ON SS. ZENAIS AND PHILONILLA, SISTERS, AT TARSUS IN CILICIA,
AT TARSUS IN CILICIA.
MOST PROBABLY IN THE FIRST CENTURY.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
The memory of the Saints in the Sacred Fasti; whether they were martyrs, where and when they lived, and of what kind are the Acts of St. Zenais alone which we publish.
Zenais, at Tarsus in Cilicia. (S.)
Philonilla, her sister, at Tarsus in Cilicia. (S.)
BY C. B.
The two holy Sisters here proposed, who are absent from all the ancient Sacred Fasti of the Latins, The Saints, who in the elogia, from the Sirletian Menology, and who, although they are nowhere called Virgins, and hence are not adorned by me with this title either, were nevertheless probably Virgins, are celebrated today by the Greek manuscript Synaxarion of Sirmond which exists with us, by the great printed Menaea of the Greeks, and likewise by two printed Menologies, namely the Sirletian and the Basilian; and since I find nothing anywhere which advises that either or both should be removed from our Work, I undertake to treat of them here, having driven far away every scruple which might arise from the fact that the Greeks now and then count even the unworthy among the Saints; and to do this, I first transcribe here each and every one of the elogia with which they are adorned in the said Fasti of the Greeks, intending to add afterwards the things I shall judge are to be observed about them. I begin with the elogium which the Sirletian supplies. It is couched in these following words: These holy Women (namely Zenais and Philonilla) were from Tarsus in Cilicia, kinswomen of Paul the Apostle; who, having left all things, came to the city of Demetrias and, having entered a certain cave, led their life there. There blessed Zenais, curing every disease and infirmity, went away to the Lord; while Philonilla, giving herself up to long fasts and vigils, worked very many miracles and, submitting to the order of nature, passed from a brief life to an eternal one.
[2] To this elogium, surely very brief, what occurs in the printed Menaea is almost exactly consonant, from the printed Menaea, It, calling SS. Philonilla and Zenais Sisters in the title which it bears, reads thus in Greek: Ἃυται ὑπῆρχον ἐκ Ταρσοῦ τῆς Κιλικίας συγγενεῖς Πάυλου τοῦ Ἀποστόλου, καὶ καταλιποῦσαι τὴν θρεψαμένην, καὶ την ὕπαρξιν ἀυτῶν ἀπαρνησάμεναι, τὴν ἰατρικην ἐν τῶ δοκεῖν μετερχόμεναι τέχνην, τῇ ἀληθείᾳ ἀποστολικὸν ἔργον ἐπλήρουν Ἔρχονται οὖν ἐν Δημητρίαδι τῇ πόλει, καὶ ἔν τινι σπηλαίῳ εἰσελθοῦσαι τὸν βιον διῆγον· ἐκεῖσετε ἡ μεν Ζηναὶς πᾶσαν νόσον καὶ πᾶσαν μαλακίαν θεραπέυουπα πρὸς Κύριον ἐξεδήμησεν· ἡ δὲ Φιλονίλλα, μακροτάταις νηστείαις καὶ ἀγρυπνίαις ἑαυτὴν ἐκδοῦσα, θαυμάσια πλεῖστα ἀπετέλει καὶ τῇ τῆς φύσεως ἀκολουθίᾳ δουλεύουσα τῆς προσκαίρου ζωῆς ἀπανέστη· and in Latin it is rendered in this manner: These (namely the holy sisters Zenais and Philonilla), born at Tarsus in Cilicia, were kinswomen of Paul the Apostle, and, having left the country that nourished them and renounced their wealth, while practising the art of medicine in appearance they in truth fulfilled an apostolic work. They came therefore to the city of Demetrias and, having entered a certain cave, led their life in it; and Zenais, curing every kind of disease and infirmity, passed to the Lord; while Philonilla, having given herself to very long fasts and vigils, worked very many prodigies, and, paying the debt of nature, departed from this temporal life. So the printed Menaea; I now proceed to the Basilian Menology.
[3] The elogium of the Saints which is exhibited in Greek and Latin together in this, published at the Urbino press by the labour and zeal of Cardinal Annibale Albani, from the Basilian Menology and which nevertheless, for brevity's sake, I propose here to the reader in Latin only, reads thus: St. Zenais with her sister Philonilla was from the city of Tarsus, joined by nearness of blood to the holy Apostle Paul. And at first she professed medicine; then, imbued with the faith of Christ by the Apostle himself, she bade farewell to her art, her riches and her sister; and, leading a solitary life in a remote cave of a mountain, she gave herself to God alone and to herself, sustaining her hunger only with herbs which the earth itself bore near the cave; and having once gone out to gather these, she unwarily trod upon a very sharp
wooden nail, fixed in the ground by the work of the devil, who bore it most indignantly that many, coming to her secretly and often, were being brought over to the faith of Christ. And when, unequal to the pain, she had sat down to take the nail from her foot, she gave up her spirit to the Lord. Philonilla, however, remaining at home, after she had striven toward virtue with no less zeal than her Sister, and had always honoured God with great devotion, fell asleep in peace.* Somewhat more lengthy than this elogium, which is a little more lengthy than the elogia of the Menaea and the Sirletian, is the one which now remains to be transcribed here from the Greek manuscript Synaxarion of Sirmond.
[4] It, to which I shall subjoin a Latin translation, if only because it is nowhere found rendered into Latin, and the Sirmondian Synaxarion speaks of SS. Zenais and Philonilla in these Greek words: Ἅυται ὑπῆρχον ἐκ Ταρσοῦ τῆς Κιλικίας ἀπὸ χωρίου Δημητρίαδος συγγενεῖς τοῦ ἁγίου Ἀποστόλου καὶ ἡ μὲν ἁγία Ζηναῒς τὴν ἰατρικὴν ἐν τῶ δοκεῖν μετερχομένη τέχνην, τῇ ἀληθείᾳ ἀποστολικὸν ἔργον ἐπλήρου· καταλιποῦσα γὰρ τὰ ὑπάρχοντα αυτῆς παντα καὶ τὴν Ἀδελφὴν, καὶ ἀπελθοῦσα ἐν ὄρει τινὶ καὶ εἰς σπήλαιον εἰσιοῦσα ἡσύχαζε καὶ τοὺς προσιόντας ἐν καιρῶ πρὸς ἀυτὴν εδίδασκε τὸν λογὸν τῆς ἀληθείας πᾶσαν νόσον καὶ πᾶσαν μαλακίαν θεραπεύουσα· πρός ἣν τρεῖς ἄνδρες συνήθως ἐρχόμενοι Πάπας καὶ Πατερᾶς καὶ Φιλόκυρος καὶ τὰ θεῖα μυούμενοι καὶ ἐπιβουλευθέντες συλληφθηναι ὑπὸ τῶν ἑλλήνων, οὐ συνεσχέθησαν, προσευξαμένης τῆς Ἁγίας καὶ ρυσαμένης ἀυτοὺς· ἥτις ὕστερον τοῦ σπηλαίου διά τινα χρείαν ἐξελθοῦσα καὶ ὑπὸ ἀκάνθης τὸν πόδα περιπαρεῖσα καὶ καθίσασα ἐκβαλεῖν ἀυτὴν παρέδωκε τὸ πνεῦμα· ἡ δὲ ἀδελφὴ ἀυτῆς Φιλονίλλα κατέμενεν ἐν τῷ ὄικῳ ἀυτῆς καὶ κατὰ μηδὲν ἀπολειφθεῖσα τῆς Ἀδελφῆς ἀυτῆς εἰς ἀρετὴν, ὰλλὰ πάντοτε προσκαρτεροῦσα τῇ προσευχῆ ἐδέξατο θαυμάτων χαρίσματα καὶ τῷ Θεῷ εὐαρεστήσασα ἐν εἰρήνῃ ἐτελειώθη. Thus far the Greek text of the praised Synaxarion; here now is its Latin translation too.
