Alexander of Cyprus, Praise of Barnabas the Apostle

Laudatio barnabae apostoli an encomium of alexander the monk for the holy apostle barnabas, at the prompting of the presbyter and key-holder of his ve

Boorish and violent. but when he saw the great works of wonders being done through the apostles and the multitude of the people being added daily to t

The lord ordained for himself. then paul recounted to them what had happened to him on the road, and that he had seen the lord and that he had spoken

To be circumcised and to keep the law. but when mark saw them honored by all and that after so many tortures and dangers they were strong and whole, c

Jesus christ, and to keep his commandments and to do them and to abstain from every evil thing for we must all appear before the judgment seat of chr

Being pleased, he knew it to be divinely inspired and having ordained mark, he sent him as most capable to alexandria, which is by egypt and libya an

To recall him from the abyss of impiety, but when they saw him contradicting and becoming more audacious against the orthodox faith, then they pronoun

Ruling city and to be judged by the ecumenical patriarch against those of antioch, he was numbed with fear, suspecting the machinations of knapheus n

And he permitted the patriarch to hold a hearing with the resident synod concerning the matters between the parties and to discuss the issue at hand.

The cypriots of constantia on the eleventh of the tenth month, mesori, but according to the asians, that is, according to the paphians, on the ninetee

being pleased, he knew it to be divinely inspired; and having ordained Mark, he sent him as most capable to Alexandria, which is by Egypt and Libya and Pentapolis; who, upon his arrival, preached Christ Jesus to them; and a great number of those who believed turned to the Lord. And having spent nine years teaching them the word of God, he was perfected by martyrdom and was laid to rest in Alexandria. After a long time, when Christianity had spread and Christian emperors were reigning over the Roman empire, God performed no ordinary miracles in the place where the relic of the holy apostle and noble martyr Barnabas was laid; for many of those who had unclean spirits, passing through the place, crying out with a loud voice, were driven out, and many who were paralyzed and lame and afflicted by various diseases and torments, coming, would sleep in the place, all of whom were healed; and there was great joy in the city of the Salaminians; and while they knew that it was some divine power working in the place, they did not know what was the cause of such abundant grace; and the inhabitants named that area the Place of Health. When the blessed Marcian ended his reign, Leo of divine memory received the empire; he had a son-in-law, a certain Zeno by name, an Isaurian by race, who also reigned after him.

At that time there was found in the most holy monastery of the Acoemetae a certain devil monk, like Judas among the apostles, named Peter, a fuller by trade; this man, rejecting the holy council in Chalcedon, was a champion of the Eutychianist doctrines. The monks of that holy monastery drove him out of the monastery as a destroyer and corrupter and an enemy of the apostolic doctrines; but he, having reached Constantinople, emulated the life of flatterers, going from house to house and feasting; and finding some men in power who were of his abominable heresy, he attached himself to them and through them became known to the emperor's son-in-law, who was at that time a patrician and count of the excubitors; and putting on a mask of piety, he was with him continually, not daring to make public his own impiety. And when Zeno departed for the regions of the east, the Fuller followed him as far as Antioch. And finding there many of the Apollinarians, he then acted insolently against the patriarch, stirring up the disorderly of the people against him and reviling the council in Chalcedon and calling the patriarch a Nestorian. And while Antioch was in great disorder and tumult, the Fuller approached the count, saying with deceit: "Unless the bishop of this city is replaced, it is impossible for the people to be quiet." at the same time also promising him a great amount of gold, if he should obtain what was requested; for he revealed to him also the hidden things of his own purpose. Then the Fuller persuades those who were sick with the same things as him and certain stage-players and other wicked men from the populace, and reports to the emperor, lying about all kinds of terrible things against the bishop; but his cleverness availed nothing, as the emperor defended the apostolic doctrines. But when he had left the things of this world and had been transferred to the ageless kingdom, Zeno became successor to the empire. And immediately the aforementioned men of Antioch presented a petition to the emperor, asking for the Fuller as bishop; which indeed came to pass, as the gold persuaded everyone of the imperial court to advocate on his behalf. Therefore, immediately upon his ordination he publicly anathematized the holy council in Chalcedon; and wishing to please the Apollinarians, who were sick with theopaschism, he contrived a most wicked innovation of saying in the Trisagion at the end of the hymn: "Who was crucified for us." Learning these things, our holy bishops and fathers were nobly roused against his evil doctrine; and first they tried through hortatory letters

