Happiness in Martyrdom and the Unique Value in Eudokia the Martyr
(السعادة في الشهادة والدرّة الفريدة في أفدوكيا الشهيدة)
Lebanese Theater : Book No. 13
Author : Fr. Mikhael Gabriel
Study : Antonine Father Maroun El-Hayek
Year : 2014
ISBN: 978-9953-562-75-9
Fr. Mikhael Gabriel infused in his plays an authentic religious spirit, through which he reflected the strength of the faithful Christian who does not fear death because he dies for the sake of the One who saved him and invited him to eternal life.
The play entitled “Happiness in Martyrdom” recounts how many people conspired against Saint Julian at the beginning of the Christian era and killed him, but this Saint remained and maintained the strength of his faith and Christian commitment. The play entitled “The Unique Value in Eudokia the Martyr” talks about Eudokia who did not believe in Jesus Christ and led an unethical life. After she was introduced to Jesus by a monk, her life entirely changed and she subsequently became a nun in a monastery. And following a spiritual and social struggle, she gave up to God’s will and presented herself as a martyr of her faith. In this play, Gabriel wanted to look at the spiritual aspect of Lebanon because Eudokia was Lebanese, from Baalbek, to point out that Lebanon was a land of holiness and martyrdom since early Christianity.
Through his published and unpublished plays, Gabriel sought to prove that spiritual theater can be embodied in a novelist manner, particularly the biographies of saints, since his plays varied between poetic and prose dialogues influenced by world theater, particularly the French classical theater like that of Racine, Corneille, and others.