Martyrs of Antioch: Theodore the Priest

CONCERNING THE HOLY MARTYRS OF ANTIOCH: THEODORE THE PRIEST, POENTALIS, JULIAN, AND ACHATIA.

Theodore the Priest, Martyr at Antioch (Saint)

Poentalis, Martyr at Antioch (Saint)

Julian, Martyr at Antioch (Saint)

Achatia, Martyr at Antioch (Saint)

[1] This other group, but somewhat smaller, is that of the Antiochene Martyrs, of whom the first is sometimes written Theodolus or Theoderic, generally Theodore. Theodolus the Priest is mentioned separately in the manuscript Martyrology of Prague. Theodore the Priest But Pastor and Theodolus are recorded in the manuscript Hieronymian Calendar of Lucca, though Pastor is the leader of the Nicomedian Martyrs, of whom we have already treated. Theoderic the Martyr is inscribed in the Calendar of the Ambrosian Missal of Milan printed in the year 1550. More accurately, with the place added, the following is found in the Roman manuscript of Cardinal Barberini, the Tournai one of St. Martin's, and the Laetian one of St. Lambert: "At Antioch, St. Theodore the Priest and Julian." The Augsburg manuscript of St. Ulrich and the Labbe one: Julian "At Antioch, Theodore, Saturninus, Poentalis," elsewhere "Acacia."

Poentalis But Saturninus belongs to the Nicomedians, transferred from them to this place in both Martyrologies. The Roman manuscript of the Duke of Altemps reports the following: whether Achatia is to be separated "At Antioch, Theodore the Priest, Juliana, and Acacia." The Hieronymian Martyrology in the Luccan copy has thus: "At Antioch, Theodore the Priest, Poentalis, Julian, Acacia." Other copies agree on the first three; but in the Blumian it reads Achatia, in the Corbie one printed at Paris it reads Achaci, and in our very ancient one, elsewhere Achaia is read -- which, the said controversy over the word "elsewhere" being noted, we leave here with the others. In the Tamlacht manuscript these names are proposed: Pastor, Liberius, Victorinus, Saturninus, Teucrus, Medicius, Dola, Julia, Juliana, Julian, and 246 others. Achatia. Of these, the following belong to the former group of Nicomedians: Pastor, Victorinus, Saturninus, 246 to be added Dola, Juliana. But Achatia and Julian belong here; yet whether the 246 companions are to be joined to them is not sufficiently clear. Concerning St. Acacius -- called by others Achatius and Achartius -- who is reported by various authorities on this day and is the Bishop of Melitene in Armenia and a Confessor, we shall treat on the 31st of March.

CONCERNING SS. JONAS AND BARACHISIUS, MONKS, MARTYRS IN PERSIA.

IN THE YEAR 326.

Jonas, Brother, Monk, Martyr in Persia (Saint)

Barachisius, Brother, Monk, Martyr in Persia (Saint)

[1] When under the Christian Emperor Constantine the Great the Church of Christ enjoyed the most secure peace, the Christian faith was increasing throughout the entire kingdom of the Persians with great growth. In the persecution stirred up under King Sapor Unable to bear this, the Jews and very many of the Persians accused the Christians before King Sapor; whence, a terrible persecution having been stirred up, very many were adorned with the crown of martyrdom for Christ. Indeed, in the principal cities, all the most noble persons, to the number of eighteen thousand, were consummated as Martyrs by tortures so dreadful very many Martyrs are crowned as to be utterly alien to human nature. When the most sacred Emperor Constantine heard of this, he exhorted Sapor by letter, adding also entreaties, to spare the shedding of Christian blood and to abstain from so great cruelty; but he was unable to bend the hard mind of the King, with Constantine the Great vainly interposing as Theophanes accurately describes all these things in his Chronography at the twenty-first year of Constantine, the year of Christ 325 or the following. In this persecution, on the 29th of March, SS. Jonas and Barachisius, brothers, suffered; whose illustrious contest and trophy was recorded in elegant style by Isaiah, son of Adam, a Knight of the King of the Persians, who heard and witnessed everything that occurred in this contest. their Acts were written by Isaiah, an eyewitness Those Acts exist in Greek in the most celebrated library of the most illustrious Dominion of Venice, in which we ourselves found them and had them copied for ourselves; which Aloysius Lippomanus also obtained from there, and, rendered into Latin by Pietro Francesco Zino, published in volume 7 of the Lives of the Holy Fathers; and from him Laurentius Surius at this 29th of March; which we also give here from those same sources.

