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καιρός, ἐν ᾧ πᾶς ὁ ἀποκτείνας ὑμᾶς δόξει λατρείαν προσφέρειν τῷ Θεῷ.” ἐνταῦθα λοιπὸν ὑπεράνω πάσης ἐξηγήσεως ὑπέμενον κολάσεις οἱ ἅγιοι μάρτυρες, φιλοτιμουμένου τοῦ Σατανᾶ καὶ δι ̓ ἐκείνων ῥηθῆναί τι τῶν | 5 βλασφήμων.

Υπερβεβλημένως δὲ ἐνέσκηψεν ἡ ὀργὴ πᾶσα καὶ ὄχλου καὶ ἡγεμόνος καὶ στρατιωτῶν εἰς Σάγκτον διάκονον ἀπὸ Βιέννης, καὶ εἰς Μάτουρον νεοφώτιστον μέν, ἀλλὰ γενναῖον ἀγωνιστήν, καὶ εἰς Ατταλον Περγαμηνὸν το τῷ γένει, “ στύλον καὶ ἑδραίωμα” τῶν ἐνταῦθα ἀεὶ γεγονότα, καὶ εἰς Βλανδίναν, δι' ἧς ἐπέδειξεν ὁ Χριστὸς ὅτι τὰ παρὰ ἀνθρώποις εὐτελῆ καὶ ἀειδῆ καὶ εὐκαταφρόνητα φαινόμενα μεγάλης καταξιοῦται παρὰ Θεῷ δόξης, διὰ τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀγάπην, τὴν ἐν δυνάμει δεικνυμένην, καὶ 15 μὴ ἐν εἴδει καυχωμένην. ἡμῶν γὰρ πάντων δεδιότων, καὶ τῆς σαρκίνης δεσποίνης αὐτῆς, ἥτις ἦν καὶ αὐτὴ τῶν μαρτύρων μία ἀγωνίστρια, ἀγωνιώσης μὴ οὐδὲ τὴν ὁμο λογίαν δυνήσεται παρρησιάσασθαι διὰ τὸ ἀσθενὲς τοῦ σώματος, ἡ Βλανδίνα τοσαύτης ἐπληρώθη δυνάμεως, 20 ὥστε ἐκλυθῆναι καὶ παρεθῆναι τοὺς κατὰ διαδοχὰς παντὶ τρόπῳ βασανίζοντας αὐτὴν ἀπὸ ἑωθινῆς ἕως ἑσπέρας, καὶ αὐτοὺς ὁμολογοῦντας ὅτι νενίκηνται, μηδὲν ἔχοντες μηκέτι ὃ ποιήσουσιν αὐτῇ, καὶ θαυμάζειν ἐπὶ τῷ παραμένειν ἔμπνουν αὐτήν, παντὸς τοῦ σώματος περιερρωγότος καὶ 25 ἠνεωγμένου, καὶ μαρτυρεῖν, ὅτι ἓν εἶδος στρεβλώσεως ἱκανὸν ἦν πρὸς τὸ ἐξαγαγεῖν τὴν ψυχήν, οὐχ ὅτι γε τοιαῦτα καὶ τοσαῦτα. ἀλλ ̓ ἡ μακαρία ὡς γενναῖος ἀθλητὴς ἀνενέαζεν ἐν τῇ ὁμολογίᾳ· καὶ ἦν αὐτῆς ἀνάληψις καὶ ἀνάπαυσις καὶ ἀναλγησία τῶν συμβαινόντων, 30 τὸ λέγειν ὅτι “ Χριστιανή εἰμι,” καί, “ παρ' ἡμῖν οὐδὲν φαῦλον γίνεται.”

Ὁ δὲ Σάγκτος καὶ αὐτὸς ὑπερβεβλημένως καὶ ὑπὲρ πάντα ἄνθρωπον πάσας τὰς ἐξ ἀνθρώπων αἰκίας γενναίως

their teeth against us. And that which was spoken by our

Lord was fulfilled: "The time will come when whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.' Then finally the holy witnesses endured sufferings beyond description, Satan striving earnestly that some of the 5 slanders might be uttered by them also.

But the whole wrath of the populace, and governor, and soldiers was aroused exceedingly against Sanctus, the deacon from Vienne, and Maturus, a late convert, yet a noble combatant, and against Attalus, a native of Per- 10 gamos, where he had always been a pillar and foundation, and Blandina, through whom Christ showed that things which appear mean and obscure and despicable to men are with God of great glory, through love toward Him manifested in power, and not boasting in appearance. 15 For while we all trembled, and her earthly mistress, who was herself also one of the witnesses, feared that on account of the weakness of her body, she would be unable to make bold confession, Blandina was filled with such power that the men were weary and faint who were 20 torturing her by turns from morning till evening in every manner, so that they acknowledged that they were conquered, and could do nothing more to her. And they were astonished at her endurance, as her entire body was mangled and broken; and they testified that one of these 25 forms of torture was sufficient to destroy life, not to speak of so many and so great sufferings. But the blessed woman, like a noble athlete, renewed her strength in her confession; and her comfort and recreation and relief from the pain of her sufferings was in exclaiming, 'I am 30 a Christian, and there is nothing vile done by us.'

