The Book of the Saints of the Ethiopian church/Tahisas

Tahisas 1 (December 10)

On this day Elias, that is Elias Zelotes, appeared before Israel. He was of the tribe of Levi. His father’s name was Iyasenyu and that of his mother Tona. Concerning him it is said that on the day of his birth his father saw two men shining with light bowing down before him, and they wrapped the boy in fire instead of the rags in which they wrap children. And after his birth his father came to Jerusalem and told the priests this, and they said, “Is it that his abode shall be in light, and that he shall cut (i.e. decide) with his words, and shall judge Israel with the sword and with fire?” Now the story of the miracles, which he wrought in the days of Ahab, the king and his wife Jezebel, and the story of his ascension into heaven, are written in the section for the sixth day of the month of Ter (Jan.-Feb.), and concerning his death also. The Vision of John Abukalamsis (i.e. John of the Apocalypse) saith that he will come with Enoch and will rebuke the False Christ, and they shall perform miracles before him. And he shall call them the two olive trees, and the two lamps, which are before God. And having conquered them, and slain them, and cast out their dead bodies for three days, the Spirit of God shall come and shall enter into them, and they shall rise up alive and all those who see them shall be afraid. And when a voice shall call them they shall go up to heaven upon a cloud, and then there shall be a great earthquake, and men shall die, one hundred souls. Salutation to Elias who shut up the heaven that there should be no rain. And on this day also died Naboth the Jezreelite. This Naboth was the possessor of a vineyard near the threshing floor of Ahab, the king in Samaria; and Ahab said unto Naboth, “Give me this thy vineyard so that it may become the place of an oil press, for it is nigh unto my house, and I will give thee gold, the price of thy vineyard.” And Naboth said unto Ahab, “God forbid that I should give thee the inheritance of my fathers”; and Ahab was very sorry and he went and lay down upon his bed, and he covered his face and refused to eat. And Jezebel his wife came unto him and said, “What maketh thee so sorry that thou dost not eat?” And he said unto her, “I talked with Naboth and I said unto him, ‘Give me thy vineyard at a price’; and he said, ‘I will not give my father’s inheritance for gold.’” And Jezebel said unto him, “Dost thou thus act the king for Israel? Rise up and eat and I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.” And she wrote a letter in Ahab’s name, and she sealed it with his seal, and she sent that letter to the elders of the city who lived with Naboth, and in it she spoke thus, “Proclaim ye a fast, and place Naboth before the people, and set up two men, sons of inequity, who shall say, ‘He cursed God and the king’; then take him outside [the city] and stone him to death.” And the men of the city did according to the message which Jezebel sent to them, and they proclaimed a fast and they set Naboth before the people, and two men, sons of iniquity, came, and they testified against Naboth, saying, “He cursed God and the king”; and then they took him outside the city and stoned him and he died. Salutation to Naboth who was killed by King Ahab for the sake of his vineyard. And on this day also died the holy father Abba Peter of the city of Gaza. This holy man was a native of the city of Roha (Edessa) and belonged to a noble family, and his parents gave him to the Emperor Theodosius so that he might appoint him a governor, and he made him a governor. And he renounced rank and glory, and fought spiritually and devoted himself to the worship of God in the palace of the emperor, and he had with him some of the bodies of the holy martyrs from the country of Persia; now at that time his days were twenty years. Then he went out and became a monk in a certain monastery, and he fought a great spiritual fight. When the bishops heard of his holiness, and his spiritual strife, they took him and against his will made him Bishop of Gaza and all the neighboring district. And it is said of him that when he read the Office for the consecration of the Offering, so much blood flowed from the Offering that [the vessel] was filled with His Blood. And when they brought the body of Saint James the “dismembered” he took it and dwelt in one of the monasteries of Jerusalem. And it came to pass in the days of Marcion the heretic that he fled to the land of Egypt, and with him was the body of James the “dismembered”; and he dwelt in a monastery for some days. Once when he was preparing to consecrate the Offering certain men who were standing there talked together at the time of the preparation, but Saint Peter did not rebuke them. And he saw the angel of the Lord holding him back from them, and he wished to cast himself down on the ground for he honored them and was afraid to rebuke them. When the days of Marcion the infidel were ended, Saint Peter returned to the land of Palestine. And he strengthened the churches, and the people foregathered with him, and they assembled about Isaiah the Egyptian. And the report of him was heard by Zeno the emperor, and he wished to see him, but Peter neither wished it nor desired it, because he fled from the affairs of this fleeting world. Then he came to the shore of the lake (or sea) of Gawer and dwelt there. And there came the feast of Saint Peter, Archbishop of the city of Alexandria, and he made arrangements to consecrate the church on the day of his festival. And Saint Peter appeared unto him and said, “Behold, our Lord Christ will call thee to come to us,” and from that day Saint Peter knew the time of his death. And he summoned the people to him, and he commanded them to be strong in the True Faith; then he stretched out his hand, and delivered up his soul into the hand of God. Salutation to Peter, for when he broke the bread of the Offering blood distilled there from until the whole of the paten was filled therewith. And on this day died the holy father Abba John, the thirtieth (sic) Archbishop of the city of Alexandria. This holy man was a priest, and he was a native of the city of Gamnudi. And in the days of this father the church of Sergius and Bacchus, the holy martyrs, was built, and also the church of ‘Abukir and the church of John in the inner wall of Mesr (Cairo). And a certain God-fearing man, an Egyptian, a Jacobite, whose name was Andrias, and who was a scribe of Abdal-Aziz, and son of Merwan, took care of them. And it was this father Abba John who was building the church of Saint Mark the evangelist in the city of Alexandria, which is known as “Kamos” for a period of three years in the days of King Adel. And during the days of this father a great famine, [which lasted] for three years, took place. And he was careful for the poor, and the needy, and those who were in misery, and he used to give them silver and bread twice a week, and he gave many alms and gifts to the poor, and was a doer of good works. In his days the Khalifah Yazid died, and Merwan reigned in his stead. This father sat upon the throne of Mark the evangelist for nine years, and he died in peace. Salutation to Archbishop John with whom, on the day of his death, is associated the Patriarch Athanasius. And on this day also died the holy father Athanasius, the seventy-third (or seventy-sixth) Archbishop of the city of Alexandria, who was known as Paul, the son of the priest Makram, the son of Kalil, and Peter, and James the Persian, and Elijah the monk, and Barsabeh (Bathsabeh), the mother of Solomon. Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen. Tahisas 2 (December 11)

On this day God performed an act of power for the Three Children, that is to say, Ananias, Azarias and Misael, and sons of Eliakim, the King of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar carried off into captivity with their father, and he reared them in his house and sold them in the country of Babylon. When Nebuchadnezzar had made the image of gold he commanded his officers and the people of his kingdom to worship it. And when certain men informed against them and told the king that the saints had refused to worship it, he commanded his soldiers to cast them into a fiery furnace which they had heated seven times hotter than usual; and they prayed for a long time with their hands stretched out. Then the angel of the Lord went down and made the fire to become like a cool wind, and he brought them out, and the fire had neither touched them nor singed the hair of their heads. When Nebuchadnezzar saw this he bowed down and worshipped God, and he honored the Three Children exceedingly. Salutation to Shadrach, Meshach and Abdenego, who were preserved by God in a fiery furnace, which was heated with pitch and asphalt. And on this day also seven hundred and thirty-three (or seven thousand and three) souls were martyred by Diocletian and they died in the city of Antioch; these were the slaves of Fasiladas and his kinsfolk. And on this day also [are commemorated] the deaths of Abtesfen, and Anbas, from the West; and Nathaniel the monk, the worker of miracles; [and Abba Hor the Monk]. Salutation to Eutychianus who finished his course and kept his Faith. And on this day also died Saint Abba Hor the monk. This holy man was a native of the city of Gawrah in Upper Egypt. And he became a chosen monk, and he fought the fight and he was superior to very many of the saints in his piety and spiritual strife; and he loved to live by himself, and he went out into the desert, and he dwelt there, a devoted ascetic, for many years. And Satan, the enemy of good things, appeared unto him openly and said unto him, “In the desert thou canst conquer us, because there are no men here; but if thou wouldst [show thy self] to be mighty and strong [go] to the city of Alexandria.” When Saint Abba Hor heard this he rose up and went to Alexandria, and he drew water for those who were in prison and for the poor. And at that time three horses used to pass through the city galloping, and one of them kicked a child and he died immediately. And Satan entered into the hearts of the men of the city, and they meditated in their hearts and said, “No one killed this child except this old monk.” And Abba Hor came and took the child in his arms, and he prayed in his heart and made entreaty to God, and he made the sign of the Cross over him, and the soul of the child returned to him, and he rose up alive, and Abba Hor gave him to his mother. And Abba Hor fled out of the city and they sought for him, but could not find him; and he went to the desert and lived there for many years, and he fought the spiritual fight continually, and he devoted himself to righteousness and doing works of excellence. When the time for his departure drew night he saw many saints calling him, and he rejoiced exceedingly. And he sent and gathered together his sons, and he commanded them to be strong in the path of the ascetic life, and in working righteousness, and he told them that he was about to depart to our Lord Jesus Christ; and they were exceedingly sorry. Then he became sick a little and he delivered up his soul into the hand of God. Salutation to Abba Hor, whose prayer restored the dead to life. Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen. Tahisas 3 (December 12)

On this day took place the entrance of our holy Lady the Virgin Mary, the God-bearer, into the Sanctuary (i.e. Temple) of Jerusalem, when she was three years old, and she was the daughter of a vow to God. Because her mother Hannah was childless the [other] women who were in the House of God kept themselves away from her, and she was exceedingly sorry about this; now Joachim her husband was an old man. And God heard their cry. And the blessed Hannah vowed a vow to God, saying, “The fruit which He shall give me I will devote to God.” And having brought forth our Lady Mary she reared her for three years in her house, and after this she took her to live with the virgins in the Sanctuary of God. And Mary dwelt in the Sanctuary for twelve years, and received her sustenance from the hands of angels, until the time when our Lord Christ came into the world, and took flesh from her, the elect of all women. And when she had completed twelve years in the Sanctuary, the priests took counsel together about her so that they might give her unto one who would protect her, for she was vowed to God, and it was not right in their sight that she should blossom in the Sanctuary and become after the manner of women therein. Then they called her by a name of honor for him that should be worthy to see her. And Zachariah, the high priest, answered and said, “Bring Mary hither so that I may find out what is in her heart”; and they called her and she came and stood before him. And Zachariah said, “Know, O Mary, that thou hast grown up and that thou art mature like any other woman. Dost thou wish to be married? [If so] we will seek out for thee a good, and blessed, and God-fearing young man, and we will marry thee to him. Or, wouldst thou rather remain in the Sanctuary and minister unto God all the days of thy life? [If so] we will lay upon thee the prohibition which is written in the Torah that thou salt not approach the gates of the Sanctuary during the days wherein there happeneth to thee what happeneth to women.” And our Lady Mary answered and said unto him, “Behold, I am the handmaiden of the Lord before you; I have neither father nor mother. Ye are to me in the place of my father and my mother before God, holy and blessed be His Name! What ye know to be the command of God in respect of me that do for me.” And the priests and all the Sanhedrim said unto Zachariah the priest, “Go to the Sanctuary and pray to God, and God shall make it clear to thee concerning Mary.” And Zachariah put on his priestly vestments, and went into the Sanctuary, and prayed to God concerning Mary. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him and said unto him, “Zachariah, go forth and gather together all the men and old men, and take their staffs, and write the name of each man upon his staff. Then gather together all the staffs into the Sanctuary, and pray to God; and after this go forth and give unto each man his staff. And the man on whose staff the Lord God shall make a sign to appear is he who is worthy that Mary shall be given unto him to protect.” And Zachariah the priest went forth and told the assembly what the angel of God had said unto him. And straightway he sent criers out into every land of Israel and into the cites and villages, and they cried out, saying, “Let every man of the House of David, whether he be young or old, whose wife is dead, go to Jerusalem.” When Joseph of the House of David heard this he took his staff and went from Nazareth to Jerusalem, where he found very many men gathered together. And Zachariah the priest took all their staffs and wrote their names upon them and the staffs were in number seventeen hundred and eighty- five. And he prayed to God inside the Sanctuary, and all the men who were standing outside the Sanctuary prayed likewise. And when Zachariah had finished his prayer he brought out the staffs, and gave unto every man the staff, which belonged to him. When Joseph, the carpenter, drew nigh to take his staff, there appeared from out of it the form of a white dove and it flew up and stood upon his head. And when the priests and all the people saw this they marveled exceedingly and they glorified God greatly. And Zachariah said unto Joseph, “Take Mary the Virgin and keep her in thy house, even as the angel of the Lord saith”; and Joseph took our holy Lady, the Virgin Mary, and she dwelt with him until Gabriel, the angel of the Lord came to her, and told her that the Son of God was to take flesh from her. Salutation to the coming of Mary, according to the Law of Moses. And on this day also is celebrate the festival of the glorious angel, Fanuel the archangel. Salutation to thy office in the court of God, O Fanuel, thou ladder of prayer, and expeller of Satan. Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen. Tahisas 4 (December 13)

On this day the holy Apostle Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, became a martyr. The lot of this holy man went forth that he should preach in the city of Leda, and in the cities of Akorakod. When he came into the city of Leda, many of the people thereof believed through Peter his brother; and he had with him Philemon, his disciple, who had a sweet voice, and he was wise, and a good reader, and pious. And Andrew the apostle commanded him to go up on the top of certain steps and to read (or sing) in a sweet voice, and he went up and read in a sweet voice. And when the priests of the idols heard of the coming of Andrew the apostle, they rose up and took their weapons of war and went to the church so that they might hear whether [the Christians] cursed their gods [or not]. And when they heard Philemon reading and saying, “The gods of the nations are gold and silver, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths and speak not, they have eyes and see not, they have ears and hear not, they have noses and smell not, they have hands and handle not, they have feet and walk not, they cry not out with their throats, and there is no breath in their mouths. May those who make them and those who put their trust in them become like unto them!” (Psalm cxv). And through his beautiful voice and the sweetness of his words their hearts were opened, and they came into the church, and bowed down at the feet of Andrew the apostle, and they believed on our Lord Jesus Christ. And the apostle taught them the doctrine of the Church and baptized them with Christian baptism; and many of those who worshipped idols believed with them. After this Satan came into the city and he found playing together two youths, one of whom was the son of John, the priest of the city, and the other the son of one of the great men of the city. And whilst one of them was amusing himself with the other he smote the other a blow, and he died. And the father [of the dead boy] made a charge against [the father of the living boy] and he said unto him, “Bring me thy son so that I may kill him in the place of my son whom he killed.” When John heard this he was very sorry, and he said unto the men of the city, “Be surety for me whilst I go to my father Andrew who shall come and raise up the boy who is dead” and they became surety for him. And John the priest came to Saint Andrew and he found him baptizing all the people. And Andrew answered and said unto him, “I cannot go with thee at this moment because of the people whom I have to baptize, but take Philemon with thee, and he shall raise for thee the boy who is dead.” So Philemon and John the priest departed from Andrew, and when he came to the city of Nawa [he found] Koros the governor searching for the murderer, for Satan had told him all that had happened, and he imagined that a grown up man [had been killed]. And the people said unto Philemon, “Go not into the city lest the governor kill thee”; and Philemon said, “I cannot transgress the command of my lord and teacher, but I must go and raise him up; and if they kill me my teacher will come and raise me up and him that is dead likewise.” So Philemon came into the city, and he met Koros the governor who commanded his guards to kill him. And the governor said, “Who knoweth whether this man killed the boy who is dead [or not]?” And the guards went to kill Philemon, and they seized him and hung him up. And Philemon answered and said unto Koros the governor, “Why dost thou scourge me? I am a little person who hath done no sin, and torturing ought not to be inflicted upon me. Where is Andrew my teacher that he may see what they are doing to his disciple?” And he turned his face to the guards, and said unto them, “Is there anyone among you who is merciful and will take compassion upon me, and will go to my teacher Andrew and will tell him in what state I am, how I am scourged and hung up [upon a tree]?” When the guards heard this they wept because of the sweetness of his voice. And straightway certain birds came and talked with him as they talked to Noah in days of old, and they said unto him, “Behold, whatsoever thou wishest from us we will send unto thee.” And a small bird came nigh unto him, and she said unto him, “I am lighter in body than these [other] birds, and I will go to thy teacher to bring him to thee.” And Philemon said unto her, “Thou art a whore, and thou shalt not tempt me. Get thee gone from me, and if thou canst find anyone of thy kin dwell with her, and return not in a hurry speedily.” And a raven drew nigh unto him and said unto him, “I will go to him.” And Philemon said unto the raven, “In days of old when thou wast sent [from the ark] thou didst not return to report to Noah who sent thee forth, and shall I send thee?” And Philemon called the dove and said unto her, “O excellent pilgrim, whom God hath named as the gentlest of all the birds who brought news to Noah, when he was in the ark during the days of the Flood, and whom our father Noah, the righteous man, blessed, get thee to the country of Leda (Leda) to my teacher Andrew and tell him to come hither and see his disciple Philemon, whom they have hung upon a tree to scourge him.” And the dove went and told Andrew and she returned and answered and said unto Philemon, “Be strong and fear not; behold Andrew is coming and he will hear thy word.” When Koros the governor heard this, he rose up quickly and he released Philemon with his own hands from the scourging, and he believed on our Lord. And Satan was jealous, and he entered into the heart of the governor’s wife and she killed her sons, and her slaves returned and seized her, and they told the governor and Philemon. And Philemon called the dove and sent many messages into the house of the governor [by her]. And when the people heard the dove talking, they were amazed, and they all thronged to the place where Philemon was. And behold Andrew came and commanded Philemon his disciple to raise the dead youth, and he prayed to our Lord Christ and raised the young man from the dead. And they went also into the house of the governor, and Saint Andrew prayed and made his wife and his sons, who were dead, to live. And the youth who came to life told everything that had happened [to him] and what he had seen in heaven. And behold whilst the dove was flying about Andrew’s head and in front of him, the apostle said unto her, “How many are thy days?” and the dove said unto him, “Sixty years are my days.” And the blessed Andrew said unto her, “Because thou didst hearken to the voice of Philemon, my disciple, get thee into the desert, and thou shalt be free from the work of the men of this world, and no man shall have any authority over thee”; and the dove went forth into the desert as Andrew commanded. And when the people who were gathered together saw this, they all believed and were baptized in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Then he went forth from them and departed to the cities of Akrad, and Aksis, and Akseyas, and Henefores, and after this he departed with Bartholomew to Azri- Gazrinos; and what happened to him [from the time when he met] the Dog-faces until he returned is in the knowledge of God [only]. When Saint Andrew had entered that city and preached to the people thereof, now these men were exceedingly evil, and they would neither submit nor obey, some of them believed because of the signs and wonders which they saw [worked] by Saint Andrew. And those who did not believe took counsel with evil intent against Saint Andrew, and they sent a message to him with deceit asking him to come, meaning to rise up against him and to kill him. When their messengers came to Saint Andrew, and heard his good doctrine, and saw his shining face, they believed on our Lord Christ, and returned to those who had sent them. And there were some who tortured them, and these belonged to those evil men who had taken counsel together, saying, “We will rise up and burn him in the fire.” And there gathered together about him many evil men, and they came to Saint Andrew to kill him. And the blessed man asked Christ that fire might come down from heaven and consume them, and straightway fire came down from heaven and burnt them up; and those who were left were exceedingly afraid. And the report of the blessed Andrew the apostle was heard throughout all that country and many people believed on our Lord Christ. And the priests of idols saw all these signs and wonders and did not believe, but they sought out Saint Andrew the apostle in all that country that they might kill him. Afterwards they gathered together and came and took the holy Apostle Andrew, and they beat him severely and dragged him round about the city naked, and they cast him into the prison house, so that they might kill him on the following day. Now the custom of these people was when they wanted to kill a man to take him and hang him up on a tree, and stone him until he died. That day Andrew the apostle asked our Lord Christ that fire might come down upon them from heaven and consume them as it did before. And our Lord Christ appeared and said unto him, “Be not afraid, be not sorrowful, be not dismayed, for thy departure from this world is nigh”; and He gave him “Peace,” and disappeared from him; and the soul of the blessed Andrew the apostle rejoiced. When the morning came they hung him up upon a tree and stoned him with stones until he died. And certain believing men came and took the body of the saint and laid it in a grave, and great signs and wonders were made manifest. Salutation to thee, O disciple of Jesus, who preached the Gospel and taught in Nicomedia, and who roused up the country of Leda (Leda) from the dead. On this day are commemorated Abba ‘Os and the Virgins, and James, and Zachariah, and Simon, and Theodora, and Theophana. Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen. Tahisas 5 (December 14)

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. Salutation to Eugenia who pretended that she was a eunuch for the sake of Christ, and who appeared to be like the monks her fellows. Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen. Tahisas 6 (December 15)

On this day is commemorated Saint Anatolius the priest and martyr. Salutation to Anatolius. And on this day also died the holy father Abba Abraham the Syrian, the sixty-second Archbishop of the city of Alexandria. This father was a Christian from the country of the East, and he was a merchant and had many possessions. He came to Mesr (Cairo) many times when traveling, and he dwelt there, and there appeared in him many virtues, and he was merciful to the poor. And the report of his excellence and understanding was noised abroad, and the fathers, the bishops, and the elders, and the doctors agreed concerning him, and they determined to make him Archbishop of the city of Alexandria. And when he had been enthroned by the Will of God, he gave all his goods to the poor and needy, and he suppressed every evil custom from his office, and he threatened to excommunicate all the bishops if they took any bribes whatsoever in making appointments to the priesthood; and he excommunicated those who took concubines, and he was wroth with those who had them. And when those who had concubines heard the excommunication which he pronounced against them, they feared the banning of the archbishop very greatly, and they feared God the Most High, and they cast out all their concubines from their houses, and came to Abba Abraham the archbishop, and bowed down at his feet and repented; and he accepted their repentance and remitted unto them all their sins. And no man dared to gainsay the archbishop except a certain man who was a scribe in Mesr (Cairo), and he feared neither God Most High nor this father. And this father rebuked him many times, and he bore with him for many days, but although he bowed low before him many times he would not accept his rebuke, nor turn from his evil way, and he was not afraid lest God Most High should destroy him. And although he saw a pure and holy old man lying prone on the ground at his feet, (which ought to have been cut off!), beseeching him to turn from his evil, and to cast out that concubine from his house, he neither listened to his command nor turned and forsook his counsel. And even after this the archbishop considered neither his own learning (?), nor his rebuke, but he humbled himself like Christ his Creator, and he went to the house of that man. And when that infidel heard of the coming of this father to his house, he shut the door, and this father remained for two hours standing at the door of that evil man and knocking at it; and the man neither opened the door to him nor spoke one word. And when this father heard that the wretched man had separated himself from the community, and was alone, and that of his own free will he had perished from the flock of Christ, and that all his members were rotten, than and then only, not because of the sin which he had committed against this father, but in order that the rest of the members of his flock might not be corrupted, this father rightly decided to cut him away from his congregation, and to set his blood on his own head, and he excommunicated him, and shook off the dust from the sandals on his feet at the door of the house of that unclean man. And God made manifest at that moment a sign in the presence of the men who were there, for the framework of the door and the large stone were split asunder and became two parts. What an awful and marvelous thing was this! When the massive, solid stone heard the excommunication of this father it split asunder. And the fate, which came upon this man who was full of sin, was not tender, for God worked grievous signs upon that man, and he became the poorest of the poor. And He removed him from his position in disgrace, and of all his possessions he had not left to him one sarik (i.e. farthing); and God afflicted his body with serious illness, and [the soldiers] cut off his hands in the days of Hakim the Khalifah. And he became a spectacle unto all men, and many sinners were afraid when they saw an evil death come upon him, and they repented. And in the days of this holy father, Me’ez (Al-Mu’izz) the Khalifah of Mesr (Cairo), the captain of his host was a certain Jew who embraced with him the Muslim Faith, and he became like unto the Muslims; and that captain had a friend, a Jew, who used to come with him frequently and hold converse with the khalifah. And when that Jew found favor with the khalifah, because of his friendship with the captain of the host of the khalifah, he made a request to the khalifah, and he said unto him, “I very much wish that thou wouldst bring the archbishop to me so that I might have an argument with him.” And the khalifah sent and brought this father, and with him was Severus, the son of Makfue, Bishop of the city of Eshmunen. And they disputed with that Jew, and vanquished him in argument and put him to shame. When the khalifah saw this he rejoiced, and he was pleased with the archbishop and those who were with him, and paid them honor and they departed to their houses in peace. And the captain of the host and that Jew friend were ashamed, and they were seeking to kill the archbishop and all the Christians. One day the captain of the host came to the khalifah and said unto him, “I would have thee to know, O my lord, that the Christians have no Faith, for it saith in their Gospel, ‘If there be in you faith as large as a mustard-seed, and ye say to this mountain, Depart and fall into the sea, it shall depart from this world.’” And when the khalifah heard this he sent and brought the Archbishop Abba Abraham, and he said unto him, “What hast thou to say to the words in your Gospel which saith, ‘If there be in you faith as large as a mustard-seed, and ye say to this mountain Depart, and it shall depart’?” And the Archbishop said unto him, “Yea, it is true, the Gospel doth say this” (Matthew xvii, 20). And the khalifah said unto him, “Behold, there are thousands and tens of thousands of thousands of you Christians in whom there is faith. I wish you to bring to me one of your number to make manifest this sign to me with his own hand, not thyself who art the head of the Christian people, though it would be seemly for thee to make manifest this sign unto me with thine own hand.” When the archbishop heard these words he was dismayed and feared exceedingly, and he said unto the khalifah, “Wait three days,” and he replied, “Let it be according as thou sayest.” And the archbishop went out from before the khalifah, and he gathered together the archbishops, and the bishops and the priests, and the monks who lived near him, and they sat in the church of the holy Lady of us all, the Virgin Mary, in Mu’Allakah in Mesr (Cairo) for three days and three nights, fasting, and praying, and making supplication to God. On the third night, at dawn, our holy Lady, the Virgin Mary, the God-bearer, appeared unto Abba Abraham with a bright and joyful face, and she said unto the archbishop, “What is it that hath come upon thee?” And she said unto him, “Fear not, I have accepted all thy tears which thou hast shed in my church, and now rise up, and get thee out into the ‘street of iron’ which leads into the market, and there thou shalt find a one-eyed man bearing a pot of water on his shoulders, lay hold upon him, for he shall make manifest this sign unto thee. And the name of this man is Simon, and he is a shoe-maker, and he put out his eye through the command of my Beloved Son Jesus Christ.” And the archbishop rose up and went quickly, and he found the man, and laid hold upon him, and he said unto him, “Have mercy on the Christian folk.” And he told him how our holy Lady the Virgin Mary had appeared unto him, and how she had told him about him. And Simon bowed down before him and said unto him, “Forgive me, O my father, I am a sinful man and a transgressor, and I cannot do what thou tellest me, but God’s Will be done. By the prayer of our holy Lady the Virgin Mary and by thine own prayer thou shalt help the Christian people. But I beseech thee, O my father, not to reveal my work unto any man, for I have not strength enough to bear this world’s honor; but what I say unto thee do. Get thee out to the mountain about which the khalifah spoke unto thee, with thy priests, and let thy people be with thee, and take with thee the Gospels, and the crosses, and the censers, and candles. And let the khalifah and his soldiers and all the people stand on one side, and do thou and thy people stand on the other side. And I will stand behind thee among the people and none will know me, and let them entreat God, and say, and cry out, ‘Kiryalayson,’ that is to say, ‘God have mercy upon us, Christ,’ one and forty times, and then command thy people to hold their peace. Then do thou bow down, and let all the people bow down, and I myself will bow down with thee. And do this three times, at the same time making the sign of the Life-giving Cross before that mountain.” When the archbishop heard this, he took the bishops, and the priests, and the monks, and the believing people, and came to the khalifah. And the khalifah and his soldiers went out, and with them were all the people of Mesr (Cairo) and Kahera (Cairo), and they made haste to that mountain, and the Archbishop Abba Abraham and the believing men stood on one side, and the khalifah and his soldiers and all his men on the other side. Then the archbishop and the believing men prayed, and Simon with them, and they cried out, saying, “Lord have mercy upon us” one and forty times. And when they had bowed down three times, now at each time the archbishop lifted up his eyes to heaven, and made the sign of the Cross, the mountain moved itself and rose up in the air before all the people. And when the archbishop and all the believing people bowed down, the mountain descended to its place [again]; and thus he did three times. And when the khalifah and his soldiers and all the Muslims saw this sign and wonder, they marveled exceedingly, and they cried out loudly and were afraid with a great fear. And the Khalifah brought the archbishop Abba Abraham, and honored him greatly, and asked him to demand from him whatsoever he wished, but he had no need to ask him for anything whatsoever. And when the khalifah pressed the archbishop, the archbishop said unto him, “I wish to build some churches, and especially a church [in honor of] Saint Mercurius in Mesr (Cairo).” And the khalifah commanded him to build what churches he wanted, and besides this he gave him money from his palace, and paid him reverence. And the archbishop said unto him, “May God lengthen thy days upon earth, and make strong thy kingdom; for myself I do not want money.” And when he said this to him the khalifah loved him exceedingly, for he saw his righteousness proceeding from him in his rejection of the goods of this world. Then the khalifah leaped upon his horse and [departed] with his soldiers and he stood by the side of the archbishop at the building of the church of Saint Mercurius, when certain evil men would have prevented him building the church, and he stayed with him until he had finished building the church of Saint Mercurius, and many other churches in the country of Egypt. And having fought a good fight, and pleased God, he died in peace, having sat upon the throne of Mark the evangelist for three years and six months. And one saith in the story of the life of this father that the scribe whom he excommunicated because of his concubines concocted poison and poisoned himself and he died. And this saint departed to God Whom he loved, and all the people mourned for him. Salutation to Abraham the merchant and archbishop. Salutation to Simon who was instructed by the mouth of Mary. And on this day also is commemorated the consecration of the church of Saint ‘Arsima, the virgin and martyr, and the translation of her body, and of the bodies of the holy martyrs who were with her; now these were six and twenty holy martyrs. And King Tiridates said unto her, “Hath thy heart no desire to live as long as thou canst with us?” And she said unto him, “My desire for heaven, which is better, is greater.” And he commanded his soldiers to take her to the fore part of the tent and to strip her naked there, and to cut off her head; and they cut off her head and she received the crown of martyrdom in the kingdom of the heavens. Salutation to the translation of the body of ‘Arsima. And on this day also are commemorated Batelsis the priest, and Abraham Soreyawi, the second, who was a carpenter, and a Christian, and Ta’Amani, and Sufit, and Meryan, and Michael, and Yolsawis and Ptolemy. Salutation to Elyab a pagan on whom God showed compassion. [This salutation is omitted in the Bodleian MS.] Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen. Tahisas 7 (December 16)

