A Cloud of Witnesses: Saints and Martyrs from the Holy Land

© 2008 Bishop Demetri (Matta) Khoury. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 10/21/2020

ISBN: 978-1-4343-9441-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4343-9440-8 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4520-3322-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2008905429

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 FORWARD

 PREFACE

 INTRODUCTION

The Sunday of the Palestinian Saints

SEPTEMBER

September 1st Righteous Joshua, the Son of Nun

September 3rd Venerable Theoctistus, Fellow-Faster with Euthymius the Great.

September 4th The Holy Prophet Moses the God-Seer; Martyr Hermione, Daughter of the Apostle Philip the Deacon

The Holy Prophet Moses the God-Seer

Martyr Hermione

September 5th Prophet Zechariah and Elizabeth, Parents of the Forerunner;

September 8th The Feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos

September 9th The Holy and Righteous Ancestors of God, Joachim and Anna; Great-Martyr Severian

The Holy and Righteous Ancestors of God, Joachim and Anna

Great-Martyr Severian

September 13th Cornelius the Centurion; The Commemoration of the Founding of the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem.

Cornelius the Centurion

Founding of the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem

September 17th The 50 Holy Martyrs of Palestine

September 21st The Holy Martyrs Eusebius, Nestabus and Zeno of Gaza; The Holy Apostle Quadratus; The Holy Father Jonas the Sabaite; The Prophet Jonah; Nestor the Confessor

The Holy Martyrs Eusebius, Nestabus and Zeno of Gaza

The Holy Apostle Quadratus

Jonas the Sabaite

The Prophet Jonah

Nestor the Confessor

September 24th Coprius of St. Theodosius Monastery

September 26th The Repose of the Apostle and Evangelist John The Theologian

September 27th The Apostles Aristarchus, Zenas and Mark of the Seventy.

St. Mark

St. Aristarchus

St. Zenas

September 28th Venerable Chariton the Confessor, Abbot of Palestine, and the Holy Prophet Baruch

Venerable Chariton the Confessor

The Holy Prophet Baruch

September 29th St. Kyriakòs the Anchorite; Mary of Palestine; Theophanes the Merciful

St. Kyriakòs the Anchorite

St. Mary of Palestine

Theophanes the Merciful

OCTOBER

October 1st The Holy Apostle Ananias

October 3rd Our Holy Father Among the Saints John the Chozebite

October 6th The Holy Apostle Thomas

October 8th Venerable Pelagia the Penitent

October 9th Apostle James, son of Alphaeus

October 11th Our Venerable Father Theophanes the Confessor and Philip of the Seven Deacons

Our Venerable Father Theophanes

The Holy Apostle Philip of the Seven Deacons

October 14th Venerable Cosmas the Poet, St. Paraskeve the New and Silvanus, Hieromartyr of Gaza

Venerable Cosmas the Poet

Saint Paraskeve the New

Silvanus, Hieromartyr of Gaza

October 16th Martyr Longinus, the Centurion who Stood at the Cross of the Lord

October 17th The Holy Prophet Hosea

October 18th The Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke

October 19th The Holy Prophet Joel

October 21st The Venerable Hilarion the Great

October 23rd Apostle James, Brother of the Lord

October 25th Tabitha the Merciful, Raised from the Dead by the Apostle Peter

October 27th Martyr Procla, wife of Pontius Pilate

October 28th Venerable Stephen of Mar Saba Monastery in Palestine

October 30th The Holy Apostles Cleopas, Tertius, Mark, Justus and Artemas

St. Cleopas

St. Tertius

St. Justus

St. Artemas

The Holy Apostle Mark

October 31st Apostles Stachys, Apelles, Narcissus, Aristobulus, Urban, and Amplias of The Seventy

St. Stachys

St. Apelles

St. Amplias

St. Urban

St. Aristobulus

St. Narcissus

NOVEMBER

November 5th Martyrs Galacteon and Episteme; Patrobus, Hermas, Linus, Gaius and Philologus, Holy Apostles of the Seventy; Holy martyrs Domninus, Timothy, Theotimus, Theophilus, Presbyter Dorotheus, Carterius, Eupsychius, Silvanus, and the three Virgins of Caesarea

Martyrs Galacteon and Episteme

Patrobus, Hermas, Linus, Gaius and Philologus, Holy Apostles of the Seventy

St. Patrobus

St. Hermas

St. Linus

St. Gaius

St. Philologus

Holy martyrs Domninus, Timothy, Theotimus, Theophilus, Presbyter Dorotheus, Carterius, Eupsychius, Silvanus, and the three Virgins of Caesarea

Martyr Domninus

Timothy, Theophilus and Theotimus:

Presbyter Dorotheus

Eupsychius and Carterius

Silvanus

The Three Virgins of Caesarea in Palestine

November 12th Neilos and Theodulos of Sinai

November 13th Martyrs Antoninus, Nicephorus, Herman and Manetha

November 14th Apostle Philip

November 16th Apostle Matthew the Evangelist

November 18th Martyrs Platon of Ancyra, Romanus the Deacon, Zacchaeos the Deacon and Anastasios of Caesarea in Palestine

Martyr Platon of Ancyra

Holy Martyr Romanus

Holy Martyr Zacchaeos the Deacon

The Holy Martyr Anastasios

November 19th Prophet Obadiah

November 22nd Apostles Philemon, Apphia, Archippus and Onesimus of The Seventy

November 25th Great-Martyr Catherine the All-Wise of Alexandria

November 30th Apostle Andrew the First-Called

DECEMBER

December 1st Prophet Nahum

December 2nd Prophet Habakkuk

December 3rd Our Holy Father Among the Saints, John the Hesychast, Bishop of Colonia; Prophet Zephaniah (Sophonias)

John the Hesychast, Bishop of Colonia

Prophet Zephaniah (Sophonias)

December 4th Venerable John of Damascus

December 5th Venerable Saba the Sanctified

December 8th Apostles Sosthenes, Apollos, Crispos, Caesar, Cephas, and Epaphroditus of the Seventy

St. Sosthenes

St. Apollos

St. Caesar

St. Epaphroditus

St. Cephas

St. Tychicus

December 16th Prophet Haggai; Hieromartyr Modestus, Archbishop of Jerusalem

Prophet Haggai

December 17th Prophet Daniel and the Three Holy Youths: Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael

December 18th-24th Sunday Before The Nativity Of Christ (The Holy Fathers)

December 26th-31st Sunday Following the Nativity of Christ (Commemoration of Joseph the Betrothed, David the Prophet and King, and James the brother of the Lord)

St. Joseph the Betrothed

The Holy King and Prophet David

The Holy Apostle James, Brother of the Lord

December 27th Proto-Martyr Stephen the Archdeacon; St. Theodore the Branded, brother of Saint Theophanes the Hymnograph

Proto-Martyr Stephen the Archdeacon

St. Theodore the Branded, brother of Saint Theophanes the Hymnographer

December 29th The Fourteen Thousand Infants Slain by Herod in Bethlehem

December 31st Venerable Melania the Younger of Rome; Gelasius the Monk

Venerable Melania

JANUARY

January 2nd Venerable Theodota, Mother of the Unmercenaries

January 3rd Prophet Malachi; Gordios of Caesarea

Prophet Malachi

Gordios of Caesarea

January 4th The Synaxis of The Seventy Holy Apostles

January 7th The Synaxis of the Honorable, Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John

January 8th Venerable George the Chozebite

January 11th Theodosius the Cenobiarch

January 20th Venerable Euthymius the Great

January 22nd Apostle Timothy of the Seventy; Venerable Martyr Anastasios the Persian

Apostle Timothy

Venerable Martyr Anastasios the Persian

January 26th Venerable Xenophon, His Wife Mary and Their Two Sons, Arcadius and John; Martyrs Ananias presbyter with Martyr Peter and seven soldiers in Phoenicia (284 - 305); St. Gabriel, abbot at Jerusalem (5th cen.); Symeon the Ancient

Venerable Xenophon, His Wife Mary and Their Two Sons, Arcadius and John

FEBRUARY

February 3rd Holy and Righteous Symeon the God-Receiver and Anna the Prophetess; Adrian and Eubulus, Martyrs at Caesarea

Holy and Righteous Simeon

ANNA the Prophetess

February 6th Barsanuphius the Great Elder and John the Prophet

Barsanuphius the Great Elder

The Holy Prophet, John

February 7th Mastridia of Jerusalem

February 8th Prophet Zechariah

February 10th Ennatha the Virgin-Martyr

February 13th Venerable Martinian of Caesarea

February 15th Apostle Onesimus of the Seventy

February 16th Martyr Pamphilus, Priest of Caesarea in Palestine and Those With Him

Valens the Deacon and Paul, Elijah, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Samuel, Daniel, Porphyrios, Seleucius, Theodoulus and Julian

February 19th Archippus, Philemon and Apphia of the Seventy; Conon of Penthoucia

Archippus, Philemon and Apphia

February 21st Zachariah, Patriarch of Jerusalem

February 26th St. Porphyrios, Bishop of Gaza; Great-martyr Photina the Samaritan Woman and Those With Her

St. Porphyrios, Bishop of Gaza

Great-martyr Photina (Photini) the Samaritan Woman and Those with her: Sisters Photida, Phota, Paraskeva, Anatolia and Kyriake, and Sons Victor and Josiah

February 27th Venerable Procopius the Confessor of Dekapolis

February 28th Venerable Basil the Confessor, Companion of Procopius of Dekapolis; Apostles Nymphas and Eubulus

Venerable Basil the Confessor

MARCH

March 4th Venerable Gerasimus; Martyrs Paul at Ptolemias in Syria and his sister Martyr Juliana

Venerable Gerasimus

March 5th Hieromartyr Conon of Isauria; Conon the Gardener; Eulogius and Eulampius the Martyrs

Hieromartyr Conon of Isauria

March 9th The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste.

March 11th Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem; George of Sinai

Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem

March 15th Apostle Aristobulus of the Seventy, First Bishop of Britain; Martyr Agapius of Palestine and those with him: Paisius, Alexander of Egypt, Alexander of Gaza, Romulus of Diospolis in Palestine, Timolaus of Pontus; Dionysius of Tripolis in Phoenicia, and another Dionysius; who were martyred in Caesarea of Palestine

Apostle aristobulus of the seventy

March 16th Venerable Christodulus the Wonderworker of Patmos

March 18th Archbishop Cyril, patriarch of Jerusalem

March 20th John, Sergius, Patrick and The Slain Fathers of the St. Saba Monastery

March 24th The Eight Martyrs of Caesarea

March 29th Mark, Bishop of Arethusa; Martyr Cyril the deacon of Heliopolis, and others who suffered under Julian the Apostate.

Mark, Bishop of Arethusa

Martyr Cyril the Deacon of Heliopolis and Others who Suffered under Julian the Apostate

March 30th Venerable John, Author of The Ladder (Also Fourth Sunday of Lent)

APRIL

April 1st Venerable Mary of Egypt

April 4th Zosimas the Presbyter

April 6th Gregory of Sinai (also 8 August); Two Martyrs of Ascalon

Gregory of Sinai

April 8th Holy Apostle of the Seventy Herodion

April 14th Apostles Aristarchus, Trophymos and Pudens of The Seventy

St. Aristarchus

St. Trophimus

April 18th Venerable John of the Old Lavra

April 20th Apostle Zacchaeus, Bishop of Caesarea; Venerable John of Old Lavra in Palestine; Anastasius, Abbot of Sinai

Apostle Zaccheos, Bishop of Caesarea

April 23rd Great-Martyr George, the Trophy Bearer; New-martyr George of Ptolemais (Gaza)

Great-Martyr George

April 25th Apostle and Evangelist Mark

April 27th Hiero-Martyr Symeon, the Kinsman of the Lord

April 29th Apostle Jason and Sosipater

April 30th Apostle James, brother of John the Theologian

MAY

May 1st Prophet Jeremiah

May 7th The Commemoration of the Apparition of the Sign of the Cross over Jerusalem (351 A.D.)

