ON SS. MENODORA AND METRODORA AND NYMPHODORA, SISTERS, VIRGINS AND MARTYRS,
IN BITHYNIA
Under Galerius Maximian.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
The memory of the Saints among the Greeks and the Latins: their cultus among the Greeks: the Acts written by Metaphrastes.
Menodora, one of the Sisters, V. M., in Bithynia (St.)
Metrodora, one of the Sisters, V. M., in Bithynia (St.)
Nymphodora, one of the Sisters, V. M., in Bithynia (St.)
J. S.
The memory of the holy sisters Menodora, Metrodora and Nymphodora, virgins and martyrs, is celebrated today in all the Calendars of the Greeks everywhere, These Saints are commemorated among the Greeks, the Muscovites and the Latins: namely in the various Menologies, in the Menæa both printed and in manuscript, in the Typicon of St. Sabas and in the other ritual books, which it is not necessary to enumerate one by one. The same has passed from the Greeks to the Muscovites, in whose Ephemerides and other Menologies the same Saints are announced. The Latins at length followed the Greeks — Galesinius, Molanus, and Baronius in the Roman Martyrology, where at this day he has it thus: In Bithynia, of the holy virgins Menodora, Metrodora and Nymphodora, sisters, who, being crowned with martyrdom under the emperor Maximian and the governor Fronto, attained to glory. These things are taken from the Sirletian Menology, in which nearly the same things are found, save that the title of virginity is omitted. Brief also is the elogium which is read in the printed Menæa, and in it they are not named Virgins; indeed in the announcement there they are called women, as is done also in the Anthologion which was reprinted in Greek in the year 1738; and finally no mention at all is made of virginity in the Basilian Menology.
[2] This silence of the Menology and of the Menæa concerning the virginity of the Saints Tillemont set against the Acts, which assert their virginity, tom. 5, note 71 on the Persecution of Diocletian, and they are celebrated and venerated as Virgins: insinuating that they do not seem to be reckoned as virgins. But he did not take care to read all that is found concerning these Saints in the Menæa. For since they are venerated with a solemn Office, many things are also inserted about them in the hymns composed in their praise; and in these they are celebrated as virgins in various places, both in the printed Menæa and in the Anthologion just cited. For after some verses (the Greeks call them στιχηρά) concerning the most blessed Virgin, on account of the octave of the Nativity, there follows at once concerning the holy Sisters this: Ἀδιαφθορως συνήφθητε Χριστῷ τῷ Θεῷ ἡμῶν, συντηροῦντι τὴν ὑμῶν παρθενίαν ἀμόλυντον, etc. This I render into Latin thus: Incorruptly were you joined to Christ our God, who preserved your virginity unstained. Then at various turns they are named virgins in the hymns that follow, and repeated mention is made of Christ their spouse. In the Anthologion: Αἱ τρεῖς παρθένοι, that is, the three Virgins, etc. There is added a manuscript Synaxarium, which was communicated to our predecessors by Sirmond. In it they are announced in Greek at this day as follows, as I render each word into Latin: The contest of the holy martyrs, sisters and virgins, Menodora, Nymphodora and Metrodora. There remains, therefore, no doubt that these holy Sisters are celebrated as virgins by the Greeks: with far better reason, then, did Metaphrastes assert their virginity than Tillemont wished to render it doubtful.
