The life and sufferings of the reverend fathers Patermufius and Koprius and with them Alexander the Laity

On his way to Persia he shed much of the blood of the saints and, being in Antioch, seized two of the presbyters of Antioch, Eugene and Macarius, who, after prolonged torture, were exiled to Mauretania, into captivity.

At that time, two holy men lived in the Egyptian deserts, Patermufi and Kopriy; they were in complete agreement and served God together. Patermufi was older in years and more experienced in the heroic deeds of the monks and stronger in virtue, while Kopriy, the younger of the first, was not yet fully established in the monastic life and had in Patermufi his mentor and spiritual father.

And before they were put to the torture, Cyprian told Patermutius the vision which he had seen in a dream by night, saying, I saw the heavens opened, and a man of white, and he came to me with a staff in his hand; and behold, there came a black man from the other side, and he kindled fire, and spread smoke round about him.

And the black man stretched out his hand, and took me; and I was in a great distress, and in the midst of the smoke, and the danger was on every side; and the bright man departed from me.

"This dream is not good", said Patermutius. "I am afraid that you may turn away from the living God. See, the criminal emperor Julian denied Christ and began to persecute the Church of God. I think we will also be persecuted.

And it came to pass after this vision, that Julius the emperor came with a great army into Egypt, and when he heard that there were many desert men in the deserts of Egypt, he sent soldiers to take all that they could find, and took the fathers, Patermutius and Cyprius, and brought them to the torturer, and asked him, How old are you, old man?

Seventy-five years of my life on earth have passed, and the emperor looked at Cyprian and said, "Tell me, young man, how old are you?" Cyprian said, "I am forty-five years old". Then the emperor ordered that the old man Patermius be taken into custody, and he left Cyprian and said to him:

Flee from the evil that awaits you, man. Flee from the false religion, which is useless. If I had believed in Christ before, I would have seen no benefit from it. But now I hope for many more blessings.

And he said unto Julian, Thou teachest me good things, O king: it is good that I have found in thee a good teacher and a good teacher. Then he cried with a loud voice, From henceforth I am a disciple of Julian, and not a Christian, and as I was formerly deceived, being in the false faith of Christianity, so now will I try to make it right. I worship the gods and offer sacrifice.

When the emperor heard this, he was very glad and said, "Blessed is the man who has found the gods of the ancients and who gives life to the world". When he had said this, he bowed down and offered sacrifices to the god Apollo, and after turning from his religion he became a devil. The holy angels left him, and the demons surrounded him with joy.

When St. Patermutius heard that Cyprian had deserted Christ, he was greatly distressed, wept and wept for him, and, kneeling, prayed thus: "O Lord, God Almighty, do not destroy the sinner who has transgressed Your commandments. Remember the labors of his youth, which he did for Your love, and do not reject him from Your presence, for he is deceived by the words of the sinner. Have mercy on Your creation and avenge the work of Your anointed.

When the emperor was seated on his throne in the morning, and Coprius stood beside him on his right hand, wearing a purple robe. When Patermutius was brought for questioning by the emperor's order, Coprius, seeing him, said: "Here comes the impostor who has deprived me of my happiness". When the elder came to the court, Coprius shouted to him: "What, Patermutius? You see, I am glad, and you have to weep. I am no longer a Christian, but a follower of Julian".

"Yes, I see that you are glad, and therefore I weep for you". Then the emperor said to the old man, "Do not weep, but sacrifice to the gods and rejoice with them". Patermutius answered, "His joy is temporary. Now he rejoices, and in the next life he will weep, if he does not repent. I weep now, but I will rejoice in the next life. He glories here in purple, and there he will be naked; now he is full, and in the next life he will be hungry.

I am thirsty now, and in the life to come I shall be satisfied when the glory of my God appears. Now he, the king of the earth, will be among your servants with glory, and there from the presence of the King of heaven he will be cast out and cast into the fiery hell with the demons.

You have hated the true and eternal life, but you have loved the temporary and false. But remember the deeds of your youth, come to your senses, turn from the error to which you have been led, and come to me, my son. Love God again and repent before Him before whom you have sinned, and He will accept you and forgive you your sins in His mercy. When the old man said these words, Copris was moved in his heart and, repenting, he cried out loudly: 'Woe to me, woe to me, woe to me!'

Then he wavered from one side to the other, and then he lifted up his spirit and looked up to heaven and said, "I am no longer a Julian, but a Christian. I have sinned in disobeying God's command, and I have sinned in disobeying my Lord, but in this is Your mercy, O Lord, when You have mercy on me who have committed such a great sin. Be merciful to me, O Lover of mankind".

