Holy Martyrs Sarbēlos and Bebaia, and Holy Hierarch and Confessor Barsimaios of Edessa

Saint Sarbēlos of Edessa
القديس شربل الرهاوي

The fifteenth of October is actually one of several feast-days for Saints Sarbēlos and Bebaia, who along with Bishop Saint Barsimaios are remembered on the fifth of September and the twenty-ninth of January as well. Martyrs of the early second century, they achieved the life æternal during the reign of Emperor Trajan.

Sarbēlos [Gk. Σάρβηλος, Ar. Šarbil شربل] was a pagan priest in Edessa at the time. He was given great honour and wealth on account of his position, and held a place of great respect in the pagan festivities. As he was preparing to preside over one such feast, decked out in his ceremonial regalia overflowing with gold and precious stones, he was accosted by the Christian bishop in Edessa, Barsimaios [Gk. Βαρσιμαίος]. Barsimaios in his zeal had already led many souls in Edessa to embrace Christ, and on this occasion he came to warn Sarbēlos of the great and dread judgement that would await him, if he continued to lead so many souls astray. Barsimaios must indeed have been convincing. Even though Sarbēlos went through with the ceremony, the following day he went back to Barsimaios along with his sister Bebaia [Gk. Βεβαία, Ar. Baybâyâ بيبايا], threw himself down at Bishop Barsimaios’s feet, repented of his sins and asked to be received together with his sister in Holy Baptism. In baptism Sarbēlos was given the Semitic name of Thathuel [Ar. Ṯâṯwîl ثاثويل].

News travelled fast. It was soon heard in the court of the governor Lysias that the chief priest among the pagans had abjured the gods and confessed Christ. Sarbēlos was summoned to the court and questioned, but he did not abjure Christ or return to his former belief. For this, Lysias ordered that Sarbēlos be flogged and subjected to numerous other tortures, and thrown into prison. Without complaint Sarbēlos endured two months of this treatment, until the cruel governor ordered that he be sawn asunder and beheaded. Sarbēlos did not cry out, but remained impassive as though his soul were already in heaven. His sister Bebaia, seeing this, went to his broken body and covered it with a coat in order to save his precious blood, and whispered to him that soon they would be united in Christ. Some soldiers overheard this and reported it to Lysias, who ordered that Bebaia should be beheaded along with him. Thus the brave Bebaia too at once joined the company of saints. This happened around the year 110.

It happened afterward that Saint Barsimaios was apprehended and made to answer for Sarbēlos’s conversion, and was tortured with whips and prods, and instructed to deny his faith – which he did not do. He was released alive, however, when Trajan handed down an edict of toleration for the Christians in the Roman Empire, and Saint Barsimaios continued to oversee the Church in Edessa until the natural end of his earthly life. Holy martyrs Sarbēlos and Bebaia, and holy hierarch and confessor Barsimaios, pray unto Christ our God that our souls may be saved!

Apolytikion for Saints Sarbēlos and Bebaia, Tone 4:

Your holy martyrs O Lord,
Through their sufferings have received incorruptible crowns from You, our God.
For having Your strength, they laid low their adversaries,
And shattered the powerless boldness of demons.
Through their intercessions, save our souls!