May 9th Prophet Isaiah

May 10th Apostle Simon the Zealot

May 17th The Apostles Andronicus and Junia of The Seventy

May 21st Equals-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine and his Mother Helen

May 26th Apostles Carpus and Alphaeus of the Seventy

May 29th Theodosia the Virgin-Martyr

JUNE

June 4th Mary and Martha, the Sisters of Righteous Lazarus; Zosimas of Mount Sinai

Mary and Martha, the Sisters of Righteous Lazarus

June 5th Dorotheus the Hieromartyr

June 6th Martyrs Mary, Martha, Cyria, Valeria and Marcia

June 11th Apostles Bartholomew and Barnabas

Apostle Bartholomew

Holy Apostle Barnabas of the Seventy

June 13th James the Ascetic

June 14th Prophet Elisha

June 15th Prophet Amos; Apostles Achaikos, Stephen and Fortunatus of the Seventy; Venerable jerome of Stridonium

Prophet Amos

Apostles Achaikos, Stephen and Fortunatus of the Seventy;

Venerable Jerome of Stridonium

June 19th Apostle Jude (Thaddeus), Brother of the Lord

June 27th Joanna the holy Myrrh-Bearer

June 29th The Holy, Glorious, and All-lauded Chiefs of the Apostles, Peter and Paul

Apostle Peter

The Great Apostle Paul

June 30th The Synaxis (or Congregation) of the Twelve Apostles; New-Martyr Michael

The Synaxis of the Twelve Apostles

JULY

July 2nd Juvenal, Patriarch of Jerusalem

July 4th Andrew, Bishop of Crete, Author of the Great Canon

July 12th St. Veronica, Who Was Healed By Our Lord

July 14th Apostle Aquila of the Seventy; Venerable Onesimus of Magnesia

Apostle Aquila of the Seventy

July 19th Theodore, Archbishop of Edessa

July 20th Prophet Elijah (Elias)

July 22nd Mary Magdalene, Myrrh-Bearer and Equal-to the-Apostles

July 23rd Prophet Ezekiel

July 28th The Holy Apostles of the Seventy and Deacons Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, and Parmenas

Deacon Prochorus

Timon of The Seventy

July 30th The Holy Apostles of the Seventy Silas, Silvanus (Silouan), Crescens, Epenetos and Andronikos

Apostle Silvanus

July 31st Righteous Joseph of Arimathea

AUGUST

August 1st The Maccabean Martyrs: Abimus, Antoninus, Gurias, Eleazar, Eusabonus, Alimus, Marcellus; their Mother Solomoni, and their Teacher Eleazar

August 6th The Transfiguration of Christ.

August 7th Hieromartyr Narcissus, Patriarch of Jerusalem; Our righteous Father Asterius the Wonderworker and St. Marinus the Soldier, who were perfected in martyrdom by the sword in Caesarea of Palestine

Hieromartyr Narcissus, Patriarch of Jerusalem

August 9th Apostle Matthias

August 13th Dorotheus of Gaza and Dositheus, Monk of Thawatha; Empress Irene; St. Eudocia the Empress (Athenaïs of Athens)

Dorotheus of Gaza and Dositheus, Monk of Thawatha

August 14th Prophet Micah

August 15th The Dormition of the Theotokos

August 17th The holy Martyrs Paul and Juliana his sister of Ptolemaïs in Palestine

August 20th Prophet Samuel

August 21st Apostle Thaddeus of the Seventy

August 24th Hieromartyr Eutychius, disciple of John the Theologian

August 25th Apostle Titus of The Seventy

 THE SERVICE FOR ALL THE SAINTS IN PALESTINE

 GLOSSARY

 SYNIKSARION Jerusalem Patriarchate

 REFERENCES

In memory of

My parents, V. Rev. Ibrahim & Hanneh

Khoury

My brother, V. Rev. Michael Khoury

My nephew, Ibrahim George Khoury

and

The New Martyrs of the Holy Land

In honor of

My sister, Mother Tamara

FORWARD

Here is a call from the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of god and the faith of Jesus (Rev. 14:12)

A few years ago, while visiting one of our parishes in this God-protected Archdiocese, I had the pleasure of meeting some of our Sunday School children on a Saturday morning. During my joyful dialogue with the children, one of them asked me: Who are the saints? Where do they come from? Where do they live? Some people, especially children, think that the saints have come to this earth from outer space; they are cosmic heroes and not human beings. In his Epistle, St. James, the first Bishop of Jerusalem, said: Elias was a man of like nature with ourselves, but prayed fervently… (5:17). Thus the saints did not come to this world from outer space. They were people like all of us, subject to suffering pain and all the problems of this broken world. But through their prayers, devotion and complete surrender to God, they transcended the boundaries of this fallen world to a higher level of spirituality and communion with God.

Therefore, when people ask, who are the saints? tell them they are special people who made the presence of God a reality in this world. God is glorified in the council of the saints. (Psalm 89:7). St. Paul wrote letters to the saints of Jerusalem and the saints of Corinth, etc. Those people were baptized into Christ and put on Christ. Thus, all who were baptized into Christ are called to be saints.

Our church is called the church of saints and martyrs. Those people who lived a sacrificial life and were not bound by the desires and pleasures of the flesh. As a matter of fact, they renounced everything, even their own lives. They accepted martyrdom cheerfully and willingly for Christ’s sake. They have witnessed to Christ with their own blood. For the greatest testimony to Christ is the testimony of blood. When you enter an Orthodox Church, you feel overwhelmed by the presence of the saints. The piety of the Orthodox Church is deeply rooted in the saints and martyrs. The question is: What does it take to become a saint? To reach a state of sainthood, we must take three main steps:

First and foremost is to love God. When a man came to Jesus, asking him, What shall I do to inherit eternal life? Our Lord said: You must love the Lord your God from all your heart, from all your mind and from all your soul, from all your strength and your neighbor as yourself (Matt. 19:16). That means it is not enough to love God fifty percent or seventy-five percent or even ninety-nine and a half percent, but one hundred percent. The second step is to confess him the way our Church did from Pentecost and throughout the ages. The apostolic and patristic teaching have been distorted to the extent that some so-called Christians today do not believe in the Incarnation and some do not believe in the Resurrection. We invite them to study the fathers and the teachings of the Seven Ecumenical Councils. We invite them to taste and see that the Lord is good" (Psalm 34:8).

The third step is to witness to Christ the way the saints and martyrs did by word and deed. Some day history will end and when Christ comes again in glory to judge the living and the dead, he is going to tell those who are on his right hand: I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink… For whatever you have done to the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me (Matt. 25:35).