But Sanctus also endured marvellously and superhumanly all the outrages which he suffered. While the

ὑπομένων, τῶν ἀνόμων ἐλπιζόντων διὰ τὴν ἐπιμονὴν καὶ τὸ μέγεθος τῶν βασάνων ἀκούσεσθαί τι παρ' αὐτοῦ τῶν μὴ δεόντων, τοσαύτῃ ὑποστάσει ἀντιπαρετάξατο αὐτοῖς, ὥστε μηδὲ τὸ ἴδιον κατειπεῖν ὄνομα, μήτε ἔθνους, μήτε 5 πόλεως ὅθεν ἦν, μήτε εἰ δοῦλος ἢ ἐλεύθερος εἴη, ἀλλὰ πρὸς πάντα τὰ ἐπερωτώμενα ἀπεκρίνατο τῇ ̔Ρωμαϊκῇ φωνῇ, “ Χριστιανός εἰμι.” τοῦτο καὶ ἀντὶ ὀνόματος, καὶ ἀντὶ πόλεως, καὶ ἀντὶ γένους, καὶ ἀντὶ παντὸς ἐπαλλήλως ὡμολόγει, ἄλλην δὲ φωνὴν οὐκ ἤκουσαν αὐτοῦ τὰ ἔθνη. . . . Μετὰ ταῦτα δὴ λοιπὸν εἰς πᾶν εἶδος διῃρεῖτο τὰ μαρτύρια τῆς ἐξόδου αὐτῶν. ἐκ διαφόρων γὰρ χρωμάτων καὶ παντοίων ἀνθῶν ἕνα πλέξαντες στέφανον, προσήνεγκαν τῷ Πατρί. ἐχρῆν γοῦν τοὺς γενναίους ἀθλητάς, ποικίλον ὑπομείναντας ἀγῶνα καὶ μεγάλως νικήσαντας, 15 ἀπολαβεῖν τὸν μέγαν τῆς ἀφθαρσίας στέφανον. ὁ μὲν οὖν Μάτουρος καὶ ὁ Σάγκτος καὶ ἡ Βλανδίνα καὶ Ατταλος ἤγοντο ἐπὶ τὰ θηρία εἰς τὸ δημόσιον, καὶ εἰς τὸ κοινὸν τῶν ἐθνῶν τῆς ἀπανθρωπίας θέαμα, ἐπίτηδες τῆς τῶν θηριομαχιῶν ἡμέρας διὰ τοὺς ἡμετέρους διδομένης.

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Καὶ ὁ μὲν Μάτουρος καὶ ὁ Σάγκτος αὖθις διῄεσαν ἐν τῷ ἀμφιθεάτρῳ διὰ πάσης κολάσεως, ὡς μηδὲν ὅλως προπεπονθότες, μᾶλλον δὲ ὡς διὰ πλειόνων ἤδη κλήρων ἐκβεβιακότες τὸν ἀντίπαλον, καὶ περὶ τοῦ στεφάνου αὐτοῦ τὸν ἀγῶνα ἔχοντες, ὑπέφερον πάλιν τὰς διεξόδους τῶν 25 μαστίγων τὰς ἐκεῖσε εἰθισμένας, καὶ τοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν θηρίων ἑλκηθμούς, καὶ πάνθ ̓ ὅσα μαινόμενος ὁ δῆμος ἄλλοι ἀλλαχόθεν ἐπεβίων καὶ ἐπεκελεύοντο, ἐπὶ πᾶσι τὴν σιδηρᾶν, ἐφ' ἧς τηγανιζόμενα τὰ σώματα κνίσσης αὐτοὺς ἐνεφόρει. οἱ δ ̓ οὐδ ̓ οὕτως ἔληγον, ἀλλ ̓ ἔτι καὶ μᾶλλον 30 ἐξεμαίνοντο, βουλόμενοι νικῆσαι τὴν ἐκείνων ὑπομονήν. καὶ οὐδ ̓ ὡς παρὰ Σάγκτου ἕτερόν τι εἰσήκουσαν, παρ' ἣν ἀπ ̓ ἀρχῆς εἴθιστο λέγειν τῆς ὁμολογίας φωνήν. οὗτοι μὲν οὖν, δι' ἀγῶνος μεγάλου ἐπιπολὺ παραμενούσης

wicked men hoped, by the continuance and severity of his tortures to wring something from him which he ought not to say, he girded himself against them with such firmness that he would not even tell his name, or the nation or city to which he belonged, or whether he was bond or free, 5 but answered in the Roman tongue to all their questions, 'I am a Christian.' He confessed this instead of name and city and race and everything besides, and the people heard from him no other word. . . .

