[The text begins with a historical note regarding Zosimas of Naples, concluding that he is a distinct individual from the saint. The account continues:]
A ...mentions a certain Zosimus, or Zosimas, whom the Arians, stained with their own errors, intruded into the see of a city in Italy, Naples, having expelled the orthodox and holy bishop, Maximus. His own punishment made him famous. For when he undertook to perform the episcopal office in the Neapolitan church, his tongue swelled and protruded outside his mouth; nor could it be retracted until Zosimas had departed from the temple. After this event, when Zosimas attempted—actually, a second and third time—to enter the church to discharge his sacred episcopal office, he was repeatedly compelled to leave, forced by the same affliction. Whence: For this reason he at last yielded the bishopric, so that his tongue might be restored to its original function. [These are the words of Marcellinus,] who soon adds: "We are not reporting ancient matters... for even today Zosimas is in the flesh, not having lost the use of his tongue, after he preferred to live with the loss of the bishopric." It may seem that this Zosimas came to his senses through such an evident miracle; which may perhaps be the reason why the anonymous author speaks of his error as a thing of the past. Whatever the case may be, we have from these accounts both the holy Zosimas and another of the same name—not holy—who lived at the same time, that is, toward the end of the fourth century.
This indeed applies to the blessed Hieromonk and Abbot Zosimas. For since our Daniel Papebrochius, in Vol. I of April, page 68, shrewdly demonstrates from the character of the Paschal date that the holy Mary of Egypt died on April 1, on the Friday of Passover in the year of Christ 432, after she had received B the sacred viaticum of the Body and Blood of Christ from Zosimas, then about seventy years of age; it is manifest that he not only lived many years before the five-hundredth year of the Christian era, but also practiced the ascetic life most holily in his earlier monastery near Tyre, from which, before he migrated to the other monastery on the near side of the Jordan, he had exercised the religious life for fifty-three years, as he himself, as we have seen, testifies. The whole context of Zosimas’s *Alloquia* confirms this chronology. For there, both Evagrius (not the Origenist, but another, more ancient and most holy disciple of Macarius) and Pachomius, and others of equal antiquity, are mentioned as men of recent memory: but also, when other things are related from the Lives and Acts of the Fathers, nothing at all is produced that is not earlier than the five-hundred and fiftieth year of Christ. From these facts, you are to correct what our Rosweydus, deceived by a corrupt transcript of the Acts of Mary of Egypt—published under the false name of Sophronius—noted in his *Lives of the Fathers*, page 299, in these words: "Mary of Egypt flourished in the times of Justin the Elder, around the year of the Lord 520." For that this suffers from a metachronism of almost a whole century, the aforementioned Papebrochius eruditely demonstrates; see him in the April volume, from page 67 to 70.
Therefore, with our right to do so, we join this little work, containing the *Alloquia* of the blessed Zosimas, to the previous one—which has the holy Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium, as its author—without any intermediary, following the order of the times in which the lives of both are arranged, prepared in such a way that they had several common years; the old age of Amphilochius occurring concurrently with the youth of Zosimas.
It will not be out of place to note finally that John Moschus, the author of the book long since famous and praised by the Sixth General Council, entitled *The Spiritual Meadow*, undoubtedly saw these *Alloquia* of Zosimas. For in Chapter 211, he describes the tenth of them, recounting in almost the same words the story of the monk who, having clearly seen his cell being plundered by a neighboring monk, bore it most patiently: even after he heard that that most wicked thief had been brought to the judge for the crime and was held in prison, he first brought collected food to him in his confinement; then he obtained his release from the judge. The only difference is that while Zosimas says the old man collected eggs and *cathara* to take to the shackled thief, Moschus substitutes "some foodstuffs," perhaps avoiding the necessity of explaining what *cathara* were: a word which I have not found defined in any glossary, and when I asked the Greek monks in Italy about it, I heard them confessing that they did not know at all what it signified; hence I was compelled to leave the word itself, expressed in Latin letters, in my own translation. The same Moschus, Chapter 212, transcribes from *Alloquium* XIII two examples of holy elders voluntarily offering all they had to robbers, with the only difference that he interprets the word *scalidion* as "a hanging purse," which is somewhat unskillful; since an old scholiast of Theocritus on Idyll X explains the word *scalis* as an agricultural tool. Hence I have interpreted it as "a hoe." But it is also improbable to number a purse among the movable goods of a monastic cell, especially one that is (as he adds) "hanging," which the robbers would have seen immediately; nor would they have needed to be reminded by the holy old man as they left, to take what they had left behind inadvertently. Furthermore, Chapter 216 of the *Meadow* is described from the sixth *Alloquium* of Zosimas; Chapter 218 from the eleventh; and finally Chapter 219 from the thirteenth; but enough on these matters.
