They Wounded
Friar Demetrius At First In The Breast, And Then Cut Off His Head.
In the
moment of the martyrdom of these holy men, the moon shone out with unusual
splendour, and the night became so exceedingly light, that all admired
greatly:
After which, it suddenly became excessively dark, with great
thunder and lightning, and violent coruscations, so that all expected to be
destroyed; and the ship, which ought to have carried away the friars, was
sunk, with all on board, so that no tidings of it were ever heard
afterwards.
In the morning, the kadi sent to take possession of the goods belonging to
the friars, and then friar Peter de Senlis, who had been left in charge of
the goods, was found, and carried before the kadi; who, together with the
other Saracens, promised him great things, if he would renounce the
Christian faith, and conform to the law of Mahomet. But friar Peter scorned
all their offers, and derided them: Whereupon they inflicted every species
of torment upon him, from morning until mid-day, which he bore with
patience and constancy in the faith, continually praising God and holding
out the belief in Mahomet to scorn and contempt. The Saracens then hung him
up on a tree; and, seeing that he bore this unhurt from the ninth hour till
evening, they cut him in two. In the morning after, when they came to look
for his body, no part of it was to be found. It was afterwards revealed to
a person worthy of credit, that God had hidden his body for a season, until
he should be pleased to manifest the bodies of his saints, and should shew
the souls of the saints, rejoicing together with GOD and his angels and the
saints, in bliss.
On the night following the martyrdom of these holy friars, they appeared to
the melich in a vision, glorious and resplendent like the noon-day sun,
each holding a sword on high, in a menacing posture, as if about to stab or
cut him in pieces. In horror at the sight, he cried out aloud, to the great
terror of his family, to whom he said, that these rabbis of the Franks,
whom he had ordered to be slain, had come upon him with swords to slay him.
The melich likewise sent for the kadi, to whom he communicated his vision,
seeking advice and consolation, as he feared to be slain by the martyrs.
And the kadi advised him to give large alms to their brethren, if he would
escape from the hands of those whom he had slain. Then the melich sent for
the Christians, whom he had thrown into prison, from whom he begged
forgiveness for what he had done, promising henceforwards to be their
companion and brother; and he ordained, that if any person in future should
injure a Christian, he should suffer death; and sending away the Christians
unhurt, each man to his home, the melich caused four mosques or chapels to
be built in honour of the four martyrs, and appointed Saracen priests to
officiate in them.
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