[5] transcribed here, they are said to have been born at Tarsus in Cilicia, These (namely Zenais and her sister Philonilla), born at Tarsus in Cilicia, of the village which is called Demetrias, were joined by nearness of blood with the holy Apostle Paul; and St. Zenais, practising the art of medicine in appearance, in truth fulfilled an apostolic work; for having left all her goods and her Sister, and having withdrawn to a certain mountain, she entered a cave and led a solitary life, and, as opportunity offered, taught the word of truth to those who came to her, healing every kind of disease and infirmity; and when three men, Papas, Pateras and Philocyrus, came to her as was their custom and were being initiated in the sacred doctrine, and were set upon by the heathen with plots that they might be taken, they were not seized, the Saint praying for and delivering them; and when at length, having gone out of the cave for some need, she had pierced her foot with a thorn and had sat down to pull it out, she gave up her spirit. But Philonilla, her sister, stayed at home, and since she strove toward virtue no less vigorously than her Sister, and persevered always in prayer, she received the grace of miracles, and, having become very pleasing to God, ended her life in peace. Such are the elogia of our Saints which I judged were to be transcribed here. And first, to propose now the things I think are to be observed about them, they affirm with unanimous consent from the very beginning that the Saints were born at Tarsus in Cilicia and were joined by nearness of blood to Paul the Apostle, who, as the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 21, verse 39, show, was also born there; and although the Sacred Fasti praised above, from which those elogia were drawn, by no means deserve entire credit, there is nevertheless no reason why we should not agree with them in this matter, since nothing occurs from elsewhere on account of which it can deservedly be called in doubt whether the Saints were in actual truth either born at Tarsus in Cilicia or joined by nearness of blood with Paul the Apostle.
[6] in the Menaea and the Sirletian Menology But the four elogia of our Saints already recited, or rather the Sacred Fasti of the Greeks from which these were taken, which agree so well among themselves, from what has been said, about the place of their birth and their nearness of blood with Paul the Apostle, disagree with one another as to the art which those two Women professed; for while the Sirletian Menology is altogether silent about this, the Menaea ascribe the profession of medicine to both, while on the contrary the Synaxarion of Sirmond, together with the Basilian Menology, ascribe it to Zenais alone; but what is to be embraced here, or what on the contrary rejected, I cannot determine; wherefore, adding nothing more on this subject, I turn my discourse elsewhere. The printed Menaea, in the title, or, if you prefer, in the announcement of SS. Zenais and Philonilla, which they set before the two little verses prefixed to their elogium transcribed here above, distinguish them by the appellation of Martyrs, and the same is also done by the Sirletian Menology and by Maximus Margunius, bishop of Cythera, in his Martyrology, which he wrote in the present-day language of the Greeks. But a writer of this kind, being only more recent and accustomed for the most part to follow the printed Menaea blindly, ought not to detain us here; and as for the said Menaea themselves, they are by no means consistent with themselves here; for first, although they distinguish the Saints by the appellation of Martyrs in the title, as I said, yet immediately afterwards, in the two little verses already mentioned above which they subjoin next to it, they clearly show that they did not fall by martyrdom but rested in peace. That it may be evident to the reader how true this is, I transcribe them here together with an added Latin version. They read thus:
Εἰρηνικῶς ὕπνωσαν εἰρήνης φίλαι, Φιλονίλλα τε καὶ Ζηναίς, αἱ δύο.
In peace they rested, friends of peace, both Philonilla and Zenais, the two.
[7] Besides, the same Menaea, in the very elogium of the Saints which I have already given at num. 2, martyrs supply nothing whatever which even in any way insinuates that they were taken from life by martyrdom; and since the Sirletian Menology also furnishes nothing of this kind in the elogium transcribed here above with which it adorns our Saints, and nothing is brought from elsewhere from which it can be concluded safely enough that they ended their life by martyrdom, it surely appears either certain, or at least most like the truth, that Zenais and Philonilla, who are also noted today, yet not called Martyrs, in two Lists of Saints, male and female, existing with us, one of which is marked as taken from the manuscripts of the Dominican Fathers of the convent of St. Mark at Florence, and the other likewise from Greek manuscript Menaea of the Ambrosian library, are wrongly distinguished by the appellation of Martyrs in the announcement or title which the printed Menaea, the Sirletian Menology and Maximus Margunius set before their elogia. The most learned men who reformed the present Roman Martyrology also seem to have judged that Zenais and Philonilla cannot be called martyrs; for although they brought them into it today from the Sirletian Menology, they nevertheless did so, omitting the appellation of Martyrs with which they are presented in it, only in the following manner: At Tarsus in Cilicia, of the holy women Zenais and Philonilla, sisters, who were kinswomen of blessed Paul the Apostle and his disciples in the faith.
