  This was the word of the apostle among those crowds, and he was unafraid.  One man became a witness of the birth of the Son of God, Who was One in His Death, and in His Resurrection, and in His Ascension into heaven.  And thus he taught all the multitudes the Faith of Christ.  And when the multitude heard the word of the apostle, they became very angry with the anger, which was of their father Satan, who was with them, and they were wroth with the apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ.  And they all banded together against him, and the Jews seized him, and put his blood on their own heads, and they took him and brought him to the Emperor Gelawdios, the deputy of the Emperor of Rome.  And they calumniated this disciple to him, and they told him, saying, “This man hath preached to us of another king besides Caesar.”  And when the emperor heard this he commanded the soldiers to stone the Apostle James, and they all made haste and stoned him and he died in peace, and received the crown of martyrdom in the kingdom of the heavens.  And certain believing men took his body, and prepared it for burial, and they buried it by the sanctuary.  Salutation to James the Apostle and martyr of Christ.

And on this day also Saint Justus became a martyr.  This saint was the son of Nomarius (Numerianus), the Emperor of Rome.  And having gone to the war, and having married the sister of Diocletian, the infidel, his wife made him king; and when Justus returned from the war, and found that Diocletian had denied Christ, he sorrowed with a very great sorrow because of it.  And when the men of the city saw this, they all gathered together to him, and they said unto him, “We will kill Diocletian and thou shalt sit upon the throne of the kingdom.”  But he did not wish this, and he persuaded them not to kill Diocletian for he had chosen a heavenly rather than an earthly kingdom.  And he drew nigh to the emperor, and confessed our Lord Christ before him; and the emperor said unto him, “My lord Justus, who hath forced thee to do this against thy wish?”  Now the emperor was very much afraid of Justus.  And Saint Justus said unto him, “As my Lord Jesus Christ liveth if thou dost not write the decree for my fight, so that I may finish my martyrdom, I will make the people of this city to rise up against thee, and expel thee from thy kingdom.”  And Diocletian was afraid of him, and commanded the soldiers to take him to the country of Egypt, together with Theocleia his wife, and Aboli his son.  And thus he sent them to the country of Egypt.  And he commanded the governor of the city of Alexandria to persuade him quietly, and not to cause him vexation of heart, for, he said, peradventure his heart will turn, and he will be submissive to the emperor; and if his heart doth not turn, separate him not from his wife and his son.  And when Justus arrived in the land of Egypt (now he had with him some of his servants, and the emperor’s letter), as soon as the governor of the city of Alexandria saw him, he was greatly afraid of him.  And he began to persuade him, and he said unto him, “My lord, do not this thing, and do not disgrace thine honorable position”; and Saint Justus said unto him, “Do not multiply words.”  And the governor was afraid, and sent him to Upper Egypt, to the city of Antinoe, and his son ‘Aboli to the city of Basta, and Theocleia his wife to the city of Sa, and he gave to each of them one of their servants to remain with them until they finished their martyrdoms, and to care for their bodies.  And Saint Justus finished his fight nobly, and they cut off his head with the sword in the city of Antinoe, and he received an incorruptible and everlasting crown in the kingdom of the heavens.  And many signs and miracles, and many healings, took place through his body.  Salutation to Justus.

And on this day also died the holy father, the man devoted to God, the learned one, the fighter, the teacher of all the ends of the world, Abba Isidore from the city of Farma.  The parents of this saint were rich and noble people and they belonged to the honorable folk of Mesr (Cairo), and were kinsfolk of our holy fathers and archbishops Abba Theophilus and Abba Cyril of the city of Alexandria.  And this saint was the only child of his parents, and they taught him spiritual and material doctrine, and they taught him all the Books of the Church, and he kept them with him and learned them by heart.  And he also learned the philosophy of the Greeks, and the knowledge of the stars of the heavens; and of what goeth round all the ends of the world, and he excelled many in his knowledge and in philosophy; and he was devoted to God, and was a fighter, and vigilant, and lowly.  And when he heard that the men of the cities had agreed together, and had taken counsel with the bishops to take him and to make him Archbishop of the city of Alexandria, he fled by night and came to the city of Farma, and became a monk there. Thence he departed to a small cell, and lived there alone for many years.  And he composed many Homilies and Admonitions, some of which are addressed to kings and governors; and he translated many books, [and] Books of the Church, and the Old and the New Testaments.  Now the number of the Books, and the Homilies, and the Admonitions, and the Questions which other people asked him, and the Epistles which he composed, and dispatched to the bishops and archbishops of many dioceses is known; and the number is ten thousand, and the Epistles and Homilies and Admonitions are eighty hundred.  Now the Holy Spirit used to well up in his heart, and flow forth even as do the rivers.  And having finished this good work, and followed a good course of life with great spiritual fighting, he arrived at a good old age; and he pleased God and died in peace.  Salutation to Isidore.

And on this day also Saint Felos, Bishop of the country of Fars (Persia), became a martyr.  When the bishop would not sacrifice to the fire, and would not worship the sun, the King of Persia tortured him; and when he was tired of torturing him he cut off his head with a sword, and he received the crown of martyrdom in the kingdom of the heavens.  Salutation to Felos, the bishop, whom the King of Persia killed with a hatchet.

Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints.  Amen.