Holy Warrior Efstathios Placidas

The Life of the Great Martyr
ST. EFSTATHIOS

His wife Theopiste, and their sons Agapios and Theopistos, who are commemorated on the 20th of September

This Life, translated from the Greek by the monks of Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Boston, is dedicated by them to the Monastery's benefactor, DR. EFSTATHIOS METROPOULOS. May the readers remember him in their prayers.


THE HOLY GREAT MARTYR EFSTATHIOS
KONTAKION, TONE 2

HAVING OPENLY imitated the Passion of Christ,+ And with all zeal drunk His chalice to the full,+ O communicant Efstathios,+ thou didst become a co-inheritor of glory,+ receiving from the heights from the Very God of all+ Divine remission.


EFSTATHIOS (WHO BEFORE he was baptized and became a follower of Christ was named Placidas), the right victorious great martyr of Christ, was a commander in Rome during the years of the Emperor Trajan, who reigned in Rome from 98 to 117. He was illustrious and most renowned for his victories in war, and for his exceptional and courageous feats. He had no little wealth, and was descended from noble parents. In his thoughts and actions he was most manly and exceedingly sober, and besides his excellence as a soldier he had also many virtues; he was abstinent in his appetites and in the desires of the flesh; he was prudent, just, merciful, and in a word, virtuous. He had two sons who were like him in all things, in both bodily and spiritual gifts. His wife also, who was named Tatiana, was like him in all virtue.

In time of peace, he trained his soldiers by having them hunt game, so that the army might not be idle, and thus become used to unpreparedness and sloth. He himself would train with them, and strove in the art of hunting. Thus on a certain day while he was hunting in a forest, he saw a large deer from afar, which, while fleeing, would stop and turn to look at him. directly in the eyes. When he saw it, the Saint charged after it on horseback in order to overtake it. Yet he was unable to come near it. Others also then ran to his aid, yet even their horses became exhausted, and when they too had despaired of reaching it, they stopped. Only the Saint, without becoming vexed on this account, continued to pursue it, until both he and the horse, drenched with sweat, reached a great chasm in the earth. As for the deer, it leapt over the chasm and stood on the opposite side, looking at him, but it was impossible for the Saint's horse to jump that chasm. Because of this, the Saint sought to find an appropriate place to cross it.

Suddenly, when he turned, he saw that between the antlers of the deer there was a Cross more radiant than the sun. He also heard a voice coming thence, which said, "Why do you pursue Me, Placidas? I am Christ Whom you do not know, and Whom you honor by your works. It is for your sake that I have appeared on this living creature. The alms and good deeds which you have done for the poor are ever before Me; therefore I came before you to capture you with the nets of My love for mankind. It is not right that a man as virtuous as you should worship deaf and senseless idols and not know the truth. For it was to save mankind that I took the form of man and came into the world."

When the Saint heard these words, he fell from his horse to the ground out of fear and trembling. After a considerable time, he came to himself and arose, looking here and there to see who had spoken to him. Since he saw no one, he cried loudly, "Whose voice do I hear? Who are you who speaks to me? Show me who you are so that I may believe in you." Then the Lord said unto him, "Learn, O Placidas, that I am Christ Who created the heaven and the earth, and divided the light from the darkness; Who made the sun to shine in the day and the moon and the stars to illumine the night; Who made the days and the nights, the months and the years; Who fashioned man out of nothing; Who, for his salvation, came after this to the earth as man and was crucified and buried and on the third day arose from the dead."

Immediately, when the Saint heard these words, he fell again with his face upon the earth and said, "I believe, Lord, that You are the Creator and Maker of the world, that You alone, and no other, are the true God." And the Saviour then said unto him, "If you believe in Me, go find the bishop of your country, so that he may baptize you as he has baptized the other Christians also." And the Saint said, "Lord, may I tell these words to my wife and to my children also, so that they also might believe in You?" "Yes," answered the Lord to him, "tell all these things in detail; and when you have been baptized and purified of your sins, come to this place again so that I may reveal to you what things are about to befall you."

