The Life of Saint Okeen (3): Mar Jacob Chosen as Bishop of Nisibis

The Departure of the Metropolitan of Nisibis

At that time the Metropolitan of the city of Nisibis departed, and its people considered who should succeed him. Some said “So-and-so,” and others said “So-and-so,” and the people of the city disagreed over the choice of their new shepherd. But they agreed with one mind, saying, “Let us go to Saint Mar Okeen and do whatever he advises us in this matter.”

The priests, the deacons and the leaders of the city went and came to the door of Saint Okeen’s cell. He came out to them and asked them to go down to the church and offer prayer until he had completed his rule of prayer, and they did as he asked.

The Saint’s Prophecy to Mar Jacob

Three days before this, a holy hermit from one of the mountains, called “Mar Jacob,” had come to Saint Mar Okeen. When he greeted Saint Okeen, the saint prophesied to him, saying, “You and I receive blessing from one another as brothers, and in a few days I shall receive your blessing as the shepherd and steward of the Church.” Saint Mar Jacob answered, “Forgive me, my father; I am not worthy of what you say to me.”

The Saint Sends the People to Amida

Saint Okeen went down to the church, where the congregation of Nisibis had gathered waiting for him. When they saw him, they all stood to receive his blessing. His appearance was radiant and glorious like that of an angel of the Lord, so that he was held in great reverence. He motioned with his hand for them to sit quietly while he went in and bowed down before the holy altar. Afterward he came out leaning on his staff, and the crowd pressed around him to receive his blessing.

He had perceived why they had come before they told him, and he said to them, “My children, since the departure of your spiritual father it has been hard for you to choose a shepherd and steward. Stop arguing and quarreling with one another, for none of those you are choosing will become your shepherd and steward. The man who will become your steward is known to the Holy Spirit. Listen to me: go up to the city of Amida. There you will find the father Patriarch and the father bishops gathered, and there God will choose for you your shepherd and steward.”

The people marveled greatly, because he had spoken to them about the reason for their coming before they told him. They received his words with joy, made a metania (prostration) before him, and returned to their city in peace, in love, agreement and one mind.

The Vision at Amida

The priests, the deacons and the leaders of the city went to the city of Amida and found the father Patriarch and the father bishops gathered, just as Saint Mar Okeen had told them. They received their blessing, and the father Patriarch asked them, “Whom have you chosen to be your shepherd and steward?” They answered him with what Saint Okeen had told them. When the father metropolitans heard what Saint Okeen had said, they all said together, “Let us offer prayers and supplications to God for this matter tonight, and the Lord will choose.”

The father Patriarch and the father metropolitans rose with zeal and resolve and spent the whole night offering supplications to God, asking Him to show them the man He had chosen for this task. At midnight, as the father Patriarch stood praying with many tears, entreating the Lord about this matter, a deep calm came over him; a deep sleep fell upon him, and in his sleep he saw an angel standing before him, saying, “Mar Jacob is the man about whom you are asking the Lord. He is still a hermit in the mountains; God has worked miracles and wonders through him, and the Lord has chosen him to shepherd and govern the city of Nisibis.” The father Patriarch asked about his lineage, but the angel did not tell him, and departed.

The father Patriarch rose from his sleep and told the fathers of his vision. They rose that same hour and went to the place where Saint Jacob was, told him what had happened, and asked him to come down with them. He told them he was not worthy of it, but he knew that this matter was from God and feared to oppose God’s will. He remembered the words of Saint Mar Okeen to him: “Behold, your time has drawn near to shepherd the flock of Christ.” So Saint Mar Jacob rose and came down with them, and they rejoiced over him with great joy and thanked God, who had chosen for them a good shepherd.

Of What Lineage Was He?

The city rejoiced and was glad at the ordination of Saint Mar Jacob as its bishop. The people wanted to know his lineage, but he would not tell them. Early on Sunday morning Saint Mar Okeen went with some of the brothers to the church of Nisibis to congratulate the people on their shepherd. When he entered the church, he blessed and thanked God, who had raised up such a good shepherd for His Church, and said to the people, “Rejoice and glorify God, who has made your city worthy to have this Saint Mar Jacob as its shepherd and steward. He is descended from Saint James the Apostle, the brother of the Lord, who was bishop of Jerusalem in the days of our pure fathers the Apostles.”

Saint Mar Okeen spoke these words by the Holy Spirit. Saint Mar Jacob had not wished to make this known, lest it become a cause of pride and boasting for him. The people of the city rejoiced greatly to hear it, and thanked God for choosing this father for them, and for the monastery near their city where these holy men lived, with Saint Mar Okeen at their head.

← Part 2 · The last Liturgy of the saint’s life →

Sources

• The Life of Saint Mar Okeen, by His Grace Anba Matthaeus, Bishop and Abbot of the Monastery of the Virgin Mary (El-Sourian)