ἀρεσθείς, ἔγνω θεό πνευστον αὐτὴν εἶναι· καὶ χειροτονήσας τὸν Μάρκον, ἀπέστειλεν αὐτὸν ὡς ἱκανώτατον εἰς Ἀλεξάνδρειαν τὴν πρὸς Αἴγυπτον καὶ Λιβύην καὶ Πεντάπολιν· ὃς παρα γενόμενος, εὐηγγελίσατο αὐτοῖς τὸν Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν· πολὺς δὲ ἀριθμὸς ὁ πιστεύσας ἐπέστρεψεν ἐπὶ τὸν κύριον. Ποιήσας δὲ ἔτη ἐννέα διδάσκων ἐν αὐτοῖς τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ, μαρτυρίῳ ἐτελειώθη καὶ ἐτέθη ἐν Ἀλε ξανδρείᾳ.Μετὰ δὲ πολὺν χρόνον τοῦ χριστιανισμοῦ πλατυνθέντος καὶ χριστιανῶν βασιλέων τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἀρχῆς βασιλευ σάντων, δυνάμεις οὐ τὰς τυχούσας ἐποίει ὁ θεὸς ἐν ᾧ τόπῳ ἀπέκειτο τὸ λείψανον τοῦ ἁγίου ἀποστόλου καὶ γενναίου μάρτυρος Βαρνάβα· πολλοὶ γὰρ τῶν ἐχόντων πνεύματα ἀκάθαρτα, παριόντα διὰ τοῦ τόπου, βοῶντα φωνῇ μεγάλῃ, ἐξήρχοντο, πολλοὶ δὲ παραλελυμένοι καὶ χωλοὶ καὶ ὑπὸ ποικίλων νόσων καὶ βασάνων συνεχόμενοι, ἐρχόμενοι παρεκοιμῶντο ἐν τῷ τόπῳ, οἵτινες ἐθεραπεύοντο ἅπαντες· καὶ ἦν χαρὰ μεγάλη ἐν τῇ Σα λαμινέων πόλει· καὶ ὅτι μὲν θεία τίς ἦν δύναμις ἡ ἐνεργοῦσα ἐν τῷ τόπῳ, ἐγίνωσκον, τί δέ ἐστι τὸ αἴτιον τῆς τοσαύτης ἀφθόνου χάριτος, οὐκ ἐγίνωσκον· τὸν δὲ χῶρον ἐκεῖνον τόπον τῆς ὑγείας οἱ ἐγχώριοι ἐπωνόμαζον.Τοῦ δὲ μακαρίου Μαρκιανοῦ καταπαύσαντος τὴν ἀρχήν, παρέλαβε τὴν βασιλείαν ὁ τῆς θείας λήξεως Λέων· τούτῳ ὑπῆρχε γαμβρός, Ζήνων τίς ὀνόματι, Ἴσαυρος τῷ γένει, ὅστις καὶ ἐβασίλευσε μετ' αὐτόν.

