they brought it on the instant. John therefore having taken it, put it into a large cup, and filled it with water, and mixed it, and cried out with a loud voice, and said: In thy name, Jesus Christ, Son of God, I drink the cup which Thou wilt sweeten, and the poison in it do Thou mingle with the Holy Spirit, and make it become a draught of life and salvation for the healing of soul and body, for digestion and harmless assimilation, for faith not to be repented of, for an undeniable testimony of death as the cup of thanksgiving.[1]
10. And when he had drunk the cup, those standing beside Domitian expected that he was going to fall to the ground in convulsions. And when John stood, cheerful, and talked with them safe, Domitian was enraged against those who had given him the poison, as having spared John. And they swore by the fortune and health of the King, and said that there could not be a stronger poison than this. And John perceiving what they were whispering to one another, said to the King: Do not take it ill, O King, but let a trial be made, and thou shalt learn the power of the poison. Let some condemned criminal be brought from the prison. And
- ↑ According to the Vatican recension the King orders a magician, an excellent worker of the devil, to come, and says to him: Prepare for me such a deadly poison, that he who touches it, dies within an hour. The magician does as he is bidden and brings the poison to the King. The King says: "Let it be given to John the Galilean." The magician fills the cup and gives it to John. He takes the poison, makes the sign of the cross over it, calls upon the Lord Jesus Christ and drinks it as with great pleasure.
