Eudocia

ON SAINT EUDOCIA, MARTYR, AT HELIOPOLIS IN PHOENICIA OF LEBANON.

Eudocia, Martyr, at Heliopolis in Phoenicia of Lebanon (Saint)

[1] Heliopolis was a city in Phoenicia of Lebanon, celebrated among writers, especially ecclesiastical ones, as it was distinguished by an episcopal see under the Metropolitan of Damascus Eudocia born at Heliopolis; and it is said still to exist, though under another name.

There Eudocia first led a luxurious life; but afterwards, having been converted to Christ in a wondrous manner, she cleansed it with many tears and at last with her blood. A native of Samaria She drew her lineage from Samaria. Thus the Menaea for March 1: "Τῆς ἁγίας ἱερομάρτυρος Εὐδοκίας, τῆς ἀπὸ Σαμαρειτῶν, τῆς

ἑταιρίδος," "Of the holy hieromartyr Eudocia, from among the Samaritans, who was a courtesan." The same is recited by Maximus, Bishop of Cythera.

The Menaea add this distich:

"O Samaritan Eudocia, not water to you, / But blood from your throat does the Savior offer."

[2] The first to enter her name in the Latin calendars appears to have been Doctor Molanus, who wrote thus in his appendix to Usuard, from the Greeks Inscribed in the Latin Martyrologies, as he says: "On the first day, of the holy Martyr Eudocia." Then Galesini, who in his notes cites the Menologion and Horologion of the Greeks, says: "In Greece, of Saint Eudocia, Martyr." She was finally inscribed in the Roman Martyrology in these words: "At Heliopolis, of Saint Eudocia, Martyr, who in the persecution of Trajan, having been baptized by Bishop Theodotus and fortified for her contest, at the command of the governor Vincentius was struck with the sword and received the crown of martyrdom." Arturus reports the same in his Sacred Gyneceum. Baronius in his notes cites the Greek Menologion. The Menologion published by Henricus Canisius reads: "Of the holy Martyrs" (here a printer's error must be corrected, who read the abbreviation "SS.," meaning "sanctissimae" or "sacrosanctae," And previously in the Greek sources as "Sanctorum," that is, "Of the Saints")—"of the most holy Martyr Eudocia, therefore, from the region of the Samaritans. She was from Heliopolis, converted to the faith of Christ under the Emperor Trajan, baptized by Bishop Theodotus; after many examinations for the faith of Christ, she is put to death by the axe at the hands of the governor Vincentius." Since Galesini also cites the Horologion, we shall give its words, though they are of no great moment. Thus it reads: "τῆς ἁγίας ὁσιομάρτυρος Εὐδοκίας," "Of the holy Martyr Eudocia." But more briefly, the Horologion says: "Of Saint Eudocia." The Menologion of Christopher, Patrician and Proconsul of Mytilene: "Let Eudocia be honored with hymns." The Menologion inscribed with the name of Basil the Porphyrogennetos reviews her acts somewhat more fully. Likewise the Greek Menaea; the Cytheraean edition; the Anthologion of Arcudi—from these we shall presently give the accounts.

[3] It is remarkable whence Genebrard drew what he writes in the Menologion of the Greeks under March 1: "Eudocia, Virgin and Martyr." Francis Laherius, one of our own, has also recently inscribed her in his Great Menologion of Virgins, published in French, But not with the title of Virgin because the Menaea proclaim that she tamed the rebellion of the flesh, preserved modesty, and foiled and scattered the wiles of the devil, etc., and because, having received the divine seed, she bore fruit a hundredfold, that is, he says, of virginity. Had he read further in the same Menaea, he would have discovered what victory over the flesh and the devil is celebrated in her case, and what abundance of fruits from the seed of divine grace, since she is expressly called πόρνη, that is, "a prostitute," Who was formerly a prostitute before, of course, she was converted to Christ. Wherefore we shall faithfully render in Latin those passages in the Menaea that are recited concerning her in this regard.

[4] "First indeed you were refined by the exercise of the mind, and you tamed the wantonness of the flesh by temperance; then in combat you scattered the machinations of the enemy But she afterwards tamed the flesh and the devil and won victory over him, O Eudocia, most blessed by God. Therefore Jesus, the lover of humankind and Savior of our souls, crowned you with a double garland of struggle."

[5] "In the furrows of your heart you received the divine seed, like a rich field, O divinely inspired one; and you truly brought forth the hundredfold ear of martyrdom, and stored it in the rational granaries, by the power of the Spirit who transformed you Changed by the Holy Spirit and by a better alteration converted you into another by his grace, O most celebrated Eudocia."

[6] "You raised the dead by your life-giving command, O most celebrated Eudocia, having mortified, O wisest one, the passions of the body by the labors of temperance; And crowned with martyrdom and now you dwell in heaven, having reached a glorious end with the Martyrs, and having happily completed the athletic course with the aid of the divine Spirit; and you pray to God for all who praise you with faith."

[7] "This holy Martyr, having left behind all the manifold pleasures of this life, however great, and having taken the Cross upon her shoulders, approached, O Christ, to be joined to you in holy union, and with tears and lamentation thus prays: Having obtained pardon like the Magdalene 'Do not cast me away as a harlot, you who are accustomed to cleanse the profligate and those ruined by luxury. Do not despise my tears, which the consciousness of very great debts draws forth. But receive me as you also received that other harlot who offered ointment. Let me too hear: Your faith has saved you; go in peace.'" But let these suffice to make clear that she is not celebrated in the Menaea as adorned with that other crown, namely, of virginity.

[8] Before we set forth the fuller Life of Eudocia, we shall give a twofold summary of her: first from the Greek Menologion preserved in the monastery of Grottaferrata, inscribed with the name of Basil the Porphyrogennetos—he who, together with his brother Constantine, was admitted by John Tzimisces to share the empire, which previously Romanus, father of both, and their grandfather Constantine, [Synopsis of her Life from the Menologion of the Emperor Basil the Porphyrogennetos] son of Leo the Wise and grandson of Basil the Macedonian, had held; he himself ruled with the same Tzimisces from the year 969 to 975, and then with his brother for 50 years until the year 1025, his brother surviving him by three years. In this Menologion, therefore, the following summary, or synopsis, of the life of the holy Martyr Eudocia is found: "The holy Martyr of Christ, Eudocia, was a native of the city of Samaria, in the reign of Trajan. At first she led a luxurious life, and because she was of elegant beauty, she attracted many lovers, from whom she amassed immense wealth. But afterwards, when she heard a certain monk named Germanus deliver a discourse on repentance, she was moved to compunction, then impelled also by a vision, and went to Bishop Theodotus, from whom she received Baptism. The vision was of this kind: she saw an Angel leading her by the hand to heaven, and other Angels congratulating her; then on the other side a raging and most hideous demon, saying that a great injury was being done to him because Eudocia had become a Christian. Wherefore she distributed her money to the poor and embraced the monastic life. But having been falsely accused by her own former lovers before King Aurelian, and brought to trial, when she raised from the dead the king's own son by prayer to God, she induced the king himself to believe in Christ, and was then acquitted. But afterwards, seized by the governor of that region, she was beheaded."

[9] The other summary is found in the great Greek Menaea, the Lives of the Saints by Maximus of Cythera, and the Anthologion of Antonius Arcudius, and an ancient Greek Synaxarion of the Collège de Clermont of the Society of Jesus. Another account from the Greek Menaea This, being somewhat fuller than that of the Emperor Basil, reads: "Eudocia was from Heliopolis, a city of Phoenicia of Lebanon, around the time of the Emperor Trajan, and on account of the exceptional beauty of her appearance was sought by many lovers, and thereby acquired ample riches. Then, having heard a certain monk named Germanus discoursing on piety and repentance, she gave her name to Christ and was washed with holy Baptism by Bishop Theodotus, having been moved to undertake it by certain divine revelations. For in a state of ecstasy she seemed to herself, with an Angel leading her by the hand, to ascend to heaven, and to see and hear other Angels congratulating her on her conversion; and a certain black specter, horrible in appearance, raging and crying out that an injury was being done to him if Eudocia were snatched from him. She, however, distributed her possessions to the poor and entered a monastery; and then, nobly completing the course of religious discipline, she was brought before Aurelian when he had attained the throne, having been denounced by those who had previously pursued her with impure love. But since she was endowed with the wonder-working grace of miracles, she both raised from the dead the son of that same king and led the king himself to the faith of Christ. After some years she was seized for trial by Diogenes, the governor of Heliopolis, and having performed certain miracles, she was again released. Finally, by Vincentius, the successor of Diogenes, she was beheaded."

[10] Both of these summaries will be illuminated by the fuller history of her Life, and the Life itself will borrow something from them in turn. This was furnished to us by a Greek codex of the Vatican Library, written on parchment The Greek Life from a very ancient Vatican codex in a hand so ancient that the most illustrious Leo Allatius attributed to it an age of easily a thousand years. It was translated into Latin by our Peter Poussines, both to lighten our labors by his kindness Translated into Latin by Peter Poussines and to adorn the Saints themselves with his elegant style. What he himself thinks of the Greek narrative and in what circumstances he translated it, he set forth in a letter sent here from Rome on the 6th day before the Kalends of October in the year 1662.

[11] "This is now, I think, the eleventh month since, on your departure from Rome, I promised to send back to you the Greek Eudocia that you left with me, transformed into Latin dress. Behold, I redeem my pledge: late, if you judge by the time; but if you consider the many and various impediments of business, travels, and the treatment of illnesses that have intervened in that period, perhaps even premature. I, who am not accustomed to neglect my debts, had long been troubled by this; and I kept trying to devote to it whatever scraps of free time I could. But I was unable to struggle through the mass of obstacles In a retreat in the countryside of Nola before the retreat of Sansone in the territory of Nola received me into the calm haven of a pleasant solitude. There, while recovering from the remedies of Ischia, no less troublesome and distressing than the disease itself, by the quiet of the countryside, I either found, or forcibly seized and eagerly grasped, the ever-fleeing opportunity to discharge a long-standing obligation and fulfill my promised duty."

[12] "I shall now give you an account of that work. And first I shall declare that I have perceived from the style that the writer of this little work is by no means a contemporary of Saint Eudocia, whose life he recounts. For he employs the word ὁμοούσιος, sanctioned only at the Council of Nicaea [Originally in Greek, previously rendered from another foreign language by someone else, it seems] and not in use before that. He calls the commander of the Praetorians a 'Count.' These features bespeak an age later than Constantine. Thus I would believe: the Acts of the holy Martyr, who lived and suffered in Phoenicia, were originally composed there, perhaps in the vernacular Syro-Phoenician tongue; and our anonymous author, whoever he is, having found them, communicated them to the Greek Church perhaps around the time of the Theodosii. Indeed, the diction itself, when I examined it more closely, seemed to me at times to have something of a foreign flavor." So much from that most learned man, whose other observations expressed in the same letter we shall report below.

[12] Concerning the homeland of Eudocia, the authors we have already cited write in more than one way. The Menologion of the Emperor Basil reads: "ὑπῆρχε μὲν ἀπὸ Σαμαρείας τῆς πόλεως" Eudocia's lineage from Samaria, her dwelling at Heliopolis—"She was from the city of Samaria." Arcudius in the Anthologion has the same. But the Life reads: "Γέγονέ τις κόρη τοὔνομα Εὐδοκία ἐν πόλει καλουμένῃ Ἡλιουπόλει, τῷ μὲν γένει Σαμαρεῖτις ὑπάρχουσα"—"There was at Heliopolis a certain maiden named Eudocia, a Samaritan by race." But since there were formerly several cities celebrated under the name of Heliopolis, as is evident from the book of Stephanus on cities, one may ask to which Heliopolis Eudocia belongs. Some refer her to the Egyptian one, as the most famous of all, which is also mentioned in Sacred Scripture. For thus Isaiah 19:18: "In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt speaking the language of Canaan and swearing by the Lord of hosts. One shall be called the City of the Sun." Strabo mentions it in book 17 of his Geography: "Above is the prefecture of Heliopolis, where the city of Heliopolis, or City of the Sun, stands on a mound—"

placed upon a great mound." And shortly after: Not in the Egyptian city, once celebrated "Now the city is entirely deserted." Strabo wrote at the beginning of the reign of Tiberius, nearly 80 years before the empire of Trajan (under whom Eudocia is said to have lived). This Heliopolis was, however, afterwards restored, and perhaps before the time of Ptolemy the geographer, who flourished under the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, before the year of Christ 180, in which the latter died. For Ptolemy writes in book 4 of his Geography, chapter 5, among other things: "The Heliopolitan Nome, and the Metropolis of the Sun. And on the borders of Arabia and Aphroditopolis, Babylon, Heliopolis, the City of the Heroes." And that Heliopolis was adorned with an episcopal see from ancient times, situated in Augustamnica II.

