- A brication(7); such as those of Saint Marcian of Constantinople, of Saint Polyeucte the martyr, of Saint John the Almoner, of Saint Theodosius the Cenobiarch, of Saint John and Saint Cyrus, martyrs in Egypt, and several others that Surius attributes to this legend-writer, *Auctore Symeone Metaphraste*? Why not warn us of those which he has reviewed or retouched, and which are in very great number: such as the Lives of Saint Simeon Stylite, of Saint Auxentius the Abbot, of Saint Sabas, of Saint John the Hesychast, of Saint Tarasius, of Saint Nicephorus the Patriarch of Constantinople, of Saint Nicetas, and almost all others that have passed through his hands? For one cannot deny that he has paraphrased them, and that he has added several things to them. Why, finally, not say that it is he who has preserved for us the Lives and Acts B of the saints whom he has not touched, and which he has given us in their original purity? The Acts of the martyrdom of Saint Justin are of this number, as well as those of Saint Agape, Saint Chionia, and Saint Irene, sisters and martyrs; of Saint Bademus, abbot in Persia and martyr; of Saint Sabas, a Goth by nation and martyr; of Saint Didymus and Saint Theodora the virgin, martyrs; of Saint Pherbute the virgin and martyr; and of some others that we possess in all their purity, and which Dom Thierry Ruynart has recognized as being sufficiently authentic to merit finding a place in his collection of chosen Acts.
Now, it is surprising that M. Baillet, to say nothing of M. Arnauld d'Andilly, M. de Tillemont, and Dom Thierry, having burdened his work with all C these pieces and several others which belong to these three classes, did not think himself obliged to render some justice to Metaphrastes: for even when one would grant these critics that they have not drawn very considerable extracts, nor even reported Lives of saints that this writer composed from his own resources, it seems that if he had rendered no other services to the Church than to preserve a great number of ancient monuments, of which she would be deprived without his care, that alone merited that one should not entirely strip him of the glory which is justly due for so great a labor.
We cite every day Eusebius of Caesarea for the history of the martyrdom of Saint James, first bishop of Jerusalem, of Saint Simeon, of Saint Ptolemy, of Saint Lucian; of the saints Leonidas, Plutarch, and their companions; of Saint Potamiana, a virgin of Alexandria, of whom speaks Saint Dionysius, D bishop of the same city, in his letter to Fabius; of Saint Marinus the soldier, and of several others: although this historian is not the author of these Acts, but only because he reports some extracts from them, and because he has preserved them for the Church: and one would think it not rendering him enough justice, when speaking of these holy martyrs, to cite only Rufinus, Musculus, Christophorson, or M. de Valois, who have made translations of the works of this historian, or those who have inserted some fragments of them into their writings. It seems for the same reason that when one reports the history of some saint, particularly when it belongs to the number of those which can pass for authentic, and which Metaphrastes has preserved for us, there is an injustice in citing only Lipoman, Surius, Baronius, and Bollandus, who have rendered them into Latin without making mention of Metaphrastes, from whom these legend-writers have drawn them.
Finally, the more these critics try to discover the infidelities of Metaphrastes and to make him pass for an impostor and a forger, born to produce monsters, for an author extreme beyond what pagan Greece imagined of fables in favor of its gods; so much the more should the public be surprised that people so enlightened, and who had made it hope to advance nothing that did not come from the purest sources of antiquity, have borrowed from an author so decried so many Acts and Lives of saints, and so many very considerable extracts; that they have relied upon a testimony so little worthy of belief for so great a number of facts. For whatever effort they make to hide the source of some and the channel of some others under the name of those who have made collections from Metaphrastes, it will nonetheless always be true to say that it is he who has preserved for us a quantity of Acts of martyrs and several Lives of saints, of which one finds nothing elsewhere, and which one would not know how to produce from any manuscript, nor from the work of any author who has spoken of them before him: thus, all those who have followed him have only received these Acts through his channel.
§ IV. — My critics claim that the falsifications and paraphrases of Metaphrastes have rendered him contemptible.
What way, these skillful critics will still say, is there to make the name of Metaphrastes appear in a work, after all these learned men have recognized his excesses? Is it not known that Baronius disapproved of his falsifications and marked a great disgust for his fables (*Baill. Disc. p. 60*); that Aubert-le-Mire made his infidelities known; that Dom Jacques Loppin blamed his additions to the ancient Lives of the saints and his license to invent new ones; that Dom Thierry Ruynart testified that he would have done much better to leave the ancient ones as they were in the original; that M. de Tillemont did not believe that one ought to esteem for anything that which one is accustomed to praise in him? Finally, M. Baillet reports in these terms what Cardinal Bellarmine (*De script. Eccles. an. 850*) says on the subject of Metaphrastes: “He added much of his own to the histories that he wrote of the lives of the saints, and reported things, not as they happened, but as they might have happened.” Those which he retouched, those which he preserved.
A in the form of harangues that he makes the martyrs deliver, these dialogues, these disputes with their judges and their persecutors, these numerous and surprising conversions of the pagans who surrounded them, these unheard-of prodigies, and so many other new things, of which we see nothing in the ancient historians of the Church, are of his own invention.”
All this goes to show that we should have no less aversion for everything that comes from Metaphrastes than we show for his name. However, it is Metaphrastes who is cited under the names of Lipomanus, of Surius, of Bollandus; and it is his work that we adopt. Should one approve the conduct of an author who, after having declaimed against Prochorus, under whose name we have the Life of Saint John; against the impostor who hid himself under the name of Saint Linus, to pass off the two books of the Passion of Saint Peter and Saint Paul; against the false Abdias, who gave us a book containing the Lives of the Apostles; and who, I say, after having shown much contempt for all these narratives full of fables and tales, would take it upon himself to draw from them some history, and to make long excerpts from them, persuading himself that he is quits by suppressing the names of these authors, and adding that these facts are found in the orthodoxographers, and in the Libraries of the Fathers?
All the excesses that scholars recognize in Metaphrastes reduce to the additions and paraphrases that he made to his originals. But how can we know, says Bollandus (tom. I January, p. 18, col. 2), that this writer of legends did not follow the ancient monuments he preserved, and that he made both the martyrs and the persecutors speak? It is in fact very difficult to judge: for one would need to have the original pieces to collate them with the copies that are currently found in Metaphrastes. Now, most of these ancient monuments not having come down to us, this examination is not possible. Who else, moreover, has taught the critics that all these histories that one finds paraphrased come from Metaphrastes? Do we not know that there are five hundred and thirty-nine Lives that falsely bear the name of this author, even though one reads it at the head of these pieces? B It could very well be, therefore, that either these histories are not by Metaphrastes, or that, having passed through the hands of the copyists who wrote under him, or of later authors, they C might very well have been altered, and the fault would have fallen back on Metaphrastes, who would be in no way guilty. This is all that one can conclude from some Lives of saints, the manuscripts of which are older than this Greek author, or which come to us through another channel, and which are found to be augmented in his collection.
The most persuasive example that we have of the falsifications of Metaphrastes, which makes the most noise, and which the critics use to emphasize the infidelities of this author, is drawn from the Life of Saint Euplus, deacon and martyr in Sicily, whose feast the Church celebrates on the 12th day of August. Bollandus (tom. I, Feb., p. 598 and 599) compares together the legitimate Acts of this saint with those that come from Metaphrastes, in order to show by that means the infidelities of this author. One can see these pieces in the Monuments of the Church, which Monsieur Cotelier has given to the public. Dom Thierry Ruynart (Act. select. p. 437), in his notes on the Life of Saint Euplus, brings forward the same example, for which he cites Bollandus. M. Baillet, who lets no opportunity pass to point out the faults of Metaphrastes, has not neglected this one. “We have,” he says (Tab. Cris. 12 August, p. 22), “the authentic Acts of Saint Euplus, in Greek and in Latin, of which all the editions are judged to be good enough, provided that one does not include therein the paraphrase that Metaphrastes has given of them, who corrupted them by adapting them to his taste.” M. de Tillemont (tom. V, note 1 on Saint Euplus, p. 695, c. 1) also claims that these Acts, attributed to Metaphrastes, are excellent for showing how much the modern Greeks have abused the credulity and simplicity of the peoples: “And this,” he says, “is the only use that one can make of them, according to Bollandus.”
In effect, by comparing the legitimate Acts of Saint Euplus with those that have passed through the hands of Metaphrastes, one can justify what scholars reproach him for regarding his falsifications, his love for fables, the additions in the ancient Lives of the saints, the liberty to invent new facts, his genius for reporting things not as they happened, but as they might have happened; the harangues that he makes the martyrs deliver; the dialogues, the disputes of the saints with their judges and their persecutors; but one sees therein above all numerous and surprising conversions of pagans, and extraordinary and unheard-of torments.
A whoever wishes may conclude, Bollandus concludes (ubi supra, page 199, col. 1), after having reported some extracts from the sincere Acts of Saint Euplus, *eadem ex Metaphraste edita a Lipomano et Surio Acta*; and he will perceive how laciniated, or rather ineptly patched together, they are; with the addition not only of various kinds of torments, but also of very many miracles. The sentiment of this learned Jesuit has been followed by all the other scholars; however, if the latter had truly examined the text of Bollandus, I do not know if they would not have rendered some justice to Metaphrastes on this point. Here is how this learned Jesuit speaks of it, before reporting the extract from the Acts of Saint Euplus (ibid., page 598, col. 2): *Dandum est*, he says, *exemplar sic interpolatorum sive ab ipso Metaphraste, sive ab ejus amanuensibus, legitimorum actorum, etc.* And in the following column, speaking of the Acts of Saint Agatha: *Annon idem*, he says, *in sanctæ Agathæ gestis suspicari possumus factum ab eodem Metaphraste, ejusve amanuensibus.* From which it is easy to see that Bollandus does not shift onto Metaphrastes the entire corruption of the Acts of Saint Euplus, since he admits that it could have come from another source. But even if it were true that, in this place, this learned Jesuit would lay all these alterations in the Life of Saint Euplus at the feet of Metaphrastes, it is certain that the learned continuators of Bollandus, in re-examining the history of this holy martyr in the 4th volume of the saints for the month of May (p. 37), found that the edition of the Acts of Saint Euplus which is in Lipoman and in Surius is not by Metaphrastes. M. de Tillemont (tom. V, note 1 on Saint Euplus, page 695, col. 1), who had seen this passage, since he cites it, did not dare to attribute these Acts to Metaphrastes; but he contents himself with saying: "Whoever the author may be," etc. If other scholars had paid some attention to this last passage of the continuators of Bollandus, one has reason to believe that they would not have used this example to exaggerate the alleged falsifications of Metaphrastes. I have perhaps gone on too long about this point: but I believed I should make it known that one can often attribute to this author faults of which he is not guilty.
B § V. — The conduct of Metaphrastes is perhaps not as blameworthy as one would wish to make it believed.
To convict Metaphrastes of falsifications and impostures, it would be necessary to establish the conjectures one offers on solid principles. One must, therefore, examine the ancient monuments that remain to us, and compare them with the copies that this Greek author made, which are certainly his: and by this means one could perhaps convince oneself that his paraphrases are very insignificant, provided they do not come from a foreign hand. This is what it is easy to see in the Life of Saint Simeon the Stylite, which is in the history of Theodoret entitled C Philotheus, or On the Monastic Life; in that of Saint Nicephorus the martyr reported by Bollandus (Feb. tom. II, pages 283 and 537); in that of Saint Euphrosyne the Virgin, whose Latin translation is older than what Metaphrastes composed of it; and in some others that remain to us; and one will see that the paraphrases that are so greatly exaggerated are reduced to a few words to make the connection of the periods, or to stir the attention of the reader, by marking the times and the places: *Adjunctis temporibus et locis* (Bolland. ibid.). At the very least, one cannot doubt that these Acts of the martyrs, which Dom Thierry Ruinart put in his collection, and which come from Metaphrastes, did pass through his hands without his having added anything to them. But if one were to maintain that this writer gave too much scope to his subject matter; that he put words into the mouths of the saints and the judges, whether to render the narration more agreeable and more useful, or to give an idea of the courage of the martyrs, of the cruelty of the tyrants, of the virtue and piety of the other saints—if one were to concede all these things, would one have to make it a crime for this legendary?
If one reads with some attention the discourses of Saint Gregory of Nyssa on Saint Theodore of Amasea, martyr; of Saint Basil on Saint Barlaam, martyr, on Saint Gordius, also a martyr, and on Saint Julitta; of Saint Chrysostom on Saint Lucian, priest of Antioch, and on Saint Pelagia, martyr; of Saint Ambrose on Saint Agnes; if one casts one's eyes on the homilies and panegyrics that the other Fathers have pronounced in honor of the saints, one will find that Metaphrastes has only imitated in many things the manner of writing of these Fathers: for they employed all the ornaments of eloquence to elevate their subject. How many turns do they not give to things to render them more agreeable, and to attract the attention of the readers, to excite their piety, and to set in full light the truly Christian courage of the holy martyrs and the cruelty of the tyrants? Did they neglect to adorn their discourses with admirable descriptions, with very eloquent harangues, and to attribute D sublime thoughts of things that they did not say, according to all appearances?
Here is an example of this, taken from the excellent discourse that the soldiers of the Theban legion delivered to Maximian when they refused to sacrifice, after he had had them decimated a second time (S. Eucher. apud S. Paul.; Ruin, Acta select. p. 292): "We are your soldiers," they said to the emperor, "but we are also the servants of God; this is what we avow with joy. We owe you our arms, and to God an innocent heart. We have received from you the wages of the militia, and from God the beginning of life. We must therefore follow you, but not against the one
who is our Creator, and who is also yours, even if you would not wish to acknowledge it. We are ready to obey you, as we have done until this hour; but not when you command us to commit crimes. If it is necessary to disobey either God or a man, we shall obey Him whom we fear the most... After all, how can you be sure of our fidelity if we do not keep it for our God? Is the oath that we have sworn to you more august than the one we have made to Him beforehand? If you seek to put Christians to death, we are all such, ready to receive the blow of death with patience. We shall receive it with the same joy with which we have already received it in the person of our brethren; for Christians know how to suffer, and not to revolt. The danger in which we see ourselves does not appear to us to be a necessity to defend ourselves. However terrible may be the efforts of those whom one reduces to despair, and however just they may appear, we have arms, and we do not use them. We much prefer to suffer death than to inflict it, and to depart from this world innocent than to remain in it defiled by a crime. Employ, then, against us the torments, the sword, and the fire: we are ready to suffer everything, but not to cease being Christians.”
We have reported at some length this discourse, so generous, so wise, and truly worthy of being pronounced by martyrs, to show that it is difficult to believe that Saint Eucher of Lyon, who is its author, has put nothing of his own into it, and that he has not paraphrased it. If one were to find a similar one in Metaphrastes, one would not fail to say that it is of his invention, and that he makes these saints speak in his own manner. However, I do not believe that anyone has taken it into his head to blame Saint Eucher for having thus made these generous soldiers think and speak; for even if one were to agree that they did in fact pronounce these words on such an occasion, in the midst of an army of idolaters, it would be difficult to point out who could have gathered all the particularities so exactly, and how they could have been preserved for nearly two hundred years in the memory of men, from whence Saint Eucher had drawn them, as M. de Tillemont informs us, who praises this history highly and who judged it worthy of the great Saint Eucher of Lyon. B However persuaded one may be that this harangue is by this Father, that has not prevented Dom Thierry Ruinart from placing this narrative among his *Selected Acts*, as well as several others, in which one sees clearly that these authors often make both the martyrs and the tyrants speak.
It is well known, one will say, that the Fathers spoke as orators in their homilies and in the panegyrics they have composed in honor of the saints; but Metaphrastes has not stopped there; the main blame in him is for having added much of his own to the histories he has written, for having reported things not as they happened, but as they could have happened; and what M. de Tillemont cannot tolerate above all in this writer is that, while he professes to follow his authors word for word, he alters them and makes them speak according to his whim.
This reproach is in truth very considerable; C but it is for the public to judge whether a legendary writer, who adds some circumstances to his original to make it more agreeable and more useful, is more blameworthy than one who cuts out from it many things that can contribute to making the merit of the saints and the grace of Jesus Christ shine forth more brightly: principally when the histories of the saints are sincere, authentic, and original; for in this case there is nothing that is not edifying, and that one should neglect. Now, one could perhaps maintain that if Metaphrastes has fallen into the first excess, M. Arnauld d'Andilly, M. de Tillemont, and M. Baillet have fallen into the second. But, it will be said, there is a great difference between the conduct of these authors and that of Metaphrastes. The latter makes a profession of following his original word for word, whereas these learned writers have not restricted themselves to that: “I have taken care,” says M. d’Andilly (*Lives of Several Saints, notice to the reader*), “to add nothing in any of these Lives, but I have abridged various passages whose length would have been no less useless than tedious; and I have cut out others which were entirely superfluous, of the number of which are several miracles.” D M. de Tillemont and M. Baillet have held the same conduct, which is very reasonable, since they have exactly followed the method they had prescribed for themselves, while Metaphrastes has exceeded his bounds. And this is why he cannot be justified if he has fallen into this fault; but at least it is constant that there are several original Acts that Dom Thierry has put into his collection, in which one sees that Metaphrastes has kept the word he had given.
But however guilty this legendary author may be, could one not show him some grace? For if it has been permitted to learned critics to abridge various passages of the histories they report, because their extent would have been no less useless than tedious, could one not grant Metaphrastes—while preserving the whole foundation of his subject—the liberty of adding slight circumstances to make his narration more useful or more agreeable? Which these learned critics themselves have not neglected to do on occasion. Since these enlightened critics, in order to conform to the taste of our century, have thought it necessary to cut out some facts which were entirely superfluous, of the number of which are several miracles, should one blame Metaphrastes for having followed the genius of his time, in which one did not consider miracles as superfluous things, but as one of the ornaments
of the history of the saints, and for having reported all those he found in his Memoirs: for, however great the erudition of our wise critics may be, it would perhaps be very difficult for them to show that Metaphrastes forged new miracles in his Collection of the Lives of the Saints. B
§ VI. — Example of the paraphrases of M. Baillet, which are no less considerable than those of Metaphrastes.
