E01299: Gregory of Nyssa, on 9 March 379, in his Second Encomium on the *Forty Martyrs of Sebaste (martyrs of Sebasteia/Sebaste, E00103), mentions a shrine with relics of the saints built earlier on his family estate in Pontus (northern Asia Minor). His parents are buried there; a soldier is miraculously healed there; and Gregory himself has a dream vision of the saints during the consecration of the shrine. Composed in Greek at Kaisareia/Caesarea of Cappadocia (central Asia Minor).

Gregory of Nyssa, On the Forty Martyrs II (CPG 3189, BHG 1208), p. 166-168

(ed. Lendle 1990, p. 166.7 - 168.7)

Ἀλλὰ τί μακρὰ διατρίβομεν; ἐφλέχθη τὰ σώματα, καὶ τὸ πῦρ αὐτὰ διεδέξατο. τὴν δὲ κόνιν ἐκείνην καὶ τῆς καμίνου τὰ λείψανα ἐμερισάμεθα, καὶ πᾶσα γῆ σχεδὸν τοῖς ἁγιάσμασι τούτοις εὐλογεῖται. ἔχω κἀγὼ μερίδα τοῦ δώρου καὶ τῶν ἐμῶν πατέρων τὰ σώματα τοῖς τῶν στρατιωτῶν παρεθέμην λειψάνοις, ἵνα ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τῆς ἀναστάσεως μετὰ τῶν εὐπαρρησιάστων βοηθῶν ἐγερθῶσιν. οἶδα γάρ, ὡς ἰσχύουσι, καὶ τῆς παρρησίας αὐτῶν τῆς πρὸς θεὸν ἐναργεῖς ἐθεασάμην τὰς ἀποδείξεις· καὶ δὴ βούλομαι ἕν τι τῶν εἰς θαῦμα τελούντων τῆς ἐκείνων ἐνεργείας εἰπεῖν· κώμης τῆς ἐμοὶ προσηκούσης, ἐν ᾗ τὰ τῶν τρισμακαρίων τούτων ἀναπέπαυται λείψανα, ἔστι τις πολίχνη ἡ γείτων, Ἴβωρα καλοῦσιν αὐτήν. ἐν δὴ ταύτῃ κατὰ τὸν συνήθη Ῥωμαίοις νόμον καταλόγου στρατιωτῶν διάγοντος εἷς τις τῶν ὁπλιτῶν ἐπὶ τὴν κώμην τὴν προλεχθεῖσαν ἀφίκετο πρὸς φυλακὴν τοῦ χωρίου παρὰ τοῦ ταξιάρχου δοθείς, ἵνα τῶν συστρατιωτῶν ἑαυτοῦ τὰς ὁρμὰς καὶ τὰς ὕβρεις ἀνείργῃ, ἃς εἰώθασιν ἐπάγειν τοῖς ἀγροίκοις ὑπὸ θράσους οἱ ὁπλιτεύοντες. ἐνόσει δὲ οὗτος τὸν ἕτερον τοῖν ποδοῖν καὶ ἐχώλευε· καὶ τὸ πάθος αὐτῷ χρόνιον καὶ δυσίατον ἦν. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐντὸς ἐγένετο τοῦ μαρτυρίου καὶ τῆς ἀναπαύσεως τῶν ἁγίων, καὶ θεῷ προσευξάμενος τὴν τῶν ἁγίων πρεσβείαν ἐπεκαλέσατο· νύκτωρ αὐτῷ φαίνεταί τις ἀνὴρ ἀξιοπρεπὴς καὶ τινα ἄλλα διαλεχθείς· Χωλεύεις, ἔφη, ὦ στρατιῶτα, καὶ δεῖ σοι θεραπείας; ἀλλὰ δός μοι ψηλαφῆσαι τὸν πόδα. λαβόμενος δὲ ὄναρ αὐτοῦ σφοδρῶς ἐφειλκύσατο. τῆς δὲ νυκτερινῆς ὄψεως τοῦτο ποιούσης ὕπαρ τηλικοῦτος ἐγένετο ψόφος, οἷος ἂν