[13] Another Heliopolis, in Coele-Syria, is mentioned by the same Ptolemy in book 5, chapter 15, and was itself an episcopal see from the time of Trajan But that of Coele-Syria, when Theodotus, Bishop of Heliopolis, initiated Eudocia in holy Baptism. For, as the Menaea have it: "Αὐτὴ ἦν ἐξ Ἡλίου πόλεως τῆς ἐπαρκίας Λιβανησίας Φοίνικης"—"She was from Heliopolis in the province of Phoenicia of Lebanon." This Heliopolis is listed in the prefecture of Phoenicia Libanisia, or Phoenicia of Lebanon, in the ancient Greek and Latin Notitiae published by Charles de Saint-Paul, Bishop of Avranches. The same things found in the Menaea appear in Maximus, Bishop of Cythera, in his Lives of the Saints published in the vernacular Greek. So much for the homeland of Saint Eudocia.

[14] As to her era, the Life indicates: "Κατὰ τοὺς χρόνους Τραϊανοῦ τοῦ βασιλέως"—"In the time of the Emperor Trajan." The Menaea, the Cytheraean edition, Arcudius, and the Menologion of Basil agree. Trajan assumed the empire in the year of Christ 98 She lived at the beginning of the 2nd century and held it for 19 years, 6 months, and 15 days, finally dying on August 10 of the year 117. But who would believe that a King Aurelian existed in those regions while Trajan held the Roman Empire, or a little later under Hadrian, the span to which Eudocia's longer life could have extended? How could there then be a King Aurelian under Roman rule? Indeed, I think, one who remembers from the Gospel that there were Tetrarchs, or Kings, of the Ituraeans, the Trachonites, and Galilee, 60 years or more before the time of Eudocia, will not find this hard to believe—Kings who were nevertheless subject to the Roman Emperor. Elsewhere too, certain persons in provinces subject to the Roman Empire are found to have been called Kings, who had either surrendered their kingdoms to the Romans while retaining the title and some appearance of royal majesty, to be transmitted even to their children; or had voluntarily made themselves tributaries, so as not to be conquered by force; or perhaps the governors placed over certain peoples were adorned with the royal title to which those nations were accustomed, so that they might be less burdened by the change of government. Thus the Augustal Prefect was regularly appointed to govern Egypt with royal authority. And moreover, through a certain self-love or ambition of nations, it often happens that the titles of magistrates who preside over them, or previously governed them, even of the lesser sort, are shaped into a form more august than warranted. Sometimes perhaps the governors themselves arrogated the royal name, or did not disdain it when attributed to them by the flattery of their people. Cicero wittily ridicules in his second oration On the Agrarian Law against Rullus, Lucius Considius and Sextus Salsius, who within a few days of the colony being established at Capua wished to be called not duumvirs, as in other colonies, but Praetors, and were so called by the common mob; and he predicts that those whom their first year in office had given this ambition would within a few years aspire to the name of Consuls.

[15] What if this Aurelian, whoever he was, was honored with that magnificent title by the people for some brave deed against enemies As Odenathus at Palmyra in the 3rd century, while perhaps even the Emperor Hadrian tolerated it—Hadrian who had abandoned certain outlying provinces of the empire to the Parthians? Certainly Odenathus, prince of the Palmyrenes in the same Syria, after the year of Christ 260, when Valerian had been captured and the forces of the Roman Republic were exhausted, as Trebellius Pollio and others write, having first assumed the royal title together with his wife Zenobia, a most wise and valiant woman, "restored the East to its former condition, and would have restored all parts of the entire world, had he not been slain by the crime of his cousin Maeonius." What is more, after his death Zenobia herself retained the royal dignity And his wife Zenobia, and indeed with such terror (as the Emperor Aurelian writes to the Senate, according to the same Trebellius) among the Orientals and the peoples of Egypt, "that neither the Arabs, nor the Saracens, nor the Armenians stirred." And Claudius II himself (as the same Emperor Aurelian adds shortly after) "is said to have allowed her to rule With the acquiescence of the Emperor Claudius II, since he was occupied with the Gothic campaigns, and that wisely and discreetly, so that with her guarding the borders of the Eastern empire, he might carry out more securely what he had undertaken."

[16] But by whatever account—whether this Aurelian of ours was a living king, That Aurelian is rightly called a 'princeling' by the translator or was so called by later writers because it seemed more splendid—he is rightly termed a "princeling" by the translator, a title that is given even to great and powerful dynasts who are nevertheless subject to some greater authority, such as the Roman Emperor or some other monarch of comparable power, and also to those who, while possessing ample dominions equal to many ancient kingdoms in their own right, have not yet acquired the title of King by legitimate authority. The power of this Aurelian is seen even in the fact that he is reported to have ordered that a city be founded in the place where Eudocia dwelt. Whether this was actually done, however, is uncertain, since Aurelian died not long after. The author of the Menaea writes: "Εὐδοκία καλῶς τὸν δρόμον τῆς ἀσκήσεως διερχομένη, προσάγεται Αὐριλιανῷ τῆς βασιλείας κρατήσαντι"—"When Eudocia was nobly completing the course of her ascetic life, she was brought before Aurelian, who had gained the kingdom"—as if this were the same kingdom or empire mentioned earlier, "κατὰ τοὺς καιροὺς τῆς βασιλείας Τραϊανοῦ"—"in the time of the reign of Trajan." But this would be an enormous error if he meant the Roman Emperor Aurelian, successor of Claudius II, who assumed the empire 152 years after the death of Trajan.

LIFE AND PASSION

Of the Holy Martyr

EUDOCIA THE SAMARITAN

From the Greek Vatican Codex

Translated by Peter Poussines of the Society of Jesus.

Eudocia, Martyr, at Heliopolis in Phoenicia of Lebanon (Saint)

From a Greek Manuscript.

CHAPTER I.

The youth and dissolute life of Eudocia.

[1] In the time of the Emperor Trajan, there was at Heliopolis a maiden named Eudocia Eudocia, a most celebrated courtesan, a Samaritan by race, a most effective minister of the devil, who by the allurement of her surpassing beauty drew very many men astray and dragged them into their own miserable ruin by her snares, scraping together on every side, through the most profitable wickedness, most of the riches of those regions into her own most unjust treasuries. A twofold torch kindled such ardor toward her among the young men: the natural beauty of her face, which no art of painters, however great their effort, could capture by imitation; and the softness of her most seductive gestures, which irresistibly bewitched the eyes amid her most splendid adornment. Her widely spread fame drew Many flocking to her from everywhere from all the cities, even of distant regions, a great throng of noble young men to Heliopolis, who masked their pilgrimages thither with contrived pretexts, but were in truth drawn by the desire to behold and enjoy a beauty that had no equal anywhere. Nor did the plague rage only among laymen: there were not lacking men dedicated to the ministry of the churches who, scorning their religious obligations and the salvation of their souls—most foolishly bartered for the price of base pleasure—attached themselves to those pestilential allurements. She heaps up enormous riches And she at that time made no distinction between sacred and profane, so long as she procured money for herself from every quarter—money which she had accumulated beyond all measure and beyond any private scale, to the point of truly royal power.

[2] And so, by long habit and the manifold price of sinning, she had become hardened in her vices, so that plainly no power short of the divine seemed capable of curing so desperate a disease. Already hardened in wickedness But the care and hand of the divine Shepherd, seeking his lost sheep, was present in due time. He recognized his own work, corrupted by another's fault, and the divine potter who had first fashioned it wished to reshape it. The true Master of the household provided for the fruits of his vineyard, which had been exposed to the plunder of enemies. The guardian of the heavenly treasury endeavored to transfer to eternal treasures the coin that was stuck fast in the earth and the mire and perishing. Yet by divine grace she is changed into another person At last the ever-good keeper of the hoped-for grace of the righteous called this despairing Samaritan back to her own perfect hope. For the widely radiant splendor of divine mercy, displaying the greatness of the happiness awaited by those who live well, brought it about that the devil was sent away empty by the illuminated sinner, confounded by a shameful repulse and deprived of the effective instrument of his frauds, after the vanity of earthly riches—lavished as the price of dishonor by a woman prodigal of her own body and beauty—was exposed in the clear light. Whence the vessel that had been one of filth became immaculate; the sewer of mud was made a fountain of pure, perennial water; the stream of filth became a fragrant pool; the stinking vapors of a corrupt well became an alabaster flask of precious ointment; the plague and destruction of many men was changed into a port of salvation for very many.

CHAPTER II.

The conversation of Eudocia with the monk Germanus.

[3] Now the beginning of salvation and divine operation in her was as follows. A certain pious monk, named Germanus, returning to his monastery from some journey, She hears the monk Germanus singing psalms at night having necessarily passed through Heliopolis on his way, entered the city in the evening and was received in the lodging of a Christian friend, whose house, situated not far from the city gate, was adjacent to the dwelling used by the maiden of whom we have spoken. There, according to his custom, having rested a little, the monk rose at a late hour of the night, performed his nocturnal psalmody, and afterwards, sitting down and reading aloud from a book which he was accustomed to carry in his bosom as a companion on the road, And reading about the punishments of the damned he read for a considerable space. The subject of the book was the Last Judgment, and it described how the righteous, shining with a splendor rivaling the sun, conspicuous to the eyes of all men who ever shall be or have been, would exist in surpassing glory; while sinners, on the contrary, would by irrevocable sentence be consigned to inextinguishable fire, for everlasting ages, to a punishment that would never find either end or any remission. By divine providence it happened that on that night Eudocia was lying alone in her chamber, separated from the room where the monk was spending the night by only a single wall, and that not a thick one.

[4] Accordingly she, first awakened by the singing of the psalmist, and then, having heard what he recited from the book, Moved by these, she calls him to her in the morning was deeply shaken, and amid a great turmoil of thoughts awaited the dawn. As soon as it broke, by the prompting of divine grace, she sent someone to seek out the source of the nocturnal voice and ask him, in her name, not to be unwilling to come to her. When he came running shortly, she looked at him and said: "I beg you again and again, stranger, tell me truly who and whence you are, what is your manner of life, and of what doctrine and religion. For the things I heard you speaking in the night greatly disturb me, for they are great and wonderful and hitherto unheard of by me. And if what you were saying is true—that sinners are to be consigned to inextinguishable fire—who will be able to be saved?" The blessed Germanus replied to her: "Since you say that what I recited concerning the Last Judgment is entirely unknown to you, I have reason to ask you, my Lady, of what religion you are?" And she confesses who and whence she is To this Eudocia said: "Both by homeland

and sect I am a Samaritan; in fortune, however, wealthy beyond measure and almost beyond my own desires—which is all the greater reason for my fear. For I heard that book of yours, from which you were reading, pronounce woe upon the rich and threaten them above all with the everlasting punishments of inextinguishable flames. Nothing like this do I ever remember being recited from the writings of our own doctrine. Wherefore I am no little disturbed, both by the horror of the threatened evil and by the unexpected novelty of the threat."

Seizing this opportunity, Germanus, thinking the woman's state should be examined, said: "Have you a husband, my Lady? And whence do these riches, which you confess abound with you, flow?" To this she replied: "I have no lawful husband; but the riches I possess have been gathered from many men. And by what means she acquired her wealth And if such grievous and eternal punishments await the rich after death, to what profit has this abundance been gathered for me?"

[5] The blessed Germanus said: "Answer me truly and sincerely to this question I put to you; for Christ, whom I worship, is sincere and true. Which would you prefer: to be saved, with your riches abandoned, and to live happy through eternal ages; or to embrace this wealth of yours and burn forever, tormented by the most dreadful fire?" Eudocia said: "I would rather attain eternal happiness in poverty She is taught that God does not hate riches than rush, rich, into everlasting and irreparable destruction. But I wonder why the rich are so punished after death. Does your God burn with some fierce and inexorable hatred of riches?" "By no means," said Germanus, "does God abhor riches, but the unjust acquisition of riches and the perverse use of those acquired. And so whoever piously dispenses what is justly possessed is free from fault and from the risk of punishment before God; but whoever heaps up by plunder what he may hoard in avarice, But only unjust ones scattering nothing of it upon the needs of the wretched—for such inhumanity the punishment I described has been decreed by God." Eudocia said: "Do the riches I possess seem unjust to you?" "Most unjust," Germanus replied, "and irrevocably hateful to God, worse than any sin." "But why so?" she said, "since I have certainly clothed many who were naked, fed many who were hungry, and consoled the poverty of not a few with gifts of gold? Why would you call riches evil that have been spent for such good purposes?" What sort hers are Here Germanus said: "Grant me, I beseech you, my Lady, an attentive mind. No sane person who goes to the baths to wash would rather plunge the body where the water is seen to lie turbid and foul-smelling, mixed with stinking sediment, than where the liquid is perceived to be clear and pure, transparent to the bottom. So long, therefore, as you knowingly and willingly wallow in the mire of sin, spurning the offered grace of pure water, you will by no means extricate yourself from the mud of licentious shamelessness, which, since you willingly cling to it, will then—whether you wish it or not—surely transfer you and, as if by the force of a torrent, drag you into a lake of sulphur and bitumen, blazing with the eternal fires of divine wrath. For the riches with which you abound, Acquired through vice hateful to the great and eternal Judge, are already condemned in advance, since they were scraped together by the enticement of base lust from young men serving in the devil's pay. Nor does it avail you that you occasionally scatter a small fraction of what you have extorted from many costly purchasers of your dishonor upon a few needy persons. For the merit of that good work, considered in itself, Which unless she washes away is entirely extinguished before God by the stench of the vices in which you sit willingly and contentedly. Nor will you ever be able to earn the serene eyes of the incorruptible Judge by any other coin than this: that you wash away those dregs of obscene wickedness deeply encrusted upon you, and, having drained and fully purged the fountain of abominable corruption, then and only then adorn yourself with the pious and pure works of mercy, acceptable at last. For just as those who walk barefoot through thornbushes are pierced by many sharp spines, some of which they pull out while more, however, remain deeply embedded and ulcerate the wretches, so it avails you little—voluntarily stuck fast in the mud of wantonness—to do She cannot appease God for herself something good now and then in aiding the poor, while God, gravely offended by you and therefore terribly angered, the almighty avenger, hangs threateningly over you from above. The sum of my words is this: if you are willing to hear me, you can be saved, and, having avoided the punishments you rightly fear, attain the eternal joys of divine blessedness."

