The Egyptian Martyrs at Tyre

We know those of them who shone out in Palestine, and we know those at Tyre in Phoenicia too. Who that saw them was not amazed at the countless lashes, and at the steadfastness under them of these truly wonderful athletes of godliness; at their contest with man-eating beasts that came straight after the scourging, as leopards, bears of different kinds, wild boars and bulls burned with fire and iron were set upon them; and at the marvelous endurance of these noble men in the face of every one of the beasts? [a]

We were present ourselves when these things took place, and we saw for ourselves the divine power of the Savior to whom they bore witness, our Savior Jesus Christ himself, present and plainly showing itself in the martyrs. For a long time the man-eating beasts did not dare to touch the bodies of those dear to God, or even to come near them. They rushed instead at the others, the men who were goading them on from outside. The holy athletes alone they did not touch at all, though these stood there naked and waved their hands to draw the beasts toward themselves, for they had been ordered to do this. Whenever the beasts did charge at them, they were checked as if by some more divine power and drew back again. [b] This went on for a long time and caused the spectators no small wonder, so that, since the first beast had done nothing, a second and a third were let loose against one and the same martyr.

One could only be astonished at the fearless steadfastness of those holy men in all this, and at the firm, unshaken resolve that lived in such young bodies. You could have seen a youth not yet twenty years old standing unbound, his hands spread out in the shape of a cross, praying to God without haste, his mind untroubled and unshaken, never moving or stepping aside from the place where he stood, while bears and leopards, breathing fury and death, all but touched his flesh. Yet somehow, I do not know how, their mouths were all but shut by a divine and unspeakable power, and they ran back again. Such was he. Again, you might have seen others, five in all, thrown to a maddened bull. With his horns he tossed into the air those who came at him from outside and tore them, leaving them to be carried off half dead. But when he charged in fury and menace at the holy martyrs, who stood alone, he could not even get near them. He pawed the ground and thrust his horns this way and that, breathing fury and menace because of the goading of the hot irons, yet he was dragged back by the holy Providence. Since he did them no harm whatever, other beasts were let loose on them. Finally, after these terrible and varied assaults, they were all slaughtered with the sword, and instead of earth and tombs they were given to the waves of the sea.