On this day died Abba Daniel of Dabra Sihat (monastery of Scete?), the monastery of Abba Macarius. This holy man buried the Empress Patricia, who called herself ‘Anteyos, and it was not known that she was woman until after her death. One day he was going with his disciple to Alexandria, and when the turn of the evening had come, he found a fool (or madman) whose name was Marka, and many idiots (?) were following him; now the men of the city thought they were madmen. And Abba Daniel took his hand and brought him to the archbishop, and described to him his virtues, and when they had made him take an oath he told them that he had fled from the war of fornication, and that he had feigned to be a madman; and when they heard this they glorified God. One day he came into a certain city and he found an old man whose name was Eulogius, and who was a worker in stone; and he bought bread and welcomed the poor. And he brought Abba Daniel into his house, and welcomed him with joy, and when Daniel saw his goodness, he asked God to give money to Eulogius, so that he might be able to welcome the poor. And our Lord appeared unto Daniel in the form of a child, and said unto him, “Wilt thou undertake his duties, and let him change his mode of life, or shall I undertake them?” And then Eulogius found a pot of gold, and he went to the emperor and was appointed a governor, and he abandoned his old habit of life. And Abba Daniel heard in the city of the emperor that he (i.e. the emperor) had rebuked him, and that his soldiers had beaten Eulogius and brought him nigh unto death; [and the emperor ordered them to crucify him]. And whilst he was sorrowing over this matter that child appeared unto him in a dream, and said unto him, “Why hast thou entered into the affair of another?” Then our Lady Mary came and kissed the feet of the child and delivered Eulogius. As for Eulogius, when another emperor reigned he wished to kill him, and Eulogius took to flight, and having arrived in the city, he returned to his former work. And one day when they were journeying along the road by the light of the moon, he found a woman on a hill, and her hair covered her whole body, and she had dwelt there for eight and thirty years, carrying on the spiritual fight, and she told him all her secret history and died. And one day they brought the Book of the Letters of Leo and read it before all the people, and Abba Daniel leaped up and rent the book and cursed the Faith of Chalcedon; and when the soldiers heard of this they beat him severely, and drove him away from his monastery. One day he was going to visit some virgins, and he knocked at the door, and they knew that he was Abba Daniel, and they opened the door to him and welcomed him with joy; and among them was one who made herself out to be mad, and she lay by the door [and moved not]. And Abba Daniel asked about her, and the abbess said, “She is mad”; and Abba Daniel told her that she was a holy woman and a spiritual fighter. And during the night she wrote a letter, saying, “Forgive me because I made you angry”; and having said this she disappeared; and when the [other] virgins heard of this they were exceeding sorry and repented. And there was a nunnery wherein very many virgins dwelt, and its gates were strong, and Satan raised up against them certain thieves to plunder their goods. And the captain of the thieves said, “I will disguise myself as Abba Daniel, and they will open the door to me forthwith”; and he did even as he had thought. And he said unto the virgins, “I am Abba Daniel,” and when the nuns heard him they welcomed him with joy, and uncovered their faces. And as soon as one of the nuns, who was blind, washed her face in water her eyes were opened; and when the nuns saw this they said, “Blessed art thou, O Abba Daniel!” When the captain of the thieves saw this he repented, and became a monk with Abba Daniel. And Abba Daniel continued to fight strenuously, and when the time for his departure drew nigh the angel of the Lord told him, and he fell sick a little; and he prayed to Christ and died in peace. Salutation to Daniel, the head of the blessed priesthood of Dabra Sihat (monastery of Scete ?). And on this day also is commemorated the blessed woman Diyonteres (Diontyras). Salutation to Diyonteres (Diontyras). And on this day also died the holy and glorious father and fighter Abba Matewos (Matthew) of ‘Asfoni, Archimandrite of Dabra ‘Aswan. And this holy man was reared from his youth up in the fear of God, and he became a monk in a certain monastery, and he fought with fasting and with prayer. And he built himself an abode in the desert, and he worked with his hands and made good nets, and the price he received for the same he gave in alms to the poor, according to what his disciples have said about his work, and his fighting, and his miracles. Now these disciples Abba Serapion, and Abba Khadra relate as follows: One day when we were sitting outside his abode in the desert, we heard a voice like that of a man who is speaking to his friend inside the abode; and when we went inside we found no one there except our father, who was alone. And we said, “O our father, we outside heard someone talking with thee, but having come inside we find no one but thee.” And he said unto us with very great humility and exceedingly great sweetness, “O my children, I remember my sins, and I talk to myself, and remind my soul of the punishments which are not transient, and the pain of the death which shall find me. Woe be unto poor Matewos (Matthew) when they strip off the apparel which is on him, and set him before the throne of the Living God, in the midst of the ladder of the heavenly angels, and all the company of the righteous, who keep purity, which they put on as if it were a garment.” With words such as these did he exhort his children and he reminded them of the punishment of sinners and the reward of the righteous. And Saint Abuna Abba Matewos (Matthew) made his prayers, and carried on his fight, and his service in the monastery which he had built and dedicated to our father Abba Pachomius, and the monastery of Dabra Bakalt. And Satans and unclean spirits used to [try to] terrify him by day and by night, and he saw them face to face, and they would run in front of him and follow behind him everywhere, and each one of them would change his appearance, but our father was not afraid of them. And when he stretched out his hands, and made the sign of the Cross with them, at that very moment the devils would melt away and be dispersed like smoke before the wind. One day he commanded Serapion his disciple to take from the monastery to his cell a skin of water and a little bread and to wait there until the following day whilst he went on a certain business into the desert. When his disciple came to the cell and opened the door to go in he saw two wild beasts that were larger than hyenas, and very terrifying, lying in the middle of the dwelling, and being afraid he shut the door of brass. And behold our father came walking through the desert, and when he saw his disciple he laughed and he said unto him, “O Serapion, why didst thou not go into the dwelling [and wait there] until I came to thee?” And Serapion said unto him, “O my father, I found inside the dwelling two [wild beasts] lying, and I was afraid of them, and I did not go in.” And the old man who was gentle and pure in deed and soul, answered and said unto him, “Believe me, O my son, for twelve years I have lived with them, and I myself have served them, and this bread and water which I commanded thee to bring here is for them.” And when he opened the door the two wild beasts came to him, and they licked the soles of the feet of the holy man, and they treated him with the greatest friendliness and were in submission to him; and the saint poured out some water for them from the skin, and they lapped it up and went out through the door and departed into the desert. And this Abba Matewos (Matthew) continued to work miracles until the report of him was in every place. And the people used to bring unto him sick folk who were suffering from divers kinds of sicknesses, and he healed them by means of the great power of God, which was with him. Here is the First Miracle. One day they brought unto him a dumb man who was possessed of a devil, and as soon as he saw the saint, the devil cried out with a loud voice and cast the man upon the ground. And the saint prayed over some oil, and made the sign of the Holy Cross over him, in the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, One God; and straightway the man was delivered from this Satan, and his heart returned to him, and he heard the words of the saint, and he departed rejoicing. And when certain of the laity came to Abba Matewos (Matthew) and offered him a table (i.e. a meal), he sent them away in peace. And having taken a little of that “blessing” into their houses, when they laid it upon those who were sick, they were healed immediately, and they glorified God. The Second Miracle. One day they brought unto him a very beautiful maiden who was possessed of the devil, and very often she rent her garments, and no man could approach her, and her parents were in sore trouble about her. And Abba Matewos (Matthew) cried out and prayed over the oil of the lamp, and he anointed the maiden therewith in the Name of Christ, and she was healed. Third Miracle. One day they brought unto him a sinful woman who had fallen into great sin, and who was very wicked, and being with child, and the day of her delivery having arrived, her labor was hard, and she suffered tribulation by day and by night. And the saint said unto her, “My daughter, confess thy sin unto me, and lie not before God.” And she said unto him, “I was in the habit of lying with two brothers without knowing which of them was with me; and having conceived, by means of my drugs I made myself to abort the child, and I gave him to the dogs.” When the saint heard this he prayed to God, and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed her up, and she became an example to other women. This saint worked very many miracles, but if one tried to recount them he would never come to an end. One day as he was walking in the desert, a hyena tugged at his garment with her teeth, and she showed him her cub, which had fallen into a hole; and when the saint had drawn it out for her she crouched and licked the soles of his feet and departed. And when the time of his death drew nigh he saw a vision on the second day of the month of Takhshash, and it seemed that they invited him to the assembly at the feast of the Holy Fathers, Abba Anthony, and Abba Macarius, and Abba Pachomius, and Abba Theodore, and Abba Moses the Black, and Saint Abba Sinoda, and they said unto him, “Good is thy coming unto us to dwell with us in the Jerusalem of the heavens.” And they brought him to the door of the Great Hall wherein are gardens and seats, and he heard a voice, saying, “Open the door so that Matewos (Matthew) may come in.” And then he died and received three crowns. Salutation to Matewos (Matthew). Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen. Tahisas 8 (December 17)

On this day died the holy father Abba Yarokla (Hieroclis), the thirteenth Archbishop of the city of Alexandria. The parents of this holy man were deniers of Christ, but after his birth they believed and were baptized with Christian baptism; before they believed they taught their son every kind of pagan philosophy and learning, and all their books, and after they believed they taught him Christian learning, and he learned by heart the Books of the Church and of the Apostles. After this Demetrius the archbishop made him a deacon, and then he made him a priest in the church of the city of Alexandria, and he protected and cared well for his flock, and fulfilled the work and the Law of the Church. When Abba Demetrius died [the bishops] chose this father, and made him Archbishop of the city of Alexandria, and he shepherded the flock of Christ well, and made them strong in the True Faith; and he converted many pagans and brought them into the Faith of Christ, and baptized them with Christian baptism; but he committed to Saint Dionysius the work of judging between believers. And Saint Yarokla (Hieroclis) taught them, and rebuked them, and converted the heretics and guided them until he brought them back and made them to enter the True Faith. And he sat upon the throne of Saint Mark the evangelist for thirteen years, and he died in peace. Salutation to the blessed Yarokla (Hieroclis). And on this day also became martyrs the holy women Barbara and Juliana, and ‘Anba Merena (Abba Marina), the righteous man. This holy woman Barbara was the daughter of a judge, who was exceedingly great in the palace, and he lived in the days of the infidel Diocletian; he came from the country of the East and his name was Dioscurus. And Dioscurus made for his daughter a strong palace so that no one should ever see her; and he commanded [the builders] to make two windows, which would open in the bathhouse, and they did so. And when Saint Barbara saw the two windows she commanded the builders to make a third window, [and they did so] and then she made over the bath, with the water in it, the sign of the Life-giving Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. When her father came into the dwelling he saw what the builders had done, and that they had transgressed his command. And he asked them about this, and they said unto him, “Thy daughter Barbara commanded us [to do] this and we did it.” When he asked her, “Why hast thou done this?” she said unto him, “Know, O my father, that everything is completed in the Holy Trinity, and I have made three windows in the Name of the Holy Trinity. And this cross is a copy of the Cross-of our Lord Jesus Christ, wherein was the salvation of the whole world. Turn, O my father, from thy error, and worship thy God Who created thee,” When her father heard these words he was wroth, he drew his sword and ran after her, but she fled from him; and there was a rock in front of her, and that rock split and she entered into it and was protected. And after this she returned and her father took her and handed her over to the governor, who tortured her severely. And there was there a certain woman whose name was Juliana, and she was looking at Saint Barbara when she was being tortured, and she wept for her. And our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to Saint Barbara and strengthened and comforted her. And after this her father commanded his men to cut off her head, and the head of Juliana, and they cut off the heads of both of them with the sword, and the two women received crowns of martyrdom in the kingdom of the heavens; and fire came down from heaven and burnt up her father and Marcianus, the governor. And the bath which Saint Barbara had made for herself in the bathhouse, and on which was the sign of the Cross, became a means of healing unto the sick, for all those who bathed therein were healed of their diseases. Then [certain believers] took the bodies of the holy martyrs and laid them in the church outside the city which is called Galalya; and the bodies of these holy women and martyrs are this day in the church of Saints ‘Abuker and John the martyr in the city of Mesr (Cairo). Salutation to Barbara. Salutation to him that made strong her mind, namely ‘Anba Merena. And on this day also died the holy father Abba Samuel, Abbot of the monastery of Kalmon. This holy man was one of the men of the city of Dakreluba, in the country of Masil, in the north of Egypt; his parents were holy and pure, and they had no child except Samuel. His father was a priest called Silas, and he saw a vision one night. And a man with a shining face said unto him, “Needs must; and thy son shall become a true and excellent teacher of God all the days of his life.” Now this Samuel was pure from his youth up, like Samuel the Prophet, and he was always thinking in his heart about the garb of the monastic life. One day he found the opportunity and went forth from his father to go to the desert of Scete, and as he was journeying along the road, the angel of the Lord, disguised as a monk, said unto him, “Whither goest thou?” And Abba Samuel said unto him, “I want to go to the monastery of Scete.” And the angel who had appeared unto him in the form of a monk said unto him, “I am going there,” and they traveled together until they arrived in the desert of Scete. And the angel of the Lord delivered him to a certain elder monk whose name was Agathon, and who dwelt in a cave, and was a very righteous man. And the angel of the Lord told Saint Abba Agathon about Abba Samuel, and he said unto him, “Receive Samuel with joy, and array him in the garb of the monastic life; for he shall be thy son in truth, and he shall strengthen thine old age, and thou shalt teach him all the rules of the monastic life.” And when the angel had said this to Abba Agathon, he disappeared from him. And when Abba Samuel came Abba Agathon received him with great joy, and said unto him, “Good is thy coming to me, O Samuel, thou man of God, for God hath sent thee to me in mine old age.” And forthwith he took him into the church with him, and he blessed the cloak made of cloth of hair, and the girdle, and the cap, and the garment of the monk, and put them on him, saying, “The God of the holy fathers, Abba Anthony and Abba Macarius, be with thee, my son Samuel, and be a helper unto thee in all thy tribulation.” And Saint Abba Agathon taught Abba Samuel humility and silence, and he was saying always, “Forgive me, O my father, show me kindness and guide me.” And he bowed before Abba Agathon and said unto him, “Remember me, O my holy and blessed father, so that God may make me to do His Will”; and Saint Abba Samuel learned from Abba Agathon all the path of spiritual monasticism, and Saint Abba Agathon assisted him in everything. And Abba Samuel lived with the elder Abba Agathon for three years, and he did everything, which he commanded him to do. Then Abba Agathon died, and Abba Samuel continued to fast for a week at a time, and to fight a great fight. And he was appointed priest in the church of Saint Abba Macarius in Scete. After a few days they brought the volume of Letters of Leo of Chalcedon to the desert, and one read them to him. And when the elder monks heard this they were exceedingly sorry, and Abba Samuel became zealous, with a great zeal of the Holy Spirit, and he rose up among all the men and seized that unclean volume, and rent it in pieces, saying, “Cursed is every one who shall change the Faith of the holy Fathers.” And when the imperial envoy saw this he was filled with fury, and was exceedingly angry, and he commanded his men to beat the saint with rods of iron, and to hang him up by his arms, and to smite his face; and they did all these things and smote his face even as the envoy commanded. And whilst they were smiting his face one of his eyes was torn out, and then the emperor commanded them to drive him away from the monastery of Scete. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto Saint Abba Samuel and commanded him to depart and to dwell in the monastery of Kalmon; and he departed straightway and dwelt there, and he lived there a few days teaching all the men to be strong in the True Faith. And Makakaz, who was governor and Archbishop of the city of Alexandria, and of all the land of Egypt, heard the report of him, and he came to Saint Abba Samuel, and he beat him very severely and drove him out of the monastery, and the saint went and dwelt in the church in the desert of Kalmon. And in those days the pagan Barbarians came and took him away in order to send him to their own country, and he besought our Lord Jesus Christ to deliver him from them. And straightway they set him upon a camel, but that camel was unable to move at all, and then they beat him very severely; and they agreed to together to leave him, and they departed to their country. And Abba Samuel returned to Kalmon his monastery, and he lived there and devoted himself to asceticism and to the spiritual strife of the path of the monastic life. Then the Barbarians came a second time, and he was afraid of them, and he heard a voice, saying, “Fear not, O Samuel, but go into the church and hold no converse with them, and I will cause them not to see thee,” and he remained thus. Then the pagan Barbarians arrived and went into the church with their swords drawn and grasped tightly in their hands, and they had their [other] weapons of war with them; and they cried out with outcries which were exceedingly terrifying. And the saint saw them committing sacrilege in the sanctuary, and he was unable to bear the sight of their audacity in the sanctuary, and spoke unto them, saying, “What are ye doing, O ye wicked heretics who have no Lord God to redeem you, according to the evil of your deeds?” And those pagans said unto him, “Dost thou remain here [and think] we cannot see thee?” And they seized him and tied him firmly to a pillar in the church, and they beat him very severely until he was will nigh dead; and when he was about to die they released him from his bonds and he fell upon his face on the ground and lay there like a dead man. Then the pagans dragged him out, and brought him to the place where the camels were, and they beat him on his head with their sandals, and they fastened him tightly on the back of a camel, but the camel would not move although they beat it severely; and Saint Abba Samuel wept bitter tears because of his pain. And the camel turned to him and said unto him with the voice of a man who talketh, “It is well that they beat thee. It was meet for thee to die because thou didst transgress the command of the Lord thy God Who told thee to hold thy peace and to speak not.” When Saint Abba Samuel heard these words he wept bitter tears and said, “Verily I have sinned, but God is able to put away my transgression.” And then the Barbarians took him to their own country. Now they had already carried away into captivity Abba John, Abbot of the desert of Scete, and Abba John and Abba Samuel met there and they comforted each other. And the master of Abba Samuel wished to force him to worship the sun, but he would not obey his command in any way. Then he tied the leg of Abba Samuel to the leg of a maiden with Satanic intent, and sent them out into the desert to attend to the camels. Now his master thought that Saint Abba Samuel would fall into sin with her, and that he would submit to everything which he told him; and Diabolus was the counselor of this man. And in all these things strength was increased in Saint Abba Samuel, and his heart was strong, and he remained thus until his master fell ill and was nigh to die; and Abba Samuel prayed over him and healed him of his sickness. And the report of him was noised abroad in that country, and whosoever was sick came to him, and he prayed over him, and anointed him with oil, and the sick man was healed of his sickness. When Abba Samuel’s master saw this he marveled exceedingly, and bowed before him and said unto him, “Forgive me my sin which I committed against thee”; and he loved him greatly and he asked him, saying, “Tell me everything thou wishest, and I will perform it for thee.” And Abba Samuel said unto him, “I wish to go back to my own country”; and straightway the pagan made ready many gifts, and he set him on his way in peace, and he departed, and the pagan sent messengers to go with him until he arrived at his monastery. And his sons gathered together about him, and they increased in number exceedingly until they became thousands. And our holy Lady Mary, the Virgin two-fold, the God-bearer, appeared unto him, and she said unto him, “This place shall be my abode for ever”; and from that day the pagans never came to the monastery of Saint Abba Samuel. And this father composed many discourses, and he prophesied concerning the coming of the Muslims, who are the children of Hagar, and their kingdom, and the tribulation which thou would inflict upon Christian folk in all countries. When the time for his departure from this fleeting world drew nigh, he gathered together his sons and he commanded them to be strong in the fear of God, and to perform His behests, and to fight for Him and for the True Faith until the last breath. Then he fell sick of a slight sickness, and he died in peace, and inherited the kingdom of the heavens. It is said concerning him that one of his sons died, and that when Saint Abba Samuel came to him, his soul returned to him and he rose up, and he told Abba Samuel and all the brethren how he had seen the punishment of sinners, and the repose of the righteous; and that brother turned and lay down, and died in peace. Salutation to Abba Samuel of Kalmon. And on this day Saint Abba ‘Esi and his sister Thecla became martyrs. This holy man was on of the men of the city Bedir in the West, in the district of ‘Eshmunayn; and he had many goods and possessions in abundance, and estates and flocks and herds. He gave the hair of his flocks to the poor and needy, and he gave large alms to those who were in want; he feared God exceedingly, and his goods multiplied very greatly. His sister Thecla also feared God. The name of his father was Elias and the name of his mother was Mary. And they asked their son ‘Esi, saying, “O our son, we want to have thee married during our lifetime, and to rejoice in thee before our death”; but he did not wish this by any means, and he said unto them, “Pray ye for me, O my blessed father and mother. Everything else which ye command me to do I will undertake gladly, but this thing I cannot do, and do not speak to me about it.” And they left him alone and spoke no more to him about marriage, for they loved him very much. And then his father died, being eighty years of age, and in that same year Diocletian the infidel commanded that all the Christians should worship idols. And Saint Abba ‘Esi went to the city of Alexandria to buy goods, and he had in that city a friend whose name was Paul, who was grievously sick, and Abba ‘Esi remained with him until he recovered from his sickness. And in those days the Christian peoples suffered very great tribulation, and Abba ‘Esi and Paul his friend used to buy good food and provisions and take them to the saints who were in the city of Alexandria, and they used likewise to visit frequently those who were shut up in prison in great tribulation for the sake of the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and comfort them. And these men used to minister unto them like slaves, and the saints prophesied to them, saying, “Assuredly ye shall received the crown of martyrdom.” And in those days they brought Saint Victor, the son of Romanus, to the city of Alexandria. And when Abba ‘Esi and Thecla his sister saw the jealousy of him which existed, now he had rejected the royalty of this fleeting world, Abba ‘Esi drew nigh unto the governor. And confessed our Lord Jesus Christ. And the governor commanded his soldiers to torture him with severe tortures, and to beat him many times with whips. And they hacked off his limbs with hatchets, and they set lighted torches on his body, and they wound red-hot chains about his body, and they lighted a huge fire in the furnace of an oven, the flames whereof rose to a great height, and they cast Abba ‘Esi into that fire. And he prayed, saying, “Thou didst deliver the Three Children from the fiery furnace, and Daniel from the jaws of the lions, O my Lord Jesus Christ, and thy martyr Victor from the flame in the furnace of the baths, O my Lord, help me and deliver me, and send thine angel to deliver me from this torture, for Thine is the glory for ever and ever Amen.” And when he had said these words, behold Suri’el, the angel, came down from heaven, and he stood by the right hand of Abba ‘Esi the virgin, and he said unto him, “Peace be unto thee, O righteous man, Abba ‘Esi, fear not, for God is with thee, and He shall deliver thee from all thy tribulation.” And straightway the fiery furnace became like cool dew, and the angel split asunder the walls of the furnace, and he seized the hand of Saint Abba ‘Esi and brought him out there from, safe and uninjured. And straightway Saint Abba ‘Esi went to the governor and cried out, saying, “Be ashamed, O governor, thou and thy infidel emperor, and thy filthy idols.” And when the people saw Saint Abba ‘Esi alive and uninjured they marveled exceedingly and cried out with one voice, saying, “We are Christians, and we believe in the God of Abba ‘Esi,” and the soldiers cut off their heads and they received crowns of martyrdom. Then the governor commanded them to take Saint Abba ‘Esi to the prison house, and they did as the governor commanded. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto his sister Thecla, and commanded her to go to the city of Alexandria to visit her brother. And she rose up in the city of Antinoe and came to the river, and searched for a boat but could not find one, but a spirit boat appeared, and she embarked in it, and our holy Lady Mary, the two-fold Virgin, the God-bearer, was in that boat, and Elisabeth her kinswoman, and they comforted the sister of Abba ‘Esi. And Elisabeth said unto her, “I had an only son, and they cut off his head wrongfully,” and the other said unto her, “I had an only Son, and they crucified and slew Him through envy.” Now Thecla did not know who they were, and she did not think that what had appeared unto her was merely a vision. And straightway she arrived in Alexandria, and then she knew that what had appeared unto her was a vision. And she asked questions about her brother Abba ‘Esi, and they brought her to the prison, and she entered therein. And when she saw [him] she and he rejoiced with very great joy, and they agreed together to become martyrs. And when it was midnight Suri’el, the angel of the Lord, appeared unto Saint Abba ‘Esi, and took him on his shining wings by the command of God and carried him up into heaven, and showed him the city of God, Jerusalem, which is in the heavens, and all the saints went forth to meet him and to salute him. And the angel also showed him the habitation of the righteous and the martyrs, who labored for the Name of Christ, and he saw Jerusalem, the Great City, whereof the greatness, and glory, and beauty, and the appearances of its spaces the tongue of man is unable to describe. The decorations thereof are of gold and silver and precious stones; in it is a light which is brighter than the sun a million times. And the angel of God took him and showed him an exceedingly great chamber wherein were three hundred pillars of marble, and the decorations of the chamber were of gold, and silver, and precious stones. And in that chamber were one hundred guards, and they were decorated and girded with girdles of gold, and each of them was five cubits in height, and the like of them existed not in the world. And he said unto the angel, “Who [built] this great chamber? For there is no man in the world who could build a chamber like unto this.” And the angel said unto him, “O my brother, Abba ‘Esi, if all the kings of the earth were to gather together, with all their wealth, they could not buy one of the pillars which is in this chamber”, and as I looked, I marveled and I praised God. And I said unto the angel, “O my lord, unto whom doth this great, and beautiful, and glorious chamber belong?: And the angel said unto me, “All this hath been given unto Victor, the son of Romanus, the general, who rejected the sovereignty of this fleeting world, and all its delights, and who bore the cross of his death and who followed his Lord. Therefore did our Lord Jesus Christ give unto him this great and never- ending sovereignty instead of the sovereignty of this fleeting world.” And I said unto him, “My lord, I wish thee to inform me what these thrones are, and what are these trees with the beautiful fruit, and what are these shining crowns?” And the angel answered and said unto me, “All this place is the rest and joy which God hath prepared for those who celebrate the commemoration of the holy martyrs upon the earth; hearken now that I may tell thee--Whosoever shall build a church in the names of the holy martyrs, or shall bury their bodies, or make an offering of the fruits of his labor on the day of their commemoration, or light a lamp, or feed the poor, or buy a book for their church, or write a book of the fight and martyrdom, or do good deeds on the day of the commemoration according to his ability, and even if a man cannot do these things and can only give a cup of cold water he shall not lose his reward, and his reward shall be in heaven, saith our Lord in the Holy Gospel. And when the man who hath been wont to celebrate the commemoration of one of the martyrs, or one of the righteous, dieth, that martyr or that righteous man shall come before our Lord Christ, and he shall say unto Him, ‘O my Lord and God, give me this soul, for it was wont to celebrate my commemoration when upon earth’; and He will give that soul unto him straightway. And if that soul be that of a great sinner, a voice shall go forth from God, the Sustainer of the Universe, in the face of Michael, the archangel, saying, ‘God, the Sustainer of the Universe, hath commanded, saying, “Let alone this soul, cast it to the martyr that he may make intercession for it, and let it be given unto him as a gift from the Lord God.”’ And they shall do unto that soul as God commanded, and it shall be given unto the martyr or unto the righteous man, and the martyr shall take it and carry it to his abode. And He will command that that soul shall be washed and arrayed in beautiful apparel, and made to sit upon one of the thrones which ye see, and crowned with an incorruptible crown; and it shall rejoice with all the saints and live for ever.” After he had told me these things, that angel of light took me upon his wings and brought me into the prison house, and he saluted me and went up into heaven; and I marveled greatly at the great gift which God giveth unto those who fight for His holy Name. And in the morning the governor commanded his soldiers to bring him out of the prison house, and they brought him out, and his sister was with them. And he tortured them severely on the wheel, and with burnings with fire, and with iron nails, and they flayed their heads; but the Lord raised them up whole and uninjured. When the executioners were weary of torturing them, the governor handed them on to the governor of the city of Antinoe in Upper Egypt, so that he might send them away thither. When they had sailed for a period of twenty days, the boat stopped by the river bank, and the governor commanded his men to cut off the heads of the saints Abba ‘Esi and Thecla his sister. And the saints rejoiced exceedingly, and they prayed, and after they had finished their prayer the soldiers cut off their heads with a sword, and they received crowns of martyrdom in the kingdom of the heavens. And God commanded a certain priest whose name was Abba ‘Ori, from the city of Satnuf, to take their bodies, and to prepare them for burial with costly cloths and pure unguents, and to lay them in a pure place; and he hid them until the end of the persecution, and until a church could be built for them. Then they laid their bodies in it, and great signs and wonders took place through them; now the number of those who were martyred with them was four hundred and seven souls. Salutation to Abba ‘Esi and to Thecla, and to the company of people who suffered with them. And on this day also died Saint John of Damascus. This holy man was the son of Mansur, and he belonged to a great and honorable family in Damascus, and he was reared in the knowledge and fear of God. He studied and learned philosophy under his teacher Kuezma, a monk and a philosopher of Karili. When he had finished his studies Kuezma and Mansur, the father of John, agreed together, and he went to the monastery of Saint Mar Saba the martyr. When his father died he became scribe to the governor of the city, and he did not conceal from him his secret. In those days rose up Constantine, the son of Leo, the heretic and maker of war against pictures of the Godhead, and he troubled the churches. And this Saint John, although he held no office in the Church, sent letters to all the believers to strengthen them in the True Faith, and [he urged them] to bow down before holy pictures, and brought testimony from the Divine Books. And when the heretic emperor heard this he gnashed his teeth upon him, and he had a scribe brought, and he made him write a letter, copying the handwriting of John, and sent it to the governor of Damascus. And he made accusations against John, saying, “John who was with thee hath sent me this letter [urging me] to go to war with thee. and to lay waste and plunder thy city.” And having heard these words the governor believed [them], and he cut off the right hand of Saint John wherewith he used to write. And taking his hand Saint John went to the picture (or image) of our Lady, the holy Virgin Mary, and he entreated her with many tears, saying, “O my Lady, hath not this thing happened unto me through contending for the worship of thy picture? Heal thou me now by thy prayer and by thy knowledge.” And after he had slept a little our holy Lady the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, appeared unto him, and she made his hand to be as it had been formerly; and when he awoke he gave thanks to our holy Lady the Virgin Mary. And he went to the monastery of Mar Saba, and became a monk under the abbot, and the abbot handed him over to a spiritual elder to teach him the rules of the monastic life. And the elder said unto him, “O my son, do nothing with the learning which thou hast from outside, but learn to be silent”; and through the abundance of his humility John overcame his Satanic pride. And one day one of the elder monks died and he had a brother who asked John to write a funeral discourse and to weep for his brother. And John said unto him, “I am afraid of the command of the elder my teacher.” And the brother said unto him, “It will not be known to anyone.” And when the brother had made many entreaties to John, he wrote a funeral discourse for him, which made very sorrowful him that heard it. When his teacher heard of it he was wroth with John, and he drove him out of his abode, and John took refuge with the other elders. And when they had pressed the elder [to forgive John] he said unto them, “Can the latrine of the monks be purged of his doctrine?” When John heard this he did as he commanded, and that elder seeing the excellence of John received him with joy and brought him into his house. The our holy Lady, the Virgin Mary, the God-bearer, commanded the elder to forgive him. And John composed many Discourses, and these Discourses [are extant] to this day. And the Archbishop of Jerusalem made John a priest against his will, and he continued to fight for the retention of sacred pictures, and for the True Faith; and he reviled kings and governors until [he reached] a green old age. And when the time for his removal from this world arrived, he departed to Christ Whom he loved. Salutation to John of Damascus. And on this day also died Yeres Kela, and ‘Elkolonitos, and Eugenius the father of ‘Anba Merina (Abba Marina). Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen. Tahisas 9 (December 18)

