ON THE HOLY FORTY-THREE MONK-MARTYRS OF THE MONASTERY OF RAITHU IN ARABIA.
CommentaryXLIII monks of the monastery of Raithu, Martyrs (SS.)
From various sources.
[1] We append the Raithu monks to the Sinaite Saints, even though we do not know the date, because in a single panegyric by Molanus, Galesinius, Christopher the Patrician, and the Greek Menologion, and on January 13 by the German Martyrology, both groups are celebrated together, as we said above when treating of the Sinaites. Of these the Roman Martyrology speaks separately: "In Egypt, in the region of Raithi, of the holy forty-three monks, The feast of these Saints. who were killed by the Blemmyes for the Christian religion." And the Menologion of Henricus Canisius: "On the same day, the feast of the holy Fathers, forty-three in number, slaughtered at Raitho by the Blemmyes near the Red Sea, where are the twelve springs and seventy palm trees." The Menaea are more detailed, as below, though they have only λγ, that is, thirty-three. First we must inquire where Raithu was situated and who the Blemmyes were, since Baronius calls these Saracens and places Raithu in Egypt.
[2] That Raithu, the monastery of most holy monks, was situated not far from the Red Sea is generally agreed. That it was on this side of the Arabian Gulf, in Egypt itself, was the opinion not only of Baronius but of Ortelius, Whether Raithu was in Egypt, Raderus in his notes on the book of St. Climacus to the Pastor, and Rosweyde in the geographical table of the Lives of the Fathers. And this seems to be implied in the narrative of Nicolaus in Moschus, chapter 16: "When I was once in Raithu," he says, "three brothers were sent on a mission to the Thebaid. When therefore we were journeying through the desert," etc. For since the Thebaid was in Egypt, a journey thither from Arabia would not have been easy unless one crossed the Red Sea by ship or went around its innermost gulf toward the city of Heroum. But perhaps he omitted this for the sake of brevity. Certainly in book 6 of the Lives of the Fathers, translated by John, booklet 3, no. 11, it reads thus: Or rather in Arabia. "A certain solitary brother told the brethren who were in Raithum, where the seventy palm trees are, in the place where Moses landed with the people when he came out of the land of Egypt." But it is clear from chapter 15 of Exodus that those palms and springs were in Arabia, in the place called Elim—thus perhaps the plain was so called, in which at some distance from each other were those springs, and around them palms; toward the sea, however, was Raithu, whether that name belonged to the place at that time, or was later imposed. To the same effect is what John Moschus, chapter 120, relates: "The fishermen of Pharan told us, saying: One day we went to Buchrin across the Red Sea. And when we had caught very many fish, we returned and came near Pereleum; and wishing to cross over to Raithu, we were prevented by contrary winds," etc. It seems, therefore, that the monastery was situated on the eastern shore of the Red Sea, not far from the town of Phara; and between the Raithu monks and the Sinaites, Variously named. as is evident from St. John Climacus, there was great familiarity. Furthermore, it is called in the Menologion Ῥαϊθοῦ, Rhaithu; in the Menaea Ῥαϊθοῦ and Ῥαϊθώ with the second syllable long; in the Menologion of Canisius, Raithum; by Galesinius, Molanus, and the Roman Martyrology, Raithis regio; in book 5 of the Lives of the Fathers, booklet 8, no. 16, Raythum; by Rufinus, book 3, no. 188, Ragitham; in book 7 on the Lives of the Fathers, chapter 33, no. 3, Ragita. For it says there: "Abbot Motois came once from the place called Ragita, in the district of Gebilon." In Rufinus: "Abbot Muthues came once from the place called Ragitham, in the district of Gebalon." But in book 5 on the Lives of the Fathers, booklet 15, no. 27, where the same story is told: "Abbot Mathois once went from Raithu to the district of Gebalon."
[3] So much for Raithu. Now concerning the Blemmyes. Pliny, book 5, chapter 8, reckons them among the Ethiopians, but this is fabulous regarding them: "The Blemmyes are said to lack heads, having their mouth and eyes fixed upon their chest." The Blemmyes, a people. Solinus, chapter 31: "They believe the Blemmyes are born truncated where the head should be, but having a mouth and eyes on the chest—but not those Blemmyes who inhabit the regions near the Red Sea." Thus he makes two Blemmyan peoples, which are otherwise one. Strabo, book 17: "Below, moreover, on both sides of the island of Meroe along the Nile toward the Red Sea, the Megabari and the Blemmyes dwell, subject to the Ethiopians and neighboring the Egyptians." And afterward, speaking of Egypt: "From the north it is protected by a harborless coast and the Egyptian sea; from the east and west by the desert Libyan and Arabian mountains, as we said. The rest to the south is inhabited by the Troglodytes, Blemmyes, Nubae, and Megabari, who above Syene are Ethiopians." Ptolemy places them in nearly the same location, in table 4 of Africa. Procopius, book 1 of the Persian War, writes more about the Blemmyes, where he records that they worshipped Isis, Osiris, and Priapus, and also sacrificed human victims to the Sun—a custom abolished by Justinian's command. He says they inhabited the middle of the region between the city of Auxomis and the borders of Egypt. Finally, Ammianus, cited above when we treated of the Sinaites, writes that the Saracens, taking that name very broadly, extend from Mesopotamia to the borders of the Blemmyes—but not that the Blemmyes are reckoned among the Saracens. Otherwise, the Blemmyes and Troglodytes, as Strabo testifies, are nomads, that is, wanderers, and neither numerous nor warlike—although formerly they seemed to be, because they often attacked the unwary in the manner of brigands, in that respect similar to the Saracens.
[4] By these, then, at an uncertain time, the forty-three Fathers of the monastery of Raithu were killed. The Menaea record the event thus: "As formerly Rachel mourned her sons, so now Raitho Mourns her Abbots, cut down by swords." The slaughter of the forty-three monks at Raithu by the Blemmyes. These blessed Fathers completed their religious contest where the twelve springs and seventy palm trees are. When three hundred Blemmyes had crossed the Ethiopian Sea on huge rafts, they came to a certain place, and there, finding a ship and boarding it, they landed in the region of the Pharanites. The Pharanites went out to meet them, but were routed, losing forty-seven of their own. The barbarians, having carried off the wives and children of the Pharanites, hastened to the fortress where the holy Fathers had their church. These, however, with doors shut, awaited death. The barbarians, entering and finding no money, slaughtered them all; and with their earlier captives they withdrew to the sea. Finding no ship (the servants had sunk it and fled), they were driven to a frenzy and slaughtered all the captives. Then, turning on one another, they all fell by mutual wounds.