Sophronius of Jerusalem, in his Miracles of the Saints Cyrus and John (39), recounts how *Kyros and Ioannes/Cyrus and John (physician and soldier, martyrs of Egypt, S00406) healed and converted two heretics from Herakleion and Alexandria (both close to the shrine), followers of the sect of Theodosius and Severus, at their shrine at Menouthis (near Alexandria). Written in Greek in Alexandria, 610/615.
E07546
Literary - Hagiographical - Collections of miracles
Sophronius of Jerusalem, The Miracles of Saints Cyrus and John, 39
Summary:
There was a certain Petros from the village (ktema) of Herakleion which was located fourteen stadia from the sanctuary of the martyrs [Cyrus and John]. He was a follower of the sect of Theodosius and Severus. This man suffered severely from paralysis. He sought the martyrs’ aid and went to their temple. They appeared to him in a dream and asked him if he wanted to be delivered from the terrible disease. Since he nodded, they commanded him to get up and go to Jordan (which was the name of the baptismal pool given by the Alexandrians because the Saviour was baptised in the river Jordan for our redemption). He was then to wash his hands and by this gesture represent the consumption of the vivifying flesh and blood of Christ.
But the man said that this proposition was bad and cursed the Council of Chalcedon. The martyrs warned him that he would not regain his health and then they withdrew, bringing back his pains that they had calmed before. Petros, since he suffered terrivly, invoked the martyrs again. When they returned, they renewed their proposition, but this time also he rejected it. He did it not only twice or thrice, but many times he invoked their aid. Every time they came and offered the same, but he always dismissed them. At last, exhausted by enormous pains, he agreed to obey the martyrs’ orders. However, he asked them why they followed the beliefs of the Council of Chalcedon. They replied that the belief defined by the Council of Chalcedon was orthodox and it was a doctrine of divine inspiration. Petros who was already convicted by the severity of his pains, executed the martyrs’ orders and regained health as a salary for his piety.
Whereas Menas, an Alexandrian who was a secretary (notarios) of Christodoros, the manager of the sanctuary, shared the same heresy with Petros. He partook of communion after an overt flagellation. When he was sleeping, he saw that the saints were directing him towards the precious hierateion and the sacred table. When they saw, however, that he was not following them, they returned and, pummelling him, ordered that he obey their commands and communicate like them. However, despite many severe blows, he remained unpersuaded, the martyrs began to threaten him and eventually left him alone. Then he began to suffer as from true wounds which made him get up and take communion. Afterwards he was delivered from the pains.
Text: Fernández Marcos 1976, lightly modified in the light of Gascou 2007
Summary: J. Doroszewska
Martyr shrine (martyrion, bet sāhedwātā, etc.)
Non Liturgical ActivityIncubation
MiraclesMiracle after death
Miracles causing conversion
Healing diseases and disabilities
Apparition, vision, dream, revelation
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesHeretics
Source
Sophronius (c. 560-c. 637) was born to a Chalcedonian family in Damascus, and was probably familiar with both Greek and Syriac culture. He was educated as a teacher of rhetoric, but in c. 580 became an ascetic while in Egypt, and entered the monastery of St. Theodosios near Bethlehem. He travelled widely to monastic centres in Egypt, the Near East, Aegean, and North Africa, accompanying his friend, the monk and writer John Moschus, who dedicated to him his treatise on the religious life, the Spiritual Meadow (Leimon pneumatikos). In 633-634, Sophronius travelled to Alexandria and to Constantinople in order to persuade the patriarchs to renounce Monoenergism. In 634, he was elected patriarch of Jerusalem. He is venerated as a saint in the catholic and orthodox churches; in the Byzantine rite he shares with John Moschus a feast day on 11 March. He died in Jerusalem in about 637.His extant doctrinal writings include a Letter to Arcadius of Cyprus and the Synodical Letter against Monenergism. Other works have also been preserved, such as an encomium on the Alexandrian martyrs Cyrus and John (in gratitude for healing his vision), The Miracles of the Saints Cyrus and John, a collection of 23 Anacreontic poems, and several patriarchal sermons on such themes as the Muslim siege of Jerusalem and on various liturgical celebrations.
The Miracles of the Saints Cyrus and John comprise 70 stories; this number, as explained by the author in the Preface to the Encomium on the saints Cyrus and John, consists either of 7 decades or 10 heptades, both of which refer to biblical and pagan (Pythagorean) arithmetic, where 7 is a mystic number and 10 is a perfect number. References to the number 7 and its multiple (14) recurs in the work several times (Miracles 5, 15, 23, 39, 43; Gascou 2006: 11 with notes). The significance of other numbers has also been noted: for the number 3, see Fernández Marcos 1975: 42, n. 15; for the number 67 (Miracle 1), see Nissen 1939: 377, n. 2.
