The Passion of St. John the Martyr

In the reign of Emperor Trajan [reigned 98-117], Rome was in the midst of a brutal persecution of Christians, and a decree was issued requiring all subjects of the emperor to sacrifice to the gods, while those who refused were punished.

And there was a certain young man of excellence, named James, of the city of Caesarea of Cappadocia, who was twenty years old; and he was the king's chaplain, and was always near the emperor; and he was a chaste Christian, and served God secretly, and was clean, and self-controlled, and mild, and of all good works.

And it came to pass, when there was a feast to the idols, that the emperor Trajan offered sacrifices to the idols, and the most beautiful young man, Iacinus, went not with the emperor to the idols, but, remaining in the palace, withdrew into a small room, and prayed earnestly to the one true God.

And it came to pass, when he heard the prayer of Jacinthus, that he went and told the emperor, that Jacinthus, in violation of the emperor's decree, prayed to some Jesus Christ, and called Him God.

I do not think it proper for a Christian to eat unclean food. But I want you to know the true God and to serve him alone.

James, your youth makes you proud, and you dare to teach me not to serve the gods of our fathers, but to worship a Christ whom neither we nor our fathers knew.

Thou hast made the heavens and the earth, and the sea, and all that is in them, and hast made the lights of the heavens, and hast made a man in his own image; and thou hast said, I know not him, whom neither thy fathers knew, though they were children of wrath.

The emperor was enraged by this response of the saint and ordered his servants to beat him on the mouth. The servants hurriedly rushed to the martyr of Christ and began to beat him not only on the mouth but also on the forehead. When he fell to the ground, they trampled him hard at the feet, saying: "How dare you answer Caesar?

Then the emperor ordered to stop beating the martyr; the saint, being unable to get up because of the violent beatings and trampling of his feet, lay on the ground. Meanwhile, Trajan ordered to force the saint's mouth with sacrificial food.

The next morning, the emperor, continuing the same vile feast with the people, ordered all the instruments of torture to be displayed in a visible place and to bring the martyr Jacinthus from the prison for questioning.

"Young man, do you obey our command or do you still persist? I foresee that your proud mind will lead you to the most cruel torments; rather obey me, sacrifice to the gods, or you will perish in the most cruel torments". But the slave of Christ, being as firm as Adamant in body and soul and leaning on the help of God, said to Trajan:

I am a living sacrifice to Christ, a living sacrifice to Christ, and I am not afraid of your demons. I am not afraid of your threats. I am not afraid of your torments.

Then the emperor, filled with rage, first ordered that the holy youth, lying on the ground, be beaten for a long time without mercy, and then, hanging him on the place of torment, ordered that his flesh be crushed with iron nails.

Therefore, take pleasure in what I suffer for the sake of Christ, so that I may endure the sufferings of my Lord Jesus Christ with the help of all who call on his name.

And the people were amazed at his patience; and they bound him and put him into the prison, and commanded that nothing should be given him save that which was offered to idols, and that he should eat and drink.

But when they came the next morning, they found everything in one place, because the holy martyr did not even want to look at the food offered to idols as an abomination, and for many days he did not eat or drink, continuing to pray to God, and the saint rejoiced in the spirit, as if he were at a rich feast, because he was nourished by the grace of the Holy Spirit.

Meanwhile, Trajan sent a servant to inquire of the guards whether James had eaten and drunk from the sacrifices. The guards replied, "He does not even touch the things that are brought to him, but stays without food and drink, rejoicing and praying to his God".

When Trajan heard this, he became angry with the guards, assuming that someone had brought another food to James, and threatened to kill the guards, but the latter testified under oath that no outsider entered the sanctuary; they assured that they were watching the dungeon carefully, not allowing anyone to even approach it.

And it came to pass on the thirty and eighth day, that one of the keepers, as was his custom, came into the prison, bearing an idol, and saw in the prison an unspeakable light, and two angels standing by the holy martyr, one clothed with a white garment, and the other having a glorious crown upon his head.

