The double sword white warrior – Saint Mercurian.
The story of this brave warrior saint, Saint Mercurian is not a story but a historical event. The
life history of this saint starts from 224. A.D. This story centers around
three dynasties, its emperors and their respective Kingdoms. Of these three
kings, two of them were Roman kings and the remaining kings belonged to Persia.
Hence the story is built around the Roman, Byzantine and the Persian Dynasty.
The honour of having met all the three kings rests with our great hero of the
story, Saint Mercurian. Now let us move on to the story.
The early Roman Empire was very wide and extended up to Byzantine
which is modern Turkey. Since Byzantine dynasty also was very wide, the
Romans shifted their capital to Byzantine province since they were not able to
have complete access to all the places of their province. They had Rome as a
sub territory. They made the city of Milan as the capital city to have control
over the cities located on the northern part of Italy namely Germany, France
and Spain. Hence to have a good and easy access the romans had to make
Byzantine province as their central capital city.
In the year 361 A.D., 3rd November, the emperor Julian who was
the emperor for Roman and Byzantine kingdoms paid a visit to Constantine Naples
(the modern Istanbul). There was another important reason for his visit. He
wanted to win the king of Persia, (the modern Iran) Shapur II, who was his
enemy, capture his kingdom and join it along with his Byzantine empire. Also he
wanted to avenge the defeat of his former Roman king Desian by the Persian king
Shapur I by defeating the then Persian king Shapur II. He had this vengeance
burning in his heart for a long time.
Some information about the roman Emperor Julian:
Julian was the son of Julius Constantine who was born on 332 A.D. His parents belonged to the royal family of
Constantine. They belonged to the Byzantine Dynasty. Julian was born in the
city of Constantine Naples. By birth he was a Christian and his parents were of
Christian faith. But Julian changed track when he was in his young age. During
his early childhood days, from the age of twelve, he had great interest and
liking for nature and hence showed great interest in learning history,
geography, astronomy and even magic. Still he excelled in his regular school
studies also. Since he possessed such great wisdom and knowledge, he was put in
Christian monasteries to further improve his knowledge. During his stay in
these monasteries, he learnt the Holy Bible and mastered it. He excelled in
theology. Considering his official responsibilities and also considering his
secret enemies, as a means of protection he was sent to the capital of Greece
namely Athens for his higher studies. There he had the chance to have
fellowship with the saints and scholars by name Gregory and Bazil. This turned out into a good
friendship among them.
As days passed by, Julian returned to Rome and was appointed as
Caesar over the western provinces Rome which included France. In the year
357A.D., the then Augustus Constantine king died in a war which broke out
between the Alamannis and the Romans in a place called Argentoratum. In this
situation Julian was crowned as Augustus of Rome and Byzantine kingdoms in the
year 361 A.D.. After his coronation he had to return to his home town
Constantine Naples.
From the time he came to the Byzantine Empire he had a
great craze for money and wealth. He showed great interest in black magic
and witchcraft and satanic powers. Since this interest was there in his heart
from his childhood, now it became strong and started to manifest outwardly. The
person responsible for kindling this interest in Julian’s heart was a magician
who was his friend when Julian was twelve years of age. This magician taught
all his magic works to Julian. Once Julian succeeded in a certain magical
activity by which he had invited lot of spirits which stood before him. He did
this when his magician friend was not there. Julian was scared to see the
spirits and not knowing what to do; he immediately drew the sign of the cross
on them. Immediately they vanished. Later Julian informed the magician all that
happened when he was away. On hearing this, the magician said, the sign of the
cross is a biggest enemy and the Christians are out worst enemies. He further
told Julian never to have belief in the Christian faith. On hearing such false
advice Julian started to have an aversion towards Christianity and Christians
from that young age which grew stronger as he grew up.
Sassanid Empire was the neighboring empire of Byzantine kingdom.
The Sassanid Empire extended from Persia , Mesopotamia, Zorastrum up to India
on the eastern part and on the western part it extended from Egypt, up to
Carthage. Hence idol worship and human and animal sacrifice were found all over
the empire. Among them the worship of Durga and Kali which were the demons of
the underworld were of great importance. If any king prepares for war, then it
was a common practice to offer a buffalo as a sacrifice to goddess Durga.
These
goddess’s Kali and Durga were considered as to give victory. Our king Julian
was very much interested and liked such sacrifices and belief in such
goddess’s. So in order to win in his war with the Sassanid King, Shapur II, who
defeated Drajan Desian, the former Roman Emperor, and insulted him and
imprisoned him, and to take over his empire and join it with the Byzantine
Empire, Julian decided to get the blessing of goddess Kali. So in order to have
the blessing of Kali, Julian ordered all his kings to start and perform the
Kali Pooja.
Accordingly Kali Pooja began vigorously and the priest danced
having received the grace of goddess Kali. The priest shouted out loudly, “I am
the all-powerful goddess Kali…. Ask whatever you want now.” King Julian
replied, “Mother Kali, I want the life of my enemy Shapur II… I want to defeat
him in the war and capture his kingdom and add it along with mine. This is my
wish…. Kindly grant the same.”
On hearing this, the goddess Kali who was
speaking through the priest said, “You are a liar…. You do not belong to me.
First become my son and then I will grant all that you wish for.” For this king
Julian replied, “I am your son now and why do you doubt the same?” the priest
replied stating, “No… you are not yet my son. You are still a Christian. Am I
right?” Julian did not give up and gave an immediate reply, “It is true that I
am a Christian by birth. But I have come out of my Christian faith since twenty
years. So I am no longer a Christian but your son.” The priest also did not
give up easily and he further said, “No I will not accept this statement of
yours. Though you say you are not a Christian now, still I could see that the
Lord Jesus Christ lives in your heart. Though you state that you have left him,
he has not left your heart and he still resides there.”
