On 19th November each year the faithful are asked to bring to mind the painful story of St Barlaam, an illiterate labourer who lived in a village near Antioch (southern Turkey) in the early 4th century.
Barlaam was a Christian who was not shy in proclaiming his
faith at a time when many Christians were suffering persecution. He was
arrested and taken before a judge who ordered him to be tortured until he
recanted his faith.
However, Barlaam was made of stern stuff and would not do as
requested. The judge then came up with what he thought was a perfect plan,
namely to trick Barlaam into making a sacrifice to the pagan gods. He reckoned
that this uneducated man would fall for his ruse, but was to be proved wrong.
The judge ordered a fire to be lit on an altar dedicated to
the pagan gods, into which people would throw incense to represent a sacrifice.
Incense was placed on Barlaam’s open hand which was then forced over the
flames. The idea was that Barlaam would flinch with the pain and drop the
incense into the fire.
However, no pain would make Barlaam recount his faith and he
left his hand in the fire until it had burned away completely. He was then
taken away and executed.
© John Welford
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