(4TH CENT.)
[Spoken of by S. Gregory Nyssen, her grandson, in his life of his
sister Macrina. S. Gregory Nazianzen gives a fuller account in his
life of her grandson, S. Basil the Great.]
In the persecution of Galerius, A.D. 304, S. Macrina and her husband
were obliged to hide till the tyranny was overpast, in a wooded mountain
in Pontus, for seven years, suffering severely from cold and from
insufficiency of food. They were, however, able to catch and kill wild
deer.
SS. THEODULUS, P. PAUL, PROCLUS, HYPATIUS, ISAAC, AND OTHERS, MONKS AND
MM. AT SINAI.
(5TH CENT.)
[Roman Martyrology. German Martyrology on the 13th Jan. The account
of the martyrdom of these monks was written by S. Nilus himself, an
eye-witness of their passion, and father of Theodulus, one of the
sufferers, though not the martyr of the same name.]
"O my friends," says S. Nilus, in his account of the tragedy
commemorated this day;[50] "I, wretched man that I am, had two sons, one
of whom I had to lament, the other remained with his mother. After I had
become the father of these two, my wife and I separated. A vehement
craving after solitude and rest drew me into the desert; I could think
and look to nothing else. When the desire of anything has engrossed the
mind, it draws it violently from all things else, even from good works,
and strains towards that which it desires, heeding no impediments and
toils. When, then, I was thus impelled to go forth, I took my two
sons--they were quite little fellows then--and I led them to their
mother, and I gave one to her, and kept the other with me, and I told
her my design, and begged her not to oppose it. She did not resist me,
seeing my earnestness, yielding rather to necessity than consenting
spontaneously. But know, all of you, that the separation of those who
have been united in legitimate marriage, and have become one body, by
Him who in His secret council has joined them, is no light matter. It is
like hacking through a living body with a sword."
Nilus, having escaped with his little son Theodulus into the deserts of
Sinai, took up his abode with the monks, and served God in the solitude
and rest he had so much desired, "Among these," continues Nilus,
"Caesar's money does not circulate, for they neither buy nor sell. Each
is ready to give freely to the other whatever he wants. Olives and
dates, and rarely bread, is all they have to give, but they become
tokens of charity, and sufficiently evidence liberality of intention.
There is no envy among them, and he who abounds less in good works does
not feel jealous of him who abounds more. Their cells are not close
together, but at some little distance from one another, not because of
want of love, but that they may mould themselves to the pattern God has
set before them in all quiet and silence. On the Lord's Day they all
assemble in one church, and meet accordingly once a week; lest, on the
other hand, total isolation should break the bonds of concord and make
them forgetful of the offices due to one another, and their manners
become savage and uncouth. After having all participated of the Divine
Mysteries, they accordingly meet to converse. But why should I relate
more of their ways? All at once a storm came on, a cloud of barbarians
burst upon the settlement, early one morning, when the hymns had just
ceased. I was there then with my son. I was descending the holy
mountain to visit the Saints who inhabited the bush, as I was wont to do
often, when I heard the noise of shouts and cries, and like yelping of
dogs, the barbarians carried off all the Saints had prepared for their
winter provision. They dragged them out of the church and stripped them,
and made a circle round them with drawn swords, and eyes filled with
fury, ready to kill them. Then, first they bade the priest stretch out
his neck, and he, without a cry, though they cut him on the back with
their blades, signed himself and whispered, 'Blessed be the Lord!' One
blow cut him from the back-bone to the jaw, and cut through his ear; the
next blow was from his shoulder to his cheek. So the holy man sank down
modestly. The previous evening that admirable man at supper had said,
'How do we know whether we shall all live to meet again at table?' After
that they killed him who lived with the old priest, and then the boy who
served them." Then the Arabs, brandishing their bloody weapons, rushed
after the monks, who scattered in all directions, some escaping down the
valley, and some, Nilus included, flying up the all but inaccessible
rocks of Sinai, whither the Arabs did not trouble themselves to pursue
them. Nilus escaped reluctantly, for his boy was in the hands of the
barbarians. "I stood bewildered," he says "not knowing what to do, and
bound to the child by my bowels of love, and unable to fly till the boy
made signs to me with his eyes to escape; but I could hardly persuade
myself to do so. My feet went forward and dragged my body along, I
hardly knew how, for my heart would not leave him, and I turned my face
ever and anon to look at the boy. Thus I reached the mountain, following
the others, and saw my poor boy carried away, unable to look about him
as he would, but furtively casting glances towards where I was. Such is
the tie of nature, that separation of bodies does not break it, but it
is cruelly wrenched. The cow which is led away lows piteously and
often, always turning its head towards the dear calf, and by its eyes
proving the intensity of its grief. And I, when I had reached, I know
not how, the mountain top, with my mind one way and my body elsewhere, I
tried still to see my son, but I could not, the distance was too great.
