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St Peter Seal of the Martyrs The Martyrdom of St. Peter, the Seal of the Martyrs, 17th Pope of Alexandria
1. St. Peter the Jeromartyr-17th Pope
Martyrdom in Christianity
Monasticism (Sts. Antonius & Pula)
Church History-3d. Century
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2. St. Peter the Seal of Martyrs
17th Pope of Alexandria
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3. St. Peter the Seal of Martyrs
17th Pope of Alexandria
Short Biography:
+ The only son of two Christian parents
(Theodosios and Sofia) from Alexandria
+ He was elected to be the 17th Pope in 285
AD
+ Maximian ordered the arrest of St. Peter
in 311 AD
+ The revolt of the Christians
+ St. Peter beheaded in Policalia (where
St. Mark..)
+ The Christians took his body to St.
Mark’s Church
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4. St. Peter the Seal of Martyrs
17th Pope of Alexandria
God’s purpose in St. Peter’s Life:
+ His mother’s prayers (Sts Peter& Paul
appeared in dream)
+At age 7, was taken to Pope Theona to be
his son
+ Story of Socrat & Sarah of Antioch, she
baptized her 2 sons on way to Alexandria
+ St. Peter’s prayer; he wanted to sacrifice
himself to spare his people
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5. St. Peter the Seal of Martyrs
17th Pope of Alexandria
Achievements during St. Peter’s Life:
+ Lived during the Arian heresy period;
did his best to defend the true faith
(vision and its convey to Achelaos and
Alexandros who succeeded him)
+ During 4th year of Diocletian’s
persecution, St. Peter passed special
rules dealing with repentant apostates.
One of those rules dealt with the one
Baptism
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6. St. Peter the Seal of Martyrs
17th Pope of Alexandria
Main Events during the third century:
+ Beginning of the most terrible persecutions of
Christians; ordered by Diocletian; lasted for
10 years; 800,000 Copts martyred
+ Diocletian intended to continue his
persecution until Christians' blood flows to
his horse’s knees
+ Coptic Church started AM calendar
considering Diocletian’s reign as its
beginning (284 AD)
+ End of Christian persecution; Constantine
issued Milan’s decree in 313 AD for religious
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8. Motives of Martyrdom
• World is limited as compared to eternity; 2Cor 4:17,
1John 2:17
“For our light affliction, which is but for a
moment, is working for us a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory” 2Cor
4:17
“And the world is passing away, and the lust
of it; but he who does the will of God abides
forever.” 1 Jn. 2:17
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9. Motives of Martyrdom “Cont’d”
• Christians are strangers to this world;
1Peter 1:17, Hebrews 11:13, 2Cor 5:6-8
“These all died in faith, not having
received the promises, but having seen
them afar off were assured of them,
embraced them, and confessed that
they were strangers and pilgrims on the
earth” Hebrews 11:13
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10. Motives of Martyrdom “Cont’d”
• In life there will be tribulations;
John 16:33, Rev 21:4
“In the world you will have
tribulation; but be of good cheer,
I have overcome the world” John
16:33
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11. Motives of Martyrdom “Cont’d”
• Death will lead to glory; John 12:24-
25, Romans 8:17-18, 2Tim 2:11
“For I consider that the sufferings of
this present time are not worthy to be
compared with the glory which shall
be revealed in us” Romans 8:18
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12. Persecution History
• 1st Martyr in Christianity is St. Stephen; Acts
8:1-3 then Christ’s followers and disciples;
Acts 9:1.
• Martyrdom continued through the 10 Roman
emperors from Nero to Diocletian
• They were martyred for the sake of faith,
purity and dogma
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14. Evaluating Martyrdom
“Desire”
+ They offered themselves to die
for Christ refusing chances to
escape.
+“And others were tortured, not
accepting deliverance” Hebrews
11:35
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15. Evaluating Martyrdom “Cont’d”
“Evangelizing”
+ Martyrs endurance for torturing
attracted many to the Christian faith
+The blood of martyrs is the seed of the
church; “Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless a grain of wheat falls into the
ground and dies, it remains alone; but
if it dies, it produces much grain”
John12:24
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16. Evaluating Martyrdom
“Cont’d”
“Courage”
+ No fear in Christ
+“stopped the mouths of lions,
quenched the violence of fire…”
Hebrews 11:33-34
+Those who were tortured were more
courageous than those who tortured
them – Cyprian the Bishop
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17. Church History-3d. Century
Famous Martyrs of 3d Century: Martyrdom Synexarium
+ St. George the Roman 307 AD 23
Bermuda/May1
+ St. Theodor of Shotep 220 AD 20
Apip/Aug 26
+ St. Theodor El-Meshriki 306 AD 12 Tuba/ Jan 21
+ St. Philopateer Mercurius 250 AD 25 Hatur/ Dec 4
+ St. Demiana End of 3d/Begin of 4th 13
Tobi/Jan22
+ St. Mari Mina 15 Hatur/Nov24
+ St. Boctor (Victor) ebn-Romanos 27
Barmoda/May5
+ St. Claudius (friend of Boctor) 11 Paona/
Jan 18
+ St. Abaskhirun of Qalin 7 Paona/ June 14
+ St. Justus, son of Emperor Numarius 10 Amshir/Feb 17
+ St. Theoklia, wife of Justus 11 Bashans/May 19
+ St. Bachus (friend of Sergius) 4 Baba/ Oct
14
+ St. Sergius 10 Baba/ Oct 20
+ St. Cosma, Demianus, thier brothers and mother 22 Hatur/Dec 1
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Synaxarium-29th of Hatour:
1. This day marks the martyrdom of St. Peter, 17th Pope of Alexandria and the seal of the martyrs. His father was the archpriest of Alexandria and his name was Theodosius and his mother's name was Sophia. They were God-fearing people and they had no children.
On the fifth day of the Coptic month of Abib, the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul, his mother went to church where she saw other mothers carrying their children. She was exceedingly sorrowful and she wept. She besought our Lord Jesus Christ with many tears, to grant her a son. That night, Peter and Paul appeared to her and told her that the Lord had accepted her prayers and that He would give her a son, and to call him Peter. They commanded her to go to the Patriarch, to bless her. When she woke up, she told her husband about what she saw and he was exceedingly glad. Then she went to the father, the Patriarch and told him about what she saw and asked him to pray for her. He prayed and blessed her.
Shortly after, she gave birth to this saint and called him Peter. When he was 7 years old, they gave him to Pope Theonas, as was done with Samuel the prophet and he became as a son to him. He placed him in the theological school where he received his education and excelled in preaching and counseling. He then ordained him as a reader, then as a deacon, and shortly after as a priest. He relieved the Pope of many church administrative duties.
Before Pope Theonas' departure, he recommended that Abba Peter be his successor. When he was enthroned on the See of St. Mark, the church was enlightened by his teachings.
It came to pass in the city of Antioch, that a man of high authority had agreed with Diocletian the Emperor, to return to paganism. That man had two children and because of him, their mother could not baptize them there. Therefore, she took them to Alexandria. On her way there, the sea was troubled by a violent storm and she was afraid that her two sons would drown and die without being baptized. She therefore dipped them in the sea three times saying, "In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit," then she cut her breast and with her blood made the sign of the Holy Cross over their foreheads.
Eventually, the troubled sea calmed down and she arrived safely to Alexandria with her sons. On the same day, she brought them to be baptized. Whenever, the Patriarch, St. Peter tried to baptize them, the water would solidify as stone. This happened three times. When he questioned her, she informed him of what had happened to her at sea. He marvelled and praised God saying, "That is what the church proclaims, that it is one baptism." Therefore, the baptism she performed in the sea was accepted by the Lord.
Also in the days of this Pope, Arius the heretic appeared and St. Peter advised him several times to turn from his wicked thoughts, but he would not hearken to him. Consequently, he excommunicated him and prevented him from the fellowship of the church.
Arius contacted Emperor Maximianus, the infidel, and reported to him that Peter, the Patriarch of Alexandria, incited the people not to worship the gods. The Emperor was outraged and he sent messengers with orders to cut off his head. When they arrived in Alexandria, they attacked the people and destroyed most of the cities of Egypt. They robbed all their valuables, their women and children. In total, about 840 thousand of them were killed, some with the sword, some with starvation and some with imprisonment. Then they returned to Alexandria and captured the father, the Patriarch, and imprisoned him.
When the people heard about their shepherd's arrest, they gathered in front of the prison door and wanted to save him by force. The officer in charge of his slaying was worried that the general peace would be disrupted, so he postponed the execution till the next day. When the saint saw what had happened, he wanted to deliver himself to death for his people, for he feared what might happen to his flock. He wished to depart and be with Christ, without causing any disturbances or troubles. He sent for his people and he comforted them and advised them to adhere to the true faith.