[6] She prays to be taught how she may achieve this The blessed Eudocia replied: "I beg you, my good man, servant of the true God, do not be unwilling to sit beside me a little and explain the form of duties and the manner of works by which you earn the grace of God, so that I, imitating these, may myself be able to attain salvation through the right use of riches. For I remember your saying that God takes delight in the just and holy dispensation of wealth. Nothing holds me back Prepared to offer her riches to God from thinking that security from those punishments, which you say await those hateful to God on the day of judgment, is cheaply purchased at whatever cost to my private fortune. Behold, venerable Father, I have a great number of servants: I will lead them, laden with gold, silver, and all other precious things, with you going before, to your God—if perchance, through your intercession, he may deign to accept this little offering of mine and grant salvation to one who has thus deserved it." To this Germanus said: "Take care, Eudocia, that you do not judge God by human practice and sense. He towers immeasurably above such lowly thoughts, and is so far from seeking a share in these trifles that we mortals possess that, though he was in himself most rich, he became poor for our sake She is advised to give them to the poor, with the intention of purchasing salvation for us at the price of his own painful want. These riches, then, which you say abound with you, my daughter, scatter among the sick and the poor. For such people are commended to God, and what is bestowed upon them he counts as given to himself; and in exchange for this perishable substance so spent, he repays an inexhaustible treasure of heavenly blessedness."

[7] "When you have duly performed these things, approach the holy and salutary bath of Baptism, by which you will wash away and drown all the filth and mire of sins And be regenerated by Baptism that defile you, never to appear again; so that henceforth, pure, immaculate, reborn through the regeneration of the divine Spirit, you may behold by filial right the blessed inheritance of incorruptible and everlasting light, freed from the darkness and night—that is, from the sordid and anxious trafficking of wicked works—and become a holy lamb, to be fed in the heavenly pastures under the care and guidance of Jesus Christ our Savior. In a single word I gather all together: if you wish to be saved, my daughter, do as I advise, and you will be blessed for all eternity." The blessed Eudocia replied: "Had not the things I heard you reciting in the night sunk deep into my soul, I would certainly not have called you hither. Therefore take from me as much gold as you wish as payment for the labor and the time She asks Germanus to remain there for a while and instruct her more fully which I ask you to lend me patiently over a few days, during which you may explain to me the entire system of your doctrine and the form of your discipline, so that, having rightly disposed of my possessions as is proper, I may follow you wherever you lead, freed from base cares." The blessed Germanus said: "I see indeed a worthy reason for delaying—the hope of bringing the lost sheep back to the fold of the Lord. Therefore, even though I was in haste, I willingly grant what you ask: the space of a few days. But first of all, do what I command: summon to yourself one of the Presbyters of the city clergy, who, when you have been sufficiently instructed, may set upon you the seal of the salutary bath of Christ. This is the beginning and foundation; from it all the rest will follow in due order, as the Lord's grace requires of you."

CHAPTER III.

Eudocia discusses her conversion with a Presbyter.

[8] Eudocia, having heard these things, summoned one of the more respectable servants of her household and ordered him to go at once to the church of the Christians and bring back one of the Presbyters, asking him not to be unwilling to come to a certain person She discreetly summons a Presbyter who needed his help—in such a way, however, that he should not more distinctly express either the name of the one calling or the reason for the summons. The servant hastened where he was sent and shortly returned with a Presbyter, whom Eudocia, upon seeing, kissed his venerable feet, prostrating herself on the ground before him. After this she said to him: "I pray, my Lord, that you not be reluctant to sit down for a little while and explain to me the doctrines of your religion, And receives him reverently for I too wish to become a Christian." The Presbyter, marveling at what she said, replied: "But tell me, I pray, of what sect or superstition are you, from which you desire to pass over to the Christian profession?" She answered: "I am a Samaritan both by race She reveals that she is a great sinner who wishes to be converted to Christ and by sect; but I have been the beast of burden of the whole world. For why should I not express my life to you in one brief and true word? I am a sea of many evils. But when I heard that sinners are tormented by fire after death unless they first do penance and become Christians, I resolved to become a Christian." The Presbyter replied: "If you have been a sea of sin, henceforth be a harbor of salvation. Though you have been tossed by many winds, now compose yourself in tranquility; and if you have given yourself over to many waves, seek now the morning dew descending from heaven; and if you have been shaken by many storms, She is nurtured by fitting counsel from him from henceforth take up the rudder of truth, which will safely direct you into the very harbor of truth, in which are all the storehouses of justice. But strive to become heir of the good things that are there. As for the riches which you say you possess, scatter them among the needy, and free yourself both from the bitterness of sin and at the same time from the darkness and the fire never to be extinguished, reserved for you unless you come to your senses."

[9] Hearing these things, Eudocia dissolved in tears and, striking her own forehead with her hand, said: "Is there truly no place of mercy for sinners before your God?" The Presbyter replied: "For those who repent, Hearing that sins are forgiven to the penitent through Baptism if they receive the seal of faith—that is, Baptism—he pardons all the offenses of their former life; but those who persist in sin he punishes inexorably." Eudocia said: "Tell me, Presbyter, do you think that there are in heaven things greater and more precious than here? For among us there are certainly many treasures of gold, silver, gems, and all other instruments of delight. Moreover, fish and birds abound, and an immense supply of all other foods and drinks for the use of our tables. She sets her own riches and instruments of wealth against this What more than these is found there?" The Presbyter said to her: "Unless you draw your mind away from the allurements of this world and despise the momentary pleasure of appearances that flatter the senses, you will not be able, Eudocia, to attain eternal life. Therefore, if you wish to reach it, you must forget the pomps and entertainments of this life." Eudocia replied: "Far be it from me, my Lord, so foolish a choice, by which I would prefer anything fleeting and transitory to a life of immortal blessedness.

What I seek, Father, is this: whether, having embraced the faith of the Christians, Having left these behind I may hope to attain that immortal life of which you speak; and what sign do you give me by which I may understand that these things you relate are as you say; and by what token shall I know that my sins have been forgiven me by your God? For when I have scattered among the poor, as you advise, all the very great riches I have amassed, which would have more than sufficed for the enjoyment and pleasure of the longest possible life, if I should then not obtain what you promise, what would become of wretched me? For I would have no refuge anywhere left from utter destitution. Whether there is certainty about the pardon to come? Since all the people whom I have offended by my vices would reject me, scorned and hated on every side, if I were forced to implore their help. Wherefore, I confess, I am anxious, and my uncertain mind struggles within me; and I would desire above all to be confirmed by a fitting proof and pledge that what you so magnificently promise concerning the kindness of your God is true—who, as you say, pardons the past offenses of the rich person who repents. Indeed, if this were made certain to me, I would go forward boldly, follow where you call, and serve that one Lord throughout all the days of my life; and as I have been a conspicuous example of wickedness to very many, so let me become an illustrious model of repentance to the same. Nor should you marvel at this hesitation of mine, for I am hearing things new and most unexpected for the first time, of which in our scriptures and in the records of the Samaritan sect in which I was raised, no mention, no indication, no trace that might prompt even a first suspicion was ever detected."

[10] When Eudocia had said these things, the Presbyter replied: "Do not waver with an unsteady mind The Presbyter teaches that this disturbance comes from the devil, nor allow your thoughts to be pulled and torn in different directions. What disturbs you is—if you do not know—the fraud of the author of evils, the devil, who envies your salvation. That wicked spirit, when he saw you making a rush to serve Christ, stirred up these surges of vain fears in your heart to shatter your salutary resolve, hoping that in this way you could be deterred from taking up the right path once seen, and confirmed in the persistence of your former license, by which he would drag you, wretchedly bound and subject to himself, to death and eternal destruction. For this is the craft he constantly practices; this is his one and supreme endeavor: to push men, turned away from the good, sideways into ruin, and to drag them into the inextinguishable fire as companions of his own punishment. As for your desire to know with certainty whether what you heard about the goodness of God is true—that he is ready to receive the penitent with the open arms of mercy and, having granted pardon for past crimes, He pledges to remain there seven days on her account to bestow on them eternal life—the one way for you to attain this certainty is deep and attentive contemplation of eternal truths, for which you need retirement and freedom from earthly cares, together with humble prayer and sober supplication; for by these means the divine light is won for souls. Therefore I advise that, if you wish to be saved, you should put off this costly garment, [He orders her, clothed in humble dress, to devote seven days to fasting, prayer, and meditation on eternal things, in seclusion] wrap yourself in a common tunic, and, thus enclosed in the most secluded chamber of your house, persevere there for seven days, reviewing your sins with tears, confessing them to God your creator, and meanwhile fasting and beseeching him to deign to enlighten you and show you what he would have you do. Believe me, you will not do this in vain; for he who is merciful and kind beyond all measure is accustomed to go forth of his own accord to meet those striving to return to him." Having said these things, the Presbyter left Eudocia, who appeared to assent, returning whence he had come; and as he departed And to hope for the best, he pronounced to her this word of well-omened consolation, as if prophesying: "Christ God, who justified the publican, will also make your name celebrated in all the earth. Amen."

CHAPTER IV.

The second conversation of the blessed Germanus with Eudocia.

[11] The blessed Eudocia therefore, interposing no delay in her conversion to God, immediately called one of her maidservants and said to her: "If any of those who are accustomed to visit me Eudocia orders that her presence at home be concealed should come here, wishing to enter to see me, make sure that no one knows I am at home, and let no one betray me. Rather, let him be told that I have gone far away to my suburban villa and am detained there by pressing business for some days, after which I shall return. Run therefore to the doorkeeper and give him orders to this effect, and earnestly threaten him not to allow any wicked man to set foot here on any account. Nor her customary meals to be prepared Furthermore, see to it that the main doors of the house are closed and remain barred until I give other instructions. Moreover, let those who have charge of the provisioning not bring in here, as is customary, the daily abundance of food for the use of my table, and let the work of the servants in the kitchens cease. In short, let everything be arranged to give the appearance and impression of my absence."

[12] Having thus instructed the maidservant, Eudocia turned to the blessed Germanus: "I beseech you, Father," she said, "do not be unwilling to explain what I ask you. Germanus teaches her Why do you monks dwell in desert places, leaving behind such an abundance of delights here in the cities? Do you perhaps find greater delights there?" Here the blessed Germanus said: "By no means, my daughter, do we find in the solitude what we leave the cities to flee—the delights and abundance of things you mention. Why monks inhabit the desert For the sole reason for our withdrawal is the desire to subdue the arrogance of the mind and to tame the wantonness of the body Namely, to expiate sins and guard against them in the future by hunger, thirst, toil, cheap clothing, and the want of all comforts, so that we may be as far as possible from every occasion of even the slightest faults—whether those that our frailty brings on when allurements are set before the senses, or those whose provocations the devil inspires by his malicious suggestion. Now the stain and blemish that the consciousness of any fault brands upon the soul deforms it and bars the entrance to the heavenly kingdom until it is washed away and the deeply ingrained defilement is scraped off by the harshness of penance. For the abode of eternal light and of pure and sincere joy is in the heavens, admitting no fellowship of darkness—that is, of faults—nor of that tearful repentance that follows inseparably upon fault as its companion. You have the reasons why we inhabit the deserts: the desire to guard against sins in the future and to efface, by the painful expiations of an austere life, the stains of those we previously contracted, so that we may thus clear for ourselves a free entrance to blessedness. This, I say, is what the entire rationale of our discipline is about, in which it is entirely engaged and consumed: And the divine commandments must be continually meditated upon to keep our bodies untouched by all the mire of wicked action, and our minds pure and free from all deceit, pretense, every murmur and reproach. This we do for a reward immeasurably great, thereby attaining complete equality of condition with the Angels of light, according to what Christ announced to us through his holy Apostles in the Gospel. But riches avail nothing for the kingdom of God, no more than a dead body lying in a tomb. If, therefore, we wish to obtain the discharge of the debts we have contracted and with it security, let us strive to run through the course of this life in the duties of religion, walking along the path of justice and truth; and let us rend our hearts, like a garment, by constant invocation of God. For thus we shall wipe away from ourselves the stains of our sins, according to what is written in the Psalter of David: 'My wounds are putrified and corrupted, because of my foolishness' Psalm 37:6. And the same Prophet David suggests that the words of the Lord must always be on our lips, saying: 'How sweet are your words to my palate, above honey to my mouth' Psalm 118:103. So sweet indeed are the words of God that they surpass the taste and value of any food or drink, and confer more strength and vigor on the soul than any nourishment does on the body. Wherefore the Divine Scripture says of them: 'Wine gladdens the heart of man, and bread strengthens it' Psalm 103:15—signifying by these things the commandments of our Lord Jesus Christ, which are to the soul as bread and wine and nourishment of every kind. For they free any sinful man from the grievous stain previously contracted through wicked actions, and they justify one who returns to the Lord, if he meditates on them and continually exercises himself in them."

