The Lives of the Saints, Volume 02 (of 16): FebruaryBaring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Religion
The Lives of the Saints, Volume 02 (of 16): February
Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Christian saints
The king saw perfectly well through the motives of the Brahmins in
thus taking up the woman's cause; but as the honour of his own family
was concerned in the person of his niece, he acceded to their request.
He ordered the Christians to be fined, and their houses to be burnt.
The father had foreseen the storm that was gathering, and had warned
his flock of the danger, but they all refused to fly. They determined
to stand by their dear master, upon whom they knew the great fury of
the persecution would fall, and if God required it, die with him. The
king despatched four companies of soldiers to seize the missionary.
Three of them advanced to the chapels which he had built in the woods,
where they arrested the catechists who were in charge of them. The
fourth hastened to Mouni, and there they found the holy father. It was
the morning of the 8th of January, and he was offering, as was his
wont, the Holy Sacrifice, when God revealed to him what was coming;
and after Mass he addressed the people, and said that those who had
not courage to give up their lives in testimony to the faith of Jesus
Christ, had better depart at once and hide themselves. He pronounced
these words in so decided and significant a manner, that they all
perceived he had received some definite intelligence, and, seized with
a sudden panic, they all dispersed except one Brahmin, a convert, and
two children, who preferred remaining with him. In the evening,
warning came of the approach of a troop of mounted soldiery. He knew
their errand, and raising his eyes towards heaven, he offered up his
life as a sacrifice to God, and went forth to meet them. They seized
him violently, and led him off with his three companions.
In a neighbouring village, there was being celebrated at that time a
grand festival to one of their gods. Thither on their arrival they
drew the Christian victims, and harnessed them to the triumphal car of
the idol, and exposed them to the jeers of the multitude. Next day
they were taken to the royal city of Ramanadabouram, and there the
saint was incarcerated in a filthy hovel, and with him the three
catechists who had been arrested in the forest chapels. The holy
father embraced them, and exhorted them to continue firm to the end.
The heroism of the two children is especially recorded. They animated
each other to suffer for Jesus Christ.
The imprisonment lasted for several days. Teriadeven only heard of
their captivity when it was too late to avert it; but he gave orders
that they should be treated with kindness till the king's wishes
should be known. Those orders, however, were not attended to, and the
brutal jailors amused themselves with the sufferings of the martyrs,
and fed them with food which the soldiers rejected.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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