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Passio sanctorum decem martyrum Aegyptiorum

Beautiful, O beloved, is the company that bore witness to God in Egypt, beautiful and worthy of narration. For men with women, found to be of one mind, having decided to serve the Lord, and having prepared their mind and body to endure anything whatsoever, were all subjected to one punishment, and they journeyed together with one another, having won a beautiful contest, and having bound a brilliant crown upon themselves. For just as their murderers had grown weary, and those who handed them over had become hesitant, and they henceforth abhorred stoning them to death, the Duke of Egypt devised a punishment even beyond human invention, taking the location of the place as his collaborator; for as the sun was burning and sending forth much fiery intensity upon the plains, the location of Egypt being by nature such that it was heated more quickly than others, and was inflamed more than its seasonal changes; he builds a wall 20.1536 on the plain, raising it to such a height that it was not possible for those who wished to escape; and having shut in those of one mind; ‘Pay the penalty,’ he says, ‘all you defiled ones; since you have also held the same opinion.’ And having set guards, and having ordered them to ask from time to time, ‘Water is abundant; provisions are overflowing; if you are thirsty, deny your God and be saved; if you need food, do this, and you will have it.’ But they, having well understood that martyrdom is the one freedom, that confession to God is the one salvation, that death here is the one life, neither gave up before the scorching and burning sun, nor turned back because of the afflicting hunger, nor could they bear to relieve their parching thirst; but for them, a psalm was their food, and praise of the Lord their drink. And their faith in these things was not dissonant with the voice of the Gospel.

For the devil said on the mountain, ‘Command this stone that it become bread,’ and Jesus answering said to him, ‘It is written thus: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God;’ and again in another place, answering the Samaritan woman Jesus said, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst for eternity; but the water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water leaping up to eternal life.’ Thus the most holy ones were nourished, thus with a truly beautiful and enduring drink, and similar to the spring toward which they were hastening; this psalm, this praise, made them enjoy paradise all the more, all the more they wished to draw from the holy spring.

And after these things, since it was time for the soul to hasten to its proper places, to their own God, they gave it up, full of many hymns and praises of God, and they rendered it up most pure. When these things were announced to the duke, he ordered that the wall built for their confinement also become their tomb; but let us Christians send up glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages. Amen.

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Passio sanctorum decem martyrum Aegyptiorum

Καλὸς, ὦ ἀγαπητοὶ, καὶ ὁ χορὸς ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ μαρτυρήσας Θεῷ, καλὸς καὶ διηγήσεως ἄξιος. Ἄνδρες γὰρ σὺν γυναιξὶν ὁμογνώμονες εὑρημένοι, λατρεύειν μὲν Κυρίῳ κεκρικότες, ὑφίστασθαι δὲ πᾶν ὁτιοῦν τὴν διάνοιαν καὶ τὸ σῶμα γυμνάσαντες, ὑποβάλλονται μὲν μιᾷ τιμωρίᾳ οἱ πάντες, συνοδεύουσι δὲ κοινῇ μετ' ἀλλήλων καλὸν ἀγῶνα νικήσαντες, καὶ λαμπρὸν στέφανον ἀναδησάμενοι. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἀπειρήκεσαν οἱ φονεύοντες, ὤκνησαν δὲ οἱ παραδιδόντες, καὶ λιθολεύστους αὐτοὺς ποιεῖν λοιπὸν ἐμυσάττοντο, ἐπενόησεν ὁ τῆς Αἰγύπτου δοὺξ καὶ πέρα ἐπινοίας ἀνθρωπίνης τιμωρίαν, συνεργὸν τὴν τόπου θέσιν λαβών· ὡς γὰρ ἔκαιε μὲν καὶ πολλὴν ἠφίει πυρὸς ἀκμὴν κατὰ τῶν πεδίων ὁ ἥλιος, οὕτω τῆς θέσεως τῆς Αἰγύπτου κατὰ φύσιν ἐχούσης, ὡς θᾶττον μὲν τῶν ἄλλων θερμαίνεσθαι, μᾶλλον δὲ ἢ τὰς ἀλλαγὰς ἐπιφλέγεσθαι· τεῖχος 20.1536 οἰκοδομεῖ κατὰ τοῦ πεδίου, εἰς τοσοῦτον ἐπάρας, ὡς μὴ ἐξεῖναι τοῖς βουλομένοις ἀποδιδράσκειν· κατακλείσας δὲ τοὺς ὁμογνώμονας· ∆ότε δίκην, φησὶ, μιαροὶ πάντες· ἐπειδὴ καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν γνώμην ἐσχήκατε. Ἐπιστήσας δὲ φρουροὺς, καὶ κατ' ὀλίγον ἐρωτᾷν προστάξας, Ὕδωρ ἄφθονόν ἐστι πλημμυρεῖν τὰ ἐπιτήδεια· εἰ διψᾶτε, ἀρνήσασθε τὸν Θεὸν ὑμῶν καὶ σώζεσθε· εἰ τροφῆς δέεσθε, τοῦτο ποιεῖτε, καὶ ἕξετε. Οἱ δὲ μίαν ἐλευθερίαν τὸ μαρτύριον εἶναι καλῶς ἐγνωκότες, μίαν σωτηρίαν τὴν πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ὁμολόγησιν, μίαν ζωὴν τὸν ἐνταῦθα θάνατον, οὔτε προσφλέγοντα καὶ καίοντα τὸν ἥλιον ἀπηγόρευον, οὔτε πρὸς τὸν καταπονοῦντα λιμὸν ἐπεστρέφοντο, οὔτε τὴν ξηραίνουσαν δίψαν θεραπεύειν ἠνείχοντο· ἀλλ' ἦν αὐτοῖς ψαλμὸς μὲν ἡ τροφὴ, ἔπαινος δὲ Κυρίου τὸ ποτόν. Καὶ οὐκ ἀπῇδε τῆς τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου φωνῆς ἡ τούτων περὶ ταῦτα πίστις.