But when one would wish to have some indulgence for this Greek legendary, and to excuse him in some manner because of the poor taste of his century and the genius of his nation, one must admit that he has indeed taken liberties, that his falsifications and his infidelities are quite inexcusable, and that the reproaches that all the learned have made against him for his faults are very reasonable and well-founded, especially those made by M. de Tillemont, who did not believe, as M. Baillet reports (Disc. p. 60), “that one ought to esteem as anything what one is accustomed to praise in him, considering the disservice he has rendered to the truth in the rest, and who could not endure especially that Metaphrastes made a profession of following his authors word for word, and that at the same time he altered them and made them speak according to his fancy.” M. Baillet cites in the margin page 528 of the first volume of the Memoirs of M. de Tillemont. It is at this place, which is note 20 on Saint John the Baptist, which bears the title, *Additions of Metaphrastes*, that this learned critic reports a sensible example of the paraphrases of this author: “The history of the three translations of the head of Saint John the Baptist, which Allatius attributes to Metaphrastes, reports that this holy head gave off a good odor and even a great brilliance, as much when it was found at Jerusalem as when Urane came with candles to transport it.” One sees in this the genius of Metaphrastes, who supposes that things were such as he imagined they ought to be: for one finds nothing of this, neither in the ancient relation of the first finding, nor in that of Marcellus, where Metaphrastes changes many things, although he reports the matter in his name, and that he makes a profession of following it word for word, πρὸς λέξιν. After that, can one say (Baillet, ibid.) that one does an injustice to Metaphrastes, when one asserts that it is for having known how to lie too well that some have regarded him as an impostor and a forger, born to produce monsters, exceeded beyond what pagan Greece imagined in terms of fables in favor of its gods: that one holds his fictions and his paraphrases in horror, and that the learned make so little account of his testimony, that they do not even deign to name him?
But, someone will say, why cry out so much about the additions made by Metaphrastes in this history? For besides that one could in some way excuse them, does one not sometimes find ones as considerable in the writings of our wise critics, whose accuracy, good taste, and erudition set them far above this Greek writer? C
I leave it to the public to examine if M. Baillet has not "metaphrasted" a little the life of Saint Cyril the child, martyr of Caesarea in Cappadocia during the persecution of Decius, or that of Valerian. But so that one can judge better, I will place here the whole history of this holy child such as it is in M. Baillet, with the Latin original that he made a profession of following. I will mark in the French of M. Baillet, in italics, the additions that he has made to it; and in the Latin, in roman characters, what this skillful critic has removed from it, that is to say the passages that he did not translate. D
M. BAILLET. 29 May, page 911 and following.
*Martyrium Cyrilli pueri, ex tom. VII Maii Bolland. apud Ruynard, Acta selecta, pag. 253.*
One leaves out the small preface which is at the head of these Acts, and one begins where M. Baillet meets with the Latin.
After some lines, which make as it were a small exordium, he speaks in these terms of Saint Cyril:
He had only Jesus Christ on his lips, and testified that he was disposed to do everything and to suffer everything for him. This is what made him hold out with a
marvelous confidence, not only the threats most capable of frightening others, but the torments to which one often saw even the most robust persons succumb.
*Elenim omni tempore Christum nominans erat Cyrillus et semetipsum inde esse motum fatebatur : et plagis confixus et verbis territus, neque verborum ruinam, neque afflictionis injuriam computavit ; sed sustinuit hæc quidem libentissime : prompte autem aliquid majus malum exspectabat. Cum autem crescerent animi, quæ sunt erga bonam fidem, et æmulatores haberet multos qui similes erant ejus ætati.*
He had as an enemy of the faith, and as a persecutor himself, his own father, who, not being able to succeed in making him prefer his will to that of God whom he served, disowned him for his son, shut the door of his house against him, and refused him the things most necessary for life.
*Abjicit quidem eum pater, domum ei claudens, et quæ in ea erant prorsus abnegabat ei.*
One could not help but blame a hardness so unheard of in a father. But Cyril did nothing but praise God, whom he regarded much more as his true father than the one whom nature had given him, and who abandoned him in such a way. Without losing the respect that he owed to his father, he looked with an indifferent eye upon the loss of all the advantages of which he was depriving him, in view of the eternal goods that...
*Quidam autem in his laudabant patrem, et valde mirabantur : ipse vero quasi nihilum reputabat abdicari a patre; et quod parva auferens ei, majora et utiliora ei provideret fides quæ in Domino erat, dicebat.*
deprived, at the sight of the eternal goods that faith made him envision.
This man, who verified the prediction that Jesus Christ had made, that parents would betray their own children and would themselves deliver them to judges on his account, went to make complaints to the magistrate against his son, as against a child rebellious to his father and to the gods.
The magistrate sent soldiers to seize Cyril; and having had him brought before him, he tried to bring him back to the will of his father; and he then made great threats to intimidate him. Seeing that Cyril was no more moved, he changed his discourse, and told him that his past would be pardoned if he wished to be wise; that his father was quite willing to forget all his disobedience and all the other subjects of discontent that he had caused him, to receive him into his house, to restore to him everything he had lost, and to re-establish him in the rights of his succession, of which he had deprived him.
Cyril told him that he rejoiced, not at the fair promises with which one was flattering him, but at the reproaches and threats that one was making to him; that he easily consoled himself for seeing himself driven from his father's house by the hope he had of being received into that of God; that he consented to remain poor, provided that he could enjoy eternal riches in heaven; and that, for the rest, he did not fear death at all, because he expected afterward a life happier than that which one wished to take from him.
A Acting in this way, he provoked the judge of Caesarea; and calling him in through the agency of the soldiers, and at the same time terrifying him with the judgments, he saw indeed in the beginning that he was not afraid, but at every moment stood secure from all trepidation, counting as a trifle all things opposed to the faith. "I indulge you, child," said the judge, "in your offenses. Your father remits to you the insult; he takes you back into his house. It is permitted you to enjoy the goods of your father, if you become wise, if you come to your senses."
But the most blessed Cyril said, "I rejoice when I am reproached for these things. For I shall be most excellently received by God. I delight in being deprived of my house. For I shall inhabit a greater and a better one. I voluntarily become poor, that I may enjoy eternal riches; I do not fear a good death, because I foresee a better life for myself."
B When, however, the weeping boy was not being announced [as having yielded], nor fearing the fire into which they were threatening to cast him, but most patiently proceeding to death:
The judge, full of astonishment and admiration, had Cyril brought back before him, and making much of the indulgence he had had for him, he exhorted him to return to himself and to profit from the grace he had just received.
"The judge again calls this boy, intending to instruct him and persuade him by word according to his usual custom. 'You have seen, O boy,' he says, 'the fire; you have seen, O youth, the sword: be sober, that you may again have your father's house and fortune.' Who answered: 'You have done me harm, O tyrant, by recalling me; you have done harm, and have acted most wickedly: in vain have you kindled the fire, without cause have you sharpened the sword. There is a much greater house that I am hastening to inhabit: there are much more excellent riches. These [the Lord] is preparing to give me: consume me more quickly, that I may more quickly enjoy them.'"
C The judge, astonished at such a generous reply, had him put in irons and commanded that he be led to the place of execution as if to be executed. He gave at the same time a secret order to the executioners to do everything to him, up to the point of death, but not to go beyond it, because he wished to employ this last remedy of fear to overcome his firmness and oblige him to acquiesce to the wishes of his father.
Those whom the judge had commissioned to bring him news of the composure that this child would maintain at the sight of the torments, came to tell him that they had not been able to wring a tear from him; that when they had made as if to throw him in the fire, he had neither recoiled, nor cried out, nor changed color; that when they had shown him the sword to cut his head off, he had presented his neck, with a resolution capable of making the executioner tremble.
The child replied to him: "Far from granting me a favor, you have done me a great wrong by taking me away from the fires and swords. This is not an indulgence, it is a cruelty that you have exercised against me. I have another house and other riches to await than those of my father. I was hoping to go enjoy them when you took this satisfaction from me. Do not envy me, then, my happiness any longer."
D The assistants, equally surprised by the reasoning and the constancy of this young boy, could not restrain their tears for the most part. Cyril still had the courage to reproach them for it. "You should laugh," he said to them, "and rejoice at the state in which you see me."
And those hearing these things were weeping: but the boy rebuked their tears and said, "You ought to laugh, you ought to be delighted, you ought to lead me rejoicing to suffer. You do not know what city I shall inhabit; you do not know what confidence I have. Permit [me] to spend my life thus." Saying these things, he went to die.
When the judge had pronounced the sentence of death, the tears of the others redoubled. But Cyril, in a tone that marked the disposition of his great heart and the solidity of his joy, said to them:
And he was splendid and spectacular, not only to him who receives his soul, but also to others who were living in Caesarea, with him helping who reigns unto ages of ages. Amen.
A Metaphrastes. For the Acts of Saint Nicephorus which he has provided us do not differ from the text except by a few words, the majority of which are very unimportant, as M. de Tillemont admits (Vol. IV, note 8 on the persecution of Valerian, p. 590, col. 2); whereas one finds quite significant circumstances added by M. Baillet, which are not in his [the original] text, without counting several deletions that he made from his original, although it is three times shorter than that of Saint Nicephorus, which is claimed to have been altered by Metaphrastes. But in order that one may be able to judge, we shall place at the end of this paragraph the Life of Saint Nicephorus in its entirety, with the paraphrases of Metaphrastes in italics, so that they may be distinguished from the text.
It is easy to judge, from what we have just reported, that M. Baillet has added many things to his text and that he has suppressed others; without speaking of some turns of phrase that he has given to the original in some places, which do not appear suitable. One knows well that the original text does not appear very exact, and that there are even some faults, whether they come from the interpreter or from the negligence of the copyist. It is not denied, either, that the Latin of the Acts being very concise, this critic was compelled to give it another structure and to supply something to adapt it to the genius of our language. But even if all that did not justify M. Baillet’s translation sufficiently, one does not pretend to blame him for having added to his text to give to understand how things could have happened; for these traits of eloquence are very common in the homilies of the Fathers and in the historians, who add to their subject matter some ornaments without altering the substance. But this example that we have just reported shows well enough that M. Baillet is not always right when he tries to weaken the authority of the Fathers, under the pretext that they spoke as orators rather than as historians in the Lives of the Saints that they have given us, and that one does not render enough justice to Metaphrastes when one cries out so much against him as soon as one finds that he has paraphrased his narrative. For why shall this conduct be a crime in this writer, and a subject of praise for the critics?
One of the most famous examples that one reports to disparage Metaphrastes on the subject of his paraphrases is taken from the Life of Saint Nicephorus, martyr of Antioch. This Life is found on the 9th of February (vol. 2, p. 283) in Bollandus, who adds in italics the passages of Metaphrastes which he calls *interpolata*. Dom Thierry Ruynart (*Act. select.* p. 245) says that these Acts have been provided by Bollandus, *adjunctis altero charactere Metaphrastis Additionibus*. M. Baillet, speaking of this history (Feb. 9, p. 15), remarks that in the manner in which it has been provided by P. Ruynart, “it is esteemed faithful, and exempt from the glosses and amplifications that Metaphrastes and some other Latins had inserted into the Acts which one had previously.” However, if one examines the additions that Metaphrastes has made in this Life of Saint Nicephorus, and if one compares them with those that one sees in the history of Saint Cyril published by M. Baillet, one will judge easily that this critic has more paraphrased, and less followed his original, than B Metaphrastes.
C The history of the three translations of the head of Saint John the Baptist, which one also proposes ordinarily as an example of the infidelities of Metaphrastes, appears less paraphrased than the narrative of the martyrdom of the holy child Cyril. The two miracles of which Metaphrastes speaks cannot pass for additions, because they are spoken of neither in the ancient Relation nor in that of Marcellus. Could Metaphrastes not have reported them from other memoirs? Will one say that a circumstance is false because those who have reported the entire history make no mention of this circumstance? On that basis, one will find very few faithful narratives.
When it would be absolutely true that Metaphrastes had added these two miracles, which, moreover, have nothing incredible, and that he had also added of his own accord what he says, that Urane came with candles to transport the holy head; all that would make only three additions in a Relation which is quite long; but how many are there not in the narrative of M. Baillet, which is quite short?
But, it will be said, what M. de Tillemont and all the scholars blame principally in Metaphrastes is that, having professed to follow his authors word for word, he does not fail to alter them and to make them speak according to his fancy: that he adds much of his own to the histories; and that he reports things, not as they happened, but as they could have happened. All these complaints are too reasonable to condemn them; but does it not seem, one will answer, that all these same reproaches fall back upon M. Baillet? Does this critic not profess to follow the text of the Acts of Saint Cyril, such as it was provided by Bollandus on the 29th of the month of May, and by Dom Thierry Ruynart, whom he cites in his critical Table, and in the Life of this holy child, martyr? When M. Baillet had not restricted himself to the authentic Acts provided by these two authors, should he not have made us learn from where he drew so many additions? Thus, since he has not marked other sources, and since even he could not do so, one is entitled to say that he has paraphrased the Life of D
A Saint Cyril, whom he made to speak according to his own fancy for the author of this history; that he added much of his own to this narration; that he cut from it what he pleased; and that he even gave some circumstances a turn which is not entirely natural; that he reported the martyrdom of this holy child, not as it happened, but as it might have happened; finally, that he adorned his subject with several circumstances which are not in his original. This is not the only narration that M. Baillet has paraphrased: it would be easy to mark several others, which are no less remarkable than that of Saint Cyril, and in which he has given himself no less liberty. One has chosen the Life of this saint, among several others, only because it is very short.
From this, one sees that the art of paraphrasing is not so peculiar to Metaphrastes that it has not been put into practice by other authors, who have pretended to distinguish themselves by their precision and exactitude, although they declaim in a thousand places against the excesses of this Greek writer, whose testimony one wants to pass off as being of no weight for establishing a historical fact, and whose name must even be suppressed, although one profits from his work.
Although M. de Tillemont makes, so to speak, two sorts of additions to the original histories of the saints, one does not believe, however, that they are against exactitude. When he finds outside of his subject something that can raise up or clarify the matter C he treats, then, if the author is worthy of belief, he does not find it difficult to insert what he borrows from him into his narration, although original, but with this precaution: that he distinguishes from the original text what is foreign to it, and that he cites in the margin the name of the author whom he makes speak. It is not rare for this learned critic to also add something of his own into the histories he recounts; but as he encloses this between two parentheses, the reader sees well that these sorts of additions do not form part of the body of the piece: thus, this cannot pass for a true alteration.
There have been skillful critics who have believed that the majority of the additions of Metaphrastes were of this nature: and if he had taken the precautions of M. de Tillemont, I do not know if one would have cried out so boldly as one has done against his paraphrases. It is certain that one finds in this *Legendary* additions in great number; such as those that one supposes he has made in the Life of Saint Nicephorus, and in the history of the translation of the head of Saint John the Baptist, which are no more considerable than some that are found in M. de Tillemont: for our critics do not D give us these two examples as any proof of the infidelities of this Greek author.
The Life of Saint Nicephorus, martyr, taken from a manuscript of the king's library, and collated with that which was provided by Metaphrastes. The additions of Metaphrastes which have been inserted here, are in italics.
At that time there was indeed a presbyter in great Antioch of Syria, by the name of Sapricius. Now there was also a certain other man, who was called Nicephorus, who was in fact a layman in rank, and a very sincere friend of this same presbyter: and they both loved each other so mutually that they were thought to be natural brothers, born from one womb; so much so that their mutual love was excellent. But when they had lived for a long time in this affection, the wicked and most villainous enemy of the human race, hostile to what is good and honest, envying them, created such a dissension between them that they would not even wish to encounter one another in the street, because of the demonic hatred that they had conceived against one another.
When they had been affected in this way for a sufficiently long time, Nicephorus, returning to his senses and recognizing that the hatred was diabolical, asked certain friends to go to the presbyter Sapricius and to entreat him on behalf of Nicephorus, so that he might forgive him the fault and, led by repentance, accept him for the sake of the Lord. He, however, refused to forgive him. But he again sent other friends so that he might be reconciled to him. But the presbyter Sapricius did not even deign to hear those who were asking. Nicephorus therefore asked certain other friends again and sent them to him, so that according to the divine saying, "in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word might stand." But he, being of a hard heart and implacable, and having forgotten our Lord Jesus Christ, who says: "Forgive, and it will be forgiven to you," and again: "If you offer your gift at the altar, and you remember that you have something against your brother, leave it, and going, reconcile yourself to your brother"; and again: "Unless you forgive men their sins, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you your sins"; though all were asking and begging him, he did not forgive his brother and friend. For he did not have in him the charity and mercy for which he was justly deprived of the kingdom of heaven. But in the first place, the pious and faithful Nicephorus, when he saw that Sapricius had despised the common friends who had not received pardon for him despite their pleas, he himself, running to the house of Sapricius, cast himself at his feet, saying: "Forgive me, Father, for the sake of the Lord." But he did not wish to be reconciled to him as a friend, especially when he was being asked; and especially when he ought, even if he had not been asked, to accept him upon the first apology.
A Now, when these things were happening, a sudden persecution and great affliction arose in the city of Antioch, where both were living, and Sapricius was seized as a Christian and delivered to the governor. He stood before him, and the governor said to him, "What is your name?" But he replied, "I am called Sapricius." The governor said, "Of what origin are you?" Sapricius replied, "I am a Christian." The governor said, "Are you a cleric?" Sapricius replied, "I hold the position of a presbyter." The governor said, "Our Augusti and lords of this region and of the Roman borders, Valerian and Gallus [Gallienus], have ordered that those who declare themselves to be Christians must sacrifice to the immortal gods. If any man, however, despising this, rejects this edict, let him know that he must be punished with diverse torments and tortures and thus condemned to a most grievous death." But Sapricius, standing there, said to the governor, "We Christians, O governor, have Christ God as our King; for He alone is the true God, and Creator of heaven and earth, and of the sea and all that is in them. But all the gods of the nations are demons; and may they perish from the face of the whole earth, for they cannot bring aid to anyone, nor hurt or hinder anyone, B since they are the works of the hands of men."
Then the angry governor ordered him to be thrown into the cochlea, commanding that he be severely rotated. When he was being tortured so bitterly and inhumanely, Sapricius said to the governor: "You have power over my flesh; but over my soul you have no power, but the Lord Jesus Christ, who created it." Having been tortured for a long time, he withstood the torments. But when the wicked and malicious judge saw that he was not being persuaded, he pronounced sentence upon him, saying: "Sapricius the presbyter, who scorns the edicts of the emperors and has not obeyed, nor wished to sacrifice to the immortal gods, that he might not fall from the hope of the Christians, we command to be given over to the punishment of the sword."