[13] "Come, then; put off this worldly garment that you wear and, taking a humbler one in its place, He counsels her to humble dress approach repentance eagerly through good works pleasing to God; and sow a flood of tears upon the earth, that you may reap joy in heaven and exultation without end. Drain by mourning the sea of your sins, that you may thus deserve to obtain consolation from the Lord, who will bring you into the joy of the righteous. Lament the vices which, And exhorts her to repentance breathed into your heart by the persuasion of the most cunning devil, you adopted; that the angel who mediates perpetual salvation may draw near to you. Dry up the muddy sewers of fetid corruption in which you long lay, thrust and held there by the efficient architect of all evils, that you may become a partaker of the delights of Paradise. Sting in turn and grieve him who loaded you with sins, seducing you by his false flatteries, by persevering—despite his gnashing—in the pursuit and practice of divine worship, that you may emerge as an heir of light. And like a bee, be a good worker, gathering justice through many holy actions and striving to please God."

[14] These words of Germanus sank deep into the heart and mind of Eudocia, already prepared by the memory of what she had heard before. Wherefore, burning with ardent sorrow for her sins, she cast herself at his feet, entreating him with the most abject prayers in this manner: "Deign, O man of God, to complete in me the work you have begun. Continue steadfast in what remains, that you may present me pure to God, lest I become a laughingstock to those who try to deceive me; but that, with the work of my begun conversion completed, I may attain blessedness through your salutary precepts. Do not, I beg, do not remove your hand from the painting And prayers and tears until you have perfectly depicted Christ in me." Hearing this, Germanus said to her: "Persist, my daughter, in the fear of the Lord, and hiding yourself in your chamber, pray to him most earnestly with tears, until he blots out and utterly effaces your former sins. And he will do it, do not doubt: for the Lord Jesus Christ, kind and merciful, will quickly give you proof of his goodness toward you and will hasten to console you with a present pledge of his grace." Having said these things, he prayed earnestly for her, and having formed the sign of the Cross over her and blessed her, he enclosed her in her chamber, promising to remain at Heliopolis for her sake for yet seven days.

CHAPTER V.

Eudocia, persevering for a week in silence and prayer, is honored with a wonderful vision.

[15] Now when Eudocia had entered the chamber and spent seven days there in prayer, Germanus returned to her, Eudocia tells Germanus and having opened the doors of the room

bade her come forth. He found her pale, her body exhausted, her countenance and bearing utterly humbled, incredibly changed from what she had been before. Taking her by the hand, he bade her sit on a stool; and after he himself had worshipped God, sitting beside her, he inquired in this manner: "Tell me, my daughter, what have you thought during these days? What have you understood? What have you seen? What has been shown to you?" "I will tell you, holy Father," she said, "what you command. After I had persevered for six days in the form of prayer prescribed for me by you, That on the seventh day when on the seventh day itself I was likewise prostrate in supplication, with my face pressed to the ground, a great light shone around me, brighter than the sun. Rising from the ground at this, She was led by an Angel into heaven thinking the sun was shining, I saw a youth of terrible aspect, wearing a garment of extraordinary whiteness, like that of untouched snow on the mountains. He, grasping my right hand, drew me with him upward into the air, a cloud enveloping me, and brought me into heaven. There was there a vast and wondrous light. There she saw the Saints rejoicing and greeting her I saw innumerable throngs of people clothed in white, all of whom I nonetheless took in with a single gaze. They were cheerful, smiling at one another, suffused, as it appeared, with incomparable joy. When they caught sight of me approaching, they ran to meet me in eager rivalry, greeting me as if I were their sister."

[16] "And as I proceeded, with them escorting me in a great throng, toward that indescribable light—surpassing the noonday rays of the sun by at least tenfold—behold, a monstrous apparition rushed against me, a body of black soot so hideous that its darkness far exceeded the gloom of any coal, pitch, or blackness known to us. The demon raging terribly It gnashed its teeth and with furious efforts tried to tear me from the hand of my guide. At the same time, with a horrible shriek that resounded far and wide through the air, it cried out these words: 'Will you even introduce this one into the kingdom of heaven? What then am I wasting my time for any longer on earth, vainly lying in wait for mortals? Behold, this one has polluted the entire earth with her fornication, And complaining much and has infected the whole of humanity, great as it is, with the contagion of her filth. Whatever skill, whatever strength I possess, has been spent on the destruction of this one alone. I procured for her the most noble lovers and the wealthiest men in infinite numbers, by whose lavish generosity she scraped together as much gold and silver as the treasuries of kings themselves can scarcely contain. I was proud to have her at hand, the supreme instrument and irresistible engine by which I triumphed over men drawn away from God and dragged into my nets. Do you now mean to rage against me so, O Commander of the armies of God, that you lay me beneath her feet to be trampled and crushed? Have not the most savage blows that you daily redouble upon me yet sated your wrath with enough revenge? But have you even determined to snatch from me this chattel, so certain and so dearly bought? Nothing is safe for me now, nothing secure. Now I see reason to fear that all sinners, as many as there are, wherever they live, may be torn from my bosom and wrenched from my hands, And threatening that if released he would destroy all mankind in a moment to be offered, forsooth, as a fine gift worthy of the altars of God and enrolled in the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven. O vain efforts of mine! O labors undertaken in vain, in so patiently and devotedly courting and capturing them! Why do you insult me so bitterly? Relent your threats and remember who I am. Just release me for a moment from the chains that bind me: you will see the human race destroyed in an instant, not even a single pair, not even for offspring, left upon the earth! O intolerable injustice of this condition! I was cast out of heaven for one brief act of disobedience; and you lead into the kingdom of heaven the vilest wretches, buried under heaps of crimes, who have dared to mock God most insolently, with the most stubborn wickedness, over long spans of years? If this is your pleasure, finish the matter at once. Come, seize and gather together all the wretched little mortals who lead even a bestial life, wherever they are scattered on earth, and enroll them all in the grace of God. I will hide myself in the darkness and plunge into the abyss of the punishment prepared for me for all eternity.'"

[17] "When he had raved all this and much more to the same effect with the most uncontrolled frenzy, the one who held me by the hand looked down upon him with a bitter smile, But checked by the Angel's bitter gaze while smiling gently at me. And immediately a voice was heard, appearing to proceed from that light of which I spoke, resounding far and wide with these words: 'Such is the pleasure of God, who takes pity on the children of men, that those among them who, being sinners, have taken the resolve to repent, should be received into the bosom of Abraham.' And by the voice of God Then the same voice, turning to my guide, said: 'I say to you, Michael, guardian of my covenant, lead this one back whence you took her, that she may complete her contest; for I will be with her all the days of her life.' Pledging that he will be with Eudocia Obeying these words, in an instant he restored me to the chamber where I had been before; and as I stood on my feet on the very spot from which he had drawn me upward, The Angel returns her to earth he spoke thus: 'Peace be with you, handmaid of God, Eudocia; take courage and be strong, for the grace of God is with you now and will be with you everywhere and always hereafter.'"

[18] "I, taking confidence from these words, said: 'My Lord and holy God, I beseech you, who are you? I pray, do not be unwilling to tell me, And declares himself to be Michael so that I may know how I should believe in the true God, that I may live.' He answered: 'I am the Prince of the Angels of the true God; the charge lies upon me of receiving the penitent and leading them into the blessed and unending life. The receiver of the penitent And the chorus of Angels in heaven exults with great joy Over whose conversion the Angels rejoice whenever any sinner emerges from the darkness of sin into the pure light of repentance. For the Father of all does not wish the soul of man to perish, whom from the beginning he fashioned with his own immaculate hands, in the likeness of his own form. Wherefore all the Angels rejoice together when they see the soul of a man, adorned with justice, adoring the eternal Father; and vying with one another in congratulation, they kiss the soul, recognizing it as their sister, because, having cast off the darkness of sins, it has rightly acknowledged the living God, And signs her three times with the Cross the common Father of all the children of light, and has duly turned to him and irrevocably attached itself to him.' Having said these things, he signed me three times with the Cross, and as I worshipped on the ground, he withdrew into heaven."

CHAPTER VI.

The final confirmation of Eudocia in her resolve to convert, and the departure of Germanus from her.

[19] Then the blessed Germanus said to her: "Faith has at last been granted to you, my daughter, and henceforth you will not be able to doubt that there is a true God in heaven, ready to receive those who repent of their crimes into the eternal light Her thus honored with knowledge of the merciful God where he himself reigns, attended by the ministers of his kingdom, the holy Angels, whom you saw surrounding that blessed light. Indeed, you have been made a spectator of the royal and immortal glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, and you have proved by experience how great, among all beings, is his singular readiness to pardon, and his ineffable mercy, by which he is prompt and inclined to admit into his grace those who desire to enter into friendship with him. You have gained experience of his divinity And the vision of heavenly things and of the celestial splendors of the sublime court in which he resides. It has been made known to you how dim and feeble is the light of this world when compared with his radiance. What is now your mind? Come, declare what you think." Here the blessed Eudocia, now fully persuaded of the truth and resolved with all her heart to serve God the supreme King, said: "I have believed and I believe that there is no other supreme God but this one, whose royal gates in heaven I saw shining with a terrible and incomparable light; who yet does not hesitate to lower that ineffable majesty to extend a hand to the erring and to save wretched little sinners."

[20] "Therefore," the blessed Germanus continued, "prepare yourself, my daughter, to stand securely and patiently in obedience to him, Germanus exhorts her applying yourself so that the fruits of your repentance may outweigh the sins of your former life; and offer yourself to the immortal and eternal God as a precious gift. Weep and mourn only To steadfastly bewail her past sins until you wash away with tears all the filth of the impurity deeply encrusted upon you, and thus, pure and beautiful, may deserve to be taken as a bride of Christ. Your eyes must, I say, pour forth such abundant fountains of tears until by their force all traces of the stains previously contracted by you, and every blemish, even the smallest, left therefrom, have utterly vanished. For it is written of those who groan on account of their sins: 'Rivers of waters have run down from my eyes.' Moreover, forget your former boasting and the harmful vanity of your youth, And, forgetting former vanity that in turn the Lord Christ may deign to forget your crimes. Withdraw your neck from the heavy yoke of hard and shameful servitude which the devil had imposed upon you through sin, and pass under the light yoke of life-giving repentance, that, your neck having found relief, you may henceforth be recognized as free by righteous men and Angels. Strive to maintain the discipline of continence and the truth of faith; and, having called to your counsel the testimony of your good conscience, dare openly to cast in the devil's face: Fearlessly renounce the devil 'I have nothing more to do with you, nor you with me. For I have found my lawful Lord and have given myself back to him, to be possessed by him forever. I have said my last farewell to my old corrupter, that obscene and dark Love; and I have put on the new and incorruptible robe of justice, by whose light going before me I shall find grace and life, which will save me for ever and ever. No desire for earthly riches holds me any longer, And his pomps for I know how worthless they are and how little they endure. But I attend to and cling with my whole mind to the acquisition and meriting of heavenly things. Therefore keep your things to yourself and go far from me, you whom I once honored as my lord—Stranger, Kidnapper, slave consigned to everlasting darkness.'"

[21] Greatly confirmed by these discourses and established in her resolution for a better life, Eudocia replied to Saint Germanus: "Venerable Father, what do you wish me to do now?" And receive Baptism as soon as possible And he said: "I wish you above all things to receive the bath of incorruption and of faith—holy Baptism—which will keep you innocent for all ages. I, with God's help, am setting out for my monastery; but I will return again, if God wills." Here Eudocia, with tears, begged him, saying: "Do not, I beg you, do not forsake me, my Lord, before I have fully attained the blessedness of conversion to God, which until now I have only hoped for. Lest the old craftsman of fraud, finding me abandoned and bereft of help, drag me back where he wishes, to return to the vomit of a shameful life." The blessed Germanus said to her: "This which God

has wrought in you—the strong resolution for a better life—will preserve you from the snares of the enemy which you fear. Persevere yet a little while longer in humble confession of your sins before God, and see to it that you are washed in the bath of faith. He pledges to return to her shortly I shall return to you shortly, to make useful provision for your affairs in the future, as far as the divine Spirit shall deign to grant and suggest." Having said these things, he commended her to the Lord and departed to his monastery.