On hearing this Julian
said, “What can I do for this? I have already left him and if he is not ready
to leave me it is not my fault. Now please tell me what I should do to become
your son? I will do it immediately.” With a deep groan the goddess Kali spoke
through the priest stating, “If you want to become my son, then you should
quench my thirst. I am thirsty for blood, the blood of lot of Christians. I
want human sacrifices in large numbers. If you do this for me and quench my
thirst for blood, I promise to give you the life of Shapur II and his kingdom.”
Julian gave his immediate consent and said, “My mother Kali, this
is a simple task for me. I will surely do it for you. Tell me when you want
these sacrifices and blood?” the goddess replied, “do wait for some time king.
Be patient. I will first look out for a good place in your kingdom where I
could stay and then I will let you know when you have to give me these
sacrifices. Do wait up to that time.”
After this the pooja was over. King
Julian returned to his palace with high hopes and dreams that all his wishes
are going to come true. He fasted and waited to the presence of Mother Kali.
But there was no reply from the goddess and this troubled him. So he went ahead
and sacrificed a buffalo and asked for the presence of Kali. At this point the
goddess Kali appeared before him and said, “Julian, I will never deviate from
my promise to you. You can trust me.” Julian said, “Mother, then why do you
delay? It is a long delay indeed.” Kali replied, “Julian it is all because of
your friend.” Julian was shocked at this reply and said, “What? Is my friend
the reason for this delay? Who is that friend? What did he do to stop you? Go
ahead and explain it clearly.”
Kali replied, “I was looking for a good place to set up my
residence here in Cappadocia. I wandered among the beautiful, serene hilly
region of Cappadocia which has high sharp mountain points formed by the larva
of volcanic eruptions. But I could not enter that area since the entire area is
being occupied by Christians who have built many beautiful churches for their
god Jesus Christ all over the mountain region. Day and night they keep praying
fervently to their god without rest. Among the prayers one person’s prayer has
tormented me a lot and I was not able to stand in that place”
Julian asked,
“Who was that who tortured you with his prayers?” Kali replied, “He is none
other than your young age friend, Fazil. I was chained by his continuous
prayers and lost all hope that I could come out of that place. Luckily the
moment he stopped his prayers, I immediately got out of that place and I am
coming straight to see you.” Julian listened to this carefully and said, “That
is ok, I will take care of that. Now tell me when I can start my war against
the Sassanid King, Shapur II?”
Kali said, “Do not delay any longer. You can
start the war four days from now on a noon moon day. My blessings will always
be there with you to give you victory in the battle. But do not forget to
destroy the Christians who live in the hilly region of Cappadocia. I want their
blood to quench my thirst. I want that place to be my residence. Do ensure that
these Christians who are residing in that place never escape.”
Julian roared in
anger, “I will take care of this request of yours mother. Hey you Fazil…. I
will come to meet you face to face and teach you a good leasson….”
The next day morning Saint Fazil was surprised to see the great
king Julian standing at the entrance of his monastery. Though he was greatly
confused and surprised on this visit of the king to his monastery, he gave him
a warm welcome. Fazil said, “Welcome dear king to this humble monastery of
ours. May I know the reason for your visit?” But Julian asked back, “Fazil have
you forgotten that you are my good old friend?”
Fazil lowered his voice and
said, “No no not at all my King. I have never forgotten the friendship of ours.
But at this point of time, where you are the great king of two dynasties, I am
no longer to think of our friendship since I am just a humble priest.”
Julian
was convinced with this reply and asked Fazil, “I have come all the way to
visit you, and may I have something to quench my thirst?” Fazil said, “oh sure
my king. I was all very excited on your arrival and forgot to give you a drink.
I will bring food and water right away.” So saying Fazil went inside and
brought three loaves of bread and water. The king took a bit of one of the
bread and gave the rest to his dogs. Fazil was hurt by this act of the king and
it was shown in his face.
Still he controlled his emotions and said, “I think
that my Majesty did not like these ordinary bread slices. But this is all I
have in my humble home and that is why I offered you this.” suddenly the kings
face became red with anger.
He said, “Fazil I have come here not to renew our
friendship or to have a pleasure talk with you. But I have come here to warn
you. Do forget our old friendship. That was a long time ago. But now I am the
great king of the Roman and Byzantine dynasties. Even my dogs will not eat the
bread you offered me. You will not be able to satisfy the thirst and hunger of
my dogs with this ordinary bread slices Fazil…. They are thirsty for blood… my
dear pet animal’s lion; tiger, bear, and cheetah are thirsty for blood…. That
too the tasty and costly blood of the Christians….lot of blood… huge quantities
of blood…. So I command all the priest and Christians living in this area to be
arrested immediately. I will come back victoriously after defeating the Sassanid
King, Shapur II, and offer you as sacrifice to the great Kali goddess. I will
quench her thirst by giving her a bath with the blood of you Christians. Up to
that time, none of you are supposed to leave this place. I command all of you
to be imprisoned here in this place itself.” So saying he left quickly got into
his chariot and drove away swiftly.
Fazil was struck with terror. Still he sent some of his disciples
to follow Julian and find out the result of the battle.
Julian took his army
across the great rivers of Euphrates and Tigris and advanced further. He had
one goal in his mind which was victory. Hence in order to ensure that his
soldiers did not return back for fear of defeat, he destroyed the bridges of
the rivers with fire. Hence whether the roman soldiers wanted to fight for
their king or not, they surely had to fight for their lives in the battle for
there is no way of escape to run back from the battle field. They were pushed
into this pitiable state by the king.