When Arius, the infidel, learned that St. Peter was departing to be with the Lord, leaving him under the band of excommunication, he entreated him, through the high priests, to absolve him. St. Peter refused and told them that the Lord Christ had appeared to him this night in a vision, wearing a torn robe. St. Peter asked Him, "My Lord, who rent Your robe?" The Lord replied, "Arius has rent My robe, because he separated Me from My Father. Beware of accepting him." After this, St. Peter summoned the Emperor's messenger in secret and advised him to dig a hole in the prison's wall on the side where there were no Christians. The officer was amazed at the bravery of the father and he did as he commanded him. He took him out of prison secretly and brought him outside the city, to where the tomb of St. Mark the evangelist, Egypt's evangelist. There, he kneeled down and asked the Lord, "Let the shedding of my blood mark the end of the worship of idols and be the end of the shedding of the blood of Christians." A voice came from heaven and was heard by a saintly virgin who was near that place. It said, "Amen. May it be to you according to your wishes." When he finished his prayer, the swordsman advanced and cut off his holy head.
The body remained in its place until the people went out hurriedly from the city to the place where he was martyred, because they did not know what had happened. They took the pure body and dressed it in the pontifical clothes and seated him on the seat of St. Mark, which he refused to sit on during his life. He used to say that he saw the power of God sitting on the Chair and therefore, he did not dare to sit on it.
Then they placed his body with the bodies of the saints. He occupied the throne of St. Mark for 11 years.
His prayers be with us. Amen.
The following is excerpted from Fr. Tadros Malty’s book on Dictionary of the Church Fathers, her Saints and some ecclesiastical personalities (1986 in Arabic,p23):
10 Persecutor Emperors: Reign Period
Nero 54-68 AD (Fire of Rome;64 AD)
Domitian 81-96 AD
Trajan 96-117 AD
Marcus Aurelius 161-180 AD
Septimus Severus 193-211 AD
Maximus (Al-Torathy!) 235-238 AD
Decius 249-251 AD
Valerian 253-260 AD
Aurelian 270-275 AD
Diocletian and his co-emperor Maximianus 284-312 AD
It should be noted that any of those emperors may have persecuted the Christians from time to time during his reign. However, the governors in the different parts of the empire practiced persecution according to their own desires. The fiercest persecution took place during Diocletian’s reign (that is why the Copts started their Anno Martyri, the calandar of the martyrs, with the beginning of his reign). During his reign three of his governors in Egypt were most famous for their tactics of torture to the extent that many of the governors in other areas of the empire sent the Christians to be tortured at their hands. The three were:
Ariana (Arianus) ,governor of Ansena (present day Mallawi). He ended by accepting Christianity and was martyred.
Armanius, governor of Alexandria
Pompius, governor of Elfarama at the north-west of Egypt
Synexariun of Hatur 25: On this day, St. Mercurius, known as the saint with the two swords (Abu-Saifain), was martyred. He was born in the city of Rome. His parents were Christians and they called him Philopateer (which means "Lover of the Father"). They reared him in a Christian manner. When he grew, he enlisted in the army during the days of Emperor Decius, the pagan. The Lord gave Philopateer the strength and the courage, for which he earned the satisfaction of his superiors. They called him Mercurius and he grew very close to the Emperor.
When the berbers rose up against Rome, Decius went out to fight them, but when he saw how many they were, he became terrified. St. Mercurius assured him saying, "Do not be afraid, because God will destroy our enemies and will bring us victory." When he left the Emperor, an angel appeared to him in the shape of a human being, dressed in white apparel. The angel gave him a sword saying, "When you overcome your enemies, remember the Lord your God." (That is why he is called, "of the two swords", "Abu-Saifain", one is the military sword and the other is the sword of the divine power).
When Emperor Decius conquered his enemies and Mercurius came back victorious, the angel appeared to him and reminded him of what he told him previously, that is, to remember the Lord his God.
Decius, and his soldiers with him, wanted to offer up incense to his idols and St. Mercurius tarried behind. When they informed the Emperor of what had happened, he called St. Mercurius and expressed his amazement at his abandoning of his loyalty to him. The Emperor reprimanded him for refusing to come and offer incense to the idols. The Saint cast his girdle and his military attire down before the Emperor and said to him, "I do not worship anyone except my Lord and my God Jesus Christ." The Emperor became angry and ordered him to be beaten with whips and stalks. When the Emperor saw how the people of the city and the soldiers were attached to St. Mercurius, the Emperor feared that they might revolt. So instead, he bound him in iron fetters and sent him to Caesarea where they cut off his head. He thus completed his holy fight and received the crown of life in the kingdom of heaven.
His intercession be for us and Glory be to our God forever. Amen.