γένοιτο ὀστέου τῆς φυσικῆς ἁρμονίας ἐξολισθήσαντος, εἶτα βιαίως ἐναρμοσθέντος· ὥστε ἀφυπνίσαι καὶ τοὺς συγκαθεύδοντας καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν στρατιώτην, διεγερθῆναι δὲ τὸν ἄνθρωπον εὐθὺς καὶ βαδίζειν ὑγιῶς κατὰ φύσιν, ὡς εἴωθε. ταύτην τὴν θαυματουργίαν εἶδον ἐγὼ αὐτῷ τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ περιτυχὼν ἐξαγγέλλοντι πρὸς πάντας καὶ κηρύττοντι τὴν τῶν μαρτύρων εὐεργεσίαν καὶ τὴν τῶν συστρατιωτῶν φιλανθρωπίαν ὑμνοῦντι. Εἰ δέ τι χρὴ προσθεῖναι καὶ τῶν κατ᾽ ἐξαίρετόν μοι προσηκόντων, ἐρῶ. ἡνίκα γὰρ τὴν ἐπὶ τοῖς λειψάνοις πανήγυριν τὴν πρώτην τελεῖν ἐμέλλομεν κἀν τῷ ἁγίῳ σηκῷ ἀναπαύειν τὴν λάρνακα, ἡ μήτηρ ἡ ἐμὴ (αὕτη γὰρ ἦν ἡ τῷ θεῷ συνάγουσα καὶ κοσμοῦσα τὴν ἑορτὴν) ἥκειν με πρὸς τὴν μετουσίαν τῶν δρωμένων ἐκέλευσε πόρρω τε διάγοντα καὶ ἔτι νέον ὄντα κἀν τοῖς λαϊκοῖς ἀριθμούμενον. οἷα δὲ φιλεῖ γίνεσθαι ἐπὶ πράγμασι κατεπείγουσιν, ἄσχολος ὢν βαρύτερον ὁ ἀνόητος ἐδεξάμην τὴν κλῆσιν ὑπομεμψάμενος τῇ μητρί, διότι μὴ εἰς ἄλλον καιρὸν ὑπερέθετο τὴν πανήγυριν, ἀλλά με πολλῶν ἀποκινήσασα φροντίδων μεθείλκυσε ταύτῃ καὶ πρὸ μιᾶς τῆς συνόδου. ἀφικόμην εἰς τὸ χωρίον· παννυχίδος δὲ οὔσης ἐν κήπῳ, ἔνθα καὶ τὰ λείψανα τῶν ἁγίων ἐτύγχανε ψαλμῳδίαις τιμώμενα, ἐμοὶ πλησίον ἐπί τινος δωματίου καθεύδοντι φαίνεται ὄναρ ὄψις τοιαύτη· ἐδόκουν βούλεσθαι εἰσιέναι εἰς τὸν κῆπον, ἔνθα ὕπαρ ἡ παννυχὶς ἐτελεῖτο. γενομένῳ δέ μοι περὶ τὴν θύραν πλῆθος ὤφθη στρατιωτῶν προσκαθημένων τῇ εἰσόδῳ· ἀθρόον δὲ οἱ πάντες διαναστάντες, ῥάβδους ἐπανατεινόμενοι καὶ ἀπειλητικῶς ἐφορμῶντες οὐ συνεχώρουν τὴν εἴσοδον· ἔλαβον δ᾽ ἂν καὶ πληγάς, εἰ μή με εἷς, ὡς ἐδόκουν, φιλανθρωπότερος ἐξῃτήσατο. ὡς δέ με ὁ ὕπνος ἀφῆκε, καὶ ἦλθον εἰς ἀναλογισμὸν τῆς ἐπὶ τῇ κλήσει πλημμελείας, ᾐσθόμην εἰς τί ἔφερεν ἡ τῶν στρατιωτῶν ἐπίφοβος ὀπτασία· καὶ πολλοῖς θρήνοις ὠδυρόμην τὴν ἐμαυτοῦ ματαιότητα· καὶ αὐτῇ γε τῇ θήκῃ τῶν λειψάνων πικρὸν ἐπέρρευσα δάκρυον, ἵνα μοι ὁ θεός τε εὐμενῶς ἔχῃ, καὶ οἱ ἅγιοι στρατιῶται τὴν ἀμνηστίαν χαρίσωνται. Ταῦτα εἶπον, ἵνα πεισθῶμεν, ὅτι ζῶσιν οἱ μάρτυρες, καὶ εἰσὶ θεοῦ δορυφόροι καὶ πάρεδροι οἱ σήμερον ἡμῶν τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ὠφελήσαντες καὶ κοσμήσαντες·

