The Holy Fathers slain at Sinai and Raitho
There were two occasions when the monks and hermits at Sinai and Raithu were murdered by the barbarians. The first took place in the fourth century when forty Fathers were killed at Mount Sinai, and thirty-nine were slain at Raithu on the same day.
Mount Sinai, where the Ten Commandments had been given to Moses, was also the site of another miracle. Ammonios, an Egyptian monk, witnessed the murder of the forty holy Fathers at Sinai. He tells of how the Saracens attacked the monastery and would have killed them all, if God had not intervened. A fire appeared on the summit of the peak, and the whole mountain smoked. The barbarians were terrified, and fled, while the surviving monks thanked God for sparing them.
That day, the Blemmyes (an Arab tribe) killed thirty-nine Fathers at Raithu (on the shores of the Red Sea). Igumen Paul of Raithu exhorted his monks to endure their suffering with courage and a pure heart.
At first blush, I thought this was an anachronistic term, but the name “Saracens” developed over time:
Earlier in the Roman world, there had been references to Saracens (Greek: Sarakenoi) by late classical authors in the first three centuries AD, the term being then applied to an Arab tribe living in the Sinai Peninsula. In the following centuries the use of the term by Christians was extended to cover Arab tribes in general; and, after the establishment of the caliphate, the Byzantines referred to all Muslim subjects of the caliph as Saracens. Through the Byzantines and the crusaders, the name spread into western Europe, where it was long in general use and has survived until modern times. (Encyclopedia Britannica).
The enemy of the Church planned destruction of the Church long before Islam. Perhaps even using some of the same people’s ancestors. Certainly, using those who had the same desire to wreck the Church of God. More here –
The Blemmyes (Ancient Greek: Βλέμμυες or Βλέμυες) were an Eastern Desert people who appeared in written sources from the 7th century BC until the 8th century AD. (Wikipedia)
Grok says that Mohammed did not come from this line, but there’s a map from the time on Wikipedia which makes me doubt that assessment.
Many of the Blemmyes people converted to Christ in the Sudan area (Africa on the left side of the map). The Arab tribes who became Muslims at the time of Mohammed were uneducated and poorly taught in the faith, so they fell victim to the deception of the false prophet Mohammed and many also fell by the sword.
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