[2] From these Acts an illustrious summary was formed, contained in the Greek Menologion, composed by order of the Emperor Basil the Porphyrogenitus in the tenth century of Christ. their summary in the Menologion of the Emperor Basil In this, both the time of martyrdom and the monastic state of these Athletes are added, and it is thus rendered into Latin: "On the 29th of March, the contest of SS. Jonas and Barachisius. These monks flourished under the Empire of Constantine the Great and from there departed into the Persian kingdom; and when they found there nine holy Martyrs imprisoned in a dungeon, they encouraged them to fight bravely for Christ. For which reason they themselves also were seized and brought before the Princes of the Persians, who pressed them in many ways to compel them to deny the faith of Christ, but with futile effort. Therefore Jonas was first bound in chains according to the law of the Persians; for the Persians are accustomed, if they are about to beat someone with rods, to lay him on the ground and bind his hands and feet with chains to a piece of wood. So this Martyr, bound and motionless like a stone, received blows while he was beaten with rough rods; and finding him thus, they cast him out and exposed him to the frozen ice throughout the entire night. Then they cut off the fingers of his hands and feet, and the rest of his body, compressed in a press, they sawed in half and cast into a lake; and so Jonas completed his martyrdom. But Barachisius, dragged naked through thorns and thrown into a press, when boiling pitch was poured into his throat, completed his martyrdom."

[3] and in other Menaea So says the Menologion of the Emperor Basil, which sufficiently ancient documents confirm; from which a larger eulogy was extracted and is contained in the great Greek Menaea and in Maximus, Bishop of Cythera. In the Menologion of Cardinal Sirleto, at the 27th of March -- on which day the nine other Martyrs, encouraged by these two to martyrdom, were crowned -- these few things are reported: "On the same day the Martyrs Jonas and Barechisius are struck with the axe." But the author of this Menologion does not seem to have had the ancient Acts written by Elias Isaiah. After those were published by Lippomanus, Galesinnius formed this eulogy for them: also in Galesinnius "In Persia, the blessed Martyrs Jonas and Barachisius, who as most valiant soldiers of God, by order of King Sapor, enemy of the Christian cause, tortured with every kind of torment, having given a splendid example both of faith and of Christian virtue, clothed in the robe of light, enjoy everlasting glory." More accurately the principal tortures inflicted on each are briefly indicated in the Roman Martyrology in these words: and in the Roman Martyrology "In Persia, the holy Martyrs Jonas and Barachisius, under Sapor, King of the Persians; of whom Jonas was compressed in a press, his bones broken, and cut in half; the other was suffocated when his throat was filled with burning pitch." The same are celebrated by Felicius, Molanus, Canisius, and others. Baronius also mentions these Martyrs in his Annals at the year 344, but at that time Constantius was reigning, his father Constantine having already been dead for seven years; under whom the Greek Menaea, together with the Menologion of the Emperor Basil, report that these men were crowned with martyrdom at the beginning of the persecution, and Isaiah sufficiently implies this in the Acts.

ACTS OF MARTYRDOM

By Isaiah, Knight of the King of the Persians.

From the Greek Manuscript of Venice, published by Lippomanus.

Jonas, Brother, Monk, Martyr in Persia (Saint)

Barachisius, Brother, Monk, Martyr in Persia (Saint)

BY ISAIAH THE CONTEMPORARY

CHAPTER I.