The war lasted for many months and the
soldiers became tired of war. The French king Aries, who had agreed to support
Julian in war, did not turn up. Also Locksiyas who had promised to assist King
Julian in war also failed to keep up his promise. In other words these kings
were prevented by the Sassanid King to help Julian.
Julian and his soldiers
were greatly tired of the continuous war for many months. It is a common fact
that there will be a lot of hindrances during war. But in the case of Julian,
he took a hasty decision in starting a war just by believing the words of some
goddess. King Shapur blocked all the ways through which Julian could get food
or help. But still due to his bravery and talent Julian won the Sassanians in
many places in the course of war.
But all this was the perfect plan of the Sassanian king Shapur. He
used his intelligence and asked his soldiers to accept defeat in few places and
made Julian deviate in his path and wander in a mountainous desert area. Julian
was completely unaware of this plot of his enemy and kept on advancing to reach
their targeted city of Persia. Julian and his men did not find any inhabitants,
even cattle in any of the villages through which they passed by in their
journey.
King Shapur had already made all the villagers to vacate their
villages so that Julian and his men would suffer due to hunger and thirst.
Hence Julian and his men could not find food or water all along their journey
and suffered a lot. The soldiers soon lost their patience as they wandered in
the desert mountainous region not knowing where to go and what to do. So a
great agitation rose among the soldiers and Julian was not able to control it.
Hence Julian commanded his soldiers to return to Byzantine kingdom.
Our Lady of Thithinia
(December 2 is her feast day)
All the details of the battle were passed on to Fazil through his
men who followed Julian secretly. When Fazil was informed that Julian had
decided to return to his place, Fazil was greatly troubled. He feared that if
Julian returned, then he would surely kill all the Christians in Cappadocia. So
he gathered all his disciples and all the Christian members in the region and
went up to the mother Mary’s shrine in Dithiniya.
There Fazil and all the
members fasted for three days and cried out to Mother Mary for protection.
Fazil cried out, “Our dear Lady of hope, if Julian returns he will surely kill
every one of us. You, who save all those who look up to you, hear our prayer
and save us from the hands of this tyrant, let Julian never return back from
the battle. We are greatly troubled by the information we receive from the
battle field. We pray to you to save us and up to the time you give us the
assurance we are not going to leave this church. Even if we are to die, we are
ready to die in this church at your feet. So please do hear our prayer our Holy
Mother.”
so saying all the Christians cried bitterly and raised their prayer to
their Mother of Hope. Their prayers were heard by Mother Mary of Dithiniya and
she appeared to Fazil in a vision that night.
In that vision Fazil saw mother
mary crowned as the queen of heaven. She was seated on a throne and was
surrounded by multitudes of angels. There were many saints around her throne
and mother Mary said, “where is our brave warrior Mercurian of Cappadocia?” at
that moment a brave warrior, dressed in white came out of a great crowd of
soldiers and said, “Holy Mother, here I am, I bow at your feet in respect.”
Mother Mary looked at him and said, “Mercurian, go ahead and help our dear
devote Fazil of Cappadocia, according to his request. Go and kill our enemy
Julian who is busy in the battle field in Persia. He has insulted and spoke ill
about us and our Lord God. I was patient with him since he too is a Christian.
But I can’t bear to leave him any longer. He has become a threat to so many of
these innocent Christians. He is never going to change and there is no reason
to be patient with him any longer. So go and do as I have commanded you.” Then
the vision was over.
The next day Fazil left the holy shrine of Dhithiniya and went
down to the church of Mercurian. The tomb of Saint Mercurian is located at the
bottom of the church. There was a statue of Saint Mercurian holding a spear in
his hand inside the church. The statue of Mother Mary which was kept near the
altar facing the devotees had now turned and was looking at Mercurian. As Fazil
was looking at the statue, the spear from the hands of Mercurian vanished.
Immediately Fazil went down to the tomb of Mercurian and when he opened it, it
was empty. The body of this holy saint was not there.
In the far away city of Persia, Shapur II was in an important
meeting with his wise men of the country and in front of him stood a battalion
of brave soldiers. As they were watching, they saw a young brave warrior pass
through their battalion, swifter than the wind. He had a spear and two swords
in his hands. His speed was like lightning and all of them gathered there were
amazed at this sight.
The king Shapur II shouted, “Catch hold of him…catch that
brave warrior” But is it possible to catch the wind and lightning? Similarly no
one was able to catch this brave warrior who was dressed in white garments. In
a few seconds he disappeared from their sight. The Sassanian King was greatly
impressed on the appearance of this brave warrior and said to himself, “What an
extraordinary appearance of bravery… he looked so handsome… a unique aura of
holiness was seen in his face… he was swifter than wind…. Quicker than
lightening…. Who could this person be? From where did he come and where did he
go? What is his name? His resemblance looks like the race of skythiyans. It would be of great help if someone
could reveal about this person to me. But I am sure he could not be one among
the ordinary men of this world…. He must belong to some of the heavenly beings.
If only I have such brave warriors, just ten of them, in my army, then I will
surely defeat that arrogant tyrant, King Julian easily and capture the Roman
and Byzantine kingdoms in a few days.”
It was hard to decide whether Julian won
the battle or not because he had won in some places and was defeated in some
other places. Hence he was fed up of this battle. The very next day there was
great commotion among the Roman soldiers.
A loud voice of panic shouted from
the crowd saying, “Someone has pierced our king Julian with a spear.” This made
everyone in the battle field panic and here was confusion and disorder among
the soldiers. Very soon the news that King Julian is dead made the soldiers run
around with in fear. Some of the soldiers used this opportunity and fled in all
possible direction to save their lives.
