martyrdom.victor.07 Chapter 1

Then the Duke made his servants to strip Apa Victor naked, and to cut his sinews, and to fasten his hands behind him, and to drive skewers into him

and afterwards he made them to dismember (?) him.

And the Duke said unto him, 'Offer up sacrifice.'

And Apa Victor said unto him, 'I will not offer up sacrifice.'

And afterwards he made his servants to break the joints of his legs and arms until his bones stuck out through his skin.

And Apa Victor said unto him,

I give thanks unto Thee, O my Lord Jesus the Christ, because all the joy of the Christ hath drawn nigh unto me.'

Duke said unto him,

They delivered thee over into my hands as a magician.

Now, then, if thou dost not hearken unto me, I will torture thee with the most terrible tortures.'

And Apa Victor said, 'I will not offer up sacrifice.'

And the Duke said unto him,

Why dost thou not go on taking thy salary? Why dost thou take no pleasure in thy chariot and in thine armour?'

And Apa Victor answered and said,

Because they are used in acts of violence.

For this reason I will not eat the rations

I have in the world which is to come spiritual food laid up fox me, and when I shall have eaten thereof I shall never feel hunger again.'

And the Duke commanded them to strip him naked, and to east him into a furnace wherein the fire had been lighted for two days.

And afterwards they brought him into the presence of the Duke, who said unto him,

O wicked head! I swear by the health of Apollo that thy punishment shall be the destruction of thy body by fire.'

And the Duke commanded (his servants) to prepare a furnace, and to heat it for four days, and then to cast Apa Victor into it.

And Apa Victor prayed in the depths of the furnace, saying,

O my Lord Jesus the Christ, at the (mention of) Whose Name the sea dried up, let [this] fire be extinguished, and let the heat thereof be destroyed. Blessed be Thy Name for ever! Amen.'

And they brought him and set him before the Duke, (and it was found that) the fire had not touched him.

Then Sebastianus said unto Apa Victor,

By the glorious gods Apollo and Artemis, I will torture thee (sorely),

I will Send and bring a magician who is more powerful than thou, (and) he shall make an end of thy magic'

And the Duke commandcd them to bring a magician.

And the magician (came), and he made medicaments (containing) the essence and the venom of serpents,

and he pronounced over them a very large number of (magical) names.

And after (this) he said unto Apa Victor,

Take (these), swallow them, and then I shall see if thou art strong enough (to suffer in no way thereby).'

And the blessed man Apa Victor said unto the magician,

I have no desire to swallow them, but in order that thou mayest know that my God hath power to make of no effect every kind of magic, (I will do so).'

And Apa Victor made over himself the Sign of the Cross in the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, saying,

'Do Thou not let me be put to shame before this lawless man.'

Thereupon Apa Victor swallowed the inedicaments, and no member whatsoever of his suffered the least injury; on the contrary, he was filled with a feeling of happiness like unto the happiness of those who have been drinking- wine.

And the magician made other medicaments which were far more powerful than those which he had made first, using even the gall and the humours from a corpse.

These he placed in a vessel,

and he pronounced over them such mighty magical names that even the earth shot out light at the mention of them.

And he said unto Apa Victor,

My lord, take these this time also, and if no evil thing happen to thee I will believe in thy God.'

Then the blessed man took these medicaments and drank them, and no evil whatsoever happened to him.

Then the magician said,

Mighty is he who hath shewn might! Thou hast delivered (thy) soul from death, and made it to live once again.

For (it is with thee as it was with) Andrew, when he was broken on the cross, he was made new again.

And this is what happeneth unto those who have gone astray in their sins; when they wish (it) the Lord maketh them into new creatures again.'

And straightway the magician relinquished all the possessions which he had, and he was taught the Name of the Holy Trinity, and all his books which were full of magic he burned in the fire.

And the Duke said unto Apa Victor,

Be wise, and offer up sacrifice.'

And Apa Victor said unto him,

Indeed I am wise at all times.'

And the Duke said unto him, 'But this time thou art acting the fool.'

And Apa Victor said, 'The fools of the world are those whom God hath chosen to put to shame the wise.'

The Duke said unto him, 'Where is this writing found?'

And Apa Victor said, 'It is Paul who wrote it.'

And the Duke said, 'Is Paul then a god?'

And Apa Victor said unto him,

As the wise man among architects when he is about to build seeketh for a site whereon another hath laid the foundation, and then buildeth upon it

even so is Paul, who came at the end

he setteth the roof on the Scriptures.'

And the Duke said unto him,

Cease thou to utter such words of folly as these,

for these actions will profit thee nothing, and thou shalt die. Thou art a child.

Hearken unto me now; do thou offer up sacrifice so that I may set thee at liberty.'

And Apa Victor said unto him,

'I am not a fool; nay, I am a wise man.

If I were to hearken unto thee, and if I were to offer up sacrifice, I should in truth be a fool.

Fools can never walk in the truth, because their hearts make them blind, and they become liars, like their father the Devil.'

And the Duke was wroth, and he commanded (his servants) to tear out the intestines from his body down to his feet.

And Apa Victor spake before the Duke, saying

The tendons, nerves, and sinews which thou hast dragged out from my body are like unto the pointed instruments where- with (the physicians) probe a wound in order to liberate the fetid pus which is in it, and to give relief to the whole body.