And when the watchman saw it, he was afraid, and cast down his coat, and ran and told the emperor; and the emperor believed not, but thought that it was a trick of sorcery, and he delivered him into the power of the devil.

I'll see how Christ will help him, will He deliver him from my hands?

But when the emperor's servants entered the prison, they found the young man dead in the Lord, and they saw also bright angels in the form of young men standing around his body, holding their candles in their hands, while the prison was filled with inexplicable light and fragrance.

And when they came in to the prison, they found nothing but the body of the martyr, which they had brought out of the prison; and the emperor commanded the body of the martyr to be carried out of the city, and to be cast into the open place for the beasts, dogs, and birds to eat; and he commanded the guards to be near, lest the body of the saint should be carried away secretly by the Christians.

And so the body of the holy martyr lay for a long time, unharmed, for he was guarded by the angel of God.

One night, an angel appeared to an honest elder, a relative of the martyr, named Timothy, and told him to take him to his house, and when the night came he went to that deserted place. Since no one interfered with him, he took the holy body of the martyr. He laid it in the inner room of his house, wrapped it in a clean cloth with perfumes.

After this, the presbyter Timothy, having lived a few years and approaching his death, handed over the relics of the holy martyr to a certain honest, holy in life and honourable in age. widow. The latter, gladly accepting that priceless treasure, kept it with honor, just like every day burning incense and producing incense; from the holy relics came a strong smell and filled that temple with itself.

She had no one to talk to about the power of the saint, for the whole city was devoted to the worship of idols.

And it came to pass after many days, when the widow was about to die, that there was a certain man of noble birth, who was blinded by a headache, and had not seen the light for a year, nor had he received any help from the physicians. And the holy martyr James appeared to him in a dream, and said, Man, wilt thou be healed of thy sickness, and be made blind? And he said to him, Who art thou that speakest these things to me?

And I said unto him, I, James, a holy physician, a servant of Christ Jesus, I beseech thee, take all my goods, which I have, only that I may see light, for I sit in darkness with great sorrow and anguish.

And St. James answered and said unto him, My God, if only thou wouldst do this thing which I command thee: lay the body in the earth in the house of the widow that dwelleth by thee, and anoint thy eyes with the oil of the lamp that burneth by my ark, that thou mayest see.

And the man rose up from his bed, and went with him into the house of the widow, and told her the vision and the commandment of the martyr.

And when he had gone into the temple, he heard a voice from above saying unto him, Now he is cursed that cursed thee. And he fell down before the feet of the holy man, and said, Give me sight now, if it be the will of God, and I will do as thou commandest me.

Then he arose and anointed his eyes again with the oil of the lamp, and he recovered his sight completely, for not only his body but also his soul's eyesight was restored, and he was cleansed by the baptism of faith in Christ.

At that time the widow had already died; and the newly enlightened Christian, having taken the ark with the relics of the saint and sealed it, sent it with trustworthy men to Caesarea Cappadocia; and he ordered the men sent with the ark to let the mules (carrying the ark) alone as they approached the city; <unk> where they stopped, the relics were to be laid, for so the saint had ordered.

When the faithful men who had been sent with the bodies arrived at Caesarea and were near the thieves, they left the mules unattended and went to the house where the martyr was born.

Then all the believers in the city gathered together, rejoicing greatly at the arrival of the mighty martyr, and they put the holy relics in the marble ark with honor, glorifying our Lord Jesus Christ.

The martyr of Christ, Jacinthus, died in Rome on the third day of the month of July, exhausted by hunger and thirst, but filled with faith, prayer and the grace of the Holy Spirit, <unk> while the ungodly were in the power of Trajan, and over the Christians reigned our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and forever.

The tree of life in the midst of your soul, faith in your Christ, your stalwart martyr, paradise of Eden, the most honest life, the tree of the delight of the serpent, destroyed by the audacious spirit, crowned with your glory, the most merciful.