Sts. Abakir & John’s Glorification | تمجيد الشهيدين أباكير و يوحنا

Two Christian figures: the first represents the successful person in life, for he lived as a skilled and successful physician, loved in his dealings, and devout in his inner life as in his outward conduct… fulfilling the apostolic commandment: “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers” (3 John 2).
The second represents the living person, strong in spirit, who seeks friendship that supports and inspires him spiritually… in other words, he represents the earnest person who seeks even in friendship what builds up his soul.

The Origin of Abakir:
Abakir was born in Alexandria to pious parents who cared for his spiritual life and his intellectual and philosophical education, so he became a skilled physician in his early youth. He was loved and famous for his honesty, piety, and virtue.
The governor Sirianos, seeing his influence as a Christian who bore true witness to his faith, sought to kill him, accusing him of sorcery, magic, and evil deeds. When Abakir heard of this, he fled from Alexandria according to the command of his Lord: “When they persecute you in this city, flee to another” (Matthew 10:23).

His Asceticism:
He went to the Arabian mountains to live among the hermits, meditating on the love of God without neglecting his former profession as a physician. There his reputation spread, reaching Palestine, Syria, and Mesopotamia.

Saint John:
John was an officer in the army in the region of Edessa. He longed for a life of solitude and devotion to worship. Hearing about Saint Abakir, he resigned from his position and went to Jerusalem to visit the holy places. From there he went into the desert to meet the hermit Saint Abakir, and a strong spiritual friendship grew between them, each strengthening and encouraging the other.

Their Endurance of Suffering:
When persecution raged violently throughout Egypt during the reign of Diocletian, Saint Abakir heard of Saint Athanasia and her three virgin daughters Theodora, Theopiste, and Theodoxia, who had been taken in chains to Canopus (near modern-day Abu Qir by Alexandria). Fearing that the tortures might cause them to renounce their faith and offer incense to idols, he decided to go with his beloved friend John so that both might receive the crown of martyrdom while strengthening those virgins and their mother.
The people of Alexandria recognized the physician hermit and honored him greatly, while he and his friend John devoted themselves to serving the prisoners.
The governor arrested them and at first tried to flatter them, but later began torturing them together with the virgins and their mother.
He used all kinds of tortures on the two hermits, tearing their bodies with iron hooks, burning them with torches, pouring vinegar and salt on their wounds, and scalding their feet with boiling fat… yet the Lord strengthened and encouraged them so that they might bear witness to Him to the end.
The virgins and their mother were martyred before them, and then the two hermits were beheaded. The onlookers were deeply grieved at their death. The bodies of the two hermit martyrs were buried in a tomb in the Church of St. Mark, where their relics remained for a century. Later, St. Cyril transferred them to Menutlis, near Canopus, where many miracles took place.
The Coptic Church celebrates their martyrdom on the sixth day of Amshir.