THE DISCOURSES OF THE BLESSED ABBOT ZOSIMAS
B. ABBOTT ZOSIMAS’S ALLOQUIA
1. The blessed Zosimas, beginning, spoke as follows, first making the sign of the cross over his mouth: "Fa—
- A ther, the Word of God, having become man, provided great grace to those who believe, and who believe in him today, if we so desire. For since our choice is yearning for it and his grace is bestowing the power, it is possible for anyone who wills it to hold the whole world as nothing. And he would take into his hand whatever first came to pass, suppose a straw, or a shred of rags, or some other such trifle, and would say: 'Who, because of this, fights or contends, or bears a grudge, or is grieved, unless he be one who has truly lost the use of his reason?' Therefore, one who is advancing and progressing in the way of the Spirit of God holds the whole world, even if he possesses it entirely, in no greater value than this straw. For, as I say, it is not the having that harms, but the having with attachment. Who does not know that, of all the things we have, our own body is held to be the most precious? And yet, are we not commanded to despise it on certain occasions? But if we are commanded to expose our own body to danger and harm at times, how much more so should we treat external things in this way? B And he used to mention to that purpose the example of a brother who possessed garden herbs in such a way that he was entirely free from attachment toward them. That he had herbs could not be denied; for had he not sown them, laboriously watered them, and with much care brought them to green maturity and full condition of health? But, on the other hand, did he not willingly pull them up and cast them away when it was fitting for that to be done? Truly, he possessed them as though he possessed them not, as appeared when the spiritual master, having entered the garden and wishing to test his disciple’s intention, began to trample and crush them. The gardener showed no sign of pain, just as if the matter did not concern him at all. And then he noted the old man, who was weary of destroying the plants, and said: 'Would you wish, Father, that we cut this delicate plant C and cook it for our guest’s supper?' Then that holy master recognized that the young man was a servant of God, and not of the herbs, and said to him: 'The Spirit of God has rested upon you, brother.' If he had been bound to the herbs by attachment, he would have shown it immediately by appearing afflicted and distraught at seeing a thing dear to him being destroyed; now, however, that patience of his made it manifest that he possessed them as though he did not. Zosimas added: 'The demons mark these things, and when they see someone declaring that he does not adhere with affection to the things he possesses, and he suffers the loss of them with a serene and imperturbable mind, they understand that such a man walks on earth but does not think of earthly things.' 2. He said again that there are impulses of our choice, D and a fervent choice can in one hour offer more to God than one that does not offer at all; but a weak choice does not work. And if the demons see that someone has been insulted or disparaged, or has suffered a loss, or has endured any evil whatever, and is grieved—not because he suffered the wrong undeservedly, but because he did not bear that kind of impulse nobly—the demons are afraid; for they know that he has touched the way of truth and wishes to walk according to the commandments of God. And he would remember holy Pachomius when his elder brother cried out against him, saying: 'Pau, you are a braggart, desiring to widen the monastery'
' (for Pachomius did this in obedience to an oracle divinely given to him). Hearing these things, the holy man was moved within by an indignation that he thought was righteous, yet he answered nothing against him. But after he had recalled his heart from that inward anger, on the following night he descended into a small oratory, began to weep, and praying said: 'O God, the carnal senses are still in me; I still live according to the flesh. Woe is me, for I shall die, as it is written. After such long exercise of the religious life and preparation of the heart, I am still carried away by anger, even though it be in a good matter. Have mercy on me, Lord, lest I perish. For if the enemy finds a part in me, immediately, unless you steady me, I shall succumb to him and be made his captive. For if someone has observed the whole law, yet fails in one point, he has become guilty of all. But I trust that if your many mercies aid me, B I shall learn henceforth to walk along the way of your saints, stretching myself out to the things which are before. For they, as is fitting, put the enemy to shame. But how shall I instruct those whom you have called to lead this life with me, unless I have first conquered myself?' And he persevered in praying these things the whole night, repeating them with groans until the day returned; and from his great sweating, the traces of his feet became as mud; for it was summer, and that place was very hot. And the blessed one said, wondering: 'For his tears had no measure.' How will God not grant to such a purpose all the good things he asked of Him, in that He sees him dead to all things?
III. On those who resent injuries
C The same Zosimas said again: When anyone receives into his mind a thought brought against him by someone who has vexed him, or caused him loss, or insulted him, or disparaged him, or vainly slandered him, or done him any wrong whatsoever, and he fosters and harbors thoughts that are rabid against his enemy, he is setting an ambush for his own soul like the demons; for he is sufficient unto himself for his own destruction without their work. What do I mean when he weaves and entangles such thoughts? I further say, that unless he remembers his adversary as a benefactor and a physician, he harms himself incurably. For what do you say you suffer from being vexed? He by whom you complain of having suffered has purged you, he has cured your disease, and you ought to remember him as a physician sent to you by Christ; you are a debtor to Christ if only for this D single benefit of suffering anything for His name. You are duty-bound to hold the servant in this office of his mind in the place of a benefactor. But if you do not recede from malice, or do not even desire to recede, the Lord God who studied to cure you has completed His part: it is in vain, on account of your own restraint; the fault is yours alone for rejecting the remedy, for what you suffer is not an injury from him whom you call an adversary, but an injury to your own soul, which is sick and loves its own disease. If you were not so sick, you would suffer nothing from an enemy. Therefore, if you rightly judge, you are bound to give thanks to your brother.
