Shapur I (241-272 A.D.), Khusrau II (590-628 A.D.

The Reforms of Mar Babhai
from
Thomas of Marga
The Book of Governors

Chapter XXVI

Of the Stagnation of the Church after the Death of Mar Sabhr-Isho, the Catholicus

        Now when the king  (Khusrau II) heard and saw these things, and had learned that the Christians had not enthroned as Catholicus the Gregory whom he had commanded, but had craftily set up another, he forgot all his love and friendship for the Christians, especially that which he had for Sabhr-Isho", and he cursed them angrily, [saying,] 'Gregory shall not minister as head'; and he swore  the Sun, his god, saying, "As long as I live I will never have another patriarch in the country of the East," which [threat] he actually carried out, for the disciple of Satan contrived carefully that the holy priesthood should be removed from the Christians of the country of his rule. And since there was no father to beget, the children who had been born came to an end little by little and, ceased; and so, until Khusrau died by the sword of the Christian children of the Church, the holy Church remained without a Patriarchate. And no Bishops and no Metropolitans. were consecrated, and the holy Church endured grief through the absence of the head and governor, and father of fathers, the Patriarch.

Chapter XXVII

Of Mar Babhai, and of the Ecclesiastical Visitation which He Undertook

At this time, among the company of the monks, there flourished in doctrine and in a life of excellence, the blessed Mar Babhai the Great. Now these Metropolitans who were allied to one another, Mar Cyriacus of Nisibis, Mar Yonadhabh of Adiabene, and Mar Gabriel of Karkha dhe Beth Slokh wrote-now by that time holy monasteries had been built, and they feared the wicked doctrine of the Messalleyane, and the blackness of the religion of the heretics, lest these regions round about should be sown by the husbandmen of the Evil One, and it was not easy for them to visit the churches through fear of the government, lest Khusrau by whom the Patriarch had been established should act deceitfully with thern, and they be delivered over to dangers to persuade the holy man and teacher of the Church, Mar Babhai, that as it was evident to every one that . he was a solitary and not a bishop, as long as our Lord was ordering a change in His grace towards the Church, lie should visit' the monasteries, and convents, and monks, and repair the breaches and drive out and expel from the Church him that was sick and broken in wickedness. And these three Metropolitans did this, and they all wrote letters and entreaties to him, and he, like a prosperous labourer and a vigorous soldier of the faith, ministered unto theChurch, and guarded it, and glorified it until the murder of the wicked King Khusrau. And after a Catholicus was ordained he dwelt in quietness in his cell.

Chapter XXVIII.

The Apology of the Author to Him Who would Ask a Question

If now any contentious man, or anyone peaceably disposed should ask, "Had not these great Metropolitans power to put an end to the wickedness which was springing up in their dominions without [the help of]Mar Babhai?" [I answer] Yes, but every Metropolitanis not necessarily a doctor, neither can every doctor know [how to decide] all questions in dispute, nor can every doctor sucessfully contend against all the various false religions; one doctor hath one quality, and another doctor has another. In the holy Mar Babhai, however, all these various qualities were found: [the power of] arguing against heresies; the power of interpreting the Scriptures; [the power of] commenting upon the writings of the Fathers, and of investigating the matters in them which required searching out. And thou mayest learn concerning all his varied learning if thou wilt read the books which he composed; now eighty and four of his works on various subjects are preserved, and are held in lionour by the Holy Church. And also, the foul heresy of the Mesalleyane began with monks, and it was even right that by monks it should be detected, as being those to whom the visitations of grace are [especially] manifest and the crafty workings of the devils which come upon monks who keep in the quietness of the cell. And also when the heresy of the Melchisedekians' broke out at Scete in the land of Egypt through the contemptible monks who said that Melchisedek was the son of God, although there were doctors and famous bishops in their days, yet Theophilus, Bishop of Alexandria, allowed the blessed Abba Macarius, a monk, to make a refutation of this error; and that holy man actually did so, and made manifest the foolishness of their opinion. So also in the following affair which happened' in the holy Monastery of Rabban Selibha, which is situated by the side of Heghla Omed, a village on the river  Tigris, to the brethren Abha and Thomas and BarIdta, the' solitary brethren' and ascetics, who lived in that monastery. They were by craft falsely accused of being Mesalleyane, although they were in no wise allied to them, and they were ascribed to their sect by certain men who, being envious of their strict and .ascetic manner of life, wrote letters concerning them to the holy Mar Henan-Isho, the Catholicus, when he was in the Monastery of Mar Jonah the Prophet at Nineveh. Now he knowing that he was' by all manner of nicans bound to enquire into this matter, wrote for them, and they came to him. And he answered and said to them, "My brethren, I have never mixed myself up in those matters which concern the manner of life of monks, and inasmuch as I have no knowledge whatever of these things of which ye are held to be guilty, let these matters of which ye are accused be searched into by the hands of men like unto yourselves." And lie wrote letters and sent theni by their hands to this our convent of Beth Abhe, when the holy Mar George
Bar-Sayyade was the head, and the old men of the congregation were Abba Nathaniel,.' Abba Selibha, and Abhroi, and Gabriel Who was Surnamed Sephrona. and many others. And when they had been lovingly examined by their brethren, and had manifested before them visitations of 'grace remote from all error, [the brethren of Beth Abhe wrote letters by their hands to Mir Catholicus [informing him of this]; and thus in justification remote from all falsehood of mind, those blessed men returned to their cells by the command of Mar Catholicus. This then is the reason why the fathers who lived in the time of Mar Babhai required of him to rule the Church, especially the congregations of solitaries.

