Thirty-⁠Eight Fathers Slain at Sinai

The Thirty-⁠Eight Fathers Slain at Sinai were venerable monks who lived in the caves of Mount Sinai in the fifth century and were killed by barbarians for their faith in Christ. They are commemorated together on 14 January (new style).

One day, bands of barbarians raging against the Christian faith came upon the dwellings of the hermits. The fathers were at first alarmed, but soon recovered themselves, and in the face of death they showed wonderful courage. None denied his faith. The barbarians killed them in their huts and gardens, and they died praying and singing hymns, praises and thanksgiving to God. Two fathers, Sabbas and Isaiah, escaped the sword and buried the slain and told what had happened. A verse of the synaxarion says that the sword did many killings, and those slain were men who loved virtue.