On this day died Saint Abba Ba’Amin the faithful, who became a martyr although he did not shed his blood. This holy man was from the monastery of the sons of Khadhib, to the north of the province of ‘Eshmunayn, in the country of Egypt, and from the city of Tersa; he was the steward of a certain rich man, and was beloved by everybody because of his sincerity and justice. And the rich man had a wife who loved Abba Ba’Amin, and she trusted him greatly. And Saint Abba Ba’Amin pondered about the end of the world, and he left the service of that rich man, and he went to a monastery in that [place] and became a monk therein. When the rich man heard that Saint Ba’Amin had left him, and departed, he was exceedingly sorry. And taking his wife with him he went unto him, “We cannot part from thee by any means, and we will not let thee go.” And the saint said unto them, “I cannot [return], I have vowed myself to God”; and they departed from him sorrowing greatly because of their parting from him. And this holy man fought a great and a good fight, and he lived a life of strenuous devotion to God for many years with fasting, and prayer, and vigil. And this was not enough for him, for he wished to become a martyr and to pour out his blood for the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And he went to the city of Antinoe where he found many Christians suffering torture, and he confessed our Lord Jesus Christ, and they inflicted severe tortures upon him, and they scourged him, and they burnt his body with fire, and they chopped off his limbs, and threw him on the wheel, and they made iron rods red-hot and burnt his flesh with them. And under all these tortures our Lord Christ strengthened him, and raised him up whole and uninjured. And whilst he was suffering in this wise the worship of idols came to an end, for Constantine the Just became emperor, and he commanded the keepers of the prisons to set free the Christians who had been shut up in the prison houses by the infidel Diocletian for the sake of Christ’s Name. And our Lord Jesus Christ appeared unto Saint Abba Ba’Amin and commanded him to go unto all those saints who were in prison, and to make them to know that our lord Christ reckoned among the martyrs those who were called “Confessors”; and the Emperor Constantine commanded [his servants] to bring seventy-two of them. And there was there with them Abba Nob, the confessor, and they went to him. And Saint Abba Ba’Amin dwelt in a monastery which was outside the city of ‘Eshmunayn, and God give him a great gift, and he healed the sick, and the report of him was noised abroad in all countries. Now a very severe illness came upon the empress, the wife of the Emperor of Rome, and it happened because of a certain God-fearing deacon who was near her, and who used to read to her every day the Book of the Vision of John the Evangelist, that is to say, “Abukalamsis (i.e. the Apocalypse).” And one of the emperor’s stewards was jealous of him and he went to the emperor and said unto him, “Know, O my lord, that John the deacon lieth with our lady the empress, thy wife, and maketh the pretence of reading to her the Book of the Vision of John every day.” When the emperor heard this he was very sorry, and he rose up straightway and went into his palace where the empress was, and he found the deacon standing before the empress and reading the Book of the Vision of John. And the emperor commanded [his soldiers] to take the deacon and his book and to sink them both in the river; and two men saw the form of a shining man descending, and he came and snatched the deacon out of the river together with his book, and he took him and placed him on an island; and when the two men saw this they marveled exceedingly, and they went to their houses and told no one connected with the emperor what they had seen. When the empress saw what they had done to that deacon she was exceedingly sorry, and her illness increased, and the disease attacked her belly; and she continued to suffer from this disease for five and twenty years. And many physicians came to her but they were unable to heal her of her sickness. And a certain learned man counseled her, saying, “If thou wert to go to the holy men who are in the land of Egypt, then thou wouldst be healed of thy sickness and tribulation.” And straightway she rose up, and there were many soldiers with her, and she arrived in the land of Egypt, and she went about and visited many monasteries and churches, but she was not healed of her sickness. When she came to the city of Antinoe the nobles who saw her marveled exceedingly concerning her coming, and she told them everything about her sickness, and they counseled her to go to Saint Abba Ba’Amin; and she embarked in a ship for the monastery of Saint Abba Ba’Amin. And one told the saint, saying, “Behold, the empress hath come to thee, and wishes to be blessed by thee.” And he said unto him, “What have I to do with the empress of the earth and her greatness?” And the brethren besought him earnestly to go out to her, and he did so; and when the empress saw him she bowed low at his feet. And Saint Abba Bawmin prayed concerning her sickness over some oil, and he anointed her therewith, and she was healed of her sickness. And Saint Abba Ba’Amin said unto her, “Knew thou that this sickness which hath come upon thee is caused by the deacon whom the emperor drowned in the river, but he is alive at this day and dwells on this island in the river, and the Book of the Vision of John Abukalamsis is with him”; and when the empress heard these words she marveled exceedingly, and she praised God and rejoiced with very great joy because the deacon was alive. And she offered to Saint Ba’Amin much money and many gifts, but he took nothing from her except money [sufficient to buy] sacred vessels for the church, a paten, a chalice, and a cross of gold; then she returned to the city of Rome praising God. And when she met the emperor she told him all that had happened to her, and how Saint Abba Ba’Amin had told her that the deacon whom he had drowned was alive at that time; and when the emperor heard this he marveled exceedingly and sent messengers to the island, and they found the deacon alive, and the Book of the Vision of John was with him; and they returned and reported this to the emperor. And the emperor sent a messenger to him a second time to entreat him to come to him; and they brought him to the emperor; and when the emperor saw him he rejoiced with very great joy, and bowed down at his feet, and he said unto him, “Forgive me my sin which I committed against thee.” And the saint said unto him, “May God forgive both of us our sins.” And after this that deacon was appointed Archbishop of the city of Rome, and he translated the Vision of John Abukalamsis. And Saint Abba Ba’Amin fought by day and by night, ceaselessly, the spiritual fight. And there was near him a certain holy bishop who made a festival of the martyrs, with several believers, in a certain monastery; and the Arian heretics took to themselves a false bishop and led astray very many of the people, and the bishop of the city came to Saint Ba’Amin and told him of his sorrow [which was caused] by those heretics. When the festival of the martyrs arrived Abba Ba’Amin prayed and entreated God, and prostrated himself with his people that He would make the counsel of the heretics void. Then he took a palm rod in his hand, and all the monks who were with him took each his palm rod in his hand, and they went to the place where the heretics were, and drove them away, and God, the Glorious and Most High, made void their counsel, and they have not returned to this day. And Saint Ba’Amin, being an aged man, fell sick of a mortal disease. And he gathered together the brethren and commanded them, and comforted them, and told them that [the end of] his days was near, and that he was going to God, and the fathers and the brethren sorrowed because of his [approaching] separation from them, and then he delivered up his soul to God his Creator. And the brethren swathed him for burial in costly cloths and they sang psalms, and hymns, and dirges over him, as was meet. And his body was a help unto all those who came to it, or to the church, in the True Faith, and what they asked for came to them. Salutation to Abba Ba’Amin who lay on a red-hot iron bed. And this day also is the day of the deaths of Badlamo, and Yawaremya, and Zachariah the monk. Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen. Tahisas 10 (December 19)

On this day they brought the body of Saint Abba Severus, Archbishop of the city of Antioch, to Dabra Zegag, which is outside the city of Alexandria. This holy man having died in the city of Seha in the house of a certain rich man whose name was Dorotheus, a Christian and a lover of God, this man sent the body away in a ship under the charge of certain believing and trustworthy men to Debra Zegag, which is outside the city of Alexandria; and he commanded them not to travel by the chief stream of the river, and not to land on the quayside. And when they came to the stream Kartas, facing the north, having the body of the saint with them, they sailed a little towards the west, but they did not find water enough to float their ship, and the crew labored very hard to force the ship along. And they wished greatly to tow it, but were unable to do so, and they became sad and sorry, and dismayed, and their courage failed them. And God, Who loves man, and Who made the children of Israel to disappear before their enemies, and opened out a way for them in the Red Sea and made them to pass over, this same God made the body of Saint Severus to disappear from the heretic Melchites who had hated him during his lifetime; now even after his death his words cut their hearts like a sword, and made manifest His miracles. And He made the ship to sail slowly for a distance of seven stadia, until they arrived at the place where they were to disembark. Then they took up the body of the saint and brought it to Dabra Zegag and laid it in the shrine, which that rich man Dorotheus had built for it. And there was great joy throughout all the land of Egypt, and especially in the city of Alexandria, and God worked great signs and wonders through the body of the saint. And one of the teeth of the saint fell out in his chamber during his lifetime, and one of the monks of Dabra Zegag took it and wrapped it up in a silk rag, and it healed everyone who was sick. And the monks used to take it to the city of Alexandria and lay it on the sick, and they would walk. And God magnified Saint Abba Severus after his death more than during his life. Salutation to Severus whose tooth, which fell out during his life, heals those who are smitten with fever to this day. On this day also died the holy father Abba Theophanius, the sixth Archbishop of the city of Alexandria, having sat on the throne of Mark the evangelist four years and six months; and after this he died by murder. Salutation to Theophanius, and a petition for his prayers. And on this day also died the holy father Abba Nicolaus, the Archbishop, whose name being interpreted is “Conqueror of the people.” This just and holy man was one of the men of the city of Mira, and his father’s name was Epiphanius, and the name of his mother was Yona; these were rich, God-fearing folk of the city of Mira and they had no children. And they continued thus in great sorrow because they had no son, and they prayed to God with great frequency and made supplication to Him that He would give them a good son in whom they might rejoice and who would inherit their riches. And they remained without a son until they grew old and their time for begetting children had passed, and having failed to have children they fell into despair, and knowing that they were barren, and that their days had passed, and that they had become very old, they ceased to ask for a son. And from the day when they did this God the Most High took pity upon them, and gave them this holy man Nicolaus, and He made him holy, and blessed, and perfect, and He revealed with him the beginning of the working of righteousness. When he was born he rose up and stood among men for a space of two hours, and one knew by this concerning his being raised up to work righteousness. When he sucked the breast of his mother, he only sucked the right breast, and by this he showed that during all the days of his life he would only drink of the fountain of the work of the right hand. And he completed the Canon of the Apostles from his youth up, for on the day of the Eve of the Sabbath (Friday) and on the Fourth Day of the week, he never sucked his mother’s breast except at the time of the ninth hour of the day. When he was a little boy and his parents handed him over to the teacher he sat and learned far more from the Holy Ghost than he did from his teacher. And in a few days he learned all the doctrine and Law of the Holy Church, and was appointed deacon, and he added to his spiritual labors. Then he became a monk in the monastery wherein the son of this father was the brother of the abbot, and this saint fought a great fight therein, and men who were born were unable to do as he did. And because he performed many righteous deeds he was made a priest when the days [of his life] were nineteen years. And God gave him great grace and the power to work signs and wonders and to heal the sick. Who is able to declare his signs and wonders, the which he added to everywhere daily throughout his life? And since he hath departed (i.e. died), it is meet for us to mention a few of the things, which he did during his life. Now there was a very rich man in his native city, and after many days his riches came to an end, and he became so poor that he had not the wherewithal to get his daily food. And he had four daughters who had grown old and had passed the period for marriage, and besides this no man would marry them because of their poverty. And Satan caused the man to think a filthy thought, namely, that he should make a house for whoremongers, and put his four daughters in it, so that they might play the whore for hire and he and his daughters might get their food from fornication. And God revealed unto Saint Nicolaus the thought, which this man was thinking. And Saint Nicolaus rose up by night, and he took one hundred dinars in gold of his father’s money, and tied it up in a cloth, and before the morning dawned he threw [them] into the house of that man. When the man awoke from his sleep he found the gold, and he rejoiced therein with a great joy, and he gave his eldest daughter away in marriage. And the saint threw another hundred dinars of god into the man’s house, and he gave his second daughter away in marriage. And on the third occasion when the saint threw gold into his house the man woke up, and would not take the gold but went out of his house to see who it was that threw the gold to him. And having gone out he found Saint Nicolaus and he knew that it was he who had thrown the gold three times. And straightway that man bowed down at his feet, and paid him great homage, and he said unto him, “Thy reward will be great in the kingdom of the heavens, for thou hast saved me from want caused by poverty, and from falling into sin; for I have thought that I shall be able to get may third and fourth daughters married.” And then Saint Nicolaus drove out the Satans, which were many, from the man, and from the trees wherein they dwell and lead men astray. And this saint healed many sick people, and he pronounced a blessing over a little bread, and satisfied very many people therewith. And they took what was left of that bread, and they found that it was far more than it was originally. Before he was made a bishop he saw a vision wherein he himself seemed to be seated on a great throne, having with him the vestments of the honorable priesthood, and a shining man said unto him, “Put on these vestments and sit upon this throne.” And on another night he saw our Lady Mary giving unto him the vestments of the priesthood, and our Lord Jesus Christ gave him the Gospel. When the Bishop of the city of Mira died, the angel of the Lord appeared unto the Archbishop of the city of Rome, and spoke to him about Saint Nicolaus, and told him his name, and described what manner of man his was. When the archbishop woke up he told the bishops what he had seen, and they all believed that vision, and knew that it was from the Lord Jesus Christ. And he took Saint Nicolaus and made him Bishop of the city of Mira. After a few days Diocletian the infidel and idolater began to reign, and he arrested many believing men. When he heard the report of this saint, he seized him and tortured him severely for many years; and our Lord Christ strengthen him, and enable him to endure, and He protected him against the torture, and raised him up sound and unharmed. When Diocletian was tired of torturing him he cast him into the prison house, and God gave him strength and protected him so that he might become a mighty branch of the tree of the Faith. And he remained in prison until God destroyed Diocletian and made Constantine the Just to reign. And Constantine brought out all the confessors from the prison houses, and with them was Saint Nicolaus, and he returned to his country in peace. And he continued to teach the True Faith to all the people, and he urged them to be strong, until the assembling of the General Council of the Three Hundred and Eighteen Bishops in the city of Nicea; and this father was one of them, and he rebuked Arius and cast him out. And having finished his fight and guarded his flock Saint Nicolaus departed to God, having sat on his Episcopal throne for more than forty years; and all the days of his life were eighty years. Salutation to Saint Nicolaus. And on this day Talases and ‘Al’Azar (Lazarus) became martyrs. This Talases was a man of Babylon, of the province of Nineveh. And Sapor, the King of Persia, said unto him, “Worship fire and sacrifice to idols.” And Talases said, “I worship the Lord my God, and to Him I offer up sacrifice.” And Sapor commanded his soldiers to bring all the instruments of torture in order to frighten Talases, and when he was not afraid of his terror Sapor commanded them to beat him with one hundred strips, and for a long time, and he said unto him, “Offer sacrifice, Taslas, so that thou mayest have rest from the torture”; and Taslas said unto him, “I do not know (i.e. feel) thy torturing, for my God delivers me [from it].” And Sapor commanded them to beat him with another hundred stripes, and they fixed bandages over his eyes and they beat him with seventy stripes--until he made no answer, and then they cut off his head with the sword. Then they brought out ‘Al’Azar (Lazarus), and Sapor, King of Persia, said unto him, “Sacrifice to the gods”; and when he refused to worship and to offer sacrifice to the gods, they cast him into the fire forthwith. Thus they finished their martyrdom nobly. Salutation to Taslas (sic) and to ‘Al’Azar (Lazarus). And on this day also died Saint Surset. This holy woman was daughter of one of the nobles of Constantinia, and they betrothed her to the son of a nobleman. When she heard this she said unto her father, “Permit me first to go and worship in the sanctuary, the place of my conversion; God’s Will be done!” And her father said unto her, “Go first to thy bridal bed, and when thy marriage is consummated go with him (i.e. thy husband) and fulfill thy vows.” And she said unto him, “I made a covenant with God that I would pray in that holy place as long as I was a virgin, and if I falsify my words a punishment from God will come upon me.” When her father heard this he sent her away with guards, and handmaidens to minister to her, and he gave her the sum of three hundred dinars in gold to give away in alms. When she arrived there she went round to all the holy places, and when she came to the monastery of the Egyptians she found an elder monk dressed in sackcloth, and she told him everything, which was in her heart; and he said unto her, “God’s Will be done!” And when her attendants were ready to go, she went into a secret place and wrote a letter to her father, saying, “I have offered myself to God. Seek me not for thou wilt not find me.” And she tied up the letter with her clothes, and placed it with her baggage, and she made her attendants think that she was going with them. And whilst they were going on in front bearing her baggage, she said to a slave, “I wish to pray in the shrine of Golgotha before our departure.” And he said unto her, “[The others] have gone on before us, how canst thou travel alone?” And she said unto him, “What hath it to do with thee? I will go by myself and come back.” Then she took her handmaid and went into the shrine of Golgotha, and she said unto her slave, “Wait here for me a little”; and then she went away by herself. And she came to that elder monk, and when he saw her he rejoiced, and she cast herself down at his feet, and she gave him the three hundred dinars for the poor, and she asked him to make her a nun. Then he rose up and prayed, and he arrayed her in the garb of the nun, that is to say sackcloth, and he prayed over her, and he helped her to follow the way of God. And she entered [her] cell when she was eighteen years of age, and she dwelt therein for seven and twenty years, without seeing the face of a man. Now it happened that there was a certain monk, whose name was Silas, who was a fighter, from the country of Caesarea, who had a friend who was a pilgrim and a man of the desert, and he lived in the caves of Kalmon. And at each festival Silas used to visit him, taking a little food [with him], and he was blessed by him. And when Easter came Silas took a few loaves of bread, and went to seek his friend according to his custom, and he could not find him. And when he was tired of searching for him, and was wandering about over the mountains and hills, he found the footprint of a man, and he followed the footprints and found a small cave, and he said, “Bless me, O saint!” And there was none who answered. And he went inside the cave and found a monk fasting, and each bowed to the other and asked for his prayer. And the monk of the cave said unto him, “It is meet that thou shouldst pray for me, for thou art a priest.” When Silas heard this he was astonished [and he wondered] how the man knew his secret. And he meditated in his heart, saying, “Is it a woman or a eunuch?” Then she revealed unto him all her story, and he brought her food, but she would not eat, and she died, and he buried her in her cell. Salutation to the lady Surset. And on this day also died Abba Tewashi. This holy man was a eunuch from his youth, and he became a monk in a certain monastery and he fought the spiritual fight therein for many days. One day as he was going to Alexandria he found a woman weeping, and when he asked her [why she was weeping] she said unto him, “I am a Jewess and I wish to become a Christian.” And he took her with him, wishing to do good to himself, and not to receive punishment from God, and he baptized her with Christian baptism. And he began to go about with her in the bazaars and received alms, and the men of Alexandria were scandalized, for they thought that she was his wife. And they seized him and brought him before Abba John, the merciful, and they said unto him, “Behold here is a man who is disgracing the monks. Order [thy servants] to beat them and to separate them, and let the monk be put in fetters.” And Abba John dreamed a dream, and he saw in his dream that monk who was showing him his lacerated back, and the monk said unto him, “Why dost thou lacerate my back without any offence on my part?” When Abba John awoke he commanded them to bring the monk to him, [and they did so], and he commanded them to strip off his tunic so that they might see his back, and by the Will of God his raiment dropped down and he found that he was a eunuch. And Abba John wept and removed from their offices those men who had brought him and beaten him, and he prohibited them the Eucharist for three years. And he wished to give the eunuch one hundred dinars, but he would not accept them from him; and Abba Tewashi departed to his monastery and died fighting strenuously as it were to-day. And on this day also are commemorated the deaths of Milases and Tawfya. Salutation to Paul who lived in the desert and despised earthly riches. [This and the preceding paragraph are wanting in the Bodleian MS.] Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen. Tahisas 11 (December 20)

