Synaxarium

On this day, Saint Jason, one of the seventy apostles chosen by the Lord, departed. He preached with the disciples before the Savior's Passion and performed signs and wonders. Then he was empowered by grace and strength on the day of the coming of the Holy Spirit. He was born in Patras, the first to believe there, and accompanied Paul in preaching, traveling with him through many countries. He was arrested along with Paul in Thessalonica (then they were released on bail). He shepherded the Church of Christ well, then also preached in the city of Corcyra, where many believed through him and he baptized them and built a church for them in the name of Saint Stephen, the chief deacon. When the city's governor learned of this, he arrested him and put him in prison, where he found seven thieves. He taught them the faith and baptized them, and they openly confessed the Lord Christ before the governor. So he put them in a cauldron filled with pitch and sulfur, and they were consumed and received the crown of martyrdom.

After that, the governor brought the apostle out of prison and tortured him severely, but he was unharmed. The king's daughter watched this from her window and believed in the Lord Christ. She took off her jewelry and adornments and distributed them to the poor, confessing that she was a Christian who believed in the God Jason served. Her father became angry, threw her into prison, then ordered her to be shot with arrows. She surrendered her pure soul into the hands of Christ, whom she loved. The king had sent Jason the apostles until another ruler took over. He summoned him and the Christians with him and tortured them severely. When the governor saw that their bodies were unaffected by the torture, he and his entire city believed in the Lord Christ, who alone has the power to preserve His chosen ones. The saint baptized them, taught them the commandments of the Gospel, and built churches for them. God performed many signs through him. He departed in a good old age. May his prayers be with us. Amen.

On this day, Saint Othimus the priest was martyred. He was born in Fowah, and due to his uprightness and piety, he was ordained a priest over his town. He taught and strengthened the believers. Then he moved to the region of Mount Ansena. When Emperor Diocletian stirred persecution against the Christians, and the news of this saint reached Ariyanus, the governor of Ansena, he summoned him and offered him the worship of idols, but he did not obey. So he was severely tortured, but the Lord strengthened him. When the governor grew tired of torturing him, he ordered him to be burned. They burned him, and he received the crown of martyrdom.

There was a priest who feared God; he took the body, wrapped it, and placed it in a place until the persecution ended, when they built a church for him. God showed many signs there. It is said that his body remains to this day in Kalabsha (in the center of El-Santa). May his prayers be with us. Amen.

On this day in the year 1094 A.M. (April 1378 A.D.), Pope Gabriel IV, the Patriarch, departed. He was the 86th patriarch and was the abbot of the Monastery of Al-Muharraq. He assumed the throne on 11 Toba, year 1086 A.M. (January 6, 1370 A.D.). He was a learned, virtuous, devout, and ascetic man. During his days, in 1370 A.D., a great light appeared, illuminating the roads at night until the last third of the night, almost like daylight. In 1371 A.D., the Nile flooded greatly, almost flooding the land. He lived during the reigns of Sultan Shaaban and Sultan Ali ibn Shaaban Al-Mansour. He sat on the throne for eight years, three months, and twenty-two days and was buried in Al-Habash next to Simon the Tanner.

May his blessings be with us, and glory be to our Lord always. Amen.