[3] The Acts written by Metaphrastes, which are to be published in Latin only. The Acts of SS. Menodora, Metrodora and Nymphodora, which were published in Latin by Lipomanus and Surius, are everywhere attributed to Metaphrastes. Allatius, On the writings of the Simeons, p. 130, gives the Greek beginning of these Acts, and reckons them among those which have Metaphrastes beyond doubt for their author. They are extant in Greek in various codices, and I have to hand a Greek copy from a Medicean codex, and have collated it with the Latin version of Lipomanus. But since that Latin version appears to me sufficiently accurate, I judge that I should be doing nothing worth the labour if I were to publish the Greek Acts, especially because their authority does not seem to be of such account that the Latin cannot suffice. Tillemont, although he makes little of the Acts, nevertheless recites a certain abridgement of them, tom. 5, in the Persecution of Diocletian, art. 62; and in note 61 on the same Persecution he raises some difficulties of lesser moment against the credit of the Acts. But it is not necessary to discuss these here laboriously, since he did not think these Acts wholly to be rejected, nor do I judge them to be defended as entirely genuine and of undoubted credit. Wherefore it will suffice to observe briefly in the Annotations those things which displease either Tillemont or ourselves; and there likewise to indicate if anything occurs in the Calendars of the Greeks which does not agree with the Acts, or which for some other reason seems to call for observation.
THE LIFE
by Metaphrastes
rendered into Latin by Lipomanus, from the edition of the same Lipomanus, tom. 6, fol. 238.
Menodora, one of the Sisters, V. M., in Bithynia (St.)
Metrodora, one of the Sisters, V. M., in Bithynia (St.)
Nymphodora, one of the Sisters, V. M., in Bithynia (St.)
By Metaphrastes.
The Saints, born in Bithynia, live in a solitary place: The stadium of martyrdom is closed neither to women nor to girls: but they too despise death and count their departure a game; nay rather, they honour and embrace it, procuring thereby fair wages for themselves, namely the kingdom of the heavens. Therefore that admirable trinity of martyrs and virgins also — Menodora, I mean, and Nymphodora and Metrodora, who were truly the gifts of virginity — came to this with a ready and eager mind, and with delight most bravely received a death which does not lead down to the shades, as the death of the impious is wont to do, but which eagerly conveys them to the eternal bridal chambers and the sacred porticoes, and to Christ Himself, the joyous bridegroom. And modestly indeed and generously were they brought up in Bithynia (for that land bore these Virgins as certain noble branches), and the graces of virginity flew about them; and at the same time there arose also a flower in the face and a blush upon the cheeks. For they presented a most pleasant spectacle, and through the beauty of the body the nobility of the soul gradually shone forth in them; and they were fair without any affectation. And little by little their age ran on, and, loving virginity, they fled the company of men and longed for solitude. For Christ's sake, therefore, they left the country that had borne them, and came to a certain mound not far from the Pythian hot springs a, and lived there temperately, and were zealous and diligent in every other exercise of virtue. And when, as time went on, they had admitted every grace of the divine Spirit, they shone with good works and with miracles, and by the abundance of their graces were in very truth a city set upon a mountain. And therefore they quickly became known, and many flocked to them, who were not only delivered from diseases and from evil spirits, but were also made rich with the light and the salvation of the soul. These things came also to the ears of Fronto, to whose trust the administration of that region had been committed, Maximian b holding the empire of the Romans; and Fronto at once sends his assessor c with many attendants and officers, ordering him to seek out the virgins.
[2] And when they had been found: Whence, said the judge, being taken, they are brought to the judge and questioned: have you such boldness that — to say nothing of the rest — you worship a God whom neither the great Maximian himself, nor we, have ever to this day been seen to honour? But the Virgins, in no way disturbed, but remaining in the same state of soul, said: We, O judge, have not learned to know God by any human decree: but we confess Him who assuredly always is, and beholds the universe; who also upholds this order of all things, and is comprehended by the mind in His power, not in His essence d; who delights in a clean life and in virtue, and is wont, by the grace of His goodness, to appear to those who so live by virtue; and under whom kings rule and tyrants hold the earth in their dominion. And the governor, gazing on the Virgins as they answered these things very steadfastly and elegantly, greatly marvelled both at their modesty and at the wisdom of their replies. And so, keeping silence a long while and counting these things a miracle, he at length with difficulty put a second question, asking what their names were, and what their country. And they said: First of all, we are called from Christ e. But if we must add also the name imposed at baptism, the one is called Menodora, the second Metrodora, and the third Nymphodora. And our country is Bithynia. And we were brought forth from the same seed, and were brought up by the same mother, and were loved by the same parents, and have called upon the same mother and the same father. We have followed the same manner of life also, and hold still the same judgment.