A whom you accuse as a slanderer or an evildoer, since through him you have come to know the path of your sickness, and how far it spreads to your destruction: therefore, you should accept his words and actions, though they may be unpleasant to you, as salutary medicines sent to you by Jesus. But if you not only do not give thanks, but grieve, and in turn revile, and in turn accuse, and weave machinations against him to take revenge, you are saying to Christ Jesus, tacitly or rather openly and clearly: "I do not wish to be healed by you, I do not wish to take your medicines, I wish to rot in my wounds, I wish to obey the demons. I know not the Lord. And who is He, that I should obey his voice?" What then will the Lord do further? Since our Lord is good and indulgent toward our iniquities, He has given holy commandments that purge us like cauteries and medicines. Therefore, whoever wishes and desires to be healed must admit and endure whatever is offered or brought to him by the Physician; he must endure, I say, with patience for the pain and with silence. For one who is sick in body does not find it pleasant to be cut, burned, or to swallow bitter draughts, yet he restrains himself and persuades himself to tolerate such bitterness, knowing that without these he cannot be freed from his languor, wherefore he commits himself entirely to the physician, aware that by this small unpleasantness the virus conceived in his bowels, by which he is cruelly tormented, will be expelled, and the long-standing illness by which he is slowly consumed will be shaken off. Now, the surgeon who cuts and burns is the Lord Jesus; that other one is the inflicter of loss or injury. B
IV. He said further: "Take away temptations and reasonings, and no one is holy; he who flees a temptation that is useful for him, flees eternal life." For one of the saints truly said: "Who prepared for the holy martyrs those crowns with which they shine, if not their persecutors? Who granted to Saint Stephen such glorious brilliance as that which he enjoys, if not they who stoned him?" And he always brought forward the sentiment of a certain holy man, saying: "I do not rebuke those who accuse me, but I even call them benefactors and hold them as my own. Nor do I repel the physician of souls when he administers the medicine of ignominy to my soul, which is sick and laboring under the disease of vainglory, fearing lest it be said of it: 'We have cured Babylon, and she is not healed'; and again: 'How often would I have gathered thy children as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and thou wouldest not? Behold, your house shall be left unto you desolate.'" C
V. And he said: "Evagrius feared that Christ might reproach him and say: 'Evagrius, you were suffering from the disease of vainglory, and I applied to you the medicine of brought-about disgrace, so that through it you might be healed. You, however, were not healed'; and let us hold it for certain that, of those who speak of us, only those who blame us speak the truth. The Lord, who searches hearts and reins, knows all that is mine, however much they may be praised and beatified by the harmonious mouths of all men; yet they are none the less base, worthy of being spat upon, and deserving of reproach." But if sycophants say to me: "You have done this and that good thing," I answer: "What indeed is mine in these, when all good things belong entirely to God?" No one, in fact, tells lies about me except those who praise me and proclaim me blessed. No one tells the truth about me except those who load me with reproaches and say I am a man of naught. D Yet if it should happen to them, I do not say to see the whole ocean of my evils, but only to see some part of them, they would turn themselves away from the stench of the mud.
A For every person who reviles speaks only of a part, for he cannot know everything. For if the righteous Job said, "I am full of ignominy," and that which is full admits of no extra addition, what shall we say, who are an ocean of evils? In every sin the devil has humbled us by making us subject to him, and we ought to be grateful for our humiliation; for those who are grateful for their own humiliation crush the devil. And as the holy Fathers said: if humility is brought down to hell, it is raised to heaven; and if pride is exalted to heaven, it is brought down to hell. Who could ever persuade a truly humble man to entertain thoughts of murmuring or schemes of vengeance against anyone? Or, however much he might suffer at the hands of another, to complain about his tormentor and recriminate in return? On the contrary, the humble man, as often as he is insulted and hears curses chanted against him, takes that occasion to rebuke himself, and as if grateful that he is being helped, he rises more strongly and applies himself to crushing his own wicked arrogance with just trampling. B Zosimas added to this the example of Abbot Moses: when the clergy cast him out of the sanctuary, saying to him, "Get out, Ethiopian," he sang along with them and began to rebuke himself, saying in this manner: "O black-skinned, charcoal-dark little man, you suffer what you deserve: for what business did you have, you who are cast down by your own vileness below a man, to dare to intrude yourself into an assembly of men when you are not a man? They did well, at any rate, to drive you out from there."