Persecution stirred up. Nine Martyrs encouraged: these two are seized.

[1] Saborius, King of the Persians, in the eighteenth year of his reign, exercised persecution against the Churches of Christ [when the persecution was proclaimed, SS. Jonas and Barachisius leave their dwelling] and those by whom Almighty God was worshipped; for he commanded the Magi to destroy the holy temples of Christ and to burn the monasteries of the Christians. Moreover, he ordered that Christians be sought out, and when found, be compelled to sacrifice to the gods; and that those who obeyed should be honored with great distinctions, but those who refused to obey should be tortured with various torments and the gravest punishments. At that time there were in the region of the Persians, in a certain village called Iasa, two brothers, Jonas and Barachisius, men full of justice and faith, who observed the commandments of the Lord with great reverence. When these Saints heard of the persecution of the Christians, they left their dwelling and set out for that place where the impious Magi were most cruelly tormenting all the Christians.

[2] When they were in the village called Bardiaboch at Bardiaboch they strengthen the imprisoned Christians and had approached the prison in which the Christians were held enclosed, they begged the prison guard to allow them to enter and visit the condemned Christians. And when they had entered, they found nine condemned men who were resisting the decrees of the impious King Saborius. When therefore SS. Jonas and Barachisius saw them in their torments and had greeted them, they began to exhort them and to say: "Brothers and Fathers, let us fear nothing; but in the name of the Crucified let us endure the one contest, so that we may obtain the eternal crown, just as our brothers and fathers have also obtained it through martyrdom." By this speech of SS. Jonas and Barachisius, those men, being all the more confirmed, exhorted one another, and anointed and strengthened themselves in turn, as it were with the oil of grace, for patience and for the perfection of their torments and martyrdom. But of the Saints

Martyrs who were held bound in prison, their names are these: Zanitas, Lazarus, Marothas, Nerses, Elias, Mares, Abibus, Sembeethes, and Sabbas. nine, thereafter made Martyrs These, having endured many torments for the name of Christ, and having nobly completed the course of their life in the very contest of martyrdom, keeping firm their faith, crowned with great praise with the incorrupt and immortal crown of martyrdom, flew to heaven to the choirs of Angels.

[3] they are reported as being Christians and having strengthened others But afterwards certain Magi accused SS. Jonas and Barachisius before the three Princes of the Magi -- Masdrath, Seroth, and Maarneses -- by whom the Saints had been condemned, on the grounds that they neither offered sacrifice nor obeyed the King's commands, nor were willing to adore the sun and fire and water; and that those nine Martyrs, induced by their words, had not complied with the royal decrees.

[4] Then the Princes of the Magi, full of indignation, ordered them to be brought before them, and addressed them thus: "We adjure you by our King of Kings, Saborius, that you answer us truly regarding the matters about which you shall be questioned. [brought before the Princes of the Magi, they show that God must be obeyed rather than men] Do you obey the King's will and comply with his decrees and adore the sun and fire and water as the King himself commands, or not?" SS. Jonas and Barachisius answered: "We shall speak to you, but hear us as befits Princes and Judges of the King of the Persians. For he chose you as Judges and placed all his judgment in your hands, that you might judge justly. Ought you not, illustrious Judges, rather than an earthly King, to fear him who gave you wisdom and understanding, and to acknowledge God, who holds dominion over heaven and earth and all spirits, who distinguishes the varieties of the seasons, governs all things, and has bestowed prudence upon you so that you might judge those who are in the flesh, like yourselves? We therefore adjure you to tell us truly and sincerely which God we ought to deny: the heavenly or the earthly? the eternal or the perishable? For we believe in the God who made heaven and earth; but we do not believe in a mortal man. Nor indeed ought we to believe in a man who lives for a brief span of time and dies and is buried, just as we are, and is counted among the number of other men."