When, therefore, he had gone forth, having accepted the sentence of martyrdom, and was hurrying toward the heavenly crown, Saint Nicephorus, running, met him and threw himself at his feet, saying: "Martyr of Christ, forgive me, for I have sinned against you." But he answered him nothing, for his heart had been blinded by an evil demon. Saint Nicephorus anticipated him again by another road, and met him before he could leave the city, and asked him, saying: "Martyr of Christ, forgive me those things in which I have sinned against you as a man. For behold, a crown has been given to you by Christ, whom you have not denied, but have confessed His holy name before many witnesses." But he, hard and implacable, with his heart blinded by hatred, neither gave him pardon nor would he answer him a word; so much so that the lictors themselves said to Saint Nicephorus: "We have never seen so foolish a man. He is going to the punishment of the sword, and how is it that you ask for pardon from him who is already about to die?" Saint Nicephorus said to them: "You do not know what I ask from the confessor of Christ; but God knows."
C And when he had come to the place where Sapricius was to be executed, Nicephorus again said: "I beseech you, martyr of Christ, forgive me if I have sinned as a man: for it is written: 'Ask, and it shall be given you.'" But even as he said this, and things like to it, the savage and hard-hearted friend did not listen: the most harsh companion was not bent, nor was he softened; he remained totally inflexible. For he did not hear that which says: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and your neighbor as yourself." But he closed the ears of his heart and body, like the deaf and lame adder, which did not hear the voice of the enchanters. Therefore, the Lord, who does not respect persons and is truthful, who said: "If you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you your trespasses," and: "In the measure you mete to your brother, it shall be measured to you again."
When the Lord saw that he was not touched by any mercy for his neighbor, He justly deprived him of His heavenly kingdom: indeed, he himself alienated himself from heavenly grace and from the eternal goods of God, on account of the recollection of a grievance received from a brother: and especially because he had been of a cruel, savage, and irreconcilable spirit toward his own brother and former friend. Then the lictors say to Sapricius: "Bend your knees, that your head may be cut off." But Sapricius says to them: "Why?" The lictors say to him: "Because you would not sacrifice to the gods, but have scorned the edict of the emperor, because of the man who is called Christ." When wretched Sapricius heard this, he answered the lictors with this miserable and sad voice, saying: "Do not strike me; for I am doing what the emperors have ordered, and I sacrifice to the gods." Thus hatred blinded him, and took from him the grace of God. For he who through such torments had not denied our Lord Jesus Christ, when he had come to the end of death and was about to receive the prize and crown of glory and hope, denied eternal life and was an apostate.
D When Saint Nicephorus heard these things, he asked Sapricius, with tears, saying: "Do not, O brother, do not yield and deny our Lord Jesus Christ. Do not at all, I beseech you, fall away from Him, and lose the heavenly crown which you have acquired through many torments and afflictions." But he would not hear him at all, but strove to go to the ruin and darkness of ultimate death, and to the fire which cannot be extinguished. He who lost the glory of such great price in the moment of one hour by the stroke of a sword was truly wretched, blinded by hatred.
For he did not listen to our Lord Jesus Christ, saying in the holy Gospel: "If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift before the altar, and go your way first to be reconciled to your brother, and then coming offer your gift." And again, to Peter the prince of the apostles, when he had asked the Lord: "Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?" The Lord answered: "I say not unto you, until seven times: but, until seventy times seven." But that wretched man did not wish to forgive his brother even once, and especially when he was asking for forgiveness and entreating it. And the Lord truly...
our Lord and God commanded to forgive each one from the heart, and, leaving behind the gift that is to be offered to God, to run to reconciliation; but he did not forgive even with his lips the one who was repenting to him, nor did he induce his mind to remit it to him who was asking: but he shut up his heart against his brother; therefore the grace of the divine and life-giving Spirit departed from him, and he lost the great, precious, and glorious crown of martyrdom A. Wherefore, O beloved, let us too diligently beware of this diabolical operation—of hatred, I mean, and the remembrance of injury received—so that the remission of our own sins may be granted to us by our Lord Jesus Christ, consistently with that which is said: "Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors"; for He who promised is faithful.
But blessed Nikephoros, after he saw that Sapricius had committed a transgression, says with a loud voice to the lictors: "I am a Christian, and I believe in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, whom this man has denied. Therefore, strike me instead of him." But the lictors did not dare to strike without the order of the governor. All were amazed that he thus delivered himself to death. For he spoke freely: "I am a Christian, and I do not sacrifice to your gods." But one of the lictors ran and reported to the governor, saying: "Sapricius indeed promises that he will sacrifice to the gods; but there is another man there who wishes to die for him who is called Christ, crying out and saying freely: 'I am a Christian, and I do not sacrifice to your gods, nor do I obey the edicts of the emperors.'"
After the governor heard this, he passed sentence on him, saying: "If he does not sacrifice to the immortal gods, as the emperors have commanded, I order him to die by the sword: but leave Sapricius to go free." Then, taking the holy Nikephoros, they beheaded him, as the governor had commanded, on the ninth of the month of February; and thus was consummated in Christ the holy martyr of Christ, Nikephoros, and he ascended into heaven crowned through faith in B Christ, and charity, and humility. Since he was inclined toward charity and humility, he was crowned with the crown of martyrdom, and was deemed worthy to be included in the number of the martyrs, to the praise and glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ: to whom be glory and power now and always, and for ever and ever. Amen.
Behold the Life of Saint Nikephoros the martyr, with the additions of Metaphrastes. The reader will be able to judge whether they are significant enough to compel these learned critics to exaggerate so strongly the falsifications of this Greek legend-writer. They have found no example more suitable for promoting their cause than this history of Saint Nikephoros; it would even be quite difficult to produce another to justify their complaints. However, one need only compare the additions that Metaphrastes has made to these Acts with the life of this saint as M. Baillet has provided it to us, in order to recognize that this critic has added circumstances there which are not found in the original Acts, even though he professes to follow it; and that his additions are no less significant than those of Metaphrastes: not to mention several things he omitted, and others he removed from their proper place. One does not intend to blame this conduct of M. Baillet in this history, nor in the others where he has done the same thing, since it is the ordinary conduct of those who work on these sorts of subjects, and the Fathers themselves have practiced it. But one may conclude that this liberty of Metaphrastes is not sufficient to render him despicable and unworthy of all belief, and to cause him to pass for an impostor and a forger, born to produce monsters, and straying beyond what pagan Greece imagined in the way of fables in favor of its gods; since one finds even today respectable writers who take the same liberty.
THE ENCOMIUM OF THE MOST WISE PSELLOS ON THE METAPHRAST, LORD SYMEON
(Ascribed to Allatius, *De Symeonibus*)
Since I have resolved to praise the great Symeon in life and in word, whose name is spread throughout the whole world, and whose deeds are celebrated, I do not know what words I shall use in praising him, or what from among all things.
A I shall provide a sufficient eulogy. For he was a man not only adorned with eloquence, and possessing a mind most ready for the generation of thoughts, and a tongue like the flow of the Nile—not over long periods, nor across great intervals, but daily teeming with innumerable springs, and most opportunely flooding—but he was also composed in the blending of his character, and possessed every virtue, and stood as a pattern to those who desired to live a magnificent and temperate life, and who wished to pride themselves on such sobriety.
This renowned man, Constantinople, if I may say so, produced in due time; the first city producing the first of men, the most beautiful of cities [producing] the most beautiful protector, and having conferred upon him the honor of being born of her, and having honored him with such a birth, she received back from him such a gift in return, as he alone sufficed to render back to that city the choicest prizes. B And the honor she received from him became greater and more magnificent than her former state: for in as much as she excelled other cities in beauty and size at that time, like some garden spot in its circumference and circuit, afterwards, on his account, she surpassed others even in the flowers of innate virtues; so that, even if she had not been so adorned from the beginning of the world, nor had chanced upon such a founder, this marvelous birth would have sufficed for her to compare herself with the most excellent.
And his incomparable power and unrivaled mastery over all things, he displayed immediately, and from his first, so to speak, birth, and from a hair already blooming, just as the cubs of lions immediately show their brow and the shagginess of their neck-hair. C For the flowers of intelligence were blooming in him, and his mind possessed a sort of deep root, and his intellect shone with some marvelous radiance. These things, though sufficient for others to be considered perfect, were in his case recognized merely as the sketches of a perfect nature. Just as, therefore, those trees which sprout beyond nature, needing but little from the hand that tends them, if they receive some irrigation, increase even more in beauty and size; so too, his nature was a thing of rapid growth, and immediately proceeding straight ahead. Whence, he spoke eloquently by nature, and the deep gulf of his soul provided abundant thoughts for philosophy.
Since he also turned his gaze coward the schools of the philosophers, and received from there certain principles and starting points for the discovery of the things being sought, he rose up all at once, and was lifted high, and found the sun from its rays, or, if I may so speak, looked from the sun to its rays, in part gathering the first things from the latter by reasoning, and in part concluding what are by nature secondary from the prior things. Knowing that our perfect nature is adorned D by these two things, by the offspring of the mind and the words of the tongue, and that of those wise men who preceded him, some had perfected their mind through philosophy, while others had purified their tongue through rhetoric, and—save for one or two—the rest were toward
one or the other side inclined. For some, their tongue flowed like a river, heavy with thick enthymemes, while others proclaimed the most lofty concepts, so that the former were nearly speechless, and the latter empty of understanding. But he stood as a middle point between both, becoming, as it were, a bond for those things that had previously been A separated; joining his tongue to his mind, and his mind to his speech, he advanced philosophy through rhetoric into a more practical and manifest operation, while elevating the art of rhetoric through philosophy. By blending both together with their respective beauties, he produced, so to speak, a vocal mind and a mind-endowed tongue. He philosophized with moral persuasiveness and practiced rhetoric with philosophical depth. He was equally well-adapted to both roles: the philosopher did not hate the civic argument, seeing it colored by the tinctures of philosophy, nor did the orator feel aggrieved by knowledge, while delighting in the art of discourse.
Thence, like a lamp ignited in Byzantium and raised on high, he appeared as a torch in the air for all cities; and indeed that place was as if a celestial world, radiating in every kind of learning, and through one torchbearer, it partially illuminated the whole world of the earth, while also flashing with the brilliance of others in addition to its own light. And what is most admirable, and the reason one would the more contemplate him, is that although he was of noble lineage, born of an illustrious family, and abounded in wealth—things which would make anyone else more slothful toward B disciplines—he yet employed the external resources of fortune for the sake of philosophy. For many propose study and eloquence to themselves only as a means of acquiring wealth, not that they might attain those things which are better, but so that by studying them, they might fill themselves with the pleasure of vain things; he, however, used the external resources of fortune for philosophy. Hence it came about that he emulated neither those philosophers who were overly idle, nor those orators who were excessively redundant. For the former, as if deluged by the immeasurable light of the rays of philosophy, immediately closed their eyes, and in no way brought virtue to practice, nor did they use their dogmas magnificently, nor did they become leaders of cities, nor did they set before the general public what they had learned; but they fostered long beards, like useless harvests, and became gloomy and severe in their appearance.
Furthermore, some of them, when there was no need, ran through the forum using an intemperate liberty of speech; others inhabited tubs, confining themselves within them. Others consumed their life in dialectical questions. Others inquired into natural hypotheses, bringing useless contradictions and strifes into life; and indeed, this same thing has happened to most of the orators, who made a prudent art an occasion for folly. And when they ought to have chosen and meditated upon things that are conducive to cities, they, sometimes C acting themselves, and sometimes using as if they were stored-away things,
A He had been entrusted to its care, having lived there for five and sixty years, though he had been confined in a small cell for three years less than that; for these three years had been spent in milk and childish training; for he was only in his third year when he was dedicated as an offering to God by his parents, and entered this wonderful flock of monks. This man was guileless, in the manner of that great and marvelous Jacob, and had advanced so far in gentleness and purity that he surpassed the ascetic laws, outstripped all men in every kind of virtue, and drew near to God.
6. To this man came our quintathle of piety, this arbiter of the contest, and spent ten years struggling in this spiritual arena. Possessing eighty fellow-contestants, he surpassed them all; and while the others would take food every two days, he himself would spend the whole week without food. B This choir of fellow-athletes was often greatly troubled, since they were unable to imitate Symeon, and they called this behavior a disruption of the ascetic way of life and an disorder.
CAPUT II. Penance and wondrous abstinence.
7. But he did not stop there, nor did he curb his zeal; rather, he brought hidden struggles to the Trier of all hidden things. All of you know C how harsh palm-rope is, and how troublesome it is even when touched lightly by the hands. Symeon girded his loins with such a rope—not merely wearing it on the outside, but as if making it grow into his skin, and he tightened it so violently that all that part of his body in a circle began to fester. When he had spent ten days or more in this manner, behold, as the ulcer grew worse, fluid mixed with blood began to flow from it, giving notice of the wound that had hitherto been hidden within. Then one of those present asked what was the cause of so much blood. Although Symeon said he felt no pain at all, he did not persuade them in the least, as the blood was flowing in everyone’s sight, and crying out, as it were, a mystery that triumphed over the man's every word and endurance. D Therefore, when one of his fellow-contestants had put his hand in violently toward his side, he finally learned the cause and reported the whole matter to the superior. The superior immediately, while rebuking and exhorting him, and decrying the cruelty of the deed, finally and with difficulty freed him from the bonds—having been obedient to the rope until the moment of its release, though he was persistent and very strong-willed about seeking a remedy for the ulcer.
8. Consequently, those in this ascetic wrestling-place, seeing him perform other such acts, and being unable to compete even with the smallest of his labors, yet unable to bear seeing themselves left behind, ordered Symeon to depart from the village, lest, as they said, he might be a cause of some harm to those who were weaker. Symeon, going away to the solitude of the mountain, found a lake
A performed them as a theatric spectacle in life. But he was not so; he was far from it. He neither changed his dress, nor departed from anything of his magnificence, nor brought disgrace upon his lineage by such innovations, nor did he invent or reshape political matters, nor did he play the sophist in any way; but with that [nobility] derived from his lineage, he used it entirely as material for doing good, and he immediately took the virtue which he had prepared for himself from his studies as an occasion for splendor and magnificence. For having become beloved by the emperors, he was entrusted with the most precious things of all: to stand near the throne, on account of his wisdom; and to take charge of the administration of the state, on account of the aptitude of his nature and his diligence in affairs.
And first, B he presided over the more mystical actions, and stood beside those who consulted as a participant in secret deliberations. And since the trust in his character proclaimed him in these matters, he took upon himself, along with the inner chambers, the mundane cares as well; so that he became a messenger to the ruler from those outside, and a messenger of the ruler’s words to those outside; and he was, as it were, a precise bond of the administration. For while a part of the solar cycle is elsewhere and a part is with us, he himself was entirely with the emperor and in the affairs themselves; just as the narrative made him known from above, possessing in every way, C if one considers his nature, the ability both to deliberate beforehand and to accomplish what had been deliberated, and to push back the Barbarians from the Roman lands, and to overcome others, whether by forces or by stratagems, and to bring nations under his power, and to be adept in dealing with the times and circumstances—by changing when it was necessary, by innovating when it was expedient, by keeping the same appearance when that seemed good. And yet the man was by no means devoid of grace and charm; but his tongue, his learning, and his mind were tempered for every charm and grace. And being magnificent in his clothing, his bearing, and his gait at the same time, he would change his manner to match what appeared, so that he was charming and accessible, drawing everyone to himself by his smile. Furthermore, he was by no means sparing with his hand, as two things extended it: wealth and his own will. And it lay before him, turned upward, and he poured out from it as from a river, lavishly, to whoever wished. D Such, then, was the case with this great man. He also possessed, as was fitting, some parts of those things which are accustomed to consolidate our faith. Yet these were—but why do I not use my speech more perfectly, or bring the greatest of his points to the chief principle? I go, therefore, to the first argument, having first premised a few things that must be said.
Glorious indeed are the struggles which were undertaken by the martyrs against their enemies, both those against whom they fought openly and those against whom they fought in secret. And how could they not be? Since their confidence was illustrious, and their mind was inexpugnable, having renounced their feelings, disregarded nature, endured the cutting off and loss of limbs, and, finally, the contempt of life. Yet no less did the monastic life also shine...
A without water and very deep, and into this he let himself down, remaining there for his customary prayer and philosophy. When five days had passed, those who were responsible for the departure of the man began to repent; and having selected two from among them, they sent them off in search of Symeon. It had been said to them that if they should be able to find him anywhere, they were to bring him back to the common monastery. Wandering about the mountain here and there, they fell in with some shepherds of flocks; and having asked them if they had seen any such person, they clearly described to them the appearance, the fashion, and the manner of the man. Since he had hidden himself nearby, they pointed out the pit to them with their finger. Those men, having immediately stood over the spot, called out for Symeon by name, and having brought a rope, they hoisted him out with much labor: for it is a common saying that descent is easier than ascent.
B 9. Then they returned with him to the brotherhood and the monastery. Having spent but a short time with them, he arrived at the village of Telanissos (this is situated at the foot of the mountain); here, having found a small hut, he shut himself up in it for three years consecutively. Always striving to increase the wealth of virtue, he entered into a glorious contest with Moses and Elias, and he continued for forty days without food.
10. Now, Blasus was a man fearing God, and one who was greatly concerned for the good name and benefit of the brethren; furthermore, as he was at that time the overseer of the priests in the villages, he went about everywhere, urging those in them toward the ascetic life, and providing them with greater endurance in prayer and progress in fasting. This man went off at some point to visit also Symeon; and he took the man as a counselor for his purpose, and shared with him the intentions of his mind. But Blasus, realizing the arduousness and violence of the feat, advised and exhorted Symeon not to consider such violent death to be virtue, but on the contrary, an extreme evil, a separation from God, and, in truth, the death of the soul itself. "Not so, Father," Symeon said, "but place ten loaves of bread by me, and a vessel of water, and if I see that my body is in need of nourishment, I shall partake of them, and by this I will satisfy what is necessary." Since his request seemed reasonable, the loaves and the water were immediately set before him; C the door of the little hut was shut, and the fastenings were covered over with mud from the outside, so that it might be inaccessible to anyone approaching. When the forty days had arrived, the admirable Blasus stood before the room to visit Symeon again; and having removed the mud from the fastenings and gotten inside the door, he found the number of the loaves not even lacking the smallest part, and he found the vessel of water full; he also saw the...