C He added also an appropriate admonition here from Abbot Ammonas: "Observe yourself, mindful attentively of why you have come out and whither you are tending. So that if anyone opposes you in any matter, or is burdensome, do you remain silent first of all, and do not utter any word before you have softened your heart with long and attentive prayer and composed it with serene tranquility. Thus you will be able to confront the brother who opposed you and, as you shall judge to be appropriate, to admonish him. For indeed, he who desires from his heart to enter the straight path of truth, when he is in the burning sense of present injury and the turbulence of mind born from it, then most of all, above all things, he rebukes himself and vehemently upbraids himself, saying: 'Whither? Why do you rage and go mad, my soul? Why are you troubled and foaming at the mouth like a rabid animal?' D By this very thing you show that you are sick; for if you were not sick, you would not be suffering this. Why do you leave off rebuking yourself and accuse your brother because he showed you your disease? And in deed and in truth, learn the commandments of Christ, which are sanctified by his examples: he, being reviled, did not revile in return; being accused, he held his peace; being mocked, he bore it with long-suffering; when he suffered, he did not threaten. You hear him speaking and by his deed showing: 'I gave my back to the scourges, and my cheeks to the blows, and I did not turn away my face from the shame of spitting.' And you, miserable soul, at a small insult and ignominy, scorn, and turning away, reproach or slander, you lie there weaving countless schemes, plotting against yourself as the demons do. What more can a demon do to such a soul than what it does to itself? You see the cross of Christ; we read of the sufferings he endured every day.
A And yet we are unwilling to endure anything unpleasant for our own sake; and so we bear no insults. Truly we have turned aside from the straight path.
Zosimas said: If anyone were to live the years of Methuselah and did not walk this straight path which all the saints have walked—I mean the path of being dishonored and bearing it bravely—he will make no progress, not a little, nor much; nor will he find the treasure hidden in the commandments, but he will merely waste his years continuously in vain. For it happens that someone may despise many hundreds but comes to value a needle, and his striving makes him become troubled, and he makes that needle take the place of a hundred, B and he becomes a slave to the needle, or to a hood, or a mantle, or a book; and he is no longer a slave to God. And well did one of the wise men say that a soul is subject to as many masters as it fosters passionate attachments. And the Lord says: "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Matt. VI, 21). And again the Apostle: "By whom a man is overcome, to him he is also enslaved" (II Pet. II, 19).
VI. The same blessed man said again: I was walking with a brother along the road to Neapolis, along with some laypeople, C and we came to a place where there was a toll booth. The laypeople, knowing the custom, paid the tax. But the brother who was with me began to resist, and said to them: "Do you dare to demand tax from monks?" When I heard this, I said to him: "What are you doing, brother? You are saying nothing other than: 'Will you or not, honor me as a holy man.' Rather, upon seeing your good intention and humility, it behooved him to be put to shame and to say: 'Forgive me.' Therefore, as a disciple of the meek and humble [Lord], give what is required, and let us pass on in peace."
At another time, when I was in the Holy City, there came to me one of the lovers of Christ who said: "Since my brother and I have a small disagreement, D I tried to reach a reconciliation, but he refused; and he claims that he is unwilling to ever return to friendship with me. I pray you, Father, speak to him and bring him to set aside his anger." I gladly took up the task, and having called that brother, I said what seemed appropriate to persuade him to peace and charity; and he appeared to agree. But he objected, saying: "It is not permissible for me to be reconciled to my brother, because I swore upon the cross that I would never agree to do so." Smiling at this, I said to him: "Your oath has such power as if you were saying: 'By the cross I swear, O Christ, that I will never observe your commandments; but I will perform the will of the enemy, the devil.'" For not only ought he not to have solidified what was wrongly decided by us, but rather to repent and be grieved for what we have wrongly determined for ourselves, as the God-bearing Basil says: "For if Herod had repented and not upheld his oath, he would not
have committed this great sin, the beheading of the forerunner of Christ." B
VII. The same person was asked at another time: "How should one who is despised and abused by some not become angry?" He replied: "If a person considers himself to be of no account, he will not be troubled; just as Abba Poemen said: 'If you consider yourself to be nothing, you will have rest.'"
