The Lives of the Saints, Volume 01 (of 16): JanuaryBaring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Religion
The Lives of the Saints, Volume 01 (of 16): January
Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Christian 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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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