Then I burst into prayer to God, weeping for my captive son and the
murdered saints."
"After the barbarians had killed many others, they went their way; and
as day declined we were able, without fear, to descend and bury the
bodies. We found some quite dead, but Theodulus, the priest, was still
breathing and able to speak. Therefore we, sitting down there, passed
the night there, weeping, at the old man's request." The dying priest
bade them be of good cheer, reminding them that Job was robbed of his
substance and his children, and was grievously plagued in his body, yet,
trusting in God, he was given in the end more than he had lost. Then,
kissing the survivors, he breathed forth his holy soul. S. Theodulus and
these martyrs fell on Jan. 14th; but other sufferers who were put to
death by this horde of barbarians are commemorated with them. S. Nilus
gives an account of the sufferings of several of these, whom the Arabs
hunted from the rocks, wherever there was a spring of water and a patch
of herbage.
Nilus, having obtained money, went into the desert in quest of the
Arabs, in company with an armed embassy, to their chief or king, that he
might ransom his son. "Having gone eight days, we were hard pressed for
want of water; but those who knew the locality said that there was a
spring somewhere near. So the party ran here and there in their
eagerness to find and enjoy it; and I went along too, but on account of
my age was not able to travel as fast as they, and could not run without
loss of dignity. Now the well was really behind them, hidden behind a
little hill, so that they kept rushing further from it, and I, ascending
the mound, lighted suddenly upon it, for it lay on the other side, and
there I saw a number of Arabs gathered round it. When I thus fell into
the hands of the enemy, I cannot say whether I was glad or sorry, for I
was between the two conditions of mind, being fearful for my personal
safety, but very anxious to see my son, whom I hoped to deliver out of
captivity, or at least to share captivity with him. Those who had
accompanied me escaped, throwing themselves down, and creeping away
behind the hill; but the barbarians, shouting, surrounded me, and
dragged me violently about, but I looked about with great desire, hoping
among them to catch a sight of my boy.
"Suddenly, some of our party, armed, appeared on the horizon, and the
barbarians, in great alarm, fled away, and in a moment the spot where
they had swarmed was bare and lifeless.
"Next day we continued our course, and so for four days did we
persevere, till we reached the camp; and when it was announced that
there were ambassadors come to the King, we were brought before Haman,
the chief of the barbarians. Who, when we had presented gifts, gave us a
gracious reception, and lodged us near him, till he could make
perquisition for the offenders. My heart beat violently, and I waited
the result in an agony of suspense. Every sound seemed to me to speak of
him whom I sought so anxiously; my ears were ever on the alert, and my
mind on the stretch for the tidings, that I might be certified whether
my son lived or was dead. Ever before my eyes I saw his image, sometimes
I saw him killed in one way, sometimes in another, and I fancied I heard
his weeping voice calling me. O wretched boy! art thou alive or art thou
dead? If thou hast escaped death, what miserable bondage is thine? If
thou hast died, where is thine unburied corpse?
"At last the messengers returned, and by their faces I read the sad
news. 'You need not speak,' I said, 'I see in your countenances that I
have no hope.' But they assured me that Theodulus, my little fellow, was
not dead, but was sold to some one or other in the city Eleusa. Then I
resolved to go there in quest of him. But I had no rest in mind, for I
thought, Well, if he lives, he is lost to me, for he serves as a slave;
he cannot follow his free will, but is for ever subject to the caprice
of a master.