[8] But Castellan, listing our Saints today in his Universal Martyrology together with the said present Roman one, are wrongly called, and both, insinuates, by a note set in the margin, that one of them, namely Zenais, was afflicted with martyrdom in Thessaly near Demetrias according to ancient manuscripts. If, therefore, one must stand here by that martyrologist, or, to speak better, by the ancient manuscripts which he praises, it will have to be admitted that the appellation of Martyr belongs to at least one of our Saints, and that both, therefore, did not rest in peace. But did St. Zenais truly end her life by shedding her blood for the faith, and ought she therefore to be called a Martyr? In the Basilian Menology (see the elogium of our Saints transcribed from it above) it is narrated that St. Zenais, when she had once gone out of the cave which she inhabited to gather the herbs by which she sustained her life, unwarily trod upon a very sharp wooden nail fixed in the ground by the work of the devil, who bore it most indignantly that many, coming to her secretly and often, were being brought over to the faith of Christ, and that, when, unequal to the pain, she had sat down to take the nail from her foot, she gave up her spirit to the Lord. What if, then, St. Zenais truly departed from life in this way, and hence it was noted in the ancient manuscripts which Castellan praises that she fell by martyrdom? Surely the Saint, if she had perished either by open force or by plots laid for her, the devil acting out of hatred of the faith, would have to be said to have fallen by martyrdom no less than if she had been slain by a tyrannical man with torments inflicted on her out of hatred of the faith; but that she was snatched from among the living in either way, the ancient manuscripts which Castellan cites by no means persuade me; for since he does not declare what or of what kind these were, it can certainly not undeservedly be doubted whether they were sufficiently fit to establish indubitable credit in this matter.
[9] as the things adduced here suggest, in peace, And indeed I am persuaded that Zenais was certainly not put to death out of hatred of the faith by the savagery of any tyrant, if only because nothing whatever from which I could, I will not say think, but even suspect the contrary occurs in the four elogia of our Saints transcribed here above, which the Sacred Fasti of the Greeks that I have praised contain, and the same must also be said of the Greek Acts of St. Zenais themselves, which exist with us and will come to be mentioned more fully below; and as for the fraud or plots of the devil by which Zenais is said to have perished out of hatred of the faith, it is indeed found that Satan was now and then permitted to tempt the servants of God and even greatly to vex them, but not likewise to rage against them, whether by open force or by frauds and plots, even to the point of death; and since this is so, who would believe that a very sharp wooden nail was craftily fixed in the ground by the abominable enemy of the human race, who had the greatest hatred for St. Zenais because she was bringing many to the faith of Christ, and that the Saint thus, when she had struck her foot against it and very gravely injured it, fell through plots laid for her by the devil? The printed Menaea and the Sirletian Menology make no mention of a wooden nail with which St. Zenais pierced or transfixed her foot; and although the Synaxarion of Sirmond and the already-mentioned Acts of St. Zenais, which I shall place beneath this Commentary, at num. 8, substitute a thorn for the wooden nail, which comes to the same thing, they nevertheless do not add that it was done by the work or plots of the devil either that this thorn was fixed in the ground or that St. Zenais struck her foot against it; and since the author of the Basilian Menology could by no means, as appears, have clearly understood that what he says was perpetrated against the Saint by an evil demon, he most probably affirmed it not moved by any firm reason, but only after the manner of the ignorant crowd, which formerly for the most part unskilfully attributed to malignant spirits the accidents of adverse fortune whose causes it did not know.
[10] Philonilla indeed at Tarsus in her own home, Wherefore, as the crowd, as I said, was certainly deservedly to be censured for this, so now that author certainly does not deserve credit in the matter of which we are speaking here; so that surely, that St. Zenais,
whom he nowhere calls a Martyr either, fell through plots laid for her by the devil out of hatred of the faith is not to be believed, as follows from what has already been said; and that therefore, since she was not slain out of hatred of the faith by the savagery of any tyrant either, as I have just shown, it does not appear that it should be doubted that this Saint of ours, and therefore, on account of what was said above, both the one and the other of the two blessed Sisters with whom we are dealing here, ended her life in peace. And indeed the printed Menaea and the Sirletian Menology clearly relate, in the elogia transcribed here at numm. 1 and 2, that both, that is St. Philonilla as well as St. Zenais, having left their country and all their goods, withdrew into a cave situated near Demetrias in Thessaly and there ended their life most holily; but the Synaxarion of Sirmond and the Basilian Menology, in the elogia given at numm. 3 and 4, hand down no less clearly that St. Philonilla did not withdraw into the desert, leaving her country, but remained at Tarsus in her own home, and there, having cultivated virtue no less than Zenais, passed to the Lord; and since St. Zenais, when she betook herself into the desert, is said in her Acts, already praised above, num. 1, to have left her Sister, and that, as appears, could not so easily be understood as consonant with the truth if Philonilla, no differently from Zenais, had withdrawn into a cave leaving all her goods, those Acts support the Synaxarion of Sirmond and the Basilian Menology; and since, if only for that reason, it seems that one must stand here by these rather than by the Menaea and the Sirletian Menology, I am persuaded that Philonilla more probably did not withdraw into the desert, leaving her country or the city of Tarsus, but remained at Tarsus in her own home, and there, after a life most holily led, passed to the Lord.
[11] Further, the Menaea and the Sirletian Menology seem to have strayed from the truth not only in sending St. Philonilla off into the desert, but Zenais in a solitude, not in Thessaly, but also in placing near the city of Demetrias the solitude into which St. Zenais withdrew and in which, too, she was taken from among the living after a life most holily led. For the Greek Acts of St. Zenais, already praised by me more than once, which, although they do not treat of Philonilla, nevertheless relate to Zenais, her sister, with whom we are dealing here, as we shall see below, speak at num. 1 in the following manner: She (namely Zenais), having left all her goods together with her own Sister, betook herself to a mountain situated within the boundaries of the Tarsians toward the northern quarter of the region which, from a name given to it from the thing which it contains, is called Demetrias, and dwelling there in a cave ... she besought ... our Lord with assiduous prayers; and thus they clearly teach that at Tarsus, or certainly not far from there, there existed a region or village which, because it contained a grove of Ceres, in Greek, as I shall show below in the Annotations to the Acts, Δημήτριον, was called Δημητρίας, and that the mountain or cave into which St. Zenais betook herself was situated not far from that region or village, and therefore not far from Tarsus either; and in this matter I think one should stand by those Acts of St. Zenais, although of no great credit according to what is to be said below, rather than by the Menaea and the Sirletian Menology, both because the Sirmondian Synaxarion, toward the beginning of the elogium transcribed from it above, also shows that a region or village called Demetrias existed at Tarsus in Cilicia, and because the city of Demetrias, being situated in Thessaly, is very far distant from Tarsus in Cilicia, and it is very difficult to believe, if only on account of the sex to which St. Zenais belonged, that she withdrew to a mountain or cave adjoining this latter city, and therefore very far removed from Tarsus, her country, as I showed at num. 5.