That is the case with me at this moment.

And now I will give thanks unto my Lord Jesus the Christ, for ever and ever. Amen.'

And the Duke made (his servants) bring some oil, and they lighted a fire under it, and kept it burning until the oil was boiling.

And he made them pour it upon his necessary organs, and immediately the oil had been poured upon them they fell off on the ground.

And the blessed man Apa Victor answered and said,

This oil which thou hast poured upon me is like unto the cool water which a man is wont to drink during the hot w^eather, and in which he washeth himself so that he may feel the relief thereof from the heat in his whole body.'

And the Duke commanded (his servants) to hoist him up on the rack of torture, and to stretch him thereon, and he made them put six burning torches close to his body; and they racked him for a period of two hours.

And the fire did not scorch his body in the least degree, for God was with him, and He gave him strength in all his tribulations.

And the Duke said unto him,

O wicked head! I weary myself.

I would spare thee from being put to shame, thou wilt not turn (i. e, repent).

Come now, offer up sacrifice.'

And Apa Victor said unto him,

Yesterday thou didst spare me; to-day spare thou me not.

Do whatsoever it pleaseth thee to do unto me.'

And the Duke commanded (his servants) to pour vinegar and ashes into his mouth.

And Apa Victor said,

'This vinegar and these ashes, which thou makest me to drink, are like unto honey dropped down my throat.'

Then the Duke commanded his servants to dig out his two eyes whilst he was alive.

And straightway the executioners came and thrust red-hot knives into his eyes and ears

and forthwith his two eyeballs were ripped out and fell upon the ground. And a smoke (i. e. dizziness) mounted up in his brain.

And Apa Victor said unto the Duke,

Even if thou hast the power and dost make blind the eyes of my body, I have still left within me other eyes,

that is to say, those of the mind and understanding, which will give me light, according to that which Peter the Apostle said

If it be that ye see with the eyes of the body, ye shall see the works of the world, which are vain, that is to say, fornication, and slandering, and murder, and calumny, and pride, because of which things the wrath of God cometh.'

Therefore I have no need of the eyes of my body.

And the Duke answered and said unto him,

'If thou wilt compel me now to inflict further severe tortures upon thee, (I must do so).'

And Apa Victor said unto him,

Inflict upon me any punishment thou wishest to inflict

for I am prepared to bear up under it. only take care to spare me not.'

Then the Duke commanded (his servants) to hang him up on a pillar head downwards

for three days and three nights, so that all his blood might pour out from his mouth and nostrils

and the soldiers who had hung him up departed to their houses, and left him hanging-.

And after three days the Duke commanded them to bring- him down (from the pillar) and to bring him to him, so that he might know whether he was alive or dead

and straightway the soldiers departed (to fetch him). And when they laid their hands upon him they became blind.

And Apa Victor said,

In the Name of my God, for Whose sake I am suffering all these sufferings, receive ye your sight through (His) power, which is holy; and straightway they received their sight.

And when the Duke saw what had taken place,

he commanded (the soldiers) to flay his body, and to tear out his tongue.

And Apa Victor said unto the Duke,

Even though thou strippest off me my skin which is outside me, I have still another skin, which is inside me, and which neither thy power nor thy tortures can injure.

And again, though thou shalt cut out my tongue, God is wont to perform judgement (on behalf of) those whose mouths are silenced.

Now, therefore, I care nothing for thy tortures.'

And whilst the blessed man Apa Victor was saying these things, behold, a certain young woman whose name was Stephanou, who was the wife of a soldier,

looked out through her window — now she was about fifteen years of age — and cried out, saying,

Blessed art thou, O Apa Victor, and blessed art thou in all thy works.

All thy sacrifices have been received from thy hands, even as were received the sacrifices of Abel, the righteous man, which he brought unto God in integrity of heart.

God shall shew compassion upon thee as He did upon Enoch, the scribe of righteousness.

Thou art perfect and righteous in thy generation as was Noah.'

Thou dost believe on God, as did Abraham.

Thou dost lay thy body on the altar as a sacrifice, as did Isaac.

Thou dost manifest patient endurance, as did Jacob at the time when Esau pursued him (when he was) going to Laban.

Thou art a man of wisdom and understanding, as was Daniel the Prophet.

Thou hast been instructed in divine things by thy dreams like Joseph.

Thou hast manifested patient endurance like Job, the man of God.

The Enemy hath been envious of thee as he was of Isaiah the Prophet, whose body they sawed in twain lengthwise with a wood saw. And the fire hath not touched thee, even as the fire of Nebuchadnezzar touched not the Three Holy (Children).

Thou hast given thy heart unto God, even as did David, the son of Jesse.

Behold, I swear by thy salvation, Apa Victor, that two crowns shall be sent down from heaven being borne by twenty-four angels

one of these is for thee, and the other shall be for me. Though like thee I am a vessel of infirmity, I shall have an inheritance among the mighty ones.

And when the Duke heard this woman proclaiming these things, he commanded his soldiers to bring her unto him.

And when they had brought her, the Duke said unto her,

How many years old art thou that thou dost dare to proclaim these violent words in such an impudent manner?

And she said unto him,

I am fifteen years and eight months old.

And the Duke said unto her,

How many years is it since thou didst marry (thy) husband?

And she said unto him,

Behold, one year and six months.'