Subj : April 21st - SS. Simeon Barsabae, Bishop, and Comp., Martyrs To : All From : rich Date : Mon Apr 20 2020 09:45:19 From: rich April 21st - SS. Simeon Barsabae, Bishop, and Comp., Martyrs d. 341 PERHAPS the longest individual notice which occurs in the Roman Martyrology is that devoted to a group of Persian martyrs on this day. It runs as follows: =C2 =E2=80=9CIn Persia the birthday of St. Simeon, Bishop of Seleucia and Ctesiphon, who was taken by command of Sapor, King of the Persians, loaded with chains, and brought before iniquitous tribunals. As he refused to worship the sun, and bore testimony to Jesus Christ with clear and constant voice, he was first of all kept for a long time in prison with a hundred others, whereof some were bishops, others priests, others clerics of divers ranks; then when Usthazanes, the king's tutor, who some time before had lapsed from the faith, but w= hom the bishop had recalled to repentance, had suffered martyrdom with constancy, on the next day, which was the anniversary of the Lord's passion, the others were all beheaded before the eyes of Simeon, who meanwhile zealously exhorted each of them; and lastly he himself was beheaded. With him there suffered moreover the men of renown Abdechalas and Ananias, his priests; Pusicius also, the overseer of the king's workmen, fell by a cruel death, because he had strengthe= ned Ananias when he was wavering, wherefore his neck was severed and his tongue removed; and after him his daughter also was slain who was a holy virgin.=E2=80=9D A hardly less lengthy eulogy is accorded on the next day to another group of Persian martyrs. St. Simeon, called Barsabae, i.e. son of the fuller, is mentioned in the first place among the martyrs in the little supplement annexed to the Syriac =E2=80=9CBreviarium=E2=80=9D of 412= under the heading =E2=80=9CThe Names of our Masters the Confessors, Bishops of Persia= =E2=80=9D. There can be no question as to the reality and the cruelty of the persecution which was renewed by Sapor II in 340 or 341, for we hear much about it in Sozomen and other authorities. The best text of the Passion of St. Simeon Barsabae is probably that edited by M. Kmosko in vol. ii o. Patrologia Syriaca, pp. 661-690. The document had been published long ago by E. Assemani in his Acta martyrum orientalium, and there is also an Armenian translation. As has been pointed out by Fr Peeters in the Analecta Bollandiana (vol. xxix, pp. 151-156, and vol. xliii, pp. 264-268) as well as in the Acta Sanctorum, November, vol. iv, pp. 419-421, several interesting problems arise out of these acts. In particular the name which appears in the Roman Martyrology as Usthazanes and in the Syriac as Guhistazad is probably identical with the name Azadas which figures in the list of Persian martyrs on the next day. A French translation of the acts is printed in Dom Leclercq's Les Martyrs, vol. iii, pp. 145-162. Saint Quote: They who voluntarily commit sin show a contempt for life eternal, since they willingly risk the loss of their soul. --St. Gregory the Great Bible Quote: =E2=80=9CI passed by the field of the sluggard and by the vineyard of the m= an lacking sense, And behold, it was completely overgrown with thistles; Its surface was covered with nettles, And its stone wall was broken down. When I saw, I reflected upon it; I looked, and received instruction. =E2=80=9CA little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest,=E2=80=9D Then your poverty will come as a robber And you= r want like an armed man.=E2=80=9D=C2 =C2 {Proverbs 24:30=E2=80=9334} <><><><> A Morning Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Christ Dear Lord, I adore Your Sacred Heart, which I desire to enter with acts of love, praise, adoration and thanksgiving. I offer You my own heart as I sigh to You from its very depths, asking that You will work through me in all that I do this day; thus may I draw You closer to me each day. I offer You all the crosses and sufferings of the world, in union with Your life on earth, in expiation for sins. Please join my every action and heartbeat to the pulsations of Your Heart. I unite all my works of this day to those labors You performed while You were on earth, bathing them in Your precious Blood, and I offer them to the Heavenly Father so that many souls may be saved. - Amen. --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2 * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4) .