Bishop Demetri’s book, Saints and Martyrs from the Holy Land, is a great contribution to our Orthodox religious library and all those who are interested in the lives of the saints. Bishop Demetri was fortunate to be born not far from the gates of the holy city of Jerusalem. He walked where Jesus walked and breathed the same air which Jesus breathed. He spent his childhood in the shadow of Bethlehem, Nazareth, Mount Tabor, Calvary and the empty tomb. Palestine is a land of prophets, apostles, saints, martyrs and church fathers. We commend Bishop Demetri for writing this volume and we recommend it to all readers, Orthodox and non-Orthodox alike.

+ Metropolitan PHILIP

Primate

The Self Ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America

PREFACE

A CLOUD OF WITNESSES

by

BISHOP DEMETRI (MATTA) KHOURY

What does it mean to be a saint? How do we benefit by reading the lives of the Christian saints? This book is the result of a five-year struggle to answer these questions. This project began back in the summer of 2001, when my dear sister, Mother Tamara, a nun at the Holy Ascension Convent in Jerusalem, presented me with a gift—a challenge. She pointed out that the stories of the saints of the Holy Land would be a helpful resource in a Christian’s struggle for faith. Then Mother Tamara looked me in the eye and asked me, "Why don’t you write that book, Saidna?"

Although I didn’t realize it when I began this work, researching and writing A Cloud of Witnesses took me on an amazing spiritual journey full of unexpected discoveries. This demanding project also required me to return to my own past, to the now-distant world of Taybeh, a tiny Palestinian community located only a few miles from the city of Ramallah in the very heart of the Holy Land.

This was the world in which my six brothers and sisters and I had grown up – the world of my father, Father Ibrahim Khoury, who had spent most of his adult life as a devoted priest of the Holy Orthodox Church. It was here, among the great shrines of Christianity and the holy monasteries of Jerusalem, Gaza, and Jericho that I spent my boyhood as a fervent child of the Holy Church over fifty years ago.

As a child, we had often accompanied my priest-father and my dear mother, Hanneh, on overnight visits to well-known monasteries that date back to the third and fourth centuries A.D. Among them were the monasteries of St. George the Chozevite, St. Gerasimos, and St. Sabas, located near Jerusalem. We had often visited such unforgettable shrines as the birthplace of Jesus in Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives, the site of the Garden of Gethsemane, and Mount Calvary, where Our Lord died on the cross in order to bring salvation to all of humanity.

When I traveled through this ancient and holy landscape fifty years later to conduct research for this book, I would be wearing the garb of a bishop of the Antiochian Orthodox Church. This would also prove to be a spiritual journey, one which would require me to grapple with the meaning of sainthood in the daily life of the Holy Church. Again I asked myself: What is the essence of that profound spiritual process in which a Christian becomes a saint?

As I traveled throughout the world of ancient Palestine and meditated on the nature of sainthood, I realized that learning about the lives of the saints helps us to better imitate the infinite righteousness of our Lord and Savior. St. Paul, himself, made this point in his letter to the Hebrews when he advised his fellow-Christians to study the lives of the ancient righteous, since they were witnesses who help those who strive to imitate the spiritual perfection of God:

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us (Hebrews 12:1).

As I explored the lives of the Holy Land saints, I saw that they provide us with wonderful examples of righteous living that can teach us a great deal. Who can read these stories of monks struggling for spiritual perfection in the deserts of Palestine without being inspired to worship God with the intensity of a holy monk like St. Euthymios the Great? Who can learn about the sufferings of a great Christian martyr like St. Cornelius, the valiant Roman Centurion who willingly died for Christ, without feeling a call to practice the courage that being a good Christian requires?

Moreover, these saints can become powerful intercessors before God. Since the Holy Church makes no distinction between the living and the dead, we may ask them to intercede for us. In the same way that we may say to a friend, Please pray for me, we can ask the great saints of the Holy Land to remember us in their prayers, and we can be confident that our request will be heard. Learning more about the lives of these saints will allow us to become better friends with them and will enrich our prayer life immeasurably.

I have tried to design A Cloud of Witnesses in a way that will be helpful for your spiritual growth. I’ve included tools such as a glossary, an index of names, and a bibliography of references. In addition, maps of the Holy Land as well as illustrations and photographs document key landmarks.

I’d like to suggest that one way to approach this book is simply to read one chapter each day (about fifteen minutes), slowly and thoughtfully. You might want to reflect on a few of the following questions:

How does the life of this particular saint embody the inner struggle for spiritual perfection that is an essential aspect of saintliness?

How did the saint achieve so much patience and forbearance and can we also count on receiving God’s patience when we prayerfully ask for it?

How can we challenge our assumptions and attitudes and grow in our understanding of holiness by reading the lives of the saints?

How can the lives of the prophets encourage our own willingness and courage to speak out against idolatry and unrighteousness in our world today?

How can we turn to the saints as intercessors with the Lord and grow in our ability to imitate the perfection of our Lord Jesus Christ?

As each Christian has his own unique spiritual journey, I invite you to use this volume as a personal resource, as a type of workbook to grow closer to the Lord and His saints.

I would personally like to thank the many scholars cited in the bibliography and the many people who helped with the research and technical assistance of A Cloud of Witnesses. Especially I am grateful to Tom Nugent for his editorial expertise. I’d also like to thank the V. Rev. John Morris, the Priest-Monk Seraphim Dedes, Deacon Jean El-Murr, Ioanna Clarke, Christopher Holwey, Lora Khoury, Linda Simon, Cathy Snyder, Dr. Chyrel Morris, Archimandrite Melatios Basal, the V. Rev. Nicholas Dahdal, and the V. Rev. Jacob Khoury. Each of these individuals supported the creation of this volume in their own unique ways.

As I look back on the five years of steady work that produced A Cloud of Witnesses, I am amazed by the extraordinary gifts of the spirit that began to emerge as I accepted the challenge not only of writing this book but more importantly of responding to the challenge that each of us is called to be a saint. The urgency of this call became very clear to me when Mother Tamara launched me on this spiritual quest through studying the lives of the saints; for this I am eternally grateful.

In spite of this book’s imperfections, I have replied in faith and love to Mother Tamara’s gift, We can do nothing without God’s help, but much is possible when the human spirit tries to work in concert with God’s will. In a small way, this book is my way of adding my voice to the cloud of witnesses that forever praise the glory of Almighty God. It is my hope that this book will be a source of blessing to you and will help you along the way of your own spiritual journey.

†D.M.K.

