7. Life of St. Theodora of Thessalonike - Dumbarton Oaks

St. Theodora of Thessalonike 207
one with a haughty spirit who in a mercenary fashion was accustomed to
reckon of no account the munificent gifts of God. For if anyone should suspect
that this is not the truth, then let him witness the miracle as I did and
not disbelieve my words. And indeed one of the priests chosen , Sisinnios by name, seeing this with
his own eyes, told me, “As I approached the tomb of the blessed
and prayed, the lamp which gushes forth the oil was extinguished. But suddenly
I saw it swing violently, and, as it was swinging, it suddenly was lit spontaneously
without fire.”
50. A few days later a neighbor woman who lived in poverty brought here
[i.e., to the tomb] her very young son, whose senses were deranged by a demonic
attack. For in the month of September, in the oppressive
heat of midday, this boy, like the child that he was, was dashing about in one
of the city’s rubbish heaps in childish games; he was running to and fro trying
to catch birds with birdlime and setting hidden traps on the ground for sparrows,
when he was trapped in the snares of the devil. For while he was busying
himself with this , as he looked around he suddenly saw an Ethiopian
244 who appeared very big and tall, and terrified he took to his heels to
escape. But (as explained to me after his recovery) the Ethiopian
apparition seized him vigorously with both hands, hurled him to the ground,
and after making a great thumping noise in the nearby vaulted chambers, 245
he disappeared. As soon as [p. 168] Theodore (for this was the young boy’s
name) regained consciousness, he ran home, dumbstruck and terrified, bearing
on his face clear evidence of the incident, and told his mother what had
happened. And she immediately took her child (for what a
mother ?), and tearing out her whitened hairs she sought refuge with
God and the blessed . When the boy arrived at the place where
the remains of the blessed were beneath the earth,
straightway the wicked demon was exposed and revealed himself ; and after he completely stunned the wretched child, he
caused him to go out of his mind, so that he tried to leap about and attempted
to leave the shrine, to speak abominable words and cry out indecently and
utter strange responses when he was addressed. After his mother stayed
244 Demons were frequently described as Ethiopians in Byzantine hagiography.
245 The Greek word is kamárai; Papageorgiu (“Vita,” 150) suggests that the term may
refer to aqueduct arches. It could also describe an old cemetery with vaulted tombs,
the ruins of buildings with vaulted chambers, or cisterns.