St Frumentius

Frumentius reached his life's work by a road he never could have chosen. A Christian youth from Tyre, he was caught in disaster, survived massacre and captivity, and found himself carried into the Ethiopian court. What might have seemed like sheer misfortune became a providential beginning. In the court he gained influence and used it not for advancement but to encourage Christian worship and to support the faith of Christian merchants already present in the land.

The course of events is unusual enough to sound almost like romance, yet it rests on firm early witness once Athanasius enters the picture. Frumentius eventually returned, was consecrated bishop by St Athanasius, and went back to complete openly what he had first begun almost by accident. Thus captivity became mission, and the private influence of one faithful Christian helped become the public planting of a church. The life is memorable because it combines adventure with historical solidity and because it shows how divine providence can turn disaster into apostolic work.