VIII. He said furthermore: There was once one of the brethren who lived with me and had received the sacred habit from me, having been treated by me with great indulgence. He was, in fact, of frail health and delicate; and I used to condescend to him because of his infirmity. Therefore, one day he said to me: "Abba, I love you much." I said to him: "I have still not found anyone who loves me as much as I love him. Behold, now you say that you love me, and I believe you. But if anything should happen that is not pleasing to you, you do not remain the same; as for me, whatever I suffer from you cannot turn me away from my love for you." Not long after this, I know not what happened that was displeasing to him, and he began to murmur many things against me, even to the point of foul abuse. None of this escaped my notice. Yet, though I heard it all, I remained silent and thought to myself: "He is a surgeon of Christ Jesus, C sent to me with fire and iron to treat my soul, which is sick with the desire for vainglory." A person can profit from such things if he is attentive to his own progress, just as, conversely, one is often harmed by those who flatter and applaud him. He who stings me is truly a benefactor. And I remembered him as my physician and benefactor; and I used to say to those who reported his insults against me: "He knows my manifest evils, and yet not all of them, but only a certain part; for the hidden ones are innumerable." Some time later, he met me at Caesarea; and he approached according to his custom and embraced me and kissed me, and I did the same in return, just as if nothing of what had been said had preceded. He, however, remembered, and heaping up dutiful words, as if attempting silently D to undo or compensate for what he had formerly blathered, he even inserted fresh embraces upon another meeting; yet I persisted in ignoring all that had passed, neither doing nor saying anything that might mark any vestige of suspicion or remnants of hurt. He knew, however, that everything he had said in obedience to his anger had become known to me; wherefore he finally fell down before me, and embracing my feet, he said to me: "Forgive me, Abba, for the sake of the Lord, for I have spoken many and grievous things against you." I kissed him and said to him with pleasantry: "Does your love, Father, remember that you once said to me: 'I love you much,' and that I replied to you: 'I have not yet found anyone who loves me as much as I love him'? Behold, now you say..."
'I love you, and I believe it'; but if anything displeasing to you should occur, you will not persevere. I, however, whatever I may suffer from you, shall not be able to be torn away from my love for you. Full faith has been made in your heart; nothing of those things which you spoke against me has escaped me. Indeed, I have distinctly known what, where, to whom, and whatever you have babbled against me; yet I never opposed anything, nor did I affirm that the things you said were false. Nor could any author, of however great gravity, persuade me to speak even one word against you. On the contrary, I said to everyone about you: 'What he says is true.' And I did this out of true charity for you, so that I might be pleasing to you, and might continue to cherish you as my friend, as I had begun to do, and as someone most dear to me. Nor did I ever cease to remember you in my prayers, and as a sign of the secret experiment of this charity that persists in me toward you: when at one time I was vexed with a vehement pain in my eye, mindful of you, I formed the sign of the cross over the aching part, and said: 'Lord Jesus Christ, heal me through his prayers'; and immediately I was healed. And these things, indeed, I then said to that brother.
B IX. The same blessed man used to recall how someone had reported to him that he had an abbot who was exceedingly mild and C gentle. He would add that, because of his exceptional virtue and the signs he performed, he was held by everyone throughout that whole region to be an angel of God. Therefore, at one time, a certain person, acting under the influence of the evil demon, came and insulted him in the most extreme manner, with many standing by, while the elder himself stood there and kept his eyes fixed upon the mouth of the one cursing him, and said: 'May the grace of God bless your mouth, brother.' But as that man grew even more furious and said: 'Yes, you wicked glutton, you say these things so that you may appear to be mild,' the elder said: 'Truly what you say, my brother, you say correctly.' After these things, someone asked him, saying: 'Were you not disturbed just now, elder?' And he said: 'No, but I felt my soul as if protected by God.' And the blessed man said: 'Truly one ought to give thanks for such things.'
D X. The blessed man said again: 'When I was in the monastery which is near Tyre, before I departed, an elder of great virtue came to us, and while we were reading the *Apophthegmata* of the holy fathers—with which that blessed man was greatly delighted, running through them again and again, and breathing forth almost nothing except the doctrine he had drawn from them, from whence he had gathered the very richest fruit, to a full knowledge and perfect exercise of all virtues. When, however, in that book we came in our reading to the place where that elder is mentioned to whom robbers came and said to him: 'We wish to take everything that is in your cell,' and he promptly replied: 'Do as you wish, my children,' and they, having gathered everything together, departed—but one rustic tool, a hoe, escaped them, which the elder, taking up in his hands after he noticed it, ran after the robbers, crying out and saying: 'Children, take this too, which you overlooked.' They, however, admiring the patience of the elder, returned and replaced in the cell everything they had taken; and, moved by repentance, they said to one another: 'Truly this man is of God.' When we had read this, that elder said: 'Know, my abba, that this saying and deed of the good Father has been of signal benefit to me.' 'How, Father?' I asked. And he replied: 'When I was once in the regions near the Jordan, fresh from the reading of this example, and full of admiration for the virtue of the elder, I said, praying to God: 'Count me worthy, O Lord, of the imitation of such Fathers, those whose institute you have granted me to profess and whose habit to wear.' Two days after
that desire of mine, robbers came to me. Recognizing them as they knocked at the door, I said to myself: "Thanks be to God; behold the time to show the fruit of my desire." Therefore, opening the door, I received them with a cheerful countenance and, lighting a candle, began to show them all my possessions, saying: "Do not doubt; I trust in the Lord that I will hide nothing from you." They said to me: "Do you have gold?" "Yes," I said, "I have three coins." And I opened the small box before them in which the coins were kept. Having accepted these, they departed in peace. When the old man had said this, I added with a smile: "Did the robbers return, repentant, in the case you were imitating before?" He quickly replied: "God forbid; for I did not want them to return." And Zosimas added: "Behold the desire of this old man and the preparation of his soul, how much it profited him, causing him not only not to be saddened by such a grave calamity, but even to rejoice, deeming himself enriched by such a loss."