CHAPTER VII.

The Baptism of Eudocia, and her petition to Bishop Theodotus.

[22] After Germanus's departure, Eudocia persevered for some further days in strict fasting, taking nothing for sustenance except bread, oil, and water; She mortifies herself with strict fasting and tears and so she spent entire days and the greater part of the nights in constant tears before God. Then, approaching the Bishop of the city and being baptized by him in the name of the holy and consubstantial Trinity, Baptized by Bishop Theodotus when she returned home after receiving the Sacrament of Illumination, she wrote a petition and sent it to the same most holy Bishop, in which she declared how much she possessed, enumerating everything individually. By written petition she offers him all her goods, to be piously distributed The Bishop, having read the petition, summoned the blessed Eudocia and questioned her in this manner: "Are you, my daughter, the one who sent this petition to me, a sinner?" "I sent it," she said, "and now again I ask that you accept what I offer." "What do you wish to be done with these things which you enumerate in detail in this document?" replied the Bishop. And Eudocia said: "I beseech your Holiness to order the Steward of the holy Church of God to receive all these things from me, to be distributed to the wretched and needy at your discretion. For I have learned that these riches which I possess are unjust."

[23] From these words of hers the Bishop—whose name was Theodotus—understanding her noble purpose and faith in the Lord, gazed upon her and, Who, foreseeing her holy life and its end foreseeing by the Spirit how she would live and with what end she would close the praiseworthy course of her life, said to her: "Pray for me, sister, I ask you in the Lord, you who have been made worthy to be called a bride of Christ, since, having hated your former life of harlotry, you have loved chastity, and by the price of the fornication you have put away from yourself, you have in a manner purchased virginity; you who have sold the world to acquire for yourself the one pearl; who, after a brief time of wandering, have secured for yourself eternity through repentance; who, with death before your eyes, have gained immortality; who dragged many into destruction, but now through the one Christ are about to give life to many; who, having emerged from thick darkness, have put on the splendor of faith and have been made worthy to be called a lamb of Christ, fulfilling the omen of your name, since by the designation of the Divine Good Pleasure signified by your very name 'Eudocia' you have obtained his favor; who, scorning the common rabble of men who lavish money, have preferred the senate of the Angels. Pray for me, I ask you again, servant and friend of God, and remember me in the kingdom of heaven." He commends himself to her prayers Having said these and many other things, the Bishop said to his Deacon: "Fetch quickly to me, my son, the Director of the hospice of the holy Church of God." When the Director presently presented himself, the Bishop said to him: "I know you to be a devout man And arranges for her offering to be received who has the care of many souls; therefore I entrust to you the task of advising this woman also, who is striving to advance in virtue, by transmitting her offering to God through the hands of the poor."

CHAPTER VIII.

The blessed Eudocia renounces all her riches.

[24] Now this man who was placed over the hospice of the Church was a Presbyter in rank, but from his earliest youth a most steadfast virgin, The Director of the hospice, a holy man by the guardianship of incorrupt chastity. He had likewise donated to the most holy Church of God his entire patrimony and whatever he had possessed. Taking Eudocia with him, he went together with her to her house. And after both of them had entered, she summoned the stewards of her household affairs and said to them: "Come, each of you declare the number and account of the things committed to your charge, and bring them all here at once." They immediately produced everything brought forth from their respective storerooms. Now the sum total of the goods brought into view was as follows: (a) twenty thousand full pounds of gold; an immense weight of extraordinary ornaments of various kinds; an innumerable quantity of exquisite gems and royal pearls; (b) two hundred and seventy-five chests of silk garments; four hundred and ten chests of precious linen garments; Immense wealth, here enumerated, she consigns one hundred and sixty chests of garments embroidered with gold; one hundred and fifty-two chests of other garments adorned with precious stones interwoven in Phrygian embroidery; one hundred and twenty-three larger chests of various heavy fabrics; twenty-five myriads of gold coins, that is, two hundred and fifty thousand gold pieces; (c) twelve chests of musk; thirty-three chests of pure Indian storax; eight thousand pounds of silver vessels of various shapes; a chariot set with gems weighing five hundred pounds; silk curtains embroidered with gold totaling one hundred and thirty-two pounds; silk-cotton curtains weighing seventy pounds. To enumerate the other, less noble materials heaped up in piles would be endless. Besides these movable goods, she also had landed estates and broad acres yielding annual revenues of two thousand eight hundred coins.

[25] When these things had been thus produced before the Director of the hospice, Her slaves and handmaids, generously rewarded she summoned all her male and female servants and distributed to them two thousand gold pieces taken from the chest of coined money; and furthermore, all the vessels, tapestries, beds, and seats that were in present use throughout the splendidly and always richly furnished house, apart from the storerooms and cellars, she bestowed upon them in their entirety, to be divided among themselves. Then she bade them farewell in this manner: "All of you who have hitherto been bound to me by the bond of servitude, I release from slavery and command that from this moment all of you, men and women, each and every one, be free with the fullest right. She grants them freedom I also invite and urge you, sons and daughters, to a freedom far more excellent than this which I have now given you from the yoke of temporary servitude—a freedom which, at most, lasts no longer than a brief life. But you can, if you hear me, better provide for yourselves by passing (as is in your power) into the true freedom of the children of God. And invites them to receive the faith You will attain this if you come to Christ, the true liberator of souls, who, having freed you from the most wretched slavery of sins, will deem you, as happy freedmen of his grace, worthy of the honor of his service."

[26] When these matters had been thus settled, Eudocia turned to the Director of the hospice, who had long been marveling at all this: "All these things, my Lord," she said, "renounced by me, I transfer to your authority and care. The Director marvels at her conversion and such great generosity Distribute them for whatever purposes you choose, according to your wisdom. I have rendered to the Lord, who sought me out with such great love and made me his own from one who was lost, as much as I was able." He, stunned by the most unexpected spectacle of such contrition and charity, said to her: "Blessed are you, Eudocia, by this act enrolled in the register and merit of the Virgins of the bridal chamber of Christ. The hour of the bridegroom's coming did not deceive you, nor did you fail to discern by which door the wedding hall was to be entered. You have rightly kept watch, thus guarding against exclusion from the bridal chamber. Indeed, you have also wisely filled your lamp with oil, And asks her to pray for him lest the darkness overtake you. Well done in this virtue, and pray for me, a sinner, you who have been made worthy to be admitted to the chorus of the Saints."

(a) The most learned translator here notes that no one should find incredible what is reported of the enormous wealth of Eudocia, since examples exist of similar immense riches acquired by the trade of prostitution in those ancient times, throughout the regions of the East. At hand are the many cases of this kind recounted by Athenaeus in book 13 of the Deipnosophistae. Among them he relates concerning Phryne of Thespiae that she wished at her own expense to rebuild the destroyed walls of Thebes, on condition that this inscription be carved on them once completed: "Alexander destroyed them; Phryne the courtesan rebuilt them." Her royal power is also indicated by the fact that she had one of the Areopagites as her parasite. How great the wealth and fame of the Corinthian Lais were is shown by Propertius, when he writes that all Greece lay at her doors. Also Thais, the Athenian courtesan, was sought in lawful marriage by Ptolemy, who was the first to rule Egypt after Alexander, not so much for the excellence of her beauty as for the magnitude of her dowry, The immense wealth of certain courtesans of old as Athenaeus likewise records. Finally, Rhodope, a slave girl, accumulated so much money by prostituting her body that, emulating the glory of the kings of Egypt, she built a pyramid yielding nothing in magnificence to those royal monuments. Here are the words of Pliny reporting this in book 36, chapter 12: "These are the marvels of the Pyramids, and the crowning wonder is that, lest anyone marvel at the work of kings, the smallest of them, but the most praised, was built by the courtesan Rhodope. She was once the fellow slave and companion of Aesop the fabulist-philosopher—a still greater wonder that such wealth should have been acquired by the trade of a prostitute." So far Pliny, who had previously noted in the same chapter that each pyramid cost an enormous sum, as he infers from the fact that, to feed the hired laborers who toiled in building them, one thousand eight hundred talents were spent on radishes, garlic, and onions, according to reliable authorities. Whence he himself calls the Pyramids "a useless and foolish display of royal wealth." Whoever considers these things, I believe, will not find it so hard to credit the far lesser opulence of Eudocia. So writes Poussines.

(b) The Greek reads Κάμπτρα. Since this is an unusual word, the translator suspected a textual error—as there are many others in this manuscript (for its antiquity of a thousand years does not render the codex pure throughout)—and thought κάμψα should be substituted, which in Hesychius means θήκη, γλωσσοκομεῖον—that is, a chest, casket, or box.

(c) In Greek: Μόσχου κάμπτραι ιβ'. For the aromatic substance we call musk was not unknown to the ancients, as Salmasius shows from Saint Jerome, Arnobius, and Apuleius, in his work on Solinus's Polyhistor, page 329.

CHAPTER IX.

Eudocia's entry into a monastery; her progress and appointment as superior.

[27] While Eudocia was occupied in these matters, behold, the most devout Germanus arrived at the appointed time, radiant with the grace of the Holy Spirit, and finding Eudocia persevering in her religious purpose, [Germanus leads her, still wearing her baptismal garment, into a convent of virgins] now freed from the bonds of lowly cares, her goods having been expended on pious uses, he led her with him—willing and asking to go—and introduced her into a convent of virgins neighboring his own monastery, still wearing the white garment she had put on at her baptism. For she had conceived, when she was plunged in the sacred waters, a secret resolution never to change the type or color of the garment she was about to assume immediately after the sacrament, but to remain in that simplicity of sacred habit as long as life should last, to be spent entirely in the worship of God. She merely added over it in winter a full-length tunic of haircloth and a hooded cloak of the same material; and thus

she persevered in the exercise of the religious life.

[28] Now the blessed Germanus had under his direction seventy monks in a monastery, Subject to him, besides another larger house of men and in a convent not far distant from it, thirty virgins, among whom the blessed Eudocia, having been admitted, immediately excelled all the rest in every praise of virtue. In the thirteenth month after her entrance there, the Superior of the convent, named Charitina, departed this life as holily as she had lived. Eudocia had made such progress under her guidance in so short a time Appointed superior after thirteen months that she could recite the entire Psalter from memory, and, with the divine Spirit illuminating her, she understood the whole of Sacred Scripture, which she had read through carefully. Therefore, since her other gifts also commended her and she surpassed all the Sisters, as has been said, by the strict observance of discipline, she was placed over the convent in the place of the deceased. Nor did God delay in confirming the election by miracles, which we shall presently relate.

CHAPTER X.

Eudocia marvelously converts a dissolute young man and restores a dead man to life.

[29] A former lover of hers There was a certain young man among the crowd of Eudocia's former lovers, not unwelcome to her while she was living in that licentious manner. The devil, thinking him a suitable instrument for her overthrow, stirred him with the sharpest goads, refreshing the memory of past pleasures, so that he would refuse no terms for the hope of recalling Eudocia to her abandoned wickedness. After much deliberation on how to accomplish this, he thought the following plan the most expedient. He put on the habit of a monk, with as large a sum of gold as he could comfortably carry hidden in secret pockets. Thus he traveled on foot Dressed as a monk to the places where he knew Eudocia to be. Arriving at the closed doors of the convent, he knocked, and a young woman gatekeeper appeared—one of the virgins of the place—who, having partly opened the small window of the door, He comes to her convent with her face turned the other way, through a narrow slit barely wide enough to transmit a voice, briefly asked who he was, what he sought there, and why he had knocked. He replied in the customary formula of monks: "I am a sinner, seeking the fellowship of your prayers and a blessing." At this the virgin said: "You have come by mistake, Brother, to a place inaccessible to men. But go on a little further and you will find the monastery of Lord Germanus; there you will obtain what you seek." And immediately, having said this, she withdrew, closing the window.

[30] Philostratus, thus turned away, made his way to the monastery of Germanus, He goes to Germanus and happened to find him in the vestibule, reading. Immediately he prostrated himself with deep obeisance at his feet, then rose to give the kiss in the manner customary among monks. Then, a prayer having been offered in common as was the practice, and a blessing requested and obtained, Germanus was the first to speak, looking at him kindly: "Sit down, Brother, and, if it is not burdensome, tell me what region sends you here as a guest, and in what monastery you have practiced the regular life." He pretends to be an orphan who had voluntarily assumed the habit The other replied: "I, holy Father, the only son of my parents, and recently bereft of both at the age you see, preferred the monastic life to marriage, and hastened to assume its insignia, intending afterwards to seek a place and a master where and under whose guidance I might practice it. With this purpose, having heard of your fame, I have come here by a long and laborious journey, He asks to be admitted with the intention of prostrating myself at the feet of your Holiness, and with the hope of obtaining from you that you would deign to receive me among your number, since I desire to repent of my past life."