Miami, Florida, U.S.A

Pentecost Day, 2008

INTRODUCTION

According to the Church Fathers, a saint is simply a Christian who has received an immensely valuable gift from God—the gift of being able to strive toward the spiritual perfection of Jesus Christ. Although human beings are imperfect and can never hope to actually achieve such infinite perfection, a few individuals in each historical epoch managed through the grace of God to rise to such a level of spiritual holiness that they were canonized, formally declared to be saints. Canonization occurs when the Holy Church determines that the righteousness of a Christian’s life warrants this special elevation.

Only a very few human beings will ever achieve this sublime status in the life of the Church. Yet amazingly enough the New Testament calls upon each one of us to become saints! How? Simply by doing our very best, day in and day out, to meet the key test of sainthood by struggling to imitate the spiritual perfection of the Son of God.

The great saints of the Holy Land struggled to imitate the life of Christ, and in doing so their lives took many forms, depending on their individual temperaments and their local circumstances. The Holy Church recognizes these differences by classifying the various modes of sainthood in broad categories. The following list is taken from the Synaxarion of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

The Prophets were those valiant souls who predicted the eventual arrival of the Savior and who often risked their lives in order to warn the ungodly that their disobedience or denial of Almighty God would bring ruin to their world. Often these great saints paid for their willingness to serve as messengers of God with their lives.

The Apostles were the original disciples of Christ and were charged with directly disseminating the Gospel of Salvation both during and after the earthly life of Jesus Christ. Because the Holy Church flowed directly from the work of the Apostles, they occupy a special place in the hierarchy of saints. Among the lives of the Apostles, the story of St. Peter powerfully describes the human struggle of a very imperfect man who first denied even knowing Jesus: I tell you, I do not know the man! Peter uttered one of the most passionate and loyal phrases in the entire New Testament: "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You (John 21:17). Peter eventually died for him as a martyr, when he was crucified by Nero for preaching the Gospel in Rome in 68 A.D. St. Peter was so humble that he begged his captors to crucify him upside down, since he was not worthy" of dying in the same manner of his Lord and Savior.

The Martyrs were those saints who accepted death at the hands of the enemies of God as the price of challenging pagan idols and spreading the Good News of Salvation throughout the known world. Among the Holy Land saints who were awarded the crown of martyrdom, none looms larger than the very first Christian martyr, St. Stephen, the protomartyr. The victim of a slander campaign organized by the Jewish priests in the years immediately after Christ’s Ascension, St. Stephen was punished for preaching the Gospel openly in the streets. As his life trickled from his body, the remarkably courageous St. Stephen prayed aloud: Lord, do not charge them with this sin (Acts 7:60). He died beneath a hail of paving stones outside the gates of Jerusalem at the age of 30. According to the writings of the Church historian Asterias, he was the starting-point of the martyrs, the instructor of suffering for Christ, the foundation of righteous confession . . . and first to shed his blood for the Gospel.

The Church Fathers and Hierarchs were those saints who devoted their lives to leadership, defending Orthodoxy against the terrible dangers of heretical doctrines. They required another spiritual gift: patience. In this category is the story of St. Cyril and his many years of service as the Patriarch of Jerusalem (315-386 A.D.). For more than thirty years, the humble St. Cyril battled desperately against the increasingly powerful and dangerous heresy of Arianism. Because the Arians insisted that Christ was not part of God, but only a prophet, their doctrine represented a mortal danger to the truth of Orthodoxy. St. Cyril prevented this heresy from becoming part of Orthodox dogma. To accomplish that task, the struggling Patriarch desperately needed a sign from God – a symbolic manifestation in Jerusalem that would convince both the wavering Church Fathers and the Roman Emperor. Amazingly enough, that sign appeared in the skies above Jerusalem on Pentecost Day in the year of our Lord 351! While the astonished saint watched from his residence, a gigantic cross lit up the sky over the city for more than a week, stretching in an enormous arc all the way from the Mount of Olives to Mt. Calvary, the scene of Christ’s crucifixion. From that moment on, the people of Jerusalem understood that the Lord Himself had affirmed the wisdom of the patient patriarch, St. Cyril. The heresy was defeated, and the purity of the Church’s dogma was assured.

The Monastics were saints who lived austere lives of self-denial and rigorous labor designed to help them better imitate the perfection of Christ. The monks often lived for years at a time in isolated cells, or wandered endlessly back and forth across the deserts of the Holy Land, while eating nothing more than plants and herbs and sleeping in caves or on the bare ground each night. Beginning in the third century A.D., in the desert regions of the Holy Land that parallel the Jordan River and the Dead Sea, these austere and self-denying monks built the astounding world of the early Christian monasteries, establishing a tradition of worship that defines the very essence of Christianity. Among these God-fearing monastics was the great St. Sabas the Sanctified (526-553 A.D.), who established one of the oldest, largest, and most spiritually advanced monasteries in the history of the early Church about 20 miles from what is today modern Jerusalem. Along with Theodosius the Great, St. Sabas created a liturgical legacy that still stands as a foundation for Orthodox worship everywhere. An immensely self-disciplined man of constant prayer, this monk spent the last forty years of his life teaching other monks how to resist the temptations of pride and ego and to take enormous joy in such ordinary daily activities as shelling beans, weaving baskets, or growing honey in beehives on the monastery grounds.

The ranks of the Just include all those who lived public lives in the Holy Land, often among family and friends, but who nonetheless displayed so much righteousness that they touched the lives of those who surrounded them. For them duty to others proved to be a great virtue because their powerful sense of responsibility to other human beings characterized the inner life of the saints in this category.

While A Cloud of Witnesses does not chronicle the lives of all the saints of the Holy Land, this volume does include saints from each of the above categories. Obviously this is not the only book that presents the lives of these saints. What does make this particular volume different from other such books is the immediacy and directness of the presentation. The lives of the saints are not presented as mere factual summaries. Instead of encyclopedia entries, these are living stories of human beings struggling their way toward sainthood.

We are each called to be a saint! By remembering our calling and meditating on the meaning of the saints’ lives, we may become more intimate friends of these great saints who have truly lived their Christian faith. May the Lord help us to deepen our own understanding of the spiritual struggle that takes place within each of us and bless us with strength and courage to fight the good fight to His glory!

DMK

"All the saints through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, received promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and scourging, and even chains and imprisonment.

