E06938: Sophronius of Jerusalem, in his Miracles of the Saints Cyrus and John, recounts how *Kyros and Ioannes/Cyrus and John (physician and soldier, martyrs of Egypt, S00406) saved the life of a certain little girl after she had fallen out of a window of her house by their shrine at Menouthis (near Alexandria, Lower Egypt) and tells a symbolic dream of a certain deacon Ioannes which predicted this miracle. Written in Greek in Alexandria, 610/615.
Creators: name: Julia
Publisher: name: University of Oxford
Year: 2018
Subjects: History

description: Sophronius of Jerusalem, The Miracles of Saints Cyrus and John, 11<br><br>Ἑτέρας παιδὸς μνημονεύσωμεν, ὁμωνύμου τε καὶ ὁμήλικος, ἑτέρου δηλονότι θαύματος μνημονεύοντες, εἰ καὶ τοῦτο μεῖζον τοῦ προλαβόντος ἐστὶν καὶ ἀσύγκριτον. Ἐκεῖνο μὲν γὰρ καὶ ἰατρὸς ἴσως ἂν ἔπραξεν ἄριστος, εἰ καὶ μὴ οὕτω ταχέως, μηδὲ τοιούτῳ φαρμάκῳ χρησάμενος· τοῦτο δὲ οὔτε τις ἰατρῶν ποιήσειεν, ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ πάντες ἄνθρωποι πρὸς τὴν αὐτοῦ ποίησιν ἀθροιζόμενοι, ἕως ἂν καὶ νεκροὺς ἐκ τάφων ἐγείρωσιν, καὶ τοὺς θνητοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἀθανάτους ἐργάσαιντο· εἰ δὲ καὶ τὸ κόριον ἕτερον καὶ πάλιν ἕτερον θαῦμα καθέστηκεν, ἀλλ’ οἱ τοῦτο κἀκεῖνο ποιήσαντες οἱ αὐτοὶ καὶ οὐχ ἕτεροι, Κῦρος οὗτος ὁ θειότατος καὶ Ἰωάννης ὁ Κύρου συνόμιλος, οἱ τὰ μικρὰ καὶ τὰ μέγιστα πρὸς τὰς νόσους ποιούμενοι τέρατα, καὶ παντοίως εὐεργετοῦντες τοὺς πάσχοντας, καὶ σώζοντες τοὺς ἀρωγῆς εἴτε μικρᾶς εἴτε μείζονος χρῄζοντας.<br><br>'Let us mention another child of the same name and the same age [like Marou in the previous chapter of the Miracles, E06903] obviously recounting another miracle, even though it is greater than the previous one and surpassing it. Since the previous one could have been perhaps performed by an excellent physician, even though not that quickly and not with the use of the same remedy. This one, however, may not be performed by any physician, even if all the people would gather to do it, unless they raise the dead from the graves and render mortal people immortal. And even though the girl is different and the miracle is different as well, those who performed it are the same and not different, the holiest Cyrus and John, Cyrus' companion. They perform the small and the great wonders against diseases and in all kinds of ways do good services to those who suffer, and save those who need aid, be it small or big.'<br><br>The girl's name was Maria; she was a daughter of the deacon (diakonos) in the shrine of the saints. Her mother used to seat her without any surveillance by the window of their house, loosing a spindle charged with linen thread. Once, being occupied as usual, she left her daughter alone by the window and went out of the room. The girl, deprived of the maternal attention, and naturally lacking the ability of discerning the bad from the good, fell out of the window from a great height. The mother heard a loud sound caused by the fall of the girl's body on the ground. When she realised what happened, she alarmed the entire neighbourhood, including the shrine of the martyrs which was very close to her house. Accompanied by a crowd who joined her to go and take the body of the girl to the grave in the belief that she was dead, the mother found her daughter seated on the ground and being safe and sound. She was playing with pigs that were there. So they all took the girl and put her by the tomb of the saints glorifying them for saving the baby and singing hymns about them as protectors of those who believe in them in Christ.<br><br>However, another miracle happened the night which preceded this day; it concerned a deacon Ioannes, but not the father of the girl, but the one who came from Byzantium seeking the martyrs' aid for his leg disease. The disease was called a 'cooling of the knees' (psyxis gonaton); even the imperial physicians who were more experienced than others could not cure it. After having been healed by the martyrs, he decided to devote his life to the service in their shrine. So he left the secular life, even though he came from a good and ascetic milieu and was nominated a deacon by the order of the martyrs and the ordination of John, the actual bishop of the Alexandrian church [610-619]. <br><br>οὗτ, ὡς ἔφη τότε κοιμώμενος, ὅτε τῇ αὔριον τὸ θαῦμα τὸ λεχθὲν ἔμελλε γίνεσθαι, Κῦρον ὁρᾶν καὶ Ἰωάννην τοὺς μάρτυρας, καὶ σὺν αὐτοῖς πολλὴν λευχειμονοῦσαν ἁγίων ὁμήγυριν, οἳ ταῦτα πρὸς τὸν θεώμενον ἔλεγον· Ἐλθὲ σὺν ἡμῖν, καὶ τῆς ἐσομένης εὐφροσύνης ἀπόλαυσον. Ἰωάννης δὲ ποῦ πορεύεσθαι καὶ πρὸς ποίαν εὐωχίαν τοὺς ἁγίους ἠρώτησεν. Οἱ δέ, Ἰωάννης, φασίν, ὁ διάκονος εἰς δεῖπνον ἡμᾶς ἐκάλεσεν σήμερον, καὶ παρ’ αὐτῷ πάντες ἡμεῖς ἑστιώμεθα· καὶ ταῦτα φήσαντος, τοῦ λαμπροῦ τῶν ἁγίων ἤγουν τοῦ συντάγματος ἕπεσθαι καὶ αὐτὸν μετὰ τούτους κελεύσαντος.<br><br>'So this [man Ioannes] whom I mentioned before was sleeping when the aforementioned miracle was about to happen on the following day. He saw the martyrs Cyrus and John and with them an assembly of many other saints dressed in white garments who said to the one who was looking at them: "Come with us and take benefit of the good cheer which is approaching." Ioannes asked the saints where they were going and to what feast. They responded: "Ioannes the deacon invited us for a banquet today and were are all his guests." Having said this, the radiant troop of saints commanded him to follow them.'<br><br>Thus they went to his house and he shared the meal with them and relaxed with them afterwards, being amazed at their ranks (axiomata) and garments (stolismata), as well as at the costliness of the banquet itself. When the vision disappeared, he recounted everything to the deacon Ioannes, not knowing the symbolic significance of it. The latter told him that he was happy and privileged that he came to such a dignity to receive in his house such splendid saints as guests at dinner. So the dream remained totally obscure until the realisation of the miracle which explained it.<br><br>The explanation is that the saints assimilated the miracle to the dinner, i.e. the nourishment to the salvation of the girl, in accordance with that what Christ said to his disciples in Samaria when they invited him to eat: "I have food to eat that you know nothing about" [Jn. 4:32] and "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work" [Jn. 4:34].<br><br>Text: Fernández Marcos 1976, lightly modified in the light of Gascou 2007. Summary and translation: J. Doroszewska