A For here, too, there is a consumption of the flesh, and a luxury in not luxuriating where one ought not; and a being broken off from the world, and a soaring toward God along with these very bodies, and a standing firm against innate passions and those flowing in from evil spirits from without. Brilliant, therefore, were both these lives, and they were so in the past, and will be again. But the reward for these things here below had not yet been clearly recognized, but secret books—which the angels will read to many in the final restoration—contain accurate accounts of their martyrdom and ascetic labors. The writers who before this blessed man recorded the deeds of those others did not attain to their magnificence; but partly they lied about them, and partly, being unable to provide suitable discourse for the facts, they wrote them up in a way that was B good but unworthy of ambition, neither grounding them in a beautiful conception nor adorning them with suitable words, nor accurately describing either the savagery and cruelty of those who punished them or the quickness of the martyrs in giving their answers. Nay, they even adulterated the ascetic discipline of the monks, recounting the things they did with such zeal simply, and as if by chance, and as it happened.
Hence it came about that some could not bear even to read the things that had been committed to writings, while to others what was said provided material for laughter; and the unloveliness of the composition, the absurdity of the thought, and the lack of connection, along with the worthlessness and baseness of the diction, were disagreeable to those who heard them, and they were loathed rather than accepted; and because of those who had written them, the wonderful struggles C and trophies of the servants of Christ were held up to ridicule for us. And while all openly railed against the writings, to put forward better ones in their place—some [were prevented] by sluggishness of soul, while others [knew that this was] a most perfect and arduous labor, for which not even a whole life of a man would suffice, nor was there power present for those who wished, nor will for those who had the power. But the wonderful Symeon did not suffer the same thing as these; but proceeding with them as far as the blaming of what had been written, he then went further and ventured on a youthful deed, or rather a fortunate action, which no one of all others had met with, through which he himself became more conspicuous than those who are illustrious everywhere, and he dedicated to God the most beautiful of all things: the struggles and courses of the martyrs, and the abstinences and endurances of the monks, he adorned and glorified; and D by offering the same goodwill as they, he received graces in return from all.
For what could one compare with such a labor? What Greek history, or account measuring the entire earth? And as much as has been successfully achieved by the Persians, and before them by the Babylonians, and all that was fought most manfully after these things by Alexander the Great among the Macedonians? For these things, too, possess ambitious content and are most beautiful to those who have set about them with eloquence,
A Let the narrative proceed. After he had persevered for three years in the aforementioned small dwelling, he ascended that celebrated summit of the mountain, where, being surrounded by a wall, he had a house open to the sky, in which he wrestled with cold and heat. He fashioned for himself a chain of iron twenty cubits in length, and having fastened one of its ends to a massive rock, he adjusted the other by means of a ring to his own foot, so that not even if he greatly desired it could he go outside those designated boundaries. He remained always within, gazing only upon the beauty of heaven, finding his delight in the visions therein, and being lifted up with greater and more fervent longing toward the Creator of that beauty. Meletius, in whom religion had fixed its seat at that time, and who held the reins of the patriarchal throne of Antioch, having come to see the man, as the fame concerning him was spreading B through all, when he saw him thus employing a life in the open air, and also having one of his feet fettered with an iron bond, while he regarded other things as matters of wonder, he did not approve of the iron, saying it was superfluous, since the mind was sufficient to impose rational bonds upon the body. The admirable Symeon obeys these things without delay, and having ordered a smith to be summoned, he commands his foot to be freed from the iron bond; but though freed, he still did not transgress the bounds of the chain, for the love of Christ held him more tightly than any iron bond. 14. C But because the iron enclosed a portion of his leg, a sheepskin had been placed beneath it, which occupied the same space of the leg as the iron, so that it might not strike against the naked flesh and wound it, and by causing sores, bring him pain. When, therefore, the iron bond was loosened and the underlying skin removed, more than twenty bedbugs were seen lurking on his leg and feeding upon the flesh of the holy man. And let no one justly reproach me for the history, as if great and supernatural works were flowing in from every side; for I do not avoid even the most minute things. For it is not because these things are small—I mean the bedbugs—that they are small, nor is the pain caused by the stinging of their bites, and the agony they are able to inflict, D insignificant. Those who have experienced it know this. Indeed, the chain alone was sufficient as a specimen of greater endurance, but as for the fact that the bedbugs were also present, and that he endured this evil for such a length of time—especially when it would have been easy to strike them with the hand and thus be freed from the pains, which he instead proceeded to nourish and fatten with his own flesh—what degree of endurance does that not equal, however illustrious it may be? 15. The fame of Symeon, therefore, for there is no way it was not spreading, we know that there flowed to him not only those from the neighborhood, but also those dwelling at a distance of many days, and others at a distance of months, each of them seeking the healing of the affliction with which he was tormented.
but their reading is scattered among the masses A because of the way in which they were composed. However, whatever this noble man has woven together with the fitting apparel of discourse concerning those who have offered their testimony or lived the solitary life, it possesses a twofold zeal: for the imitation of his composition, and for the molding of character toward the most beautiful things. I might also mention a third B, not inferior to these, nay rather more precise and more sublime, because the written remembrance of the saints—those who constitute the Gospel—is established as the head of the rest. That he chose such a subject for himself for his writing is the most accurate testimony to his intelligence; and that he employed such thoughts, and a style marked with clarity, persuasiveness, truth, and natural grace, is a proof of his wisdom; but above all, one might consider it a sign of his ability to use it in a way that is harmonious with the times and the hearers.
And that I may say something concerning this part, and use a somewhat digressive manner of speech, I am not unaware that to the majority of those who use their tongue too sophistically, and no less to those who have devoted themselves to the sciences—and even the natural sciences are eagerly pursued—the studies of this man are not much studied, because neither are the mixtures of his ideas thought by them to be distinguished, nor are the figures of his speech evident, nor are there any natural difficulties and their resolutions, nor are there linear proofs with burdensome terms, nor are there philosophical thoughts C that exalt the subject matter in high-flown words. For those who are excessively devoted to wisdom want everything to be written for ostentation, not for utility and the rectifying of character. But I say that the writings of this man are not bereft of any of these things. But since his purpose is not one of display, these things are not laid out by him, neither from the beginning, nor everywhere, nor in all places; but wherever the matter gives him an opportunity, he uses as much as the discourse requires, and immediately returns to his proposed goal. For his discourse does not look to D logical technology or the understanding of nature, nor indeed to geometric contemplation or more curious understanding of numbers. But neither does the motion of the heavens concern him, or how the inerrant world encounters the wandering stars. Nothing of the consonant or vowel sounds, nor the melody produced by them, is a concern to him; for this reason he dismisses these things as superfluous, though he sometimes uses them in due season. He clings everywhere to the truth and to truthful narrative. He knew many modes of diction, but he used that which was sufficient for the hearing of both the refined and the masses at once. And it was enough for both groups simultaneously. For with the rhythm and beauty of his diction, he drew the learned listener and enchanted him sufficiently with the snares of grace, while with clarity and freshness he held the ears of the less-educated of his own voice; and again, he led both groups on by brevity and probability.
A
CHAPTER IV. Columnar station, approved by the Fathers.
19. But when those flocking to him exceeded every number, first because he wished to decline the honor, and next because he was burdened by the annoyance of it—and also because he desired, as much as he was able, to approach heaven not only with his mind and thoughts but with his body itself—he devised this station upon a column. And at first, indeed, the column was erected to six cubits; then it went up to twelve, afterwards it was extended to twenty-two, and finally the total height reached thirty-six cubits.
20. And if this invention itself should appear unusual, it is no wonder; for since many great things, of which no prior example existed, were first undertaken by this athlete, this life of the pillar, not only because it lacks an example, is not to be despised, but rather because, without any example, it is proposed more to the others as an example, it is to be praised. Especially since subsequent events will make it clear that it was done not without mature consideration and divine instinct; for the Ishmaelites, B who had increased to many myriads and were wrapped in the darkness of impiety, this new method of life on the column snatched from thence, and illuminating their minds with the light of the divine word, made them children of light and day, who were previously children of the night and of darkness. Finally, having received the laws from that divine mouth, they promptly abandoned the orgies of Venus (for this demon was their ancestral goddess). But many from the Iberians, as I have said, and from the Persians and Armenians, holding their ancestral error up to ridicule, also joined themselves to the evangelical doctrine.
21. When Symeon had devised this new way of living upon the column, his fame being swiftly spread abroad everywhere (for rumor is wont to use swifter wings, in a certain way, in matters so new), the holy Fathers, who by spiritual exercises C and labors were making the desert a kind of heavenly city, being astonished at this so unusual and strange manner of life, sent some men to this man who was aloft. And they instructed them both to rebuke him for his strange invention, and to teach him to walk the well-trodden and common path of the saints, and not to despise that path which so great a chorus of the blessed had trodden on the way to heaven, and by which they had entered those eternal tabernacles. Then, fearing lest this project of his might be truly pleasing to God, and desiring to test this action of his, they commanded those whom they were sending to him that, if they saw the man abandoning his own will and wishing to descend from his height, they should immediately oppose him and bid him persist in his first purpose, D and not allow him to neglect his goal. For in this way, they believed, it would be [clear whether it was] from God...
For indeed, if I may say nothing less than the truth, A while concealing nothing, I know that there are many styles of speech that are more beautiful—I mean those of the more perfect orators, and those who do not even stand as an example to the many, by the resounding nature of their tone and rhythm—but I do not know if anyone among all of them has ever composed a more accurate form of expression in the writings that he decided to compose. But even if any of those who excel in both diction and thought had taken up such a subject, they might perhaps have elaborated the speech more meticulously; yet I do not say that it would be equally suitable and agreeable to all hearers. For the introductions to his speeches immediately reach the subject, and proceeding a little, he reveals the scope of his writing, and in some speeches, having taken the entire argument as a summary, B he immediately divides it into parts; he adapts himself to the persons and the times. And indeed, the color of the speech is the same for all, and the quality of the diction is one; but the change of character is varied, and, as one might say, technical—not changing the facts for the sake of the art, but interpreting them in a way appropriate to each of the matters and persons involved. And as one looking toward archetypal examples toward older things, he does not abandon them, so that he might not seem to be doing something else, and changing the whole form, not by shifting the material, but by correcting what was amiss in the types; he does not innovate in his concepts, but by changing the figure of the diction, and as the speech falls into a diversity of narratives and a variety of arguments, it is not confounded or perturbed; C but like an excellent helmsman, although his ship was tossed by the waves, he stood quiet, steering with the greatest skill.
Furthermore, in some of his speeches he also describes the homelands of those he is praising, cutting them away from the whole earth and narrowing them down to one of the parts. Then he also speaks something concerning rivers, and he discourses naturally upon their sources, and about the convenience of cities, and the tempering of the air, and the harmony of the seasons, even if those who are truly somewhat hard of hearing do not heed these things when they are spoken. He also touches in many ways upon the parts of speech, some with greater contention, others more gently and sedately. But who among all would dispute his grace in narratives? Or his composition, or the pauses of his rhythms? Or his fitting harmony in all things? I wish, then, to contend for him that he is not glib. But I find his speeches do not lack even this grace, D but in some places they are redundant, while in most they are decorous and tempered. Having set these two paths for himself, the endurance of the martyr and the perseverance of the ascetic, he runs in both fields, not with the swiftness of feet, but with the sharpness of reason, and especially running through the ascetic race, he becomes more vigorous and more competitive than himself. He certainly makes my hearing fat, when his speech ascends the mountains, and descends into caves, under the pine or...
A, for they were rushing together in a somewhat barbaric fashion; some pulled him, others pulled him back, while those standing apart were falling upon the others, stretching out their hands, some grabbing his beard, others his garments, such that it was a near thing that they would have torn the man apart, had not the wonderful Symeon, crying out from above, so restrained their disorderly impulses that all were immediately transformed, and everyone in order partook of the grace, and was perfected by the divine baptism. Thus, then, the lamp B of his tongue had the power both to terrify whom he wished, and to enlighten, performing both for the sake of the brothers' salvation. He used to make the Lord’s commandments a continuous meditation; but he did not station his diligence only at the observance of these, but rather, just as if he would not add some further thing from his own heart, he considered it no small loss; so unyielding was the zeal he employed, and in such a state of mind was he toward these things!
24. C Indeed, he had long since left his father, as the discourse has already declared, and his mother, following Him who was desired, and he becomes wholly consumed by the love toward Him, which is the very pinnacle of the Lord’s commandment; yet he adds this too from his own soul. For twenty-seven years had passed since this man, superior to the world, had renounced the laws of nature and all things in the world; when behold, his mother, bearing within her vitals the innate fire of affection D, and being unable in any other way to extinguish the flame, goes toward her son—who was living in the flesh as one without flesh (for so the discourse is constrained to speak)—longing both to see the countenance of her child and to hear his speech, of which she had been deprived for so long a time. And he, having learned of his mother’s arrival, see how he apportions honor to his mother, and the solution to the law that transcends the commandment. He does not admit the meeting, but sends word to her saying: "If it seems good to you, O mother, we shall reserve our mutual seeing for the world beyond; and if our life be indeed pleasing to God, after our departure from here we shall see one another in Christ, in a way much more intimate and familiar." And he sent word of these things and proposed them. But since the flame burning within her soul did not allow the mother to sense what was being said, and she persisted, still putting forward the desire of the vision, he sends word to her a second time: "I, O mother, would have preferred that you accept what is mutually beneficial to both of us, and not so press for this meeting. But since, as I see, you hold all things as secondary to your own desire, for the present, silence is appropriate. I shall see you shortly, for this is what has seemed good to God." The mother, having accepted the promise as most sweet and most desirable, had her soul lifted up by it, and she was of good cheer and rejoiced in her hopes; she was entirely in the future time, and seemed to herself to be seeing her child present, and to be embracing him, and kissing him, and hearing his voice. While things were moving in this fashion, she suddenly ended her life.
oak, and brings the ascetic there to sit, and sketches for him a change of diet from the wild-growing plants, and drink from the springs. For he weaves such narratives with words that bloom with beauty, and he varies them with ornamental figures, and as if they were things being seen, he shows the events of that time. A I admire the man for such daring and grace, and no less for the usefulness of the subject matter. For although I, too, have written much and about many things, yet my works cannot have such zeal and imitation; but to learned men perhaps they might appear quite studious, and they will envy them because of the expression and the varied ornamentation; but the many will despise them, because the problems and the deeper concepts are not their concern.
They say, indeed, that he did not even approach this task as an incidental matter, nor did he intend it himself, unless only as much as he wished; but royal injunctions urged him to this, and those who cared for reason and intelligence. And he had the preparation in readiness, and a not insignificant circle of those who first recorded the expression, and those who placed them thereafter, and one after another, the one doing the first things, and the other the second. And in addition to these, those who verified what was written, in order that whatever might escape the transcribers, they might correct towards the underlying concept. For it was not possible for him, because of the multitude of the writings, to constantly revolve and examine the same things again. B But if the zeal was great, and the care more excessive than necessary, or rather, sufficient for this, yet the ear of corn had prevailed by a long way over the sowing, and the crop was such as has not been until this day. So that even if nothing else had been labored over by the man, and even if all other things were not present, which even individually suffice to deserve praise, yet to have undertaken such a task, and to have accomplished it so clearly, would suffice for the man instead of any other praise.
I, therefore, do not wish to compare his works with the writings of the external wise men. C For what if some of them composed the Panathenaica, and others wrote the battle of the Peloponnesians and Athenians with magnificent diction; and some struggled against the rhetoricians, and others for the rhetoricians, in which the ornamental excess is indeed clear and dignified, but the benefit is little and weak? Not with these, therefore, would I ever choose to compare my own competitor. But if someone would grant it to me, I would place him on an equal footing with those who labored for the word of the Gospel, and who interpreted the depth of the Word. D For those whose ends are equal, their beginnings are also similar; and to whom the salvation of souls is the end of the subjects in both cases, why should the causes not also stand on an equal footing with each other, and the writers stand in the same balance; or, in order that I may say what is ours, will they not be equal heirs? And with how many crowns of valor would this admirable man not be crowned? Or rather, with how many is he not now crowned, having ascended to God, and dancing among those with whom he here
did he write the customs and lives? For even at the end, he showed what kind of life his diligent pursuit had turned out to be. For those who saw him did not say that he appeared A cut short or divided, but he seemed as if he were being released from a bond, and with a joyful countenance he reached out to the angels leading him, and in a certain way entrusted himself to their hands, that he might quickly depart from the body. And he had died in this state: all things were at once filled with a sweet fragrance, and not only then, nor until the third day, but even for many days thereafter, as long as he alone was buried in the tomb; and the casket would have emitted such an odor forever, had not some acted so wickedly that they placed another small body beside him. For as soon as that happened to that great man, B that source of sweet fragrance ceased. And this miracle, O best and most learned of all men, shows more than enough of your purity and holiness; for other things also suffice for you for the most accurate perfection of virtue. But be you propitious to me, if I have not perfectly set forth all your virtue, nor brought you praise purely from all your good deeds, and do not be angry with me on account of those things which were passed over by me, but remember those which I have written, if there is any memory here for your most pure and most divine souls.
MONTH OF NOVEMBER, DAY XXVIII. COMMEMORATION OF OUR HOLY FATHER SYMEON THE LOGOTHETE, WHO IS ALSO THE METAPHRAST. OFFICE COMPOSED BY PSELLOS. Troparia to the psalm, "O Lord, I have cried." Tone: Plagal Second. To the melody of "Having laid aside all."
"Having laid aside all," your most brilliant and conspicuous height, you achieved more magnificently with your noble deeds, and you displayed the Queen of cities that bore you, to be even in this the mistress and conqueror of all cities, she who in due season brought you forth as a flower, truly most celebrated in life and speech and in all most excellent virtues, her wonderful offspring and bright crown.
O your admirable deeds! Most great Father, by which
you have been made wonderful by Him who alone performs wonders, the Lord. For as, when you lived, you preserved your small body untouched by the allurements of the flesh, so in the tomb did you preserve your holy body buried there, kept apart and unmixed from the commingling of another body later placed there with yours; and that it was unseemly placed there is indicated by the fact that the flow of the myrrh from you then ceased.