On this day died the holy father Abba Bakimos. This holy man was a man of the city of Fas, in the province of Masil, in the north of Egypt; and when his days were twelve years he guarded and shepherded his father’s sheep. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in the form of a young man, and said unto him, “Wilt thou come and go with me, and become a monk?” And he said, “Yea”; and the two agreed together, and they rose up and went to the desert of Scete. And they found three elder monks [there], and Abba Bakimos dwelt with them for four and twenty years, when the elder monks died. And after this Abba Bakimos went a long journey into the desert, a distance of three days. And Satan appeared unto him in the forms of wild beasts, and pigs, and serpents, and they opened their mouths to seize him, and they surrounded him, and he knew by the Holy Spirit their intent; and he blew out breaths at them in the might of God, and they were scattered. Then again he found a valley and he lived in it for three years fasting a week at a time, and at the end of the week he would fill his hand with dates from that valley and eat them, and drink a little water. And he prayed two thousand four hundred prayers during the night and two thousand during the day; and his prayer was “Our Father, Who art in heaven.” And for a period of four and twenty years he fasted forty days at a time, and at the end of the forty days he would eat. On one occasion he fasted eighty days, and at length his skin became stretched tightly over his bones; and straightway the angel of the Lord brought him bread to eat, and water to drink. And he lived for many years, and that bread and that water did not come to an end until he died. And the angel of the Lord God appeared in a vision of the night to Saint Abba Bakimos, and commanded him to return to his city. And he rose up and departed and came to the outskirts of his city, and he built himself a small cell there, and he dwelt therein alone; and he was a refuge and a harbor unto everyone who came to him, and the good hope of all men. And they dwelt there and were comforted by him and his doctrine, and they emulated his service, and his righteousness, and his spiritual fightings. And one day the angel of the Lord lifted him up and brought him to the land of the Euphrates (?), for the people had transgressed and had gone out of the way of righteousness, and he converted them all to the True Faith, and returned to his cell. And one day as he was going through the city carrying some baskets to sell in order to obtain food, the weariness of the road overcame him, and he set down the baskets and sat down himself to rest a little; and the power of the Lord lifted up him and his baskets and carried them where he wished to be. And at that time Abba Sinoda saw an exceedingly high pillar made of pearl-stone, and he was astonished, and said, “What is this great pillar?” And the angle of the Lord appeared unto Abba Sinoda and said unto him, “This is Abba Bakimos.” And straightway Abba Sinoda rose up, and walked on his feet until he came to the city of Abba Bakimos--now up to that time he had never seen him--and when the two men met they embraced each other. And Abba Bakimos wished to cook a little [food] for the morning, and he said to Abba Sinoda, “Take this pot and go, and draw water, and fill it, and bring it to me.” And straightway Abba Sinoda rose up, and lifted the pot upon his shoulder, and he drew water, and filled it, and brought it to him, and he found the food boiling and cooked. Then he knew that the man was Abba Bakimos, and he saluted him a second time, and embraced him, and then he told Abba Bakimos that he had seen a vision concerning him; and he abode with him for a few days. One day when the two of them were walking together, they found the head of a dead man, and Abba Sinoda tapped it with his staff, saying, “Rise up, O dead man, that thou mayest tell me and make me to know what thou hast seen.” And God commanded the soul of the dead man, and the soul returned to the skull, and became a body, and the man rose up from the dead. And the dead man did homage to them and told them everything about Sheol, and about those who are punished therein, each in their degree, and he told them about himself and that he was a pagan. And he said unto them, “Below with us there are some men who were Christians and who believed in the Name of Christ, but who did not perform His commandments, and who walked in the ways of the Gentiles, and who dwelt in the uncleanness of the pagans.” And the saint said unto him, “Lie down now and sleep”; and the dead man turned and lay down as he was at first. Then Abba Sinoda embraced the blessed Abba Bakimos, and they returned to his mountain. And when the time of the departure of Saint Abba Bakimos drew nigh, and he was about to leave this world, he called his ministrant who was with him, and informed him about the time of his death; and he commanded him to bury his body in the place wherein he then was. And he became a little sick with the sickness of fever, and he saw the companies of the saints coming to him, and straightway he delivered up his soul into the hand of God; and the angels took it, and they sang as they went before it until they brought it to the Jerusalem, which is in the heavens. And all the days of the life of Abba Bakimos were seventy years; twelve years he lived in the world, and eight and fifty years he passed in the strenuous spiritual fight of the ascetic life. Salutation to Bakimos. And on this day also is commemorated Saint Bartholomew the bishop, and Batlan the martyr. Salutation to our father Bartholomew. Salutation to thy birth, O Theodore of the joyful face, who was like a good fruit springing from a good tree. [This paragraph is wanting in the Bodleian MS.] Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen. Tahisas 12 (December 21)

On this day is celebrated the festival of the glorious angel, Michael the Archangel. On this day God sent him to the city of Babylon, and he was the fourth person with the Three Children, Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, in the fiery furnace, when Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, threw them into it. And the flames rose up to a height of nine and forty cubits and consumed those who attended to the fire. And Michael beat out the fire with his staff, and extinguished it round about the Three Children and delivered them, and [the fire] did not touch them. And he made the inside of the furnace to be as cool as the dew at the dawn of day, and in it they praised God, saying, “Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers! Praised and exalted is He for ever.” And Michael prophesied seven times that after seven hundred years Christ should be born; and after this the Three Children praised God, saying, “Let every servant of God praise God.” And he prophesied seven and thirty times that Christ should live upon the earth three and thirty years, and for this reason our Fathers the Apostles ordained that people should celebrate the festival of Michael the Archangel. Salutation to Michael. And on this day also died Abba Samuel of Waldebba. Then name of the father of this holy man was Stephen, and the name of his mother was ‘Ammata Maryam; they were people of good family and they took this holy man to the country of ‘Aksum, and when he grew up they taught him the Books of the Church. Then when his father and mother died he went to Dabra Bankol, to Abba Madhanina Egzi’e, and he put on the garb of the monastic life, and he dwelt there and fought the fight with fasting and with prayer. He ate nothing except withered and decayed herbs, and his drink was water, and he became the servant of the monks, in the grinding of corn, and the drawing of water. And as he found it irksome when his kinfolk came to visit him, he departed to another place. And he devoted himself to fasting, and to standing up, and to prostrating himself so strenuously that at length he crushed his feet (i.e. became flat-footed). Thence he departed to the desert, and he ate no food whatsoever for forty days and forty nights. And the lions, and the leopards, and all kinds of terrifying wild beasts came to him, and bowed down before him, and licked the dust at his feet. One day as he was going along the road he arrived at a valley (or river), which was full of water. Now he had with him a book and some fire, and making a prayer he entered the water, and although it engulfed him and the current dragged him down, yet by the power of God having forced himself across to the opposite bank, he found that the fire was not extinguished, and the book uninjured. And Satan used to try him with phantoms of every kind of wild beast, but he was not frightened because his mind was bound up with confidence in his God. And as Abba Samuel was praying our Lord Jesus Christ came to him, and sealed his whole body and each limb thereof with His spittle, and he became filled with power. And from that day he bound his feet with fetters, and wore sackcloth. And he thrust all his limbs into water, and he recited the Psalms of David five times [each day], and he scourged his back with strips innumerable. And the lions used to peer into his cave like sheep, and of some he used to stroke their bodies, and of others he used to dress their wounds, and pluck out the thorns from [their paws]. And then many disciples attached themselves to him, and of these the first was Abba Zarufael. One day Abba Samuel met Abba Gabra Maskal, of Dabra Laggaso, (now they had never seen each other before,) and they passed the day in describing the great works of God. And at the time for supper, when they were making their prayers, a table came down to them from heaven, and they ate and gave thanks to God. Then one day he met a certain monk from the desert, and when they began to talk about the Mysteries which God had made for them, Abuna Samuel said, “Behold, for twelve years I have been standing in the heights and censing the throne of God with the Four and Twenty Priests of Heaven.” And when he went in and was consecrating the Offering, there came down to him bread and a chalice from heaven; and when he was reading the Praises of our Lady Maryam, he was lifted up off the ground to the height of a cubit, and our Holy Lady, the Virgin Maryam, came and gave him a precious stone which shot out light from it, and some pure incense. And when the time of his departure drew nigh Michael the Archangel came unto him, and he caught him up on his wings and showed him all the delights of the heavenly Jerusalem. And he brought him before the throne of God, and Abba Samuel received from him the promise concerning the man who should invoke his name or celebrate his commemoration. And when he returned to his bed he told his disciples everything, which he had seen, and then he died in peace. Salutation to Abba Samuel. Salutation to the gathering together in one place of the Sixty Bishops who were against Benates (or Betnas). And on this day also are commemorated Abba Khadre (Hydra) of Dabra ‘Aswan, and Saint John the Confessor. Salutation to Khadre. And on this day also took place the assembling of the General Council of the Holy Bishops, and priests, and deacons in the city of Rome in the first year of the reign of Decius, the infidel, when Cornelius held the office of Archbishop of the city of Rome, and Dionysius was Archbishop of Alexandria, and Bandeyos (Flavianus) was Archbishop of Antioch, and Germanus was Archbishop of Jerusalem. And this Council was assembled because of Benates (or Betnas, Novatus), a priest of Sehet (Scete) who said, “He Who denies Christ in the time of persecution shall not be accepted when he repents; and he who hath fallen into fornication shall not be accepted when he repents.” And Cornelius rebuked him for this, once, and a second time, and a third time, but he would not accept the rebuke. And there gathered together against him sixty bishops, and eighteen learned priests, and scribes, and forty learned deacons of the city of Rome, and they disputed with Benates (Novatus?) concerning this matter. And the pretext which he put forward for his views were the words of Paul the Apostle in his Epistle to the Hebrews (vi, 4-6), “If they have received the light, and have tasted heavenly grace, and have received the grace of the Holy Spirit, and if they have fallen into sin they cannot be renewed by repentance a second time.” And the Fathers replied to him, and explained the matter to him, saying, “Paul the Apostle doth not say this concerning the man who repented, but concerning the man who is baptized with Christian baptism each time he falls into sin. And concerning such a man the apostle goes on to say, ‘Shall their head, the Son of God, be crucified a second time, and put to shame by them?’ The apostle makes known that the Cross could only be [found] once, but that repentance can be found at all times. And if a men hath fallen through denying Christ, or through sin, is he not to be accepted through repentance? --As thou sayest, was not the repentance of David accepted? And was not the repentance of Peter, who denied our Lord Jesus Christ, accepted? And did not God give him the grace of the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete? And did He not set him over His rational flock? And shall everyone who hath been baptized by his hand be not baptized again, but, according to what thou sayest, perish? This is great folly. Our Lord Jesus Christ hath placed repentance so that it may be found by everyone who hath denied the Faith, or who hath fallen into sin. Depart from this unclean opinion, O Benates (Novatus?), and repent of it, and be not the enemy of God and of thyself, and the enemy of all mankind.” But he would not turn from his evil opinion, and he would not accept the words of the whole Council of holy Bishops; and the bishops anathematized and excommunicated all those who believed in his words. Salutation to Anicetus and his company who finished their martyrdom by fire. And on this day also Saint Anicetus became a martyr in the days of Diocletian, the infidel emperor. When this martyr Anicetus saw the tortures, which the emperor inflicted on the believers in order to terrify them, he rose up from among them with a bold heart, and reviled the emperor. When the emperor heard him, he commanded his soldiers to bind him with fetters, and to keep him under guard in the theatre, and to let loose a fierce lion upon him; and when the lion came up to him he stretched out his right hand, and the lion licked the face and cheeks of Saint Anicetus. When Diocletian saw this he commanded them to cut off his head with the sword, but when the executioner had drawn his sword, he trembled and was unable to wield it. And they threw Anicetus on to the wheel under which was spread out a layer of red-hot coals, and they placed him under the wheel so that his soul might be broken quickly; but God delivered him from these tortures uninjured. And then they threw him into a cauldron in which lead was boiling, and whilst the people were looking on, the angel of the Lord came and plucked him out of the cauldron, and set him before Diocletian. And when Photinus saw this miracle, he rose up naked and embraced his brother Anicetus, and he cursed the tyrant, saying, “O disgraceful one, how wilt thou conquer my brother?” When Diocletian heard this he commanded his soldiers to put collars of iron on their necks, and fetters on their feet and to carry them off to the prison house. Then he commanded them to bring them out and to scrape their bodies with iron combs until their flesh was torn into strips. And he also commanded them to take them into the theatre and stone them with stones, but the saints remained uninjured, and they also beat their sides and backs with whips, and threw salt on their wounds; and they also cast them into the furnace of the baths which had been heated for three days, but it was to them like unto cool dew, and when they opened the bath chamber they found them in converse concerning the great things of God. When the tyrant saw this he was exceedingly wroth, and he commanded them to heat a furnace until the flames came out of the top of it, and therein they cast the righteous martyrs. And standing up in the furnace they prayed for a long time, and they made the sign of the Cross over their faces in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, One God, and they delivered up their souls into the hand of God. And their bodies lay upon the burning coals from the second until the seventh (or sixth) hour of the day, but they were unharmed, and the hair of their heads was not singed. When it was night certain believing men took the bodies and swathed them for burial in a manner befitting their honorable rank, and they buried them in a beautiful tomb, and signs and wonders appeared through them. Salutation to Anicetus and Photinus. And on this day also are commemorated ‘Eusis (Ausis) the martyr, and Abba Antonius, and John the Confessor and teacher from Rome. Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen. Tahisas 13 (December 22)

On this day Saint Basofreyos (Parsnuphis) became a martyr in the days of the Muslims. This blessed man became a monk in the church of Gabriel the Archangel, in the city of Mesr (Cairo), on the banks of the river [Nile], and he fought a great fight therein, and he disputed with the Muslim Shekhs concerning the True Faith, and he made manifest to them the Godhead of our Lord Christ. And because of this the Muslims were wroth with him, and they tortured him severely, and cut off his head with the sword, and he received the crown of martyrdom in the kingdom of the heavens. Salutation to Befsufyos. And on this day also died Saint Abracius. This saint was a man of Upper Egypt, and he put on the garb of the monastic life when he was twenty years of age, and he fought a great and a good fight. And when Satan grew tired of setting himself in opposition to him [secretly], and of being overcome when he fought him, being unable to effect anything against him, he came to him openly, face to face, and said unto him, “There are left unto thee of thy days fifty more years,” wishing by these words to cast the saint into despair. And the holy elder answered and said unto him, “Thou hast made me sorrowful; I was thinking that I had another hundred years to live, and therefore I was weary. But if it be truly as thou sayest, it behooves me to fight before I die.” And then he fought strenuously and increased the strictness of his ascetic life, but he died that same year and departed to God; and he ended, the seventieth year of his life still fighting. Salutation to Abracius. And on this day also Saint Hannah conceived our holy Lady the Virgin Maryam, the God- bearer. Salutation O blessed Hannah to thy conception! And on this day also died the holy father Michael, the desert monk, of Dabra Kalmon. Salutation to Michael, the desert monk and priest. And on this day also is commemorated Abba Makari (Macarius), who fed upon partridges. This father Makari (Macarius) sought from his youth to follow the Living God, and he learned the Books of the Church, and he knew that this fleeting world would come to an end, and that there was a reward for the just and a punishment for sinners. Therefore he forsook the world and became a monk in a monastery. Thence he went forth into the desert, a journey of ten days, and he came to a monastery about which there was nothing except roots and partridges; and water in abundance was there. And straightway he pondered and said, “If I go out into the fields after the partridges my labor and my prayers would be in vain, for I have, since I am alone by myself, no one to come to my help. And as for him who saith, ‘Thou shalt not eat flesh,’ is it not the flesh of thy neighbor [to which he refers] in derision? And God knows that I have nothing else to eat except these [partridges and roots].” And from that day he began to net the partridges, and each day he netted one and cooked it with herbs, and thus fed himself with what God had given him, and he drank of the water there and gave thanks; and he prayed, and made supplication to God, and kept vigil all the night. And he continued to do this for many years, and he never heard the voice of a man, and he never saw the face of a man, and he never spoke to a man, and he neither reviled nor abused anyone; and he used to say, “Satan only makes his appearance with man.” And after this a certain monk from Constantinople came to the place where Saint Makari (Macarius) was living, seeking [in] the desert [for him]. And when he was Abba Makari (Macarius) netting the birds he could not contain himself, but he made haste to slay his brother with calumny. And the [monk from] Constantinople came to the archbishop, and he went in to tell him everything which he had seen, [saying], “I went into the desert to look for the caves [of the monks], and there I saw a monk living by himself and netting birds so that he might eat flesh, and so disgrace us when the people saw what he was doing.” When the archbishop heard these words he sent away that monk with a messenger so that he might know all that had happened, and find out if what the monk who had gone to him had told him was true. And before the two men had arrived, and whilst they were still on the road, Abba Makari (Macarius) went to net partridges according to his wont, and he netted three birds in one net. And he thought, saying, “Hath God given me these [three] birds to try me? Hath not my belly been satisfied (or filled) up to this day? [They must be] for others, but I have never seen any man in this desert.” Whilst he was thus thinking the two monks who had been sent by the archbishop arrived, and when he saw them, he rejoiced, saying, “I thank Thee, O God Who hast given me food for Thy servants, Thou knowing well my poverty.” And they nodded to him as he brought the table towards them, and he said unto them, “Take, O my brethren, and sit down.” And he seized his vessel and ate silently and without a word until he had finished, according to his wont, and he finished without a word. And the two monks refused to eat, and they said unto him, “We do not eat flesh for we are monks, and there is laid upon us the prohibition to eat flesh.” And Abba Makari (Macarius) left them and did not force them, and he took the birds which he had cooked and blew upon them three times, and they flew up into the air and went back to their nests as if they had never been netted. When the two monks saw this miracle they bowed down before him and said unto him, “Forgive us, O holy one of God; we have sinned and gone astray concerning thee.” And he said unto them, “It is God Who shall forgive you your sins, for I am sinner”; and when they saw this they marveled and went back to their country and related all the miracles of the saint, which they had seen. And the archbishop heard this, and, wondering, he went to the emperor and said unto him, “Behold, a righteous monk hath been found in our days, come, let us go to him so that we may receive his blessing.” And the emperor rose up with his soldiers, and with him were the archbishop, and bishops, and priests, and deacons, and when he came nigh unto him, an angel took the saint and lifted him up to carry him to the Country of the Living; and when the emperor saw him going up he said unto him, “Bless us, O saint of God, and speak one word unto us.” And the saint said unto them, ”Let your tongues fast from the words of calumny. If a priest doth not learn from books, overmuch pride and boasting will not come upon him; and if a monk doth not learn too much, arrogance will not come to him. Love ye one another, and God be with you all.” And thus saying he ascended before them. Salutation to Makari (Macarius). And on this day also are commemorated Abranicus the martyr, and Horasafon, and Cornelius the governor, and Warktepos (or Wartepala), and ‘Arfra (or Fefra). Salutation to Rufa’el, the healer-angel. [This salutation is wanting in the Bodleian MS.] Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen. Tahisas 14 (December 23)

