Page:Aelfric's Lives of Saints Vol 1.djvu/549

 stantine: these  are  the  Saints  who,  according  to  the  command  of Decius  the  emperor,  were   enclosed  with  wrought  stones  in  this cave; and  we  two,  Theodorus  and  Eufinus,  wrote  their  martyrology  and  laid  it  herein,  with  these  Saints,  upon  a  stone."     And when  they  had  read  that  writing,  they  were  all  wondering,  and with  one  mind  praised  and  magnified  God  Almighty  for  the  great wonders  which  He  had  manifested  there,  and  granted  to  all  men; and  they  all  with  one  voice  praised  the  holy  martyrs  of  God  where they  sat  all  in  a  row  within  the  cave ;  and  all  their  countenances were  like  roses  and  lilies.     And  the  bishop  and  all  the  multitude fell  down  upon  the   earth,   and  prayed  to  the    Saints ;    and   all the  people  blessed  and  worshipped  Almighty  God  for  His  great mercy,  in  that  He  deigned  to  reveal  to  them  such  wonders.     And they,  the  holy  martyrs,  sat  in  the  cave,  and  related  in  order  to  the bishop Mariniis  and  to  the  chiefest  men  how  they  had  acted  in  the time of  Decius  the  emperor,  and  how  many  distresses  they  suffered under him,  and   many  other  things  they  there  revealed  to  them which had  happened  in  his  days,  and  how  other  martyrs  suffered under his  persecutions,  all  as  we  related  before  in  the  former  part of this  story.

And the  bishop  Marinus  sent  immediately  afterwards  a  letter  to the  good  emperor  Theodosius,  which  was  indited  to  this  effect: " Humbly  I  greet  thee,  my  lord,  and  I  pray  thy  glorious  kingship that  thou  come  to  us  as  quickly  as  thou  canst,  that  thou  mayest see  the  great  miracles  which  God  Almighty  hath  granted  to  all mankind,  and  He  hath  manifested  them  in  the  time  of  thy  reign. My  lord,  light  is  come  to  us  upon  the  earth,  and  we  have  with us  the  brightness  of  the  true  faith;  and  the  future  resurrection