[3] Menodora answering freely for them all, And so, marvelling in silence at the generosity of their manners and words, that crafty man very curiously and cunningly attempted at once to seduce the Virgins: Do not then, he said, O dear Girls, render vain and empty those good things which the gods have given for concord; but build upon them still others, and obey me, and sacrifice to the gods in common, and consent forthwith as sisters in goodwill toward them; and let not one sister endure to see the other suffering things most shameful, O ye gods, and most bitter, and the flower of her beauty pitiably assailed with insults and outrages. Take these things, then, from me as from one who says what is fitting and profitable for you, and obey me as a father who keeps a fatherly affection toward you. For thus you will obtain the goodwill and the glory of the emperor, and abundance and a sea of good things will receive you, and you will deservedly be reckoned happy always, and be handed down to memory. But if not, a monstrous and cruel punishment will consume your fair and tender beauty. To this Menodora replied: But to us, O judge, she said, neither do the things you promise seem great, nor can the things you threaten strike any terror. For to enjoy riches and delights and glory and other pleasant things, the greater delight it has for a time, the more lasting and enduring is the punishment it has yonder. But torments, and the affliction of this body into which destruction falls, do perhaps here trouble us and cause some pain to be felt; but they will procure a gladness that will never cease. For the evil which is inflicted by you is for a time, and the good which is conferred passes away; but our Lord's and
that which brings trouble is eternal, and that which affects with gladness abides for ever. Thus shall we the more be seen to be sisters, and sisters rather in soul than in body, if, as one womb bore us, so also one death consummate us for godliness, and the same bridal chamber receive us. Thus our friendship will not be dissolved, nor shall we be separated from one another; but we shall keep for ourselves a perpetual sisterhood and conjunction, if to Him who fashioned us sisters we display also sisterly wills. But we will not deny you, Christ our spouse, before men. Do not you then deny us before our Father who is in heaven. Chastise then, O judge, this bodily flower that is fair in your eyes, and consume it with scourges. For no adornment however lovely, neither gold nor any covering, magnificent and of many colours, will so adorn the body as your stripes, your scourges, for which we have long thirsted for Christ's sake, and which we desire yet more.
[4] These things the judge did not bear with moderation, but poured out all his anger upon this Virgin: she is grievously beaten unto death. and at once he orders that, the other two being led away f, Menodora be stripped and beaten by four lictors, and that the herald cry out thus: Worship the gods; follow the emperor with good words and praises; do no injury to the laws that have been passed. But she, though she was beaten for two hours, felt no pain g. For by reason of her signal nobility she did not so much as groan at the blows. And the redness of her countenance did not pale at all: for with her whole eye she looked to the things to come, and her soul was suspended and lifted up by hope. But the foolish judge, who could not perceive these things (for he had the eyes of the soul blinded), supposed that on account of the torments he would find the Martyr softer, and exhorted her to those things to which he had exhorted her before, and again ordered her to sacrifice. But she said: And what other work, besides this, has been done by me? Do you not see that I have sacrificed my whole self to my God? For what profit is there in my blood, while I go down into destruction, if I have not first sacrificed it to my Spouse? When these words had fallen like sparks upon the mind of the assessor, they inflamed him the more, and kindled his fury more vehemently, and armed him against that holy soul. And with rods * her bones were being crushed, and the rosy cheeks of the Martyr were broken, who was not moved at all, nor did she fall. For she was on every side bound fast by a strong and firm desire of Christ. Then she signifies her coming to her Spouse. And when she had cried out with a loud voice: Lord Jesus Christ, my exultation, my love, to You, my hope, I flee; receive my soul in peace — she gave up the very ghost, and gloriously ascended to the Spouse whom she loved, adorned with the stigmata and the scars of the wounds taken for Him, and diversified more beautifully and more delightfully than any flower.