CHAPTER II

Each Separately Subjected to Questioning and Having Suffered Various Torments.

[5] Hearing these things, the Princes of the Magi, vehemently indignant and full of impious fury St. Jonas is examined separately because their King had been treated with contempt by the Saints, who asserted he was mortal, ordered rough rods of pomegranate wood, with thorns, to be brought, that they might be beaten. But first they commanded that the two be separated, so that neither could understand what had been said by the other, and thus be confirmed in the contest of Christ. Then Masdrath and Seroth and Maarneses, the three Princes of the Magi, sitting to conduct the examination of the Saints, angrily ordered that St. Jonas alone be brought forward. When he had been brought: "Consider," they said, "what you ought to do. If you worship and adore the gods, sacrifice to the sun and fire and water, and carry out what has been commanded by the King of Kings, Saborius, you will be released with honor as a free man. Otherwise we shall afflict you with the most bitter torments and the gravest punishments. And do not think us your enemies; for we ourselves will do you no harm, unless you yourself take bad counsel for your own safety." St. Jonas replied, saying: "I have no need of that kind of safety, on account of the life of Jesus Christ; for it passes away and never endures. Wherefore I will never deny my Lord Jesus Christ, who lives forever, since he is the hope of all Christians, and those who hope in him are not confounded; for thus he has promised us: he replies that he will be moved from Christ his Judge by no torments 'Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever denies me before the sons of men, I also will deny him before my Father who is in heaven and before the holy Angels.' For he will come in the clouds of heaven in the glory of his Father and of the Angels and Archangels; and he is now ready to render to each person according to his works. Matthew 10 Since this is so, do to me what has been commanded you; and do not think that we will abandon the house of God, or defect from him by any terrors -- he who has granted us to serve his holy house, and who said to us: 'You are the light of the world.' And again: 'You,' he said, 'are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its savor, with what shall those things be salted that need to be salted?' Matthew 5 Wherefore if, as you urge, we should obey your King of Kings and do his bidding, we would not only deny our Lord, but would be the cause of your all denying him, and would bring ruin upon everyone."

[6] When the Princes of the Magi heard these things, roused to anger, he is savagely scourged they ordered him to be bound according to Persian law. A rod having been passed between his hands and legs, the holy man lay inert on the ground like a stone; and the officers beat him with thorny pomegranate rods, nor did they cease until his sides were lacerated. But while he was being beaten, he praises God he did not resist, but praising God said: "Glory to you, God of our Fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who have led us out of this world and have deigned to bring us to the love and holy faith of you; for through the faith of the just Abraham we have known your holy faith, though we suffer but little in comparison with the many things owed. And now, Lord, grant us patience, that we may accomplish all that your Holy Spirit has commanded us -- who also sang a new song through the mouth of our Father David. Psalm 26 Make us worthy to do the things he says; for he says: 'One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek' -- that is, that I may always be with you, Lord. This, O God, which I await daily, bestow upon me through martyrdom." and despises the idols When St. Jonas had said these things, he cried with a loud voice to the Princes of the Magi: "I depart from your sinful King and all his friends, whoever they may be (for they are all Princes of Satan), and I renounce them all; and from the sun and moon and stars and fire and water, which you assert to be gods, I am estranged, nor do I adore them in any way; but I believe in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the true Trinity, which preserves the entire world and made even your gods, which you think should be worshipped by us under compulsion."

[7] Hearing these things, the Princes of the Magi ordered that his foot be bound with a cord, he is exposed to the bitter cold and that thus he be dragged out into the frost and ice, and there lie the entire night (for it was winter), and that it be observed what he might do on account of the cold. The officers did as commanded, and left him there until the following day.

