The Head of John the Baptist

About this time the head of John the Baptist, which Herodias had asked of Herod the tetrarch, was moved to Constantinople. It is said that it was discovered by some monks of the Macedonian heresy, who had first lived at Constantinople and later settled in Cilicia. In the previous reign Mardonius, the chief eunuch of the palace, made this discovery known at court, and Valens ordered the relic to be brought to Constantinople. The officers appointed to carry it there placed it in a public carriage and went with it as far as Pantichium, a district in the territory of Chalcedon. There the mules pulling the carriage suddenly stopped, and neither the whip nor the threats of the drivers could make them go any further. Everyone, even the emperor himself, took so extraordinary an event to be from God, and so the holy head was placed at Cosilaos, a nearby village that belonged to Mardonius. [a]

Some time later the emperor Theodosius, moved by an impulse from God, or from the prophet, went to the village. He resolved to move the remains of the Baptist, and it is said that he met with no opposition except from a holy virgin, Matrona, who had been the servant and guardian of the relic. He set aside all authority and force, and after many entreaties he drew from her a reluctant consent to move the head, for she remembered what had happened when Valens ordered it moved. The emperor wrapped it, together with the box in which it was kept, in his purple robe, and carried it to a place called the Hebdomon, in the suburbs of Constantinople, where he built a large and magnificent church. The woman who had been put in charge of the relic could not be persuaded by the emperor to give up her religious beliefs, though he tried both entreaties and promises; for she was, it seems, of the Macedonian heresy.

A presbyter of the same party, named Vincent, who also had charge of the prophet’s coffin and performed the priestly duties over it, came over to the emperor’s religious beliefs and entered into communion with the catholic church. The Macedonians say that he had sworn an oath never to abandon their teaching. But he afterward declared openly that if the Baptist followed the emperor, he too would enter into communion with him and be separated. He was a Persian. In the reign of Constantius he had left his country together with a relative named Addas, to escape the persecution the Christians were then suffering in Persia. On arriving in Roman territory he was enrolled among the clergy and advanced to the office of presbyter. Addas married and gave great service to the church. He left a son named Auxentius, who was known for his deeply faithful piety, his devotion to his friends, the moderation of his life, his love of learning, and the greatness of his attainments in both pagan and church literature. He was modest and retiring in manner, though he was on familiar terms with the emperor and the courtiers and held a very distinguished post. His memory is still honored by the monks and by the earnest men who all knew him.

The woman who had been entrusted with the relic stayed at Cosilaos for the rest of her life. She was greatly distinguished for her piety and wisdom, and she trained many holy virgins. I have been assured that many of them are still living who show the honorable character that came from being trained by Matrona.