They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were killed with the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, ill-treated - of whom the world was not worthy - wandering over deserts and mountains and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though well attested by their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had foreseen something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfection of our faith. (Hebrews 11:33-40; 12:1-2)

THE SUNDAY OF THE PALESTINIAN SAINTS

The second Sunday after Pentecost

TROPARION

Tone 1

Let us honor the multitude of Saints in Palestine, who shone forth at different times, the Prophets, the Apostles and the Athletes, devout Monastics and Hierarchs and Ascetics, those whom we know and those who remain anonymous, and let us call out to them: Glory to Him who gave His might to you; glory to Him who placed a crown on you; glory to Him who leads the entire world to the light through you.

SEPTEMBER

SEPTEMBER 1ST

RIGHTEOUS JOSHUA, THE SON OF NUN

Joshua was one of the greatest military leaders in the Old Testament, and no wonder: He usually had God on his side! The story of how this formidable warrior and leader of the Israelites led the campaign that brought down the walls of Jericho and then directed the successful occupation of the Promised Land has thrilled generations of Bible-readers throughout the ages.

Born a lowly slave in the depths of Egypt, reportedly around 1550 B.C., this son of Nun in the Tribe of Ephraim was destined to become first the servant and then the successor of that mighty lawgiver, Moses. Joshua’s greatness as a leader of the Hebrew people was prefigured in his name, which is the Hebrew form of Jesus, and his military prowess first became evident during a fierce battle against the Amorites – when the legendary warrior received God’s help in preventing the sun from setting for several hours in order to win a huge victory.

But Joshua’s greatest gift to his people was probably his insistence (along with that of his fellow-soldier, Caleb) that the Hebrews should dare to leave the wilderness they inhabited and migrate to the Promised Land – a region then known as Canaan (now including Israel and the Palestinian territories) that God had reserved for them from the dawn of history. Dispatched to the area as a spy by Moses, his master, Joshua refused to accept the idea that the war-like tribes of this promising realm were undefeatable. Unlike the ten other spies who had been sent out to reconnoiter the area, Joshua and Caleb argued that the Hebrews should muster up the courage to settle there immediately, while trusting in the Lord to protect them from the powerful inhabitants.

The fearful Hebrews wouldn’t listen, however, and spent the next 38 years wandering helplessly in the desert until Joshua’s advice was finally heeded. What followed the decision to seek the Promised Land was an astonishing series of miracles, as God kept His promise to protect His flock. One of the most remarkable of these incidents occurred after Moses’ death, when Joshua had taken command of the army. As the Hebrews marched toward the home they yearned for, they came one afternoon upon the banks of the swollen Jordan River, near Shittim – and suddenly confronted a raging torrent. Fed by the spring rains, the surging Jordan appeared to be an overwhelming obstacle. But Joshua refused to give up his relentless quest of the Promised Land and ordered the priests of his tribe to immediately begin fording the turbulent river, while carrying the sacred Ark of the Covenant.

Once again, Joshua’s faith was rewarded. For no sooner had the feet of the priests touched the swirling currents than the waves retreated . . . forming giant walls of water that remained motionless, which allowed the Hebrews to cross on dry sand! (This astounding miracle closely resembled Moses’ earlier parting of the Red Sea.)

It was a stupendous achievement, but Joshua – whose Old Testament name means The Lord is salvation – wasn’t finished yet. As the Holy Scriptures relate, the next great challenge came before the towering walls of Jericho, where the great warrior’s army seemed to have been stopped dead in its tracks.

The chances of success seemed slim, but the faithful Joshua managed to prevail once again. After instructing his followers to carry the Ark around the walls for seven days, the fearless commander asked his squadron of trumpeters to send up a thunderous blast, while their companions called loudly upon the Lord for assistance. And Jericho was captured – when the mighty walls of stone came tumbling down without receiving a single blow! In the end, all the inhabitants were killed by the invading army – except for Rahab and her family, who were spared because they had earlier shown hospitality to Joshua’s spies. As the Book of Joshua would later tell the tale:

So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword. (Joshua 6:20-21)

The valiant character of Joshua can be observed in a fiery letter he sent to the rulers of Jericho shortly before battle. Written like poetry, the missive is full of praise for the God of the Hebrews . . . while also warning the mighty Emperors Shobach and Japhet that the sword of the Israelites will strike without mercy. According to a well-known, 19th-Century commentary on the Old Testament Book of Exodus (Shay Lamora), Joshua’s fiery letter read as follows:

"In the name of God, the exalted and powerful God of the children of Israel, Creator of all the worlds, who weakens the strong, and abases the powerful who are rebellious and hypocritical. He punishes sinners, and protects the just, the noble and the generous. He is the God of all gods, and Lord of lords. There is no master like him, nor any fit to worship beside him. He is the God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Lord of wars; God is his name.

"From me, Joshua, son of Nun, servant of God, may He be exalted, and from the holy congregation, pure and elect, of the children of Israel, the noble ones of the worlds, the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to the congregation of the wicked idolatrous peoples, may God curse them and be angry with them continually, Amen. We inform you that you have aroused the lion from its thicket, and the lioness from her drowsing, and brought great injury upon yourselves in your accursed congregation, wherein you have assembled against us and sent us an announcement.

"We want you to know that he has brought you to us, the pure and holy congregation, and your meeting with us is known to us. Therefore, be it known to you that I am going to do you a favor in not bothering you to come here to attack us. No, you can stay at home and remain at work, for one week from now I the undersigned will present myself to you, and I will bring along just a few men of the children of Israel, and we shall wage a fierce war with you with the help of God, may He be exalted. And we shall kill all your troops, young and old. We shall not return until we destroy you from this world, and not a single one of you will be left to tell the tale.

"Moreover, even though you number forty-five kings, and you boast of your soldiers that they are numerous and experienced, be it known to you that I and my congregation rely only on the Lord of the World, who created heaven and earth and everything in them, by whose command Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, and who brought the waters of the flood on the world because they were disobedient. Noah saved his children from the waters of the flood, and from them were descended all mankind who are in the world, and the globe was divided among seventy nations.

And we, the children of Israel, were made to pass through the middle of the sea to the number of 600,000 souls, and the sea became absorbent like the land. The light of God went before us in a pillar of cloud and fire, and 12,000 of us killed five kings of Midian. And we killed the sorcerer Balaam with the sword, and he was surely stronger than that Japhet on whom you rely. But we did not lose a single one of the children of Israel!

