12-29-2004, 03:55 PM
Shlama Akhi Michael,
???In 340 the Persian Shah Shapur informed church leaders they must pay the taxes they collect from Christians. When the Christian leader Shimon Bar Sabbae refused, he was summoned to the court and given a final chance to agree.
He again refused saying: "I am no tax-collector but ashepherd of the Lord???s flock." On Good Friday, 17 April 341, he and about 100 other Christians, including many clergy and some monks and nuns, were put to death. The long martyrdom of the Persian Christians had begun. This persecution lasted for almost forty years with scarcely any remission, and was borne with remarkable fortitude.???
???In 340 the Persian Shah Shapur informed church leaders they must pay the taxes they collect from Christians. When the Christian leader Shimon Bar Sabbae refused, he was summoned to the court and given a final chance to agree.
He again refused saying: "I am no tax-collector but ashepherd of the Lord???s flock." On Good Friday, 17 April 341, he and about 100 other Christians, including many clergy and some monks and nuns, were put to death. The long martyrdom of the Persian Christians had begun. This persecution lasted for almost forty years with scarcely any remission, and was borne with remarkable fortitude.???
+Shamasha Paul bar-Shimun de'Beth-Younan
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