Chapter XXIX.

Of the Coming of Mar Babhai to this Monastery of Beth Abhe and of the Miracle which was Wrought before Him in the Temple
 

Now when the blessed Mar Babhai was going round from village to village, and from monastery to monastery, visiting, and asking questions, and making enquiries concerning the orthodoxy of belief, and the soundness of the opinions in the minds of all the monks and heads of monasteries to whom he came, he was pleased also to enter into this our monastery. Now he did not ask questions here on matters of belief, nor did lie require from Rabban Jacob the results of his deliberations, for lie was thoroughly well convinced concerning his doctrine and of the correctness of the actions of his holiness; for he looked with his discerning eye, and he saw the manner of the life which he led, and he smelled from him the savour of grace which enteyeth into the'chambers of the soul, and maketh glad all its powers. And he required from Rabban "that he would abolish the glorious order of the service of readings which were read on the holy first days of the week in honour of the atoning Mysteries, inasmuch as it was not a thing appropriate for monks, but only for the clergy and the laity. For the solitaries are teachers, and are all occupied continually with the Scriptures, and courses of readings are therefore superfluous for them. They have no need of commandments, nor of the dispensation of God which is especially intended for the laity, which they were originally. And moreover in this work there are questions and answers and speaking, and not every monk is able to guard his mind and his tongue equally well outside his cell as before he came out; but I would wish and desire that the monks should go forth to the congregation from their cells keeping silence, and that they should return to their cells in silence, as a guard for the tongue which is the storehouse of words." The holy Mar Jacob said to him, "Today let us perform the Holy Mysteries in the customary manner, and let us rejoice in the participation in the body of Christ our Lord, before thou departest from us, and let us read the readings and not change the order of our service; and whatsoever pleaseth the Lord let us do whilst thou art here." And this speech was pleasing in the sight of Mar Babhai. Now there was in the martyrium a certain man smitten with the palsy who had never walked, but he used to crawl along supporting himself upon his hands, and [when] he raised up his body, he supported all his weight upon his hands. And when the service of the Mysteries had begun, Rabban sent the man sick of the palsy to crawl into the temple, and he also selected for reading the passage from that part of the Gospels where our Lord commanded the paralytic to walk; and he gave it to one of his disciples and commanded him to read it. And the paralytic crawled along and went into the temple, and the holy Mar Babhai saw him. And it came to pass that as the reader was reading, when he came to that passage in which Jesus Christ says to the man sick of the palsy, "I say unto thee, O paralytic, arise, and take up thy bed, and go to thy house," the man sick of the palsy leaped up in the midst of the temple, and stood upon his feet; and wonder and astonishment seized all the brethren, and they all turned to the glorifying of God the Lord of all. And Mar Babhai especially fell into wonder and amazement, and he knew and understood that this miracle had, for a long time past, been reserved for the holy Mar Jacob to work on the day when necessity required it, that it might be a bridle and a thing wherewith to silence those who wished to abolish the order of service which his holiness had established in the congregation under his rule. And Mar Babhai, and those who were with him, rejoiced and were glad and confirmed his order of service, and praised the ordinances of Rabban; and the blessed Mar Babhai went forth from this monastery, full of joy and praise, to visit the other monasteries which yet remained to be visited.

Chapter XXX.

Of Those Tried and Approved Men Who Became Disciples of Rabban Mar Jacob in this Monastery

Now wishing to write concerning the upright children of an upright father, and the noble heirs to the inheritance of a noble man,' and the glorious disciples of a glorious father, it falleth to me first of all to give utterance to the sayings of the wise man,  "The righteous man who walketh in integrity, blessed are his children after him;" "for the joy of the righteous man worketh judgment, and his noble deeds are spoken of by his seed"And again, "The father of the righteous man shall rejoice, and if a father begets a wise man he will rejoice in him."' And seeing that his own goodness was handed down as a goodly heritage to his children, the righteous man Mar Jacob died; but perhaps he did not die, for lie left many behind him like unto himself, concerning whom, by the hand of the Lord I make ready to write. And the departure of their father was not grievous unto them, because during his lifetime, they rejoiced him by the beauty of their manner of life, and they promised him that they would keep his commandments for ever. And on his departure he also blessed them, and laid his holy hands upon their heads, and they bowed down at the top of his staff at the time of his going away out of their midst. Now, according to what is written in the history of him, a large congregation became discipleS2 of Rabban, eighty men in number, whose names are written in the Book of Life.