Κατ' ἐκεῖνον δὲ τὸν καιρὸν εὑρέθη ἐν τῇ εὐαγεστάτῃ μονῇ τῶν Ἀκοιμήτων διάβολος τίς μονάζων, ὥσπερ ἐν ἀποστόλοις Ἰούδας, τοὔνομα Πέτρος, τὸ ἐπιτήδευμα κναφεύς· οὗτος δὲ τὴν ἐν Καλχηδόνι ἁγίαν σύνοδον ἀποστρεφόμενος, τῶν Εὐ τυχιανιστῶν ὑπερεμάχει δογμάτων. Τοῦτον οἱ τῆς ἁγίας μονῆς ἐκείνης, ὡς λυμεῶνα καὶ φθορέα καὶ τῶν ἀποστολικῶν δογμάτων ἐχθρόν, ἐδίωξαν τοῦ μοναστηρίου· αὐτὸς δὲ καταλαβὼν τὴν Κωνσταντινούπολιν, τὸν τῶν κολάκων βίον ἐζήλωσεν, ἐξ οἰκίας εἰς οἰκίαν περιερ χόμενος καὶ γαστριζόμενος· εὑρὼν δέ τινας τῶν ἐν τέλει τῆς βδελυρᾶς αὐτοῦ αἱρέσεως ὄντας, ἐκολλήθη αὐτοῖς καὶ δι' αὐτῶν γίνεται γνώριμος τῷ γαμβρῷ τοῦ βασιλέως, πατρικίῳ ὄντι τὸ τηνικαῦτα καὶ κόμητι ἐξκουβιτόρων· καὶ περιθέμενος εὐλαβείας πρόσωπον, ἦν σὺν αὐτῷ ἀδιαλείπτως, μὴ τολμῶν δημοσιεῦσαι τὴν ἰδίαν ἀσέβειαν. Ἀπαίροντι δὲ τῷ Ζήνωνι ἐπὶ τὰ μέρη τῆς ἀνατολῆς, συνείπετο ὁ Κναφεὺς ἕως Ἀντιοχείας. Εὑρὼν δὲ ἐκεῖ πολλοὺς τῶν Ἀπολιναριστῶν, κατὰ τοῦ πατριάρχου λοιπὸν ἐνεανιεύσατο, διεγείρων κατ' αὐτοῦ τοὺς ἀτάκτους τοῦ λαοῦ καὶ λοιδορῶν τὴν ἐν Καλχηδόνι σύνοδον καὶΝεστοριανὸν καλῶν τὸν πατριάρχην. Ἐν πολλῇ δὲ ἀκαταστασίᾳ καὶ θορύβῳ τῆς Ἀντιοχέων ὑπαρχούσης, προσῆλθεν ὁ Κναφεὺς τῷ κόμητι, μετὰ δόλου λέγων· " ̓Εὰν μὴ διαδεχθῇ ὁ ἐπίσκοπος τῆσδε τῆς πόλεως, ἀμήχανον ἡσυχίαν ἄγειν τὸν δῆμον." ἅμα καὶ ταξάμενος αὐτῷ χρυσίου ποσότητα πολλήν, εἴπερ τύχοι τοῦ αἰ τουμένου· ἐξέφανε γὰρ αὐτῷ καὶ τοῦ ἰδίου σκοποῦ τὰ κεκρυμμένα. Τότε πείθει ὁ Κναφεὺς τοὺς τὰ ὅμοια αὐτῷ νοσοῦντας καί τινας θυμελικοὺς καὶ ἑτέρους τῶν δημοτῶν πονηροὺς ἄνδρας, καὶ ἀναφέρει τῷ βασιλεῖ, πάνδεινα κατὰ τοῦ ἐπισκόπου ψευδόμενος· ἀλλ' οὐδὲν ὤνησεν ἡ αὐτοῦ δεινότης, τοῦ βασιλέως τῶν ἀποστολικῶν δογμάτων ὑπερασπίζοντος.Τοῦ δὲ τὰ τῇδε καταλείψαντος καὶ εἰς τὴν ἀγήρω βασιλείαν μετατεθέντος, τῆς βασιλείας διάδοχος γίνεται ὁ Ζήνων. Εὐθέως δὲ οἱ προειρημένοι Ἀντιοχείας δεητικὸν ἀνήγαγον τῷ βασιλεῖ, αἰτούμενοι τὸν Κναφέα ἐπίσκοπον· ὃ δὴ καὶ γέγονε, τοῦ χρυσίου πείθοντος πάντας τοὺς τῆς βασιλικῆς αὐλῆς εἰς τὴν ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ συνηγορίαν.Εὐθέως οὖν ἅμα τῇ χειροτονίᾳ ἀνεθεμάτισε δημοσίᾳ τὴν ἁγίαν ἐν Καλχηδόνι σύνοδον· θέλων δὲ ἀρέσαι τοῖς Ἀπολιναρισταῖς, θεοπασχίαν νοσοῦσι, καινοτομίαν κα κίστην ἐπενόησε τοῦ εἰπεῖν ἐν τῷ Τρισαγίῳ ἐπὶ τέλει τοῦ ὕμνου· "Ὁ σταυρωθεὶς δι' ἡμᾶς." Ταῦτα μαθόντες οἱ ἅγιοι ἐπίσκοποι καὶ πατέρες ἡμῶν, διηγέρθησαν γενναίως κατὰ τῆς αὐτοῦ κακοδοξίας· καὶ πρῶτον μὲν ἐπειράθησαν διὰ παραινετικῶν γραμμάτων