On this day Saint Simon, who was from the city of Upper Manuf, in the north of Egypt, became a martyr in the days of the Muslims. This holy man used to dispute with a certain Muslim Shekh, and he overcame him in argument. And that Shekh went and laid information against him before the Chief Shekh, and he said unto him, “This man hath cursed the Muslim Faith.” And the Muslims seized Simon and tortured him severely, and then they cut off his head with the sword and he received the crown of martyrdom in the kingdom of the heavens. Salutation to Simon. And on this day also Saint Abba Behur and Abba Minas, the elder, became martyrs. And on this day also Saint Marhamnam, and his sister Sara, and his twelve slaves became martyrs. The father of this saint was the King of Athor (Assyria), and he worshipped graven images, the names of which were Bel and Babel (sic); and his mother was a Christian. And this Saint Marhamnam asked his father for permission to go out into the desert and hunt wild beasts, and his father having given him permission he [made ready to] set out with his forty slaves, and mounted on horses, and he came to his mother [before he departed] and said unto her, “I am going to hunt wild beasts”; and his mother said, “May the Lord God of heaven and earth bless thee.” And as he journeyed along he came to Mount Maklub, and he sojourned there. And during the night the angel of the Lord called to him and said unto him, “Marhamnam, Marhamnam, rise up and ascend this mountain, and thou shalt see a man whose name is Matthew, and he hall speak unto thee the word of life.” And on the following day, when he had gone up into the mountain, he found Abba Matthew who was dressed in a hairy skin like a sheep; and when Marhamnam saw him he was afraid. And Saint Matthew said unto him, “Draw nigh unto me, O my son, for I am a man like thyself and the property of God.” And Marhamnam said unto him, “My father, is there any other god besides the gods?” And Abba Matthew taught him the whole of the Faith of God, down to the Birth of Christ, and His Death, and His Resurrection, and the reward of the righteous and recompense of sinners. And Marhamnam said unto him, “O my father, my sister is a leper from the crown of her head to the sole of her foot, and if thou canst heal her in the Name of thy God I will believe in Him.” And Abba Matthew said unto him, “Come, get thee down and I will heal her.” And Saint Marhamnam in going down from the mountain left Abba Matthew on the road, and when he came to his mother he told her everything; then he took his sister and carried her to Abba Matthew. And when the saint saw them [coming] he made a long prayer to God, and smote the earth and made a mark in the form of the Cross-upon it whereupon a spring of water bubbled up, abundant as a river. And he made the brother and sister to go down into the water, and he laid his hand on their heads, and baptized them in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, and their forty men who were with him; and he administered to them the Holy Mysteries, and straightway his sister was healed of her leprosy. And he admonished them and strengthened them in the Faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, and showed them how that He had accepted for their sakes all the pain and the buffeting which should have come to them, and found them, and dismissed them in peace. And when Saint Marhamnam arrived home he went to his mother, but he neither went to his father, nor to the house of the gods. When the king heard this he was wroth, and he commanded [his soldiers] to beat him, and Saint Marhamnam departed with his sister, and his soldiers, and went up into the mountain, the name of which is “Kasr” and sat down there. When his father heard this he sent his chamberlain to them with glorious apparel, and the royal crowns, and [commanded them] to say unto his son, “Take my kingdom.” When Saint Marhamnam saw them he was furious with them, and he said unto them, “I am seeking the kingdom of my Lord Jesus Christ which neither grows old nor perishes.” When his father heard this he was very wroth, and he commanded his soldiers to slay his son’s slaves first of all so that he might frighten his son, and make him come back to him; and if he was not afraid, and did not come back, they were to kill him and his sister. When Saint Marhamnam heard this he prayed and entreated God to give him all his desire; and a voice came, saying, “I have heard thy prayer and I have given thee thy heart’s desire.” And straightway the officer cut off the heads of the saints with the sword, and cast them into a pit. And they brought much wood so that they might burn the bodies of the saints with fire, but they could not find them because God had hidden them. And when the soldiers saw that the sun became dark, and the earth quaked, they were afraid and fled. And Satan entered into the heart of Sanakrem, the King of Athor (Assyria), and he cried out like the swine. When the mother of Saint Marhamnam heard that her husband was mad, she sent for Abba Matthew, and made him come, and she told him about the king. And when Abba Matthew had prayed over some oil and anointed him therewith, Satan went out of him in the form of a pig. And the king believed in the Faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, and Abba Matthew baptized him, and his wife, and all the men of his royal city. And he commanded his people to build a church in the name of our holy Lady, the Virgin Maryam, the God-bearer, and to distribute money in alms among the poor and needy, and they did as he commanded. Then the mother of Saint Marhamnam made forty coffins of costly stone, and she collected the bones of those forty soldier-martyrs, and put each [group of bones to its coffin]. And she also made two coffins of crystal for her children, and she put [their bodies] in them, and laid the coffins in the church, which she had built. And through their bodies innumerable signs and miracles took place. Salutation to Marhamnam who traversed the desert in search of the Faith of Christ. Salutation to the Forty Soldiers who suffered with Marhamnam, and to Sara his sister. Salutation to the Seventeen Thousand men of Marhamnam who fought the fight. And on this day also are commemorated the one hundred and ninety thousand martyrs who were soldiers of the King of Athor (Assyria), the father of Saint Marhamnam. And after Senakrem, the King of Athor (Assyria), whom Abba Matthew baptized, there reigned another king who knew not God. And whilst he was in the country of the Chaldeans he heard that the King of Athor (Assyria) was dead, and that his son reigned in his stead, and that his son was not able to rule the kingdom, and that he had stewards (or administrators), who had lived in his father’s days, and that they ruled his kingdom, and that his mother ruled instead of him, and that the stewards held her in subjection. Therefore he gathered together his soldiers and departed to rule over the country of Athor (Assyria). And when the men of the kingdom [of Athor (Assyria)] heard that there had come to reign over them a king who worshipped idols, they gathered together their soldiers and went out to fight [them]. And the servants of the house of Senakrem, and the servants of Marhamnam who guarded his grave, went out by themselves to fight, and when they fought the King of the Chaldeans conquered them and they fled before him. And the Chaldeans captured the city, and seized the young king and killed him, and his mother also. Than all the men of the kingdom submitted to him, and he reigned over them. And after a few days he gathered together all the men of the country of Athor (Assyria), and he questioned them concerning their Faith, and they said unto him, “We are Christians.” And he commanded them to worship idols, and all the people abandoned their Faith and worshipped idols. And the servants of Saint Marhamnam and the servants of his father came, and they said boldly, “We are Christians, and the servants of Christians, and guardians of the tomb of Saint Marhamnam, a work which hath been committed to us, and we will not deny the Faith which our Lord taught us.” And the king was wroth, and he commanded his soldiers to slay them all with the sword, and they slew them, and they were in number one hundred and seventy thousand, and were called the “Companions of Marhamnam”. And on this day also died Abba Gabra Krestos, the sixty-sixth Archbishop of Alexandria. In his days very many signs and wonders [took place]. And behold, he heard concerning a certain church which was built in the name of our holy Lady the Virgin Maryam, in the country of ‘Andal, and that there was a withered olive tree beyond the doors thereof. And it was said that on the day of the festival of our holy Lady the Virgin Maryam, this tree used to put forth leaves, and bear fruit, and that when the festival was ended the tree returned to its former withered state. And because of this Abba Gabra Krestos the archbishop lifted up his eyes to God, and prayed to Him to explain this miracle to him. And that night the angel of the Lord caught him up and brought him to that church, and he saw that withered tree, and after it had put forth leaves and borne fruit it returned to its former state forthwith; and he told the people what had taken place and they doubted it. And after a few days came the governor of Andalusia, a man whose name was John, and the holy father, the archbishop Abba Krestos, asked him before all the priest and people, saying, “Is it true according to what I have heard, that there is a withered olive tree by the doors of the church of our holy Lady, the Virgin Maryam, this tree puts forth leaves and bears fruit?” And the governor listened and said unto him, “It is true, my father, for I have been there on the day of the festival of our holy Lady the Virgin Maryam, and I have seen its withered state with mine own eyes. And as soon as the sun rose on the day of the festival of our Lady Mary that tree burst into leaf, and blossomed, and bore fruit, and the olives which it produced up to midday were so many that they could not be counted. And straightway the steward of the church went out and took of the fruit, and made olive oil there from, and filled the lamps of the church therewith. And the people prayed and finished the office of the Eucharist, and partook of the Holy Mysteries and departed to their districts. And after this the steward of the church and the priests went out and gathered all the fruit on the tree, and afterwards the people took some of the fruit as a ‘blessing’. And the steward and the priests made the olives into oil, and there was sufficient to supply the lamps of the church and for their own consumption until the end of the year. And that same day the tree withered and its leaves dropped off.” And when the people heard this they marveled at the miracle exceedingly, and they glorified God and gave thanks to our holy Lady the Virgin Maryam. And in the days of this father a certain man whose name was Cyril went to the country of Ethiopia, and made pretence to be a bishop. And he sent much money to the King of Egypt, saying, “Command thou the Archbishop, Abba Gabra Krestos, to send a messenger to appoint me bishop whilst I am in my country Ethiopia, and each year I will send thee much gold as a present.” And the King of Egypt summoned Abba Gabra Krestos to him, and he said unto him, “Send a man on thy behalf to the country of Ethiopia to appoint Cyril bishop.” And the archbishop answered and said unto him, “This is undesirable, unless he cometh here.” And the king said unto him, “Do as I have commanded thee,” and the archbishop said unto him, “Thy will shall be done.” And the archbishop went forth from the king sorrowfully, and he grieved exceedingly about the matter, and he gathered together all the bishops and told them what the king had said unto him; and when they heard it they were exceedingly sorry. And the archbishop prayed and entreated God to deliver him from brotherhood with Cyril, the Liar. And Cyril took much money and fled from the country of Ethiopia and came to the country of Dahluka, and the King of Dahluka seized him and took away all [his money], and bound him in fetters and sent him to King of Egypt, who shut him up in prison for seven months and after this period cut off his head with the sword. Thus Cyril died an evil death, and God accepted the prayer of this father. And Abba Gabra Krestos sat upon the throne of Mark the Evangelist thirty years, and he pleased God and died in peace. Salutation to Gabra Krestos. And on this day also Abba Ammonius, the Glorious, Bishop of the city of ‘Asna (‘Esna), became a martyr. And when Arianus [the governor] came to the city of ‘Asna (‘Esna) he found all the men of the city gathered together to Abba Ammonius and learning the word of the Faith; and straightway he killed them all. And he seized Abba Ammonius, and bound him, and took him to the city of ‘Asna (‘Esna), and he pressed him strongly to offer incense of the gods, and to worship them. And Ammonius said unto him, “It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve. I take no pleasure in your vain and silly fables, and I will not hearken to your words, and I will not look upon your unclean gods, and I will not walk in your ruined temple, and I will neither touch your stinking incense nor your foul offerings.” And when Arianus the governor saw that the mind of the saint would neither abandon [his belief] nor change, he commanded his soldiers to burn him alive. And Abba Ammonius asked the soldiers to wait a little whilst he prayed. And he stood up with his hands and feet bound, and he prayed the prayer of the Gospel, and he blessed his city and the men thereof, and all the people who believed on Christ. And he prayed for Arianus the governor, and prophesied that he would become a martyr, and he prayed also for the release of his soul; and when he had finished his prayer they threw him into the mouth of the fire, and he finished his good contest. When the fire was extinguished they found his pure body untouched, and they swathed it for burial in costly cloths, and they buried him on the west side of the city of ‘Ensna, in the fortress which Queen ‘Akalu-ubaters (Cleopatra), the daughter of Ptolemy, had built, and mighty deeds and miracles innumerable were wrought through him there. Salutation to Ammonius. And on this day also died the daughter of the Emperor of Rome, whose name was Nasahit, according to what James, Bishop of Wasim, saith concerning her: “And it came to pass one day whilst I was sitting in the church of our holy Lady, the Virgin Maryam, the God- bearer, that I heard a monk knocking at the door of the monastery, and I rose up to see who he was. And I saw that he had on an old cloak, and that his body was dried up; and his face was muffled up and covered over. And I said unto him, ‘Whence comest thou, and whither goest thou?’ And he said unto me, ‘I have come from the monastery of Abba Macarius and I wish to pass this night in this monastery, so that I may receive the Offering’; now it was one day from the Sabbath. And I said unto him, ‘I cannot open the doors to thee unless thou wilt show me thy face.’ And he said unto me, ‘Seek not the sight of my face, for my face is detestable like my sins, and whosoever sees my face shall see at the same time all my evil works’; and because I refused to [admit] him he wanted to go back into the desert. And then I thought within myself that he might be hungry, or thirsty, and for this reason I opened the doors to him, and I brought him into my abode; and I brought him food, but he refused it, and he said unto me, ‘I will not eat before to-morrow, after the Offering.’ Then he went into the church, and he stood up in a dark place, and I heard a sound, as it were the sound of angels, repeating the Psalms; and the brethren who were there marveled. And in the morning the monk sat down on his feet, and did not want to say anything. And we drew nigh unto him that we might ask him to pray for us, and he said unto us, ‘How can I possibly pray for you seeing that I am blackened of face and [am laden] with many transgressions?’ And when we offered up the Offering he stood up upon his feet, and began to recite the Gospel of John, and he drew back his cowl from his face, and it was impossible to look upon him by reason of the great light, which was upon it. And after we had received the Offering, he received, [and we thought that he must be one of] the children of the emperor. And we brought him food, but he would not take it, and he exhorted us to turn away from the lust for women whereby Satan leads monks astray. And there was there a certain good elder monk who was a Roman by birth, and he said unto me, ‘O my father James, this is a woman, and a daughter of emperors, and therefore she hides her face so that we may not recognize her.’ Then I went to her to adjure her in the Name of Christ not to hide her history from us, and straightway I lost her and could not find her. Five months later there arrived many men, who had been sent by the emperor to search for her, and they told us her history, and how she had escaped by night from Rome, and how they had been searching for her for twelve years and had not found her. And then by the Will of God certain pilgrims told us that she had died on this day [of the month Takhshash].” Salutation to princess Nasahit. Salutation to the light, which illumined the darkness. Salutation to the Light, which was before the world. Salutation to Arianus the priest, and to ‘Arkisos, his God-fearing brother, the sons of Gregory. [This salutation is wanting in the Bodleian MS.] Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen. Tahisas 15 (December 24)

On this day died Gregory, Archbishop of Armenia, who became a martyr, without the shedding of his blood. Tiridates, the King of Armenia, as we have already said, tortured this saint severely because he would not worship his idols, and after he had tortured him he cast him into a dry pit where he remained for fifteen years; and God was with him. And God caused a certain old woman to bring him food every [week], and no one knew how he lived. And the emperor having slain the virgins of ‘Arsima, and herself also, because he wished to marry her, the bodies of the virgins were cast out on the hills. And when seventy days had passed since they died, the emperor sorrowed for what he had done to them, and more especially for what he had done to ‘Arsima. Then his friends asked him and said unto him, “Mount thy horse and go forth into the desert and hunt the wild animals, and so remove sorrow from thy heart.” And having mounted his horse, he went out into the desert with all his soldiers, and at that same moment Satan mounted the horse and cast the emperor from it; and the king bit his own body, and the bodies of his attendants. And God changed his appearance and he became like unto the wild boar of the desert, and he continued to go round about in the desert, and he bit everyone he met. And thus also was it with the men of his palace, for Satan mounted upon their horses and there was great dismay and outcry in the palace. All this took place because of the [slaughter of the] holy virgins and of those who were with them. And the sister of the king saw a vision in the night and it seemed as if a man said unto her, “If thou dost not bring up Saint Gregory from the pit, ye shall never have relief, and never be healed of your sickness.” And she told this to every man in the royal palace, and they were in a state of dismay because of this, and they trembled because they thought that he was already dead in the pit. Then they rose up straightway and went to the pit, and they let down a rope into the pit to see if he was still alive, and they cried out to him to hang on to the rope which they had thrown to him. And he seized the rope, which they had thrown down to him, and grasped it tightly with his hands, and straightway they pulled him up, and lifted him up out of the pit; and they washed him, and arrayed him in new apparel and they mounted him on a mule, and brought him into the royal palace. And Gregory asked them questions concerning the bodies of the holy virgins, and they guided him and brought him to the place where the virgins were, and he found that they had been preserved from the wild beasts of the desert and fowl of the heavens. And he commanded [the king’s servants] to build for them a beautiful tomb, which should be worthy of them, and he laid them therein with great honor. Then the people asked him to heal the king, and to drive out from him the Satan of which he was possessed. And the saint had the king brought, and he said unto him, “Wilt thou turn from thy evil works?” And the king made a sign of consent with his head. And the saint prayed over him, and he cast out the Satan from him, and his heart (i.e. senses) returned, and his appearance became what it had been originally; but God allowed some traces of the claws of the wild boar to remain in the nails of his hands and feet, so that he should not become haughty again, and he was submissive and humble. And the saint also healed all the men of the royal palace, and cast out Satans from them. And then he commanded them to gather together all the men of Armenia, and he gave them a Canon, and commanded them to fast every eighth day; and they did as he commanded them. And he continued to exhort them, and to teach them the way of God, and concerning the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. And they all hearkened unto him, small and great, and this is the origin of the belief of the Armenians in Christ. And they asked Saint Gregory to baptized them with Christian baptism, and he said unto them, “It is not seemly for me to do this, for I am not a priest.” And they sent messengers to the country of Lunya, and they wrote letters to the Emperor Honorius, and informed him that they had turned to God, and asked him to appoint Gregory their Archbishop; and they asked the Archbishop of Rome also, who was in those days Saint Lawendeyos. And with their letters they sent many gifts for the Emperor Honorius, and Saint Gregory also was with them. And their messengers came to the emperor and to the archbishop, and they read their letters to the emperor and to the archbishop, and the emperor and the archbishop rejoiced because the men of Armenia had turned to God, and they appointed Gregory Archbishop in the country of Caesarea, and they sent him back with great honor to Tiridates, and King of Armenia. And when Saint Gregory arrived in the country of Armenia the people rejoiced with a very great joy because of his coming to them. Then he built them a beautiful church in the name of our Lady Mary, and corrected the Faith of all their churches. And then the blessed Gregory finished his course nobly, and he died in peace. Salutation to Gregory who lived in a pit for three (sic) years, and suffered torture through the cold of the night, and the heat of the day. And on this day also died Saint Luke of the pillar. Salutation to him who fought the spiritual fights in iron fetters, and slew Mastema (i.e. Satan), and who fated six days in each week. And on this day also Yemsah became a martyr. Salutation to Abba Yemsah. And on this day also became holy martyrs Herwag, Ananias, Kazi from the city of Akhmim; and Sansaradin and ‘Awganyos (Eugenius) from the city of Gawer; and on this day Miriam, the sister of Aaron, is commemorated. [This paragraph is given under Day XVI in the Bodleian MS.] Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen. Tahisas 16 (December 25)

On this day died Gideon, one of the judges of Israel. This just man Gideon was of the tribe of Menasseh and his father’s name was Joas; and the angel of the Lord appeared and helped him, and strengthened him, and made him judge over the children of Israel. And he commanded him to destroy the altar of idols, and to build an altar to God, and to offer up burnt offerings upon it; and Gideon burnt with fire the wooden idols, which were broken in pieces, and he did as the Lord commanded. And God also commanded him to make war upon the men of Midian, and he asked God to show him a sign, so that his heart might be strengthened thereby. And this was the sign: [He said] “Let me lay the carded woolly fleece of a sheep among the grass of the field; if the fleece be wetted by the dew and the grass of the field is not wetted, then shall I know that Thou art with me.” And he laid the fleece among the grass, and it was wetted, but the grass was not wetted. And on the following day he said, “O my Lord, behold I will lay the fleece among the grass again; if the grass be wetted and the ground, and the fleece is not wetted, then I shall know that Thou art with me and that Thou wilt fight for me.” And he did this on the following day, and it happened even as he wished. Then his heart waxed strong, and the spirit of power descended upon him from God, and he blew a horn and all the children of Israel gathered together to him. And God said unto him, “The people are too many, for when they conquer their enemies they will say that they themselves have conquered them by their own power. But let a herald go round about among them and say, ‘If there be anyone here who is timid or afraid, let him depart’”; and when the herald had been among these there turned back twenty-two thousand of the children of Israel. And then God said unto Gideon, “Even now those who are left are too many. Send them to the water and command them to drink water, and he who drinks water with his tongue like a dog, take all these, and set them apart from those who remain.” And straightway Gideon took them to the river, and they drank water as God commanded, and the number of those who drank water with their tongues like dogs were three hundred men. And God said unto him, “With these I will deliver thee, and I will give the men of Midian into thy hand.” And that night they blew trumpets among them, and they said, “The army of God and of Gideon.” And when the men of Midian heard the sound of the trumpets, God set fear in their hearts, and they were terrified and took to flight. And each man killed his neighbor next to him, and they slew their princes Oreb and Zeeb, and they slew two of their kings Zebhel and Zalmunna, and they slew of the men of Midian one hundred thousand, and twenty thousand horsemen; and the children of Israel rejoiced that day. And they said unto Gideon, “Be thou king over us, and thy children after thee.” And he answered and said unto them with lowliness of heart, “Neither am I worthy to be king nor are my children worthy to be kings over you, but it is God Who shall rule over you [as] king. But let each one of you give me the torque of gold which is on the head of every camel which ye have carried off as spoil”; and they brought them to him. And the amount of gold and silver which they gave him was one hundred thousand seven hundred dinars, besides the ornaments of the women, and the rich trappings which were on the camels. And Gideon, the just, continued to rule the children of Israel for forty years, and God was with him in all his work; and then he died in peace and was buried in the grave of his father. Salutation to Gideon, the mighty man. By the miracle of the wetted fleece mentioned above is made manifest the Birth of Christ of Mary. Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen. Tahisas 17 (December 26)

On this day took place the translation of the body of Saint Luke of the pillar, who came from the country of Persia. He was the captain of one hundred soldiers, but he gave up his appointment, and assumed the garb of the monastic life, and took up his abode in one of the monasteries of the country of the East; and he dwelt therein many days. And when he had finished his ascetic training and his spiritual fight showed his excellences, he was made a priest in that monastery. And at the time of his appointment he dressed himself in iron, and he wore this dress as long as he dwelt in that monastery; and he devoted himself to fasting, and from that day he fasted seven days and seven nights at a time. On the Seventh Day he consecrated the Offering, and partook of the Holy Mysteries, and then he ate a small bread cake and some herbs. After this he went up on the top of a pillar, and stood thereon for three years, and he heard the voice of an angel calling him by name, and commanding him to get down from the pillar. And the angel showed him a cross of light, and Luke descended and followed the voice, which he heard. And the cross (of light) guided him until it brought him to a certain monastery, and he dwelt therein many days, and all the men came to him and were comforted by his doctrine. Then he became a devotee of silence, and he put a stone in his mouth so that he might not talk at all with any man. Then God commanded him to go to the borders of the city of Constantinople, and he went to a certain village which was near it, and he went up on the top of a pillar, and he dwelt thereon for five and forty years and fought a great spiritual fight. And God gave him the gift of prophecy, and he performed signs and wonders, and he healed all the sick folk who came to him. And God willing that he should leave the toil of this world, Luke died on the fifteenth day of the month of Takhshash; and he who ministered unto him went and told the archbishop and the priests concerning his death. And the archbishop and the priests rose up, and carrying crosses and censers they came to his abode, and they prayed over him, and they took him up and carried him to the city of Constantinople, three days after he died. And they brought him thither on the seventeenth day of the month of Takhshash, and laid him in the sanctuary, and they finished the prayer for the third hour over his holy body; and all those who were gathered together were blessed by him. Then they put him in a sarcophagus wherein were the bodies of the saints who were his predecessors, and God made manifest from his body many signs and wonders, and [many derived] very great benefit there from, and it healed all the sick who came to it in faith. Salutation to Luke, the pillar-saint. And on this day also are commemorated the holy martyrs ‘Eusoryays (Aularianus), and ‘Euthyos, and Suryan, and Mark, and Bartelel, and Nathaniel, the monk and toiler in the ascetic life. Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen. Tahisas 18 (December 27)

On this day is commemorated Abba Salama, the revealer of the light, for he was the light of Ethiopia; and behold the story of his strife is written in the section for the twenty- seventh day of the month Hamle. Salutation to Abba Salama. And on this day also took place the translation of the body of the great Saint Titus, the Apostle, the disciple of Paul the Apostle. Constantine the Just, the great emperor of emperors, translated the body from ‘Akrates (Crete) to the city of Constantinople. When by the Will of God, Constantine reigned, he took very careful thought for the churches and the works thereof, and he beautified with fine decorations all the churches, which were in his kingdom, and especially those in the city of Constantinople, for, that was the seat of his sovereignty. And he inspected every work, and he wished [the builders] to beautify them with every kind of decoration, and with pearl-stone (mother-of-pearl), and costly stones; and he also made them glorious with spiritual stones and celestial gems. And the bodies of the apostles were gathered together to him, and such of the bodies of the honorable martyrs as he could find. And when he heard that the body of Saint Titus the apostle was in the city of ‘Akrates (Crete) he sent the chief priests, and with them much money, and they took the body of Saint Titus with great honor, and brought it to the city of Constantinople. And he built a beautiful church, and he placed the body in a coffer of very precious stone, and laid it in the church. And God made manifest many exceedingly great signs and miracles through it. And as they were carrying Saint Titus to bring him into the sanctuary, the end of the stone coffer dropped upon the foot of one of its carriers, and crushed it, and the bones thereof. And that man took some of the oil of the lamp which was hanging before the picture of Saint Titus in faith, and he smeared his foot therewith and tied it up, crying out by reason of the pain as he did so; and as he could not walk home to his house, he passed the night by the side of the coffer containing the saint. And on the following day he unbandaged his foot to look at it, and to apply the means of healing to it, and he found that it was sound and well like the other, and there was no pain in it whatsoever, and he found on it only traces of the marks of blood; and all those who saw this miracle marveled exceedingly, and they glorified God. And the man rose up and washed away the blood, and he walked about as usual without any pain, and he glorified God. And the miracles of this holy Apostle Titus were many. Salutation to the translation of the body of Titus the disciple of Paul. And on this day also died Arkila, and Philemon, the priest and anchorite who became a martyr. Salutation to Arkila, and Philemon. And on this day also are commemorated Farkayon, and Silikion, and Galinicus, and ‘Eunas, and their companion who were martyred; and the translation of the bodies of ‘Arsis, and Dacia, and Dimon; [‘Arsis, Dacia and Dimon are not mentioned in the Bodleian MS.] and the translation of the body of Thomas the Apostle. And countless signs appeared through his body, and they built a beautiful church for him on the river, and they laid the body of the saint therein. Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen. Tahisas 19 (December 28)

On this day died the honorable father, Abba John, Bishop of the city of Burles. This holy man was a member of a priestly family, and his parents were people of high rank, and they gave of their goods to the poor and needy. When his parents died he took the money which they had left him and he built therewith a church, and he also built a guest house wherein pilgrims and sick folk gathered together; and he himself ministered unto them, and brought to them whatsoever they wanted. And at that time there came to him a certain monk, and he saw what he was doing, and this monk praised the ascetic life to him and made manifest to him the honor thereof; and after that monk had departed, he gave all his goods to the poor, and he went into the desert of Scete in the days of Abba Daniel, Abbot of the desert of Scete, and he became a monk with him and fought a great fight. And then he dwelt alone in his cell, and the Satans envied him because of his good fight, and they beat him very severely, and finally he was obliged to lie prostrate for many days because of the beatings wherewith the Satans beat him. After this our Lord Christ healed him, and he became strong in His power and overcame the Satans and, after this, by the Will of God, he was made Bishop of the city of Burles; now in his days there was much dissension (or schism) in the cities. And he toiled with great labor to pluck out the tares from among the wheat, and he turned many people from their schism and brought them into the True Faith. And in those days there was a certain monk from Upper Egypt, who talked much, and he used to say, “Michael revealeth it to me”; and he led astray many men. And when the saint knew that his work was evil, and that he was of Satan, he commanded [his servants] to seize him and to beat him; and when they had beaten him the man confessed his error, and they removed him from the city. And there was another [monk] who used to say, “Anthony the prophet appeared unto me and told me many mysteries”; and very many men followed him. And the saint took that man, and put an end to his teaching, and he destroyed and tore in pieces all the books whereby he introduced schisms into the church. And every time when John went up into the sanctuary to consecrate the Offering, his face used to become like fire, and his body like fire, and he seemed to be like one who was issuing from a fiery furnace. And when he began to recite the Liturgy tears used to roll down his face like rain, for he could see clearly the hosts of the angels on the altar; and again [he saw them] when he said, “Holy” thrice. And when he laid his fingers upon the cup to sign the Offering with the Cross, at the moment of breaking the bread he would find that it was like burning fire. And in his days there were evil men and heretics, whom Satan led into error, who offered up the Offering twice a day, after they had eaten; and he anathematized them and excommunicated them so that [men] might not do this evil thing. And when they would not hearken to his voice, he prayed to God concerning them, and his petition was accepted, and God sent down fire from heaven and consumed their leader; and when those who remained saw this they feared exceedingly and entered the True Faith. And then God wished to give John rest from the labor of this fleeting world, and He sent unto him the Saints Abba Anthony and Abba Macarius to inform him of the time of his death. Then John gathered together the people and commanded them to love each other, and to be strong in the True Faith, and then he lay down upon his bed and died in peace. Salutation to John who at the time of the Eucharist found the cup red-hot. And on this day also [the Babylonians] threw Ananias, Azarias, and Misael into the furnace. And on this day also is celebrated the great Festival of the Annunciation of Gabriel the angel [to our Lady Mary]. Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen. Tahisas 20 (December 29)