When the Lord had said these things, the deer vanished, and the Saint mounted his horse and returned to his soldiers. In the evening, after he had supped with his wife and children at home, he said to her, "Today, my beloved wife, while pursuing a deer in the forest, I saw Christ crucified in the midst of its antlers, and He told me words which man cannot utter." And she said unto him, "My Lord, you saw the God in Whom the Christians believe. He is the only true God. He shall save both us and our children. I, too, saw Him last night, and He told me these words: 'Tomorrow, you shall come to Me – you and your husband and your children – so that you may know that I am the true God.' Since He has appeared unto you also in the vision of the deer, come, let us go this night to the bishop of the Christians, so that he may baptize us; for by this baptism are the Christians saved." The Saint answered, "Christ spoke these very words to me also, that is, that we should be baptized."

When they had decided to do this, they continued speaking until midnight. Then they took their children and certain of their servants and went to the church. Leaving the servants outside, they entered and found the bishop, to whom they revealed their vision and said that they desired to be baptized. And he, giving thanks unto God Who desires the salvation of every man, baptized them all in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. And as for Placidas, he named him Efstathios, and his wife Tatiana he named Theopiste, and of their children the elder he named Agapios and the younger Theopistos. Afterwards he gave them the Immaculate Mysteries and prayed that Christ might be with them and deem them worthy of His eternal Kingdom. After this they returned to their home.

In the morning, Efstathios took certain soldiers and went again to the same place. The latter he commanded to occupy themselves with hunting, and he, with the excuse that he desired to find larger game, went to the chasm where he had seen the vision. Falling prostrate, he wept saying, "I believe in Thee, O my Christ, for now I know that Thou art the true God; Thou art the Creator of all things visible and invisible and I beseech Thee to reveal unto me those things that Thou didst promise me yesterday." Then the voice of the Lord was heard saying, "Happy are you, O Efstathios, in that you have received baptism and have conquered the might of the wicked devil. But he shall not cease from casting you into many temptations, to the end that he may force you to blaspheme and deny your faith, that you might suffer torments eternally. You shall suffer as many things as Job suffered in ancient times, but in the end you shall conquer the devil." Weeping, the Saint said, "If it be possible, my Lord, let me not have trial of these temptations but if this cannot be, strengthen me that I may keep Thy commandments and be steadfast in Thy faith." And the voice of the Lord said, "Be a man, Efstathios, and struggle for the sake of good works. My grace shall accompany you and your family, and shall keep your souls from the fiery darts of the evil one." When the Lord had said these things He ascended into the heavens. As for the Saint, he departed from there and returned to his family. Thus they both prayed to God, saying, "The will of the Lord be done."

A FEW DAYS after the vision and baptism of the Saint, all the servants of his household died, having been stricken with the plague. Then he understood that this calamity was one of those temptations which had been foretold by God, and he gave thanks to Him and also besought his wife not to complain at all on account of this gift from God. Afterwards a disease fell upon the horses and his other animals, all of which died, and the Saint endured this catastrophe also with all calmness. In order to dispel his grief, one day he took his wife and his children and went into the country. But while they were absent, thieves learned that the house was deserted and entered it and took all their possessions. Thus Efstathios and his family were left with only the clothes on their backs. And though formerly they had been most wealthy, after these things they became of all people the poorest and most lamentable.

It happened during those days that the idolators had a great festival, from which neither the emperor nor the commander in chief could be absent. Thus they sought the Saint everywhere, but they could not find him. On this account too they had great sorrow instead of joy, over the terrible misfortune which had befallen the Saint, and also because they did not know where he was to be found, where he had gone, or what had befallen him. After the feast, Theopiste said to her husband, "Why do we remain here in this place any longer, and be the reproach of the whole world? Let us der part; let us go to another place where they do not know us." The Saint asked her where she thought it good for them to go. She answered, "I think a suitable place is Jerusalem, where the Christians say the Sepulchre of Jesus Christ is." The Saint agreed to this and after some days they departed at night-time for Egypt. When they arrived there, they walked and reached a place by the seaside, and finding a ship, they boarded it so that they might pass to the opposite side.

When they had reached the appointed place, the ship's captain asked a much greater fare than was customary, for he had taken a liking to Theopiste, who was very beautiful. Inasmuch as the Saint did not have enough to give him, the ship's captain sought to seize his wife in place of the fare. The Saint would not allow this; therefore the ship's captain commanded the sailors to take hold of him and cast him into the sea. Being found in such straits, the Saint left his wife weeping and lamenting on the ship, and taking his two children he came out on dry land in great grief, not knowing where to go. Weeping, he said, "Woe unto me and unto you, my children, for a stranger and barbarian has taken your mother."

While walking, he reached a certain river, and as it was very deep, and the children were not able to pass over, he left one on the bank of the river, and took the other to the other side. While he was returning to take the other child also and had reached the middle of the river, he saw that a lion had snatched the one child. Then immediately he turned to see how the other was, and he saw that a wolf had seized him. Thus all those unbearable misfortunes which were about to come upon him were fulfilled one after the other, according to the prophecy of the Lord, and he did not know what to do. "Shall I also fall into the river," he said to himself, "that I may drown, or shall I endure yet, and not commit this most fearful sin?" But the grace and might of God came to his aid that he might not drown himself, but that he might endure all things with patience and nobility, with neither murmuring nor blaspheming.

After these new misfortunes, the Saint came out of that river and sat on a rock and wept most bitterly, saying, "Woe is me! What I was, and to what I have fallen now! Where is the glory? Where are the honors that I had? Where the soldiers? Where the innumerable other men that I had at my command? Yet, O Lord, do not disdain my tears. Do not abandon me unto the end. Thou saidest, O Lord, that I would suffer as many things as Job; but his sufferings were, as I have heard, fewer than mine. For though he lost all his goods, yet he had a small portion of earth and he could rest upon the dung. But I have not where to lay my head. I am a stranger in a strange land. What shall I do? Where shall I flee? What shall become of me? He had friends who comforted him; though he lost his children, yet he had his wife. But as for me, who shall comfort me? Another man has my wife; the beasts have eaten my children. Be not wroth with me, Lord, for these my complaints, but grant me patience and nobility of heart, that I may endure the temptations as Thy faithful follower."

After he had wept considerably, he arose, and having walked away, reached a certain city named Badessos, where he remained and worked for daily wages, sometimes digging the earth, at other times harvesting. When, after one year, he became better acquainted with the people of that place, he besought them and they appointed him as orchard-keeper, and he continued in this occupation for fifteen whole years.

Truly befitting to this Saint is that saying which the divine Chrysostom writes: "None of the sorrows of this present life are able to vex a great and philosophical soul; neither enmities, nor condemnations, nor slanders, nor perils, nor treachery. For like one fleeing to a certain mountain ridge, even so is a soul inaccessible to all those things that arise from the earth below" (Homily 3, On the Epistle to the Phillippians). And again he says: "For the Christian must differ from the unbeliever even in this, in that he bears all things nobly, and in that, by the hope of future things, he soars above the incursions of human calamities" (On the Statues, Homily 2).

THE ALL-GOOD GOD, however, did not allow His servants to perish. For near that river where the children were seized by the beasts, there were shepherds who, when they saw the lion, all immediately ran with their dogs and were able, with the help of God, to save the one child from the lion's teeth. On the other side, there were farmers who, when they saw the wolf, ran behind him and with their shouts were able to frighten it and make it release the child whole and unharmed. Both the shepherds and those farmers were inhabitants of a nearby city, and since they did not know whose children they were, they themselves took care to rear them and they were reared separately, without their knowing that they were brothers.

As for Theopiste, the wife of the Saint, she was preserved unharmed, for immediately after that barbarous ship-captain had taken hold of her, he became ill (in accordance with Divine dispensation, most assuredly), and a few days after he had reached his country he died without being able to fulfill his shameful desire. Wherefore, she also remained there free. Later, the city in which Theopiste lived rebelled against the Roman rule, and the insurrectionists at that time conquered many cities and fortresses of the Roman Empire.

In doubt as to how to subdue the rebels, Trajan remembered the manly feats of Saint Efstathios, but was unable to learn where he was to be found. The soldiers told him, "Without our commander in chief Placidas, we shall not go to war," and advised him furthermore that he should send men to all the parts of the empire for the purpose of finding him. Whereupon, Trajan accepted their proposition and sent men, two by two, to all the cities and fortresses to seek him out and find him.

Of these groups, two soldiers, former friends of the Saint, one Antiochos by name and the other Akakios, were going about from place to place, when they finally reached the city of Badessos where the Saint was. Seeing them from afar walking on the road, the Saint recognized them by their attire and by the features of their faces, and immediately he wept and besought God that, just as he had seen those two friends of his, though it had been beyond hope, so also might he see his wife Theopiste. "For I know well, Lord," he said, "that the beasts ate my children. Yet deem me worthy to see them at least in the day of the resurrection." While he was saying these things, he heard a voice saying, "Take courage, Efstathios, for you shall again acquire your former honors and you shall see your wife and your children as well; and in the life to come you shall enjoy every good thing and your name shall be praised unto generations of generations." Hearing these things, the Saint became terrified and fell prostrate.

When those messengers who were walking on the road had drawn near, he recognized them the better. They, however, did not recognize him, because he wore other garments and also because, as a result of his great sorrow, his visage had changed exceedingly. Thus when both had drawn near they said to him, "Hail, friend." The Saint greeted them in return and said to them, "Hail to you also, my brethren." And immediately they asked him if he knew of any stranger in that city, who had a wife and two children. They said, "If you know of such a person and show him to us, we will give you as much money as you ask of us." The Saint asked them why they sought him, and they answered that he was their close friend and they desired to see him, for they had been deprived of his company for a long time. "I do not know of any such man here," said the Saint, "but remain, I beseech you, for a few days in this foreign land so that you may rest, and then go with God. I, too, am a stranger." The messengers of the emperor therefore stayed. As for the Saint, he ran to the city and besought one of his friends to lend him a little money, for friends had come to stay with him and he had nothing with which to offer them hospitality. He promised that when he received his wages, he would repay him. That friend gave the Saint as much money as he asked for, and he went and bought wine and bread and whatever other food he could find at that time. He took them to his hut and set a table for the strangers.

And they ate, being ignorant that he was their general. The Saint, however, as he served them cheerfully and remembered his former state, was unable to hold back his tears but would wipe them when he was apart from his guests, and would return and again care for them. As for the strangers, they looked at the Saint carefully, and after some time, they began to recognize him little by little. Then Antiochus whispered into the ear of Akakios, "Brother Akakios! It seems to me that this man is our general, whom we seek." And Akakios answered him that he also suspected this. "I know well, however," he said, "that Placidas had a scar from a sword-wound on his shoulder. If this man has this scar, it is truly he." Then looking with care they observed the scar truly, and immediately they leapt up and embraced and kissed him and said, "Are you not Placidas, the commander in chief?" Then the Saint was unable to restrain his tears, but answered that it was not he. But the messengers of the emperor said that no matter how much he denied it, they would not believe him, for they were certain that it was he indeed, and they began to ask him concerning his wife and children, Finally, therefore, the Saint openly confessed that it was he and told them that his wife and children were dead.

While these things were taking place, the event was made known to the city also, and many people ran to learn what those officers sought, and they marvelled, saying, "How great was this man and to what a state he has fallen here in our land!" But the messengers presented the imperial decree to him and dressed him in the soldier's uniform of his rank, and then they departed with him for Rome. The inhabitants of the city accompanied him until Saint Efstathios ordered them not to come any further, but to return to their homes. On the way, the Saint narrated to the messengers all the things that had befallen him – that is, the appearance of Jesus Christ, how he was named Efstathios at Holy Baptism, how his wife was seized by the ship owner and likewise his children by the beasts, and, in general, all his misfortunes.

WITHIN FIFTEEN DAYS they reached Rome. When Trajan heard this, he came out to welcome him and embraced him and asked him why he had departed from Rome. And the Saint narrated everything to him also, openly in the presence of all the people, concerning all that had befallen him. Then there was great joy in the whole encampment over the finding and return of the Saint, and the emperor besought him to gird himself again with the belt of commander in chief.

When this was done, the Saint made a count of the existing troops and found them to be fewer than he needed. For this reason, by imperial decree he enlisted as many as he still needed from all over the empire. The decree also reached the city where the Saint's children were, and the authorities there entered their names for enlistment, since they were foreigners and were unenlisted. Both the youths were most handsome and tall, and even from their physical traits they looked as though they were descended from an aristocratic family.

After all the newly-enlisted had been gathered and divided into troops, companies, and battalions, the Saint commanded those two youths to serve him at table, since he saw that they were exceedingly handsome and prudent and imposing.

The military expedition was successful, for St. Efstathios retook all the cities and fortresses that had come under the sway of the rebels, whom he fought and vanquished. Afterwards, having advanced and passed the river Chryspis, he conquered and plundered the enemy's land. Finally he reached the city where Theopiste was. Not knowing this, he stopped to remain and rest at the very house where she was staying, and he pitched his tent in the courtyard, since it was large and belonged to the most wealthy shipowner of that city. There his troops spent three days in rest.

ON ONE OF THESE DAYS, the sons of the Saint took some victuals for cooking to the house where Theopiste was staying. While they were sitting outside the house waiting for the meal to be prepared, they began conversing. The younger, who was first to speak, said, "We both have been found in the same service of the general for so long, and never have we asked one another concerning our families." "I, too," answered the elder, "have desired this for a considerable time; yet what has not come to pass until this day, let it come to pass now. As I was young, I do not remember anything else but that my father was a general from Rome, and that my mother was very beautiful, and that I also had a handsome brother, younger than myself, with hair like yours. Our father and mother took us one day and departed from Rome, but where they were about to journey, I do not know. I remember only that we were walking near a coast and afterwards all boarded a ship, and that later our mother, for what reason I do not know, stayed on board and only our father came out on the dry land with us; and after having walked we reached a very great river. Since we were small, we were unable to cross it, but our father took my younger brother on his shoulders and carried him across to the far side and left me on the near side. And while he was returning to take me also, a wolf seized my brother, and on my side a lion seized me. But God had pity on me, and it happened at that time that shepherds were there in the forest, and they rescued me from the teeth of the lion and took me to the city which you also know, and it was there that they reared me and I grew up. But I do not know what became of my father and younger brother."

When the younger brother heard these things, he leapt up immediately with joy and said, "By the might of Christ, we are brothers! From all that you have told me, I am assured of it. They that reared me told me that they rescued me from the mouth of a wolf." Then the younger arose also and they embraced one another with great joy and gladness. Having overheard the whole conversation of the youths from within, Theopiste understood that she was their mother. When she saw them embracing one another, she wanted to reveal who she was, but they were in a hurry, and taking the vessels with the food, they ran to prepare the table for the commander in chief.

The next day, Theopiste went to the tent of the commander in chief in order to find her sons, but she did not find them, for they were absent on another duty. She found, however, the Saint sitting alone under the shade of a tree. Seeing him from afar, immediately she felt great turmoil within her heart, because it seemed to her that he was her husband. Wishing to speak to him, she drew near and said to him, "My lord, I pray, hearken to my words. I am from Rome, and they have brought me here as a prisoner. I beg you, therefore, to take me back."

While Theopiste was saying these things to the Saint, she looked at his face carefully, and she found that he resembled her husband greatly, but she did not dare to ask him who he was. Finally, however, when she was convinced without a doubt that it was he, she fell at his feet and said to him, "I beg you, my lord, do not be angry with me, but hear my words. Will you not do me the favor, I pray, of telling me what was your former state; for I think that you are Placidas, the commander in chief, who believed in Christ the true God, after you had seen him crucified between the antlers of the deer, and who afterwards endured many temptations, and in the end took his wife, that is, myself, and his sons, Agapios and Theopistos, who were yet little, and set out to go to Jerusalem. But the ship's captain, an ill-mannered man, kept me as surety and brought me here to this city where you see me. I have our Lord Jesus Christ and His angels as witnesses that I have remained pure and undefiled until now; neither by him, nor by any other man, have I suffered harm to my honor."

When the Saint heard these things, he was assured both by her facial characteristics and by the exact information which she gave him, that she was truly his wife. Immediately he cried out with a great voice, weeping, "Glory to Thee, my God, glory to Thee." Then they both arose and embraced one another and glorified God. Theopiste asked him where their children were. The Saint answered that the beasts had eaten them. "And how did this come to pass?" Theopiste asked him once more. Then he narrated in detail what had happened. "Let us glorify God," she said to him. "Our children live till this day and are here with you; for yesterday I heard them narrating exactly these very things which you now told me. And if you do not believe it, order them to come so that you yourself may hear their words." Immediately, therefore, the Saint called the youths and said, "Young men! Tell me of your lineage." Then the elder narrated as many things as he remembered and knew, and from these things both the Saint and his wife were assured that truly these were their children.

What joy and gladness there was that day, both for the Saint and for his whole army! Seven whole days did that joy and celebration of the army last, not only because they had conquered and subdued the rebels, but chiefly because the beloved spouse and children of the commander in chief had been found. As for the Saint, he glorified God with his whole heart and soul, saying, "I thank Thee, O Lord my God, that Thou didst not abandon me Thy humble slave to suffer temptation continuously, but Thou gavest me rest from my great tribulations. I glorify Thee, my God, that even as Thou didst foretell me, so also hast Thou brought it to pass. Now that I have seen my wife and my children, receive Thou my soul."

WHEN SAINT EFSTATHIOS had subdued the rebellion totally, he returned to Rome. During the time of the Saint's absence the Emperor Trajan died, and Hadrian, his nephew (who afterwards founded Adrianopolis), suceeded him. He, too, was an idolator and a great persecutor of the Christians. When he learned that Saint Efstathios, the victor and conqueror of the rebels, was coming to Rome, he went out to meet him, in accordance with the custom of the emperors of Rome at that time. When he learned that the Saint had found his wife and children, he wished to offer a great sacrifice to the idols, first because the rebels had been defeated, and secondly because Saint Efstathios had received back alive and well his most beloved ones whom he had lost a considerable time before. Though Hadrian had gone to the Temple of Apollo and was offering sacrifice, the Saint did not wish to go and do the same. When Hadrian asked him afterwards why he too had not gone to the Temple of Apollo to offer sacrifice to the gods, by whose might he had both conquered the enemy and found his wife and children, the Saint answered, "O king, I offer sacrifice to my Christ; Him do I glorify and Him do I thank, for I owe my life and my soul to Him. It was He that gave me the power to conquer the enemies of the emperor, and it was by His good will that I saw both my wife and my children again. I do not know nor believe in any other god but Him alone Who created the heaven and the earth and all that is therein."

Then Hadrian ordered him to take off his military belt immediately, and commanded that he, his wife, and his children stand before him as ones condemned. In this manner, he began to put various questions and remarks to him, attempting to convince them to change their minds. But because he did not achieve this, though he employed every means, he ordered that they be taken to a certain plain and there a large, hungry lion be loosed on them. But when the lion had drawn near, running rapidly toward them, it bowed its head as though it were worshipping them and then turned back. However, when the emperor's purpose had thus come to nothing, he commanded the soldiers to heat up well an instrument of torture which was of brass, and which was made in the shape of a bull, and to enclose the Saints within it. When an innumerable multitude of secret Christians and idolators learned of this, on the day which had been appointed for the aforesaid death sentence, they went to see how they would enclose the Saints and burn them in that brazen bull.

When, therefore, they had lit a great blaze below the brass bull and it had been heated to a considerable degree, the soldiers prepared to cast them within. The Saints, however, besought them to allow them to remain a little so that they might pray first. When they had received permission, they lifted up their hands and prayed to God, saying, "Lord Jesus Christ, the God of hosts, Whom no one hath seen and Whom we were deemed worthy to behold, hearken unto our supplication now, since Thou hast been well pleased that we should be united together; even as Thou didst preserve the bodies of the Holy Three Youths from the fiery furnace, in like manner preserve Thou our bodies also, and be Thou well pleased that they be buried together in one sepulchre, and receive Thou our souls. Grant, O Lord, Thy grace to our relics and let him that calleth upon us have a portion in the kingdom of the heavens; and though he call upon us on river or on sea, when he is in peril, we beseech Thee that Thou come unto his aid." Then the Saints heard a voice coming from heaven and saying, "Whatsoever ye ask, this and even more shall be granted, because for the sake of My name ye endured great temptations with singular patience and nobility. For your sufferings in this temporal life, ye shall enjoy the everlasting joy in the heavenly fatherland and the unfading crowns that befit your struggles." Then with exceeding joy the Saints surrendered themselves to the soldiers most eagerly, and were enclosed within that brass bull, and in a short while surrendered their holy souls unto the Lord in the one hundred and twenty-sixth year of Grace.

After three days, Hadrian commanded that the brass bull be opened. When they opened it and saw that not even a hair of the Saints was harmed from the fire, the emperor thought that they were still alive, and ordered that they be brought out. When the people there saw their bodies whole and unharmed, they all began to cry out with a great voice, with one mouth and one heart, "Great is the God of the Christians! He alone is the true God and none other." Fearing for himself, Hadrian departed from there.

Thus, during that tumult certain Christians took the relics of the Saints secretly and buried them in an appropriate place. During the reign of the great Constantine, the protector of Christians, the Christians built a temple for the Saints, and every year they celebrated, as they celebrate even to this day, the memorial of the Saints on the twentieth day of the month of September, to the glory of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.