THE LIFE OF A ROBBER NAMED CYRIACOS
A friend of Christ told us about a robber named Cyriacos whose thefts were committed in the area around Emius, also known as Nicopolis. He became so cruel and inhuman that they called him "the wolf." There were other robbers with him, including not only Christians but also Judaeans and Samaritans.
One day, during Holy Week, some people from an estate in the region of Nicopolis came up to the Holy City to baptize their children. After the children had been baptized, they were returning to their estate to celebrate Easter Day. However, on their way, they were confronted by the robbers (the chieftain was not present). The men took to their heels. Casting aside the newly baptized children, the Hebrews and Samaritans seized the women and took possession of them.
As the men fled, they ran into the chieftain of the robbers who asked them, "Why are you running away?" They told him what had happened to them. He took them with him and went in search of his companions; he found the children stretched out on the ground. Upon discovering who had perpetrated this atrocity, he beheaded the guilty ones. He had the men take up the little ones (because the women were unwilling to do so on account of their defilement by the robbers), and then he conducted them all safely to their estate.
A little while later, the robber chieftain was arrested. For ten years, he languished in jail, and no one had him executed; finally, he was released. He would say over and over again, "It is thanks to those babes that I escaped bitter death. I used to see them in my dreams, saying to me: 'Do not be afraid; we are putting forward the case for your defense.'"
We met this man—I and Abba John, priest of the Lavra of the Eunuchs. He told us all this, and we glorified God.