On this day died the honorable father, Abba John, Bishop of the city of Burles. This holy man was a member of a priestly family, and his parents were people of high rank, and they gave of their goods to the poor and needy. When his parents died he took the money which they had left him and he built therewith a church, and he also built a guest house wherein pilgrims and sick folk gathered together; and he himself ministered unto them, and brought to them whatsoever they wanted. And at that time there came to him a certain monk, and he saw what he was doing, and this monk praised the ascetic life to him and made manifest to him the honor thereof; and after that monk had departed, he gave all his goods to the poor, and he went into the desert of Scete in the days of Abba Daniel, Abbot of the desert of Scete, and he became a monk with him and fought a great fight. And then he dwelt alone in his cell, and the Satans envied him because of his good fight, and they beat him very severely, and finally he was obliged to lie prostrate for many days because of the beatings wherewith the Satans beat him. After this our Lord Christ healed him, and he became strong in His power and overcame the Satans and, after this, by the Will of God, he was made Bishop of the city of Burles; now in his days there was much dissension (or schism) in the cities. And he toiled with great labor to pluck out the tares from among the wheat, and he turned many people from their schism and brought them into the True Faith. And in those days there was a certain monk from Upper Egypt, who talked much, and he used to say, “Michael revealeth it to me”; and he led astray many men. And when the saint knew that his work was evil, and that he was of Satan, he commanded [his servants] to seize him and to beat him; and when they had beaten him the man confessed his error, and they removed him from the city. And there was another [monk] who used to say, “Anthony the prophet appeared unto me and told me many mysteries”; and very many men followed him. And the saint took that man, and put an end to his teaching, and he destroyed and tore in pieces all the books whereby he introduced schisms into the church. And every time when John went up into the sanctuary to consecrate the Offering, his face used to become like fire, and his body like fire, and he seemed to be like one who was issuing from a fiery furnace. And when he began to recite the Liturgy tears used to roll down his face like rain, for he could see clearly the hosts of the angels on the altar; and again [he saw them] when he said, “Holy” thrice. And when he laid his fingers upon the cup to sign the Offering with the Cross, at the moment of breaking the bread he would find that it was like burning fire. And in his days there were evil men and heretics, whom Satan led into error, who offered up the Offering twice a day, after they had eaten; and he anathematized them and excommunicated them so that [men] might not do this evil thing. And when they would not hearken to his voice, he prayed to God concerning them, and his petition was accepted, and God sent down fire from heaven and consumed their leader; and when those who remained saw this they feared exceedingly and entered the True Faith. And then God wished to give John rest from the labor of this fleeting world, and He sent unto him the Saints Abba Anthony and Abba Macarius to inform him of the time of his death. Then John gathered together the people and commanded them to love each other, and to be strong in the True Faith, and then he lay down upon his bed and died in peace. Salutation to John who at the time of the Eucharist found the cup red-hot. And on this day also [the Babylonians] threw Ananias, Azarias, and Misael into the furnace. And on this day also is celebrated the great Festival of the Annunciation of Gabriel the angel [to our Lady Mary]. Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen. Tahisas 21 (December 30)

On this day is celebrated a commemorative festival of our holy Lady the Virgin Maryam, the God-bearer. Salutation to Maryam, who found seed without drinking the dew, and without drinking from the fountain, and who appeared unto Isaac from out of her icon. And on this day became a martyr the holy apostle and great prophet Barnabas, which name, being interpreted, means “son of consolation.” This blessed and holy man was from the country of Cyprus, and was of the tribe of Levi, and his original name was Joseph. And the Lord chose him to be of the number of the Seventy-two disciples, whom He sent out to preach before His Passion, and He called his name Barnabas. Then the Holy Spirit Paraclete descended upon him when he was in the chamber of Zion with the Apostles, and he preached the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And he owned a garden, and he sold it and brought the price thereof and gave it to the Apostles. And when Paul the Apostle believed, and our Lord Christ was mingling with the Apostles, and many of them did [not] believe that Paul was a disciple of Christ, this Barnabas came to the Apostles and brought Paul unto them. And he became a witness to them on his behalf that Paul was a disciple of our Lord Christ, and he told them how our Lord Christ had appeared unto him and talked with him. And Barnabas went with Paul to many cities, and they preached in the Name of our Lord Christ. And the Holy Spirit said unto the Apostles, “Separate ye for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work.” And when they came into the city of Lystra and preached, and Paul healed the paralytic who was therein, this Barnabas was with him. And when the men of the city wished to offer sacrifices to them, and called them “gods,” they would not accept the honoring of me, but they rent their garments and confessed that they were men even as they were. And after Barnabas had gone with Paul to many cities, he separated from him, and he took Mark with him to Cyprus, and they preached there, and converted very many of the men thereof to the True Faith of Christ, and baptized them with Christian baptism. And the Jews of the country of Cyprus became envious of him, and they made accusations against him before the governor, and before those who were in authority. And they seized him and gave him a severe and painful beating, and then they stoned him with stones, and then they dragged his body out from under the stones, and they burnt him with fire and he finished his martyrdom. And the Apostle Mark the evangelist was with him, and God kept him and preserved him to preach in the city of Alexandria and in all the regions round about it. And they took out [the body] of Saint Barnabas from the fire, and he was whole and uninjured, and the fire had not touched him at all, and they carried him out, and swathed him in costly cloths, and laid him in a cave outside the city of Cyprus. Salutation to Barnabas and salutation to Mark. Salutation to our Shepherd like Whom there never hath been any and never shall be any. Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen. Tahisas 22 (December 31)

On this day is celebrated the festival of the glorious angel, Gabriel the Archangel, who made the Annunciation [to our Lady Mary]. And on this day is celebrated the building of the church in the city of Danah, wherein the angel showed forth his miracles, and also the dedication thereof; and of what took place Archelaus, bishop of this city is witness. It was this glorious angel who was sent by God to the holy Virgin Mary, and he was by far the most glorious of all the angels, and most to be trusted to make the Annunciation to her. When he came unto the Virgin he said unto her, “Peace be unto thee! Rejoice, O thou who art full of grace! The Lord is with thee.” And it was Gabriel who announced the glad tidings of the birth of his son John to Zachariah; exceedingly great honor do they pay to this angel Gabriel, and great is the honor of him that is chosen as an announcer of glad tidings. And it is meet for us now to gather together at this great and holy festival in the True Faith, and let us put away hatred, and make peace among ourselves, and agree with our neighbor, and love each other, and let us crucify our minds (or thoughts) with God the Merciful, so that He may look upon us and have compassion upon us. And with all our hearts let us make supplication to this glorious angel Gabriel, and his companion Michael, who are glorious and exalted in their offices to pray to God on our behalf that He may deliver us and protect us against the nets of Satan; for without the help of God and the intercession of His chosen ones we can in no wise be saved. Now the meaning of the name Gabriel is “God and man,” and it was Gabriel who made the announcement [to the shepherds], and said, “This day is born unto you a Savior, Who is Christ God.” Salutation to thy house in the city of Danoh (sic), O Gabriel, which Archelaus, bishop of the city, consecrated. Salutation to Dekesius, Bishop of Telteya, to whom Mary gave heavenly apparel, because he wrote the account of the miracle of her Annunciation. And on this day died the holy father Abba Anastasius, the thirty-sixth Archbishop of the city of Alexandria. This holy man was the son of a nobleman of the city of Alexandria, and he was a judge in the royal palace; he was next made a priest of the Alexandrian Church, and by the Will of God he was appointed archbishop. And having been appointed this father took thought for the churches, and he built several churches, and he set in them places for the bishops and priests. And he took many churches from the Melchites, now he knew not their number, and some churches of the Jacobites, because he was held in honor among them for his learning, and faith, and virtues; and he converted many of them to the True Faith. In those days the Emperor Constantine died, and he was succeeded by another emperor whose faith was corrupt. And one of the evil men sent a letter, and made an accusation against this holy father to him, saying, “When Anastasius, Archbishop of the Jacobites, goeth through the church, the people anathematize the emperor and his faith, and this father Anastasius (Antonius?) doeth nothing in the matter.” When the emperor had read the letter of this evil man, he was exceedingly angry, and he sent to the governor of Alexandria and commanded him to take from this holy father Anastasius the church of Saints Cosmas and Damianus, and all his possessions, and to give them to Eusegnius, Archbishop of Rome. And this father sorrowed greatly by reason of this, but God, Who searches hearts, comforted him, and destroyed Peter the heretic, Archbishop of Antioch, and He appointed to succeed him a righteous and learned monk whose name was Atesius. And this father sent to him an epistle concerning the True Faith, and he rejoiced at its coming to him, and he gathered together the bishops and the priests and read this epistle before them, and they rejoiced therein, and they marveled at the words which were written there, and at the knowledge of the writer. And Athenasius, Archbishop of the city of Antioch, rose up, and taking with him bishops, and priests, and deacons, he came to the city of Alexandria. And this father Anastasius went out and met Abba Athanasius, now he had with him bishops, and priests, and deacons and monks, and the chief of the Jews, and then Abba Athanasius said, “O my beloved ones, it is meet that we should take up the harp of David, the prophet, and sing the words of the Psalm, ‘Compassion and truth have met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other’. Athanasius and Anastasius have embraced each other, righteousness hath appeared in the land of Egypt, and truth hath sprung up out of the East. Egypt and Syria have become one Faith, and the cities of Alexandria and Antioch one church, and there is one virgin to one holy man, our Lord Christ, the Only Son, the Word of God the Father.” And Saint Athanasius lived with Saint Anastasius in the same monastery for a period of thirty days, and they taught each other, and discussed together, and searched out the roots of the Faith; and then Abba Athanasius returned in peace to this own country. And the country of Alexandria and the country of Antioch were at one in one True Faith. And this father Anastasius taught his flock things, which were profitable for their souls from the Book of Life. And because of the greatness of his wisdom, and his knowledge, he used to put at the beginning of each of his writings and letters each year one letter of the alphabet; thus at the beginning of all his writings and letters written during the first year he wrote the letter A, and at the beginning of all those written during the second year the letter B, and at the beginning of all those written during the third year the letter ‘? ‘ and so on to the end of the alphabet. [Oriental 667 says that he wrote 12,000 letters during the twelve years in which he held office.] And when the fast of the Birth of Christ came he became a little sick, and died in peace in the thirty-first (sic) year of the Holy Martyrs (A.D. 315?). Salutation to Anastasius. Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen. Tahisas 23 (January 1)

On this day died the saint and fighter Abba Timothy, the desert monk. This holy man had God-loving parents who brought him up piously, and taught him the doctrine of the Church; and he wished to adopt the garb of the monastic life, and he went forth from his father and dwelt in a monastery and became a monk therein. And he determined in his mind to live by himself in a place near the monastery, so that he might receive pilgrims and poor people, and feed them. And he went forth from the monastery and built himself a house near it, and he dwelt therein for a period of five years; and he fought the spiritual fight and worked with his hands and lived by the labor thereof. And the Enemy of good laid a plot against him, and he brought to him a certain widow to buy from him the work of his hands. And because of this business her coming to him was frequent, and sinful love sprang up between them, and they sat together at the time of eating their meals. Then the monk burned with the fever of fornication, and they fell into sin, and they continued to do the work of sin for seven months. But God neither abandoned them, nor cast them away, neither the woman nor Saint Timothy, but He made them to remember the time of death, and that they would have to stand before the King of kings, our Lord Jesus Christ, on that fearful and terrible day. And straightway Abba Timothy began to reproach himself and to revile himself, and he rose up from that place and came into the desert, and God the Most High guided him to a little oasis in the desert, wherein there were a tree and a spring of sweet running water. And he went into it and found a date palm there, and he dwelt in that place for many days. And then Satan became jealous of him because he had saved himself, and he brought upon him a serious disease in his belly, and by reason of the intensity of his pain he had fallen face downwards on the earth. And as he lay bowed there he prayed, and he said unto his soul, “This pain is the fruit of the sin which thou hast committed, O soul. Thou must endure the tribulation of this pain in order to become healed of thy sickness”; and he continued to suffer the pain for four years. And after this God looked upon him, and he sent to him an angel who rubbed the belly of Timothy with his hand, and he was healed of the pain which was in his belly. And then the angel made a slit in his side with his fingers [and took out his liver] and cleaned it and restored it to its place in his bowels, and he fastened it to his body and Timothy recovered and became as he was before his sickness. And the angel said unto him, “Behold thou art sound; take good heed not to offend a second time lest worse befall thee.” He lived in the desert fighting the fight and was a strict ascetic for forty years, and before this he lived in a monastery seventeen years, and he also lived in a cave for ten years. And during all the years wherein he dwelt in the desert he went naked and had no clothing, but God, the Most High, made his hair long, and it covered him before and behind. And by his strict asceticism, and strenuous fighting, and worship of God, grace came upon him in such an abundant measure that the wild beasts used to visit him, and lick the dust of his feet; and he pleased God and he died in peace wearing the crown of his fight. Salutation to Timothy. And on this day also died David the Just, King and Prophet, and son of Jesse. This [saint] became king over Israel after Saul, the King, the son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin. And before he was king he followed a good course of life, and he fought the fight, and he performed righteousness and judgment more than any other king of Israel. And he was of the tribe of Judah from Bethlehem, and God chose him to be king over Israel. And God sent Samuel the prophet to anoint one of the sons of Jesse with the oil of sovereignty, so that he might be king over Israel. And Samuel the prophet chose the eldest son of Jesse, because he was goodly in appearance, and robust in body, but God did not choose him, and said unto him, “O Samuel, look not upon him that is of goodly appearance, and consider not the height of his stature, for I am not like men who look at the external goodly appearance; I try the heart and the reins, and I know the things that are secret.” And after this Samuel chose David to reign over Israel, and God was with him in all his work. And by reason of his excessive innocence of heart and gentleness he found Saul his enemy on several occasions, and he did no evil whatsoever to him; and he allowed him to escape when Saul himself was wishing to kill David. One day Saul went forth seeking for David to kill him, and when the evening came Saul lay down and slept, and all his soldiers slept round about him. And David the prophet came to Saul whilst he was asleep, and he cut off the fringed hem of his garment to make Saul to know in secret that he (David) could have killed him, and boasted himself over him, but he did no harm to him whatsoever. And then David repented and was sorry that he had cut off the hem of Saul’s tunic. And David found him a second time asleep, and he carried off his spear and the water-pot by his head, but did him no harm. And when his men said unto him, “Kill thine enemy Saul,” David answered and said unto them, “Far be it from me to put out my hand against the anointed one of God.” And when a man told him the story of the killing of Saul his enemy, he said unto him, “Who killed him?” And the man said unto him, “I killed him.” And David’s heart was exceedingly sad, and he rent his garments and said unto that men, “Is it true that thou didst kill him?” And the man said unto him, “Yea.” And David killed that man who said, “I killed Saul.” Now God gathered together in this prophet many virtues, and of them all the greatest was humility. And though he was king and prophet, and righteous, and perfect, he called himself a “dead dog,” a “miserable wolf,” a “worm,” and a “beast,” and with all this humility he was more glorious and exalted than all [other] kings. And God praised him in many passages of Scripture, saying, “I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will perform all I wish”; and God protected the children of Israel and Jerusalem with good protection for David’s sake, both during his lifetime and after his death. And God honored David by the mouth of His prophet, and He set over the people kings from his seed, and He called David His son. And it is said in the Book of the Psalms that he was well known to be a shield against Satans, and was full of every kind of good work, and of every kind of glorious doctrine. And his complexion was pure red, like the pomegranate; he was of a medium stature; and he was exceedingly strong and powerful, for he was in the prime of youth, and God was his helper. And [once] when he was keeping his father’s sheep there came to him a wolf, and a lion also came at the same time to carry off some of his father’s sheep, and he killed the wolf, and snatched sway the beard of the lion (I Sam. xvii, 34, 35). And when Saul was fighting against the Philistines, an alien people, there went forth Golyad (Goliath), the giant, who was six cubits and a span in height, and his whole body was covered with amour, and in his hand was a spear, the shaft of which was as thick as a weaver’s beam, and the spear-head was of iron and the weight thereof was six hundred shekels. And the helmet upon his head and all the covering of him was of brass, and the weight of the iron covering which was on him was five thousand shekels. And his legs had coverings of brass on them, and he had as it were serpents between his shoulders and a covering of brass upon his breast; and an amour bearer went before him. And he stood up and cried out to the children of Israel and said unto them, “Why have ye come out to fight against us, and to do battle with us? Am I not the Philistine, and are ye not Hebrews of Saul? Choose out from you a man who shall come down to me. If he is able to fight against me and to slay me we will be [your] servants; and if I am able to slay him, ye shall be our servants, and shall minister unto us.” And he spoke thus, and he continued to revile the people of Israel, and to boast himself over them for a space of forty days; and no one from among the armies of Israel dared to go forth to him. And when Saul heard his voice he was dismayed and was afraid of that Philistine. And in those days David came to visit his brethren, and when he saw that Philistine, and heard his voice, he became full of divine zeal forthwith, and he said unto Saul, “I will go and will slay this uncircumcised Philistine.” And Saul said unto David, “Go, and God be with thee.” And David took in his hand a sling, and he chose three stones from the brook and put them into his scrip, so that he might have them in addition to those in the sling, which was in his hand; and he went out against that Philistine. And when Golyad (Goliath), the Philistine, saw David, he scorned him, for he was a youth, and ruddy like the pomegranate flower, and his eyes were beautiful. And this Philistine said unto David, “Am I a dog that thou shouldst come out against me with a stick and with stones?” And David said unto him, “Yea, thou art worse than a dog”; and this Philistine cursed David by his gods. And he said unto him, “Come to me and I will give thy flesh to the dogs, and to the birds of heaven, and to the beasts of the earth.” And David said unto him, “Thou comest out against me with sword and a spear, and I come against thee in the Name of the God of the armies which thou revilest this day, the armies of Israel, and I will take thee and kill thee, and I will cut off thy head with the sword, and I will give thy carcass, and the carcasses of thy followers, to the birds of the heavens and to the wild beasts of the earth, and all the earth shall know that God is with Israel, and all the army of Israel shall know that it is not by a sword and a spear that He delivereth, but that it is God Himself Who hath slain [thee].” And David put his hand into his scrip, and took a stone from there, and he slung it, and it smote the Philistine in his forehead, [and entered] his brain, and he fell down upon his face on the earth. And David ran and took his sword, and slew him, and cut off his head, and removed the reproach from the children of Israel. And all the days of the life of David were seventy years; he was thirty years old before he was anointed with the oil of sovereignty, and before he reigned over Israel, and he dwelt in his sovereignty forty years. He prophesied eleven hundred and twenty years before the Incarnation of our Lord Christ, and he died in peace and entered into the kingdom of heaven, and he was buried in the sepulcher of his fathers. Salutation to David, the servant of God. And on this day also died Abba Samuel, and Abba Gabriel, and Abba Simon. This Abba Samuel became a monk and anchorite, and dwelt by the side of a city, the name of which was Kartamen. And there was there the funerary chest of a certain martyr whose name was ‘Akrapos, and he used to invoke his blessing at the beginning and end of his prayer. And there was a certain governor whose name was Saliba, and he had a son called Simon who was sick with a fatal sickness, and he sent and fetched Abba Samuel to pray over his son; and he prayed and raised him up after he was dead. And that young man followed Abba Samuel, and became his disciple and a monk at the same time. One day that disciple went out taking with him a pot to draw water, and Satan broke it; and when he told Abba Samuel he gave him a wine-skin to fill with water, and the disciple used the skin for fetching water for ten years, and the water did not spill over from it. And they departed thence and went to another place where they built a little prayer house, and they dwelt [there]. And one [night] the angel of the Lord showed them in a dream where they were to build a church, and King ‘Anestos came and built them a large church, and five hundred cells for monks. And having become profitable, Abba Samuel labored exceedingly, and through excessive fighting in the spiritual fight, he departed to God Whom he loved, leaving his children in the hand of his son Simon; and the monks multiplied and became twelve thousand in number. In the days of this father there rose up a certain heretic who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, and Abba Simon prayed over a dead man, and raised him up before him; and when the heretic would not turn his mind away from doubt, the saint prayed to God, and brought down fire from heaven and consumed him. And after this Abba Simon waxed old and died; and he died in peace and honor, and was buried in the sepulcher of his master, and Abba Gabriel was appointed abbot after him. He was humble and meek, and wore sackcloth and iron under his clothing, but he wore no sandals on his feet. In the winter time he never entered a house, and in the summer time he fasted from Saturday to Saturday, and he ate nothing except salt and bread; and he used to work signs and miracles. One day his disciples wished to bring a large stone into the monastery so that they might make yeast for the bread thereon, and they had no men to carry it, and when Abba Gabriel heard of it he cursed because there was no one left in the monastery to come and fetch the stone, and when the dead heard his voice they rose up to the number of ten thousand and thirty souls. And when Abba Gabriel saw them he said unto them, “It is not you whom I cursed, but the living,” and straightway they returned to their sepulchers. One day a certain man deposited some gold with a monk, and departed on a long journey, and when he came back he found that the monk was dead, and that he had not told his disciple about the gold; and he questioned the disciple about the gold, but he knew not where his master had put it. And Abba Gabriel went to the grave of the dead monk and asked him about the money, and he told him where he had put it, and the owner of the money having taken the money went away marveling. And he had a friend whose name was Salib, and he died without meeting him again. When Abba Gabriel heard of this, he went to his grave, and wept, and prayed and said, “In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ rise up, and let us talk together,” and Salib rose up alive and lived for fourteen years [after]. And in the days of this father a great persecution came upon the churches and the Christians through the Roman emperors, and a countless number of people were slain; but after a few days Islam reigned, and the Christians were delivered from the persecution. And having fought the spiritual fight strenuously for twenty years Gabriel died in peace. Salutation to Samuel, and Simon, and Gabriel. And on this day also are commemorated Macarius, and Antedrius (Andreas), and Philip, and Eiteltas (or ‘Ay-Taltas), and Cornelius, and Mercurius. Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen. Tahisas 24 (January 2)

