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BUT as regards the persecution which prevailed so fiercely in his
reign, and the sufferings which Dionysius with others endured on
account of piety toward the God of the universe, his own words shall
show, which he wrote in answer to Germanus, a contemporary bishop who
was endeavoring to slander him. His statement is as follows:
"Truly I am in danger of falling into great folly and stupidity
through being forced to relate the wonderful providence of God toward
us. But since it is said that 'it is good to keep close the secret of
a king, but it is honorable to reveal the works of God,' I will
join issue with the violence of Germanus.
I went not alone to Aemilianus; but my fellow-presbyter, Maximus,
and the deacons Faustus, Eusebius, and Chaeremon, and a brother
who was present from Rome, went with me. But Aemilianus did not at
first say to me: 'Hold no assemblies;' for this was superfluous to
him, and the last thing to one who was seeking to accomplish the
first. For he was not concerned about our assembling, but that we
ourselves should not be Christians. And he commanded me to give this
up; supposing if I turned from it, the others also would follow me.
But I answered him, neither unsuitably nor in many words: 'We must
obey God rather than men.' And I testified openly that I worshiped
the one only God, and no other; and that I would not turn from this
nor would I ever cease to be a Christian. Thereupon he commanded us
to go to a village near the desert, called Cephro.
But listen to the very words which were spoken on both sides, as they
were recorded:
"Dionysius, Faustus, Maximus, Marcellus, and Chaeremon being
arraigned, Aemilianus the prefect said: 'I have reasoned verbally
with you concerning the clemency which our rulers have shown to you;
for they have given you the opportunity to save yourselves, if you will
turn to that which is according to nature, and worship the gods that
preserve their empire, and forget those that are contrary to nature.
What then do you say to this? For I do not think that you will be
ungrateful for their kindness, since they would turn you to a better
course.' Dionysius replied: 'Not all people worship all gods; but
each one those whom he approves. We therefore reverence and worship
the one God, the Maker of all; who hath given the empire to the
divinely favored and august Valerian and Gallienus; and we pray to
him continually for their empire 9, that it may remain unshaken.'
Aemilianus, the prefect, said to them: 'But who forbids you to
worship him, if he is a god, together with those who are gods by
nature. For ye have been commanded to reverence the gods, and the
gods whom all know.' Dionysius answered: 'We worship no other.'
Aemilianus, the prefect, said to them: 'I see that you are at once
ungrateful, and insensible to the kindness of our sovereigns.
Wherefore ye shall not remain in this city. But ye shall be sent into
the regions of Libya, to a place called Cephro. For I have chosen
this place at the command of our sovereigns, and it shall by no means
be permitted you or any others, either to hold assemblies, or to enter
into the so-called cemeteries. But if any one shall be seen without
the place which I have commanded, or be found in any assembly, he
will bring peril on himself. For suitable punishment shall not fail.
Go, therefore where ye have been ordered.'
"And he hastened me away, though I was sick, not granting even a
day's respite. What opportunity then did I have, either to hold
assemblies, or not to hold them?"
Farther on he says: "But through the help of the Lord we did not
give up the open assembly. But I called together the more diligently
those who were in the city, as if I were with them; being, so to
speak, 'absent in body but present in spirit.' But in Cephro a
large church gathered with us of the brethren that followed us from the
city, and those that joined us from Egypt; and there 'God opened
unto us a door for the Word.' At first we were persecuted and
stoned; but afterwards not a few of the heathen forsook the idols and
turned to God. For until this time they had not heard the Word,
since it was then first sown by us. And as if God had brought us to
them for this purpose, when we had performed this ministry he
transferred us to another place. For Aemilianus, as it appeared,
desired to transport us to rougher and more Libyan-like places; so he
commanded them to assemble from all quarters in Mareotis, and assigned
to them different villages throughout the country. But he ordered us
to be placed nearer the highway that we might be seized first. For
evidently he arranged and prepared matters so that whenever he wished to
seize us he could take all of us without difficulty. When I was first
ordered to go to Cephro I did not know where the place was, and had
scarcely ever heard the name; yet I went readily and cheerfully. But
when I was told that I was to remove to the district of Colluthion,
those who were present know how I was affected.
