E07360: Sophronius of Jerusalem, in his Miracles of the Saints Cyrus and John, recounts how *Kyros and Ioannes/Cyrus and John (physician and soldier, martyrs of Egypt, S00406) punished a certain Theodoros for his blasphemy, by depriving him of his sight, and later restored it; all at their shrine at Menouthis (near Alexandria, Lower Egypt). Written in Greek in Alexandria, 610/615.

Sophronius of Jerusalem, The Miracles of Saints Cyrus and John, 31

Summary:

There was a certain young man, Theodoros. Once, he entered the martyrs’ sanctuary and took communion. Afterwards, for some unknown reason he unexpectedly became inflamed with extreme fury, and not only cast simple blasphemies against God, but also produced through his nostrils a terrible noise, similar to that of a thunderbolt, which made the people gathered in the sanctuary tremble. This noise also resembled the sound produced by pagans offering sacrifices to their idols; it was a hymn in honour of the demons venerated by the pagans, as Porphyry says in his work.

Thus, when Theodoros, after having eaten the bread of the immaculate communion, produced this accursed and sacrilegious sound, he was at once deprived of his sight. Terror overpowered all the people present, since they used to indulge in the same fault, and did not consider it to be a fault. They were thus frightened that they would also be punished in a similar way to Theodoros. They turned with tears, everyone on their own behalf, to Christ and the martyrs, supplicating them and asking for mercy towards the young man.

The martyrs appeared to Theodoros and rebuked him that he had perpetrated such an abominable deed, a practice agreeable to demons. Then they revealed to him that if in three days he saw the charcoal in the incense-burner (thymiaterion) kept by the manager of the sanctuary (oikonomos) passing by, and the smoke going up to the ceiling, he would be entirely delivered from his misery and would regain his sight. If, however, in three days he did not see anything like that, he would remain blind for the rest of his life.

When Theodoros awoke, he lamented over the loss of his sight and in terror calculated the days to the predicted hour. He spent this time praying incessantly to God and the martyrs. Along with him, others prayed on his behalf. This prayer was accepted and Theodoros regained his sight.

Indeed, on the third day, when Christodoros, the oikonomos, burnt incense and was passing near Theodoros who was still blind, the latter suddenly saw the charcoal and the smoke rising up. He gave a scream in praise of God and the martyrs, which aroused among the people joy at the miraculous healing, mixed with fear of the martyrs who were there and could have punished all sins. Christodoros, who was unaware what was happening, was amazed. When he learnt, however, the importance of the miracle, he began praising Christ and the martyrs along with the others.

Text: Fernández Marcos 1976, lightly modified in the light of Gascou 2007. Summary: J. Doroszewska.