On this day died the righteous woman Esther (Aster), the daughter of the brother of Mardochaeus (Mordecai), the daughter of the brother of Jeremiah the prophet. And there was a man, a Jew, in the city of Sus, whose name was Aminadab, the son of Iyaeru, of the tribe of Benjamin, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king carried off into captivity; and he had a beautiful daughter whose name was Esther (Aster). When her father died she was brought up in the house of Mardochaeus (Mordecai) her father’s brother. One day Arkaskesis (Ahasuerus) the king made ready a great feast, and gathered together with great pomp his governors, and the chief governor Hama (Haman), the Amalekite, who was the most honorable of all his officers. And having summoned Queen Vashti to his table, she refused to come, and sent back to him a message of derision; and because of this he was angry with her, and he remove her from her royal rank. Then the king ordered his officers to choose out for him one thousand women from all the cities of his kingdom, whereof of the number was one hundred and seven. And out of the thousand they chose one hundred, and out of the hundred ten, and out of the ten three, and of the three Esther (Aster) was found to excel them all by far in beauty and wisdom. And the king made her the queen and he loved her exceedingly; and Mardochaeus (Mordecai) continued to devote himself to the court of the king, and he was not under the authority of Hama (Haman). Esther (Aster) went in to the king in the twelfth month, in the month Hedar, in the seventh year of the king’s reign, and she found very great favor before him. And Mardochaeus (Mordecai) having learned of a conspiracy between two of the king’s messengers who wished to kill the king, came in to the king and told him secretly; and when the king enquired into the matter, and found out their guilt, he commanded [his soldiers] to kill them, and wrote down the good deed of Mardochaeus (Mordecai). Now Hama (Haman) hated Mardochaeus (Mordecai) and all the people of Israel, for he was an Amalekite, and he wished to destroy all the Jews, and to create a tumult in all the city. When Mardochaeus (Mordecai) knew what was happening, he rent his garments and put on sackcloth. And Esther (Aster) called a eunuch and sent him to obtain news of Mardochaeus (Mordecai), and to hear what had become of him. And Esther (Aster) made the man who had come to her [with news] from Mardochaeus (Mordecai), to go back, and she commanded him, saying, “Go and gather together the Jews who are in Susan and tell them to fast and eat not, and I and my maidens will fast.” And one night God drove slumber away from the king, and he made them fetch the Book of the Prophets to read, and he read the praise of Mardochaeus (Mordecai). And he commanded Hama (Haman) to pay honor to Mardochaeus (Mordecai). And he commanded Hama (Haman) to make the king’s sons to array him in purple, and to set him upon a horse, and to make a herald to go before him and proclaim that he was the friend of the king. And for this reason Hama (Haman) was jealous of Mardochaeus (Mordecai), and he prepared for him a tree whereon to hang him. And after three days, having finished her prayers, Esther (Aster) put off the garments of mourning, and put on glorious apparel, and came to the king, and she did homage to him, and stood up facing him. And the king said unto her, “What dost thou want, O Esther (Aster)?” And she said unto him, “If I have found favor before the king, let my petition be granted unto me, for I and my people are sold to death and destruction.” And the king said unto her, “Who hath dared to do this thing?” And Esther (Aster) said unto him, “The enemy is Hama (Haman).” And when Hama (Haman) heard this he feared the king. And when the king turned aside into the garden Hama (Haman) bowed down at the feet of Esther (Aster) to pay homage to her, and when the king found him with her he was filled with wrath, and he said unto him, “Wouldst thou force my wife in my own house?” Then he commanded his soldiers to hang Hama (Haman) upon the tree, which he had prepared for Mardochaeus (Mordecai), and thus he performed the prayer of Esther (Aster). Salutation to Esther (Aster). Salutation to Aboli, whose head was cut off in a tank of water. Salutation to Felhasius, the ascetic, Basil, who was hacked in pieces, and Arius, who was sent into exile. Salutation to the righteous fathers of the city of Kadih Aswan, who enriched the poor. Salutation to thy birth, seeing that thy mother had long remained barren, O Takla Haymanot, the sun who conquereth time, with whose praise the earth is filled from one boundary to the other, and with whose righteousness heaven is covered. [The above salutations are wanting in the Bodleian MS.] And on this day also died Abba Pawli who disputed with Satan in the city of Samer, which is called Salonkeya (Thessalonica). Now the men thereof were kinsmen of Herod, and they were wicked; and they had the custom of going into the bath the men and the women together. And Abba Pawli came to that city, now he had a young deacon with him, and he found the people, both men and women, going into the baths together on the Fourth Day of the week. And when Abba Pawli saw [this] he marveled exceedingly, and he said unto one of them, “Why do ye do this abominable thing?” And the man said unto him, “As we consort with our wives on our couches even so we consort with them in the bath.” And when the night was come, and men were asleep, Abba Pawli began to pray to God with anguish of heart to smite the people a severe blow. And when he had finished his prayer he saw a black man coming from the bathhouse carrying a sword, which was like fire. And Abba Pawli said unto him, “Who art thou and what dost thou seek?” And the black man said unto him, “I am Satan. God hath sent me, since thou didst ask Him for me.” And Abba Pawli said unto him, “I beseech thee to tell me all thine error”; and Satan said unto him, “Ask me what thou willest.” And Abba Pawli said unto him, “How dost thou find the means of entering into man against God’s Will?” And Satan said unto him, “We have no power to enter into man as long as he walketh in the path of God, nor into him that invoketh the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, nor into those who receive the Body and Blood of Christ in holiness”; and then Satan told him all his error. And when Abba Pawli looked about so that he might remove himself from Satan, there was, as it were, a flash of fire; and Abba Pawli was terrified, but an angel of God appeared and strengthened him. And on that day a stroke of God descended and destroyed those who were in the bathhouse, and all that were left [alive] were one man and five women. And Abba Pawli said unto them, “Why do ye do this?” And they said unto him, “Our fathers commanded us to go into the bath house, and to enjoy ourselves one day each month with our women. We shut the doors, and extinguish the lamps, and lie with the woman on whom our hand happeneth to fall.” And Abba Pawli said unto them, “Doth anyone of you know his daughter or his sister?” And they said unto him, “Certainly not, one doeth like the irrational beast.” And Abba Pawli taught them the Faith of Christ, and baptized them in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and administered to them the Holy Mysteries. And he went into his cell, and finished his fight, and departed to his God at a good old age. Salutation to Pawli, who made Satan to reveal to him the crafty and deceitful means, which he used in seducing the children of men. And on this day also the holy and honorable Ignatius, Archbishop of Antioch, became a martyr. This saint was the disciple of the blessed John the evangelist, and he followed him in preaching, and he went with him to many cities; and after this, John made him Archbishop of Antioch, and he preached the doctrine, which maketh alive therein. And he converted many to the knowledge of God, and he baptized them with Christian baptism, and he illumined them with knowledge, and revealed unto them the error of those who worship idols. And the pagans were wroth with him, and they accused him before the Emperor Trajan the Caesar, a heretic, and they said unto him, “Ignatius destroyeth the worship of thy gods, and he teacheth the people and bringeth them into the Christian Faith of Christ.” And straightway Trajan sent and had him brought into his presence, and the emperor said unto him, “Why hast thou done this, Ignatius? And why hast thou destroyed the worship of my gods, and hath brought all men to worship Christ?” And Ignatius said unto him, “If thou wilt allow me, O emperor, I will bring thee also to the worship of Christ, the God of all men, and I will make thee His friend.” And the emperor said unto him, “Cease this talk, and offer sacrifice to the gods, and if thou dost not do so I will torture thee very severely.” And Saint Ignatius said unto him, “O emperor, do whatsoever thou wishest to me, for I will not worship thine unclean gods, and I am not afraid of thy tortures, neither by thy fire nor by thy lions, and thou canst not separate me from the love of Christ, the Living King.” When the emperor heard this he was exceedingly wroth, and he commanded his soldiers to torture him severely. And they tortured him with divers kinds of tortures: they put burning coals of fire upon his hands, they pinched him with tongs the claws of which had been made red-hot in the fire, and they burnt his sides with red-hot pitch and oil; and after this they sliced all his body into pieces with butchers’ knives made of iron. When those who were torturing him were weary of inflicting tortures upon him, they cast him into the prison house until they were able to do with him what they wished; and he remained in the prison house for many days. And then they remembered him and brought him out and set him before the emperor, and the emperor said unto him, “O Ignatius, if thou couldst see the gods thou wouldst be pleased with their beauty.” And the saint said unto him, “If thou didst believe on Christ I could make thee to raise the dead, and to heal the sick.” And the emperor said unto him, “There is no worship better than the worship of the sun.” And the saint said unto him, “How is it good to worship the sun, which was created, and to forsake the Creator, Whose kingdom shall never end?” And the emperor said unto him, “What thou sayest is good, but thy transgression is not good, for thou hast drawn all the people of Syria to the worship of Christ.” And the saint was wroth, and he said unto the emperor, “Because I have drawn men away from the worship of idols, and have brought them into the worship of Christ, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, Who existed before the world, thou art wroth with me, and dost command me to worship thy gods and thine unclean idols! I will not accept thy words, and I will not sacrifice to Satans, but I will worship my God, Who is indeed God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” And straightway the emperor was wroth with him, and he commanded his soldiers to make two famished lions to attack him so that nothing whatsoever of his body might remain. And when Saint Ignatius saw the lions drawing towards him, he cried out with a loud voice and said unto the people, “Hear my voice, O ye men of the city of Rome, who are gathered together here, know ye that I do not suffer this torture for the sake of pride and arrogant boasting, but I suffer it patiently for the sake of Jesus Christ, my Lord God. And behold, my soul desireth that these lions shall chew me up like grain, for my soul desireth to depart to my Lord Jesus Christ.” And when the emperor heard this he marveled, and was frightened, and said, “How great is the patient endurance of these Christians under these tortures! What pagan is there who would have been able to endure such punishment as this for the sake of the gods?” And when all the lions had come to the saint they looked at him, and they stood still being frightened [of him]. Then one of them smote with his paw the head of the saint and clawed him, and straightway the saint delivered up his soul into the hand of Christ his God, with joy, and his petition was fulfilled. And those lions were not able to touch his body, for it was laid up in the city of Rome until the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; and they took it to a grave which was outside the city, with praise and singing. Thus he finished nobly his martyrdom for the Name of our Lord Christ, and the story of his fight hath been written so that it may be profitable to him that readeth it. And those who shall remember his name, and shall celebrate a festival in his honor, in any place, he shall make intercession when they are suffering tribulation, for he is the enemy of the life of this world. Salutation to Ignatius. And on this day also died the Holy Father Fulgosius, Archbishop of the city of Antioch. This holy man married a wife and begot a daughter, and then his wife died and he assumed the garb of the monk; and because of his virtues, and his goodness, and his pleasing manners, and his asceticism, and his gentleness God chose him to be Archbishop of the city of Antioch. And having been appointed he tended the flock of Christ carefully and well, and he protected it against the Arian wolves, and the followers of Macedonius, and the Sabellian heretics. He lived the life of an angel in his archiepiscopal office, and he did not possess a change of apparel, and he had no money. And he finished his fight and pleased God, and died in peace. And Saint John of the Golden Mouth (i.e. Chrysostom) praised him in his [Book of] Praisings and Discourses, and made manifest therein his virtues and his righteousness. Salutation to Fulgosius, the devotee of God. And on this day also died ... in one day, even as the angel told them. [Wanting in the Bodleian MS.] Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen. Tahisas 25 (January 3)

On this day died John Kama (John, the Black). This holy man was from the city of Sabra, of the country of Mansis (Mansurah) in the north of Egypt, and his parents were God- fearing believers; and they had no other son, ad they wished to rejoice in him in this world. And they married him to a certain maiden against his will, and when he entered the bridal bed-chamber he stood up as one who prayed frequently, and he drew nigh to the maiden and said unto her, “O my sister, thou knowest that this world is a fleeting thing, and all the lust thereof; wilt thou that we agree together to preserve our bodies in purity?” And she answered and said unto him, “God is my witness that I have never for a moment thought of desire in my heart. I do not love marriage. May parents forced me to marry thee against my will. And now, behold, God hath fulfilled my petition.” And they agreed together to preserve their virginity unsullied, and they lived together many days and they slept together, but kept their virginity undefiled. And it came to pass that when they lay down together the angel of God descended like a bird, and covered them over with his wings. And because of their exceedingly great righteousness God made a vine to grow in their house, which no man had planted, and it grew and mounted up and overshadowed their heads, and their children (sic). And it was a sign of their virginity and of their holiness, for this their action was above the nature of the children of men--two young people sleeping together and the desire of the flesh never rising in their thoughts! Who can go into the fire without burning himself? They would not have done this unless the help of God had protected them. And when their parents saw that they had lived together for many days, and had begotten no children, they thought that they had had no children because they were too young. And after this John Kama said unto his wife, “O my sister, I want to go to the desert of Scete and become a monk, but I will do nothing without thy consent.” And she answered and said unto him, “Do what thou wishest, and may God cause thee to be right, so far as I am concerned.” When she had said this John took her and placed her in a house of virgin nuns, and she became abbess, and she performed signs and wonders and pleased God. And when the saint went out to depart and to labor in the desert of Scete, a man with a shining face appeared unto him and asked him concerning his going forth. And Saint John Kama said unto him, “If God be willing I wish to become a monk.” And the man with a shining face advised him and said unto him, “Go to the cell of Saint Abba Darudi of the monastery of Abba Macarius, and live with the elder Abba Darudi, who will make thee a monk and teach thee the path of the ascetic life.” And the shining man walked with John Kama, and comforted him until he came to the house of Abba Darudi; and when he entered the house Abba Darudi received him into it, and arrayed him in the garb of the monk, and Abba John learned from him the Monastic Rule and the way of righteousness until Abba Darudi died. When Abba Darudi died the angel of God commanded Abba John Kama to go to the west, to the city of Saint Abba John, the Short, and to build a habitation for himself there. And he departed thither, and three hundred brethren gathered together to him, and he arrayed them in the garb of the monk, and they built a church and a tower (or, fortress), and he taught them to pray and to sing hymns and psalms, and the Liturgy, and the Praises of our Lady Mary. One night when they were standing in prayer at the time of midnight, at the praising of our Lady Mary, the apostolic Saint Athanasius appeared unto him, and revealed unto him spiritual mysteries; and from that day they have mentioned the name of Saint Athanasius at the end of the prayer of the Three Children. Once our Lady Mary appeared unto John Kama, and said unto him, “This place shall be my house for ever. And I will be with thy sons as I have been with thee, and my name shall be given to this monastery”; and the church was dedicated in the name of our Lady Mary, the God- bearer. Now there were certain monasteries in Upper Egypt the monks of which wished to be under the shadow of Saint Abba John Kama, and they sent a message to him asking him to come to them, so that he might strengthen them in his Rule and Ordinances. And Abba John called one of his disciples whose name was Sinoda, and he said unto him, “Stand over the brethren until I return”; and that holy brother whose name was Sinoda stood on his feet, and he slumbered not, nor lay on the ground, until Saint Abba John Kama returned from Upper Egypt; and he found him standing on his feet, which had broken out in ulcers wherefrom the worms were crawling. And Abba John Kama said unto him, “O my son Sinoda, why hast thou done this thing? I commanded thee to stand over the brethren in my place, and to inspect their works and their obedience.” And Sinoda bowed down at his feet and said unto him, “Forgive me, O my father, I have not done anything good.” Then the days drew nigh when God wished to give Abba John Kama rest from the toil of this fleeting world, and the saint wished to depart to his everlasting habitation, which changeth not; and he became a little sick and delivered up his soul into the hand of God. Salutation to Abba John Kama. Salutation to Abba Darudi. And on this day also died the Maccabees in the kingdom of the Midianites and Moabites. There was a king whose name was Sirusadin who was devoted to evil, and he boasted himself in the multitude of his horses, and the might of the soldiers who were under his authority. And he had many gods whom he worshipped and served, fifty of whom were in the form of men and twenty in the form of women; and he used to sacrifice to them morning and evening, and compel [other] men to sacrifice to them. And there was a man of the tribe of Benjamin whose name was “Maccabeus,” and he had three good, strong sons; one of them used to choke bears, and kill them like chickens, and one of them used to kill a bear with a single blow. And their names were “Abya” and “Sila” and “Pantos.” And they possessed beauty of their hearts, for they worshipped God, and feared not death. And the king said unto them, “Ye are heretics; why do ye not offer sacrifice to my gods and worship them?” And they answered him with one voice, and said unto him, “We will neither offer sacrifice to thy gods, now worship them, but we will worship the Lord God, Who is thy Creator, and Who made thee, and made thee to reign over all His work so that thou mightest see His people in integrity and righteousness. When He shall say unto thee, ‘Leave this world,’ wilt not thou have to leave it? And will He not give thy glory to another, because thou hast made thyself blind to the duties of governing, which He hath committed to thee? For suddenly death shall come upon thee. And at the Resurrection there shall be judgment, and the deeds of men and of kings shall be enquired into. There is nothing, which shall give them honor, for at the punishment and the judgment riches and poverty shall be alike. The Judge is just, and the punishment is prepared, and the Books shall be opened, and the deeds of men shall be made manifest, and there shall be nothing, which shall remain, concealed and unrevealed at the resurrection of the dead. Even the earth shall give back what hath been committed to its care, and what hath been laid upon it, even as a woman when her time for bringing forth hath arrived cannot shut her womb when that which is in her belly is about to go forth. Can any man compel the clouds to gather up water when their Lord hath commanded them to drop down rain? And they will shut up the souls of sinners in houses of darkness, the darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. And the souls of the righteous they will take into the houses of light, wherein there is pleasure and never-ending joy. And at the resurrection of the dead [souls] will be gathered from the four winds, and they shall be brought by water, and by the dew, and by the sun, and by the heat, and by the dust of the earth, and by the breath of the winds; and God will bring from His habitation the Spirit. And when He summoneth them with one word they will all be gathered together, and the resurrection will take place. And the Living God, the Spirit of Life, will give the space of seven hands to one grain, according to His Will, and it shall shoot out its roots into the earth, and sprout and bust into leaf above ground. See that it be not dead, and unable to live at all.” And when the king heard this he commanded [his soldiers] to cast them into a red-hot oven, and they did as the king commanded; and these blessed and holy men entered it and delivered up their souls into the hand of God, their Lord. And the angels met them with joy and gladness, and they took them into the bosoms of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, in the Garden of Delight. And the king also commanded the soldiers to cast their bodies into the sea, and they did so, but the sea would not swallow them, because the Spirit of God was with them. And he also commanded them to cast their bodies to the wild beasts, and they did so, but neither the wild beasts nor the birds would touch them; and the eagles and other birds hovered over them and protected the bodies for fourteen days. And their bodies sparkled like the foot (i.e. rays) of the sun, and like a tabernacle of light. Salutation to the five (sic) Maccabees. And on this day also are commemorated Nicolaus, the governor, and his believing wife, and Daniel, the Less, the monk and spiritual fighter. Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen. Tahisas 26 (January 4)

On this day Saint Anastasia became a martyr. This spiritual fighter was from the city of Rome; her father was a worshipper of idols, and her mother was a Christian, who as soon as the child was born, had her baptized secretly with Christian baptism and without her father’s knowledge; for had he known it would have been impossible to baptize her. And her mother reared her piously, and each day and each night she suckled her on Christian doctrine, and at length she brought her into the True Faith, and no one was able to change her belief. When she had grown up and had reached the age for marriage her father gave her in marriage to a man who was an infidel like himself, and she hated him exceedingly, and had no wish whatsoever to consort with him. And she pretended to be ill, and she was always putting forward the pretexts which women are wont to use when they want to avoid union with their husbands. She would frequently dress herself in soiled and wretched apparel, wishing by these means to make him to hate the sight of her, so that he might not have the desire to have union with her, and that, perhaps, he might separate from her altogether. And she prayed and entreated our Lord Jesus Christ very often to remove her from him quickly. And when her husband would leave his house to go to his work, she used to go out likewise, and pass into the streets and visit the believers of the True Faith who were shut up in prison, and minister unto them, and give them what they needed. When her husband knew this he made her prisoner in his house, and he shut the door upon her that she could not go out, and she prayed to God often with tears, and sorrow, and groans, to release her from her husband’s hand; and God heard her petition, and received her groaning, and destroyed her husband straightway; and when her husband died she rejoiced in his death exceedingly. Then she rose up forthwith and gave all her goods to the poor and the needy, and the prisoners, and the confessors, and those who fought the spiritual fight. And the governor of the city heard the report of her, and sent a messenger to her to bring her to him, and he brought her; and the governor questioned her concerning her Faith, and she confessed before him that she was a Christian. And the governor spoke many words unto her; and made her many promises in order to make her abandon her good counsel, but she refused [so to do]. When she would not obey him, the governor tortured her very severely, and when he was weary of torturing her he ordered his soldiers to sink her in the sea, and they drowned her; but straightway God raised her up out of the sea alive and uninjured. When the governor heard that she was alive, he commanded the soldiers to lay her down on the ground between four pegs, and to tie her to the pegs, and to beat her with stripes, which caused agonizing pains, and they did to her even as he commanded; but no harm whatsoever came to her. Then he commanded them to cast her into a pit of fire, which was prepared for her, and she delivered up her soul into the hand of God, and entered the kingdom of the heavens. Salutation to Anastasia who rejected idols. Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen. Tahisas 27 (January 5)

On this day Saint Absadi the bishop became a martyr. When the Emperor Diocletian heard the report of the great Bishops Abba ‘Absadi and Abba Hellanicus, of Upper Egypt, and that they were confirming the Christians in the True Faith of our Lord Christ, and were destroying the worship of idols, he sent messengers and had them brought to him, and he tortured them very severely. And Saint Abba ‘Absadi asked the imperial messenger to wait for him one day. Then he prepared the Eucharist, and administered to the people the Holy Mysteries, and he commanded them to hold fast to the True Faith, and he embraced them and went forth from them, and delivered his soul into the hand of God. And the messenger took him to Arianus, the governor of the city of Antinoe. And when the messenger saw the face of Abba ‘Absadi, he marveled at his appearance and his dignity, and he was sorry [for him], and said unto him, “Thou art a man of dignity; take pity on thyself and hearken to the voice of the emperor.” And the saint answered and said unto him, “I will not hearken to the command of the emperor, the infidel, and I will not exchange the kingdom of heaven for life in this transitory world”; and there were many words between them, but Saint ‘Absadi would not turn from his good counsel. And then the governor commanded the soldiers to torture him on the wheel, [and they did so]; and they cast him into a red-hot oven, and also into the furnace which heated the baths; and Saint Abba ‘Absadi endured all these tortures patiently, and God raised him up uninjured. Then the governor commanded them to cut off his head with the sword. And when the saint heard this he rejoiced with a great joy, and he put on his priestly vestments, and he stretched out his neck and they cut off his glorious head, and he received the crown of martyrdom in the kingdom of the heavens. Salutation to ‘Absadi and Hellanicus, Bishops of Upper Egypt. Salutation to the endurance of Abba Bag’u, who laid a ban upon water or seventy years. Salutation to Philip the virgin, who by fasting and the spiritual fight reduced himself to skin and bone. Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen. Tahisas 28 (January 6)

On this day is commemorated the festival of the Nativity of our Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ in the flesh, of our holy Lady the Virgin Mary. Now our God by the operation of His Wisdom commanded that a decree should go forth from Augustus Caesar, the emperor, that all the people should be numbered, and their names written down; and because of this Joseph went up from Nazareth, and the Virgin Mary was with him, to Jerusalem so that his name and her name might be written down. And he was of the tribe of Judah, and of the house of David, for the home of David was in Bethlehem, even as the Holy Gospel saith. And when they had arrived there, the day of her bringing forth came, and she brought forth her first-born Son, and she wrapped Him up in His swathing, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room in their abode. And there were shepherds in that place keeping vigil, and tending their flocks. And the angel of God stood by them, and the glory of God rose upon them, and they feared with a great fear. And the angel said unto them, “Fear not, for behold I tell you tidings of great joy which shall be for you and all nations. Behold, there is born unto you this day a Savior, Who is Christ God the Blessed, in the city of David. And the sign of this is that ye shall find the Child tied up in His swathing and lying in a manger.” And forthwith there came with that angel multitudes of the hosts of heaven, and they praised God, saying, “Glory (or praise) to God in the heavens, and peace on the earth to the children of men [is] His pleasure.” And the angels passed way from them and went up into the heavens. And the shepherds said among themselves, “Let us depart and go to Bethlehem, so that we may know this thing which God hath made known unto us.” And they departed quickly, and they found Mary and Joseph, and the Child lying in a manger, and the place where he was shone with light. When they saw they knew that the words, which [the angel] had spoken unto them concerning the Child were true, and they worshipped the Child, and returned to their places praising God and giving thanks unto Him. And they related to everyone what they had seen and heard, according to what had been told to them. Glory to our Lord God and Redeemer Jesus Christ forever and ever. Amen. And on this day also one hundred and fifty men and four and twenty women became martyrs. These people came from the city of Antinoe and they were infidels. When the governor of Antinoe tortured Saint Paul the Syrian, the martyr, these people watched Saint Paul the Syrian whilst he was being martyred. And straightway the governor commanded the soldiers to make iron nails red-hot in the fire, and to gouge out the eyes of Saint Paul therewith; and when they had done this they gouged out his eyes, and cast him into the prison house. And the people came to him to see him again, and his eyes could see, for our Lord Christ had healed them, and he appeared as one who had not suffered any pain whatsoever, even as they themselves could testify. And when those men and women saw this miracle, they marveled exceedingly, and they knew that their idols could not perform such a miracle as this, and that God Who had created them, the Creator of creation, was the God Who had healed the two eyes of Paul. And they all cried out with one voice, saying, “We are Christians, and we openly confess the God of Saint Paul.” Then they drew nigh unto Saint Paul and bowed down at his feet, and besought him to pray on their behalf. And he lifted them up, and blessed them, and said unto them, “God shall accept your trust, and shall number you among the martyrs”; and they went to the governor and confessed our Lord Christ before him. And he commanded the soldiers to cut off their heads with the sword, and they cut them off, and these men and women received crowns of martyrdom in the kingdom of the heavens. Salutation to the festival whereon Christ was born. Salutation to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Salutation to the men and women who were of the company of Paul the martyr. Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen. Tahisas 29 (January 7)

