Yekatit 22 — March 01

Abba Maruna, the Friendly Bishop

Today we remember a good and gentle church father named Abba Maruna (you can say it MAH-roo-nah). He was a bishop, looking after many churches and watching over God's people with love.

Abba Maruna was so kind, and did so much good, that a great emperor named Theodosius (say thee-oh-DOH-shus) chose him for a special trip. The emperor sent him far away to visit the King of Persia, a country in the East, carrying wonderful gifts, because the emperor and the king were friends. When Abba Maruna arrived, the king was so glad to see him that he gave him a beautiful room in one of his palaces.

While he was there, sad news reached him. The king's own daughter was very sick, troubled by an evil spirit. So the holy bishop asked the girl to come to him. He knelt down and prayed for her. God heard him, and the evil spirit had to leave, for God is always stronger than anything bad. The girl was completely well again, and her father the king was filled with joy.

Abba Maruna had one special wish. Long before, many of God's faithful friends in Persia had died because they loved Jesus and would not stop following Him. We call such brave friends martyrs. Abba Maruna asked the king if he could take their bodies home to be honored, and the king gladly said yes. So Abba Maruna built a beautiful church and laid the martyrs gently inside, like treasures kept safe.

The king even built a strong, special place in the city and named it after his friend Abba Maruna. After that, the bishop returned to the emperor and lived in the city of Rome. Two peaceful years later, God called him home, on this very day.

He knelt down and prayed, and the evil spirit had to go away — because God is always stronger than anything bad.

God's Faithful Friends from Persia

On this same day, we celebrate something else that is happy: the day the church for the Persian martyrs was finished and blessed. Remember those brave friends Abba Maruna carried home? Long, long ago they loved Jesus with all their hearts.

Even when unkind rulers told them to stop, they would not stop loving God. They stayed faithful right to the end, and so they went home to live with God forever. That is what makes them martyrs: they held on to God no matter what.

Abba Maruna's special day and the day the martyrs' church was blessed fall on the same day, so the church keeps them together. It is like a double feast, one happy day to thank God both for a kind bishop and for all His faithful friends. When we hear their story, we can ask God to help us be brave and loving too.

Abba Bula, His Friends, and Nicolaus

Today we remember even more of God's good people. We honor a holy man named Abba Bula, along with three hundred and eighty faithful friends who loved God beside him, and another good man named Nicolaus (say nik-oh-LAY-us).

We do not know many stories about each one. We do know the most important thing, though: they all loved God and stayed close to Him, and they are His friends in heaven now.

When the church says a saint's name, it is like keeping a happy memory of someone who shows us how to live. We thank God for all of them, and we ask these kind friends to pray for us, so that we may grow up loving God every single day too.