E04270: The Miracles of *Artemios (martyr of Antioch under Julian, S01128) recounts the miraculous healing by the saint of a coppersmith George from a disease of the testicles. The saint appeared to the man in a dream in the guise of a physician and cured him by tying one testicle up with a surgeon's cord and seemingly amputating it. Written in Greek in Constantinople, 582/668; assembled as a collection, 658/668.
Creators: name: Julia
Publisher: name: University of Oxford
Year: 2017
Subjects: History

description: Miracles of Artemios (BHG 173), 44<br><br>ὶς χαλκοτύπος ὀνόματι Γεώργιος, ὡς ἐτῶν τριάκοντα, ἠσθένησεν τὸν δεξιὸν αὐτοῦ δίδυμον, ἔχων αὐτὸν ἐξωγκωμένον, καὶ ταῖς ὀδύναις συνείχετο, ὀδυρμοῖς καὶ στεναγμοῖς καὶ θρήνοις συγκοπτόμενος, ἀνακείμενος εἰς τὸν ἴδιον οἶκον μένων καὶ μονώτατος. τινὲς οὖν συνῄνουν αὐτῷ δοῦναι ἑαυτὸν ἰατρῷ, ἐπὶ τῷ ἀποτεμεῖν ὃν ἠσθένει δίδυμον· ὁ δὲ ἐκ μόνης τῆς ἀκοῆς ναρκήσας ἀνέκραζεν· “Οὐαί μοι, ἐπὶ τὸ ἀποθανεῖν με προτρέπεσθε· ἱκανοὶ γὰρ ἠστόχησαν δόντες ἑαυτοὺς ἐπὶ τὸ κηλοτομεῖσθαι”. ἄλλοι πάλιν πεῖραν ἔχοντες τοῦ ἁγίου Ἀρτεμίου συμβουλεύουσιν<br>αὐτῷ ἀπελθεῖν καὶ προσπαραμεῖναι τῇ ἁγίᾳ αὐτοῦ σορῷ, ἀφηγησάμενοι αὐτῷ καὶ περὶ τῶν αὐτοῦ θαυμάτων· ὁ δὲ πίστει καὶ ἐλπίδι ῥωσθεὶς ἔρχεται ἐν τῷ πολλάκις εἰρημένῳ τοῦ Προδρόμου ναῷ, συνεχόμενος τοῖς πόνοις. ποιεῖ τὰ ἐν ἔθει γινόμενα τῷ τόπῳ, καὶ τῇ δευτέρᾳ ἡμέρᾳ καλέσας τὸν προσμονάριον λέγει αὐτῷ· “Καὶ ταῖς ὀδύναις συγκόπτομαι καὶ τὴν φροντίδα ἔχων τοῦ ὁσπιτίου μου τιμωροῦμαι, μήπως σῦλα ὑπομείνω, καὶ βουλῆς εἰμι ἀπελθεῖν εἰς τὸν οἶκόν μου· σιαίνω γὰρ καὶ τοὺς ἐνταῦθα κατακειμένους, μὴ ἠρεμῶν ἐκ τῶν συνεχόντων με πόνων”. λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ προσμονάριος· “Ἐὰν ἀπέρχῃ, μὴ ἀπογνῷς τῆς ἑαυτοῦ σωτηρίας, ἀλλ’ εἰς τὸν θεὸν καὶ τὸν ἅγιον Ἀρτέμιον ἔχε τὸν νοῦν σου καὶ αὐτὸς ἐπισκέπτεταί σε· ἱκανοὺς γὰρ παραμείναντας ἐπὶ καιροὺς καὶ ἀπράκτους ἀναχωρήσαντας εἰς τοὺς οἴκους αὑτῶν, ἐκεῖ αὐτοὺς ἐπεσκέψατο, καὶ ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ καὶ ἐν Ἀφρικῇ καὶ ἐν Ῥόδῳ”. καὶ διηγήσατο αὐτῷ, ὅσα κατέλαβεν εἰπεῖν, ὧν πεῖραν ἔσχεν. τούτοις πεισθεὶς ἀνεχώρησεν εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὑτοῦ, καὶ τῇ νυκτὶ ἐκείνῃ φαίνεται αὐτῷ ὁ ἅγιος τοῦ Χριστοῦ θεράπων Ἀρτέμιος ἐν σχήματι ἰατροῦ, ὃν ὑπελάμβανεν εἶναι κηλοτόμον ἐπιφερόμενον ἐργαλεῖον ἰατρικὸν καὶ σφήκωμα· καὶ ἐν τῷ ὕπνῳ αὑτοῦ ἐθεώρει, ὅτι ἐδέσμει τῷ σφηκώματι τὸν βαστακτῆρα τοῦ ἀριστεροῦ διδύμου καὶ<br>οὐχὶ τοῦ δεξιοῦ. λέγει οὖν αὐτῷ ὁ ἐν σχήματι ἰατροῦ φανεὶς αὐτῷ· “Κράτει τὴν μίαν ἀρχὴν τοῦ σφηκώματος”. ὁ δὲ ἐπελάβετο καὶ ἐκράτει τὸ σφήκωμα. λέγει αὐτῷ· “Τὸν δεξιὸν δίδυμον πονῶ, δέσποτα, καὶ τὸν ἀριστερόν μου δεσμεῖς”. ὁ δὲ ὁρώμενος αὐτῷ ἰατρὸς λέγει τῷ ἀσθενοῦντι· “Σῦρον τὴν μίαν ἀρχήν”. λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ ἀσθενῶν· “Οὐαί μοι, ἀπολινῶσαί με ἔχεις καὶ ἐπὶ ἑπτὰ ἡμέρας οὐκ ἔνι λῦσαι τὴν ἀπολίνωσιν, ὡς μανθάνω, καὶ ὃ ἔφυγον δειλιῶν, εἰς αὐτὸ πάλιν”. ὁ φαινόμενος ἰατρός· “Σῦρον μόνον”. καὶ ὡς ἔσυρεν ὁ νοσῶν τὴν μίαν ἀρχήν, κρατῶν ὁ ἅγιος Ἀρτέμιος τὴν μίαν ἀρχὴν ἔσυρεν καὶ ἔδοξεν ἀποτεμεῖν τὸν δίδυμον αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ πόνου διυπνίσθη ἀγωνιῶν· καὶ ἐλθὼν εἰς ἑαυτὸν καὶ ἀνακρίνων τὸν ὄνειρον ῥίπτει τὴν χεῖρα αὑτοῦ ἐπὶ τοὺς δύο αὑτοῦ διδύμους, καὶ ψηλαφήσας αὐτοὺς εὗρεν ἑαυτὸν ὡς ἐκ γενετῆς ὑγιῆ καὶ τὸ σφήκωμα δεδεμένον ἐν ἀληθείᾳ εἰς τὸν ἀριστερὸν αὑτοῦ δίδυμον. καὶ ἐλθὼν ἕωθεν ηὐχαρίστησεν τῷ θεῷ καὶ τῷ ἁγίῳ αὐτοῦ μεγαλομάρτυρι καὶ θαυματουργῷ Ἀρτεμίῳ.