But there were few faithful solider who
took the wounded king to their physician Oriyas. The physician examined the
condition of Julian and said, “Some well-trained soldier has pierced his spear
through the chest of King Julian in such a way that the spear has torn his
entire stomach and has come out through his hip. This makes it clear that the
person who has wounded King Julian has done this with an intention that Julian
should never be saved through any means including medical treatment. Hence it
is a rare fact that Julian will recover from this wound but still I will try my
best.”
That very same night, in Cappadocia, Fazil was deep in sleep, with
a satisfaction that he has completed all his duties and responsibilities. In
his sleep he had a dream in which he saw Mother Mary who said, “my dear son
Fazil, our brave warrior saint, Mercurian has pierced king Julian with his
spear and killed him. Nothing bad will happen because of King Julian. So do not
worry about him anymore. Surely your days of peace are soon coming and I assure
you that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ has taken the responsibility of this
Byzantine empire in his hands. So the days of peace and prosperity has begun
for all of you.”
Fazil woke up and was confused whether he was dreaming or
seeing this scene in reality. So he immediately got up from his bed and went to
the church of Mercurian. When he entered the church, he saw blood dripping from
the spear which was in the hands of Mercurian. Then he went down to see the
grave of saint Mercurian and found the body of this saint in it.
When all the
Christians in that region saw this supernatural scene, they shouted praises to
their Lord and savior Jesus Christ and to his Holy Mother and to their dear
saint Mercurian for protecting them. But the story did not stop here. Fifteen
days later to this incident, the spy sent by Fazil, Lebaniyu came back from the
battle field with some interesting news.
He met his master Fazil and informed
all that he saw and heard in the battle field. He said, “The official physician
Oriyas examined the condition of King Julian and said it is a tough task to
make the king recover from this wound. Still he said he would try his best. He
then took a small yellow thread and stitched the torn parts of the stomach and
intestines of Julian. King Julian, who was already groaning in pain because of
the wound, could not bear this treatment and yelled in unbearable pain. The
sutures also did not save him. Suddenly he vomited blood and he caught the
blood in his hands. Then he looked up to heaven and thought for a while and
shouted out saying, ‘you Galilean… you have won me at last… you have won… you
have won…’ he kept on shouting these words. Then he had fits and died.”
Fazil could not control his anxiety and he asked his spy, “Tell me
what happened next?” Lebaniue continued and said, “Then the news that King
Julian is dead spread like forest fire. When the Roman soldiers came to know
that their enemy, King Shappur is advancing to capture them, they ran in all
direction in great fear to save their lives. But few faithful soldiers
protected the body of their dead king.
But before they could do the burial
rituals the Sassanian soldiers came and captured the body of King Julian. In
order to show the dead body of King Julian to their king Shappur, the soldiers
removed the skin from the dead body, applied turmeric and salt to it. They then
filled it with hay and made it look like a doll. They took this doll like body
of King Julian to their king and said, ‘here is our enemy…. The great king of
the Roman and Byzantine kingdoms is now at your feet dear king.’
The Sassanian
King Shappur, did not even touch the fake hay body of king Julian with his
hands. He said, ‘take this hay body of King Julian and burn it. This is not my
victory but the victory of someone else. If I had met him face to face in
battle and had won him, then I can claim it as my victory. But I do not know
who killed him. Who is the one who killed him? Could it be that white dressed
warrior? Whoever it could be, my enemy is dead. I am happy with that. I don’t
know whether the victory has come to me through mother Kali or mother Justice.
But I know one thing for sure, whichever goddess has given me this victory, I
bow with thanks at the feet of her. Blessed be the name of that great God.”
Fazil who listened to all this carefully asked with great excitement, “enough
of this King Julian’s story… did you happen to see saint Mercuri anywhere?” “No
my master, I did not get the chance to meet him face to face. But I had the
gift of seeing his powerful act in a flash of a second” said Lebaniue. Fazil
continued and said, “Now tell me in detail of that experience of yours.”
Labaniue said, “A fierce battle was going on between the roman soldiers and the
Sassanian soldiers out of Persia at a place called Samara (the battle of
Samara).
At that time a great whirl wind swept over the army. At that time king
Julian was fighting as he was seated on his horse. He had his helmet and breast
plate on him. Suddenly he heard someone call him and he turned to see who it
was. I happened to see what happened in a fraction of a second. I saw our Saint
Mercurian dressed up in white garments and seated on a horse. He lifted up his
sword and hit the head of King Julian. It was like thunder on him and his
helmet and breastplate broke to pieces and he fell to the ground. In the next
hit of the sword king Julian’s horse fell to the ground. Julian gained back his
control and got up from the ground.
Suddenly our saint Mercurian took his spear
and pierced it through Julian’s chest. Since Mercurian pierced Julian by
standing up on his horse, the spear pierced Julian’s chest and came out through
his hip tearing his stomach and intestines. Blood gushed out of his mouth and
chest. The next moment Saint Mercurian disappeared.”
On
hearing this Fazil compared the time of death of Julian and the time at which
Mother Mary told him about the death of Julian and confirmed that it was the
same time Saint Mercurian had killed King Julian. But still King Julian died
the next day after he was pierced. That is King Julian died on 26th June 363 A.D. and hence Mother Mary
had informed about King Julian’s death on the night he actually died.
Being
born and raised up as a Christian, Julian forgot his Christian faith and
deviated in the path of evil. He became a pain in the neck for Christians and
became a threat to their very existence. That is the reason God insulted him
even after his death. Julian blasphemed even at the time of his death saying,
“You Galilean you have won me at last.”
