Kontakion in Tone 4
Today the radiant feast of the passion-bearers Arethas
and his companions
comes to us as a herald of joy;
as we celebrate it we glorify the Lord on high.
The Martyr Arethas
(al-Haarith)
and with him 4299 Martyrs suffered for the Lord Jesus
Christ in the sixth century.
Arethas was governor of the Christian city of Negran in Arabia. The Arabian/Omirite king, Dunaan, who was Jewish, decided to
eliminate Christianity from the land. He issued an edict that all followers of
Christ were to be put to death.
The
modern day conflicts in the Middle East appear to be an extension of the
troubled times of Arethas, forever associated with the martyrs of the city with
the typical Middle Eastern name of Negran. At a time when the empire under
Justin in the sixth century was relatively calm, the extreme eastern sector now
known as Yemen was near chaos with Christian minorities caught in an unrest not
of their own doing, culminating in a reign of terror that for them was a deja'vu
of persecution and injustice. The terrorism of today is matched by the treachery
with which Arethas and his like had to contend well over a thousand years ago.
Because the inhabitants of Negran remained faithful to the Lord, Dunaan came
with a large army to destroy the city. At the city walls of Negran the king's
heralds announced that Dunaan would only spare those who renounced the Crucified
Galilean and His Cross, as a "sign of malediction."
Not
daring to assault the Christian city by force, Dunaan resorted to chicanery.
Dunaan swore that he would not force the Christians into Judaism, but would
merely collect a tribute from Negran. The inhabitants of the city would not heed
the advice of St. Arethas, and putting their trust in Dunaan, they opened the
city gates.
The
very next day Dunaan gave orders to light an immense fire and throw into it all
the clergy of the city in order to frighten the rest of the Christians. 427 men
were burned. He also threw the governor Arethas and the other chief men into
prison. Then the oppressor sent his messengers through the city to convert the
Christians to Judaism. Dunaan himself conversed with those inhabitants brought
from the prisons, saying, "I do not demand that you should renounce the God of
heaven and earth, nor do I want you to worship idols, I want merely that you do
not believe in Jesus Christ, since the Crucified One was a man, and not God."
The
holy martyrs replied that Jesus is God the Word, the Second Person of the Holy
Trinity, Who for the salvation of mankind was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and
the Virgin Mary. Those suffering said, "We shall not abjure Christ, since He is
Life for us. To die for Him is to find Life." More than four thousand
Christians, men, women, both the aged and children, from the city of Negran and
surrounding villages accepted martyrdom for Christ.
The
Askumite Ethiopians, long since Christianized, had a somewhat tenuous hold over
this troubled region but the little peace that was at hand was shattered over the
rise of a man named Dunaan, converted from who-knows-what to a professed
Judaism. Exhorting a rabble, undisciplined to take over the entire area, he led
a motley array of brutes against the city of Zafar, which was laid waste after
the slaughter of its tiny garrison and all its clergymen. Flushed with his
success, he turned to Negran, which at that time was predominantly Christian.
Its leading figure was the devout Arethas whose devotion to Christ was matched
by his courage and resolve.
Unable to penetrate the defenses of a city so nobly inspired by the gallant
Arethas, the treacherous Dunaan, the wily enemy of Christ, pretended to seek a
truce and led a contingent under the banner of peace into the very presence of
Arethas, who was disarmed by the convincing manner of a rabble leader, to the
point where he agreed to allow his enemies to enter the city as friends and live
in peace if they chose to remain. The forces of Dunaan were thus admitted
peacefully but at a given signal they proceeded to lot and plunder, all the
while killing the wholly unsuspecting Christians.
Saint Arethas and his family became victims of this perfidy and were dragged
before the conqueror who made a gesture to spare them providing they would join
forces with him. Arethas refused not only because of his faith in Christ but
because he had no faith whatsoever in so vile a captor. Forced to witness the
execution of his own daughters, Arethas, together with his wife, was thereafter
beheaded and it is estimated that in the carnage of that infamous day in 523 as
many as 4,000 Christians were put to death.
The
horrible fate of Arethas and his fellow Christians of Negran sent shock waves
throughout the civilized world but it was some time before the exiled King Elesbaan was ordered by the emperor to return to the area he had once ruled and
recapture the city of Negran. Preparations on both sides were extensive, but
when the battle was joined the exiled king prevailed and the long lost city
regained. The Askunite King Elesbaan did not wreak the terrible vengeance due
the enemies of Christianity but in the spirit of Arethas, was merciful in
conquest. The historian Alban Butler recorded that the King, "having by divine
blessing defeated the tyrant, made use of his victory with great clemency and
moderation."
It
is interesting to note that Mohammed makes mention of the Negran slaughter in
the Koran, not only deploring the incident but consigning the aggressors to hell
as well. With Christianity once more restored, a bishop was assigned to Negran
by the Patriarch of Alexandria who held services in memory of the martyrs. In
due course Arethas was formally made a saint, together with those who died with
him. The spirit of Christianity seemed to have hovered over the city even when
in captive hands, and the mood of the departed Saint Arethas was captured by the
king who ruled for a time but eventually convinced those about him that his
destiny lay elsewhere.
As
a footnote to the story of Saint Arethas and his martyrs, it needs to be said
that Elesbaan took leave of his office at the helm of Yemen and after donating
his jewel encrusted crown to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, he
entered a monastery for the remainder of his days. With a quiet dignity he
applied himself solely to the work of the Lord as a humble monk. After a long
service to God and man, he was finally put to rest and thereafter to join Saint
Arethas in the company of the saints.
Orthodox
Saints Vol.03 by George Poulos.
© Copyright 1991
Holy Cross Orthodox Press,
Brookline, Massachusetts. Telephone: 617.731.3500.
Used with permission.