<br><br><br>'A certain coppersmith named George about 30 years old was afflicted in his right testicle (it was swollen) and he was gripped by pain, beset by complaints, groans and cries of anguish, as he lay in his own house and remained all alone. Now some men advised him to entrust himself to a doctor to amputate the testicle in which he was diseased; just from hearing [the suggestion] he stiffened and cried out: "Oh my, you are urging me to my death; for many men have been unsuccessful when they entrusted themselves to the hernia operation." Again, other man who had experience of St. Artemios counselled him to go and wait by his holy tomb (soros) after having reported him about his miracles; strengthened by faith and hope, he went to the frequently mentioned church of the Forerunner, gripped by pain. He did what was customarily done in that place and on the second day he summoned the warden and said to him: "I am racked by pain and am tormented with concern for my lodging lest I somehow suffer burglary, and I am of a mind to leave and go home. For I am also disturbing the men lying here by not keeping quiet because of the pains that grip me." The warden replied to him, ‘If you leave, do not despair of your restoration to health, but turn your mind on God and St. Artemios and he will visit you; for many who waited for a time and [then] departed for their homes with no results, these he has visited there both in Alexandria and in Africa and in Rhodes." And he recounted to him whatever he was able of the things he had experienced. Persuaded by these words, he departed for home and that night Christ's holy servant Artemios appeared to him in the guise of a physician whom he understood to be a man who did hernia operations bringing along a medical instrument and a cord. And in his sleep he saw that [the doctor] was binding the ligament of the left testicle and not of the right with the cord. Now the one who appeared to him in the guise of the physician said to him: "Take hold one end of the cord." He took and held onto the cord. He said to him: "Sir, I suffer in the right testicle, but you are tying my left one." The doctor who appeared to him said to the sick man: "Pull one end [of the cord]." The sick man said to him: "Oh me, you will tie me up with a surgeon's thread and for seven days it is not possible to undo the suture, as I hear, and what I avoided out of fear, I have come back to." The one who appeared as the physician said: "Just pull [the cord]." And as the patient pulled one end, St. Artemios held onto the other end and pulled and he seemed to amputate his testicle and he woke up in agony from the pain. And coming to his senses and analysing the dream, he cast his hand upon both his testicles and touching them he found himself healed just as from birth - and the cord actually tied to his left testicle. And in the morning he went and gave thanks to God and to His holy megalomartyr and miracle worker Artemios.'<br><br>Text: Papadopoulos-Kerameus 1909; translation: Crisafulli and Nesbitt 1997, lightly modified.