The Sassanian soldiers took his body and
made it a doll of hay and set it on fire. His body looked pathetic after being
removed of its skin. His faithful soldiers did not have time even to bury the
body of this great king and buried it in great haste. Later his body was taken
from its place of burial and was buried in the city of Tharsius.
Later his
bones were taken and buried in the corner of the church of apostles in
Constantine Naples. Many of the forefathers and the elders of the church caused
great opposition for this since King Julian was an enemy to the Christians and
did not believe in the Christian faith and not even in Jesus Christ.
A great
agitation rose among the elders of the church on account of the burial of
Julian’s bones in the church. But the Constantine King who was ruling during
the time of agitation said, “Whatever it could be…. King Julian was a former
king of Constantine. So no one has the right to command me not to bury him
inside this church.” With this stern answer the ruling king of Constantine, put
out the agitation.
But this lead to the displeasure of many of the Christian
priests and many of them died because of this displeasure. Hence this earned the name “Julian killed innocent Christians even
after his death” for King Julian. Though King Julian’s bones were buried inside
the church compound with the high recommendation of the ruling authorities, he
could not remain there for a long time. Even nature was against this act. 
Due
to a sudden earthquake, the apostle’s church was destroyed. When the church was
later rebuilt, all the royal graves within the church compound were removed and
along with them Julian’s grave was also removed. At present Julian’s grave is
located in the street, in front of the museum in Istanbul. King Julian could
not find a resting place even after his death. There is no momentum kept on his
grave to show that Julian was once a famous king.
If you can talk with crowds and keep your
virtue,
Or walk with kings – nor lose the common touch,
If
neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving
minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in
it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!
These words of the famous poet Rudyard Kipling remind us of how a
man should be on earth to have a fruitful life. But King Julian did not match
with any of the qualities described in this poem and hence he was not
recognized even after his death. He was not counted or looked up at as even a
human being.
Now let us see the about the brave warrior who killed King Julian.
From
the very beginning of this world, nothing is known to us. Our birth or death is
not in our hands. It is all governed by the almighty. Our life is guarded by
our creator. David says, in Psalm 139:2, “You know when I sit down or stand up.
You know my thoughts even when I am far away.” Nothing is hidden in the eyes of
God. We live by his pure grace. As it is said, in Ephesians 2:8, “For it is by
grace you have been saved” our very existence is based on the grace of God. He
can make an ordinary man a king and can turn down a king to an ordinary man.
Nothing is permanent in this world. Change is the essence of life. We keep
changing along the changing world. But when we have God in as the center of our
life then all the changes which we undergo will be for the betterment of our
life. Let us bring to our memory the words of Jesus Christ spoken to his dear
mother on his way to Calvary. He said, “See mother I make all things new.”
In this similar way Lord Jesus Christ met a man by name Yares from
the city of Eskentos, Cappadocia who was a skythian officer in the Roman army.
At that time when Jesus met this officer, he was hunting with his father in the
forest. During his hunt a fierce wild animal attacked his father. Yares rushed
forward, fought with the wild animal and saved his father. In this attempt he
lost his consciousness. When he opened his eyes he saw Jesus Christ standing in
front of him surrounded by heavenly light .
Jesus said to him, “Yares, I have
chosen you and your family as my people. You belong to me. Your son Mercurian
will be my servant and bear fruit for me. I will glorify him and I will be
glorified by his acts. He will stand up to be a true witness for me.” So saying
Jesus disappeared. Since Yares the roman ways of worship and pressure to follow
their gods had caused great displeasure in his heart, Yares immediately and
happily accepted Jesus Christ as his savior. He then changed his name as Noah
and he changed his wife’s name as Saphina. He changed his sons name as
Mercurian who was formerly called as Philopater.
Since Yares accepted Christianity, he lost his official post. He
was tied along with his wife and son and thrown before fierce wild animals. But
those wild animals did not harm them. This incident made a deep impact in the
heart of the then prince of Byzantine Empire and he released Yares and his
family. He said, “Yares I can feel that there is an unusual power with you. I
also know that you are a brave warrior. So I request you to win over the wild
tribal people named as Berbers who are our enemies. So go ahead and save our
country. Rejoin the army and continue your service to our country. Start
immediately.” So Noah (who was called as Yares) rejoined the army.
Berbers were
a kind of wild tribal people who lived in the northern African region. They had
occupied many places from the great Sahara desert up to Carthage. They also
occupied the regions of Algeria, Morocco and Libya. In the period of 250 A.D.,
these people were found all along France, Spain, Germany, and Rome and up to
the Byzantine Empire. The entire Roman and Byzantine kingdoms were under the
control of the Romans. But these Berbers who lived scattered in all the above
mentioned places, used to rise up against the romans from time to time and used
to win the battle too.
In the same way these Berbers attacked the city of Eskento. At
this situation Noah (Yares) was asked to go ahead along with an army and fight
against them. But unfortunately, Yares was arrested by the Berbers and was
taken to some distant land which was under the control of the Berbers. He was
imprisoned for seventeen months in jail.
In the meantime a great army rose and
fought against the Berbers and defeated them. Hence Yares was released. He came
back to his home town and lived with his family. But he died shortly after he
arrived at his home town. Hence his son Philopater joined the army as Mercurian.
During this time the Roman and Byzantine kingdoms were ruled by a non-Christian
tyrant by name Decius. He hated Christians and Christianity. When King Decius
heard that the Berbers were coming to attack his kingdom, he gathered a great
army and went ahead to protect Rome from the Berbers. Mercurian also went along with the king. They had
to cross the sea to reach Rome. King Decius gathered the army in Rome along
with his already prepared army and went to attack the Berbers. But something
which he least expected happened. The Berbers were so huge in number that the
Roman army was no match to them. They attacked the Romans fiercely. Seeing this
adverse condition, King Decius decided to get back his army and go ahead for a
peace treaty with the enemies.