‘But why should we linger on this matter so long? Their bodies were lit and the fire consumed them. And we shared that dust and the remains of the furnace, and almost all the Earth is blessed by these holy pieces (hagiasmata). I myself possess a piece of the gift, and have put the bodies of my parents to rest by the relics (leipsana) of the soldiers, so that they may rise in the company of highly influential helpers, at the time of the resurrection. Because I know how powerful they are, and have seen clear proofs of their freedom of speech before God.

I wish indeed to recount one of the wonderful stories of their working. Near the village which belongs to me and where the relics of these thrice-blessed men rest, there is a certain township: they call it Ibora. A unit of soldiers was stationed there, according to the customary practice of the Romans, and one of the soldiers arrived at the aforementioned village, assigned by his commander to guarding the area, in order to prevent the assaults and offences by his own fellow soldiers, which men of the army in their insolence are accustomed to inflicting on the farmers. Now one of his legs was unwell, and he limped, and his suffering was chronic and difficult to cure. When he entered the shrine (martyrion) and the resting place (anapausis) of the saints, he prayed to God and invoked the intercession of the saints. During that night, a dignified man appeared to him and, having talked with him about some other things, he said: “Are you limping, soldier, and need a cure? But let me touch your leg.” And he grabbed and pulled it strongly, in the dream. And while this was happening in the nocturnal vision, in reality there was such a loud sound – just like when a bone, slipped out of its natural order, is violently re-set – that it woke up both the others sleeping with him and the soldier himself, and the man stood up immediately and walked in a healthy and normal way, as he once used to do. I witnessed this miracle by meeting the man himself who was announcing it to everyone, declaring the benefaction of the martyrs, and praising the charity of his fellow soldiers.

But if I may add also an absolutely personal story, I shall tell it. When we were about to celebrate the first festival for the relics (leipsana), and put the casket (larnax) to rest in the holy shrine (sēkos), my mother – for it was she that had called and organised that celebration for God – ordered me to participate in the ceremony, although I was living far away, and was still young and a layman. But, as tends to happen in urgent situations, I was busy, and therefore, in my foolishness, I received the invitation with disaffection: I accused my mother, because she had not postponed the festival to some other time, but rather took me from other duties and dragged me into this, and that one day before the feast. I arrived at the place. While an all-night vigil was taking place at a garden where the relics of the saints happened to be honoured with psalmody, the following vision appeared to me in a dream, as I was sleeping in a room nearby: I saw that I wanted to enter the garden where the vigil was actually being celebrated, but, when I approached the door, I saw a crowd of soldiers sitting by the entrance. Suddenly all of them stood up and, brandishing sticks and advancing menacingly, they did not allow my entrance. And I would even have taken a beating, unless one of them – the most compassionate, as it seemed to me – had requested my release. When sleep left me and I contemplated my lack of zeal at the moment of the invitation, I realised the meaning of the dreadful vision of the soldiers, and with much weeping I lamented my own folly. And I shed bitter tears over the casket (thēkē) of the relics itself, that God might be propitious towards me, and that the holy soldiers might grant me pardon.

I have said these things so that we may be convinced that the martyrs are alive, and that these figures, that have assisted and honoured our church today, are guardsmen and companions of God. (…)’

Text: Lendle 1990, p. 166.7 - 168.7.
Translation: E. Rizos.