For here I will accuse myself. At first I was grieved and greatly
disturbed; for though these places were better known and more familiar
to us, yet the country was said to be destitute of brethren and of men
of character, and to be exposed to the annoyances of travelers and
incursions of robbers. But I was comforted when the brethren reminded
me that it was nearer the city, and that while Cephro afforded us much
intercourse with the brethren from Egypt, so that we were able to
extend the Church more widely, as this place was nearer the city we
should enjoy more frequently the sight of those who were truly beloved
and most closely related and dearest to us. For they would come and
remain, and special meetings could be held, as in the more remote
suburbs. And thus it turned out."
After other matters he writes again as follows of the things which
happened to him
"Germanus indeed boasts of many confessions. He can speak forsooth
of many adversities which he himself has endured. But is he able to
reckon up as many as we can, of sentences, confiscations,
proscriptions, plundering of goods, loss of dignities, contempt of
worldly glory, disregard for the flatteries of governors and of
councilors, and patient endurance of the threats of opponents, of
outcries, of perils and persecutions, and wandering and distress, and
all kinds of tribulation, such as came upon me under Decius and
Sabinus, and such as continue even now under Aemilianus? But where
has Germanus been seen? And what account is there of him? But I
turn from this great folly into which I am falling on account of
Germanus. And for the same reason I desist from giving to the
brethren who know it an account of everything which took place."'
The same writer also in the epistle to! Domitius and Didymus
mentions some particulars of the persecution as follows: "As our
people are many and unknown to you, it would be superfluous to give
their names; but understand that men and women, young and old,
maidens and matrons, soldiers and civilians, of every race and age,
some by scourging and fire, others by the sword, have conquered in the
strife and received their crowns. But in the case of some a very long
time was not sufficient to make them appear acceptable to the Lord;
as, indeed, it seems also in my own case, that sufficient time has
not yet elapsed.
Wherefore he has retained me for the time which he knows to be
fitting, saying, 'In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in
a day of salvation have I helped thee.' For as you have inquired of
our affairs and desire us to tell you how we are situated, you have
heard fully that when we, that is, myself and Gaius and Faustus and
Peter and Paul, were led away as prisoners by a centurion and
magistrates, with their soldiers and servants, certain persons from
Mareotis came and dragged us away by force, as we were unwilling to
follow them. But now I and Gaius and Peter are alone, deprived of
the other brethren, and shut up in a desert and dry place in Libya,
three days' journey from Paraetonium."
He says farther on: "The presbyters, Maximus, Dioscorus,
Demetrius, and Lucius concealed themselves in the city, and visited
the brethren secretly; for Faustinus and Aquila, who are more
prominent in the world, are wandering in Egypt. But the deacons,
Faustus, Eusebius, and Chaeremon, have survived those who died in
the pestilence. Eusebius is one whom God has strengthened. and
endowed from the first to fulfill energetically the ministrations for
the imprisoned confessors, and to attend to the dangerous task of
preparing for burial the bodies of the perfected and blessed martyrs.
For as I have said before, unto the present time the governor
continues to put to death in a cruel manner those who are brought to
trial. And he destroys some with tortures, and wastes others away
with imprisonment and bonds; and he suffers no one to go near them,
and investigates whether any one does so. Nevertheless God gives
relief to the afflicted through the zeal and persistence of the
brethren."
Thus far Dionysius. But it should be known that Eusebius, whom he
calls a deacon, shortly afterward became bishop of the church of
Laodicea in Syria; and Maximus, of whom he speaks as being then a
presbyter, succeeded Dionysius himself as bishop of Alexandria. But
the Faustus who was with him, and who at that time was distinguished
for his confession, was preserved until the persecution in our day,
when being very old and full of days, he closed his life by martyrdom,
being beheaded. But such are the things which happened at that time to
Dionysius.
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