At
this critical situation the archangel saint Michael appeared to Mercurian and
said, “Mercurian, I am the archangel Michael. Do not fear. Our Lord Jesus
Christ has chosen you to do his ministry on this earth. He is giving you the
heavenly power to lead this battle. The victory is yours. But once the battle
is over, you will have to show your faithfulness to our Lord Jesus Christ. Our
Lord will glorify you. You will have to suffer a lot for his sake and then you
will die as a true witness to the Lord. But in all those tough situations and
tortures I will be there beside you. Do not worry. Now here, take this sword of
victory. Keep this sword with you. Remember all that I told you. Do not forget the
Lord once you win the battle. May the Lord almighty be with you and guide you.
Amen” so saying the archangel Michael gave his sword to Mercurian. .
Mecrurian
bowed down in respect and accepted the sword from archangel saint Michael. At
that very moment, the power of the archangel Michael got into Mercurian. His
countenance changed and now he looked like an angel and radiated the heavenly
glow. He mounted his horse and his horse too gave a brave neigh exhibiting
extraordinary power. Then it raced away swiftly as if it was flying.
As
King Decius commanded his army to return back, Mercurian bowed down to the king
and said, “your majesty, please do not call back the army. The victory of the
battle does not depend on the number of soldiers. But it depends on the
bravery, patriotism and courage. All those who have these qualities in them,
let them come with me. I will go ahead and lead the army. The victory is ours
and I do not doubt it.”
These words made the king to give immediate consent to
Mercurian and thus the army under this brave soldier advanced in their battle.
The Berbers, who were of the opinion that their enemies have lost the battle,
did not expect this return of the roman army saw a brave soldier, who was
swifter than the wind, race ahead towards them with two sharp swords in his
hands. They feared to fight against him. The fierce battle started. The brave
acts of Mercurian attracted the roman
soldiers and gave them new strength.
They did not wait for anyone’s command and
went ahead and attacked their enemies with loud shouts of valour. The Berberian
army captain was amazed at the bravery exhibited by the roman soldiers and
said, “This battle is one of its kind. It is long since I saw such a brave
battle. I have never before seen such bravery among the romans in all my life.
Yet this kind of an experience is very much essential for my men also. They
should know the power of true bravery.” The extent of fierceness of the battle
was beyond any ones imagination.
The air was filled with the triumphant shouts of winning men
That suppressed the painful wailing cries of wounded foes,
They
who lost their lives can no longer run
But silently walk to the place where their soul goes.
The clash of spears and the bang of shields, the men who are hurt
and terribly bleed,
The spark of weapons that drip with blood, are all that could be
seen in the battle field.
Blood stained sand, blood stained river, and blood stained mud
which makes any one shiver
Hands and legs lie scattered on the ground, and the heads roll
into the river but never get drowned
Fierce is a war and especially this one…. For with the sword of
Michael and the grace of god the battle was won.
The
sand in the battle field wore a red carpet of the blood of the soldiers. The
sun resembled the angry face of the brave warrior Mercurian. The river bank was
filled with the blood stains of the soldiers and the very course of the river
flow was hindered with heads of slain soldiers. The river water looked bloody
and the rays of the sun made the whole earth look like a planet set of fire and
blood.
As Mercurian advanced in his horse among the enemy army, he swung both
his swords which he held in both his hands. The force with which he swung his
swords cut down the heads of his enemies one after another. This force of
Mercurian gave a new strength to the roman soldiers who followed his example
and fought so fiercely that anyone who looked at them could say that they were
possess with some spirit. Thus the enemies fell down in great numbers.
The sword
of this great hero Mercurian cut down not only the heads of the enemies but
also their various parts of the body. It was like pruning a plant. The army
captain who carefully watched the entire battle scene could not believe his
eyes. He said, “So this brave warrior with the double sword has become the role
model for all these roman soldiers. These soldiers have taken the energy from
this warrior. So if I put him down then the entire roman army will collapse. So
come on my brave soldiers, just a hundred of you. Let us go ahead and finish off
this one warrior and then it will be easy for us to destroy the roman army
easily. Come and follow me.”
So saying the Berberian army captain advanced
towards Mercurian with this long sharp spear. But it was not as easy as he
thought. Even the horse on which Mercurian was seated was filled with the power
of archangel Michael. It thought to itself that it was carrying a great warrior
who had the grace and power of archangel saint Michael. Thinking that archangel
Michael himself was seated on his back the horse also exhibited extraordinary
valor in the battle field in attacking the enemies.
In many instances the horse pushed its enemies, kicked on their
chest and even bit them with its teeth. All through the battle, Mercurian did
not hold the bridle of the horse. He was busy fighting with two swords which he
held in either of his hands. In this situation, the enemy army captain attacked
Mercurian.
Seeing him, Mercurian threw down his enemies spear, with sword which
he held in this left hand. The spear fell down to the ground.
Seeing this
Mercurian’s horse rose up to the sky with a loud neigh and when it came down,
Mercurian thrust the sword which was given to him by archangel Michael right
down through his enemies head. Thus the sword cut the Berber’s captain and his
horse into two pieces.
The Berber’s captain fell to the ground dead. Thus the
Berber’s army raced back to their places in great fear to save their lives.
Mercurian kept the spear from the Berber’s captain and kept it with him as a
sign of his victory over the Berbers. The roman King Decius who saw this fierce
battle take place in front of his eyes ran towards Mercurian and hugged him. He
praised the bravery of Mercurian saying, “You are indeed a true warrior. I
greatly admire and adore your bravery. Of course your father too was a man of
great strength and as his son too is in no way lesser than your father. In fact
you are far off in bravery than your father. As a token of appreciation for
your bravery and victory in this fierce battle, our Roman government crowns you
as a prince of this Roman kingdom.”