And on this day is celebrated the greatest of all festivals, the honorable, and great, and holy festival of the Birth of our Lord Christ, of the holy Virgin Mary. Now our fathers, the doctors of the Church, are at one in their opinion that the festival of the Holy Nativity should be celebrated on two days, for the Nativity took place in the last part of the night of the twenty-eighth day, and in the first part of the night of the twenty-ninth day. When Paguemen (i.e. the intercalary month) hath six [days], in that year the festival of the Nativity shall be on the eight and twentieth day; but if Paguemen hath five [days] the festival of the Nativity shall be on the nine and twentieth day. And the [doctors] have ordained and commanded that the festival of the Nativity shall be celebrated two days, for it is the chief of the holy festivals. And the Holy Gospel saith, “And our Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod. And behold there came wise men from the country of the East, and they came into Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is He who is born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star, and have come to worship Him’” (Matthew ii, 1,2). Now these wise men were of the family of Balaam, and they were diviners, and astrologers, and they watched the stars, and held converse with them. And it was written in their books and in the books of Balaam, that Christ, the King of the Jews, was to be born, for he saith, “A star shall rise from Jacob and a king from Israel” (Numbers xxiv, 17). And God in the operation of His wisdom made these diviners to understand, and he made those who were astrologers to believe in Him. And He showed them this star, and when they saw it they rejoiced, for its appearance was different in very many respects from that of the other stars. Now its appearance was this: That star had the form of a virgin embracing a child in her bosom, and it traveled from left to right, and it traveled by day, and disappeared by night. When the wise men traveled, the star traveled; and when they stood still it stood still. And it was visible to them in one place, and was hidden from them in another. When they came into Jerusalem it became hidden, and when it was hidden from them they were exceedingly sorry, and did not know what to do. And then they came into Jerusalem and asked for Him that had been born. And the number of those diviners was three thousand, and their kings were three, and each of them had one thousand and seventy horses. And when Herod heard about the diviners who had come to Jerusalem on account of the King Who had been born, he was dismayed and was afraid for his kingdom, for he heard from the Jews about him, that the Messiah would be born in the flesh. And he gathered together all the chief priests, and the scribes of the people, and he said unto them, “Where is the Messiah to be born?” And they said unto him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for even thus is it written in the prophet: ‘And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Ephrata, thou shalt not be for ever the least important and smallest of the principalities of Judah, for in thee shall be born and go forth a king and a governor who shall supervise My people Israel’” (Matthew ii, 6). Then Herod summoned unto him the diviners by themselves in secret, and he enquired carefully of them the day when the star appeared unto them. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “When ye have departed enquire carefully about the Child and where He is born, and when ye have found Him come back to me, and tell me so that I may come and worship Him.” Now these words came from him with deceit, for when the wise men had found Him, he determined to kill Him. And when the wise men heard these words from the king, they departed, and that star which they had seen in the East guided them until it brought them to the cave, and it stood over the cave where the Child was; and when they saw Him they rejoiced with great joy. And by the Will of God Joseph and Mary and the Child our Lord Jesus, went out that day to the cave, and at length the diviners found them, for our Lord Christ was reared only at Nazareth. And it was two years after He was born when the diviners came to Him, and when they entered the cave they found the Child with Mary His mother, and they fell down and worshipped Him, and they embraced Him, and they opened their treasures and brought and gave Him the gold which was His tribute, for He was a king, and incense because He was God, and myrrh, which was a symbol of His life-giving death. And [the angel] appeared unto them again and told them in a dream not to go back to Herod, but to depart by another road and journey to their own country. And they departed and became preachers and announcers of the appearance of God in the flesh. Concerning this day Isaiah the prophet prophesied, saying, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and she shall call his name Emmanuel which is, being interpreted, God with us” (Isaiah vii, 14). And concerning this virgin the prophet Ezekiel prophesied, saying, “I saw the door of the East. And God said unto me: This shall be a means of exit. None shall enter through it, and none besides the Lord God of Israel shall go out there from” (Ezekiel x, 19). And concerning this virgin Daniel the prophet saith, “I saw as it were the Son of man, and a cloud came until it reached the Ancient of Days. And it drew nigh unto Him and ascribed to Him dominion, and sovereignty, and honor, and it made all the people and all he nations worship Him, and His dominion was an everlasting dominion, and there was no end to His kingdom” (Daniel vii). And Isaiah the prophet also saith, “God appeared unto me from Zion, having covered Himself with a covering of flesh like unto myself, and He said unto me, Behold the flesh which I will take from the seed of David, the son of Jesse.” And Isaiah the prophet also saith, “Behold, I will assuredly make a new heaven and a new earth, and I will dwell in them with those I love, and they shall rejoice for ever.” And also, “God will make a rod from the root of Jesse to bud, and He will put wisdom, and knowledge, and power therein, and he shall do justice to the poor, and he shall smite the earth with the word of his mouth, and he shall slay the perverse with the spirit of his lips.” And Isaiah the prophet also saith, “I will set my son to be a sign for the nations, and he shall rule over them, and they shall believe on Him and put their trust in Him, and He shall be for rest and glory, and the earth shall be full of the knowledge of God.” And Isaiah also saith, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given. His dominion shall be upon His swathing, and His name shall be called, Great, Counselor, Almighty God, Governor, King of Peace, Everlasting Father who shall come.” And Jeremiah the prophet saith, “Thus saith the Lord: In those days great light shall rise up for David, and he shall set judgment and integrity in the earth. And God shall deliver those who believe on Him, from Judah and Israel.” And Elisa the prophet saith, “God shall come down from heaven, and shall walk about in the market-places of the children of Israel, and He shall teach the people righteousness, and all nations shall be in submission unto Him, except the nation of the alien sons of Abraham.” And Nehemiah prophesied, saying, “God shall come in my own appearance, and His raiment shall be as is my raiment.” And Joel the prophet prophesied, saying, “I see the virgin daughter of the tribe of Judah and of the seed of David become a seat for God, and she shall burn like fire. And I asked the Cherubim concerning her, and I said unto him, ‘Who is this [virgin]?’ And he said unto me, ‘This is the virgin, the seat of God, chosen from among the sons of Adam, and by her He shall redeem the abominable nations, and she shall be a helper and a support of him that shall believe on her.’” And David saith in the Psalms, “The Great God said unto me: Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee. Ask Me, I will give Thee the nations for an inheritance, and Thy rule shall be to the ends of the earth. Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron, and like the vessel of the potter Thou shalt smash them. And now, O kings, get ye understanding, and be admonished all ye who judge the earth. Serve ye God with fear, and rejoice in Him with trembling; strengthen wisdom so that God may not be wroth, and that ye may not perish from the way of righteousness. Blessed be all those who put their trust in Him” (Psalm 2). And the prophet also saith in the 110th Psalm, “I begot Thee in the womb before the Morning Star. God hath sworn, and He will not repent. Thou art a priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedek” (Psalm 110:3-4). As he revealed unto Abraham a ram in the thicket, and as water poured out of the rock in the desert, and as the dry rod of Aaron sprouted and blossomed, and as the ass of Balaam spoke, and as water poured out from the jawbone of an ass into the hands of Samson the giant, and water and honey from the bones of a lion, and as the fire burned in the bush before Moses, and the bush was not consumed, even so did our Lady, the holy Virgin Mary, bring froth our Lord Jesus Christ. And the fire of His Godhead did not consume the Virgin Mary. Salutation to Thy Birth, O Lamp of the darkness. And on this day also was born Joshua, the judge, of the house of Ephraim, who became the salvation of the children of Israel against the attacks of their enemies, just as the Birth of our Lord became the salvation of Adam and his children. Now formerly the name of Joshua was “Hose’a” but when God delivered the children of Israel from Amalek by his help, he was called “Iyasus” that is to say, “Savior” (or “Redeemer”). After the death of Moses God chose him to be judge over Israel, and he delivered them from slaughter by alien nations, and made them to inherit their land; then he died in peace and inherited the kingdom of heaven. “The kings of Saba and Arabia shall bring gifts with entreaty, and the kings of the Islands and of Tarshish shall bring in presents” (Psalm 72:10). Hath come, hath come David, the king, was said of old by the little virgin who brought him forth. [Omitted in the Bodleian MS.] Salutation to Thy Birth, O consuming Fire. Salutation to your blood which was shed, O ye martyrs of ‘Akmim. [Omitted in the Bodleian MS.] Salutation to the blessed Kuoril, master of three camels [Kuoril the camel man, of the city of Samanud,] and Abba Gize. And on this day also are commemorated Jacob (James) and Piles (Pilses), and Theodore, the martyrs. And on this day also died ‘Akaryos (Abgar), King of Roha (Edessa). The kingdom of this saint was in the country of Syria, which is called “Saranin,” and in the city of Roha (Edessa), and he was a worshipper of idols, and a paralytic, and [although] he had given [much] money to the physicians they would not heal him. And when he heard of the works of our Lord, and the miracles which He performed, and how He healed the sick, and cast out devils, and opened the eyes of the blind, and raised the dead, he sent a letter to Him, saying, “Peace be unto Thee, O God, Who hast appeared in Jerusalem, in the flesh of men. And peace be unto Thy Father Who hast sent Thee down without Thy being separated from Him. And peace be unto the Holy Spirit, Who hath whispered in my mind that Thou art His Messiah, and His equal. Peace be unto Thee, O Thou Who wast begotten in virginity, without the seed of man. And peace be unto those who have believed on Thee. I believe on Thee, and I have turned from the worship of idols to the worship of Thee. Come to me that Thou mayest be King over me, and make my city Thy home (?), and heal my sickness, and cleanse my impurity. What matter the Jews to Thee? They spit upon Thy Name, and they hurt Thee; they are a nation of men of perverted counsel. If in times of old they did not believe on Thee when Thou didst bring them out of Egypt, by working miracles, and didst feed them with manna for forty years (?), and they murmured against Thee so much that Thou didst deliver them over to destruction, how much less will they believe on Thee when they see Thee clothed in the flesh of earth, which hungereth and thirsteth? Dost Thou imagine that their evil disposition will show itself differently because Thou art learned in hidden things?” And these and such like things did the King of Roha (Edessa) send to Him in writing. And when the messengers came to our Lord, He knew what was in their hearts, and He told them what was in the letter before they spoke to Him. And then He took a piece of white cloth and wiped His face thereon, and the exact form and features of His face remained impressed on that cloth, and He sent it with Thaddeus, His disciple, [to the King of Roha (Edessa),] saying, “Take this picture of My Person, and it shall fulfill for thee all thy wants, and it shall heal thee of thy sickness, and shall bless thy city, and direct thy kingdom rightly. I have tested this picture in fire and in water to see if it would change, [but it did not].” And when the messengers came to ‘Akaryos (Abgar) they gave him the picture, and he put it in the fire and in water, and neither harmed it. And the city of Roha (Edessa) believed in it, and in its divine authority, and it worked miracles innumerable. And the king was healed of his sickness and died in peace that day. Salutation to ‘Akaryos (Abgar), to whom our Lord sent an indestructible portrait of Himself. And on this day also died Kuoril, the camel man. This holy man was from the city of Samnud, and he devoted himself to fasting and to prayers, and God gave him the knowledge of mysteries, and of things that were hidden. And he had three camels, which he worked according to his needs, and he used to load them with what he required from the flax fields, which he possessed. And he had a certain man, who was one of the men of Faragun, and who was a chief priest of the shrine of our Lady Mary of that city, and his father had held the [same] office before him; and this church possessed much money which had been given thereto by kings and governors. And he used to have charge of the treasury, which was hidden, and the bishop and he, who was under him, that is to say, this chief priest, knew the amount of treasure therein; and then, suddenly, without uttering a word to his son, he died. When the bishop heard of his death he came to the church and demanded the money from his son, who said, “I do not know where the treasury is, and my father, whom the hand of death hath snatched sway suddenly, hath never told me.” When the bishop heard this he was wroth and he wished to torture him, and the man said to the bishop, “Wait until I have looked for the place where the treasure is, and if I do not find it do with me what thou wilt”; and to this the bishop agreed, and fixed a time. And the young man went into his house and told his wife all the trouble. And she said unto him, “Put thy trust in God, and go to the monks, the fathers of Dabra Abba Makara, and ask them and their neighbors for they will tell thee.” And when he had arrived there he asked the monks with tears to make themselves masters of [his] sorrow; and not one of them could tell him anything. Then a certain solitary made a sign to him, and said unto him, “Go to Samnud, and enquire for Kuoril an owner of camels, and tarry with him, and he will tell thee [where it is].” And when he had come into the city of Samnud, and enquired for Kuoril, the people told him [where he was]; and when he arrived there he found him in his house and his three camels were with him. As soon as Kuoril saw him, he knew by the Spirit everything, and what he wanted, and then he brought him into his dwelling and offered him food. And the young man said unto him, “O my father, I cannot eat until I have finished my errand”; and Kuoril said unto him, “Thine errand shall be fulfilled.” And after supper each man went to sleep in his abode. And at midnight Kuoril the camel man saw a vision of that man standing by his camels, and when he bowed the man bowed with him, and when he prayed the man prayed with him. And on the morrow he took his camels into the desert to load them with the flax, which he needed, and that man [of the dream] went with him to help him. When they arrived in the fields Kuoril took one camel to load him with flax, and that man took the second camel to load him, but he put a load on the camel’s back which was beyond his capacity to carry, and overloaded him very much indeed; and when the animal wanted to raise his load he was unable to move. And that man took a stick to beat him, but the camel cried out in human speech, saying, “O my father Kuoril, do not let this man ill-treat me; he hath loaded me beyond what is right for me.” And Kuoril came and lightened the weight of the camel’s load, and he said unto that man, “O my son, why didst thou load him with a weight heavier than he could carry? Wouldst not thou be sorry if one laid a heavy load upon thee, and a labor which thou couldst not perform?” And then when they came into their abode he asked him about his sorrow so that he might tell him and reveal to him the place of the treasure; and having made him to swear that he would not repeat his words to anyone else, he said unto him, “There is at the east end of the church a little box, and therein is the treasure.” And when the young man went into his house, he told his wife, and they went together to that place and found there a treasure the like whereof in quantity doth not exist in the treasuries of kings; and he told the bishop, who took charge of it. Salutation to the blessed Kuoril. And on this day also the men of Akmim became martyrs. They were gathered together in the church on the festival of the Nativity, which is to be praised! And they were performing the service of the consecration of the Offering, and they saw our Lord sitting upon the Tabot (tabernacle) administering the Holy Mysteries to the people. And whilst they were enjoying this happiness Arianus came and attacked them, and he entered the church and seized the two prefects of the city whose names were Behwafa and Wenin, and cut off their heads with the sword. After that he slew the deacons, and the sub-deacons, and those who sang (i.e. the choir), and the steward of the church, and he left not alive neither woman nor child; and he slew so many that the blood ran out of the door of the church and along the road for a distance of twenty cubits. And Abba Venudius, the bishop, and Dioscurus, and Saclabius and his brethren who were with them, Arianus took with him bound in fetters. And behold the memorial of their martyrdom is written in the section for the First Day of the month of Ter. Salutation to your blood, O ye martyrs of Akmim, which was shed mercilessly. Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen. Tahisas 30 (January 8)

And on this day is celebrated the greatest of all festivals, the honorable, and great, and holy festival of the Birth of our Lord Christ, of the holy Virgin Mary. Now our fathers, the doctors of the Church, are at one in their opinion that the festival of the Holy Nativity should be celebrated on two days, for the Nativity took place in the last part of the night of the twenty-eighth day, and in the first part of the night of the twenty-ninth day. When Paguemen (i.e. the intercalary month) hath six [days], in that year the festival of the Nativity shall be on the eight and twentieth day; but if Paguemen hath five [days] the festival of the Nativity shall be on the nine and twentieth day. And the [doctors] have ordained and commanded that the festival of the Nativity shall be celebrated two days, for it is the chief of the holy festivals. And the Holy Gospel saith, “And our Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod. And behold there came wise men from the country of the East, and they came into Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is He who is born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star, and have come to worship Him’” (Matthew ii, 1,2). Now these wise men were of the family of Balaam, and they were diviners, and astrologers, and they watched the stars, and held converse with them. And it was written in their books and in the books of Balaam, that Christ, the King of the Jews, was to be born, for he saith, “A star shall rise from Jacob and a king from Israel” (Numbers xxiv, 17). And God in the operation of His wisdom made these diviners to understand, and he made those who were astrologers to believe in Him. And He showed them this star, and when they saw it they rejoiced, for its appearance was different in very many respects from that of the other stars. Now its appearance was this: That star had the form of a virgin embracing a child in her bosom, and it traveled from left to right, and it traveled by day, and disappeared by night. When the wise men traveled, the star traveled; and when they stood still it stood still. And it was visible to them in one place, and was hidden from them in another. When they came into Jerusalem it became hidden, and when it was hidden from them they were exceedingly sorry, and did not know what to do. And then they came into Jerusalem and asked for Him that had been born. And the number of those diviners was three thousand, and their kings were three, and each of them had one thousand and seventy horses. And when Herod heard about the diviners who had come to Jerusalem on account of the King Who had been born, he was dismayed and was afraid for his kingdom, for he heard from the Jews about him, that the Messiah would be born in the flesh. And he gathered together all the chief priests, and the scribes of the people, and he said unto them, “Where is the Messiah to be born?” And they said unto him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for even thus is it written in the prophet: ‘And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Ephrata, thou shalt not be for ever the least important and smallest of the principalities of Judah, for in thee shall be born and go forth a king and a governor who shall supervise My people Israel’” (Matthew ii, 6). Then Herod summoned unto him the diviners by themselves in secret, and he enquired carefully of them the day when the star appeared unto them. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “When ye have departed enquire carefully about the Child and where He is born, and when ye have found Him come back to me, and tell me so that I may come and worship Him.” Now these words came from him with deceit, for when the wise men had found Him, he determined to kill Him. And when the wise men heard these words from the king, they departed, and that star which they had seen in the East guided them until it brought them to the cave, and it stood over the cave where the Child was; and when they saw Him they rejoiced with great joy. And by the Will of God Joseph and Mary and the Child our Lord Jesus, went out that day to the cave, and at length the diviners found them, for our Lord Christ was reared only at Nazareth. And it was two years after He was born when the diviners came to Him, and when they entered the cave they found the Child with Mary His mother, and they fell down and worshipped Him, and they embraced Him, and they opened their treasures and brought and gave Him the gold which was His tribute, for He was a king, and incense because He was God, and myrrh, which was a symbol of His life-giving death. And [the angel] appeared unto them again and told them in a dream not to go back to Herod, but to depart by another road and journey to their own country. And they departed and became preachers and announcers of the appearance of God in the flesh. Concerning this day Isaiah the prophet prophesied, saying, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and she shall call his name Emmanuel which is, being interpreted, God with us” (Isaiah vii, 14). And concerning this virgin the prophet Ezekiel prophesied, saying, “I saw the door of the East. And God said unto me: This shall be a means of exit. None shall enter through it, and none besides the Lord God of Israel shall go out there from” (Ezekiel x, 19). And concerning this virgin Daniel the prophet saith, “I saw as it were the Son of man, and a cloud came until it reached the Ancient of Days. And it drew nigh unto Him and ascribed to Him dominion, and sovereignty, and honor, and it made all the people and all he nations worship Him, and His dominion was an everlasting dominion, and there was no end to His kingdom” (Daniel vii). And Isaiah the prophet also saith, “God appeared unto me from Zion, having covered Himself with a covering of flesh like unto myself, and He said unto me, Behold the flesh which I will take from the seed of David, the son of Jesse.” And Isaiah the prophet also saith, “Behold, I will assuredly make a new heaven and a new earth, and I will dwell in them with those I love, and they shall rejoice for ever.” And also, “God will make a rod from the root of Jesse to bud, and He will put wisdom, and knowledge, and power therein, and he shall do justice to the poor, and he shall smite the earth with the word of his mouth, and he shall slay the perverse with the spirit of his lips.” And Isaiah the prophet also saith, “I will set my son to be a sign for the nations, and he shall rule over them, and they shall believe on Him and put their trust in Him, and He shall be for rest and glory, and the earth shall be full of the knowledge of God.” And Isaiah also saith, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given. His dominion shall be upon His swathing, and His name shall be called, Great, Counselor, Almighty God, Governor, King of Peace, Everlasting Father who shall come.” And Jeremiah the prophet saith, “Thus saith the Lord: In those days great light shall rise up for David, and he shall set judgment and integrity in the earth. And God shall deliver those who believe on Him, from Judah and Israel.” And Elisa the prophet saith, “God shall come down from heaven, and shall walk about in the market-places of the children of Israel, and He shall teach the people righteousness, and all nations shall be in submission unto Him, except the nation of the alien sons of Abraham.” And Nehemiah prophesied, saying, “God shall come in my own appearance, and His raiment shall be as is my raiment.” And Joel the prophet prophesied, saying, “I see the virgin daughter of the tribe of Judah and of the seed of David become a seat for God, and she shall burn like fire. And I asked the Cherubim concerning her, and I said unto him, ‘Who is this [virgin]?’ And he said unto me, ‘This is the virgin, the seat of God, chosen from among the sons of Adam, and by her He shall redeem the abominable nations, and she shall be a helper and a support of him that shall believe on her.’” And David saith in the Psalms, “The Great God said unto me: Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee. Ask Me, I will give Thee the nations for an inheritance, and Thy rule shall be to the ends of the earth. Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron, and like the vessel of the potter Thou shalt smash them. And now, O kings, get ye understanding, and be admonished all ye who judge the earth. Serve ye God with fear, and rejoice in Him with trembling; strengthen wisdom so that God may not be wroth, and that ye may not perish from the way of righteousness. Blessed be all those who put their trust in Him” (Psalm 2). And the prophet also saith in the 110th Psalm, “I begot Thee in the womb before the Morning Star. God hath sworn, and He will not repent. Thou art a priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedek” (Psalm 110:3-4). As he revealed unto Abraham a ram in the thicket, and as water poured out of the rock in the desert, and as the dry rod of Aaron sprouted and blossomed, and as the ass of Balaam spoke, and as water poured out from the jawbone of an ass into the hands of Samson the giant, and water and honey from the bones of a lion, and as the fire burned in the bush before Moses, and the bush was not consumed, even so did our Lady, the holy Virgin Mary, bring froth our Lord Jesus Christ. And the fire of His Godhead did not consume the Virgin Mary. Salutation to Thy Birth, O Lamp of the darkness. And on this day also was born Joshua, the judge, of the house of Ephraim, who became the salvation of the children of Israel against the attacks of their enemies, just as the Birth of our Lord became the salvation of Adam and his children. Now formerly the name of Joshua was “Hose’a” but when God delivered the children of Israel from Amalek by his help, he was called “Iyasus” that is to say, “Savior” (or “Redeemer”). After the death of Moses God chose him to be judge over Israel, and he delivered them from slaughter by alien nations, and made them to inherit their land; then he died in peace and inherited the kingdom of heaven. “The kings of Saba and Arabia shall bring gifts with entreaty, and the kings of the Islands and of Tarshish shall bring in presents” (Psalm 72:10). Hath come, hath come David, the king, was said of old by the little virgin who brought him forth. [Omitted in the Bodleian MS.] Salutation to Thy Birth, O consuming Fire. Salutation to your blood which was shed, O ye martyrs of ‘Akmim. [Omitted in the Bodleian MS.] Salutation to the blessed Kuoril, master of three camels [Kuoril the camel man, of the city of Samanud,] and Abba Gize. And on this day also are commemorated Jacob (James) and Piles (Pilses), and Theodore, the martyrs. And on this day also died ‘Akaryos (Abgar), King of Roha (Edessa). The kingdom of this saint was in the country of Syria, which is called “Saranin,” and in the city of Roha (Edessa), and he was a worshipper of idols, and a paralytic, and [although] he had given [much] money to the physicians they would not heal him. And when he heard of the works of our Lord, and the miracles which He performed, and how He healed the sick, and cast out devils, and opened the eyes of the blind, and raised the dead, he sent a letter to Him, saying, “Peace be unto Thee, O God, Who hast appeared in Jerusalem, in the flesh of men. And peace be unto Thy Father Who hast sent Thee down without Thy being separated from Him. And peace be unto the Holy Spirit, Who hath whispered in my mind that Thou art His Messiah, and His equal. Peace be unto Thee, O Thou Who wast begotten in virginity, without the seed of man. And peace be unto those who have believed on Thee. I believe on Thee, and I have turned from the worship of idols to the worship of Thee. Come to me that Thou mayest be King over me, and make my city Thy home (?), and heal my sickness, and cleanse my impurity. What matter the Jews to Thee? They spit upon Thy Name, and they hurt Thee; they are a nation of men of perverted counsel. If in times of old they did not believe on Thee when Thou didst bring them out of Egypt, by working miracles, and didst feed them with manna for forty years (?), and they murmured against Thee so much that Thou didst deliver them over to destruction, how much less will they believe on Thee when they see Thee clothed in the flesh of earth, which hungereth and thirsteth? Dost Thou imagine that their evil disposition will show itself differently because Thou art learned in hidden things?” And these and such like things did the King of Roha (Edessa) send to Him in writing. And when the messengers came to our Lord, He knew what was in their hearts, and He told them what was in the letter before they spoke to Him. And then He took a piece of white cloth and wiped His face thereon, and the exact form and features of His face remained impressed on that cloth, and He sent it with Thaddeus, His disciple, [to the King of Roha (Edessa),] saying, “Take this picture of My Person, and it shall fulfill for thee all thy wants, and it shall heal thee of thy sickness, and shall bless thy city, and direct thy kingdom rightly. I have tested this picture in fire and in water to see if it would change, [but it did not].” And when the messengers came to ‘Akaryos (Abgar) they gave him the picture, and he put it in the fire and in water, and neither harmed it. And the city of Roha (Edessa) believed in it, and in its divine authority, and it worked miracles innumerable. And the king was healed of his sickness and died in peace that day. Salutation to ‘Akaryos (Abgar), to whom our Lord sent an indestructible portrait of Himself. And on this day also died Kuoril, the camel man. This holy man was from the city of Samnud, and he devoted himself to fasting and to prayers, and God gave him the knowledge of mysteries, and of things that were hidden. And he had three camels, which he worked according to his needs, and he used to load them with what he required from the flax fields, which he possessed. And he had a certain man, who was one of the men of Faragun, and who was a chief priest of the shrine of our Lady Mary of that city, and his father had held the [same] office before him; and this church possessed much money which had been given thereto by kings and governors. And he used to have charge of the treasury, which was hidden, and the bishop and he, who was under him, that is to say, this chief priest, knew the amount of treasure therein; and then, suddenly, without uttering a word to his son, he died. When the bishop heard of his death he came to the church and demanded the money from his son, who said, “I do not know where the treasury is, and my father, whom the hand of death hath snatched sway suddenly, hath never told me.” When the bishop heard this he was wroth and he wished to torture him, and the man said to the bishop, “Wait until I have looked for the place where the treasure is, and if I do not find it do with me what thou wilt”; and to this the bishop agreed, and fixed a time. And the young man went into his house and told his wife all the trouble. And she said unto him, “Put thy trust in God, and go to the monks, the fathers of Dabra Abba Makara, and ask them and their neighbors for they will tell thee.” And when he had arrived there he asked the monks with tears to make themselves masters of [his] sorrow; and not one of them could tell him anything. Then a certain solitary made a sign to him, and said unto him, “Go to Samnud, and enquire for Kuoril an owner of camels, and tarry with him, and he will tell thee [where it is].” And when he had come into the city of Samnud, and enquired for Kuoril, the people told him [where he was]; and when he arrived there he found him in his house and his three camels were with him. As soon as Kuoril saw him, he knew by the Spirit everything, and what he wanted, and then he brought him into his dwelling and offered him food. And the young man said unto him, “O my father, I cannot eat until I have finished my errand”; and Kuoril said unto him, “Thine errand shall be fulfilled.” And after supper each man went to sleep in his abode. And at midnight Kuoril the camel man saw a vision of that man standing by his camels, and when he bowed the man bowed with him, and when he prayed the man prayed with him. And on the morrow he took his camels into the desert to load them with the flax, which he needed, and that man [of the dream] went with him to help him. When they arrived in the fields Kuoril took one camel to load him with flax, and that man took the second camel to load him, but he put a load on the camel’s back which was beyond his capacity to carry, and overloaded him very much indeed; and when the animal wanted to raise his load he was unable to move. And that man took a stick to beat him, but the camel cried out in human speech, saying, “O my father Kuoril, do not let this man ill-treat me; he hath loaded me beyond what is right for me.” And Kuoril came and lightened the weight of the camel’s load, and he said unto that man, “O my son, why didst thou load him with a weight heavier than he could carry? Wouldst not thou be sorry if one laid a heavy load upon thee, and a labor which thou couldst not perform?” And then when they came into their abode he asked him about his sorrow so that he might tell him and reveal to him the place of the treasure; and having made him to swear that he would not repeat his words to anyone else, he said unto him, “There is at the east end of the church a little box, and therein is the treasure.” And when the young man went into his house, he told his wife, and they went together to that place and found there a treasure the like whereof in quantity doth not exist in the treasuries of kings; and he told the bishop, who took charge of it. Salutation to the blessed Kuoril. And on this day also the men of Akmim became martyrs. They were gathered together in the church on the festival of the Nativity, which is to be praised! And they were performing the service of the consecration of the Offering, and they saw our Lord sitting upon the Tabot (tabernacle) administering the Holy Mysteries to the people. And whilst they were enjoying this happiness Arianus came and attacked them, and he entered the church and seized the two prefects of the city whose names were Behwafa and Wenin, and cut off their heads with the sword. After that he slew the deacons, and the sub-deacons, and those who sang (i.e. the choir), and the steward of the church, and he left not alive neither woman nor child; and he slew so many that the blood ran out of the door of the church and along the road for a distance of twenty cubits. And Abba Venudius, the bishop, and Dioscurus, and Saclabius and his brethren who were with them, Arianus took with him bound in fetters. And behold the memorial of their martyrdom is written in the section for the First Day of the month of Ter. Salutation to your blood, O ye martyrs of Akmim, which was shed mercilessly. Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen.