From: rich <
richarra@gmail.com>
November 30th ' Sts. Sapor, Isaac & Comps. BM (AC)
(Also known as Shapur)
Died 339. Bishop Sapor of Beth-Nictor and Bishop Isaac of
Beth-Seleucia were martyred with members of their flock under the
Persian King Shapur II, including Saints Mahanes, Abraham, and Simeon.
Sapor died in prison; Isaac was stoned to death.
Their genuine acta have been preserved in Chaldaic, which relate that
the Persians complained to the king that they could no longer worship
the heavenly bodies or the elements without the Christians despising
them. Shapur immediately ordered the arrest of all the followers of
Christ. Mahanes, Abraham, and Simeon were the first to be captured.
When the king learned that Sapor and Isaac were building churches and evangelizing the people in distant outposts, he sent soldiers to track
them down and bring them to trial within three days.
The day after their capture, all five were brought before the king,
who inquired: "Have not you heard that I derive my pedigree from the
gods? Yet I sacrifice to the sun, and pay divine honors to the moon.
And who are you who resist my laws, and despise the sun and fire?"
The martyrs with one voice answered: "We acknowledge one God, and Him
alone we worship."
The king asked: "What God is better than Hormisdatas, or stronger than
the angry Armanes? And who is ignorant that the sun is to be
worshipped."
Sapor replied: "We confess one only God, who made all things, and
Jesus Christ born of him."
At this the king commanded that he should be beaten on the mouth; all
the bishop's teeth were knocked out. Then he was beaten with clubs,
until his whole body was bruised and his bones broken. After this he
was loaded with chains.
Isaac appeared next. The king scolded him for having built churches;
but the martyr maintained the cause of Christ with inflexible
constancy. The king next commanded that several of the chief men of
the city who had apostatized be summoned. With threats he cowed them
into stoning Bishop Isaac to death.
When Saint Sapor heard of Isaac's happy martyrdom, he was exultant =
and
died of his wounds two days later in prison. The king nevertheless
severed the bishop's head from his body. The other three were called
again to court. Mahanes was flayed from the top of his head to the
navel, dying in the process. Abraham's eyes were bored out with a hot
iron, and he died of his wounds two days later. Simeon was buried
alive and shot through with arrows. The faithful Christians managed to
obtain and privately bury the remains of the martyrs (Attwater 2,
Benedictines, Coulson, Husenbeth).
Saint Quote:
"We have loved her during life, let us not abandon her until we have
conducted her by our prayers in the House of the Lord."
--St. Ambrose (AD 340-397)
Bible Quote
So shall the last be first, and the first last. For many are called,
but few chosen. (Matthew 20:16)
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Andrew, the apostle
Let none of us who see other people giving up great possessions say to ourselves: I should like to imitate people like these who have such
contempt for the world, but I have nothing to give up. You give up
much if you give up the desire to possess. The Lord looks at your
heart, not your fortune; he considers the love that prompts your
offering, not its amount. If we are going to weigh material goods, our
holy traders gave their nets and boats to purchase the eternal life of
the angels. The real value of that is beyond price, but for you its
price is just what you possess. For Zaccheus it was worth half its
fortune, since he kept the other half to restore fourfold whatever he
had unjustly extorted. For Peter and Andrew it was worth the value of
their nets and boat; for the widow it cost two small coins; another
may buy it with a cup of cold water. As I said, the kingdom of God
costs whatever you have.
--St. Gregory the Great
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