After these things, finally, their martyrdoms were 10 divided into every form. For plaiting a crown of various colours and of all kinds of flowers, they presented it to the Father. It was proper therefore that the noble athletes, having endured a manifold strife, and conquered grandly, should receive the crown, great and incorruptible. 15 Maturus, therefore, and Sanctus and Blandina, and Attalus were led to the amphitheatre to be exposed to the wild beasts, and to give the heathen public a spectacle of cruelty, a day for fighting with wild beasts being specially appointed on account of our people. Both 20 Maturus and Sanctus passed again through every torment in the amphitheatre, as if they had suffered nothing before, or rather, as if, having already conquered their antagonist in many contests, they were now striving for the crown itself. They endured again the customary running of the 25 gauntlet and the violence of the wild beasts, and everything which the furious people called for or desired, and at last, the iron chair in which their bodies being roasted, tormented them with the fumes. And not with this did the persecutors cease, but were yet more mad against 30 them, determined to overcome their patience. But even thus they did not hear a word from Sanctus except the confession which he had uttered from the beginning. These, then, after their life had continued for a long time

αὐτῶν τῆς ψυχῆς, τοὔσχατον ἐτύθησαν, διὰ τῆς ἡμέρας ἐκείνης, ἀντὶ πάσης τῆς ἐν τοῖς μονομαχίοις ποικιλίας, αὐτοὶ θέαμα γενόμενοι τῷ κόσμῳ.

Ἡ δὲ Βλανδίνα ἐπὶ ξύλου κρεμασθεῖσα προὔκειτο βορὰ 5 τῶν εἰσβαλλομένων θηρίων· ἢ καὶ διὰ τοῦ βλέπεσθαι σταυροῦ σχήματι κρεμαμένη, διὰ τῆς εὐτόνου προσευχῆς, πολλὴν προθυμίαν τοῖς ἀγωνιζομένοις ἐνεποίει, βλεπόντων αὐτῶν ἐν τῷ ἀγῶνι καὶ τοῖς ἔξωθεν ὀφθαλμοῖς διὰ τῆς ἀδελφῆς τὸν ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν Ἐσταυρωμένον, ἵνα πείσῃ τοὺς το πιστεύοντας εἰς αὐτόν, ὅτι πᾶς ὁ ὑπὲρ τῆς Χριστοῦ δόξης παθὼν τὴν κοινωνίαν ἀεὶ ἔχει μετὰ τοῦ ζῶντος Θεοῦ. καὶ μηδενὸς ἁψαμένου τότε τῶν θηρίων αὐτῆς, καθαιρεθεῖσα ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου, ἀνελήφθη πάλιν εἰς τὴν εἱρκτήν, εἰς ἄλλον ἀγῶνα τηρουμένη, ἵνα διὰ πλειόνων γυμνασμά 15 των νικήσασα τῷ μὲν σκολιῷ ὄφει ἀπαραίτητον ποιήσῃ τὴν καταδίκην, προτρέψηται δὲ τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς ἡ μικρὰ καὶ ἀσθενὴς καὶ εὐκαταφρόνητος, μέγαν καὶ ἀκαταγώνιστον ἀθλητὴν Χριστὸν ἐνδεδυμένη, διὰ πολλῶν κλήρων ἐκβιάσασα τὸν ἀντικείμενον, καὶ δι ̓ ἀγῶνος τὸν τῆς 20 ἀφθαρσίας στεψαμένη στέφανον.

Ἐπὶ πᾶσι δὲ τούτοις τῇ ἐσχάτῃ λοιπὸν ἡμέρᾳ τῶν μονομαχιῶν, ἡ Βλανδίνα πάλιν εἰσεκομίζετο μετὰ καὶ Ποντικοῦ παιδαρίου ὡς πεντεκαίδεκα ἐτῶν. οἳ καὶ καθημέραν εἰσήγοντο πρὸς τὸ βλέπειν τὴν τῶν λοιπῶν κόλασιν, καὶ 25 ἠναγκάζοντο ὀμνύναι κατὰ τῶν εἰδώλων αὐτῶν. καὶ διὰ τὸ ἐμμένειν εὐσταθῶς καὶ ἐξουθενεῖν αὐτούς, ἠγριώθη πρὸς αὐτοὺς τὸ πλῆθος, ὡς μήτε τὴν ἡλικίαν τοῦ παιδὸς οἰκτεῖραι, μήτε τὸ γύναιον αἰδεσθῆναι. πρὸς πάντα δὲ τὰ δεινὰ παρέβαλλον αὐτούς, καὶ διὰ πάσης ἐν κύκλῳ 3ο διῆγον κολάσεως, ἐπαλλήλως ἀναγκάζοντες ὀμόσαι, ἀλλὰ μὴ δυνάμενοι τοῦτο πρᾶξαι· ὁ μὲν γὰρ Ποντικὸς ὑπὸ τῆς ἀδελφῆς παρωρμημένος, ὡς καὶ τὰ ἔθνη βλέπειν ὅτι ἐκείνη ἦν προτρεπομένη καὶ στηρίζουσα αὐτόν, πᾶσαν

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