As many historians have pointed out, the valorous Joshua made good on all of the promises contained in his letter. After the fall of the ancient city, this great warrior for God led his people into the Promised Land and ruled them for many years. A wise father figure, the new ruler first divided their new homeland among the 12 tribes of the Hebrews, then wrote the Book of Joshua, which became the Sixth Book of the Old Testament. Joshua’s fierce loyalty appealed greatly to Moses, who permitted his friend to participate with him in the trek up Mount Sinai, where the great lawgiver would receive the Ten Commandments.

Joshua died at the ripe old age of 110, and was buried on Mt. Ephraim in the Palestinian region of Timnath Serah.

His magnificent life as a bold military commander and a wise ruler can teach us a great deal about the nature of true leadership, which always flows from the authority and the love of Almighty God. Often times when our pastor, teacher or some other figure we admire dies or moves on, we overreact. Because of our shock and our grief, we wind up thinking that everything is finished, and that the good things provided by such leadership cannot possibly continue. Yet, when Moses died, God’s purpose continued on in the life of Joshua. That’s because God and His plan and purpose are bigger than any one person or program.

God blesses those who follow Him!

From the life of Joshua, we can also see that faith usually doesn’t mean just sitting back and letting things happen for us.  Joshua put his faith into action.  Yet his faith was not an excuse for poor planning or hasty disorganization, either.  Instead, you often find him rising early in the morning to get started on another productive day. The Apostle Paul notes the value of this kind of careful, sustained determination to serve God in his letter to the church at Corinth: Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. (I Corinthians 9:24)

Joshua overcame numerous hurdles in leading the Israelites into the land of Canaan.  The Lord often rewards those with endurance, those who overcome.

Apolytikion in the Second Tone

As we celebrate the memory of Thy Prophet Joshua, O Lord, through him we beseech Thee to save our souls.

Kontakion in the Fourth Tone

At thy prayer, the sun stood still, O righteous Jesus; for thou rightly wast adorned both with the likeness and the name of Him at Whose death the sun grew dark. Ever entreat Him to save us who honour thee.

SEPTEMBER 3Rd

VENERABLE THEOCTISTUS, FELLOW-

FASTER WITH EUTHYMIUS THE GREAT.

St. Theoctistus was a devout Christian who lived in a monastery (or lavra) near Jerusalem and dreamed of becoming a desert ascetic. Somewhere in the second decade of the Fifth Century A.D., this fervent abbot (spiritual supervisor of a monastery) began to fast and pray in the desert wilderness of Coutila, not far from Jericho, with his spiritual mentor, St. Euthymios the Great – the founder and director of the highly influential lavra at Pharan. For many years, the two friends would periodically retreat to the sandy wastes to pray and fast through Great Lent. Eventually they discovered a cave in the Judean wilderness at Wadi Mukellik, near a roaring watercourse, that seemed like the perfect place to worship – and so they converted it into a church.

Before long the two wilderness devotees were known throughout the region as holy men who insisted on a starkly ascetic way of life that fed their mystical visions of the Christian God.

But when the followers of St. Euthymius flocked to his side in ever-growing numbers (they were brought to him by awestruck shepherds from Bethany), he fled once again into the surrounding desert, leaving the monastery in the care of his friend. One reason for the growing fame of St. Euthymius was the miraculous cure he provided for a mortally ill young man, Terebon, the son of the Saracen chief Aspebetus. St. Euthymius cured the youth by making the Sign of the Cross over him – in a ritual healing that brought many converts to Christ from the ranks of the Arabs. When news of the miracle spread, crowds of awestruck pilgrims flocked to the side of the devout monk and his friend, intent on learning everything they could about them.

Although St. Theoctistus preceded the arrival of the Holy Church’s Desert Fathers by two centuries, his ascetic way of life in the wilderness became a model of austerity and simplicity for the entire Church. In some areas of Palestine, these early ascetics formed small monasteries in which they ate little, prayed constantly, and spent their lives in reverent work. But other devotees preferred the much starker life of the desert hermit, and spent years at a time in isolation, far from the distractions of the cities.

For many of these fearless souls, the desert areas around the Dead Sea – a stark landscape near Jericho that features the lowest elevation on the entire earth (400 feet below sea level) – provided the perfect setting in which to dedicate oneself exclusively to the worship of God. As many commentators have noted, it was possible to wander for days at a time through the Palestine desert without coming upon another human being. Covered with thorny, waterless vegetation and punctuated here and there by vast tracts that contained nothing more than windblown sand, the world of the desert lacked almost every human comfort.

Living alone and without supervision, the desert hermits often deprived themselves of sleep, bathing, warm clothing and sexual intimacy. It was a stern, no-nonsense habit of life – and yet the men and women who embraced it almost invariably expressed enormous joy in sacrificing these things of the world and dedicating themselves entirely to prayer. Among these desert saints, few were more joyful, more full of prayerful thankfulness to God than humble Theoktistos, who is often described by historians of the period as a man who became cheerful and full of good spirits – whenever his duties allowed him to slip away into the barren wilderness of the Dead Sea flatlands, where he would wander about happily, engaged in endless spiritual devotions.

Today it is difficult to imagine the degree of self-denial embraced by saints like Theoctistus and Euthymius. Frequently living outdoors and eating wild herbs for sustenance, they slept on the earth in all kinds of weather and rarely sought the comfort of an ordinary dwelling. In spite of the incessant demands on his constitution from vigorous fasting and exhausting labor, however, St. Theoctistus lived to a very old age, and when he finally died around 450 A.D., the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Anastasios, traveled to the monastery to conduct his funeral service.

In many important ways, St. Theoctistus is said to have created and then formalized the role of the monk as part of the life of the Church. That role was born out of the unique relationship between the two men – a relationship in which the abbot Theoctistus trained aspirants to the monastic life at his own monastery, then sent them on to St. Euthymius for further training and discipline in the rigors of the ascetic life. This concept – one monastery for beginners and another for those who have reached spiritual enlightenment – eventually became a standard procedure in Eastern Christianity. And indeed, the pious St. Euthymios continued to send new candidates for his hermit’s refuge to St. Theoctistus for introductory spiritual counsel and training, all the way to the end of his own life.