[12] but situated near Tarsus, Maximus Margunius, praised above, writes only that our Saints betook themselves into a solitude inhabited by wild beasts, without expressing the city near which it was situated; which is an argument that he at least doubted whether the Menaea, to which he is otherwise accustomed to cling closely, do not err in marking the site of the solitude which they mention the Saints entered as near the city of Demetrias; and I for my part would think that the authors of the Menaea and of the Sirletian Menology, since they had found in the documents lying before them that the cave into which they say our Saints entered was situated near Demetrias, without the province or region in which this place was situated being expressed, and knew no place called Demetrias besides the city of this name in Thessaly, wrongly placed that cave in its neighbourhood. In like manner too I think it came about that those who wrote the ancient manuscripts praised by Castellan, which, wrongly according to what has already been said, note that St. Zenais was afflicted with martyrdom, added besides, not rightly, that this happened near Demetrias in Thessaly; so that surely, even if our Saints, contrary to what the sacred Fasti of the Greeks which I praised above testify, had not been born at Tarsus in Cilicia, yet the present Roman Martyrology, which notes them today at Tarsus in Cilicia, would by no means be open to censure, since of them, as what has already been said shows, the one lived and died holily there, and the other not far from there. The places, therefore, in which the Saints exchanged this mortal life for the immortal one having now been determined, let us now also inquire into the time at which this was done.
[13] to the Lord (whether on the same or on different days, is uncertain) The printed Menaea, which (see Papebroch's Preface to the Graeco-Muscovite Ephemerides, prefixed to volume 1 of May, num. 4) are accustomed to exhibit, before the elogium, one hexameter on one principal Saint of each day, also subjoin today to the two little verses transcribed here at num. 6 the following hexameter on our Saints:
Ζηναΐς ἐνδεκατή Φιλονίλλῃ σύνθανε κυδνῆ.
and Papebroch interprets it by this Latin hexameter which I subjoin:
Zenais on the eleventh, joined to Philonilla, is celebrated;
but since it signifies only that Zenais was joined to Philonilla through death on the 11th day of October, and that can be true whether Philonilla died some time before Zenais or on the very day, the 11th of October, on which she did, the adduced interpretation of Papebroch leaves it doubtful whether Philonilla was taken from among the living on this latter day or on another; but since the Greek hexameter already given, to which this corresponds, by means of the verb συνθνήσκειν, in Latin to die together or to die with another, placed poetically without the syllabic augment in the third person singular of the indicative second aorist, and referred to Zenais in the nominative but to Philonilla in an oblique case, most clearly conveys, as will be evident to one who considers it, that she was taken from among the living together with her on the 11th day of October, Papebroch most probably interpreted that hexameter in the manner assigned above moved solely by the necessity of the metre. It rarely happens, indeed, that brothers and sisters die on one and the same day, and hence it can not undeservedly be doubted whether the two holy sisters Philonilla and Zenais died on the same 11th day of October, as the Menaea, by the praised Greek hexameter, clearly declare according to what has been said; but is it therefore lawful to interpret it in Latin otherwise than the plain signification of the words of which it consists requires? Surely no one would readily say so, even though the Menaea frequently hand down things not only doubtful but even false; so that, strictly speaking, Papebroch's interpretation with which we are dealing here does not seem admissible; but although this is so, it is nevertheless, as everyone will gather from what has already been said, uncertain and doubtful in actual fact whether our Saints died on one and the same day, the 11th of October, which this interpretation, as I said, leaves doubtful.
[14] Nor does the matter become certain from the fact that Philonilla and Zenais are noted on the same 11th day of October in all the Sacred Fasti related above; it is elicited from the Basilian Menology that she passed in the first century, for this is perhaps done only for the reason that, since the Greeks did not know the day on which Philonilla died, and it was nevertheless settled and fixed to venerate her equally with her sister Zenais, they judged it fitting that Philonilla should also be venerated on the same day as the latter, and hence inscribed both in their sacred Fasti on the same 11th day of October on which St. Zenais, as the Life to be published shows toward its end, ceased to live; and since this is so, and nothing by which the death-day of Philonilla might become known is found anywhere else either, it surely remains altogether uncertain and doubtful whether she and Zenais died on one and the same 11th day of October, or, what comes to the same thing, it can in no way be determined whether both departed from among the living on that day. Nor could anyone better determine either in what year, or whether in one and the same year, this was done, since the praised sacred Fasti of the Greeks and other documents supply nothing whatever that conduces to it. But although this is so, and indeed although the printed Menaea, the Sirmondian Synaxarion and the Sirletian Menology propose nothing from which one might even in some way define whether our Saints flourished in the first century or in another later one, the Basilian, transcribed here at num. 3, nevertheless does so. For it expressly relates that Zenais was imbued with the faith of Christ by the blessed Apostle Paul, of whom not only the same Basilian but also the remaining sacred Fasti of the Greeks praised at numm. 1, 2 and 4 affirm with unanimous consent, as said above, that Philonilla and Zenais were kinswomen; and this, which surely by no means shrinks from the appearance of truth, since Paul promulgated the faith of Christ at Tarsus too, where she lived, as one may gather from the Acts of the Apostles, the present Roman Martyrology extends, by a conjecture made, unless I am mistaken, from the fact that both the one and the other were sisters and, according to what has been said, kinswomen of Paul the Apostle, to St. Philonilla as well as St. Zenais, pronouncing that both were disciples of Paul in the faith; and now, since he, as we showed at the 29th day of June in the Commentary prefatory to his Acts and those of Peter, num. 17 and following, underwent martyrdom in the sixty-fifth year of the common era, it follows that our Saints flourished, and most probably also died, in the first century of Christ.
[15] nor do the Acts mentioned here stand in the way of its having been possible Nor do the Acts of St. Zenais, already often praised by me, oppose the opinion by which the Saints are judged to have flourished and died then. Papebroch indeed, before volume 2 of May, in the metrical October of the Greeks, after the Greek hexameter transcribed here above and its Latin version, uses these following words: They (namely Zenais and Philonilla) are said to have been disciples of Paul the Apostle, from Tarsus in Cilicia, and to have been renowned for virtues and miracles at Demetrias in Thessaly. We have Greek Acts of Zenais alone, in which there is nothing about Paul or Philonilla, and she appears to be much younger; and thus, as appears, he indicates that Zenais seems to be much too young to have been able to be a disciple of Paul the Apostle. And this, as these very words of his make me suspect, seemed so to him chiefly for the reason
that in the Acts of St. Zenais, which he praises and which I have already praised rather often, no mention at all is made of Paul the Apostle. But from this, as I at least think, it cannot be inferred either that Zenais was not a disciple of the blessed Apostle Paul or that she did not flourish in the first century, which nevertheless is required in order that the said Acts should oppose the opinion with which we are dealing here. For those Acts, being written very meagrely, by no means list each and every thing that pertains to St. Zenais; and since they are of this kind, and do not inform the reader even of the very birthplace of Zenais, which in all the sacred Fasti praised above is placed at Tarsus in Cilicia, as will become plain to one who turns them over, how, I ask, can it be concluded from the fact that they make no mention of Paul the Apostle either that St. Zenais was not his disciple or that she and her sister Philonilla did not flourish in the first century? I surely do not see it; and since the same Acts, as everyone, unless I am mistaken, will admit when these things are weighed, contain nothing else either from which either of these may be elicited, they surely, as I have already said, by no means oppose the opinion by which our Saints are stated to have flourished and died in the first century, or, what comes to the same thing, they in no way prevent its being elicited from the Basilian Menology that they flourished and died then.
