Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church

“ Therefore it is meet for us to honor her, and to celebrate a festival to her, because of the exalted gift, which God gave her. Salutation to thee O Hannah, thou ladder of the prayers of the righteous.
And on this day also are commemorated Saint Archelaus the martyr, and Elisa the abbot, and Saint Pachomius, and Minas the martyr, and his mother Urania, Salutation to Archelaus, Elisa, and Pachomius. Salutation to Minas a saint of the Church. Salutation to Urania whose apparel they stripped off and then they beat her on her back and belly. Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen. ”

“ At length the whole country of Antioch was filled with weeping and lamentation, a man mourning for his wife, and a wife for her husband, a father mourning for his son or a son for his father, or brother for brother and friend for friend. At length the whole earth was filled with the blood of the saints, and their bodies were cast out into the streets of the city, and there was none to bury them except the watchmen of the city, to whom bribes had to be given secretly to bury them. And this Saint Stephen continued in prayer to God by day and by night that He would give him a crown of martyrdom. ”

“ And the Lord God Who is judge between us, and Who knoweth what is hidden and the thoughts of hearts, He knoweth that I have never known her as a woman, and on her part she doth not know me as a man, but we have passed all these days just lying side by side. ”

“ There are certain men of our city who have gone astray from the light of the throne of Saint Mark the evangelist, and who have set their feet on the road, which is full of thorns, and they have driven out Abba John our bishop. Because of this great tribulation hath come upon our land and all our men are dying of the plague, and our beasts and cattle have perished, and God hath restrained the heavens so that they cannot rain upon our land, and our enemies have risen up against us and have conquered us, because we have not obeyed the commandments of God. ”

“ And when his father and his mother went into the marriage-chamber, and found only the bride and not the bridegroom, they said unto her, “Where is our son?” And she said unto them, “He came in to me in the night, and made me swear an oath, and made a covenant with me, and he kissed my head, and went away from me, and I have passed the night weeping.” When they heard her words, they fell down upon the ground, on their faces, and they groaned, and uttered loud cries of grief and lamentation. ”

“ And Saint Moses, the man of God, was fasting two days at a time, and then three days at a time, until at length he did not eat at all except on the First Day of the week. After this our Lady Mariyam appeared unto one of the righteous elders among the priests of that church, and she said unto him, “Go outside the church, and say unto that man who is standing by the pillar, ‘Come, O man of God,’ and bring him into the sanctuary for his fasting, and his prayer, and his righteousness have ascended like the sweet-smelling incense into heaven.” ”

“ Now as a beginning to his iniquity Diocletian wrote an Edict which he sent into every part of his dominions, saying, “I Diocletian the Emperor, Lord of the World, hereby command that in every country of my dominions they close the churches, and open the houses of idols (i.e., temples) , and worship my gods, for it is they who have given me victory in battle. Whosoever shall not worship them and bow down before them, his house shall be plundered and laid waste, and he shall be punished with every kind of punishment; none shall be spared, neither rich nor poor, nor great nor small.” ”

“ On this day died the holy and blessed father Abba Macarius, Bishop of the city of Kaw. In this holy man were fulfilled the words of David the prophet, saying, “Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, who hath not stood in the way of sinners, and who hath not sat in the seat of the scoffers, but whose pleasure is in the Law of God, and in that Law he doth meditate (or speak) day and night” (Psalm I) . ”

“ Now the history of the strife of this holy woman Hannah we know of nothing whatsoever which we can record, but we know and we are convinced that she was the most honored of women because she was held to be worthy to become the mother of the mother of God in the flesh. And had she not possessed many virtues, and great righteousness, which was superior to the righteousness of every other woman, she would never have been worthy of this act of grace. ”

“ And she entered one of the nunneries where virgins were received in the city of Rome, and she put on the nun’s garb, which is the garb of angels. And she made her body to toil with the labor of constant prayer, and with strenuous contending, and with hunger, and with thirst, and with cutting out from her heart and soul every thought concerning this world. In those days she used to fast the whole of every second day throughout the whole year. ”

“ On this day the holy woman Anastasia became a martyr. This woman was a fighter; she was a native of Rome and her parents were Christians. They brought her up in all honor, and trained her in a manner befitting her noble rank, and they taught her everything, which was beneficial for her soul and body, and also the doctrine of the Church. When she arrived at woman’s estate her parents wanted to give her in marriage, but she did not desire this thing, for from her youth up she had craved for the garb of the ascetic life ”

“ And the servants scattered much gold in order that they might leave the body of the saint, but they would not go after the gold, and no man ever returned afterwards to the gold. After this they laid the body of the saint in the great church of the Apostles Peter and Paul. And many miracles took place through his body, the blind were made to see, and the dumb became able to speak, and the sick were healed, and the lame walked, and the deaf heard, and the lepers were cleansed, and from those who were possessed of devils the devils went out. ”

“ When God saw the strength of their love for Him, He wished to make them to inherit His kingdom and His righteousness, which He hath prepared for them before the world was created. Then Satan brought a man, a certain swineherd from the land of Egypt, and he belonged to men who occupy themselves with devices for war, and his name was ‘Agripada, and from his earliest youth the spirit of Satan dwelt in him. When he came to Antioch they made him master of the horse, and when the King of Antioch died the throne was empty. ”

“ And at midnight Gabra Krestos took the bride by the hand, and they made a covenant together, and then they recited the prayer of belief--”We believe in one God”--to the end thereof. Then he stripped off himself the marriage-garments, and dressed himself in coarse apparel, and he went to the bride and kissed her head, and he bade her farewell, saying unto her, “God be with thee, and deliver thee from every evil work of Satan.” ”

“ He worshipped idols and killed everyone who believed on Christ. He was an eater of the flesh of men, and a drinker of human blood, like the wild animals. He seized and scattered all the chosen people of the kingdom like rams who have no shepherd. Some of them were killed by means of stakes driven through them, and some of them he drove into exile, even to districts in Egypt, and they were fettered with iron chains, and gags were in their mouths. ”