Ἔλεγε γὰρ ὁ διάβολος ἐν τῷ ὄρει, Εἰπὲ τῷ λίθῳ τούτῳ ἵνα γένηται ἄρτος, καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτῷ· Γέγραπται οὕτως· Οὐκ ἐπ' ἄρτῳ μόνῳ ζήσεται ἄνθρωπος, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ παντὶ ῥήματι Θεοῦ· καὶ πάλιν ἐν ἑτέρῳ, πρὸς τὴν γυναῖκα τὴν Σαμαρεῖτιν ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπε· Πᾶς ὁ πίνων ἐκ τοῦ ὕδατος τούτου, διψήσει πάλιν· ὁ δὲ πίνων ἐκ τοῦ ὕδατος, οὗ ἐγὼ δώσω αὐτῷ, οὐ μὴ διψήσει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα· ἀλλὰ τὸ ὕδωρ, ὃ δώσω αὐτῷ, γενήσεται ἐν αὐτῷ πηγὴ ὕδατος ἁλλομένου εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον. Οὕτως οἱ ἁγιώτατοι ἐτρέφοντο, οὕτως ἐπίμονον καλὸν ὡς ἀληθῶς ποτὸν, καὶ τῇ πηγῇ πρὸς ἣν ἔσπευδον παραπλήσιον· οὗτος ὁ ψαλμὸς, οὗτος ὁ ἔπαινος μᾶλλον αὐτοὺς ἀπολαῦσαι τοῦ παραδείσου πεποιήκει, μᾶλλον τῆς ἁγίας πηγῆς ἀναρύσασθαι ἠβούλοντο.

Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα, ἐπεὶ καιρὸς ἦν τὴν μὲν ψυχὴν εἰς τοὺς οἰκείους τόπους πρὸς τὸν ἑαυτῶν ἐπείγεσθαι Θεὸν, παραδεδώκασι πολλῶν ὕμνων μεστὴν, καὶ ἐπαίνων τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ καθαρωτάτην ἀποδιδόντες. Τούτων ἀγγελθέντων τῷ δουκὶ, καὶ τὸ οἰκοδομηθὲν αὐτοῖς πρὸς φρουρὰν τεῖχος, τάφον γενέσθαι κεκέλευκεν· ἡμεῖς δὲ οἱ Χριστιανοὶ δόξαν ἀναπέμψωμεν τῷ Πατρὶ, καὶ τῷ Υἱῷ, καὶ τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. Ἀμήν.