[16] [which, although they are silent about Philonilla, nevertheless relate to her sister,] Nor, even if it were otherwise, and the aforesaid Acts of St. Zenais contained something from which it could be argued that the Saints flourished and further died later, would one on that account immediately have to depart from the opinion by which their life and death are tied to the first century. For since he who wrote those Acts neither discloses in what century he flourished, nor sets out one by one, as I have already said, all the things that pertain to St. Zenais, there is surely reason for us to judge that he flourished later than to have been able to have these things well understood; and since this is so, and he perhaps lived removed from the age of St. Zenais by no less than seven or eight centuries, what wonder would it be if, being ignorant of some things pertaining to the Saint, he had judged either that she, who flourished in the first century, lived only in the second or third century, or that what was customary in one of these centuries had already obtained from the first century, and hence had committed to writing something consonant with this opinion of his, the truth not being preserved? Surely I think it came about from ignorance of the things pertaining to Zenais that he makes no mention even of Paul the Apostle, whose kinswoman the sacred Fasti related above declare with unanimous consent that Zenais was; but although this is so, and he nowhere names Philonilla herself either, the said Acts which he wrote nevertheless relate, as must now be shown here in order that I may redeem the promise given at num. XI, to St. Zenais herself, the sister of St. Philonilla, and not to another of the same name.
[17] For most of the things which they narrate about St. Zenais are contained in summary in the elogium of our Saints and here, although of no great credit, they are to be published. which I transcribed here above at num. 4 from the Sirmondian Synaxarion, as will be evident to one who compares it with them; wherefore, since that elogium certainly pertains to St. Zenais, the sister of St. Philonilla, and not to another of the same name, as the very title which it bears establishes, there is surely no doubt that the said Acts likewise relate to St. Zenais, the sister of St. Philonilla. I now add a few words on the credit which they deserve; this surely, as appears, is not very great. For besides that they speak of St. Zenais, as I have already noted, very meagrely, and supply no chronological mark at all from which it could be determined when either she flourished or they themselves were written, they also include nothing by which they deserve to be commended. But although this is so, and what they relate is therefore by no means to be held as certain, it has nevertheless seemed good to exhibit them here, set in type as they exist with us, excerpted from the very old Vatican manuscript codex 866, with the Latin translation which I have prepared also added, so that, since they had to be praised by me several times above, the studious reader may himself examine for himself whether this was rightly done by me.
ACTS OF ST. ZENAIS, by an anonymous author, from the Vatican Manuscript Codex marked 866, TRANSLATED BY CORNELIUS BYE.
Zenais, at Tarsus in Cilicia. (S.)
Philonilla, her sister, at Tarsus in Cilicia. (S.)
By an Anonymous author.
Φιλοσοφίας λόγον ἐραννῆσαι βούλομαι, εἰς τὸ διεγεῖραι τὸν νοῦν τῶν ἐντυχανόντων, καὶ δεῖξαι πᾶσιν, ὅτι οὐδὲν τὸ κολύον ἤ ἐμποδίζον τὸν τῆς σωφροσύνης, ἤγουν ἀσκήσεως, δρόμον ἐξανύειν. Ἐγένετο ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις γυνὴ τίς θεοσεβὴς, καὶ κατὰ πάντα ἀγιοπρεπῆς, ᾗ ὄνομα Ζηναΐς. Ἅυτη καταλείψασα τὰ ἑαυτῆς ἅπαντα, ἅμα καὶ τὴν ἰδίαν Ἀδελφὴν, ἐπορεύθη ἐν ὄρει κειμένῳ κατὰ Βοῤῥὰν χωρίου ἀπὸ κτήματος ἐπιλεγομένου Δημητρίαδος ὑπὸ τὴν ἐνορίαν Ταρσέων, καὶ κατοίκει ἐν σπηλαίῳ, νηστείαις καὶ ἀγρυπνίαις, καὶ χαμευνίαις τὸ ἑαυτῆς ζῶμα καταστίζουσα, πηκναῖς δεήσεσιν ἐκλιπαρούσα τὸν Κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς τοῦ κόσμου σωτηρίας, καὶ καταλύσεως τῆς ἑλλινικής πλάνης.
[2] Προσέφερον δὲ ἀυτῇ τους κακῶς ἔχοντας, καὶ τοὺς ὀχλουμένους ὑπὸ πνευμάτων ἀκαθάρτων, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τὰ βρέφη ποικίλαις νόσοις κατεχόμενα, καὶ τοὺς καταβαρεῖς ἀλείφουσα ἐλαίῳ, καὶ ἐν ὀνόματι τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ ὑγιεῖς ἀπέλυεν, ὥστε θαυμάζειν ἅπαντὰς ἐπὶ τοῖς γινομένοις μεγάλοις σημείοις ὑπὸ τῆς ἁγίας Ζηναΐδος, καὶ μεγάλως δοξάζοντες τὸν Θεὸν, ὑπέστρεφον ἐν εἰρήνῃ εἰς τοὺς ἰδίους οἴκους. Ἄνδρες δέ τινες θεοσεβεῖς καὶ τὸν βίον ἀκατάγνωστοι ἦσαν ἐν τῇ ἀυτῇ χώρᾳ· Ὄνομα τῷ πρώτῳ Πάππας, καὶ τῷ δευτέρῳ Πατέρας, καὶ τῷ τρίτῳ Φιλοκύρις.
[3] Ὁ͂υτοι ἀκούσαντες περὶ τῆς ἁγίας Ζηναΐδος, καὶ τὰ ὑπ᾽ ἀυτῆς γινόμενα σημεία θείῳ ζήλῳ φερόμενοι, ἐπὶ τὴν συντυχίαν τῆς Ἀγίας ἐπήγοντο· γνωρισθέντες δὲ ἀυτὴν, συνεχῶς ἐπορεύοντο καταμανθάνοντες τὸν τῆς ἀσκήσεως ἀυτῆς πόνον· ἅυτη δὲ τὰ ἀυτῆς εἰωθότα, τῇ νηστείᾳ καὶ τῇ ἀγρυπνίᾳ ἑαυτὴν καταστίζουσα, τὸν τῆς ἀκήσεως ἠνύεν δρόμον, μετὰ δακρύων ἱκετεύουσα τὸν Θεὸν, ἐν ἁγνίᾳ τὸν ἑαυτῆς βίον διεξελθεῖν, καὶ εἰρηνεῦσαι τὴν οἰκουμένην.