[8] The iniquitous Judges, sitting again at the tribunal, ordered St. Barachisius to be brought. meanwhile St. Barachisius is summoned When he had been brought and stood before them, they said: "What will you do, Barachisius? Will you sacrifice and adore and worship the Sun and Fire and Water, as your brother Jonas also did, having changed his mind? Or do you wish to undergo the contest of torments in your body?" St. Barachisius answered: "As my brother worshipped, so I adore and worship and venerate. he denies that St. Jonas has defected You have reported falsely about him; for the truth did not permit him to do so. For who could have blinded his mind, so that, leaving him by whom he was created, he would adore those things which were created to serve men? If they were to be adored, they would not serve men, but men would serve them; for it would be a disgrace to fire if it served us in a servile capacity. But now we see that not only the rich but also the poor, not only the good but also the wicked, make use of the service of fire. Since therefore fire has been constituted our servant by him who made it, it is unjust of you to wish to compel us to adore fire, [he shows that not fire but God the creator of fire and the universe is to be adored] which God created for human uses, and to deny God himself, who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them. It is rather fitting that glory and adoration and all honor be given by Kings and Princes and Leaders and every spirit to him by whom both things on high and things in the deep were made, whose secret counsels no one can comprehend, nor can anyone attain to the sublimity of his glory, although all the sons of men need his help. For he nourishes all, needs nothing, governs all things; he requires only this of us: that we know the name of the Lord, and not allow ourselves to be deceived by fictions and errors. Exodus 20, Deuteronomy 5 For thus he commands: 'You shall not make idols for yourselves, nor shall you worship the works of your hands, nor any other created thing; for I am the Lord your God, who am from the beginning and remain without end, and there is no other God besides me, and I will not give my glory to another, nor my powers to graven images, nor my honor to idols; I kill and I give life, and there is none who can escape my hands.' Isaiah 42, Deuteronomy 32"

[9] Then the angry Princes of the Magi began to marvel at them and at their constancy, and to say: lest other idolaters come to their senses "Let us not judge them at this time, lest some of those who are pious and adore the sun and fire and water, upon hearing their words, fall away from our religion and refuse to sacrifice. Let us rather hear them at night, when all are sleeping and at rest, so that no one may know he is examined at night what is said by them or what is done by us." Then therefore they suspended the trial. At night, however, when there was great silence, sitting in session they ordered St. Barachisius to be brought, and with great silence they heard him. And when much had been said on both sides, and in that disputation St. Barachisius, armed with divine wisdom, emerged the victor, they were indignant and ordered two bronze ingots, blazing hot, to be applied under his armpits, and said to him: "By the crown of the King of Kings, Saborius, cast one of the ingots to the ground, that we may understand you have denied your God." St. Barachisius replied: he holds the blazing bronze ingots under his arms "Ministers of Satan and wicked Princes, by the salvation of my God and the destruction of Satan your father, I do not fear your King, and I shall cast neither ingot to the ground, but shall endure both for the name of Christ. Indeed, I adjure you by the living God and desires to suffer more to add to this torment others, greater ones, if you have any. For who goes forth to war and enters into battle who

is not ready to meet death, so that he may obtain great glory and many rewards and the position of a Prince from the King?"

[10] When these things were being said by St. Barachisius, the Princes of the Magi, overcome by enormous madness, he is suspended in prison by one foot ordered lead to be melted and poured into his eyelids and nostrils; and again they ordered lead to be melted and poured into his throat and ears, so that he could neither hear nor speak. Afterwards they handed him over to the officers, saying: "Take him away to prison, and imprison him there suspended by one foot."

CHAPTER III

The Noble Death of Both amid Dire Torments. The Bodies Taken Away. The Acts Written Down.

[11] Then they ordered that Blessed Jonas be brought again into their presence. When he had been brought, [St. Jonas, having endured the night on the ice, found it most delightful on account of the memory of the Cross of Christ] they said: "How does your body feel? And how did you pass the entire night exposed to ice and cold?" Blessed Jonas answered: "Believe me, Royal Princes, my God, in whom my soul finds rest, has never granted me so tranquil a night since my mother bore me; nor do I remember, since I have been able to know what sensation is, that any night has ever been so sweet to me while resting; for consolation was at hand for me from that holy wood to which my Lord Jesus Christ was fastened."

