Ginbot
21
(May
29)
IN
THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT,
ONE
GOD. AMEN.
On
this day all Christian communities celebrate the festival of the appearance in
public of our
holy Lady, the Virgin Mary, the God-bearer, in Debre Mitmak, as she was seated
upon light,
in a circle, in the church, which was built in her name. She was enveloped in
divine light,
and there were standing round about her all the hosts of the angels, and
archangels, and
their wings were extended and overshadowing her, and the Seraphim also were standing
round about her with their censers, and they were censing her great majesty. And every
time they bowed down to her they praised her, saying, “God the Father looked
down from
heaven upon earth and He found none like unto thee. He sent His Only Son, and
He was
born of thee.” And the martyrs came, mounted upon their horses, and they bowed before
her, and Mar Saint George descended from his horse, and two others came and bowed
before her, and he who came after [Saint George] was Saint Mercorios, mounted upon
a black horse. After him all the martyrs came, and bowed down to her, and did homage
to her, and she blessed them, and they returned. And there came also the
company of
the prophets, and the righteous, and they bowed down and did homage to her. And
the children
whom Herod slew also came lamenting before her, and they leaped up and embraced
each other. And when those who were gathered together saw this, it filled them with
joy and they thought they were in heaven. And if there was anyone whose father
was dead,
or his mother, or a kinsman, or a friend, and he asked her, saying, “O my holy
Lady, thou
Virgin Mary, thou God-bearer, show me so and so,” straightway she made that
person to
come in the form he had before [on earth]. And also when they threw down their
stoles she
took the one which she wished in her hands, and threw it back to them, and they divided
it among the women a thing of blessing. And thus Christian and Armani (Pagan?) saw
her for five days. And when they wished to go home to their own houses, they
did homage
to her and made an agreement with her, and she blessed them with her fingers. Salutation
to him that looked upon thee, O Mary, as the eye of a daughter looketh at her mother.
And
on this day also died the Holy Father Abba Martianus. This saint became a monk
in his
early manhood with a certain holy elder, and fought a great spiritual fight,
and then he went
to a monastery of the city of Caesarea of Palestine, which was called Debre
Tabot Noha,
and there he fought an exceedingly great and strenuous fight. And having lived
for seven
and sixty years as an ascetic, fighting the spiritual fight with fasting, and
prayer, and prostrations,
and vigils by day and by night, the report of his virtues and righteousness became
noised abroad. And a certain woman, who was a harlot, and sinner, and who was a notorious
evil-doer, heard of him, and she said unto those who talked about his virtues,
and his
righteousness, and his holiness, “How much more are ye going to praise the man?
He liveth
in the desert and he never seeth a woman. If he once saw me I would stain his virginity,
and defile his holiness, and destroy his abstinence from women.” And those men,
because they knew his holiness, and his virginity, and the purity of his body, contradicted
the harlot about this, and fierce contention broke out between her and them. And
she said unto the, “How much money will ye give me if I go to him, and make him
to fall
into sin with me? What will ye give me, I say?” And they agreed with her to
give her a
certain sum of money if she did this. And straightway she rose up, and took her ornaments,
and her apparel, and her many perfumes, (now she was very beautiful to look upon,)
and she went to his cell, wearing poor and wretched rags wherein her face was muffled.
And themselves tied up her ornaments and her fine apparel in a bundle; and then she
hid herself in a place, which was near his cell until the evening. And in the
evening she
knocked at the door of his cell, and asked him to let her remain with him until
the morning.
And the saint was very sorry for himself, and he pondered in his heart deeply. And
he said, “If I leave her outside the wild bests of the desert will eat her, and
if I bring her
in I shall have to suffer a warfare about her within myself.” And after this he
opened the
door to her, and he left her in that place, and went to another. And the woman
arrayed herself
in her beautiful apparel, and she adorned herself and perfumed herself, and she came
to him and asked him to lie with her; and she said unto him, “No one will see
me here.”
And the saint knew that she was a snare of Satan, the Enemy, and he said unto
her, “Wait
a little for me until I look at the road, for if we do not fear God it is meet
for us to fear
men, who are like unto us.” And he went out from her, and lighted a large fire,
and as he
put his head into the flames time after time, he said to his soul, “If thou art
able to bear Hell,
commit sin.” And he tarried in coming to her, she went to him, and she saw him
in the
flames burning his hands and his fingers and his feet. And she was terrified,
and dragged
him out of the fire, and her sense returned to her, and she stripped off her
raiment, and
cast it away, and threw herself down at his feet and begged him to help her to
save her soul.
And he began to teach her, and to admonish her about the end of this fleeting
world, and
the desire thereof, and she repented with all her heart. And he said unto her, “It
is not desirable
for us to live together in the same place.” And he took her to a house of
virgins, and
commanded the abbess to take charge of her, and she pleased God during the rest
of life,
which remained to her. And she reached a good old age, and received the gift of
the Holy
Spirit, and healed many sick folk. And Saint Martianus, fearing lest the Enemy might
bring to him another woman, departed to an island in the river [Nile], and
dwelt there,
and a certain owner of a boat used to bring him food, and buy the work of his
hands. And
when the saint had dwelt there many days the boat belonging to that man sank in
the river,
and a certain woman hung on to one of the planks thereof, and the waves of the
river washed
her to the island on which Saint Martianus lived. And when he saw her he was frightened,
and was sorry, because he would have to dwell with her; but the word of God spoke
to her, and he arrayed her in the garb of the nun. And he prepared food for
her, and he
said unto her, “It is not desirable for us to dwell together in one place.”
Then he left that
island, and cast himself into the river; and a large monster of the river took
him up and carried
him over, and brought him to dry land. From that time onwards he never lived in [one]
place, but wandered about in the mountains, and deserts, and uninhabited
districts until
he had traveled through one hundred and sixty countries. He never stayed one
day in one
place. And after this he shut himself up in a cave, and when he knew that the
time of his
death was nigh, he called the bishop and told him all that had happened to him,
and all his
spiritual fight from the beginning to the end thereof; and the bishop marveled
at the great
size of his body. And before all this happened the angel of God had appeared to
the bishop,
[and told him] to think about the body of Saint Martinaus. And after this he delivered
up his soul into the hand of God; and the bishop swathed him for burial and buried
him with great honor. And as for the woman who was on that island, the owner of the
boat visited her until she died; and he came and found her body white as snow,
and he carried
it to his own country. Salutation to Abba Mardali.
And
on this day also died Abba Aaron, the Syrian. This saint was a fighter from his
youth, and
at length the gifts of healing and working miracles were given unto him. When pilgrim
monks came to him he used to cook for them young doves, and when they said unto
him, “We do not eat flesh,” he would say words of blessing over the doves, and
he dismissed
them and they flew away. And he built a monastery, and the water was a long way
off down the mountain, and he prayed a prayer, and made the sign of drawing it
up with
his hand, and so made the water to ascend. One day Satan came to him to destroy him
with evil, and Abba Aaron, knowing the appearance of him by the grace of the
Holy Spirit,
which dwelt upon him, said unto him, “Come into this cave to dwell.” And when Satan
had come into that cave, one side of it fell on him and buried him, and a huge
stone leaped
upon him, and Satan was put to shame. And also, when the governor of the city died,
did not he raise him up by his prayer? And this father made a lion to carry
four water-jars
on his back, and the lion drew water for him for a period of ten years; and
then he
departed to God. Salutation to Aaron, who made young doves, which had been boiled, to
fly away.
And
on this day also are commemorated Amos, the prophet, and Mardali.
Glory
be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen.
