Mazgaba Maṣāḥəft

Titles

• Life and Martyrdom of Athanasios of Clysma
• ገድል፡ ወስምዕ፡ ዘቅዱስ፡ ወብፁዕ፡ አትናቴዎስ፡ ዘብሔረ፡ ቍልዝም, Gadl wa-sǝmʿ za-qǝddus wa-bǝḍuʿ ʾAtnātewos za-bǝḥera Qʷǝlzǝm
• Martyrdom of Athanasius of Clysma (Arabic version)

Description

There is nothing original about the Passion. It tells of the following events: under Diocletian and Maximian, persecution set in throughout the whole empire. Athanasius is a burning light because of his faith and holds an important post in the imperial household. His two brothers, Sergius and Bacchus, resemble him. Maximian sends Athanasius as a faithful servant and a relative to close all the churches in Egypt as far as the Thebaid and to open temples to the gods. Athanasius sheds tears as he takes leave of his brothers, Sergius and Bacchus, foreseeing the martyrdom to which they are all called. Arriving at Alexandria he treats Bishop Peter like a brother and shows contempt for idols. At once he is denounced to Maximian. The latter appoints a judge to interrogate Athanasius. The prefect of Egypt receives the letter and summons him. The dialogue follows the most classical of patterns. Athanasius states that he is stopping at Clysma where his heart’s desire will be fulfilled. Once at the town, Athanasius halts “not far from the spot where today there is a cross” and there makes a prayer. He enters the town just when Christ’s nativity is being celebrated, participates in the rejoicings, and then announces the closure of the churches in accordance with the emperor’s order. The judge then orders Athanasius to sacrifice to the gods, but the saint refuses and turns to God in his prayers. Confronting the judge, Athanasius quotes Saint Paul against the wisdom of the heathen. The judge argues to “render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” but the saint continues to save his soul, forcing the judge to demand the supreme sacrifice. In the final prayer before he is beheaded, Athanasius makes a strange and rare invocation; he calls on God to protect the Christian kings in the lands of the Romans and the Ethiopians. This phrase, which has disappeared in the Greek but remains in the Arabic and Georgian, is also found in the Ethiopian Synaxarion. In fact, Saint Athanasius of Clysma is one of the rare saints not in the Coptic-Arabic SYNAXARION but present in Ethiopian tradition. The Arabic text of the Passion adds an epilogue after the decapitation on 18 Tammuz. The population of Clysma went out to the judge with Julian, their bishop, and asked him for the body. They arranged for its burial at the church of Our Lady of Clysma, covering it with precious cloths and laying it in a marvelous coffin. From then on numerous cures took place at his tomb.