[5] But after the fourth day, when the assessor had taken counsel with himself h, [Then, the Sisters being led to the tribunal, the naked body of Menodora is shown to them:] lest he should be overcome by her other Sisters also, and had turned his mind in every direction, and unfolded in a manner the inmost recesses of his thought, he leads Metrodora and Nymphodora to the tribunal. And the wretched man brings them forth into his sight, and lays before the virginal feet that fair body of their Sister, which had neither cloak nor covering, all swollen and worn out with weals, bearing open traces of the scourges and blows on every limb, and as it were overgrown with wounds as with thorns — a marvellous spectacle, and not credible even to the very eyes. For thus he thought it would come to pass that he should astound them and strike them with fear, in dread lest some such thing should befall them. But her body was thus set forth, and all who stood about were troubled in mind and shed manifest tears and were moved by that spectacle to pity — save only the savage and monstrous soul of the judge: for not pity but rather anger and indignation came upon him. But those two were indeed drawn by their own inward affections to weep; yet their conscience by no means permitted it. For they knew both that their Sister was a martyr, and that they too would afterwards be such, and that they would soon come to her by their consummation. And so they were affected just as if they had come to their Sister's bridal chamber; and they were exceedingly glad and full of delight, as being those who were escorting her to a bridal chamber into which destruction does not fall, and they hastened that they too might not be far removed from it.
[6] but they are moved neither by that spectacle nor by blandishments, But the judge, even though they had shown so brave and so lofty a spirit at the sight of their Sister, did not yet despair of persuading them: but (as the proverb has it) he moved every stone, partly attempting by threats of torments to shake their resolution, partly to entice them by promises of good things: and, If you sacrifice, he said, I will write at once to the emperor. And he will present you with money and with much wealth, and will join you in marriage to men most illustrious in birth and dignity, and you will find bridegrooms worthy of your beauty. And he said this. But they said: How long, wretched man, will you not cease to say things contrary not only to our purpose but even to yourself? and now to call us the sisters of this Blessed one, and now to assail us as though we were strangers to her, and could easily be overcome? If, then, you have believed us to be sisters in birth, believe too that you will find in us this same constancy for godliness, and nothing abject or ignoble, nor unworthy of such a Sister, nor of that root from which we three Branches have sprung. But if you wish to know what our constancy is, learn it accurately from her who has gone before. For if she, having no example set before her, showed so great a virtue, what shall we do who look upon such an example, namely our Sister? Do you not see how she, even as she lies, exhorts us, and calls our kinship back to mind, and adds courage to us for such zeal, offering herself as a fair example of the contest? From which be assured that we shall not depart, nor shall we hold her nobility in contempt. We shall not deceive our parents by persuading them that they are the parents of her alone, if we come into peril for godliness. Farewell to riches, farewell to glory and to these things which are from the earth and return again to earth. Farewell to suitors, upon whom destruction falls. We have Christ as our bridegroom, whom we greatly love, and to whom, when we shall have given only this dowry — the death which we undergo for Him — we shall receive holy, immortal and eternal bridal chambers, and shall reign gloriously with Him.
[7] The martyrdom of Metrodora: Nymphodora is again tried with blandishments; Understanding from these things that he would accomplish nothing, yet indulging his burning anger, the judge gives over the second Sister apart, to be tortured in the second place. And Metrodora, bravest of women, hangs aloft upon the wood, and torches of fire burned her on every side; and while for the space of two hours she was pressed by this grievous punishment, she called upon her Lover alone and invoked His aid. Nor did she overlook the deception of the idols, but mocked it too, and showed it to be what in truth it was, base and ridiculous. And thereafter he takes that noble Virgin down from thence, and puts her under iron bars i, and crushes and breaks her whole body. But she, feeling that her nature was now worn out, addresses her beloved Spouse, as one who through death was drawing near to Him, and prepares for herself a bridal chamber. Then she commits her soul to the hands of the angels, and departs wholly to Him. But that wicked judge, casting away all hope and unable to bear so great a disgrace, still left himself a certain consolation, namely the third Sister. And when he had seen to it that Nymphodora was brought forward, he shamelessly feigned gentleness and cheerfulness, and said to her: Obey me, O fair young girl, whom I both admire beyond the others for your beauty (the graces, friends of the gods, know it) and pity for your youth. Obey me, who am kindled with love for you no less than for a sister's daughter; and come near — what is there hard in this? — and only adore the gods, and at once the emperor will hold you in the greatest favour: and he will give you money and honours, and, what is by far the greatest, boldness in his presence. But if not, alas for me, you too will yourself perish miserably; nor will this bitter death profit you anything at all, even as it did not profit your Sisters.
