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Katamaros

October 3, 2023 - Tout 22, 1740

Martyrdom of Saints Kobtlas and Aksu, his Sister, and Tatos, his Friend.

On this day was the martyrdom of Saints Kobtlas and his sister, Aksu, the children of Sapor the King of Persia and Kobtlas' friend, Tatos. Safor was a worshipper of fire and of the sun. He inflicted many tortures on the believers, and no man throughout the country dared to mention the Name of Christ. His Son, Kobtlas, had a friend named Tatos who was a ruler over the country of Maydasayeen. Certain people laid an accusation against him that he was a Christian. The king sent a governor named Tumakher to find out the truth about what was said and if it was true, to torture him. When Kobtlas the son of the king, heard that, he too went to that country to his friend Tatos. When the governor arrived and found that he was a Christian, he ordered his men to cast him in a furnace. St. Tatos made the sign of the Cross over the fire and the fire died out. Kobtlas marvelled and asked him, How did you learn this magic, O my brother? He replied, This is not magic, but it is through faith in the Lord Christ. Kobtlas asked, If I believed, would I be able to do this? Tatos answered him that with faith you can do more than this. Kobtlas, the son of the king, believed in the Lord Christ, then drew near the fire and made the sign of the Cross over it, and the fire backed a distance of twelve cubits. The governor sent to the king to inform him what had happened, and the king had them brought to him. He ordered his men to cut off the head of Tatos who thus received the crown of martyrdom. But his son, Kobtlas, was tortured by him in different ways. He delivered him to the warden to torture him. He cast them in prison and sent for his sister Aksu, so she might persuade him to return to his father's belief. Saint Kobtlas preached to her and turned her heart to the belief in the Lord Christ, then he sent her to a priest who baptized her secretly. She returned to her father saying it would be a good thing if he had what she and her brother had, for there is no other but Jesus Christ. The king became angry and commanded to torture her, and they did so, until she yielded up her soul in the hand of the Lord Christ.

Then they tied Kobtlas to the tails of horses and dragged him over the mountains until he yielded up his spirit and then they cut his body and they cast it out for the birds of heaven to consume it. When the soldiers departed, the Lord commanded saintly priests and deacons to bury Kobtlas, and they went secretly at night and took the holy body which was shining as snow. They hid it in a place until the end of the days of persecution. May their intercession be for us all. Amen