Grace was poured forth upon your divine lips, and you became the animate dwelling-place of uncreated B wisdom; being fashioned like a tongue of fire, blessed one, you illustrated with your discourses the struggles of the apostles and the victors, and described the angel-like life of the ascetics; and now, dwelling with them, you gaze upon the unsetting light of the Trinity in heaven, rejoicing.
Glory. Idiomelon. Tone 2 (Plagal). Venerable Father, into all the earth has gone forth the sound of your achievements. Therefore, in the heavens you have found the reward of your labors; you dissolved the phalanxes of demons, you attained the choirs of angels, and you emulated their way of life C without blame; having boldness in your commemoration, implore peace for our souls.
Apolytikion. Tone 4 (Plagal). Guide of Orthodoxy, teacher of piety and gravity, luminary of the world, divinely-inspired ornament of writers, lyre of the Spirit, by your teachings illuminating all, Symeon our Father, pray to Christ God that our souls may be saved.
THE CANON
Composed by the same Psellos, bearing this acrostich: “I sing of you, who put together the Metaphrases.”Ode 1. Tone 2 (Plagal). As on the D dry land, Israel walked. Grant me, Word of God, a harmonic melody, as I begin to praise your servant Symeon the Metaphrast, the truly admirable Logothete.
From the divine heights, the all-holy Spirit descended upon you, O wise one, and found a pure heart, and truly rested in the body.
The law of the Lord became a lamp to your feet from infancy, O wise one, as you meditated upon it piously by day and by night, as a son of the day, and as a light to your paths.
The fleece of old, Gedeon foresaw, upon which God descended as rain, and filled His land, Virgin and Mother, with knowledge.
Ode 3. There is none as You. As you were full of the Spirit, you proved to be a fulfiller of His commandments; for the talent entrusted to you by Christ, you traded well, blessed one.
A Lover of divine wisdom from your tenderest youth, you became a speaker of divine things, and having embraced her, you were adorned, O blessed one, with her crown of graces. Having been decorated with the dignities of the earthly senate, like a wise counselor, you acquired the method of conducting life in heaven, and adorned the supernal senate.
The wise logothete, knowing that the birth of the most immaculate Virgin above nature could not be comprehended, instructs angels and men to revere it by faith alone.
Ode 4. Christ is my power.
The Lord of all, and cause of all good things, chose you from among all, O blessed and wise one, as an admirable praiser among His servants. With the sharpness and purity of your mind, and the clarity of your life, God adorned you as an intellectual light, and decorated you with the charms of eloquence. You applied yourself to divine writings, O saint, and investigating and searching out the Lives of the saints, you exalted their torments and struggles with your learned metaphrases. The mouths of orators, singing melodies sweeter than trumpets, are unable to praise worthily, O immaculate one, you who are the shaded mountain of God.
B
Ode 5. By Your divine light, O Good One.
O Sun of the East, Christ, the righteousness, the illumination of the souls who praise You, by the prayers of Your Metaphrast, dissolve the darkness of my soul, as One who is compassionate. You have composed, O divinely-minded one, discourses profitable, pleasant, and salutary to the faithful, as a stimulus to fortitude and an emulation of virtue, the records of those who have lived uprightly. A temple, and a throne, and an ark of the King of all and of God, you are, most praised Lady, the only Theotokos, our propitiatory, who take refuge under your shadow.
C
Ode 6. The sea of life.
Your first commentary, by divine providence and colloquies, was that of the holy elder and anchorite, the admirable Symeon, whom you beheld on the island of Paros. Worthily you praised the illustrious and divine struggles of the Lesbian, truly Theoctista, fashioned by God, who wisely completed a life that was angelic and all but incorporeal.
The hidden and secret things, O Lord, You revealed to Your servant, showing the abyss of Your wisdom and compassion, by manifesting Your mercies, and glorifying those who glorify You in faith. Rescue me, O Lord, from the depth of evils, by the prayers of the one who bore You and of the holy one, O Master, Symeon, who worshipped You both in life and in word, O most merciful One. D
Kontakion. Tone 2. "Seeking the things that are above."
A Blamelessly upon the earth, O wise one, having lived, you were deemed worthy to behold the splendors of the saints who are in heaven, and with all wisdom you have sung their praises; with them, cease not to intercede with Christ God for all of us.Oikos.
Melodiously, O believers, let us gather and all worthily praise with anthems the great servant of God, Symeon, the holy Logothete, whom the Church of Christ has possessed as a luminary upon the earth, who shone forth with the teaching Fathers. For singing incessantly with them to Christ, and being filled with eternal light, he rejoices, interceding for all of us.Ode 7. "The dew-bringing furnace."
Both demons and tyrants are branded with disgrace, for having tormented the martyrs and saints of Christ, by your wise commentaries, O blessed one; but the multitude of the faithful chants: "Blessed are You, O God of our fathers."Your sermons have been named Metaphrases, O thrice-blessed one, delighting our mind more than honey, and dripping sweetness upon our lips, so that we cry out: "Blessed are You, O God of our fathers."
Generation shall praise, as he sings, and generation your words, as those that celebrate the wonderful works of God, and urge us to sing: "Blessed are You, O God of our fathers."
Thee, O most beautiful among women and most immaculate Mother of God, we believers beseech: deliver us from impending misfortune, that we may play harmony and sing: "Blessed are you, who bore God in the flesh."
Ode 8. "Out of the flame, for the saints."
The city which has been given to rule over all cities, O blessed one, brought you forth as a divine fruit, nourishing it mystically and pouring out for it the nectar of ambrosia for the salvation of souls.Planter of self-control and a chaste life, tiller of piety and divine faith, abyss of knowledge and fountain of compunction, we all honor you, Symeon Logothete.
Speaking in the manner of orators concerning divine things, you soothe the assembly of the venerable Church, O divinely-blessed one, and rouse to the imitation of virtue those who have ended their lives well in piety.
Having the divine ark of sanctification, O Mother of God and Virgin, you who beyond nature contained God who cannot be contained, we believers hymn you throughout the ages.
Ode 9. "It is impossible for men to see God."
Having lived decorously, O thrice-blessed one, you departed in peace to the desired Lord, on the very day on which the glorious Stephanus, the venerable martyr, reached the end of his life, with whom you are also glorified and crowned.Departing from the earth to the heavenly realms, O God-bearer,
you beheld the holy habitations, showing a joyful countenance, seeing the saints rejoicing with you, and ushering you toward this life above the world. A
Behold, you are now associated with the ranks of the saints, of patriarchs, martyrs, apostles, confessors, prophets, teachers, and hierarchs, with whom you lead the dance, O most blessed one; remember us before the Lord, we who celebrate your praises. B
O holy Zion, graced by God, city of God and palace fortified on all sides, defend the queen of all cities, [now] dedicated to you, and devout to you, O Metaphrastes, with your holy prayers, O Virgin.
At Laudes, fourth mode. As a noble martyr.
From a noble root have you sprung, a rose red in every part, dyed with the graces of the Spirit, and you have perfumed the faithful with the fragrances of your writings, setting forth the struggles of the apostles, athletes, and confessors, among whom you are now placed. Revealing divine things, Symeon, you dwell in the verdure of delights, which is in the dew.
To use the words of Scripture, the inestimable grace of the Holy Spirit has been poured out upon your lips, Symeon. Therefore, you have refuted him who boasted in vain by the entangling struggles of your discourses; for he became like stubble before a fire, departing into ashes, and he appeared to make you great, when, struck by fear at the virtues of your mind, he trembled. C
As one who became a servant of the Divinity, by your works, as one dwelling in the same company as the saints—whom you celebrated—having attained boldness, O divinely-speaking Symeon, remember those who praise you, showing your soul inclined toward probity, so that we may all obtain the remission of sins through the philanthropy of God.
Glory, and now.
You have adorned your action with divine life and perfect contemplation, most blessed Symeon; for having loved wisdom with divine love, you were enriched with grace from the mouth of the Spirit, and, like a honeycomb, instilling the sweetness of your words into us, you delight the Church of Christ with divine thoughts. Therefore, dwelling and residing in heaven, intercede incessantly for us who celebrate your memory. D
Prokimenon of the Apostle. God is wonderful in his saints. In the churches.
The reading from the Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians. Brethren, to each one is given the manifestation, etc., up to, to each one as he wills.
The Gospel according to Matthew. The Lord said to his disciples: You are the light of the world, etc., up to, He shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
and just as the vision had revealed to him, he arranged his ascent onto the column and took up the same manner of life as he, becoming a new Elisha who took Elijah as his example. And these things went on in this way.
B 42. Yet the king of the Persians, ambitious to be bested by no one, was by far surpassed in this one thing alone—the fame of this man. He diligently inquired of those who came to him who this man's life-style might be, and what his miracles were like. The memory of Symeon was no less to him than his concern for public affairs, and the stories about the man not only captivated him completely, but his wife also, struck by the miraculous wonders of Symeon, requested that blessed oil be sent to her by him, and she received it most gladly. By this she not only cured her own ailments, but also applied it as a remedy to many of her kin who were burdened by any sort of malady. And indeed, all those around the king, captured by the same fame and precisely informed of the things concerning Symeon, called him a divine man.
43. The queen of the Ishmaelites, being sterile and bitten severely by the pain of childlessness, and taking pleasure in nothing, first sent some of the most notable men to entreat that she might become a mother. When she attained her request, freed from her despondency and her soul filled with tranquility, as well as with joy, she took the king who was born and led him to the divine Symeon; and since his enclosure was not accessible to women, she sent the infant to him, deeming it worthy to obtain his blessing. "For yours, lord," she said, "is this grain: I indeed, with tears and prayers, have sown the seed; but you have made the seed into a sheaf, having drawn down the rain, as it were, through divine grace by your prayers." She, having obtained what she had longed for, returned to her house; but as for us, how long shall we strive to encompass in language things that surpass every human conception?
CHAPTER XII.
His daily exercises; precepts given to various people.
C 44. For he stood night and day, seen by all; and having removed the doors and taken down no small part of the enclosure, he was set before all as a spectacle surpassing every account of wonder, sometimes standing for a long time, sometimes bowing his body frequently and offering adoration to God. Many even attempted to count these adorations; and once, someone among those mentioned by the virtue-loving Theodoret reported that he had counted one thousand two hundred and forty-four adorations, then bending—
SYMEONIS METAPHRASTÆ OPERUM PARS PRIMA COMPLECTENS OPERA ASCETICA ET PARÆNETICA.
TOU ΤΟΥ ΣΟΦΩΤΑΤΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΛΟΓΙΩΤΑΤΟΥ ΣΥΜΕΩΝ ΤΟΥ ΛΟΓΟΘΕΤΟΥ ΤΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΜΕΤΑΦΡΑΣΤΟΥ ΛΟΓΟΣ ΕΙΣ ΤΟΝ ΘΡΗΝΟΝ ΤΗΣ ΥΠΕΡΑΓΙΑΣ ΘΕΟΤΟΚΟΥ, ΟΤΕ ΠΕΡΙΕΠΛΑΚΗ ΤΟ ΤΙΜΙΟΝ ΣΩΜΑ ΤΟΥ ΚΥΡΙΟΥ ΗΜΩΝ ΙΗΣΟΥ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥ.
SAPIENTISSIMI AC DISERTISSIMI SYMEONIS LOGOTHETÆ QUI ET METAPHRASTES, ORATIO IN LUGUBREM LAMENTATIONEM SANCTISSIMÆ DEIPARÆ PRETIOSUM CORPUS DOMINI NOSTRI JESU CHRISTI AMPLEXANTIS.
(Apud Allatium De Symeonibus).
A This, O sweetest Jesus, is that event, when those who had come from Persia to Bethlehem offered to Thee, as one born, not only gold as to a king, and incense as to God, but also myrrh as to a mortal. This is that event, when a sword was to pierce through my soul, just as Symeon had foretold. This is that fire which Thou toldest us Thou camest to cast upon the earth. For truly, to a mother of a son, the death of her only-begotten is more scorching than fire. And yet, the salutation of Gabriel is almost turning to the contrary for me. For the Lord is not with me now, as he promised; but Thou, being thoroughly tested among the dead, art traversing the inner chambers of Hades; while I, breathing and living, pass my days among the living. And yet I cannot comprehend for what crime Thou hast been put to death. For Thy virtue, as Habakkuk says, B covered the heavens, and now Thou liest there without form, Thou who art beautiful beyond the sons of men, and Thou art buried ingloriously in the earth, whose glory the heavens declare; and the tomb bears Thee, hewn from stone, whom Daniel saw as a stone cut from a mountain without hands. Thence Thy passionless birth was signified, just as in the bush was Thy divine union with men, and in Joseph...
A that he was moderate, gentle, and pleasing, and would give answers to everyone who spoke with him, whether they were craftsmen, beggars, or some countryman who approached him—as if he were far inferior to everyone else in the dignity of virtue. Moreover, besides other things, the grace of spiritual words flourished on his lips, and a certain divine persuasiveness rested upon them, so that he would twice every day provide exhortations, endowed with a certain singular grace, bringing much benefit; and he would urge them to look to heaven and fly upward on the wings of virtues, to depart from the earth and contemplate the kingdom prepared for them; and at other times, he would bid them fear the threats of Gehenna, to despise earthly things, and to await those that are to come.
48. It was possible to see him B even acting as a judge; for this reason, many who had previously stained their lives with various wicked deeds were seen to be lovers of justice after his judgment, and whoever the vote of the saint declared to have lost, he would nonetheless depart as happy as the victor. But these things and the like he performed after the ninth hour; for he used to spend the whole night and the duration of the day until the ninth hour in prayer. But after the ninth hour, he would first present divine teaching to those present, and then, after measuring out healings for the request of each, he would pass a just judgment and resolve the disputes of those who disagreed. Around sunset, he would again enter into communion with God.
49. Yet, while being thus occupied and divided among so many, C he did not neglect the care of the holy Churches, now battling against the impiety of the Greeks, now dissolving the boldness of the Jews, at another time scattering the conspiracies of the heretics; and this he achieved by sending letters to the emperor about them, and by inciting the magistrates to the zeal of God, and sometimes by exhorting the shepherds of the Churches themselves to provide greater care for their flocks. It is worth remembering one thing in particular.
50. Theodosius the Younger, to whom the Roman scepter had descended by succession D (for he ruled as a youth, and for the distinction from his grandfather was called the Younger)—this good Theodosius, being persuaded by the greed of certain men who were betraying piety for money (alas!), granted to the Jews in Antioch their former synagogues. When the great and fervent seeker of divine things and of piety, Symeon, learned of this, he condemned the impiety of his action and reproved him with great boldness. He immediately changed his mind, revoked his own decrees, and took them away not only from the Jews, but also removed the prefect himself (for he it was who had suggested those wicked schemes to him) from public duties, and brought him into such danger as to
A the crafty design of the Hebrews, and in Isaac the likeness of death. There remains, then, for the mind of the faithful the mystery of Thy resurrection from Jonah.
Woe is me! for Thou liest dead in a stone, Thou who rouse up children to Abraham from the stones. For if, because of Thy saving passion, the stones had not been rent, many would not have believed in Thy name; Thou, when living, hadst not where to lay Thy head, and saidst to the Jews—whom Thou didst liken to foxes because of their crafty designs—yet Thou didst bow Thy head when dead upon the cross, having found it spread out like a bed by the faith of the grateful thief. Let the sun trouble me, let the songstress of the canticles speak. The sun set while it was yet midday. Let Jeremiah lament for me. For indeed, gloom shrouded even the sensible sun, when the intellectual sun of justice set. And rocks suffered a rending, at which my heart is in danger of being torn apart. O holy flesh, which was fashioned in a supernatural manner from my blood! For Thou didst repay the ancient debt most fully. For this Thou didst bow the heavens for me, O Master, and didst descend as rain upon the fleece, that Thou mightst also undergo death, raising up the bodies of the holy ones who slept, yet bringing death to the one who bore Thee. What are these things, O most desirable Son? Formerly, those things which were not apt to be mingled were mingled without harm, and the immaterial fire of the Godhead did not consume my womb; but now another fire feeds upon all my inward parts, and B ravages the center of my heart. I received the promise of joy through an angel, and wiped away every tear from the face of the earth; yet, nevertheless, this alone is nourished by my tears. Thou descendest to Hades, I know, to set free the souls that are shut up there, yet Thou dost drag my own soul thither along with Thee, passing me by as a breathing corpse. O dead and naked One, and yet Word of the living God, voluntarily condemned to be lifted up on the cross, that Thou mightst draw all men to Thyself! Which of the members of Thy body remained free from suffering? O divine head to me, pierced with thorns, and having driven these into my heart! O comely and holy head, which formerly hadst nowhere to lean and rest: now Thou art bowed down only for burial, and hast found rest, and according to Jacob, as a lion Thou hast fallen asleep! O head desired and longed for by me, struck with a reed, that Thou mightst set upright the reed broken by the evil one, as if it were fragile, and far from paradise! O jaws defiled by blows! O mouth, another honeycomb of honey, even if Thou didst taste of the most bitter gall, and wast given the most sharp vinegar to drink! O mouth in which no deceit was found, even if a deceitful kiss betrayed Thee to death! O hands, which fashioned man, and now are nailed to the cross, and stretched out to Hades, Thou layest hold of the hand which formerly touched the wood and awakenest the whole of Adam from his fall! O side pierced by the lance for the sake of her who was created from the side, the first mother! O feet, which walked upon the waters as if upon land, and manifestly sanctified the fluid nature!
Woe is me, Son, older than Thy mother, what funereal lamentations C and what dirges shall I sing to Thee; D
A to the ground, some being cast down from the roof, and others pulled up from their very foundations. Men and various kinds of brute animals, some being caught inside as the house collapsed, ended their lives together; others were most miserably buried in an improvised tomb by a chasm in the earth. Therefore, when this bitter destruction and insupportable scourge was passing through every age and every race, the admirable Symeon becomes the one and common refuge for all. And they use him as a reconciler with God, and they find a release and deliverance from the evil. For he, having first denounced many of their cases of ease, lack of self-restraint, and other passions of life, and having sufficiently rebuked them for these things, urges all to cry out with one voice and with tears: "Kyrie eleison," that is, "Lord have mercy," both rendering the Divinity propitious to them by this, and also leading them to compunction; and next he himself turns to prayer.
