Homilies and Hymns, Volume 2

middle of the second century, the decision of the Emperor of the day to grant the Christians the status of Melet a legally recognized religious community, viz, a unit within the Empire possessing a considerable measure of political rights, that the execution of this decision was delayed till a future date only because of a campaign which he had undertaken against the Romans.

The alliance of Emperor Constantine with Christianity, however, completely changed this picture; and the summoning of the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D., which was attended only by a few representatives from the Church in the Persian Empire, intensified the Emperor's suspicion against the Christians in his domain.

Thus, in the year 339, a severe persecution by the order of the Emperor was unleashed against Christians within the Empire. On the day of Passover, the Patriarch Mar Shimun Bar Sabbai, along with five bishops and hundreds of minor clergy, sealed their testimony with their blood.

This persecution lasted till 383, and hundreds of thousands of Christians, clergy and laity alike, suffered martyrdom.

Another severe persecution, though of shorter duration, was unleashed in 420 under Yezdagar I (the wicked) and Bahram V, surnamed Gur. In the year 448, another terrible persecution was decreed by Yezdgard II, son of Bahram.

In Karkha d'Beth Slukh (present-day Kirkuk) and on a mound outside the city, ten bishops and 153,000 others are said to have suffered martyrdom. The slaughter lasted several days. The redness of the gravel of the hillock is said to have been caused by the blood of martyrs. A martyrium was built over the spot.

Edward Gibbon has recorded an event which occurred during this period, whereby Theodosius II wrote a malicious letter to the Persian Emperor making claim to and demanding the protection of Christians in his realm. This letter, says Gibbon, is still extant in the Vatican archives with a footnote thereto by the author saying that he wrote this letter in order to infuriate the Persian Emperor and thereby incite him to some severe action against the Church and its adherents within the Empire, for their refusal to adhere to his edicts concerning the decrees of the Council of Ephesus.

Whether this action of Theodosius caused the unleashing of this persecution or not is immaterial, but the very act is indicative of the fact that the lip service paid to the Christian faith by the Byzantine Emperors was motivated by political expediency while in actual fact they were far removed from Christ and his teaching. In the words of our Lord:

"This people honour me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me. And they worship me in vain when they teach the doctrines of the commandments of men." (Matthew 15:8-9.)