[XI.] The blessed Sergius related to me in this manner: "Once when we were traveling with a certain holy elder, we strayed from the road, and not knowing where we were going, we found ourselves in a sown field, and we trampled a few of the crops. The farmer, noticing this, began to assail us with violent insults, boiling with anger: 'You monks,' he said, 'if you feared God and kept Him before your eyes, you would certainly not do this.' Hearing such things, the holy man immediately said to us: 'For the Lord's sake, let no one speak.' He himself, moreover, replied to the rustic with meekness: 'You speak truly, my son. For if the fear of God were in us, we would not do those things that justly displease you.' None the less, he again heaped insults upon us with irritation, and again the mild elder said: 'What you say is true; if we were monks, we would refrain from such things. Nevertheless, I pray, for the Lord's sake, forgive us, for we have sinned in our ignorance.' At length softened by this modesty, the farmer cast himself at his feet, saying: 'Forgive me, Abba, for speaking rashly, for the Lord's sake, and take me with you.' And the blessed Sergius added: 'In truth, this man followed us and took the habit.' Whence Zosimas, relating these things, subjoined: 'Behold how much the meekness and probity of a holy man could achieve, with God’s help, converting and leading a soul, created in the image of God, to the way of salvation, a soul which God prizes more than countless worlds along with all their wealth.'"
[XII.] He said furthermore: "I once entrusted some books to be copied to a certain scribe who was highly skilled in the calligraphic art. And when he had finished the work, he sent someone to me to announce that the work was now perfect, and that I should send someone to collect the manuscripts if it seemed good to me. A certain brother, having heard these things, went without orders to the calligrapher and, claiming—as he falsely said—that he had my mandate, and having paid the agreed price, took the books. I, ignorant of this affair, sent our brother with a letter and the promised payment, so that he might receive the writings and bring them to me. When the calligrapher realized from this that he had been deluded by the first monk, he was enraged and said: 'I shall certainly go and denounce him for two wicked deeds he has committed: first, by mocking me; and then, by taking what did not belong to him.' But I, hearing what he was planning, sent someone to say to him on my behalf: 'You know, my brother, that we obtain and keep these books for the purpose that we might learn from them to practice charity, humility, meekness, and peace; but if the very beginning of the acquisition of these books is strife, I do not wish to possess a book, and I would rather not fight; for it is not fitting for a servant of the Lord to fight.' Behold, therefore, having despised
A, and having held the loss of the book as something insignificant, I saw to it that no trouble occurred for that brother.
B XIII. The same Zosimas also related this: "I heard from a certain monk dear to me, who said: 'I had familiar relations of friendship with a certain deacon of the laura of Abba Gerasimus. However, a suspicion arose against me from him—I know not from where—as if I had done something troublesome to him. Whence he began, upon meeting me, to knit his brow, showing a face clouded with threatening sadness. Observing this, I questioned the man unbidden as to why he was looking at me so sternly. He immediately confessed the cause, saying that something had been done by me against him of which I had not the slightest memory or consciousness. Therefore, with many words, I applied myself to persuade him of my innocence regarding such a fault. But I was singing to a deaf man; for, involving himself in his sadness, he replied, "Forgive me, you do not convince me." Returning from there to my own cell, I set myself to examine my heart thoroughly, C and found no trace of such a misdeed having been committed by me. I saw him then holding a chalice which he was administering, and I swore to him upon it that I knew myself to be innocent of that which he had laid against me. Not even then was he persuaded. Moved, therefore, I returned to myself, mindful of the commandments ordering one to be reconciled to a brother who has something against us. I entered upon another path for attempting this matter, taking the part of the one who had been offended against myself, and considering thus: "This deacon loves me, and in his love, he took the confidence to pour out his heart by accusing me of what he complains was wrongly done by me. If I am wise, I will take care not to irritate the obstinacy of the offended one by further perseverance in denying. I will avoid that as much as is in me; and, if I can, I will cross over into his opinion. For why, my miserable soul, do you strive so hard with the testimony of your conscience, when perhaps it is more a lapse of memory? You have committed D countless evils of which