53. Since therefore this prayer with tears was being prolonged for a long time, he signaled to the multitude by his hand to be silent, and being very pained in his heart B and mind, he broke out into these words: "Men, brothers," he said, "what I am about to say to you first strikes my own heart vehemently, and pierces my inmost soul as if with some wound; I know indeed that these things will also strike you vehemently, but I will speak nonetheless. See, I beseech you, how great a multitude you are, and how many drops of tears you have shed, and what a cry you have sent up; yet the Lord has inclined His ear to only one of you all, and his prayer alone has reached His ears." Having said these things, he addressed a certain man by name, and having called him to himself, he said in the hearing of all: "Your prayer, indeed, stays the just wrath of God that is being carried out, and the terrible evil, however great it may be, shall cease. But tell me, omitting nothing, by what deed did you so well please God? For the Divine prompts you to tell all, so that they, emulating C virtue, may be stimulated to perform the same." But he was the more afraid, and called himself a sinner and naked of all virtue, and said he was not even aware that in his whole life he had ever worked any good, even against his will. But since the divine Symeon still insisted much, commanding him to tell all, he said: "My life is one of labor; for I am tasked to the earth and subject to the seasons, and first I sow a little plot of land for myself, and for the rest of the time I hire myself out to whoever wishes." D
(48) Evagrius seems to assign a cause for this earthquake. That some from the populace in that place, having gone mad with every kind of insanity, and having become beyond every bestial disposition, had provided, as it were, a prelude to such evils. "Some of the inhabitants there having become bestial in every disposition, and having run wild with every madness, were (providing) an initiation to these evils," [and] "restraint and lack of self-restraint, et cetera." Nicephorus also says that this was the beginning of those evils, that the citizens there, being remote from divine laws, were being bestial in every way, running wild with every fury; and so both seem to note the same things which this saint underscores: gluttony and lack of self-restraint, and, which is wont to follow them, the lust for shedding human blood. Baronius, at the cited place, n. 29, thinks that these evils flowed from nowhere else than from the impiety of heretical depravity, which, budding from the evil seed of Nestorius long dwelling there, had grown under Patriarch John. That there were many Apollinarists there, the same Baronius shows at the year 471, n. 7.
A I am no longer the vessel containing the manna, for the manna that nourishes the soul has been poured out around the tomb. No longer am I the unburnt bush; for I am entirely consumed by the intellectual fire of Thy burial. I am no longer the golden lampstand; for the Light has been placed under a bushel. How many great things the Almighty has shown me! From all generations Thou didst choose me. Thou madest the tongues of the prophets plain for my sake. Intending to come down from heaven, as Thou Thyself knowest, Thou didst await my passage into the world, not having a vessel worthy of receiving the Divinity. To Thee alone my parents betrothed me even before I was conceived. I was brought forth into this light of life, and remained with my parents for a very short time. For I renounced at once their breasts and milk, and I renounced my parents themselves, and I was given over wholly and entirely to Thee, and I was dedicated to the temple, destined to become a most pure temple for Thee. B My father and my mother have forsaken me, but Thou didst take me up, and didst feed me by an angel, and that which David says: "Man ate the bread of angels." I saw an angel, a chief among them, conversing with me as with his Lady; whom Zacharias, seeing earlier, was struck dumb, and suffered the binding of his tongue. And the infant rejoiced within the womb, and answered the greeting with a leap, worshiping Thee, who wast being carried in my womb. Thou didst dissolve the laws of nature in me. Thou wast conceived without seed, as Thou knowest, and after birth Thou didst keep me a virgin. Thou hast set me as a mother rejoicing over a son, according to him who for my sake became the father of God, and surpassing all daughters, whom Solomon had prefigured. Kings offered me, though a poor woman, the homage due to a servant. Thou didst show me to be more spacious than the heavens, from whom the Sun of glory shone forth. And that I may pass over the rest of the wonders concerning me, Thou hast made me blessed in all generations, and through me Thou hast ordained that the world above should be filled. C But now I do not know how all these things are confounded, and how the honey is mingled with gall for me. For I am being led to die with Thee now, and to be buried with Thee, and to descend with Thee even to Hades. He who foresaw me called me a cloud of light—not, as it appears, instead of clouds, but as one shedding tears. Could it be that this also was predicted concerning me: "The daughter of Sion shall be left as a hut in a vineyard"? For lo, the incorrupt cluster of life is laid out before me, having poured out His life-bearing blood like wine, gladdening the hearts of the faithful. Alas, how does this cold stone, when struck by Thy mighty arm, send forth intellectual sparks to my heart! D Why do I not rend my breast, and dig a more mystic grave, so that I may receive Thee again within my own bowels, and bury Thee within my heart? I am a mystical shell of the pearl that is not cut from the rock, which carrying the pearl, it remained fixed in me by the lightning of the divinity. What things I see in place of what things! A star shining by day, which was fashioned by Thy magnificence when Thou wast born, and the heaven proclaimed Thee secretly born; but today Thou hast hidden even the sensible sun itself, and hast brought night in the middle of the day, refuting the impious,
A The funeral procession for the holy body was brought from the monastery to the city of Antioch. The vast number of torches made the sun appear gloomy, while the multitude of those escorting it, and those coming to meet it, and those crowding in from every side and of every age, made the very mountain and the plains feel narrow. Ardaburius, the commander of the Eastern troops, was also present; he placed his own spearmen as guards for the relics, and by setting up their watch like a wall, he defended them against the incursions of neighboring cities, for each city was endeavoring to snatch away this sacred treasure for itself and host it in its own territory.
57. When, therefore, the carriage bearing the sacred body had reached the place called Meros, which lies on the right side as one enters Antioch, the carriage stopped suddenly B and was completely hindered from the journey it was making toward the city. This unexpected halting of the carriage caused both wonder and terror in everyone. A man rushed out from a monument—of which not a few had been built near that place—and ran at great speed toward the holy coffin. Boasting with various upheavals of soul and lamenting pitifully for his wickedness, he begged to be released from the scourge and the chains that held him. The scourge by which he was tormented was an evil demon that had long ago leapt upon him for having insolently violated the corpse of a woman. It had immediately bound his hands with unbreakable shackles, C distorted his eyes, brought upon him a tremulous state, and held him captive until that very moment near the tomb of the woman he had insulted, continually casting him down as if he were paying the penalty for that insolent crime. As soon as he ran to the holy coffin, he was miraculously freed from these bonds. Once this occurred, the carriage moved instantly and was brought into the city with the greatest splendor. The city received the much-desired treasure into its own bosom and laid it to rest in the illustrious church of Cassianus. Shortly thereafter, upon a divine vision coming to pass, another temple was built nearby, and the divine relics were relocated there. The man who had received relief from his evil at the saint’s hands, having made no small progress in virtue from that time on, became the sacristan of this temple, and by a change of life for the better, he paid a just reward to the saint. And for the saint, there could be no reward more desirable D than the salvation of the suppliant himself.
CAPUT XV. Relics requested by Emperor Leo. The temple on the mountain where he stood.
58. When the sacred urn thereafter filled the whole region around with the fame of its miracles, the one who administered the Roman Empire, of whom mention was made a little earlier, wrote letters to the Antiochenes, by which he ordered the remains of the saint's body to be transported to the royal city.
A summoning the Persians who bent their knees there; but here, the fear of those who killed God has dispersed acquaintances and friends. There was the offering of gifts and adoration: here, the division of robes and mockery, and a crown of insults. Now let the Jews, who formerly sought a sign from heaven, look at the sun darkened and hiding its light from those unworthy of the gloom. Now even this inanimate temple mourns Thee according to the Jewish custom. B For as the Jews, when someone blasphemed against God, used to tear their own tunics, so truly does this one also, as if tearing a tunic, rend the veil, seeing Thee maltreated by the God-fighters. The earth also trembles, shaken and suffering out of sympathy for Thy passion; but where is the multitude of the five thousand men whom Thou didst feed in a wondrous manner? Only Joseph, indeed, boldly and freely approached Pilate and claimed Thy body, that it might not remain unburied. Where are the choirs of the infirm, whom Thou didst heal from various diseases, or whom Thou didst raise from Hades? Only Nicodemus draws the nails from Thy hands and feet, and after taking Thee down from the wood, he lays Thee, grieving and groaning, in these arms of mine, which even formerly, when Thou wast an infant, carried Thee not without joy. C For these hands of mine did serve Thee even when Thou wast first born, and now they serve Thee as they prepare Thy funeral. O dreadful death! Bringing life to the dead, Thou liest dead before my eyes. And formerly, I indeed spent study and labor around Thy infant wrappings, and now, preparing Thy funeral, I am distraught. I washed Thee with lukewarm waters, and now I drench Thee with hotter tears. I sustained Thee with maternal arms, but then Thou wast leaping and playing in the manner of children; now I sustain Thee again in the same way, but breathless and lying like the dead. Then, Thy honey-sweet lips used to bedew mine with Thy dewy ones. Then I could be called blessed, because beyond expectation I appeared as the mother of my Creator; and now, in turn, it has befallen me to be miserable, because I carry out the funeral of my Son. There, I escaped the pains of childbirth; here, I endure pains as I bury Thee. Many times Thou didst sleep on my breast in the manner of an infant, and now Thou sleepest on them in the manner of the dead. I deem blessed Simeon, who received Thee in the temple from my hands. D For the prophets prophesied to me both joyous things and those of glory; he alone, however, foretold the gloomy things and those of sorrow. O, how didst Thou endure to be spat upon, Thou who by Thine own spittle didst renew eyes? How didst Thou tolerate slaps, Thou who didst scourge those who traded in divine things with a whip and didst drive them from the sacred eaves? How dost Thou endure a shameful death, O sinless one? Thy hands and feet were pierced, but I felt the nails, driven in with most cruel stings, pierce into the midst of my soul. Thy side was pierced, but my heart was also pierced with Thee at that very time. I am crucified in Thy pains, and buried with Thee, and entombed with Thee. What is life to me, while Thou, my Creator and most desired Son, art far away? But where is the chorus of the disciples, that they might share my sufferings
A sleep, which Datianus had ordered for the martyr as a more cruel punishment than death, was changed into a source of complete celebration, glory, and refreshment. For a fearsome and most brilliant angelic gathering was present, healing and restoring the athlete from his sufferings. And that dark and gloomy night was illuminated by a strange and marvelous light. For candles were burning in three rows, and they lit up the fortification with a light beyond the ordinary. As for the man himself, his body was already restored by the softest of mattresses and warmed by the Holy Spirit; he struck up a melody of psalms to the Lord, and, sounding forth in rhythm with the sweetest instrument of his voice, he charmed all the neighborhood, which—once raised up to witness his torments—was listening to the echo of that rhythmic harmony. Suddenly the guards were startled, their sleep having fallen away, and they thought the martyr had fled from the prison. To those who were heavily troubled by fear, the saint began to say: "Do not be troubled, nor cry out, O soldiers of impiety, acting out of fear; for I do not flee my own glory, nor the crowns stored up for me. But if you are able, enter quickly and behold the glorious consolation of the servant of God through angelic healing; for where you left the deepest darkness, rejoice seeing light from above; having expected him to groan wretchedly from having no breath and little substance, marvel at seeing him singing hymns to the true God."
16. B Indeed, the bonds cast around me have been undone, and my strength has been renewed more than it was before; my body has been renewed by soft and bountiful bedding. Therefore, be all the more astonished at the ineffable power and goodness of my God, and with a full mouth proclaim it with pious voices; using these words, announce to Datianus that the confessor of the true and only God is always a victor; let him devise, if he thinks of any fearful thing the devil might suggest, and let him add it to my praises. But let him not snatch away any of the virtuous deeds of my blessedness; let him exercise the signs that come from himself, ruling; if he might discover anything, I fear only his sympathy, lest he be seen sparing me from death." When the guards had departed and told Datianus everything that had happened in the prison, he became lifeless and pale and at once perceived that things were going very badly for him (for the rackings and the tortures of the martyr were being turned against him), and he was heavily affected by being defeated by the combatant; nevertheless, he spoke in a more simple—if unwilling—voice, and says: "What further struggle shall we have, being defeated in the greatest matters? Let him be carried, then, on a bed and on the softest coverings; for I do not wish him to die in torments, lest he appear even more glorious. Let men carry him, therefore, on a bed, rejoicing and exulting, and let them be the ones to kiss his footprints and his entire mangled body, and let them collect the blood flowing from him to use for the recovery of their own health. Let the most approved servant of God, Vincentius, be attended by such a guard—he who is worthy to be cared for even by enemies, much more so by kin and Christians."
17. C But the devilish and malicious Datianus did these things, held in much perplexity—at one moment acknowledging his defeat and his own impotence and weakness, at another moment, even against his will, magnifying the immense endurance D of the glorious martyr Vincentius.
A and pour out tears for Thee? The Shepherd is smitten, and the sheep are scattered. Thou sleepest, O Head; and the hands and feet alike remain motionless. Others also, when they die, incline their heads, but only after the spirit has departed. Thou, however, didst incline Thy head in the opposite way; then, having commanded death to come, Thou didst deliver up Thy spirit. Therefore Thy legs were not broken, because not a bone of the Lamb sacrificed of old was ever crushed. Adoring Thy passion, I kiss the body that remains. I take up the water that flowed from Thy side, by which for me the laver of regeneration is characterized. I also take up the blood that flowed with it, through which also baptism by martyrdom is set forth. It was this that sanctified the grateful thief upon his being sprinkled, he who was baptized by the very event that befell Thee. O bitter taste of that tree, which caused one to return from earth to earth again! But Thou, furthermore, wast not created from the earth, nor formed from clay, nor hadst Thou committed the sin of disobedience; for Thou art the Creator, Thou the Maker, Thou who didst ordain the law for the creature. And what hadst Thou in common with death? What union is there between burial and Life-itself? What communion is there between a throne in heaven and a grave upon the earth? There Thou sittest enthroned with the Father; here Thou art buried with Thy creature. The adulterous generation has returned to Thee evil for good. Now, B the pearl is cast before swine; now, holy things are set before the dogs; now, wood is cast into the divine Bread. O the madness of avarice from which Judas suffered! It was not silver, but inhumanity that he gained. For if he was a lover of money, why did he frequent Him who calls the poor blessed? And why was he seen mingling things that cannot be mingled? O the ineffable wonder of Thy dispensation, O Master! Who shall praise Thee worthily as God? Who shall mourn Thee becomingly as a corpse? But build up again Thy temple, which Thou hast destroyed, in three days, as Thou hast said. To sum up the matter: since I have neither praises worthy of Thee nor mourning fitting to offer Thee, I magnify Thy works, as one who doest all things in wisdom. C
TWENTY-FOUR SERMONS ON MORALS
SELECTED BY SYMEON THE MAGISTER AND LOGOTHETE From all the treatises of our Father among the saints, Basil, Archbishop of Cæsarea in Cappadocia.SERMONS ON MORALS TWENTY-FOUR SELECTED BY SYMEON MAGISTER AND LOGOTHETE From all the works of our holy Father Basil, Archbishop of Cæsarea in Cappadocia. See Patrolog. vol. XXXII, col. 1115, among the Works of St. Basil.
SYMEON METAPHRASTES.
READER.
In the book which is extremely rare among the rare, titled: *Philocalia of the Holy Neptic Fathers*, etc., Venice 1782, fol., p. 699 sqq., is read a commentary by Symeon Metaphrastes on the 50 sermons of St. Macarius the Egyptian, under this title: *A Paraphrase of Symeon the Metaphrast on the 150 chapters of the fifty sermons of the holy Macarius of Egypt.* It begins: *On perfection in the Spirit, sermon I.* — Pag. 704: *By the same, on prayer.* — 709: *By the same, on patience and discernment.* — 719: *By the same, on the elevation of the intellect.* — 720: *By the same, on love.* — 738: *By the same, on the freedom of the intellect.* These, however, have all been edited long since under the name of Macarius himself (rightly, as it seems, not his) and are extant in our *Patrologia*, vol. XXXIV, col. 84-965.
SYMEON METAPHRASTES PRECATIOENS
(From the *Horologion* of the Greeks, in the prayers before Communion, Venice edition, Pinelli, 1644, p. 610)
A Prayer of Symeon the Metaphrast.
O Thou who alone art pure and unblemished, Lord, who through the ineffable instinct of Thy kindness didst assume our whole nature from the pure and virginal blood of her who beyond nature conceived Thee by the influence of the divine Spirit and the good pleasure of the eternal Father, Christ Jesus, Wisdom, Peace, and Power of God; Thou who in Thine own body didst experience life-giving and saving passions—the cross, the nails, the spear, death—mortify the soul-destroying passions of my body. Thou who by Thy burial didst despoil the kingdoms of Hades, bury my evil counsels through good thoughts, and dissipate the spirits of wickedness. Thou who by Thy three-day and life-giving Resurrection didst raise the fallen forefather, raise me up who have slipped into sin, providing me with paths of repentance. Thou who by Thy glorious Ascension didst deify the nature of flesh that Thou didst assume, and didst honor it with a seat at the right hand of the Father, make me worthy, through the participation of Thy holy mysteries, to obtain the place at the right hand of those being saved. Thou who by the coming of the Paraclete Spirit didst make Thy holy disciples glorious vessels, show me also to be a container of His indwelling. Thou who art about to come again to judge the world in righteousness, count me worthy to meet Thee in Thy holy clouds, O my Creator and Maker, with all Thy saints, that I may endlessly glorify and hymn Thee with Thy beginningless Father, and Thy most holy, good, and life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
B Another prayer by the same.
As if standing before Thy fearful and impartial tribunal, O Christ God, and awaiting the sentence, and rendering an account of the evil deeds I have committed, so today, before the arrival of the day of my condemnation, standing at Thy holy altar before Thee and Thy venerable holy angels, bowed down under the weight of my own conscience, I offer my unrighteous
A acts, proclaiming and publicizing them. Look, O Lord, upon my humiliation, and forgive all my sins; see that my iniquities have multiplied beyond the hairs of my head. For what evil have I not committed? What sin have I not performed? What evil have I not conceived in my soul, or even brought to pass in my works? Fornication, adultery, pride, arrogance, contumely, blasphemy, idle talk, excessive laughter, drunkenness, gluttony, voracity, hatred, envy, avarice, love of money, greed, self-love, vainglory, extortion, injustice, filthy lucre, jealousy, slander, transgression—I have defiled and corrupted every sense and every member of my body, having rendered myself a workshop for the devil in all things. And I know, O Lord, that my iniquities have gone over my head; but the multitude of Thy mercies is incomprehensible, and the mercy of Thy long-suffering goodness is unspeakable, nor is there any sin that can overcome Thy loving-kindness. B Therefore, O most-admirable King, O long-suffering Lord, show forth Thy mercies in me, a sinner; show the power of Thy goodness, and manifest the strength of Thy compassionate bowels, and receive me, the sinner who returns. Receive me, as Thou didst receive the prodigal, the thief, and the harlot; receive me who have sinned against Thee beyond measure, by word, by deed, by improper desire, and by wicked thought.