[12] he denies that his brother defected Hearing these things, the wicked Princes of the Magi said: "But your brother Barachisius has denied your God; and you still remain obstinately in your opinion?" St. Jonas responded, saying: "I too know that my brother has denied the devil and all his angels, and has perfectly devoted himself to Christ the Lord." "Is it not more advantageous for you," said the Princes of the Magi, he shows that it is better to die than to depart from the faith of Christ "to defect from your God than to lose your life?" St. Jonas answered: "O blind and foolish men, how do you boast of being wise? Weigh, I beseech you, by your own wisdom, the truth. A man who has wheat stored up in his granary and keeps it cannot -- even though rains and snows and thunderbolts and all other injuries of the weather prevail -- restrain himself from taking that wheat and casting it into the earth with his own hands, sowing in the name of the Lord; for he hopes that from a small seed, at harvest time, with Christ's favor, he will fill his threshing floor. But if he leaves his wheat in the granary and does not sow it, it will fail and cannot grow. The same may be observed in men: if anyone in this world loses his life for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the new world, when he comes to renew the sons of men, he will renew those who believe in him and do his will in his light, which never passes away nor is dissolved; but those who neglect his precepts and commandments he will cast into fire that is never extinguished; for the fire of those has no coals, as it is written, nor does their flame have light."

[13] When he had said these things, the Princes of the Magi were long struck dumb, he compares the torments with a banquet admiring his speech. But afterwards they said to him: "Do not err, Jonas, and do not follow the Scriptures; for the Scriptures deceive many." Blessed Jonas replied and said: "Rightly have you said that scriptures deceive; for the scriptures of the Greeks do deceive. Nor does anything deceive men more than the life of this world; but whoever tastes the affliction of Christ is never deceived. For just as when some rich man invites his friends to a banquet, they leave their own homes and come, for they know that they are invited to a festivity; and when they have reclined and tasted the wine, if it is sweet they rejoice and drink more freely, and once they have become intoxicated they cannot return home, but their household servants take hold of them and lead them home; and the next morning, when they have slept off the wine and exhaled the effects of their excess, they are very glad that they are among their own household. So also the servants of Christ, when they feel themselves summoned by Princes to prison, know that they are going to contests and torments. When therefore they have approached and drunk and become intoxicated with the tortures and love of Christ, they remember neither family nor children nor reputation, nor do they care for gold or silver or anything else; but they despise Kings and Princes, and await the one great King, Christ, whose soldiers we are, who endures forever and ever, and whose kingdom does not pass away but remains for eternity."

[14] Hearing these things, the Princes of the Magi ordered that the fingers of St. Jonas's hands and feet be cut off, he nobly endures the cutting off of the fingers of his hands and feet as though he had spoken more than was necessary. When the officers had carried this out, casting the severed fingers before his eyes they said: "See now how we have sown your fingers in the earth; wait, therefore, and when the time of harvest comes, you will have many fingers." St. Jonas replied: "I have no need of a multitude of fingers and hands; God, by whom I was made, will himself renew what is mine in that renewal which he is to effect in us."

[15] Hearing these things, the Princes of the Magi, full of wrath, ordered pitch to be melted in a great vessel, and his head to be shaved by the officers, and then the Saint himself to be cast into a sack in such a way that his head protruded. The wicked officers did what had been ordered, he remains unharmed in the burning pitch and immersed the skin of the holy man's head and his tongue into the vessel full of pitch; then they also cast the entire Saint himself into the pitch in the middle of the vessel, which was boiling with the greatest violence. But when St. Jonas had been cast into the vessel, immediately all the pitch flowed out of the vessel, so that it did not touch him, nor injure him in any part.