So saying King Decius took an olive leaf
and crowned Mercurian immediately. A great feast was celebrated in the city of
Rome. It was a twin feast, one for the victory in the battle and the other was
for the crowning of Mercurian as prince. All the people praised the new prince,
Mercurian. The roman soldiers, who saw the brave act of Mercurian in the battle
field, expressed their love and gratitude by carrying Mercurian on their
shoulders, hugging him, kissing him and shaking hands with him.
Few
of the young maiden of the city tried their best to make this brave warrior to
fall in love with them but nothing could make the heart of Mercurian fall for
them. Some maiden even sent messenger to win his love but it all failed.
Mercurian heart kept on praising and thanking Jesus Christ who had sent archangel
Michael to help him with his sword which was the cause of this great victory.
Once the entertainment and feast was over, the time for the play of Satan began.
Satan got into Decius and came to attack Mercurian.
One day King Decius called
Mercurian and said, “I was greatly surprised at your sword fight in the battle.
You were using two swords at the same time. Where did you learn his art of
fight? The fact that men of Skythian race are well known for handling sword and
spear is known all throughout the Roman and Byzantine Empire. But in this war
against the Berbers I saw the fact to be proved through your sword fight. Truly
you are a great warrior. Your parents are really gifted to have a son like you.
But still there is one thing which I need to clarify. Should we not offer
sacrifice and worship to our roman gods who gave us this great victory? Is that
not our duty to give thanks to them? So tomorrow be ready to offer thanks
giving offerings to our gods Jupiter and Mars since tomorrow is an auspicious
day.”
As the king was speaking these things, Mercurian silently nodded
his head when suddenly archangel Michael appeared before him. He said, “Do not
worry Mercurian… do not fear…. I am always beside you. Be brave and boldly tell
King Decius that it is the almighty Lord Jesus Christ who has given you this
great victory. Be a true witness to Jesus Christ and he will in turn glorify
you.” So saying saint Michael disappeared.
But Mercurian feared to speak about
Jesus to King Decius who loved him and had high respect on him. So he postponed
the topic for a few days. But since it was not possible to postpone official
matters, he finally decided to speak to the King about Jesus Christ trusting
the words of arch angel Michael. When Mercurian met King Decius, the king asked
him, “Mercurian, did I not tell you to offer thanks giving sacrifices to our
roman gods? Why are you postponing it? What is your problem? Tell me and I will
help you.”
With courage and trust in Jesus Christ Mercurian said, “My Lord, I
cannot offer sacrifices to your roman gods. I ask your pardon Lord.” The king
was quiet confused on hearing this reply and said, “Why do you say as your god?
Do say as our god…. Wont you?”
Mercurian replied, “No my Lord, I do not worship
the roman gods. The victory I had in the battle was not because of the grace of
your roman gods.” The king slowly became angry and said, “Then who was the one
who gave you this remarkable victory?”
Mercurian who did not want to prolong it
anymore said, “This victory was by the grace of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
who is my God and to whom I offer my worship every day.”
The anger of the King
was now getting kindled by these words and he said, “So you mean to say that
Jesus Christ was the person who made you victorious in this battle, am I right?
Did Jesus Christ himself tell this to you?”
Mercurian replied, “Yes my Lord”
Now the King could no longer control his anger on listening to these words of
Mercurian and he roared in his anger saying, “You fool, are you aware to whom
you are talking these false stories? What has made you say these things to me?
It is our roman gods Jupiter, Mars and Saturn who has given this great victory
to you…. Don’t forget this.”
Mercurian gave a stern reply, “No my Lord. I can’t
say a lie. I worship the true living God. He is a god of truth and as his
devotee I will never say a lie. So I can strongly say that the god who gave
this great victory to me in this battle is my almighty God Jesus Christ.”
King’s anger increased steadily and he asked Mercurian, “So are you a
Christian?”
Mercurian replied, “Yes my Lord. I am a Christian and I am proud of
it.”
King Decius lost his patience and said,
“Cruse you and your god Jesus Christ. I thought you to be a true roman who is a
devotee of our great roman gods. That was the only reason I honoured you so
much and gave you such high posts in the official matters. But you have proved
to be a betrayer. You have spoilt all my hopes on you. I don’t even want to see
your face any more. I just want to give you the worst punishment. But still I
am not such an un-grateful person as you are. Even now I appreciate your
bravery and hence I give you a chance. Throw away that false god Jesus Christ
and change your heart. Come and worship our roman gods and I will spare your
life. I will also restore you to your status of prince. But if you resist or
refuse, then you will have to face the worst consequences. You will have to
face the worst tortures and torments…. Even death….. What do you say? So you
want time?”
Mercurian carefully and patiently listened to all that was said by
the Roman King and said, “Your majesty, I will never deny my Lord Jesus
Christ.” The king became mad with anger on hearing this reply. He wanted to put
him to death immediately. But he feared that his soldiers who loved Mercurian
so much will surely cause a riot if they come to know Mercurian was put to
death. So he planned to chain Mercurian and put him of board on a ship and send
him to Caesarea in Cappadocia. There he commanded Mercurian to be tortured and
killed.
The
next day, there was great confusion among the soldiers when they came to know
that Mercurian was not there. They were informed that Mercurian was sent to
Byzantine kingdom on account of official matters. The very moment Mercurian
landed in Caesarea, a list of torments was kept ready for him. The first day he
was whipped and his flesh and skin were peeled off. That very night, archangel
Michael appeared to Mercurian and touched him. Immediately his wounds were
healed.