And as Thou didst receive those at the eleventh hour who had C done nothing worthy of reward, so receive me, the sinner. I have transgressed much, and have acted lewdly, and have grieved Thy Holy Spirit, and have embittered Thy compassionate bowels, in deed, and word, and thought, night and day, openly and secretly, voluntarily and involuntarily; and I know that Thou wilt set my sins before me, such as they are, and how many they are that I have committed, and Thou wilt demand of me an account for those sins which I knowingly committed, though I knew they were unpardonable; but, O Lord, do not reprove me in Thy just judgment, nor chasten me in Thy fury, nor rebuke me in Thine anger. Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am not only weak, but I am also Thy work. Thou, O Lord, hast established Thy fear in me, yet I have done evil before Thee; against Thee only have I sinned; D I beseech Thee, therefore, do not enter into judgment with Thy servant. For if Thou shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, O Lord, who shall stand? For I am that ocean of iniquity, and I am not worthy, nor am I fit, to look up and behold the height of heaven because of the multitude of my sins, of which there is no number. For all evil operations, and imaginations, and satanic schemes, corruptions, fluxions, effeminacy, the corruption of children, rancor, incitements to sin, carnal delights, and a thousand other passions have not departed from me. By what sins have I not been defiled? With what evils have I not been filled? I have practiced every iniquity; I have brought every lewdness into my soul; I have been rendered useless by Thee, my God and man's...
A Redeemer. Who shall raise me up, established in such evils and fallen into such sins? In Thee, O Lord, have I hoped, my God; if I have any hope of salvation, if Thy philanthropy surpasses the multitude of my iniquities, be Thou my Savior, and according to Thy mercies and Thy compassions, loose, remit, and forgive me all that I have sinned against Thee; for my soul is filled with many evils, and there is no hope of salvation in me. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy great mercy, and do not repay me according to my works, but turn me, take me up, and deliver my soul from the evils in which it was born and from deadly inclinations; save me for the sake of Thy mercy, so that where sin abounded, Thy grace may superabound; and I shall praise and glorify Thee always, all the days of my life. For Thou art the God of those who repent, and the Savior of sinners, and to Thee we send up glory, with Thine eternal Father, and Thy most holy, good, and life-giving Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Verses of the same Thou who willest to give Thy flesh to me as food, Thou who art fire, consuming the unworthy, Do not burn me, my Creator. Rather, enter into the joints of my members, Into all my limbs, into my reins and my heart. B Burn up the thorns of all my offenses; Cleanse my soul, sanctify my mind, Strengthen my reins and my bones at once; Illumine the fivefold faculty of my senses, Bind me wholly with Thy fear; Watch over, protect, and guard me always, From every work and word that destroys the soul. Purify, cleanse, and direct me; Adorn, instruct, and illumine me. Show me to be a habitation of the Spirit alone, And never a habitation of sin. That I may be Thy house by the gift of communion. That fire may flee from me, every evil-doer, every lust. I offer to Thee as intercessors all the saints, The ranks of the incorporeal ones, Thy Forerunner, the wise apostles, And with them Thy pure and immaculate Mother; Whose prayers, O merciful one, receive, my Christ, And make Thy servant a son of light. For Thou alone art our sanctification, O Good One, and the splendor of our souls; And to Thee, as is fitting, as to God and Lord, Do we all offer glory daily.
SYMEONIS METAPHRASTÆ OPERUM PARS SECUNDA COMPLECTENS CARMINA PIA, EPISTOLAS, SCRIPTA CANONICA ET HISTORICA. IAMBICI TRIMETRI.
(Veteres Poetæ Græci Geneva 1614, fol. tom. II, pag. 753, cum interpretatione nostra.)
B Verses of Symeon the Metaphrast. Man, if you intend to eat the body of the Master, Approach with fear, lest you be burned; it is fire that you are finding. And drinking the divine blood for communion, First be reconciled to those who grieve you, Then, confident, eat the mystical food.
Other verses. Before partaking of the fearful sacrifice Of the life-giving body of the Master, Pray in this manner with trembling: Behold, I walk toward divine communion; O Creator, do not burn me by the participation; For you are fire, burning the unworthy, But rather cleanse me from every stain.
Of the same. Tremble, O man, looking at the divine blood; For it is a coal, burning the unworthy. The body of God makes me divine and nourishes me; It makes the spirit divine, and nourishes the mind wondrously.
Of the same. And when you have attained the good participation Of the life-giving, mystical gifts, Praise him straightway; give great thanks, And warmly say these words to God from your soul: Glory to you, O God; glory to you, O God; glory to you, O God.
FOUR MORAL ALPHABETS
(Apud Allatium, supra col. 131.)SYMEON MAGISTER AND LOGOTHETE OF THE CURSUS EPISTLES
(From Allatius, in *Diatriba de Symeonibus*.)
I. A How skillfully, and how very successfully, the writer has cast his dart at the one standing before him; and he who has received the wound—if he has any feeling—will rejoice all the more, and will fill his soul with pleasure, soothed by the honey of sweet speech. For the discourse has been somewhat like a neck-chain: heavy, indeed, in its weight, but golden in its substance, and so effectively charming the eye with the great beauty of its workmanship that the vexation which would arise from the weight is hidden and escapes notice, buried beneath the preciousness of the material and the exquisite beauty of the art.
II. To Nicetas, Metropolitan of Smyrna. B Letters have reached us, a clear image of a soul precious and most dear to me in every respect. For through them you have so vividly expressed your most upright character and that equity of yours—the real one—that I seemed to see and behold my own Nicetas with my own eyes, standing just as he is, and conversing most honey-tonguedly and pleasantly. And it was absolutely necessary that a man so composed in spirit, and so sought after by all, should be similarly equipped in speech, so that, while absent, you might not grieve those whom you make merry with the cheerfulness of your words; but rather, that you might present yourself to your friends as though you were present. But would that it were granted to see the original of this beautiful image once again, that we might enjoy not only the appearance of the one we desire for a long time, but truly the one himself.
III. To the same. C Upon receiving this beautiful and most graceful of epistles—which one might properly call a most artfully fashioned work of the Muses—most wise and philosophically devoted priest, I truly rejoiced, so help me the truth, and, bathed in delights, I conferred a benefit upon my own spirit; and I perceived the very soul of the writer, what tokens of gentleness, what modesty, and what probity it displays. For even though the language may appear rough—to him, namely, D
also make him a participant in His own glory. And this is my common principle regarding all the martyrs, that is, the witnesses of the truth. A Now, however, wishing to confirm the devotion which he had contributed to the holy Scriptures, and that his labor was highly esteemed, He saw fit to honor the very hand which had been uniquely engaged in this service with his own sufferings, just as, I suppose, spectators are wont to garland the arms of athletes. But if anyone should believe that it B remained in the sea, it is possible for him to consider this also: that God often mingles those things which proceed from nature with miracles, so that by the one the power that works miracles is shown, while by the other nature is not disbelieved. But regarding these things, and the cause for which each occurs, let Him who manages these matters know it clearly. Nevertheless, in each of the things marvelously done and performed C by Him, one might learn that there is another hidden reason, one above us, and an excellent and incomprehensible administration, and that nothing happens rashly or by chance.
20. Then, when the corpse had been brought out by the dolphin and carried to the sand, the disciples ran together, and first, as was fitting, they greeted him, coming from all sides, and they kissed him and embraced him as much as each was able out of eagerness of soul. And then, having taken him up and carried him out with their own hands, and having performed all the rites due to him according to custom, they deposited him in an illustrious place. And at that time, they established for him such a tomb as they were able, as the D exigency of the time pressed. But later, the venerable Helena, who restored to us the saving Cross of the Lord and gave birth to the great among illustrious emperors, Constantine, when she was returning from Jerusalem, honoring the place, founded a city there, having summoned the inhabitants from the regions round about, and having made them participants in the work; and she encircled it with a strong wall, and built a most great temple for the martyr, which even now is seen as illustrious and beautifully constructed by those who travel and sail by land and sea, to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ and those who contended for His sake; for to Him belongs glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.
A whom it concerns; yet those who taste it thoroughly will not be in the dark, but will perceive how it is tempered with the honey of the soul. And it seems to me that he who is struck by those beautiful thoughts will appear to be not so much struck by insults, as sprinkled with roses. For although the rose has certain thorns growing with it, yet it is not on this account unpleasing to those who love beauty, but is even most cherished and delightful. And this sweet Indian wood (which they call cinnamon) also has a biting quality from its nature, but from this very fact it rather stimulates and arouses the appetite; and they say even Cupid himself rejoices in his arrows, and does not hold the pleasure to be separate from the pain. But how also did the flowers of art adorn the letter! What elegance and radiance of words! What harmony of composition! What well-aimed sharpness of jests combined with sweetness! And the timeliness of the Scriptural quotations, and the natural fluency and grace shining through in everything, like some fruit in season, distilling a sweet and honeyed drop. And what need is there for me to measure out the ineffable, according to him who said it? In any case, it was necessary for a life so honorable to have a discourse equally delightful, so that he might hold the prize not only in the government of men, but also over every life and every mode of speech. B
IV. To the Laodicean
I received that beautiful and most sweet letter, a manifest image in truth of your good and sweet soul. For in it you have placed of your own the gravity of your character, and the tranquility of your mind, and a honeyed spirit, and the pleasure flowing from your lips. And you seemed to me, through it, to be speaking face to face, as is your custom, very decorously, mixing graces with elegance. How extraordinary you are in these things, and how you excel in injecting a certain hidden sting of friendship into souls, so that when I was reading the letter, I said: "How much more power do modest graces have than those that are not thus!" And what a great thing that belt was, I said—the one in which lasciviousness and desire, and the other things more shameful than these, C were able, as they say, to charm even Jove himself, who was very easily moved toward such things. But how much fuller of graces was the letter! And with how much more powerful forces was it able to capture a prudent mind! These things I said, while you were mocking my tongue—not as you did yours, rhetorically and artfully (which, when you recognized it had nothing of its own, but had only been used for the sake of speech by the great Emperor, you judged worthy of praise; for he, having once chosen to philosophize and having embraced simplicity as no other of the kings ever has, endures even this tongue, though it has nothing, by our friendship, nothing elegant, nothing superfluous, as you said). I received the vessel for heating, not so much for the sake of its use—by your sacred head, no!—but that it might be an D ardent monument of our friendship for me, who am a lover of your warmer qualities.
A honors, gifts, and money; but for those who disobeyed, threats, punishments, and the final evil, death: Nearchus feared for his friend, and thought this was the time which would bring about the dissolution of their harmony in religion and of their friendship. Having these thoughts in his mind and turning them over, he was evidently in great distress, bearing a heavy tempest in his soul, and inwardly grieving for his friend. B But the all-excellent Polyeuctus, seeing Nearchus in such a state, struck by the goads of grief, and trying to relieve much of his dejection with inexpressible groanings, showing the traces of tears in his eyes, approached him in a friendly manner and inquired, seeking to know the cause of why it was so. For he himself was no less grieved, seeing his like-minded friend suffering in this way. But Nearchus, although he wished to speak and indicated that he had nothing hidden from his friend, yet there was some other reason on account of which, even if he wished to speak, he had the necessity to remain silent, and could not find consolation from his friend in this matter. But when the divine Polyeuctus insisted greatly, demanding a declaration of the secret, and reproaching him for the neglect of affection and the change of his disposition toward him—if indeed, he said, we have offended at all; or if we have grieved you—what could the act be, so great, as to exclude your Polyeuctus from all forgiveness?
IV. As he said these things and was in anguish, Nearchus, unable to endure it, his eyes filled with tears, and with a deep sigh signaling the flame within his heart, said: C "I am thinking, dearest friend, of the coming separation of our harmony and affection, and I am compelled even now to rend my soul." When he heard this, the other was most grievously struck in his heart. "How these things," he said, "Nearchus? How and what are these words beyond expectation? And whence shall this separation be for us, which we know that not even death itself could effect between us?" And Nearchus said: "For this is it, dearest friend, which almost chokes me, and binds my very spirit and soul; because this separation of which I spoke is stronger and heavier for us than human death." But Polyeuctus, not yet being able to understand what the word might mean, rising at once and embracing his friend, and clinging to him as warmly as he could, said: "But tell me, Nearchus, speak clearly and unfold how this separation shall be; for I do not endure this unfriendly silence any longer. Otherwise, you shall see your Polyeuctus already dead and breathless, lying upon the ground." And Nearchus seemed to wish to speak, D but, overcome by the passion, he had his tongue bound, and only with a pained and suffering expression gazed at his friend, and signaled the excess of his dejection. But when he saw Polyeuctus suffering something and long-suffering, and casting himself to the ground, and already entirely overcome by his passion, he was forced to break his voice: "And," he said, "dearest Polyeuctus, this imperial edict will bring about for us the separation and the parting." But when the ever-divine Polyeuctus heard these things, immediately connecting what was in Nearchus's mind
V. To the same
A Having diligently perused the letter of your God-beloved self and discerned your distress at not having received a reply from us, we offer this apology, which is sound and rings entirely true. It is not forgetfulness of your affairs that is the cause of our silence, as you yourself supposed, nor do we deem them of little account, nor is our hand grown slow toward writing; rather, it is the inexorable business and constant conflict of public duties, and the care for these which never leaves us, that compels both tongue and hand to remain still and linger, preventing us from replying to yours. B Thus it is that they hold back tongue and hand, but they do not at all hinder the soul from remembering those it has known. For care can never be so strong, even through an age, as to uproot from the mind the memory of those whom we have once decided to love; rather, that memory lies in the finest part of the soul, deeply and firmly imprinted, and possesses an exact likeness. Whatever occurs day by day is carried along by a becoming Providence, causing it no harm whatsoever. Add to this also that some things written by you did not so much require an answer as they did faith, to show that the truth was held by us—such as those matters concerning the stewards, which only shortly before came to our knowledge; and I myself consider these matters more credible than those which happened at Sagras. You have now received a sufficient answer from us; or, if you will, the remedy for the wound inflicted by longing. Rejoice, therefore, that you possess not that which is easiest and readiest, but that which is secure and timely. For it is possible for one who does not love to write, but to remember and hold in one's mind, if one is not joined by friendship, is impossible. C But if you should ever write something of that kind which necessarily demands a reply, we shall certainly write and respond. Only do you yourself pray, and do not cease to entreat God with supplications, that the things we have to hand may prosper for us.
VI.
Having encountered the letters of your God-beloved self, we were unable to grasp the purpose hidden within them. For, wishing and willing, even when you might have kept your intent to yourself, you have entangled us in many and varied errors, since there was no place where we might ground our minds in a precise understanding of the matter proposed. If, therefore, you had desired that the purpose not be understood, your wish has been fulfilled according to your intent. D Why, then, did you not keep it entirely silent from the beginning, but communicated with those letters to us also, whom you did not wish to have as sharers in what was clarified by them? But if you wished what you wrote to be entirely manifest to those to whom you wrote, why do you contend against yourself, doing a thing in no way different from an enigma, and appearing not to wish the very things you do wish? If, therefore, you truly wish—as I know you do wish—remove the obscurity which you willfully cast over your writing, and clearly reveal to us the purpose. For no one could say of you that you wish to, but are unable, and that you possess a tongue of the mind which is too weak, for you are both good at understanding and...
with the difference between them regarding piety, and considering that the harshness of the rulers would compel the separation to be set between them, a more divine thought carried him away. Having reflected upon a vision he had seen—and judging it appropriate to the moment—he began to be filled with joy and pleasure, and how the vision had appeared, he shared with his friend. "There is something," he said, "O Nearchus, that will perhaps prevent this separation from happening to us.
E'. For I saw Christ, whom you worship, coming toward me, and he divested me of this filthy garment with which I am clothed, and clothed me in another, a very precious robe (who could describe its beauty and its radiance!), with a golden brooch holding it together about the shoulder; then, afterward, he handed me a winged horse." Such indeed was the vision the divine Polyeuctus saw; but its outcome was by no means empty, but rather it depicted with precision what was to be. For that beautiful robe with which he was clothed—the transformation from the worse to the better—typified the change from the earthly B military service to the heavenly and divine soldiery, by which the martyr was about to be joined to the choir of martyrs. And the winged horse—what else could it signify than his rapid ascent from earth to heaven?
S'. When Nearchus heard these things, he was joyous and became full of gladness. "Have you recognized Christ?" he said. "Christ, O Polyeuctus, the truly and genuinely God?" And to this he replied: "And when," said he, "did I not know him? Or when you spoke of him, did not a trembling enter my soul? Or when I was reading, was I not filled with wonder at his words? For I only lacked the name; otherwise, in my disposition I was a Christian, and I was eager to enlist myself in the service of the Master Christ, having said a long farewell to the vain worship of idols. What, then, shall we do, O Nearchus? Why do we not openly show our confession in Christ?" And Nearchus, having gladly received these words, and as if stripping and uncovering himself: "But to me, O Polyeuctus," he said, "neither wealth, nor glory, nor any military rank at all, nor anything else of this world, is more C precious than the life that is in Christ; for I crave this alone, and other things are small to me and worth nothing." Then again, the divine Polyeuctus, as if testing his resolve: "What then," he said, "do you not yearn for this rank of yours that is presently yours?" And Nearchus, thinking that he said these things from the heart and not by way of testing: "You seem to me, O Polyeuctus," he said, "to be ignorant of the true rank there is in Christ, and the glory that is with him, and the blessedness that never ceases." Thus, indeed, they were sharing their thoughts and making their own intentions manifest to one another.