you have been completely forgetful. Perhaps you did this also, but the memory of it has fled from you." And resting in this realization, I began to give thanks to both God and the minister, since through his action a supplement was being applied as if to a forgotten conscience for the purpose of washing away an unknown fault by salutary penance. Full of this feeling, I approached the cell of the servant; but when I had knocked at the door and he had opened it, he was the first to prostrate himself before me to seek penance, saying: "Forgive me, for I was mocked by demons, suspecting evil of you. For surely, having now been enlightened by God, I have perceived your innocence regarding this." Thus he refused to hear me, though I was prepared to excuse myself as I had come, saying there was no need. Concerning these things, the blessed Zosimas stated: "See how far true humility has driven the heart of one who desires it." With this, he joined mention of the old man who was robbed by his neighbor, while he himself was aware of it, and not only did not complain or accuse him, but even earnestly favored and benefited his most well-known pilferer, on the grounds that, by excusing him to himself, he had persuaded himself that it had been done by him without fault
A waiting for a sufficient amount of time so that the brother might remove the vessels from sight. And the elder coming in began to speak to him about another matter, but he did not rebuke him regarding the vessels. After some days, however, the elder's vessels were recognized, and some men took him and threw him into prison, without the elder knowing. Now, hearing about the brother that he was in prison, and not knowing the reason why he was in prison, but having come, he says to the superior (for he used to visit us frequently), he says to me: "Do me a kindness; give me a few eggs and a few vegetables." And I say to him: "Do you surely have someone today?" He says to me: "Yes." Now the elder had taken them in order that, having gone to the prison, he might offer consolation to the brother. When therefore he entered the prison, the brother falls at his B feet and says to him: "It is because of you that I am here, Abba, for I am the one who stole your vessels; but behold, the book is with such-and-such a person, and your cloak is with such-and-such a person." The elder says to him: "May your heart be assured, my child; it was not for this that I entered, nor did I know at all that you were here because of me, but having heard that you were here, and being grieved, I entered to offer you consolation; and behold, here are the eggs and the vegetables; now therefore I will do everything until I get you out of this prison." And having gone, he called some of the great men—for he was known to them because of his virtue—and they sent and cast him out of the prison.
XIV. They used to tell again about this same elder, that having once gone to the market to buy a cloak, he bought one; and having given C one gold piece, it remained for him to supply the small change. And having taken the cloak, he placed it under him; and as he was counting the coins on the tray, behold someone comes wishing to snatch the cloak; and as the elder perceived it, having bowels of compassion, he was little by little lightening it for him, as if pretending to stretch toward the distance of the coin, until he took the cloak and went away; and the elder did not rebuke him. And the blessed man said: "How much was the cloak or the vessels worth that he destroyed? But yet, the disposition was the thing; for they were taken away and he remained himself, neither grieving nor troubled; and for, as I always say, it is not having that harms, but having with attachment." This man possessed the whole world, [and] so was he as one not possessing; for by the things he did, he showed himself free from all. D Zosimas added to this: "How much were the vessels and the cloak that he neglected worth? compared to the price for which such a glorious soul...
so noble was his soul? showing that he possessed those things as one who did not possess them; for when they were taken away, he remained the same as he was before, neither saddened nor troubled. Indeed, as I always say, it is not the possession of things that hinders spiritual progress, but rather possessing them with an inordinate affection. He of whom we have spoken, even if he possessed the whole world, would have been, as far as was evident from his deeds, as if he possessed absolutely nothing: perfectly free from any attachment to anything whatsoever. A Let us strive, therefore, brethren, to imitate and zealously follow the words of the holy Fathers, that having brought forth fruit, we may attain to the eternal goods. In Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom is the glory and the power with the Father and the Holy Spirit now and always and unto the ages of the ages. Amen. D
INDICES.
CATALOGUE OF THOSE TO WHOM ISIDORE OF PELUSIUM WROTE.
The former number designates the book, the latter the epistles.
