Arius the Libyan: A Romance of the Primitive Church

by Nathan C. Kouns

"Why, then, hast thou not sought the prayers of the Church before this time, if so thou believest?"

"My parents wished not to have the miracle wrought on me until they thought me to be old enough both to understand how great an affliction loss of sight is and to remember the means whereby I regained it--if, indeed, the Lord will at this time grant our request."

"And thou surely wilt love Jesus much if he shall hear thee, wilt thou not?"

"Yea, will I! Indeed, I love him now with all my soul; but if he restoreth my sight unto me I could work for him far more when I am older; and chiefly for that reason do I pray for his mercy in this matter."

"And I shall pray for thee, also," said Theckla.

And she told Hatasa and Am-nem-hat about the boy, and they looked amazed thereat, but said nothing.

By nine o'clock in the morning all had assembled whom they expected; and, having set a watch on the only practicable road that led down from the mountains to Baucalis, to give them timely notice of the approach of any whose coming might endanger them, the exercises of the day were inaugurated with singing and prayer and the reading of the gospel. There were a wonderful simplicity and directness, both in songs and prayers. If Jesus Christ, the Saviour, Friend, and King, through whom their worship was addressed to God, had been visibly present regarding the manner of their devotions, the whole service could not have been more earnest, simple, and direct. If, indeed, he was not present, they thought and felt otherwise; and the sense of his presence was as real and actual unto them as if, on raising their eyes, they could have looked him in the face; and this unquestioning faith gave a strange sense of life and vividness to all of the exercises, the progress of which Am-nem-hat, Hatasa, and Theckla watched with joy and eagerness.

The presbyter preached with great simplicity and earnestness, describing the love of Jesus and the triumphs of the faith, and in the peroration his address swelled into a glorious pæan of victory as he declared the steadfastness and faithfulness of certain Christians who had recently suffered martyrdom in other places, telling them that no man could foresee how soon some of them also might be called upon to tread the glorious path by which their brethren had been perfected in the Lord, and transferred to eternal felicity. But, looking into the flashing eyes and rapt faces turned upon him from every side, he deemed it prudent to give them solemn warning that the crown of martyrdom was not to be officiously sought after, any more than it was to be avoided by unfaithfulness; but that they must be alike ready to live unto Christ, or to die for him, as the providence of God might determine to be best for each of them.

Then he said that if there were any present who had not before publicly professed their faith in Christ, and desired to do so, the Church would then witness their good confession; and thereupon Am-nem-hat and Theckla both stepped forward and gave their hands to the presbyter. The presbyter then briefly stated to the people the facts which he had learned in regard to the past life and experience of the ancient, and the recital thereof at once rendered the old man an object of respect and affection to all of them. Their interest was enlisted by the exceptional fact that an aged and learned pagan priest had found the Saviour precious to his soul. Then Ammonius sent forward Arius and bade him relate to the assembly the story of the shipwreck of Hatasa and Theckla, and of their desire to become Christians; and the boy narrated the circumstances so vividly, and with such unconscious force and eloquence, that they twain also were welcomed into the hearts of all those Christians, and the sense of strangeness and restraint that naturally affects the mind at our first meeting with those whom we have not seen before was at once dissolved by the influence of fraternal interest and affection.

Am-nem-hat having signified his desire to be baptized by immersion, they all repaired to the shore of the little bay, where, with appropriate ceremony, that sacred rite was administered. But, owing to the debilitated condition of Hatasa, she and Theckla received the same sacred rite, after suitable explanations, by having the water sprinkled upon them at the house.