All 70 stories concern miraculous healings performed by the two martyrs, considered saints of the first rank by Sophronius (Miracle 29), in their sanctuary at Menouthis, near Alexandria. The first 35 miracles concern Alexandrians, the next 15 Egyptians and Libyans, mostly of the Alexandrian region, and the last 20 foreigners of whom some were settled in Alexandria. Sophronius wanted to flatter in this way the self-esteem of the Alexandrians who were the possessors of the saints' relics. He also argued that the miracles of Alexandria were particularly credible, since they delivered plenty of verifiable facts. For the same reason, the miracles selected by him were limited to those of his own times and concerned persons who were still alive and could testify to the events. Sophronius seems also to have had at his disposal earlier and parallel collections. A powerful feature of the miracle stories is a disdain for secular doctors, but not medicine per se, who are seen as ineffective in comparison to the power of the saintly healing of Cyrus and John. The collection is also notable for Sophronius’ polemic against Miaphysites, who evidently attended the shrine.
The most recent edition of Sophronius' text is Fernandez Marcos 1976, but Gascou in his translation of 2007 includes several textual emendations which we have followed when they occur.
Discussion
Herakleion - the village's name is derived from an ancient temple of Herakles; the Greek term ktema means here a 'village' and is an equivalent of the term kome (Gascou 2006: 146, n. 856).The sect of Theodosius and Severos – Theodosios, patriarch of Alexandria under the reign of the emperor Justinian, and Severos, patriarch of Antioch (both fl. 6th c.) upheld a moderate path of miaphysitism (Gascou 2006: 137, n. 797).
The hierateion – it is uncertain what this term means in this context; it appears to be a part of the sanctuary reserved for the clergy (Gascou 2006: 139, n. 808).
Bibliography
Text:Fernández Marcos, N., Los thaumata de Sofronio. Contribución al estudio de la "Incubatio" cristiana, Manuales y anejos de "Emérita" 31 (Madrid, 1975), 243-400.
Translations:
Gascou, J., Sophrone de Jérusalem, Miracles des saints Cyr et Jean (BHGI 477-479) (Paris, 2006). French translation and commentary.
Peltier, D., "Sophrone de Jérusalem, Récit des miracles des saints Cyr et Jean" (unpublished dissertation; Paris 1978).
Further reading:
Déroche, V., "Représentations de l'Eucharistie dans la haute époque byzantine", Mélanges Gilbert Dagron, Travaux et Mémoires 14 (2002), 167-180.
Duffy, J., “Observations on Sophronius' Miracles of Cyrus and John,” Journal of Theological Studies 35 (1984), 71-90.
Duffy, J., “The Miracles of Cyrus and John: New Old Readings from the Manuscript,” Illinois Classical Studies 12:1 (1987), 169-177.
Gascou, J., “Religion et identité communautaire à Alexandrie à la fin de l'époque byzantine, d'après les Miracles des saints Cyr et Jean,” in: J.-Y. Empereur and C. Décobert (eds.), Alexandrie médiévale, 3 (Cairo, 2008), 69-88.
Gascou, J., Les origines du culte des saints Cyr et Jean (2006); online document: https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00009140/
Le Coz, R., “Les Pères de l'Eglise grecque et la médecine,” Bulletin de Littérature Ecclésiastique 98 (1997), 137-154.
Maraval, P., “Fonction pédagogique de la littérature hagiographique d'un lieu de pèlerinage: l'exemple des Miracles de Cyr et Jean,” in: Hagiographie, culture et sociétés (IVe-XIIe siècles), Actes du Colloque organisé à Nanterre et à Paris (2-5 mai 1979) (Paris, 1981), 383-397.
Nissen, T., “Sophronios-Studien III, Medizin und Magie bei Sophronios,” Byzantinische Zeitschrift 39 (1939), 349–81.
Papaconstantinou, A., Le culte des saints en Égypte des Byzantins aux Abbassides. L'apport des inscriptions et des papyrus grecs et coptes (Paris, 2001).
Sansterre, J.-M., "Apparitions et miracles à Ménouthis: de l'incubation païenne à l'incubation chrétienne," in E. Dierkens (ed.), Apparitions et miracles (Brussels, 1991), 69-83.
Schönborn, C., Sophrone de Jérusalem. Vie monastique et confession dogmatique (Paris, 1972).
Wipszycka, E., “Les confréries dans la vie religieuse de l'Egypte chrétienne,” in her Études sur le christianisme dans l'Égypte de l'antiquité tardive (Roma, 1996), 257-278.
Julia Doroszewska
29/04/2019
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00406 | Kyros and Ioannes/Cyrus and John, physician and soldier, martyrs of Egypt | Κῦρος καὶ Ἰωάννης | Certain |
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