The tradition of monastic inwardness that St. Theoktistos embodied long ago became a major strand in the tapestry that is traditional Christianity, and the Church would not be the same without the spiritual gifts that have flowed from the Desert Fathers. The life of this Holy Land saint provides shining testimony for the idea that Almighty God can sustain us much more richly and satisfyingly than mere food or drink or any other material goods of this world!

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone

In holiness consecrated unto God from thy youth, O wise Theoctistus, thou didst hate attachment to all things vain and corruptible. Hence, while shining brightly in divine prayer and stillness, thou wast a strict trainer of God-bearing monastics. And now, O blessed Father, do thou guide us who come to thee.

Kontakion in the Eighth Tone

Thou didst preserve the dignity of thy soul free of every stain, which, as God’s creature, thou wholly didst dedicate unto the Lord, O righteous one; and divinely enlightened, thou didst rise to the pinnacle of true godliness, O godly Theoctistus, confirming thy name in very deed.

SEPTEMBER 4Th

THE HOLY PROPHET MOSES THE GOD-

SEER; MARTYR HERMIONE, DAUGHTER

OF THE APOSTLE PHILIP THE DEACON

The Holy Prophet Moses the God-Seer

Like a new star suddenly blazing in the firmament, his name burst upon the ancient world in a flash of dazzling radiance: Moses.

The extraordinary life of this revered holy man – one of the greatest prophets to appear before the arrival of Christ – began somewhere around 1500 B.C., while his Hebrew people struggled in the anguish of slavery at the hands of the Egyptian Pharaoh. Moses was born to a man of the tribe of Levi, Amram, and his wife Jochebed, who had already been blessed with a son (Aaron) and a daughter (Miriam).

Like everything else in his life, the events surrounding Moses’ birth were nothing less than spectacular. He came upon the scene during a period in which the infant sons of the Hebrews were being systematically murdered by the Egyptians, and he would barely survive half a dozen close brushes with death, first as an infant and then as a youth growing up under the yoke of slavery in Egypt.

The dramatic story of Moses’ birth is well known but worth repeating. Soon after his arrival, his terrified mother realized that the Pharaoh’s brutal campaign of drowning every Israelite newborn in the Nile River would quickly end her baby’s life. Desperate for a way to save him, she hit upon an inventive plan. After hurrying down to the riverbank, she built a tiny boat by weaving bulrushes together and then daubing them with sticky pitch. Once the infant’s frail craft had been carefully assembled, she launched it upon the waters and prayed for the child’s safety. Meanwhile, the baby’s devoted sister Miriam watched from a hidden place, hoping to observe the outcome.

How could a helpless infant hope to survive such a journey along the mighty Nile? That question was answered by Providence – which made sure that the Pharaoh’s own daughter, accompanied by her handmaidens, would be bathing in the stream at the very moment when the escape-basket came floating by! Amazed by the child’s beauty and full of compassion, the Egyptian princess carried the child home. Miriam, watching carefully from her hiding place, did not fail to notice what had happened to her baby brother.

Once safely home with the babe, the princess began looking around for a wet nurse who could feed it. According to the great Jewish historian Josephus, however, that plan failed when the baby refused to accept milk from every Egyptian nurse who attempted to feed him. No matter how often the attempt was made, the squalling baby always refused to suckle at an alien breast!

At her wit’s end, the princess commanded Miriam (who had slipped into the palace in order to observe the treatment of her baby brother, after his miraculous escape): Go and summon a Hebrew woman! Miriam didn’t hesitate . . . and hurried straight home to recruit the child’s mother for the life-saving task. Immensely relieved when the Hebrew wet nurse finally appeared, the princess thrust the baby into Jochebed’s arms, while uttering the unforgettable command: Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages!

And so it began – the life of one of the world’s great prophets, who would actually be named by an Egyptian princess (Moses means drawn from the water). In the decades that followed, this obscure shepherd and son of a slave would become a major figure in the Old Testament, after leading the Israelites from enslavement to freedom in their own restored land. He would also take part in one of the greatest events in the long journey of God and man together: The dissemination of the Ten Commandments via the inscribed stone tablets that were presented to him on Mt. Sinai.

The destiny of Moses could be observed clearly a few years later, during an incident in which the father of the princess – the Egyptian Pharaoh, himself – placed a golden, idol-bearing crown upon his youthful head . . . and then watched in horror while the youth suddenly trampled it underfoot. Appalled by the incident, the Pharaoh’s priests urged him to have the child killed, while warning him that this behavior reminded them of an ancient Egyptian prophecy about an Israelite leader who would someday send terrible plagues upon the people of Egypt.

Was the threat real? To test the intelligence of the growing child, the Pharaoh’s advisors tricked him into swallowing red-hot coals. The incident left him with a lifelong speech defect; it was one of a hundred abuses he endured at the hands of his enemies. But the young man would not be denied his destiny.

Taught by some of the wisest scholars in Egypt, he soon began to surpass them in learning. Later still, after winning military fame by leading the Egyptians to victory over their Ethiopian enemies, he one day witnessed a Hebrew slave being beaten by his master. Moses quickly killed the abuser and buried him in the sand. But when news of his revolt reached the Pharaoh’s ears, Moses was forced to flee the country. For weeks at a time, he fled his pursuers like a solitary shadow. At last, arriving in distant Midian after many struggles, he settled down to what he hoped would be a peaceful, bucolic life.

But Moses could never tolerate ill treatment of those around him. All too soon, he became embroiled in another deadly quarrel – after he defended the daughter of the local priest, Jethro, against some bullying shepherds at a water-well.

Thrilled by the young man’s courage, Jethro permitted him to marry his daughter, Zipporah, and she eventually bore him two sons: Gershom and Eliezer. Moses settled into the life of a common shepherd, but destiny soon came calling again. One day as he wandered the harsh, hilly landscape, he was startled to see a large, tangled bush explode in flame. Transfixed, Moses watched the flames soar skyward, but without consuming the branches on which they fed.

Imagine his awestruck wonder, when a voice rumbled from the burning vegetation:

Moses, Moses!

Here I am!

Then He said, Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. Moreover He said, I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.

And the LORD said: I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. (Exodus 3: 4-10)

Stunned and half-paralyzed with fear, Moses stammered back: Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt? (Moses 3: 11) But the Lord had spoken; the die was cast. And it wasn’t long before Moses wound up standing in front of the Pharaoh, along with his brother, Aaron, and telling the amazed monarch: Let my people go!

What followed, of course, was a key moment in the