The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus During the persecutions by the Roman emperor Decius, around AD 250, seven young men were accused of following Christianity. Refusing to recant their faith, they chose to give their worldly goods to the poor and retire to a mountain cave to pray, where they fell asleep. The Emperor, seeing that their attitude towards paganism had not improved, ordered the mouth of the cave to be sealed. Decius died in 251, and many years passed during which Christianity went from being persecuted to being the state religion of the Roman Empire. 200 years later, during the reign of Theodosius II (408–450), a landowner opened up the sealed mouth of the cave, intending to use it as a cattle pen. He found the sleepers inside. They awoke, imagining that they had slept but one day, and sent one of their number to Ephesus to buy food, with instructions to be careful. Upon arriving in the city, this person was astounded to find buildings with crosses attached; the townspeople for their part were astounded to find a man trying to spend old coins from the reign of Decius. The bishop was summoned to interview the sleepers; they told him their miracle story, and died praising God. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Sleepers #romancalendar #minds

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