E07693: 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) healed from a mysterious disease of the intestines a certain Antonios, and an Egyptian woman, at their sanctuary at Menouthis (near Alexandria, Lower Egypt). Written in Greek in Alexandria, 610/615.

Sophronius of Jerusalem, The Miracles of Saints Cyrus and John, 48


Summary:

There was a certain Antonios from the Thebaid. He suffered terribly from a mysterious disease of the intestines whose nature was unknown both to the man and to the physicians. It also remained unknown to humans, even after it ceased. The patient thus consulted with various physicians, but they were unable to cure him. He realised that his last chance was to go to the martyrs Cyrus and John and beg them for help. Armed with a strong faith in their miraculous power, he went to their sanctuary and spent there two years, but he did not receive any relief from his pains which continued incessantly. The saints eventually told him that he would be healed, and this indeed happened: he was delivered from his suffering. The only thing the martyrs wanted him to do afterwards, was for him to return to his hometown and plant a vine in their name. They promised to protect the plant and cultivate it with him. Once he had produced wine from the vine he was to send a part to the martyrs’ sanctuary every year to be distributed among the sick who were there.

He executed the order diligently, went back home and planted the vine. The saints came to assist him, and they cultivated the plant thereafter. When the wine was ready, Antonios carried part of it to the sanctuary and distributed it among the people who were there praying for health. He did this every year until his death. He, who had suffered from the mysterious disease, in two years mysteriously obtained healing.

There was also a woman from an Egyptian village called Aphnaion. She suffered from a similar mysterious disease, and, since she had a strong faith in the healing power of the martyrs, she went to seek their aid in their sanctuary. She was healed after three years, not in an invisible manner like Antonios, but by the expulsion of the cause of her suffering. It was a stone the size of a big egg, which stupefied everybody. The woman placed it by the martyrs’ tomb as a memorial of the miracle and in order to honour its authors.



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