[4] Κατανοήσαντες δὲ οἱ θεοσεβεῖς ἄνδρες τοὺς ἀγώνας τῆς ἁγίας καὶ ἐνδόξου καὶ ὁσίας Ζηνάἳδος, καὶ τὰ σημεῖα τὰ ὑπ᾽ ἀυτῆς γινόμενα, προσέπεσαν ἀυτῇ δεόμενοι πλησίον ἀυτῆς ποιῆσαι τὴν ἑαυτῶν κατοίκησιν, ὁμοθυμαδὸν ταῖς προσευχαῖς, καὶ ταῖς δεήσεσιν, τὸν τῆς ἀσκήσεως ἤνυον δρόμον ἐν ἑνὶ πνεύματι, καὶ μίᾳ καρδίᾳ ἐν Κυρίῳ τὸ ἕν ἐφρόνουν· νυκτόστε γὰρ καὶ ἡμέρας τὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ λόγια ἐμελέτουν *, καὶ διὰ πολλῶν πόνων καὶ δεήσεων τάς ἴασεις ἐπετέλουν. Μετὰ δὲ τινὰ χρόνον οἱ ὄντως θεοσεβεῖς ἄνδρες λέγουσιν τῇ ἁγίᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ Δούλῃ· Πορευθῶμεν εἰς τὰς ἐχομένας κώμας, καὶ εἰς τοὺς ἀγροὺς, καὶ κατασπείρωμεν τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ λόγον ἐν ταῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀκοαῖς, ἵνα γνῶσιν πάντες τὰς διὰ τῶν ἁγίων σου προσευχῶν γινομένας θεοσημείας.
[5] Ἀυτῆς δὲ ἐξελθούσης, καὶ ἅμα τὴν πορείαν, πᾶσαν νόσον, καὶ πᾶσαν μαλακίαν διὰ τῶν ἁγίων ἀυτῶν δεήσεων ἀπήλαυνον· ὁ δὲ πονηρὸς καὶ βάσκανος διάβολος, ὁ ἀεὶ τῷ ἀνθρωπίνῳ γένει ἐμπόδιον γινόμενος εἰς τὸ σωθῆναι, εἰσήλθεν ἐν τισιν ἀνδράσιν τῶν περὶ τὸν τόπον ἐκεῖνον, καὶ συνεβουλεύσαντο, ὥστε κρατῆσαι τοὺς τοῦ Θεοῦ δούλους ἅμα τῇ ἁγίᾳ Ζηνάἳδι, ὡς δῆθεν ἐκ περιεργασίας τινὸς τὰς θεοσημείας ποιοῦντας, μὴ ὑπολαμβάνοντες διάγειν ἀυτοὺς ὀρθῶς· ἐβούλοντε δὲ, ὡς εἴρηται, κρατῆσαι ἀυτοὺς, ὥστε παραδοῦναι ἀυτοὺς τῇ ἐξουσίᾳ τοῦ ἡγεμῶνος, ἐφ᾽ ᾧ δίκας δοῦναι, καὶ θῦσαι τοῖς μιαροῖς θεοῖς, ὡς καὶ ἀυτοὶ.
[6] Ἀκούσασα δὲ ἡ ἁγία τοῦ Θεοῦ Δούλη τὴν ἔνεδραν παραγίνεται πρὸς ἄνθροπόν τινα θεοσεβῆ, καὶ συμβουλευσαμένη μετὰ τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ δούλων, λέγει ἀυτοῖς· Τέκνια μου ποθεινότατα, ὁ καιρὸς χαλεπός ἐστιν, δεῦτε ὑποχωρήσωμεν ἐκ τῶν τόπων, καὶ πορευθῶμεν εἰς τοὺς ἰδίους τόπους, ἵνα ῥυσθῶμεν ἀπὸ τῶν πονηρῶν καὶ φάυλων ἀνθρώπων. Οἱ δὲ οὖχ ὑπήκουσαν τῇ συμβουλῇ ἀυτῆς, ἀλλ᾽ ὁρμήσαντες, ἐπορεύθησαν ἐν Ταρσῷ τῇ πόλει· ἡ δὲ μᾶλλον ἐζήτει τὸν ἔρημον καὶ ἥσυχον διάγειν τόπον· πάντων δὲ παρακαλούντων, καὶ αἰτούντων ἀυτῆς τὰς ὁσίας εὐχὰς, κλίνασα τὴν κεφαλὴν ἐπὶ ὥρας πολλὰς μετὰ δακρύων ἱκέτευε τὸν Κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν λέγουσα· ὁ Θεὸς ὁ πρὸ πάντων τῶν αἰώνων, καὶ εἰς αἰῶνας διαμένων. Ὁ Θεὸς Ἀβραάμ, καὶ Ἰσαάκ, καὶ Ἰακώβ.
[7] Ὁ Θεός ὁ ἐξαποστείλας τὸν Μονογενῆ σου Παῖδα τὸν Κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν ἱώμενον πᾶσαν νόσον, καὶ πᾶσαν μαλακίαν, καὶ ἐξαιρούμενον ἐκ θανάτου, μετατιθέντα δὲ εἰς ζωὴν τοὺς πιστεύοντας εἰς ἀυτὸν· ἀυτὸς καὶ νῦν Δέσποτα δός τῇ Δούλῃ σου ἅμα τοῖς σοῖς παισὶν Πάππᾳ, Πατέρᾳ, καὶ Φιλοκύρι ἐπὶ τῷ σῷ ὀνόματι πᾶσαν νόσον ἐκ τῶν σῶν πλασμάτων ἀπελάυνειν, καὶ πάντων εἰπόντων τὸ Ἀμὴν, μετὰ δακρύων ἀνεχώρησαν δοξάζοντες τὸν Θεὸν· οἱ δὲ δοῦλοι τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπορεύθησαν ἐν τῷ τόπῳ, ᾧ προέθεντο· ἡ δὲ ἁγία Ζηναΐς ἀνεχώρησεν έκ τοῦ κατὰ Βοῤῥὰν ἀγριδίου· ἐγένετο δὲ ἠνίκα ἦλθεν εἰς τὸν ἴδιον οἶκον ἐχάρη, καὶ κλίνασα τὰ γόνατα, μετὰ δακρύων προσηύχετο λέγουσα· Κύριε ὁ Θεὸς τῶν πατέρων ἡμῶν Ἀβραάμ καὶ Ἰσαάκ, καὶ Ἰακώβ, καὶ τοῦ σπέρματος ἀυτῶν τοῦ δικαίου, εὐχαριστῶ σοι, ὅτι πάντοτέ μου ἐπήκουσας, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀσθενοῦσι, καὶ ἐν τοῖσ ἐνεργουμένοις ὑπὸ πνευμάτων ἀκαθάρτων, ἔντε ἄνδρασιν, καὶ γυναιξὶν, καὶ ἐν τοῖς καταβαρέσι, καὶ ἐν τοῖς νηπίοις, καὶ ἐν τοῖς κτήνεσιν, καὶ ἐν ἅπασιν.