[8] When the judge had so spoken, and at the last had called her both prudent and wiser than the rest, she, caring no more for his other words than for trifles, but taking up only this, that he called her prudent, said: Are you not ashamed, do you not blush, now to name me prudent, and now to bid me forsake the true God and go over to your demons? but answering bravely, she too is crowned with martyrdom. And in what way, she said, would this not be the utmost madness, and of a mind plainly deranged — to fall away from the common Lord and Maker of all things and follow the works of hands which lack sense and understanding, and to worship them as gods? What can I hope for from them, and what can I gain? tell me, and I accept it. Show me what good you have obtained from your hope in them, and I will obey. But you can say nothing. For in truth the images of the nations are silver and gold, the works of the hands of men. Let those who worship them become like unto them. And therefore do not spare to do what you will. Behold, my flesh is ready to suffer for Christ, and more than you are ready to punish us. Then the wicked man, not knowing what he should do or what hope he should lay hold of (for in all things he had been repulsed), raises her too aloft upon the wood, and tears her with iron claws k. But she at this uttered neither voice nor groan; yet she openly showed that she was conversing with God. And this both her moving lips declared, and her eyes, which she lifted to heaven. But the stupid man again assailed her with words, not without violence, and by the herald ordered her to sacrifice and be freed from the torments. But she said: I have sacrificed myself to my Lord, for whom even to suffer is a delight and to die is gain. And that kindled a greater fury in the unjust judge. And thereafter he crushed and broke her also with iron bars. But God cared for her too altogether as He had for her Sisters, and made her overcome the monstrous torment and stand strong against nature itself; then He summons her also to Himself, and the Virgin gladly lays down her soul in the bosom of her Lover.
[9] But the impious judge, using anger as his help, wages war even upon the dead bodies themselves: [the bodies preserved by a miracle, as is reported: their burial, and a church built there, miracles:] and when he had kindled a furnace and fed it with much
and fitting fuel, he casts the martyrs' bodies into it. But God, the lover of souls, did not neglect even their bodies: a great force of thunders and lightnings, suddenly bursting forth, forestalled the fire of the furnace, and reduced the judge himself, and the crowd that served him, to ashes and soot l. And this they found to be the prelude of the Gehenna which never ceases, being men who in truth deserved that alone. And a violent rain, suddenly bursting forth, quenched the furnace: and when at once with eager hands the faithful had taken up the bodies of the Virgins, and had magnificently adorned and laid them out, they dug for them a tomb in the place of their consummation — God also providing this admirably, that to those whom one womb had borne one tomb also should be given; and that of those whose souls had attained one and the same bridal chamber, not even the senseless ashes should be separated, but that they should be shown Sisters in life, Sisters in heaven, Sisters also on earth. And a church has been set upon their tomb to this present day, pouring forth miracles within it like a river m. Let sisters hear these things, and all women, both virgins and those who are joined in marriage. And let the former so love one another; and let the latter not condemn their own nature. For to women too the door of martyrdom is open. And let all alike despise both death and all things, that they too may obtain the like from His goodness and kindness. Which may it be given us all to obtain by the grace and kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, honour and power, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
ANNOTATIONS.
* it may otherwise be rendered "with staves"