Читать книгу The Journey: How an obscure Byzantine Saint became our Santa Claus - David Price Williams - Страница 80

“They were persecuted by Trajan a couple of hundred years ago such that many left of their own accord and went to cities overseas but a large number of them converted to Christianity. We’re going to meet a few of them this morning, if you’d like to.”

“Yes,” I said. “I’d like that very much.”

We walked for a while in silence. A patrol of smartly dressed Roman soldiers led by an officer marched down the street towards us, short swords clanking by their sides.

“You might think that they are the hated ones here,” said Polios nodding at them. “No army of occupation could ever really be liked or admired, could they? These raw squaddies are not from here. What would they know of the refinements of Alexandria, brought up as they were on the inhospitable banks of the Dacian Danube or in ignorance in the dark forests in Gaul? Yet would you believe it, they’re joining our church in growing numbers. It’s a really strange thing. They are taught to kill without mercy, yet they want to join our faith which preaches tolerance and passivity. Our way is to love our enemies, to go out to those who hate us, with the idea that it will change their minds, that this approach will make our whole humanity gentler and more caring. And it works! Many legionaries who’ve joined our ranks spend their free time ministering to the outcasts, to the poor and sick in our community. It’s amazing, don’t you think? Alas over the years many have become Christian martyrs too, suffering death, often

THE JOURNEY