[8] Καὶ νῦν Δέσποτα φιλάνθρωπε παράσχου μοι τὴν χάριν τάυτην διὰ τοῦ μονογενοῦς σου Υἱοῦ, Κυρίου δὲ ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ ῥύσαί με ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνομίων ἀνδρῶν, καὶ σῶαν μὲ διατήρησον μέχρι τέλους, ἐξελοῦ μέ ἐκ τῆς τοῦ διαβόλου παγίδος, καὶ εὐθέως οπτασία ἀυτῇ γέγονεν· καὶ ἤκουσεν φωνῆς ἐξ οὐρανοῦ λεγούσης· ἀνάστα Ζηναΐς, εἰσηκούσθη ἡ δέησίς σου, καὶ ἀναστάσα περιεπάτει δοξάζουσα τὸν Θεὸν, ὅτι πάντα παρέσχεν ἀυτῇ· περιπατούσης δὲ ἀυτῆς ἐπάτησεν ἄκανθαν ἐπὶ τὸν δεξιὸν πόδα καὶ ἐκάθισεν λαβεῖν τὴν ἄκανθαν, καὶ ἀναβλέψασα εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν, καὶ προσευξαμένη τῷ Κυρίῳ, παρέδωκεν τὸ πνεῦμα τῷ Θεῷ.
[9] Καὶ ἦν τίς ἀνὴρ ἐν τῷ οἴκῷ ἀυτῆς εὐλαβῆς, καὶ φοβούμενος τὸν Θεὸν εἰ τις καὶ ὑπήντα ἀυτῇ ἐρχομένῃ ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ οἴκῳ· ἐν δὲ τῷ βραδιάσαι ἀυτὴν, ἐξῆλθεν πρὸς συνήθειαν ὑπαντῆσαι ἀυτῇ, καὶ ἴδε τὸ ἅγιον ἀυτῆς λείψανον κείμενον, καὶ ῄρεν τὴν φωνὴν αὐτοῦ εἰς ὕψος, καὶ ἐβόησεν λέγων· Ἐν τούτῳ
ἔγνων ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς οὖκ ἀφεῖλεν τὴν χεῖρα ἀυτοῦ ἀπὸ σοῦ Κυρία μου, καὶ βαστάσας τὸ ἅγιον ἀυτῆς λείψανον, ἔθηκεν ἐν τῷ καινῷ μνημείῳ τῷ ὄντι ἐν τῷ σπηλαίῳ ἀυτῆς. Οὐ διέλιπεν δὲ, οὔτε τὴν φωταγαγίαν ποιῶν, οὔτε θυμιῶν τὸ ὅσιον ἀυτῆς λείψανον μέχρι τῆς ἀυτοῦ τελευτής· ἐγένετο δὲ κοιμηθῆναι τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἄνθρωπον, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἔτι ἐθυμία, ὅτι ὁ τόπος ἔρημος ἦν καὶ βοσκήματα Ὀνοκεντάυρων.
[10] Ἐγένετο οὖν ἐν τοῖς ἐσχάτοις χρόνοις ποιμένας βόσκειν ἐν τῷ τόπῳ, οὗ ἦν τὸ μνημεῖον τῆς ἁγίας Ζηναΐδος, καὶ ὄντων ἀυτῶν ἐν τῷ τόπῳ ἐκείνῳ καὶ βοσκόντων ἐπορεύθη ἕν τῶν παιδίων ἐπὶ τὸ μνημεῖον τῆς Ἁγίας, καὶ καθεσθὲν παρὰ τοὺς πόδας τῆς Ἁγίας ὕπνωσεν· ἐν δὲ τῷ διυπνισθῆναι τό παιδίον, ἀναστὰν ἐπορεύθη ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ πατρὸς ἀυτοῦ, καὶ ἠσθένησεν ἡμέρας τρεῖς, καὶ εἶπεν ὁ πατὴρ ἀυτοῦ: Τί ἐστιν ἡ μαλακία ἡ συμβεβηκυῖα σοι τέκνον, καὶ εἶπεν τὸ παιδίον, πάτερ ἀκήκοα παρὰ προβεβηκότων ἀνδρῶν, ὅτι ἐστὶ μνημεῖον κατὰ Βοῤρὰν ἐπιλεγόμενον τῆς ἁγίας Ζηναΐδος, κᾀκεῖ ἀπῆλθον· καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ καθεσθῆναι με ἐκεῖ, καὶ ὑπνῶσαι ἐμαλακίσθην.
[11] Ὁ δὲ πατὴρ τοῦ παιδίου ἐγνωκὼς τοῦτο, καὶ παραλαβὼν τὸν παῖδα, καὶ πάντας τοὺς ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ ἀυτοῦ, καὶ δώρατα πολλὰ, καὶ ὄρνην * λευκὴν ἐπόρευθη ἐν σπουδῇ ἐπὶ τὸν τόπον, καὶ ἰδὼν ὁ παῖς, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ ἐπιγνοὺς τὸν τόπον, δραμὼν προσεκύνησεν, καὶ παραχρῆμα ὑγιὴς ἐγένετο ἀπὸ τῆς νόσου, ἧς κατείχετο· θεασάμενος δὲ ὁ πατὴρ τοῦ παιδὸς τὸ γεγονὸς, προσεκύνησεν μετὰ τῶν συνόντων ἀυτῷ, καὶ ὑπέστρεψεν εἰς τὸν οἶκον ἀυτοῦ μετὰ τοῦ παιδὸς, αἰνῶν καὶ εὐλογῶν τὸν Θεὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσιν, οἷς ἴδεν μεγάλοις θαυμασίοις γειναμένοις ὑπὸ τῆς Δούλης τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἐτελειώθη δὲ ἡ ἁγία καὶ ὁσία Ζηναΐς μηνὶ Ὀκτωβρίῳ ια᾽. πρεσβεύουσα ὑπὲρ τῆς τοῦ κόσμου εἰρήνης τῷ Πατρὶ, καὶ τῷ Υἱῷ καὶ τῷ αγίῳ Πνεύματι, ᾧ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.
