Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church

“ And by the good pleasure of our Lord Jesus Christ there came darkness, and a cold wind, and the sun hid his light, and there was lightning and thunder and rain and hail, and the infidels fled before them. And certain believing men came and took the body of Saint Mark, which was whole and had suffered no injury, and they wrapped it up for burial in fine cloths, and laid it in a secret place. Salutation to Mark, whose body was crowned with lightning, and rain, and hail. Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. ”

“ Before he was made archbishop, he prayed to God with tears and groans, saying, “O God, Thou knowest how much I love to dwell by myself, and that I have not strength enough for this office, [to say] nothing about my fitness. I beseech Thee, because of the greatness of Thy compassion, to take my soul and to give me rest in this Fast.” ”

“ And for this reason the doctors of the Church have commanded us to make a festival in honor of the glorious Archangel Michael on the twelfth day of each month. Salutation to Michael, the angel of the covenant of God, and helper of all who are on land and sea, like whom there is no other. ”

“ When a child was born to any of the natives of the city, the mother used to go down, and kill him by magic and drink his blood. And when Saint Susenyos saw this, he took his spear in his hand, and killed his sister and her child also, for he was the son of Satan; and he killed her husband, and her husband’s father, for they were magicians, and they used to inflict sicknesses on a man and kill him. After this he returned to Nicomedia, and he came to that priest who had baptized him with Christian baptism, and told him everything that had happened to him. ”

“ Among all these tribes there was none who worshipped God, but the people of each tribe had their own idols, which they had chosen as gods, and belonging to each graven image was a service of error, which made the people to go astray. And there was over the tribes a man set in authority under the kingdom of Herod, and he commanded that the people, wherever he found them, should work for him, and the money which he made them to bring to him was very much, and at length his position became great, and his rule widespread and powerful. ”

“ When the bread was finished she lived upon the herbs in the desert. When the seven and forty years wherein she had wandered up and down the desert had come to an end, the holy priest Zozimas went out into the desert of the Jordan, in order to complete therein the holy Forty Days’ Fast, according to the custom observed in his monastery--now it was the custom with the monks of his monastery to go out each year for the Great Fast (i.e. Lent) into the desert, and to devote themselves to severe ascetic labors, and to fight in the spirit until the end of the Fast. ”

“ And this father commanded them to bow down before all the bishops, and priests, and people, and to say unto them, “Forgive us, for we have sinned and gone astray, for it was Satan who led us into error.” And they did as the archbishop commanded them, and he forgave them their sins. And this father thought much about the churches, and their buildings, and the places wherein pilgrims sojourned, and what moneys were left him he gave to the poor and needy; and he followed a good course of life and pleased God. ”

“ The parents of this holy man were Christians. He grew up in the service of the Church, and he was reared therein, for Maximus made him a reader, and Abba Theonas made him a deacon, and Abba Peter made him a priest; and he was pure, and a virgin from his youth. When the time drew nigh for Abba Peter to become a martyr, this holy father Alexander and ‘Akilas went to him when he was in prison, and asked him to remove the excommunication from Arius, for Arius had asked them both to ask Abba Peter about him. When they asked Abba Peter, he excommunicated Arius again in their presence. ”

“ Now this holy man devoted himself to the works of the ascetic life; and he strove zealously in the works which appertained to the soul and the body; and he also commanded his disciples never to cease working with their hands, and to give away in charity what was left of the money whereon they lived. One day there came unto this holy elder a certain lazy monk, and when he saw this holy elder and his disciples working with their hands, he said unto the elder and his disciples, “Ye do then work for the food which is transitory? ”