[31] Germanus, looking at him more closely as he said these things and noting the softness of the boy in his face and eyes, said: "You are undertaking a great thing, my son, but I fear one beyond your strength. We old men can barely resist the most violent assaults of the obscene demons For though he seems tender who provoke to wantonness; what will become of you, in that bloom of your frail and delicate youth?" "As if," Philostratus quickly replied, "there were no examples of men like me who nonetheless vigorously conquered their desires. Take your own Eudocia, for instance (for I have heard much about her from the report spread far and wide): Yet he could do what others have, and recently Eudocia how tender in age and how soft from luxury she was when she entered your discipline, and how steadfastly and bravely she perseveres in it! Nor will I conceal, Father, that I have been drawn By whose very example he has been moved above all by her widely known example to dare what I have described. I recall what the flower of her age was, what the softness of her dress and diet, what the abundance of her riches. If she could and can scorn these things for the love of Christ, why do you despair of me, Father, from whom at least by the prerogative of the sturdier sex more strength should be expected? To be confirmed by even a single conversation, if permitted Indeed, if I could see her once, I would easily hope to draw from her conversation and counsel alone such an amount of generous ardor as would abundantly suffice to scatter all the temptations of all the demons for my whole life."

[32] Germanus, easily persuaded by these words, said: "It would not be pious to begrudge you a sight of and conversation with Eudocia at such a price, my son." And immediately, summoning a monk who was accustomed to enter the convent daily for the purpose of offering incense, he said to him: "Take this Brother with you With Germanus's permission when you enter the convent, for he wishes to see Eudocia and to be confirmed in his religious purpose by her example and her words." When the monk had done as he was ordered, and Philostratus had obtained the secret opportunity he sought to speak with Eudocia, Admitted to her presence and had noted with wondering eyes the gauntness of her face, the squalor of her clothing, and the abasement of her whole bearing, together with the place nearby for her nightly sleep—a mat lying on the ground covered with haircloth—he looked at her with indignation and said: He strives by many arguments to recall her to her former pleasures "What is this that I see, Eudocia? Who, when you were living in a royal palace, in imperial abundance, and accustomed to display yourself through the most crowded thoroughfares of the greatest city, in the most splendid attire, to the applause and admiration of all—who, I say, was the evil counselor who induced you to exchange those delights, that magnificence, for this squalor, this humiliation, this utter destitution of all things? And now all Heliopolis searches for you; the eyes of everyone there long for you; even the very buildings and mute walls are gloomy in your absence; everything groans and calls you back. I, the spokesman of the common wishes, have been sent to you to beg and beseech you, in the name of all, not to frustrate the public expectation any longer. Hear me, my Lady, and follow me; and from this baseness of garb unworthy of you, from this hunger and dog-like hardness of a filthy pallet, restore yourself to your former splendor, your former riches, the royal fortune in which you so recently flourished and which still awaits you with open arms. Why do you hesitate or doubt? Why, when all favor you, are you alone your own enemy, alone your own torturer? Are you not ashamed to hide that beauty in this darkness, to ruin with weeping those eyes that rival the rays of the sun, to waste that body, in the flower of its age and beauty, with hunger and torments? Where are the precious perfumes which, as you walked, breathing their ambrosial fragrance in every direction, reminded everyone, even those who had not seen you, of your passage and everywhere invited all to reverence you as some goddess? Behold, foul stench and unwashed squalor have succeeded them. What delusion do you follow, so far astray? What empty shadow leads you away from the embrace of solid goods that freely offer themselves? Who that is rich throws away his abundance? And now, the wealth you cast away—we know where it is; it can easily be recovered. Come, dare it, and trust me. Look, I have brought as much gold as suffices for the journey. The rest we shall arrange as soon as we arrive at Heliopolis."

[33] Eudocia, having long gazed sternly at him as he poured out these words, finally, with an outburst of impatient grief, rebuked him in this manner: At her breathing upon him he fell dead "May the Lord Jesus Christ, the just judge, rise up as avenger against you—of whom I, though unworthy, am a handmaid—and may he not allow you to return whence you came with evil intent, because you are a son of the devil." Saying this, she breathed upon him, and immediately the wretch fell dead. The Sisters, the Virgins, had been present at this conversation, their eyes fixed on both of them, but at a distance that excluded the sound of the voice. The Sisters watching from afar When they observed that at Eudocia's breathing the false monk had suddenly expired and his corpse had fallen at her feet, they were greatly moved—first by wonder at an act surpassing the power of nature and thus demonstrating the penitent saint's favor with God; [They fear an inquest over the killing and the burning of the convent by pagans already hostile] but then also by a certain fear that the civil magistrates of the princeling who ruled those regions might institute an inquiry as if over the murder of a man, and, seizing on an opportunity for slander, might burn down the convent, against which the pagan population was already hostile on account of the Christian religion practiced there. Therefore, after they had anxiously deliberated for some time about what needed to be done, all agreed on the opinion of one who suggested that since evening was approaching, nothing should be disturbed that night; for they would all pray as usual around midnight, and perhaps the Lord would then show what he wished to be done.

[34] When midnight had passed and the Virgins were about to begin the psalmody, our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to the blessed Eudocia in a dream and said to her: Eudocia is admonished by Christ in a dream "Rise, Eudocia, glorify your God. Kneel on the ground and pray—not near the body of that tempter lying there, whom the devil had sent against you—and then command him to rise alive. Then he himself, having learned by his own experience the power of the one in whom you have believed, will understand who he is, and greater grace will overflow upon you." Immediately Eudocia, awakened from sleep, She prays long at night near the corpse began a long prayer to God, and when she had at last finished it, she restored the dead man to life by commanding him to rise. And Philostratus, waking from death as from a sleep, since by divine illumination he had come to know God The young man is immediately raised and asks pardon and his mercy toward him, cast himself at the feet of Eudocia, saying: "I beg you, Eudocia, true servant of God, receive me as a penitent and grant pardon for those impious words by which I offended you. For I know what manner of Lord you serve—how good and how powerful." The blessed Eudocia said to him: "Return to your affairs in peace, and remember the benefits of God toward you, and do not depart from the way of truth which you have acknowledged, nor from the faith which you have promised to my God."

CHAPTER XI.

The wonderful conversion of the princeling Aurelian and his entire household.

[35] After these events, certain of Eudocia's former suitors devised the following plan for harassing her. [Eudocia is accused of being a Christian and of having carried off gold belonging to the treasury] They presented a petition to Aurelian, the princeling of that region, in which, after having informed him that Eudocia had carried off to some desert place a great deal of money belonging to the treasury, they requested that soldiers be given them with whom, having gone there, they might bring back the fugitive and return the money to be deposited in the treasury. Furthermore, they said that the reason for proceeding against her—beyond the neglect of the treasury's accounts—was the sect of the Galileans, which she professed, worshipping a certain Christ and holding in ridicule the immortal gods whom the King himself venerated. The princeling, easily assenting to these charges and puffed up with vain hope, She is ordered to be seized ordered a certain Count to go immediately with

a picked force of soldiers and bring Eudocia before him together with the gold. He took with him three hundred soldiers, and as they set out on the march, A Count sent with 300 soldiers the Lord forewarned Eudocia, addressing her through a nocturnal vision: "The wrath of the King has been stirred up against you, yet do not fear; I am always with you." When the Count with his cohort arrived within sight of Eudocia's convent, She herself is confirmed by a divine voice in a dream satisfied with noting the location while there was still light, he distributed his soldiers into various groups at fixed stations, from which, when he gave the signal by night, they were to rush into the monastery. But they were divinely restrained throughout the night from carrying out their plan, and so for three whole days and three nights they remained stuck, The soldiers immobilized for three days bound fast by a greater power.

[36] And since they could not of themselves form the resolve to abandon their enterprise, hateful to God, at last manifest divine vengeance overtook them in the form of a monstrous dragon that rushed upon them. Although they escaped its jaws and teeth by flight or by interposing their weapons, they were so blasted by its pestilential breath that some fell dead, And most killed by the dragon's pestilential breath and the vast majority lay dying, with only the Count returning unscathed to the King, accompanied by a mere three survivors. The King, deeply indignant, hastily convened a council of his elders: "What shall we do," he said, "against this sorceress, who has killed so many of our soldiers with her sorcery? What is your counsel? For it would be impious to leave so great a crime unpunished." The King's son is sent with larger forces While all were hesitating, the King's son rose: "I," he said, "will go there with a larger force, and having leveled the vile harlot's lodging to the ground, I will bring her here, willing or not." All applauded. So the following day, having set out with a great force, he arrived by evening at a certain Praetorium belonging to his father, which happened to lie on that route; and he resolved to spend the night there. It was a most pleasant place, with shady woodland walks and abundant perennial waters. As he was about to enter, His foot injured in dismounting from his horse, he dies during the night while dismounting from his horse with youthful impetuosity, his foot struck a stone and he was seriously injured; and carried in the arms of his attendants to his bed, he expired there around midnight in the greatest agony.

[37] The next day the most sorrowful attendants placed the corpse on a bier and carried it back to his father. The King, at this most unexpected sight, collapsed half dead; the whole city was soon thrown into consternation, people running from every direction, all lamenting with the utmost tumult and wild grief the dead Prince and the dying King. When the King, having somewhat recovered the use of his senses, had been restored to himself, Philostratus—who had also come running among the others— The King, on the advice of Philostratus whom Eudocia had raised addressed him thus: "Eudocia, my Lord, is under the manifest protection of God (believe one who has experienced it), and angry designs against her will not succeed. She must be overcome by humble entreaty, and with great profit if you try it. For she, if she is willing, will restore the dead Prince to life." He narrated what had happened to him. The princeling, hearing this and thinking such a hope should not be neglected, composed a most humble letter to Eudocia, He sends her a suppliant letter, by the Tribune Babylas asking pardon for the attempted harassment, and after many praises of her, beseeching her with the most abject prayers that, by whatever favor she had with her God, she would not be unwilling to obtain for his dead son a benefit similar to that by which she had blessed Philostratus, who had deserved no better of her. He gave this letter to a Tribune named Babylas to be delivered at speed, who, having flown over the distance in a swift chariot, cast himself at the feet of Eudocia, delivering at once the royal letter and at once with suppliant words begging her not to delay in coming to the aid of the King and the state in so grave a crisis (which she had the power to do). To this, the reply of Eudocia was most modest, expressing wonder that she, a sinful and most worthless woman, should be approached in this manner by so great a prince. While she reads the letter, he by chance reads something from the Psalms Meanwhile, to give her space to read the letter through, Babylas withdrew to a corner of the convent, where, chancing to open a book he found, he hit upon this sentence of the Psalter: "Blessed are they who search out your testimonies, O Lord." Beginning from this, he read to the end of the passage; and, being weary from the road, resting his head on the stand holding the book, he fell asleep And in his sleep he sees an Angel, and behold, in his dream he saw a young man resplendent with great light approaching him, who struck him on the side with a rod he held in his hand and said: "Rise, Babylas; the dead man awaits you." Babylas, awakened and greatly disturbed by the unfamiliar sight of the Angel, ran to Eudocia and said: "It is time, servant of God, that, having settled the business for which I was sent to you, you send me back whence I came." And he related in sequence what he had seen in his dream.

[38] Eudocia, having assembled all the Virgins of the convent, said: "My Sisters and Mothers, what do you advise me to do concerning the King's orders to me [After prayers, Eudocia writes to the King that he should with firm faith ask Christ to raise his son] and this letter which he has sent me?" They replied with great unanimity: "The grace of the divine Spirit governs you; write back to the King what, by his inspiration, you understand to be pleasing to God." From that moment the blessed Eudocia devoted herself to prayer for many continuous hours, and then rising, she wrote back to the King in this manner: "I, a worthless little woman, cannot conceive why Your Majesty should have sent a letter to me. For I know myself to be wretched and full of sins, as my conscience testifies; and, overwhelmed by so many and such great evils, I am not fit to beseech Christ the Lord that, having pity on you, he may restore your son to you alive. Nevertheless, I trust, because of the kindness and power of my God so well known to me, that if you believe with your whole heart in the true God himself, through whom the dead rise, and hope for his aid with a steadfast heart and an undoubting mind, he will exercise his mercy toward you and your son. For it is not right for a person to invoke his holy and terrible name over a dead man unless he believes in him with a pure mind and good faith. If, therefore, you believe with your whole soul, you will see the great power of the immortal God and receive his mighty benefits."

