CONCERNING ST. BENJAMIN THE DEACON, MARTYR IN PERSIA.
FIFTH CENTURY
CommentaryBenjamin, Deacon and Martyr in Persia (Saint)
[1] The memory of St. Benjamin together with that of Bishop Abdas is celebrated among the Greeks: whom alone for this day the Emperor Basil Porphyrogenitus sets before us in the Menologion collected and published by his command, with this eulogy: "The memory of the holy Martyrs Abdas the Bishop and Benjamin the Deacon. Eulogy from the Menologion of the Emperor Basil. In the reign of Theodosius the Younger, Abdas flourished in Persia: who, after he overthrew a temple dedicated to fire, was seized and brought before the King. The King first exhorted him with great gentleness to rebuild the temple. When he said this could not be done, the King by decree destroyed all the churches of the Christians: and by this occasion a beginning was given to the persecution against the Christians, in which all the strength of the faithful was carried away by various torments. First of all, the most sacred Abdas was slain by the sword: then for thirty full years many declared themselves glorious Martyrs: among these were very wealthy men who, after various torments, were beheaded. At that time also the Deacon Benjamin received twenty sharp reeds driven under the nails of his hands and feet, another inserted through his genital member, and a thick and knotted rod thrust through his fundament: and thus he breathed forth his blessed spirit." The same account, somewhat more expanded, is read in the Greek manuscript Synaxarion of the Clermont College of the Society of Jesus at Paris; and among other Greeks much more fully in various Menaia, both printed and handwritten. In the Greek Menologion of the Cardinal the following brief notice is read: "On the same day, Saints Abdas the Bishop and Benjamin the Deacon and their companions, who received the crown of martyrdom in Persia." In the Roman Martyrology the following is read: "In Persia, St. Benjamin the Deacon, and in the Roman Martyrology. who, since he did not cease preaching the word of God, under King Isdegerd, pierced with sharp nails and with a thorny stake driven through his bowels, consummated his martyrdom." To this passage Baronius notes the following: "The Greeks celebrate the same on this day in the Menologion and also celebrate the birthday of St. Abdas the Bishop and the Persian companions: but Abdas, or Audas, with various companions, is celebrated in the said Martyrology on the sixteenth of May."
[2] Marcellinus writes in his Chronicle that the persecution raged against the Christians in Persia in the consulship of Theodosius IX and Constantius III. The time the persecution was started. That was the year of Christ 420. Theodoretus, whom we shall presently cite, asserts that it was stirred up at about the same time when the Patriarch Theodotus succeeded Alexander at Antioch, which we have shown on the eighth of January, in the Life of St. Atticus, Patriarch of Constantinople, to have occurred in the indicated year 420. In the Life of St. Euthymius the Abbot, elucidated by us on the twentieth of January, chapter 4, this persecution against the Christians is said to have been stirred up by the Magi toward the end of King Isdegerd's reign -- that is, when he was languishing with old age and diseases -- and after his death it was atrociously propagated by his son Varanes: whom Socrates, book 7, chapter 18, Acts of martyrdom from Theodoretus. and Nicephorus, book 14, chapter 19, therefore described as the author of the persecution, and we judge that St. Benjamin suffered under him. Theodoretus has the following concerning him in book 5 of his Ecclesiastical History, chapter 38:
[3] "The King had also cast the Deacon Benjamin into chains: St. Benjamin freed from prison, and when two years had elapsed, a Roman ambassador, who had come for other reasons, having learned about the Deacon, requested his liberation from the King. The King ordered Benjamin to promise that he would expound the Christian doctrine to none of the Magi. And the ambassador undertook that Benjamin would obey the commands. But Benjamin, having heard the ambassador's persuasions, said: 'It cannot be that I should not share the light I have received. For how great a punishment it is to hide the talent, the history of the sacred Gospels teaches.' But the King, at that time ignorant of all these things, commanded the Deacon to be released from his chains. He however persisted in doing what he had previously been accustomed to do, he preaches the faith of Christ: snatching those held in the darkness of ignorance and leading them to the light of understanding. When a year had passed and the King had been informed of what he was doing, he ordered him to be summoned and commanded him to deny the one whom he worshipped. And that man asked the King what punishment he would deem fitting for one who, having deserted his own kingdom, should prefer another; and when the King replied death and the ultimate punishment, then the most wise man said: 'With what punishment, then, He gives the King an account of his action: should he not deservedly be punished who, forsaking the Maker and Creator, and setting up one of his fellow servants as God, should offer to that one the worship due to the other?' Offended by this speech, the King ordered twenty very sharp reeds to be driven under the nails of his hands and feet. And because he saw that the man regarded this torture as sport, he again drove another sharp reed into his private parts, He dies from bitter piercings. which, repeatedly withdrawn and thrust back, inflicted unspeakable pains. After this punishment, the impious and monstrous tyrant ordered a thick stake with adhering branches to be driven through his fundament: and thus the noble athlete breathed forth his spirit." So writes Theodoretus, and Nicephorus, book 14 of his Ecclesiastical History, chapter 20, largely transcribes from him.