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AMONG so many remarkable events which occurred during the reign of
Julian, I must not omit to mention one which affords a sign of the
power of Christ, and proof of the Divine wrath against the emperor.
Having heard that at Caesarea Philippi, otherwise called Paneas, a
city of Phoenicia, there was a celebrated statue of Christ which had
been erected by a woman whom the Lord had cured of a flow of blood,
Julian commanded it to be taken down and a statue of himself erected in
its place; but a violent fire from heaven fell upon it and broke off
the parts contiguous to the breast; the head and neck were thrown
prostrate, and it was transfixed to the ground with the face downwards
at the point where the fracture of the bust was; and it has stood in
that fashion from that day until now, full of the rust of the
lightning. The statue of Christ was dragged around the city and
mutilated by the pagans; but the Christians recovered the fragments,
and deposited the statue in the church in which it is still preserved.
Eusebius relates, that at the base of this startle grew an herb which
was unknown to the physicians and empirics, but was efficacious in the
cure of all disorders. It does not appear a matter of astonishment to
me, that, after God had vouchsafed to dwell with men, he should
condescend to bestow benefits upon them.
It appears that innumerable other miracles were wrought in different
cities and villages; accounts have been accurately preserved by the
inhabitants of these places only, because they learned them from
ancestral tradition; and how true this is, I will at once show.
There is a city now called Nicopolis, in Palestine, which was
formerly only a village, and which was mentioned by the divine book of
the Gospel under the name of Emmaus. The name of Nicopolis was
given to this place by the Romans after the conquest of Jerusalem and
the victory over the Jews. Just beyond the city where three roads
meet, is the spot where Christ, after His resurrection, said
farewell to Cleopas and his companion, as if he were going to another
village; and here is a healing fountain in which men and other living
creatures afflicted with different diseases wash away their sufferings;
for it is said that when Christ together with His disciples came from
a journey to this fountain, they bathed their feet therein, and, from
that time the water became a cure for disorders.
At Hermopolis, in the Thebais, is a tree called Persis, of which
the branches, the leaves, and the least portion of the bark, are said
to heal diseases, when touched by the sick; for it is related by the
Egyptians that when Joseph fled with Christ and Mary, the holy
mother of God, from the wrath of Herod, they went to Hermopolis;
when entering at the gate, this largest tree, as if not enduring the
advent of Christ, inclined to the ground and worshiped Him. I
relate precisely what I have heard from many sources concerning this
tree. I think that this phenomenon was a sign of the presence of God
in the city; or perhaps, as seems most probable, the tree, which had
been worshiped by the inhabitants, after the pagan custom, was
shaken, because the demon, who had been an object of worship, started
up at sight of Him who was manifested for purification from such
agencies. It was moved of its own accord; for at the presence of
Christ the idols of Egypt were shaken, even as Isaiah the prophet
had foretold. On the expulsion of the demon, the tree was permitted
to remain as a monument of what had occurred, and was endued with the
property of healing those who believed.
The inhabitants of Egypt and of Palestine testify to the truth of
these events, which took place among themselves.
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