Homily on Habib the Martyr

Homily on Habib the Martyr, Composed by Mar Jacob.

Habib the martyr, clad in flame, has called to me out of the fire,

That for him likewise I should fashion an image of beauty among the glorious.

Comrade of conquerors, lo! He beckons to me out of the burning,

That, as for the glory of his Lord, I should sing concerning him.

In the midst of live coals stands the heroic man, and lo! He calls to me,

That I should fashion his image: but the blazing fire permits me not.

His love is fervid, glowing is his faith;

His fire also burns, and who is adequate to recount his love?

Nay, by reason of that love which led the martyr into the fire,

No man is able to recount his beauties divine.

For who shall dare enter and see in the blazing fire

To whom he is like, and after what pattern he is to be fashioned among the glorious?

Shall I fashion his image by the side of the youths, the children of the furnace?

With Hananiah shall I reckon Habib? I know not.

Lo! These were not burned there: how, then, is he like?

He, I say, like them, when he was burned and the youths not?

Which, I ask, the more beautiful— Habib the martyr, or Azariah?

Difficult for me is the image: how I am to look upon it, I know not.

Lo! Michael was not burned by the flame;

But Habib was burned: which, then, the more beautiful to him that looks upon him?

Who shall dare say that this is repulsive, or that;

Or not so comely this as that, to him that beholds him?

Three there are in the fire, and the flame comes not near them;

But one was burned: and how shall I suffice to tell

That the Fourth form is that of Him who went down into the midst of the furnace,

That He might fashion an image for Habib there along with those of the three?

He gives a place in the fire to him who was burned,

That he may be, instead of Him the Fourth, by the side of the conquerors.

And, if of the three the beauties be glorious, though they were not burned,

How shall not this one, who was burned, be mingled with the glorious?

If a man have the power either to be burned or not to be burned,

Of this man, who was burned, more exalted was the beauty than that of the three.

But, inasmuch as the Lord is the control of all things,

He is to be praised, both where He rescues and where He delivers up.

Moreover, too, the will of the three who were not burned,

And of him who was burned, is one and the same, in this case and in that;

And, had its Lord commanded the fire to burn them,

Even those three on their part, burned they would have been;

And, if He had signified to it that it should not burn that one man also,

He would not have been burned; nor had it been of himself that he was rescued.

To go into the fire was of their own will, when they went in;

But that they were not burned— because the Lord of the fire willed and commanded it.

Therefore one equal beauty is that of him who was burned,

And that of him who was not burned, because the will also was equal.

Beloved martyr! exalted is your beauty; exalted is your rank:

Graceful too your crown, and mingled your story with that of the glorious.

Choice gold are you, and the fire has tried you, and resplendent is your beauty.

And lo! Into the King's crown are you wrought, along with the victorious.

Good workman! Who, in the doctrine of the Son of God,

Pursues his course like a valiant man, because of the beauty of his faith.

Habib the martyr was a teacher of that which is true;

A preacher also, whose mouth was full of faith.

Watchful was he, and prompt for service; and he encouraged with his teaching

The household of the house of God, through his faith.

Of light was he full, and he wrestled with the darkness

Which overspread the country from the paganism which had darkened it.

With the Gospel of the Son was his mouth filled in the congregations;

And as it were a leader of the way did he become to the villages when he arrived in them.

Zealous he was, because he was concerned for the doctrine

Divine, that he might establish the adherents of the faith.

At the time when the winds of the pagans blew, a lamp was he,

And flamed forth while they blew upon him, and went not out.

All on fire was he, and filled with the love of his Lord, and was concerned

For this— that he might speak of Him without hindrance.

The thorns of errour sprang up in the land from paganism;

And, as much as in him lay, he rooted them out by his diligence.

He taught, admonished, and confirmed in the faith,

The friends of Christ, who were harassed by persecutors.

Against sword and against fire did he wrestle,

With love hot as the flame, and was not afraid.

Like a two-edged brand, keen was

His faith, and against error did he contend.

Leaven did he prove to be in this land which had become exhausted

Through fondness for the idols of vanity which error had brought in.

He was like salt by reason of his savoury doctrine

To this region, which had become insipid through unbelief.

A deacon was he, and filled the place of a high-priest

By the preaching and teaching of that which is true.

He was to the flock a good shepherd while he was its overseer;

And his life laid he down for the flock while he tended it.

He chased away the wolf, and drove off from it the beast of prey.

And he repaired the breaches, and gathered the lambs into their folds.

He went out secretly and encouraged the congregations:

He strengthened them, and exhorted them, and held them up.

And he forged armour of faith, and put it on them,

That they might not be ignominiously overthrown by the paganism which abounded.

The flocks of the fold of the Son of God were being laid waste

By persecutors: and he encouraged the lambs and the ewes.

And he was an advocate to the household of faith;

And he taught them not to be daunted by persecutors.

He taught them to run to meet death,

Without being afraid either of sword or of fire.

In the teaching of the Son of God he prospered,

So that his faith pursued its course without dread.

Then errour grew envious, became furious, and was maddened, because of him;

And she pursued after him, that she might shed upon the earth innocent blood.

The Defamer, who hates the race of men,

Laid snares for him, that he might rid the place of his presence.

He who hates the truth pursued after him to put him to death,

That he might make his voice to cease from the teaching of the house of God.

And errour raised an outcry demanding that Habib should die, because she hated him;

Vexation goaded her on, and she sought to take away his life.

His story was talked about before the pagan judge of the country,

And the dear fame of him reached the king: who in great rage,

And because the diadem was interwoven with paganism, decreed death

Against Habib, because he was full of faith.

And, when the command reached the judge, he armed himself

With rage and fury; and, with a mind thirsting for blood,

And like hunters who lay nets for the young stag,

After Habib did they go out to catch him.

But this man was a preacher of the faith,

Who in the highway of the crucifixion was prospering;

And, that he might benefit by his teaching the children of his people,

His work embraced the countries round about him.

So, when error went out after him, she found him not:

Not that he was fled, but that he had gone out to preach the Gospel.

Then, because of the fury of the pagans, which was great beyond all that was meet,

His kindred and his mother did they seize for his sake.

Blessed are you, O woman! Mother since you are of the martyr.

For wherefore was it that they seized you and bound you, iniquitously?

What do they require of you, O you full of beauty? What, I ask, have they required of you?

Lo! They require of you that you bring the martyr, that he may be a sacrifice.

Bring, oh bring your sweet fruit to the place of the oblation—