[16] compressed in a press, he is sawed through the middle and cast into a lake The impious men, marveling at this wondrous and unprecedented thing, and seeing that the holy man had suffered no harm from so great a torment, ordered a press to be brought, and the Saint to be placed in it and violently compressed and cut apart. The officers did as commanded, and compressed him in the press, and broke all his bones; then they sawed him through the middle. And when he had been sawed apart, the impious Princes of the Magi ordered that his body be cast into the deepest lake and diligently guarded. And so it was done.

[17] When therefore St. Jonas had obtained the crown of martyrdom, they ordered St. Barachisius to be brought again for questioning. St. Barachisius is steadfast in his sufferings They addressed him thus: "Spare your limbs, Barachisius, and do not destroy yourself untimely." The holy man answered them: "Neither did I form myself, nor shall I destroy myself. The Lord, by whom I was made, will renew me by his power and snatch me from your hands and from the hands of your most wicked Prince, who does not acknowledge God his maker, but defends and strives to carry out the will of the devil." When these things had been said by the Saint, two of the Princes of the Magi, Masdrath and Seroth, turning to Maarneses, said: "We are bringing disgrace upon the King of Kings, Saborius. For these men, trusting in their error, fear no one." he is compressed with thorns and reeds Having spoken thus, they turned their faces, burning with anger, to Blessed Barachisius and ordered him to be cast upon thorns; then reeds to be brought and split in half and applied to the holy man's flesh; then to be bound around and compressed with a thin cord until the reeds penetrated into the flesh; and afterwards they commanded that the reeds be extracted, [and with his limbs crushed in a press and burning pitch cast into his throat, he dies] so that they would tear his flesh. And so the officers did, and tore his flesh apart. Then the impious men ordered him to be cast into the press in which St. Jonas had been cut, and there all his bones to be broken. When they had been crushed, the Princes of the Magi commanded the officers to pour burning pitch into his throat. And so Blessed Barachisius yielded up his soul and was enrolled among the number of the holy Martyrs.

[18] Abdissotas purchases the bodies of the nine Martyrs When a certain man distinguished for piety, named Abdissotas, learned that SS. Jonas and Barachisius had been crowned with martyrdom, he approached and purchased the tabernacles of the Saints for five hundred Daric coins and three silk garments from those by whom they were being guarded. And he purchased not only the bodies of SS. Jonas and Barachisius, but also of those who had suffered martyrdom before them. The buyer swore that none of the Princes would learn that the guards had sold the bodies of the Saints; and he said that he was an old friend of those who had suffered martyrdom. For the guards had demanded an oath, fearing lest, if the matter came to the ears of the Princes, they might fall into some danger.

[19] these Martyrs pray for mankind The names of the Saints who bore the palm of martyrdom are these, as we have said above: Jonas and Barachisius, Zanitas, Lazarus, Marothas, Merses, Elias, Mares, Abibus, Sembeethes, and Sabbas. These eleven champions and glorious Martyrs fought for Christ to the end, and suffered themselves to be tortured by various kinds of torments, so that they might appear steadfast in the faith of Christ, and might leave to posterity a splendid proof and example and model of virtue. These most holy Saints and unconquered soldiers of Christ, fighting bravely for their Leader and carrying off the victory over the enemies of Christ, were clothed in the robe of light and obtained from him the incorrupt crown of glory, nine killed on the 27th, two on the 29th of March and we are all aided by their prayers and supplications before God. Nine of these Martyrs of Christ were killed on the sixth day before the Kalends of April, and the remaining two on the fourth day before the Kalends of the same month.

[20] This history of the holy Martyrs was written down by Isaiah, son of Adam, who, being a Knight of the King of the Persians, Saborius, and being present with the Princes of the Magi as merely a listener and spectator of the things that were done, Isaiah, an eyewitness, wrote these things and having thus heard and observed from beginning to end everything that occurred in this contest, committed it to written records for the edification and benefit and salvation of all, so that all might strive to imitate such virtue for Christ, to whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.