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THE SIXTH
MONTH IN THE NAME
OF THE FATHER AND THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT, On this day died the righteous man Hosea the prophet, and he was also called ‘Ozya. This righteous man prophesied in the days of five kings, that is to say, Amos and Uzziah, and Jotham and Ahaz and Hezekiah, Kings of Judah. And he said marvelous things in his prophecy, and he rebuked the children of Israel, and called them children of whoremongers. And he made them to know that God would not turn back His wrath from them, and that He would not have compassion upon them, and that He hath rejected us. And he said, “If the number of the children of Israel be like the sand of the sea which cannot be counted, only a few of them shall be left.” And he prophesied concerning the belief of the Gentiles in God, [saying], “I will call those who are not My people, and I will make them My people, and they shall call Me their God.” And he prophesied concerning the Passion of our Redeemer, and His Resurrection, and saith, “My redemption by His blood is before Him.” And he saith also, “He who slew us, and He who broke us, shall make us to live after two days, and shall raise us up on the third day. And He knoweth our course in the knowledge of God.” And he spoke also concerning the destruction of the domination of death, and concerning the breaking of the goad (sting) of Hell. And he prophesied for a period of seventy years and having pleased God he died at a good old age. Salutation to Hosea who preached the coming of Christ. On this day also Saint Sadok and the saints who were with him and who were one hundred and twenty and eight in number, became martyrs. Behram, King of Persia, required of these saints to worship the sun, and Saint Sadok answered and said unto him, “I did not come forth from my mother’s womb to worship the sun, which appeareth, but to worship its Creator.” And Behram the king answered and said unto him, “Hath this sun a god?” And the saint said unto him, “Yea, Christ is [its] god”; and the king commanded the soldiers to cut off his head. And the saint stood up and prayed, and entreated God, and then he bowed his holy head and they cut it off with a sword, and he received the crown of martyrdom in the kingdom of the heavens. And light from heaven descended upon him, and those who were there saw it, and they all cried out, saying, “We are Christians; we believe in our Lord Jesus Christ.” And the king commanded the soldiers to cut off all their heads with the sword [and they did so], and they received the crown of martyrdom in the kingdom of the heavens. Salutation to Sadok. [The Bodleian MS. says that the martyrs were 2008.]Glory
be to God Who is glorified in His Saints.
Amen. |
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