For I am become a dead tree, and my leaves are withered; the words of the wicked have made me to stumble, and the whirlwind of the devil hath overwhelmed me; the serpent laugheth at me, and the serpent's face rejoiceth at me; the stars of the heavens tremble, the sun and the moon hide their light, because of the greatness of my transgression.

But you, angels of God, and faces of the righteous, and inhabitants of the whole world, assemble yourselves together and mourn my fall and the darkness of my mind, for I have lost Christ, the sun of truth, and the light of faith has been extinguished in me, all spiritual beauty has been taken from me.

(Luke 15:19) When the emperor saw that Cyprian had once again converted to Christ, he was enraged and immediately ordered a large iron pan to be heated.

"You do well, Emperor. Burn me, cut me to pieces, that I may make amends for my fall with many pains. But first of all, execute my tongue, for it has sinned first in denying Christ". Then the emperor ordered a small iron spoon to be heated and put it on the tongue of Cyprus.

"Pray for me to God, father, for I am terrified at the thought of my torment". The old man said to him, "Be patient, my son, with joy, and the Lord will help you". And when the spoon touched the tongue of Cyprian, it seemed to the mind cold as ice, and the tongue of Cyprian was not burned at all. Then the emperor said, "These men are magicians, lead them to the fiery pan". When they were brought, Cyprian said to the old man,

"Pray for me, my master, for I am very much afraid of torment". The old man said, "Do not be afraid, my son, but be strong, and remember your childhood in the desert, your fasting and labor, which you courageously undertook for the glory of God. Do you remember how you fasted for thirty-five days? Do you also remember how, when Christ was crucified, you stood motionless for twelve days with your hands stretched out in the form of a cross?

Have you not forgotten how you lay upon hard stones and sharp skulls? If all these things in your life you willingly endured for Christ's sake, why are you afraid now of this torment that lasts only one hour?

I see angels coming and going with dew on their heads. I beg you, Father, tell them not to be angry with me because I have denied Christ.

And when they had made the oven hot, Alexander, a centurion of the king's army, came to Cyprian, and said,

"Copris, you have been offering sacrifices to the gods, and now you do not want them. Turn again to us, save yourself from destruction in the fire. " St. Copris answered him:

"Oh, if my first sin against Christ were forgotten before God, if all the waters of the sea and all the rivers and all the springs and all the drops falling from heaven were collected, all this would be little to wash away the stain of my sin. Yet I do not despair of the mercy of my human-loving Lord". Alexander, appeased by the words of Cyprian, said, "I too would like to be a soldier of the king you serve".

And when the furnace was melted to a bright flame, and the holy martyrs were brought into it, Alexander followed them, saying, I will go with you, holy fathers, take me for Christ into the furnace.

And they took him in their hands, and went together; and Alexander escaped out of their hand, and went on before them alone. And when they came near to the entry of the furnace, there came out a great cluster of fire out of the furnace, but it did not burn him. And Alexander said to the flame, If thou art come forth by the commandment of God to burn me, burn the sinner.

And when he had said this, the flame was divided in two, and became two walls, as the waters of the Red Sea, and opened a way for him in the midst of it. And Alexander went into the midst of the furnace, untouched by the flame, and saw the angels of God, and said unto them, I pray you, my lords, deliver me from this sinner.

And they delivered his soul unto the Lord, and his body was burned up, and after him entered the holy fathers, Patermutius and Cyprius, who were not also hurt by the fire, and stood by the body of Alexander, praising God.

When the furnace was extinguished, the saints were brought to the emperor alive and unharmed, and the body of St. Alexander was also brought out unharmed by the fire, and a great odor came from it.

And the king was wroth, and commanded them to be cut off with the sword; and the saints were brought out of the city into the place of confinement; and they prayed to God before they died, and behold, a voice came from heaven praising Patermophia, and forgiving Cyprian, and calling them both to everlasting rest.

And the wicked Julian, who went to war with the Persians, was defeated by the Persians, and, as St. Patermutius had foretold, did not return to his own land.

The death of the holy martyrs Patermutius and Cyprian, and with them of St. Alexander, followed on the ninth day of the month of June [The death of the holy martyrs Patermutius and Cyprian followed in the second half of the fourth century.] At that time the lawless Julian reigned over the Romans, and over the Christians <unk> our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom also belong honor, glory and power, now and forever and ever. Amen.

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