424- President Schimel and His Mother(1)

 

St-Takla.org Image: A Coptic woman praying in front of the Crucifixion icon, by Amgad Wadea. صورة في موقع الأنبا تكلا: امرأة قبطية تصلي أمام أيقونة الصلبوت - رسم أمجد وديع.

Schimel, a Caucasian leader, was resisting the Russian advance to his region for a long time. However, what saddened this leader’s heart was the spread of corruption among his people, especially bribery. He tried by all means to change his people’s way but to no avail.

Finally, he set a deadline to execute a cruel punishment: if anybody was caught accepting bribes, he/she would be whipped a hundred times on his/her back, after being stripped, in public with no exceptions. The punishment was for everybody whether men or women, even the elders and the sick.

Surprisingly, the first person arrested was the president’s mother. When he was informed; he thought, “Can my mother be exempted from being lashed? How will the people respect the law then? Where is justice? Will my mother tolerate a hundred lashes on her back?”

He then announced, “justice is above all. Let my mother be punished.”

Many people begged him to let her go, giving her another chance. Nevertheless, he firmly ordered that his mother be lashed.

The president himself attended the lashing and it was not easy for him to see his mother’s back naked and the whip falling on it causing her to bitterly scream. As the first five lashes ended; Schimel could not bare it anymore. He rushed down to where his mother was and asked to receive the rest of the lashes himself.

His mother could not see him being punished for her sin and almost died sorrowing over what she did.

→ English translation of the story here at St-Takla.org: الرئيس شيميل وأمه.

You took off the garment of glory,

And hid Your Divinity.

You were undressed like a slave,

And like a lamb, You were slain for my sins.

Your love is wonderful O Savior of the world.

How can I repay You for redeeming me with Your blood?

Footnotes and references for this page here at St-Takla.org:

 (1) Naismith, Archibald. 2400 Outlines, Notes, Quotes and Anecdotes. Vol. 2, article 558

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