The next day a severe punishment was given to him. Two big
branches of palm trees were tied on either sides and Mercurian was placed in
the middle. The branches were arranged with sharp knives and nails. It was
placed in such a way that when they were released from the point to which they
were tied, they dashed against Mercurian who was standing in the middle wish
such force that every part of his body was torn and cut. There was not part
which was not hurt by those knives and nails. Blood gushed out from his wounds.
Mercurian was in great pain but still he said, “My Lord Jesus Christ, give me
strength to bear this for your name sake. Save me…. Do not punish these men…
but forgive their sins.” When he said this, Jesus Christ appeared to him and
said, “My dear son Mercurian, your sufferings will come to an end tomorrow. You
will be with me in heaven and you will receive your reward too. So do not fear.
Do no panic seeing the situations. I will be with you till your death and will
take you to my home.” So saying Jesus Christ strengthened him and disappeared.
That night archangel Michael came and consoled Mercurian and healed all his
wounds. The next day, December 4th, 250 A.D., Mercurian was taken to
be beheaded. As he was walking he saw Jesus Christ standing in front of him.
When he knew that Jesus Christ himself has come to take him to heaven, he went
up to the person in-charge of executing the punishment and said, “Please do not
delay… cut off my head and kill me immediately.”
On hearing this strange
request the executing officers were greatly surprised and said, “What kind of a
man is he…. He thought heaven is so close to him and is an easy task… but any
way we have to appreciate his strong will.” When the governor of the place came
and read out the reasons for this punishment of Mercurian, his head was cut off
from his body and he died.
It
took some time for people to know about the secret martyrdom of Mercurian. When
the Christians came to know all that had happened, they came and took the body
of Mercurian and buried it. But his head was not to be seen. Mercurian friends
tried to find out his head. They searched for many days and once when they were
searching in a forest area, they said, “Our dear friend Mercurian, where are
you?” on hearing this Mercurians’s head spoke, “Dear pals I am here”.
Two days
later when his friend went forward in the direction, from which the voice was
heard, a great surprise awaited them. A big wolf was having the head of Mercurian
between its legs and was guarding it. In order to confirm whether it was the
head of Mercurian, his friends once again called out, “Dear friend Mercurian,
where are you?”
The head spoke again saying, “Friends I am here. This wolf will
not harm you. Come and take me.” His friends were overjoyed on finding his
head. The wolf gave away his head without harming his friends. It followed them
like a pet dog.
All these days this wolf had not taken food or water, but was
standing to protect the head of Mercurian. The wolf protected the head of
Mercurian though the head had the smell of blood in it. This is the greatness
of god. The head and body of Mercurian was buried and many days passed by. Then
the world forgot him. Then once again efforts were taken to revive the spirit
of reverence for this great saint. At that time no one knew where his grave
was.
After the first persecution was over, Mercurian appeared to a poor
man and revealed the location of his grave. It was located in behind a big
house located on the way past the garden of the palace in Cappadocia. When the
poor man excavated the grave, he saw the un-decayed body of this saint, fully
white as if it was covered with snow. Instead of foul smell, the fragrance of
scent came from the body which made the poor man greatly surprised.
From that
day onwards the reverence for this great saint and the reverence of the lady of
Dhithiniya spread widely among the people. The body of Saint Mercurian was
buried in a grave with due respect and a church was built on top of it. The
statue of Mother Mary and the statue of Mercurian were kept in this church. The
spear with which Mercurian killed the Berber’s captain was also placed in his
hands in the statue. Now the readers would have understood why this saint had
to use that spear hundred years later.
The spear which was raised against the roman monarchy was taken by
Mercurian and he made it his own. 113 years later he used this same spear to
handle a similar situation. He had to use the same spear to kill the monarch
Julian who became a serious threat to Christians, according to the command of
Mother Mary. Hence the intention with which this spear was raised by the Berbers
was accomplished by Mercurian when he killed the Roman King Julian with the
same spear. Thus the task of this spear was accomplished. Thus the greatness of
not only this spear, but the greatness of the saint who used it is beyond
description. Whether we understand his greatness or not, the Berbers show great
reverence to this saint and it is commonly found all over Egypt, Carthage and
Byzantine. 
In Cairo, Egypt, in the church where the Holy Family lived, a
painting of this double sword warrior is found. The Coptic Church has the
portrait of this saint along with few of his relics in the church named after this
saint. Wherever this saint appeared to people, he appeared with two swords and
his skin was white as snow and hence he was called as “the double sword white
warrior” since he is portrayed with the sword given by archangel Michael along
with his sword, in Arabic he is called as Abuseepin which means a person who
has two swords. He was born in 224 A.D. and he died in 250 A.D.. He was just 25
years of age at the time of his death. The Roman Catholic Church and the Easter
Orthodox Church honoured him with the title of saint. Thus the name of the Lord
be praised forever along with saint Mercurian, holy mother Mary and arch angel saint Michael.
In Cairo, Egypt, in the church where the Holy Family lived, a
painting of this double sword warrior is found. The Coptic Church has the
portrait of this saint along with few of his relics in the church named after this
saint. Wherever this saint appeared to people, he appeared with two swords and
his skin was white as snow and hence he was called as “the double sword white
warrior” since he is portrayed with the sword given by archangel Michael along
with his sword, in Arabic he is called as Abuseepin which means a person who
has two swords. He was born in 224 A.D. and he died in 250 A.D.. He was just 25
years of age at the time of his death. The Roman Catholic Church and the Easter
Orthodox Church honoured him with the title of saint. Thus the name of the Lord
be praised forever along with saint Mercurian, holy mother Mary and arch angel saint Michael.