[39] Having written these things, she gave the paper containing them to the Tribune, having impressed upon it, in place of a seal, three signs of the Cross, Letters sealed with a threefold Cross instead of a seal, she gives to Babylas and so dismissed the man. Now the Tribune departed from the convent a different man from the one who had come—namely, a Christian from a pagan, fully persuaded of the divinity of Christ. Meanwhile the princeling, thinking every delay too long in the anticipation of so great a thing, and therefore placing little trust in the speed of the messenger he had sent, resolved to go to meet him, in case he was already returning, [The King, impatient of delay, sets out to meet him, with his son's body brought along] or if he was still detained at Eudocia's, to proceed all the way there and plead his cause with her in person. He therefore announced his journey toward the Praetorium which, as we said, was on the road leading to the convent of Germanus. He ordered his son's corpse to be carried on a litter before him. Having spent the first night in the Praetorium, the King, anxious because the Tribune Babylas had not yet appeared, pressed on further. He had not gone far when he encountered the Tribune returning at the most furious pace. Babylas, catching sight of the retinue from afar and understanding the situation—that the King himself, impatient of delay, was approaching, with his dead son dragged along (whose bier he easily recognized)—inspired by the faith in the living God which he had brought back from Eudocia, before saying anything to the King, approached the coffin of the dead man and placed upon it the letter from Eudocia that he was carrying, [Babylas places the letter upon him, having invoked the name of Christ: the dead man rises] having first invoked in a loud voice the holy and venerable name of Christ. The great faith of the good catechumen was immediately attended by a wonderful outcome, God showing mercy: for he who had been dead immediately rose, alive and well.

[40] When the King himself had seen this great and incredible miracle with his own eyes—namely, that the dead man had been brought back to life by the touch of the letter—he immediately cried out in a loud voice: The King confesses Christ "Great is the God of the Christian Eudocia! The God of the Christians is true and just. Rightly do so many flee to you, O Lord. Piously do they act who believe in you, O Christ. Lord Jesus Christ, receive me as I come to you, for I believe in your holy name and profess it to be holy and blessed; and you are the true God for ever and ever. Amen." Then, returning to the Praetorium where his son had previously met death and whom he now led alive, he entertained all his attendants with a royal banquet there and celebrated his son's recovery. After which he had nothing more pressing than to profess publicly the faith in Christ he had conceived in his heart; he hastened to the Palace, exulting with immense joy. Along the way, he gave generous sums of money to whatever poor people he chanced to meet. Moreover, as the report of the King's son raised from the dead flew ahead into the city on swift wings, as is its wont, all the friends of the King and the grandees With the magistrates came forth to meet both of them with the utmost eagerness—many as far as twenty, some as far as thirty miles—congratulating them on what had happened, auguring well for the future, and, most importantly, extolling with immense praises Jesus Christ, the author of so great a miracle.

[41] And when the King had returned to the Palace and celebrated the joy of such happiness with the magnificence of a fresh banquet, and when likewise over seven days he had poured out a great deal of money upon the poor, Baptized with his son and wife from the Bishop of the city—whom he had already summoned beforehand and for those seven days had heard as a teacher of the sacred mysteries and also an encourager of good works—he received the bath of incorruption. His son and wife were also baptized with him. When these things had been accomplished, the same King sent to the blessed Eudocia as much gold and silver Grateful toward Eudocia as was needed to build a sacred edifice in the place where she dwelt; he even ordered that a city be founded there. And he continued to honor the blessed Eudocia with the most dutiful letters from time to time, He dies piously not long after always asking her to deign to pray for him. Thus persevering in the pursuit of religion, he died not long afterwards; nor did his wife long survive him, both finding a peaceful end, made sweet by the consolation of the best of hopes. But their son, growing in faith over the course of time, was ordained Deacon by the Bishop, and when the latter subsequently died, The son becomes a Deacon; afterwards, a Bishop he himself was appointed as his successor, by great and publicly acknowledged merit. And the son's sister, named Gelasia, taking with her a great weight of gold and only two eunuchs, fled to the monastery of the blessed Eudocia The daughter Gelasia becomes a nun under Eudocia and persevered there to her last breath, serving God in all chastity and religious discipline, and ceaselessly glorifying the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, to whom be honor and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

CHAPTER XII.

The confession and torments of the blessed Eudocia under the governor Diogenes.

[42] When the abominable worship of idols and the most iniquitous law of execrable sacrifices prevailed, and many worshippers of the true religion were being dragged into that impiety When persecution arose through the betrayal of certain persons hostile to God, a certain Diogenes received from the Protectors the governorship of Heliopolis. He was a man preeminently wealthy, and desperately devoted to the superstition of idolatry; and, just as by the meaning of his name he bore a kinship with Jupiter, the chief of the false gods, Diogenes, Governor of Heliopolis so by his deeds and efforts he strove beyond the ordinary measure to promote that diabolical sect and to exterminate all who opposed it. When he heard the magnificent and illustrious reports publicly circulating about Eudocia, the handmaid of Christ, and had already begun to be disturbed and to burn with his customary zeal against all despisers of the false gods, another cause thrown in, as it were like oil on the flame, doubled his fury and rage. He had been in love with Gelasia, of whom we spoke, and her father, the princeling Aurelian, had not rejected him as a son-in-law Formerly a suitor of Gelasia while he was still held in the error of the pagans. But as soon as, enlightened by Christ, Aurelian came to his senses, he changed his mind and could not bring himself to unite his baptized daughter to an idolatrous bridegroom. While he was therefore spinning out delays to the celebration of the wedding with contrived pretexts—perhaps expecting that Diogenes himself would do what many others were doing daily and at last determine to acknowledge and venerate the divinity of Christ, which was shining forth in ever clearer signs day by day—Aurelian was, as we said, called from this life, his wife not long surviving. After their death, Gelasia, fearing Diogenes, secretly withdrew, as was mentioned above, into Eudocia's convent.

[43] It was not known for certain where she was hiding, but a vague rumor was spreading Suspecting from a faint rumor that she was hiding with Eudocia that she was concealed at Eudocia's. Spurred by this with a new goad against Eudocia, Diogenes dispatched fifty soldiers, ordering them to go at once and seize Eudocia. As they were hastening to where they were sent, the Lord appeared to Eudocia by night and addressed her thus: "Daughter Eudocia, watch, stand firm in faith, persevere in prayer, fight manfully; the occasion for testifying to my glory will soon be at hand. The arena is prepared for you to run in. He orders her to be seized Men of a foreign race will shortly rush upon you like wild beasts. But do not be troubled, for I will always be with you as a faithful companion Christ appearing to her pledges his help in the contest and a strong helper in every danger and hardship of yours."

[44] Shortly after this the henchmen of Diogenes arrived, invaded the convent by night, and when Eudocia, in her capacity as Superior, asked what they wanted, and upon learning that she was the one sought, gave herself up, they easily seized and led her away. She secretly takes the Eucharist with her But before the lamb of Christ would surrender herself to the wolves, having obtained a brief delay before being led out, she hurried to the sacred chapel, and unlocking there the little chest in which the divine gift of relics of the holy Body of Christ was kept, she took a particle from it and hid it in her bosom; and so went away at once with the soldiers. As they made their way through the moonless night, She is led away by night, with an Angel bearing a torch a youth in white clothing went before Eudocia carrying a torch, though the soldiers saw neither the boy nor the light. They, with human compassion pitying her frail body, which might not perhaps be strong enough to endure the unaccustomed hardship, She refuses to ride a horse brought a beast of burden to her, asking her to allow herself to be placed upon it. But she refused, using these words: "Some trust in chariots and some in horses; but I, trusting in you, O Christ, will walk gladly on my own feet." When they had arrived at the city, She is held in prison for three days without food or drink Diogenes was informed and ordered Eudocia to be locked in prison for two days. On the third day, summoning the prison guard, he asked: "Has anyone brought food to that sorceress?" The guard replied: "I swear by your clemency, my Lord, that no one has brought her either drink or food during these two days. But I have found her, as often as I checked, prostrate on her face, worshipping, I suppose, her God." To this the Governor said: "I will hear her tomorrow, for today other duties of my office detain me."

[45] On the fourth day, therefore, the wicked judge, sitting on the tribunal, ordered Eudocia to be brought before him. She came forth She is brought before Diogenes in her humble habit, as she was, with her face veiled. The Governor, looking at her, turned to his attendants and said: "Uncover her face at once." When this was done immediately, a wonderful radiance shone from the blessed woman's face, Who, struck by her beauty by which Diogenes, as if by a flash of lightning, was struck dumb for some time, marveling at her indescribable beauty and the most lovable majesty of her noble countenance. And as he lingered too long upon that sight, his inmost feelings were undoubtedly being stirred, for he turned to his attendants and said: "By the Lord Sun, I doubt whether this woman deserves death; Was thinking of releasing her for I see a beauty equal to the rays of this same god, and a certain reverence restrains me, fearing that it would be inhuman to abuse such great beauty." One of the legal assessors said to him: Unless an assessor had attributed it to magic "What, do you think that dignity of countenance is natural? I for one would not believe it, nor would I advise you to admire it. Do you not know how powerful the tricks of sorceresses are? Without doubt that false beauty is painted upon a counterfeit face by those arts. Once these have been dispelled, the native ugliness will appear, make no mistake."

[46] The judge, turning now to the accused, said: "Answer first: what is your name? Then add what is your manner of life and fortune." To this the Saint, clinging to Christ with immovable faith, after signing her whole body with the cross, replied with uplifted and fearless countenance: To Diogenes's questions she gives her name and declares herself a Christian "I am called Eudocia. As for my life and fortune, which you inquire about, it is unseasonable to go through the rest. This one thing is pertinent: I am a Christian, and the Creator of all things, through his ineffable mercy, has honored me with such great grace that he permits me to be called his handmaid. Wherefore I beg you, Governor, do not trouble yourself to hear anything else from me, nor waste time on a useless inquiry; but decree against me at once whatever you are accustomed to decree against Christians, as it pleases you. For I trust that Christ, the true God, will by no means despise or forsake me." The Governor said to her: "You cunningly weave words of great art, Eudocia, laying snares for our ears; and you truly disturb us, when we consider how much of this kind our one brief question has drawn from you. How much more, then, would you have said, had I provoked you with more and harsher words?" The blessed Eudocia replied: "Believing truth to be most sweet to men of sense, I have spoken it before you. But if you feel otherwise and expect something else from me, to what purpose do we waste words?" The Governor replied: "Who would not rejoice in truth? Unless perhaps you think so poorly of us as to suppose we reject what pleases everyone. [When he presses her about why she withdrew to the desert, she says: Because it pleased me; I was my own mistress] On the contrary, that we may hear from you the truth we desire, come, tell us at once for what reason you left your city, contemptuously spurned the gods, and withdrew into that desert from which I brought you, and carried off thither public money, defrauding the treasury." The Blessed One replied: "Why I left the city—take the reason in a single word: so it pleased me; I was my own mistress. What law forbids a free person to move wherever she prefers? As for the money accusation, I would wish those who charge me were present in person. The emptiness of the calumny would become apparent, and the lie would vanish when confronted with the truth." "But," said the judge, "persons of rank, leading men of a most distinguished city, maintain that it is a true charge, this accusation which you call false. Let that truth, then, in which you glory as your advocate, come forward as quickly as possible, for as long as it remains hidden, the credibility of reputable witnesses must retain its force. She says the charge about money owed to the treasury is a fabricated calumny Nor can we neglect an indictment or pass over in silence a matter of such importance, when dissimulation would make us guilty before the Emperor, whose treasury is at stake; for in business of this kind, no magistrate is lax without great personal risk." The blessed Eudocia replied: "If it suits you to pretend one thing and do another, and to cloak under fictitious charges of fiscal accounts the hatred of religion by which you are incited against me, do as you please. I, acknowledging God as the true and the teacher of truthfulness, will speak what truly pertains to the case and will disdain those irrelevant charges, pinned upon me by frivolous calumny."

[47] The Governor said: "Do not try to escape the cognizance of our tribunal with deceitful quibbles; nor trust so greatly in the secret knowledge of magic in which you boast, as to hope that by trickery you can elude the force of courts and laws. There is only one way for you to escape the punishments decreed by them: either sacrifice to the gods or resume your former manner of life. If you wish to do neither, return the money you once carried out of the city, for this is owed to the treasury." Eudocia replied: "No praised judge, [Nor should frivolous matters be mixed in when the primary case is still to be heard] once he has begun the hearing of one case, mixes in various others, as if in a medley, with the confusion of truth that necessarily follows from this. Let us therefore set aside that most untimely calumny about fictitious money, the mention of which you yourself deferred to last as little relevant; let us stay with what you mentioned first, which undoubtedly constitutes the substance of the entire case: the worship of the gods and the return to my former life—since those who stirred you against me were moved to do so by hatred of my religion and my repentance. She says she will neither return to her former life nor worship the gods I declare, therefore, that I will never return to the license from which, by the grace of God, I have come to my senses; still less will I sacrifice to your gods, that is, to malicious demons. Apply whatever torments you wish; you will never wrest this resolution from me. For I cannot abjure the true God, whom I have come to know by his great grace, or break the faith I have given him."

