• =?UTF-8?Q?November_30th_'_Sts=2E_Sapor=2C_Isaac_=26_Comps=2E_BM

    From rich@1:396/4 to All on Sun Nov 29 09:11:32 2020
    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
    --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
    * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)