"As we were on our way to Eleusa, a young man, driving some laden
animals, met us. He had already seen me in the camp, and he knew all
about my affair. He, being in Eleusa, made inquiries, and learned that
my son had been brought there by the barbarians, and had been sold.
Seeing me coming, he advanced last and smiling towards me, and when we
were within speaking distance, he shouted cheerily to me, and stretching
forth his right hand, he turned it behind him over his shoulder, and
pulled out a letter from his quiver, which he gave to me, telling me
that my boy was alive, and bade me be of good cheer, and not to be out
of heart because he was a slave, for he had been bought by a Christian
priest.
"Then I, being without money or home, and unable thus to reward the
fellow, blessed him with many tears, and prayed that he might be
abundantly rewarded by God for the joy he gave me, I being unable to
offer him anything.
"But I, as soon as I reached the city, went first of all to the church,
as to the source of all good, and I gave honour there to God, watering
the pavement with my tears, and filling the sacred building with the
sound of my sobs. Thence I was guided to the house where my son was,
sending first of all before me messengers to break the news of my
coming. All knew me, by the report which had preceded me, to be the
father of the boy who had been sold there, and there was not a person
all along the street who did not express joy, in countenance, and
running out of their houses with glad faces, seemed as though each
rejoiced with me over a lost son re-found.
"Now when we came to the door of the house, he was called out and told
that I was there, and they brought him to salute me. And when we saw one
another, we did not rejoice, nor exclaim at first, but both cried till
our tears dribbled over our breasts. He ran to me, but scarcely knew me,
I was so ragged in dress, and my hair uncombed. Believing what others
said rather than knowing me, he came with arms outspread and clasped me
round with bursting heart. But _I_ knew _him_ when he was a long way
off, though there were numbers of others there, for it was just the same
face, stamped by constant remembrance on my mind; and unable to contain
my joy, my strength suddenly failed me, and I fell down. Then the
people, seeing me with open mouth on the ground, thought me dead. There
was great outcry, but when my son had clasped me in his arms, my spirit
came back, and I knew where I was, and who I was, whom I saw before me
with mine eyes. Then I hugged him and he hugged me, never satisfying our
great desire. However, at last, when more composed, I blamed myself to
him as the cause of all these misfortunes, because I had taken him away
from his home to a wild place which was full of danger, and it was so,
as I said."
Then Theodulus told his father all his adventures with the Arabs.
"Father," said he, "on the night after we were taken, the barbarians had
prepared everything for a sacrifice, altar, sword, incense, and the
like, and we thought we were sure to be killed and offered up on the
morrow. Then my fellow captive, in the night, ran away and escaped, but
I was afraid to do so, not knowing whither to go in the desert, but I
prayed to God till I fell asleep. And, waking early in the morning when
dawn broke on the horizon, I knelt with my hands on my knees, and my
face bowed upon them, wetting my bosom with my tears, and again with my
whole heart I cried out to Him who alone could deliver me, 'Thou, Lord,
alone hast power over life and death, Thou hast shown wonders of old and
hast delivered Thy servants out of peril. Thou didst save Isaac, lying
on the altar, and Joseph from the hands of his brethren. Save me, too,
for Thy great Name's sake.'
"Then, presently, the Arabs awoke, and making a great noise because my
companion was gone, asked me where he was; but when I said that I did
not know, because I had not run away, they were not angry. Then my mind
became calm, and I blessed God. After that they consulted, and brought
me to the city to sell me. They stripped me naked, and put a sword round
my neck, to show that if I was not bought they would kill me. Then I was
exposed for sale, and I stretched out my hands suppliantly to the
purchasers to save me from death, promising my glad service if they
would redeem my blood. Then after a while he came by and bought me, even
the Bishop of this place."
Now the Bishop had bought the boy out of charity, and he at once
surrendered him to his father, regarding nothing the price he had paid
for him, and he, moreover, furnished them with food for their long
journey home; and before he dismissed them, feeling confident of their
vocation, he ordained together to the priesthood both father and son.