[St. Zenais, having left all things, withdraws into the desert, and while living holily there] I wish to give an account of a life led in the monastic manner, in order to stir up the minds of those who come upon these things, and to show to all that whatever forbids or hinders the course of continence, that is, of the ascetic life, from being completed is to be accounted as nothing. In those days there was a certain religious woman, holy in all things, whose name was Zenais a. She, having left all her goods together with her own Sister, betook herself to a mountain situated within the boundaries of the Tarsians, toward the northern quarter of the region which, from a name given to it from the thing which it contains, is called Demetrias b, and dwelling there in a cave, and afflicting her body with fasts and vigils and, besides, by lying on the ground, she besought our Lord Jesus Christ with assiduous prayers for the salvation of the world and the destruction of the heathen error.
[2] she works great signs; by three religious men Further, they brought to her those who were sick and those vexed by unclean spirits, and moreover also children held by various diseases; and anointing those weighed down by ills with oil, she sent them away whole in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that all marvelled at the great signs which were done by St. Zenais, and returned in peace to their homes, greatly praising God. Now there were in the same region certain religious men, irreproachable in life: the first was called Pappas, the second Pateras, and the third Philocyris c.
[3] she is frequently visited, These, when they had heard talk of St. Zenais and of the signs which were done by her, were carried away by divine zeal and were stirred to converse with her; and when they had come to know her, they went to her assiduously, diligently considering the labour and hardship of the ascetic life which she led; while she, macerating herself in her accustomed manner with fasts and vigils, and supplicating God with tears that He would grant her thus to pass her life in purity and the world to live in peace, completed the course of the monastic life.
[4] Further, the religious men, having contemplated the combats of the venerable and glorious and holy Zenais, and the signs which were done by her, [who, when, having also fixed their dwelling near the Saint, afterwards with her the word of God in the neighbouring places] fell at her feet, and, asking that it might be lawful to fix their dwelling near her, they pursued the course of the ascetic life with one accord in prayers and supplications, and with one spirit and heart they thought one and the same thing in the Lord: for both by night and by day they meditated on the oracles of God, and by many labours and prayers accomplished healings. And some time after, the truly religious men say to the holy Handmaid of God: "Let us go into the neighbouring villages and fields and sow the word of God in the ears of men, that all may know the miracles which are done through your prayers d."
[5] And when she had gone out and they were making the journey together, they drove out every disease and every infirmity by their holy prayers; going out to disseminate it, they are set upon with plots, but the malignant and envious devil, who is always a hindrance to the human race on the way to salvation, entered into some men of those who dwelt near the place, and they took counsel to seize by guile the servants of God together with St. Zenais, as men, forsooth, working miracles by some superstition e, not thinking that they lived rightly; and they wished, as has been said, to seize them in order to hand them over to the power of the governor, so that they might pay the penalty and sacrifice to the impure gods, no differently than they themselves did.
[6] But the holy Handmaid of God, having heard of the plots, goes to a certain religious man, and these being dispersed by Zenais, they depart to Tarsus, while she and having taken counsel with the servants of God, says to them: "My most beloved little children, the time is hard. Come, let us depart from these places and set out for our own homes, that we may be delivered from malicious and wicked men." But they did not comply with her counsel, but setting out from there went into the city of Tarsus; while she sought rather a solitary and quiet place to live in; and as all were praying and asking for her holy prayers, she, with her head bowed, supplicated our Lord Jesus Christ for many hours with tears, saying: "O God, before all ages and abiding unto the ages! O God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.
[7] "O God, who sent Your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, praying for them, she returns to the solitude, who heals every disease and every infirmity, and snatches from death and transfers to life those who believe in Him, grant now also Yourself, Lord, to Your Handmaid and together with her to Your servants Pappas, Pateras and Philocyris, to drive out every disease from Your creatures in Your name." When, therefore, all had said Amen, they departed with tears, blessing God; the servants of God betook themselves to the place they had proposed, while St. Zenais returned from the little field situated toward the northern quarter. Further, when she came into her house, she rejoiced, and having bent her knees, she prayed with tears, saying: "Lord God of our Fathers Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and of their just seed, I give You thanks that You have always heard me, both in the sick and in those possessed by unclean spirits, both in men and in women, both in the oppressed and in infants, both in beasts of burden and in all things.
[8] "Now also, merciful Lord, grant me this grace through Your only-begotten Son, and there, having died our Lord Jesus Christ, and deliver me from impious Men, and keep me safe unto the end, and snatch me from the snare of the devil f." And at once a vision was granted to her, and she heard a voice from heaven saying: "Arise, Zenais, your prayer has been heard;" and when she had arisen, she walked about blessing God because He had granted her all things, and while she was walking about she trod on a thorn with her right foot, and sat down to pull out the thorn, and looking up to heaven and praying to the Lord, she gave up her spirit to God.
[9] she is buried in a new tomb, Now there was also in her house a certain religious and God-fearing man, if any there was, and he used to go out to meet her when she returned home; and when she delayed till late, he went out, as was his custom, to meet her, and saw her sacred body lying there, and lifted up his voice on high and cried out, saying: "By this I know that God did not withdraw His hand from my Lady"; and taking up her sacred body, he laid it in a new tomb which was in her cave. And he did not cease to honour her sacred body by lighting lamps and burning incense until his own death; and it came to pass that the man of God died, and no one any longer burned incense, because the place was deserted and a lair of Onocentaurs g, which pastured there.
[10] to which long afterwards a boy, having contracted a disease on entering it, In the latest times, therefore, it happened that shepherds were pasturing in the place where the tomb of St. Zenais was, and while these were in that place and pasturing, one of the boys entered the tomb of the Saint, and sitting at the Saint's feet fell asleep; and when the boy had woken, he rose and betook himself to his father's house and was sick for three days; and his father said: "What is the infirmity that has come upon you, son?" And the boy said: "Father, I understood from men advanced in age that the tomb which is called St. Zenais's is situated toward the northern quarter, and I went there; and it came to pass that, when I was sitting there and fell asleep, I was seized with an infirmity."
[11] coming with his father to venerate the Saint, is restored to health. And when the boy's father had heard this, taking both the boy and all who were in his house, and many gifts and a white Hen h, he came in haste to the place; and the boy, seeing and better recognising the place, hastening at a run venerated it, and was at once healed of the disease by which he was held; and the boy's father, seeing what had happened, bent his knees in supplication with those who were with him, and returned with the boy to his house, praising and blessing God for all the great miracles which he had seen done by the Handmaid of God. And the venerable and holy Zenais died in the month of October on the 11th day, praying for the peace of the world to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, to whom i be glory and power for ages of ages. Amen.
ANNOTATIONS.
ἐρανίσαι πυκναις εμελέτων ὄρνιν