[48] The Governor, understanding from these words the hitherto immovable constancy of the holy Martyr, resolved to test her by bringing threats closer. She is tested by threats of scourging Assuming a stern expression, he ordered her to be led back inside and there, as if about to be flogged, to be stripped. When the Saint was being dragged to this, she uttered a deep sigh, and looking toward heaven, spoke thus: "Lord Jesus Christ, whose immaculate and venerable name I carry with me as a pledge of the help I hope for from you, bid the mouths of those who calumniate me to be stopped, for they unjustly encircle me, wretch that I am, with false charges." When she had thus entered, the Governor came to her, and signaling to the lictors to delay the decreed punishment (for he still wished to test the holy Martyr's resolve by terror alone), he addressed her thus: "I swear by the greatest gods, if you relent even a little in your stubbornness, Eudocia, we will all immediately show you favor and consult most kindly for your interests; but if you continue in your madness, we cannot avoid compelling you to endure the most atrocious punishments for the laws you have violated." The Blessed One replied: "By believing in Christ I escaped death; by rejecting life

I cannot hurl myself into death again. Therefore do not delay in decreeing against me whatever pleases you, for I am the handmaid of my Lord Jesus Christ and for his sake I willingly die." Then the judge, putting on the most terrible expression of ferocity he could feign, as though pronouncing the final sentence, commanded: "Let four torturers prepare their whips and thongs, And again and beat this obstinate woman naked until her innards appear through her broken skin and ribs." Having said this, he motioned for all to withdraw and the accused to be left alone, to deliberate under this terror and expectation of so savage a punishment. After two hours he returned to her and spoke thus: "How long will you persist in your untamed stubbornness, refusing to make sacrifice to the gods, to whom you owe so much—they who adorned you with that marvelous beauty? Come then, return to your senses and sacrifice, that you may be honored by us with many riches But she scorns this and the greatest esteem." The blessed Martyr said to him: "If you were judging rightly and justly, you yourself would come to your senses and acknowledge the mercy of the most high God and Lord; and you would draw near to him, to the great benefit of your soul, thus obtaining pardon for the wicked deeds and crimes for which punishments await you that will never cease. And she impresses upon the judge the eternal fire prepared for him Now, since you do not listen to your own conscience, which pronounces you guilty of eternal death, you harden your mind in the most pernicious resolve and willingly persist in rushing headlong as you have begun; the most terrible burning alive by fire that shall never be extinguished awaits you." At these words the Governor, inflamed with rage, ordered her to be immediately suspended from a high gibbet by her shoulders and arms.

CHAPTER XIII.

The sacred Eucharist, turned to fire, burns the lictors and the Governor: the blessed Eudocia restores dead men to life.

[49] While the lictors were doing this and stripping the blessed Martyr Stripped to the waist to the waist, as was necessary for the ordered suspension, the holy and venerable gift of Christ—that is, the particle of the sacred Eucharist, which, as was mentioned above, she had taken when she was torn from the convent—fell from her bosom. The devil's ministers, picking it up from the ground without knowing what it was, brought it to the Governor. The particle of the Eucharist falls from her bosom When he reached out his hand to take what was offered, the sacred pledge was suddenly transformed into fire, and as the flames spread in a circle, it burned the Governor's attendants and also seized his own left shoulder. And sets fire to and kills both the lictors and the judge Maddened with pain, he threw himself on the ground, crying out with a great shriek: "Lord Sun, heal me, and I will immediately hand over this sorceress to the fire! For I know that I am being punished by you because I have tolerated her until now." As he spoke such words, a hotter ball of flame, like a bolt of lightning, leaped upon him, engulfed his entire body, and in an instant killed him. His charred corpse lay there at once, as terror and mourning spread far and wide. The news spreading in a moment, the entire city was thrown into consternation by the most unexpected death of the Governor.

[50] An Angel covers her breast and shoulders Meanwhile, an Angel conspicuous in a white robe was consoling the holy Eudocia, speaking as it were into her ear, and at the same time covering her bare breast and shoulders with a most white veil. Persuaded by this spectacle of the truth of the Christian religion, a certain soldier among the bystanders approached the Blessed One and said: "I too believe in your God. Receive me as a penitent, servant of God." The blessed Eudocia said to him: A soldier, seeing this, is converted "The grace of a good conversion will come upon you, my son; for, as I see you, you are beginning to live now, as if just born. But if you wish to be saved, make every effort to flee as far as possible from your former unbelief." The soldier said to her: "I beseech and implore you, have some mercy on the Governor, and, as you are able, obtain for him from your God a return to life, so that many through you may believe in your God and be raised through faith." Saying this, he came forward, released her And releases her, asking her to obtain life for the judge, and took her down from the wood from which she hung. Then the holy Martyr, kneeling on the ground, prayed for a long time. After rising, she cried out in a loud voice, saying: She prays "Lord Jesus Christ, who know the hidden things of men, who by your word established heaven and made all things in wisdom: command, according to your will, that all these whom the fire sent by you has consumed may come back to life, so that many, whether confirmed in the religion they have already embraced or aroused to embrace it, may glorify your most holy name for ever and ever." She raises the judge and the others by taking their hands When this prayer was completed, the blessed Eudocia, with the converted soldier giving her his hand, approached the place where the corpses lay; and taking each of them by the hand, she said: "In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, who rose from the dead, you shall be well as before." And then immediately all rose, unharmed and vigorous, as if waking from sleep.

CHAPTER XIV.

The blessed Eudocia raises from the dead Firmina, a noble woman, and wins both her and her husband for Christ.

[51] While this great and stupendous spectacle held the eyes of all and suspended all minds in wonder, a sorrowful lamentation suddenly heard in the same place where the Governor's chair had stood diverted their attention elsewhere, at the news of a bitter calamity: the wife of the Count of those soldiers who had been standing around the tribunal had just suddenly expired in a certain bathhouse. The impact of this unexpected misfortune spread to the rest of the city, Firmina, wife of the Count Diodorus, having died in the bath which was thrown into alarm by the broadly spreading report, as various bonds of kinship and affection drew all the best people to share in the domestic grief of the most noble family which the recent catastrophe had struck. The grief of Diodorus—for that was the Count's name—who happened to be present was especially prominent; for in his official capacity he had been standing beside the Governor with his soldiers while public business was being conducted. Struck by the cruel report, he tore off and cast aside his cloak, and beating his breast and lamenting, he rushed to the place where he had heard his dead wife lay. The Governor, just raised from death, also followed. When they reached the bathhouse, they found Firmina truly dead.

[52] At this sight, the Governor immediately left Diodorus there to arrange for the removal of the corpse, and ran back to where he had come from. Diogenes leads Eudocia there Addressing Eudocia, who was still standing there, he said: "I truly believe that your God is far superior to and more powerful than our gods. But if you count it worth so much to increase and strengthen this faith of mine, which is only beginning and still weak, I beg you, come with me to Firmina; if you restore her to life, there will then be no delay on my part in believing most firmly and steadfastly in your God." The blessed Eudocia said to him: And asks her to raise her "Not only for your sake will the Lord Jesus Christ accomplish his will, but out of his immense mercy, also for the sake of others who desire to enter the kingdom of God. Let us therefore go, with God's help, where you say."

[53] Both of them then proceeded, with a vast multitude following. When suddenly they met the funeral bearers carrying the body of Firmina, laid out on a bier. They meet the funeral Then the blessed Eudocia said to the Governor: "Restrain the multitude with the help of the cohort, and order the stretcher to be set on the ground, that I may pray to Christ for the dead woman." When this had been done with the utmost speed, At Eudocia's prayer the blessed Martyr wept and, prostrating herself with her face pressed to the ground, prayed for a long time. Then rising and taking the dead woman by the hand, she spoke in a loud voice: "O great and eternal God, Christ, who are the Word of the Father, through whom the dead rise, deign, I beseech you, for the conviction of those present, to work this great miracle by commanding Firmina to come back to life, and grant her the spirit of repentance, that she may be converted to you, the ever-living and eternal God." When Eudocia had thus prayed publicly, Firmina rises Firmina immediately leaped from the bier. And all the crowds cried out in a loud voice, as if from one mouth, saying: "Great is the God of Eudocia, truly and entirely the just God! We pray you, make us too saved through your God, for we too believe in him without hesitation." And Diodorus, flooded with immense joy at his wife Firmina being returned to life and to himself, cast himself at the feet of the holy Martyr, saying: "I beseech you, handmaid of Christ, make me also a Christian. For now in truth I have come to know And she is baptized with her husband, household, and Diogenes who and how great is the God whom you serve." Diodorus, therefore, and his wife, and their entire household were baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Likewise also Diogenes, who persevered even to the end and died in the faith of Christ.

CHAPTER XV.

Saint Eudocia restores to life a boy killed by a dragon: she kills the dragon.

[54] Thereupon the holy Martyr, accepting the hospitality of Diodorus, who eagerly invited and urged her, devoted herself there to proclaiming the law of God and teaching those willing to listen. When it happened The boy Zeno, killed by the breath of a dragon that in a certain house in that neighborhood, a boy sleeping at midday in a garden was killed by the pestilential breath of a fierce dragon. The youth was the only son of a widowed mother, who wept inconsolably. The lamb of God, Eudocia, upon learning of this, said to Diodorus: "Come and accompany me, and you will see another mystery of our good and merciful God." He promptly followed, and she went to the neighboring widow. Finding the youth dead, swollen in a fearful manner from the absorbed and deeply permeating poison of the deadly serpent, she said to Diodorus: "Now your faith, if it is perfect, must be of use to you, for what it is in relation to the Lord will soon be shown by a sure test. Pray, therefore, with the eyes of your heart fixed upward, and raise the dead." Diodorus replied: At Eudocia's command, with Diodorus praying "My Lady, handmaid of Christ, I am a neophyte and cannot fix the eyes of my heart immovably on God." The Blessed One said to him: "I have this sure confidence in my God, that I do not doubt he will quickly hear the prayers of those who repent of their sins when they ask for good things. Invoke, therefore, with your whole soul, the Lord who is mighty in power, and he will exercise his mercy upon us." Then Diodorus, bowing his head, beating his breast, began with tears and in a clear voice, so that all the bystanders could hear, to utter these words: "Lord God, who by your will have deigned to call me, an unworthy sinner and unbeliever, to your faith and glory; who by your providence arranged the connected causes whereby this venerable handmaid of yours should come to us humble people, to take charge of the souls of those perishing by the craft of the evil demon: receive also the prayer of me, a sinful and unworthy man, and recognizing my immutable faith in you, command the youth slain by the fierce dragon to come back to life and to persist henceforth in your glorification and adoration, so that by him and by every spirit your most holy name may be praised for ever and ever." Having prayed thus, he said to the dead man: "In the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, rise, Zeno."

And immediately the dead man rose, the dark lividity with which his corpse, swollen with the dragon's venom, He comes back to life had but lately been discolored, having been wiped away. When this was seen and the deed was made known, everyone on all sides glorified the God of heaven and earth, believing in him.

[55] When the multitude that had gathered was preparing to depart, the blessed lamb and handmaid of Christ, Eudocia, said to them: "Wait a little, Brothers, for our Savior Jesus Christ has yet to be glorified still further." When they obeyed, after she had sighed deeply, she prayed in this manner: "Lord God, At the prayer of Eudocia herself who inhabit inaccessible light and from thence provide for all according to your good pleasure, who see through the inmost feelings of each of us, who never refuse to hear those who flee to you in truth: hear also me, a lowly creature, and command the enemy, the lurking dragon, rightly detested by your servants, to come here to suffer his punishment, and here, in the sight of all, to burst asunder and die; so that your servants, having conceived from this benefit of yours a sure hope in you, may glorify your most holy name for ever and ever." No sooner had she prayed thus By divine command the dragon comes into the midst and is torn apart than the fierce and terrible dragon rushed into their midst, with fire pursuing it from behind, and there, hissing horribly, at last burst asunder and expired. Then all came to the Bishop of Heliopolis with their wives and children and were baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

CHAPTER XVI.

Saint Eudocia is beheaded by order of the Governor Vincentius.

[56] After the death of the Governor Diogenes, another Governor came in his place, named Vincentius, a fierce man and hostile to Christians. When he heard what was reported about Eudocia, he sent soldiers to her with orders to cut off her head. Thus the glorious Martyr of Christ, Eudocia, was consummated on the Kalends of March, Eudocia is killed on March 1 under the Governor Vincentius; but in our reckoning, (a) under the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always and for ever and ever. Amen.

PRAISE BE TO GOD.

(a) This formula is frequent in the Acts of Martyrs, whether, as here, the name of the Governors is expressed, or even of the Emperors, or without any mention of rulers. David Blondel, though heterodox, published an excellent large Diatribe, On the Use of the Formula "Under the Reign of Christ" in Ancient Monuments, at the end of which he assembles a great many examples.

ON THE HOLY MARTYRS SILVESTER AND SOPHRONIUS.

Silvester, Martyr (Saint)

Sophronius, Martyr (Saint)

These two athletes, and the following two likewise, are recorded together in the Synaxarion of the Collège de Clermont at Paris: "The Contest of the Holy Martyrs Marcellus, Antoninus,

the manuscript Acts of Saints Marius and Martha, we noted that it had been added there. Saint John the Presbyter, who buried them, is venerated together with Saint Crispus on August 18.