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THE SIXTH
MONTH IN THE NAME
OF THE FATHER AND THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT, On this day became a martyr Saint Eusebius, the son of the holy and blessed Basilides, the captain of the royal troops of the city of Antioch, and the father of kings. And this saint was in the war against the men of the country of the Persians, and when Diocletian denied our Lord Jesus Christ, Basilides sent to this son Eusebius, and told him that Diocletian had denied Christ. And this saint summoned his kinsfolk, the saints and men of the palace, that is to say, ‘Abadir, and Justus, and Claudius, and Theodore from the East, and he told them how Diocletian had denied our Lord Christ, and how he worshipped idols; and they were exceedingly sorry. And the holy and excellent man Eusebius said unto them, “I want to shed my blood for the Name of Christ,” and all those saints agreed with him in this excellent decision, and they swore each to the other that they would do so. And when the Romans had conquered their enemies, and had returned to the city of Antioch with victory and joy, Diocletian and his soldiers went out and met them, and Khermanos (Romanus), the father of Victor, advised the emperor to have the saints brought before him, and to fetch idols for them to worship. And the emperor did as Khermanos (Romanus) advised him, and he summoned the saints to him, and said unto them, “Ye know well that I love you exceedingly, I want you to make my heart to rejoice, and to worship Apollo.” And when Saint Eusebius heard this he was exceedingly angry, and he drew his sword and wished to kill the emperor, and the emperor fled from him and hid himself. But this saint killed many of the emperor’s companions, and had it not been that Basilides restrained his son and his kinsmen the saints, they would have hilled all the emperor’s soldiers. After this Khermanos (Romanus) advised the emperor to send Eusebius to the country of Egypt, and to let the officers kill him there, [saying], “If he remaineth here in this city he will stir up the men of the city against thee at all times, and thou wilt not be able to do anything when thou wishest.” And the emperor wrote and commanded [the governor] to send Eusebius to the country of Egypt, to Lolyanos, the governor of Keft (Coptos), and he sent him away as the emperor commanded. And when Eusebius arrived in Keft (Coptos), the governor tortured him very severely on the wheel, and he cut off his members, and after this he beat him severely, and after this he boiled him in a cauldron. And our Lord sent to him His angel, who strengthened him under his tribulation, and comforted him, and healed his wounds, and raised him up whole and uninjured. And then the angel caught away his soul to the Garden of Delight, and the saint saw the abode of the martyrs, and the saints, and the righteous, and he saw the places which God had prepared for him, and his father, and his brother, and his kinsfolk, and his soul rejoiced exceedingly. And after this the governor commanded the soldiers to burn him in a furnace outside the city of ‘Ehnasa, and they burnt him as the governor had commanded them; and the angel of God came down to him in the red-hot furnace, and made the flame to be as cold as ice, and he brought Saint Eusebius out of the fiery furnace whole and uninjured. And the officers and the judges advised the governor, saying, “O governor, command the soldiers to cut off the head of this man, and have rest from him”; and the emperor commanded and the soldiers cut off the head of this Eusebius with the sword, and he received the crown of martyrdom in the kingdom of the heavens. Salutation to Eusebius, the son of Basilides, the general. [On this day is commemorated ‘Awsegneyos, the chief of the Council, and the deputy of Theodore, in the country of the East.] Salutation to ‘Agabitos (Agapetus). Glory
be to God Who is glorified in His Saints.
Amen. |
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