Abraham, to, book 1, 80. Abraham, to the bishop, book 5, 58. Adamantius, to, book 1, 141, and book 4, 57, 211. Adamantius, to, book 5, 258. Adamantinus, to, book 4, 75. Aedesius, governing in the state, book 5, 14. Aemilianus, to the deacon, book 1, 83. Aemilianus, to the presbyter, book 4, 179. Aetius, to, book 1, 159. Aetius, to the count, book 1, 141, 328. Aesculapius, to the sophist, book 4, 28, 31. Aegyptius, to the presbyter, book 5, 187. Asianus, to the bishop, book 3. Scholasticus, 108. Aemilianus, to, book 5, 410, 411. Agathus, to, book 1, 270. Agathon, to the presbyter, book 3, 296. Agathus, to the presbyter, book 3, 18, 27, 84, 160. Agathodaemon, to, book 1, 435. Agathodaemon, to the grammarian, book 5, 55, 334, 439, 444, 451. Agathodaemon, to the grammarian, book 3, 303. Agesides Novatianus, to, book 1, 338, 339. Alexander, to, book 2, 194, 195, 196. Alexander, to the poet, book 2, 89. Alexander, to the poet, book 5, 331; to the presbyter, 323. Alphius, to, book 2, 153 and book 4, 202. Alphius, to the bishop, book 3, 150, 151 and book 4, 230. Alphius, to the presbyter, book 1, 249, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256. Alphius, to the subdeacon, book 2, 56. Alypius, to the scholasticus, book 4, 221. Alypius, to, book 2, 97; book 3, 112, 180, 302, 398, and book 1, 90, 118, 136, 138. Alypius, to the bishop, book 2, 223, and book 3, 234. Alphius, to, book 5, 498; to the bishop, 171, 1, 3, 296; to the presbyter, 521, 522. Alphinius, to the subdeacon (perhaps Alphius). Alypius, to, book 5, 234, 463, 506; to the scholasticus, 233, 553; to one governing in the state, 42; to the bishop, 347. Amazon, to, book 1, 238. Amonius, to, book 4, 48. Ammonius, to, book 1, 351, 352, and book 3, 82. Ammonius, to, book 1, 12, and book 2, 102, 189, 245; and book 3, 5, 126 and book 4, 61. Ammonius, to the scholasticus, book 1, 21; and book 3, 166. Ammonius, to the tribune, book 3, 308. Ammonius, to the scholasticus, book 5, 9, 193; to the lector, 535. Anatolius, to, book 1, 328, 329, and book 2, 10, 28, 29, 45. Anatolius, to the deacon, book 4, 134, 137. Anatolius, to, book 5, 115; to the deacon, book 5, 43. Andromachus, to the count, book 5, 175, 342. Antiochus, to, book 5, 1. Anastasius, to, book 1, 233. Antiochus, to, book 1, 447, 448, 449, 450; and book 2, 131, 267 and book 3, 104, 231. Antiochus, to the spado, book 1, 36. Antiochus, to the scholasticus, book 3, 7. Antonius, to the scholasticus, book 2, 351, 352. Anysius, to, book 2, 271. Aphrasius, to the presbyter, book 2, 161. Aphrodisius, to the monk, book 2, 61. Aphrodisius, to the presbyter, book 2, 99, 158 and book 1, 8, 332, 271, 274. Aphthonius, to, book 2, 276. Aphthonius, to the bishop, book 3, 28. Aphthonius, to, book 5, 218, 428. Apollonius, to, book 1, 54, 214. Apollonius, to the deacon, book 2, 243. Apollonius, to the bishop, book 2, 51, 96, 198, 260, 270, and book 3, 58, 137, 138, 265, 275, 563 and book 4, 189. Apollonius, to, book 5, 556; to Agricola, 98; to the bishop, 169, 370, 393. Aquila, to, book 1, 540. Aquila, to, book 5, 195. Arabianus, to the bishop, book 1, 82, and book 2, 39, and book 3, 206. Arabianus, to the bishop, book 5, 309. Archias, to, book 1, 499, 500. Archibius, to the presbyter, book 2, 234, and book 4, 366. Archontius, to, book 1, 272, 487; and book 3, 76, 399. Archontius, to the monk, book 3, 42. Archontius, to the presbyter, book 1, 30, 136, 161, 166, 374. Archontius, to one governing in the state, book 1, 282, 301. Artemius, to, book 1, 88. Artenuphius, to the lector, book 3, 171, 172, 173 and book 5, 78, 80. Archontius, to the presbyter, book 5, 187. Artemidorus, to the presbyter, book 4, 161. Artemidorus, to, book 5, 82. Asclepius, to, book 1, 188. Asclepius, to the bishop, book 2, 207, 319, 320, 321. Asclepius, to the sophist, book 3, 23. Asclepius, to the sophist (or Aesculapius), book 1, 88 and book 1, 190. Athanasius, to, book 1, 144, 408, and book 2, 7, 30, 69 and book 4, 82. Athanasius, to the coenobiarch, book 1, 117. Athanasius, to the presbyter, book 1, 476, and book 2, 62, 169, 258, and book 4, 25, 191. Athanasius, to the deacon, book 5, 95, 388, 396; to the presbyter, book 5, 138, 475, 530, 536, 541. Ausonius, to, book 1, 163. Ausonius, to the corrector, book 1, 116, 595, and book 3, 315, 359, 369. Ausonius, to, book 5, 207, 354; to the corrector, 212, 228, 418, 419, 420, 428. Basilius, to, book 5, 142. Benjamin, to the Hebrew, book 1, 401. Boetus, to the monk, book 5, 282. Caius, to, book 2, 12. Callimachus, to the count, book 1, 316. Capitolino, to, book 1, 388. Calliopius, to, book 1, 191. Candidus, to, book 1, 399. Candidianus, to, book 1, 489. Carpus, to the presbyter, book 2, 114. Casius, to the presbyter, book 3, 126, 111. Casius, to the scholasticus, book 2, 146, 149. Casianus, to the deacon, book 4, 121. Casius, to one governing the magistracy, book 3, 157, 158. Casius, to the scholasticus, book 5, 88; to the presbyter, 116.