Sophronius of Jerusalem, in his Miracles of Saints Cyrus and John (62), recounts how *Kyros and Ioannes/Cyrus and John (physician and soldier, martyrs of Egypt, S00406) foretold her imminent death to a certain Rhodopis, who had come from Alexandria in search of a cure at their sanctuary at Menouthis (near Alexandria, Lower Egypt). Written in Greek in Alexandria, 610/615.
E07790
Literary - Hagiographical - Collections of miracles
Sophronius of Jerusalem, The Miracles of Saints Cyrus and John, 62
There was a certain Rhodopis who was originally from Theopolis, which had its name from king Antiochos [Syrian Antioch]. She was a local noblewoman through her family and her fortune. For a long time she lived in Alexandria with her husband Ioannos, a master of rhetoric and a disciple of the bishop Eulogos.
Rhodopis fell terminally ill, as she developed boils (anthrakes) on her entire body. She therefore went to the sanctuary of Cyrus and John hoping for deliverance from this terrible disease. While she was sleeping there at night, she saw the martyrs walking along the rows of the sick. They were taking care of every single one, prescribing various medicaments and healing them. However, they passed her without paying attention to her or prescribing anything, as if she was not there at all. She addressed them when they were still close to her and asked why they did not visit her. The martyrs turned towards her and responded as follows:
Οὐχ ὡς εἰς ἡμᾶς, ὦ γύναι, πλημμελήσασαν παρήλθομεν, οὐδ’ ὥς τι τῶν ἡμετέρων, ὡς ἔφης, προσταγμάτων πατήσασαν, ἀλλ’ ὅτι σου τὴν ἀνάλυσιν ἐγγίζουσαν βλέπομεν, καὶ τοῦ προσκαίρου βίου τὸ πλήρωμα, καὶ τῆς παρούσης ζωῆς τὴν ἀπόθεσιν, καὶ τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ κοιμήσεως τὴν ἀπαραίτητον ἄφιξιν· ὧν οὐχ ἡμεῖς δοτῆρες ἢ διῶκται τυγχάνομεν, ἀλλὰ Χριστὸς ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεὸς καὶ Δεσπότης καὶ πρύτανις, ὁ ζωῆς καὶ θανάτου κατέχων τοὺς οἴακας. Τί οὖν ἡμεῖς πρὸς ταῦτα σοι δράσομεν; ἢ ποίας ἀθανασίας ὀρέξομεν φάρμακον; εἰς τί δὲ καὶ ἡ ῥῶσις δοθήσεται; ἢ τί τῆς θεραπείας τὸ χρήσιμον; τίς δ’ ὁ ταῦτα πρὸς ἡμῶν κομισόμενος; ἢ τίς ὁ τούτων ἐντρυφῶν τοῖς δωρήμασιν; Σὺ γὰρ μετὰ βραχυτάτου καιροῦ τὰ τῶν βροτῶν καταλείψασα, τὴν πάντων ὁδὸν ὁδεύσεις ὑπνώσασα, ἣν ἀπόστολοι καὶ προφῆται καὶ μάρτυρες ὥδευσαν, καὶ Χριστὸς αὐτὸς ὁ τῆς ζωῆς ἀρχηγὸς γενόμενος ἄνθρωπος· εἰ καὶ τριταῖος ἀναστὰς τοὺς τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἡμῖν ἀρραβῶνας παρέσχετο. Ἐγερθεῖσα γοῦν ἄπιθι, καὶ τὴν ἑστίαν κατάλαβε πρὶν ἤ σε ψυχῆς ἐκ τοῦ σώματος καταλάβοι διάζευξις.
'Woman, we did not ignore you because you sinned against us or spurned some of our orders, but because we saw that your death was approaching, and your mortal existence had been completed, and your present life would be resolved, and the inexorable arrival of your sleeping in Christ had come. It is not us who are dispensers of these things, but Christ, God and Lord of everything and the governor who hods the helm of death and life. What else could we thus do for you? What remedy of immortality could we give you? What was bodily health given for? What is the benefit of healing? Who got such things from us? Who enjoyed obtaining such gifts? In a short time you will leave the mortals, and having fallen asleep you will follow the way of all men, that was followed by the apostles and prophets and martyrs, as well as by Christ himself, the source of life, who having become human, and having resurrected in three days, gave us pledges of resurrection. Thus, when you wake up, go and rejoin your family, before there comes the separation of your soul from your body.’
Having said this, the martyrs withdrew. The woman woke up and returned to her town. To her husband, who was surprised by her quick return, she announced the prophecy of the martyrs. Shortly afterwards she died.
Text: Fernández Marcos 1976, lightly modified in the light of Gascou 2007
Summary and translation: J. Doroszewska
Martyr shrine (martyrion, bet sāhedwātā, etc.)
Non Liturgical ActivityIncubation
MiraclesMiracle after death
Healing diseases and disabilities
Apparition, vision, dream, revelation
Revelation of hidden knowledge (past, present and future)
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesWomen
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
Antioch on the Orontes in Syria was named after King Antiochos, father of Seleucus I Nicator, the founder of the city; it was renamed Theopolis ("City of God") by the emperor Justinian after its reconstruction following the great earthquakes of 526 and 528.Eulogos, bishop of Alexandria [581-608] was originally from Antioch, he thus must have taken Ioannes and his wife Rhodopis with him when moving from Antioch to take charge of the Alexandrian patriarchate. Ioannes also appears in miracle 70 (E07827) where he is revealed to be an honorary prefect (Gascou 2006: 202, n. 1204).
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.
Translation:
Sophrone de Jérusalem, Miracles des saints Cyr et Jean (BHGI 477-479), trans. and comm. J. Gascou (Paris, 2006).
Collections grecques de Miracles, sainte Thècle, saints Côme et Damien, saints Cyr et Jean (extraits), saint Georges, trans. and comm. A.-J. Festugière (Paris, 1971).
Sophrone de Jérusalem, Récit des miracles des saints Cyr et Jean, trans. and comm. D. Peltier (Paris, 1978, unpublished).
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 Manuscript,” Illinois Classical Studies, 12 (1987), 169-177.
Gascou, J., "Recherches de topographie alexandrine: le Grand Tétrapyle," Ktema 27 (2002), 337-343.
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, C. Décobert (eds.), Alexandrie médiévale, 3 (Cairo, 2008), 69-88.
Gascou, J., Les origines du culte des saints Cyr et Jean, electronic version at https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00009140/document
Le Coz, R., “Les Pères de l'Eglise grecque et la médecine,” Le 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, p. 383-397.
Nissen, Th., “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 (Bruxelles: Éditions de l'Université de Bruxelles, 1991), 69-83.
Schönborn, Ch., 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
17/09/2019
| 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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