Z'. Polyeuctus, the noble one, wishing to say something to his friend pleasantly and with charm: "You suspected," he said, "that I am ignorant of the glory that is in Christ and the blessedness that is with him; but I, even before you, D and indeed even before you,
A most capable of explaining what has been understood. As for your writing at the end of the letter that you are upset and in great distress, as if hindered by this from enjoying our company and conversation, well, this remains in your own hands. For if you wish it, and we desire it, who is it that hinders? We seek to know. Yet, even being away, do not cease to be mindful of us, and while asking for the Divine to be ever propitious to us and to the people.
VII. To Constantine the Roman
Letters have come to me from my friend, by both hand and tongue. Letters of friendship, dripping with as many pleasures. I was doubly grieved, railing and complaining with little spirit against the whole of friendship—not only at being deprived of the one loved, but also at the jealousy I felt, and at being terribly stung, and suffering in my soul, when I saw others enjoying your letters, while I, who once supposed I was the Pylades to your Orestes, was being neglected, it seemed, by you. But now I hold the debt [paid], having received a letter—small, indeed, but beautiful; not just to say it contains not three, but ten thousand graces within it. Farewell, then, and write, and with such sweet letters comfort a soul B suffering with longing for you; for we, for our part, do not praise your things as they deserve, but we do love them.
VIII. To the Laodicean
I am accused of things for which a response is not easy for me—not because I am at a loss for a defense, but because I am at a loss for the leisure. Yet let silence be laid to my charge; for it participates in the truth, even if it does not lack room for excuse. But as for failing to love, or failing to reason as a human toward a friend beforehand, even when words are not carried to friends, [that is another matter]. For how I hold friendship toward you, you yourself know, for you acknowledge this much—that when present, I love. Since this is so, do not distrust the other [fact], that I love you even more when absent. For when one is present, sight itself, and words, and conversation possess enough with which to comfort the affection, but when one is absent, the yearning, lacking any consoler, attacks in a terrible way. But you are inexorable toward the silence, casting it upon us bitterly and heavily, which we endure—how? Certainly not willingly, but very much against our will concerning our friends. C Write, then, you yourself, and comfort, and do so all the more for this reason: that we suffer against our will, being prevented from speaking when we have the desire to love; just as if one in pain were commanded to be silent and not speak of the agony, D just as if one who is ill and in pain were to put away his own pain, but let mute pains press upon the heart.
IX. To the Same
After your departure from these parts—which might it never have happened!—neither through words, nor through letters, nor in any way whatsoever have I heard of any soul dear to me, so am I disposed,
A vehemently he had laughed, he first pretended that he approached them with a prompt and eager spirit. Then, receiving them one by one, and immediately dashing them to the ground, at the same time he crushed them all together and reduced them to fine dust.
IX. These things having been done, his father-in-law Felix came (for he had already been appointed a persecutor by the emperors) and saw what Polyeuctus had done; bearing it most grievously, "Alas!" he said, "Felix is deprived of children; and I, who was previously distinguished and held in high esteem on account of my children, am suddenly afflicted with the loss of my offspring. No one, neither god nor man, can pity Polyeuctus, who has dared such things and has crushed our gods." To this the divine Polyeuctus, as if glorying all the more in what had happened (for he was so far from even suspecting that he should be afraid of anything), said, "Now indeed, I, having despised these, have by the deeds themselves proved how weak they are. But if there are others, let them also be brought into the middle; for you shall know from this how we, the servants of Christ, ought to spit upon these things." Felix, however, thinking and speaking to the holy man with a certain human and miserable affection, said, "If you wish, O Polyeuctus, to live for a little while, until you see your wife." "What concern, however," said the holy man, "is there to me still regarding wife and children, who no longer care at all for any human things, since my mind is set only upon the heavenly and incorruptible things? But your daughter, if she follows me, shall be blessed for her mind and purpose; but if not, she too shall perish miserably along with your gods." C
X. Tears possessed Felix at these words, as one who had cast away all hope; wherefore, being doubly blinded—both from the dejection that surrounded him and from the madness regarding the idols—he spoke words worthy of such darkness and insanity: "Woe is me," he said, "that the magical arts of Christ have deceived even you, O Polyeuctus!" But the martyr, very prudently and bravely: "No, by the holy struggles of the martyrs, I do not deny," he said, "that I was called by Him to the knowledge of the truth; for He is the one who, having taken hold of my soul with His own hands, led me from darkness to light, and from error to the truth, and deemed me worthy to both be and be called His soldier." While these things were being said, the persecutors of the saints arrived, and having seized the martyr, they struck his sacred mouth; truly hating him who spoke reproachfully at the gates, and being unable with their wicked ears to D bear the power of the truth. But to the noble Polyeuctus these blows were in no way a matter of concern. For he saw Christ, who had suffered for him, standing near him, and having made Him his refuge, he counted neither the evils that were coming upon him, nor the scourges that were striking his body as anything at all.
XI. These blows, therefore, as it has been said, were of little concern to Polyeuctus; but he was struggling against another art of the wicked devil. For when that one had brought to him his father-in-law and his wife weeping and wailing miserably, he was attempting in this way to entice his soul...
as those who have endured a violent severing and tearing asunder. But you, who understand these things best, how have you endured to leave us without consolation for so long? If, therefore, you care for us—and surely you do in every way, being a part and member of the same soul—write with all speed and console the soul to which you are yourself what that soul, without a doubt, is to the body.
SYMEON MAGISTER AND LOGOTHETE: EPITOME OF CANONS
(From the *Bibliotheca Juris canonici veteris* of Christoph Justel, vol. II, p. 710. — In Symeon’s epitome, the four first ecumenical councils, the Nicene, Constantinopolitan, Ephesian, and Chalcedonian, hold the first place; there follow the particular or topical synods in this order: Ancyran, Sardican, Neocaesarean, Gangrenan, Antiochene, and Laodicean, to which he also added the apostolic canons, as well as the 94 African, the Trullan, and the three canonical letters of Basil.)
Of the Holy Apostles. 1. Two or three bishops shall ordain a bishop. 2. But one, a presbyter and a deacon. 3. A priest offering milk, or honey, or strong drink, or animals, or vegetables at the altar, except for new ears of grain and grapes and oil and wax and incense, shall be deposed. 4. Let the fruits be sent to the houses, as first-fruits to the bishop or to the presbyters, which the former shall distribute to the rest. 5. If a priest casts out his wife, let him be excommunicated; but if he does not introduce her, let him be deposed. 6. A priest taking on secular cares shall be deprived of his priesthood. 7. Let him be deposed who celebrates the Pascha with the Jews. 8. If a priest does not communicate, let him state the cause; if he does not state it, let him be excommunicated, for he has made the one offering suspect. 9. You shall excommunicate him who does not remain for the prayer and the communion. B 10. He who joins in prayer with one excommunicated or deposed is self-condemned. 11. He who receives one rejected from elsewhere shall himself be more rejected. 12. He who lies about an excommunication is most rejectable. 13. You shall not leap from throne to throne, if
the glory of a city is greater when it is adorned with pious and religious men rather than with the ramparts of its walls. And it has indeed brought forth many illustrious men, who adorn it with various ornaments of virtue: from whom if anyone should choose the first with accuracy, and should wish to compare, or even to prefer, the life of Marcian to them, he seems to me not to depart from sound judgment. That our opinion concerning him is not bad, but right, he himself, as they say, will show, and the account as it proceeds will be worthy of belief.
2. This Marcian, therefore, flourished in the times of him who had the same name, namely Marcian, who was then the lord of the Roman empire. Tracing his fatherland B back from his ancestors to the older Rome (for those from whom he originated moved from there to this city of Constantine, which was more recent), he was consequently born of an illustrious family, notable in wealth and dignity, and one which traced the source of its nobility to imperial splendor. Having obtained parents who were so distinguished in glory, and far more distinguished still in piety and religion, he himself was also brought up liberally, and was taught education in an excellent manner, I mean both our own and that which is external. Then, just as Moses to the Egyptians, so also Marcian makes an excellent impression upon the Byzantines, and he turns to the greater and more perfect wisdom, I mean that which is of the Spirit. From this very thing, both the splendor of his life and the grace of his speech, coming to him, gained him a name, and made him distinguished among all the laity. C A little later he is also co-opted into the clergy of the Church: and being worthy of sacred orders, he is brought to the degree of the priesthood. He who applied pressure for this, however, was the patriarch of this city. For the siren of that man’s virtue captivated him, and his ears were full of the discourses and praises that were being spread about him. Since, therefore, there was nothing to hinder the degrees that intervene in the priesthood, but much more to invite him to advance to greater things: having passed through all in a short time, the moment calling him, he is also enrolled into the number of the presbyters. Then he also becomes the oikonomos of the great church by common suffrage, not using force, but being forced, and not so much honored as honoring those who had preferred him. But this was later.
III. D Now, when he was just a young man entrusted with the priesthood, and his parents had already departed from this life, and he had received the assets of both, which were substantial, he was known to govern his youth temperately, his priesthood honestly, and his wealth piously: as one who took the needy as co-heirs of his inheritance, and ceded the greater part to them: or, to express it better, as one who conducted with them a most profitable business, and by providing small things, acquired in return the greatest. And while he appeared to look down upon other pleasures with a certain great and lofty spirit, and to make no use of them whatever, he was overcome, however, by one love alone, I mean that for the words of divine Scripture: and he was perpetually turning and nourishing his eyes upon those, and through all things he...
you are deemed more useful to them, as one most apt for teaching; and this is by the discernment and exhortation of many bishops. A
14. Any cleric who departs from his own [church] and dwells in a foreign one, and, being summoned by the bishop, does not return, is excommunicated; and he who knowingly and prudently retains him, is himself condemned.
15. Anyone who is a digamist, or who keeps a concubine, is not admitted to the priesthood.
16. Whoever takes a dismissed woman, or a widow, or an ancilla, or a bacchant as his wife, is truly unworthy of the priesthood.
17. He who has taken two sisters, or cousins, in marriage is not eligible for the clergy. B
18. A cleric shall not give surety.
19. A eunuch may perform the priesthood.
20. But a self-mutilator may not.
21. He who after being joined to the clergy mutilates himself, is deposed.
22. A layman who mutilates himself is set apart for three years.
23. A priest caught in fornication, or perjury, or theft, is deposed.
24. One who intends to be ordained, if he so wishes, should marry first.
25. A priest who strikes a believer or an unbeliever is deposed.
26. One who has been deposed for just cause, if he touches divine things again, must be most strictly excommunicated. C
27. A priest who is ordained for money, along with him who ordained him, shall be deposed, and according to Simon Magus, shall be excommunicated in perpetuity.
28. One who attains to the episcopacy through the power of rulers, when deposed, shall be set apart.
29. A bishop who separates himself without cause from others and constructs another altar, shall be cast out along with them.
30. One who has been excommunicated by another shall not be received by others while the other is still alive.
31. A foreign priest is not received without letters of commendation; and if he has them, he is carefully examined as to whether he approves of those who hold the right faith: but if he does not, he is set apart and sent away.
32. The bishop does nothing without the primate, except for the things of his own diocese; and the primate does nothing without him, on account of the due concord. D
33. One must not ordain outside one's own borders; and he who performs sacred ordinations contrary to the judgment of those who reside in those places, shall be considered as not ordained.
34. He who is recently designated and is reluctant to perform the task, is set apart until he undertakes it; but if he is not accepted by the people, the clergy is excommunicated because they did not instruct the mob; yet he himself remains bishop.
35. Let bishops meet twice every year for dogma and business. The first time in the fourth week of Pentecost, the second on the twelfth of October. 36. Let the bishop administer the affairs of the Church A with authority. 37. Let him give nothing to his relatives, unless as to a poor person. 38. Let neither priest nor deacon do anything without the bishop; for it is to him that the people have been entrusted. 39. Let the affairs of the Church and those of the bishop be kept clear, so that the bishop may be accountable, and the Church remain without loss. 40. Let the bishop have authority over ecclesiastical matters, since he has it over souls; and let him administer everything according to the divine will. B 41. If a priest is a gambler or a drunkard, if he does not cease, let him be deposed. 42. A cleric or layman doing similar things is excommunicated. 43. A priest demanding interest on a loan, if he does not cease, let him be deposed. 44. He who prays with heretics is excommunicated; but the cleric who leads them is deposed. 45. A priest receiving the baptism or sacrifice of heretics is unworthy of the priesthood. 46. He who re-baptizes one who is truly baptized, or does not baptize him who is tainted by impiety, is not to be considered a priest. 47. The layman who puts away his own wife and takes another, or one put away, is to be excommunicated. C 48. He who does not baptize into the Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit, but transgresses that precept, ought not to hold the priesthood. 49. He who does not initiate with three immersions, but with one into the death of the Lord—which the Lord did not say—is to be removed from the priesthood. 50. Any cleric who abhors marriage, meat, and wine, if he does not reform, is to be excommunicated. 51. He who does not forgive those who repent is himself unworthy of forgiveness. 52. A priest abstaining from wine and meat, unless for the sake of discipline, is deposed. 53. A cleric eating in a tavern without the necessity of a journey is to be excommunicated. 54. A cleric who insults a bishop is deposed; 55. But a priest or deacon is excommunicated. D 56. Likewise, he who mocks the deaf, the lame, and the blind. 57. A bishop not teaching piety is excommunicated; but if he remains untaught, he is deposed. 58. A priest not providing for a needy cleric is excommunicated; but if he remains unmerciful, he is deposed. 59. He who reads aloud an impious book in a congregation is deposed.
A 60. A believer convicted of a crime is not to be admitted into the clergy. 61. He who denies Christ is to be cast out; but he who disparages and subverts the clergy is to be treated as a layman. 62. A priest who partakes of strangled meat, or meat from a beast, or carrion, is to be deposed; but a layman is to be excommunicated. 63. Whoever prays with Jews is to be excommunicated. 64. A cleric who commits murder is to be deposed; but a layman is to be excommunicated. 65. He who fasts on the Lord’s Day or on the Sabbath, with one exception, is to be cast out. 66. He who forces a maiden is to be excommunicated, but he may keep her if she is poor. 67. He who is ordained twice, together with the one who ordained him, is to be deposed, unless he was first ordained by the hand of a heretic. 68. You shall depose a cleric who does not fast during the forty days, or on the fourth day, or on Preparation Day; but you shall excommunicate a layman, unless physical infirmity prevents them. 69. He who steals wax or oil from the church is to be excommunicated; and furthermore, he shall pay fivefold. 70. He who transfers sacred vessels to his own use is to be excommunicated. 71. If a bishop is accused and summoned but does not appear, let him be summoned twice and three times; if he persists, let the synod pronounce sentence. 72. A heretic does not accuse a bishop, nor does any believer. 73. A bishop dying shall not appoint a bishop in his own place. 74. A man who is lame or has only one eye, if otherwise worthy, may become bishop. 75. A blind or deaf man, however, shall not become one. 76. One possessed by a demon is not to be received into the clergy, nor may he pray with others; but after purification, if he is worthy, he may become a cleric. 77. A newly baptized person shall not be made a bishop, nor one who has recently exited from a wicked way of life. 78. A bishop who handles public business is unworthy of the episcopate. 79. A servant is not received into the clergy; but if he is worthy, he may be promoted once granted freedom. 80. A priest occupying a magistracy is to be held profane. 81. He who insults a magistrate or an emperor contrary to the law is to be punished. 82. Only the sixty books of the canons are to be held in veneration.
Epitome of the Canons of the three hundred and eighteen holy Fathers convened at Nicaea
1. Eunuchs may be received into the clergy; but those who emasculate themselves shall not be received. 2. Those who come from a Gentile life shall not be promoted quickly to the presbyterate; for without the trial that takes place over the passage of time, the neophyte is liable to be rejected. If, however, even after ordination…
A a fault is discovered to have been committed by him, either before or after, let him be deposed from the clergy.
3. Let no one have a subintroducta, except a mother or sister, and those persons who avoid all suspicion.
4. A bishop is appointed by all the provincial bishops: if, however, that is not possible, at least by three, with the others consenting by letter: the metropolitan, however, shall have the principal authority.
5. Let those who have been excommunicated by others not be received by others, unless it be that the excommunication occurred on account of pusillanimity, or contention, or some such thing.
6. Let the bishop of Alexandria have power over Egypt, Libya, and Pentapolis, and the Roman bishop over those who are subject to Rome. Likewise the Antiochene, and others over those subject to them. B
7. If any bishop has been created without the judgment of the first, let him not be a bishop. But if, when the vote of the many has taken place according to the canon, three should speak against it, let their dissent be invalid.
8. Let the bishop of Aelia be honored, while the dignity of his metropolitan see is preserved.
9. Let the Cathari, that is, the so-called pure ones, when they approach, first profess that they will assent to the ordinances of the Church, and communicate with the bigamous, and grant forgiveness to the lapsed. And if any who are ordained are found among them, they shall remain in the same rank; for example, he who is truly a bishop, let him be a bishop; but he who is a bishop among the Cathari shall be a chorepiscopus, or shall enjoy the honor of a presbyter or bishop. For there shall not be two bishops in one city. C
10. Those who are ordained without examination, if they are subsequently convicted of having sinned, shall be deposed from their rank.
11. Those who have lapsed, having been advanced through the ignorance or dissimulation of those who ordained them, shall be deposed.
12. Those who have transgressed without necessity, even if they are unworthy of forgiveness, if they obtain some indulgence, let them submit themselves for twelve years.
13. Those who have suffered violence and seemed to resist, but then yielded to impiety and apostatized, let them be excommunicated for ten years. In all such cases, the kind of repentance must be considered: and if he who undergoes the penalty shows himself more fervent in repenting, let the bishop deal with him more humanely; but if he is cooler, D then more severely.
14. Those who are departing this life, let them receive communion. But if one of them recovers, let him be only with those who are partakers of prayer.
15. If any catechumen has lapsed, let him hear for three years and that only: then let him pray with the catechumens.
16. Let neither bishop, nor presbyter, nor deacon move from city to city: for they shall be restored again to the churches in which they were ordained.
17. Those presbyters and deacons of the church
who go away shall not be received into other churches, but shall return to their own parishes. If anyone shall ordain one belonging to another without the consent of his own bishop, the ordination shall be void. A 18. If anyone receives usury or the sescuplum after the determination of the Church, let him be deposed as an alien. 19. Let deacons remain in their own limits, nor sit among the presbyters; for it is against the canon and decent order if anything of the sort occurs. 20. Paulianists shall be rebaptized: and if any clerics are shown to be irreprehensible, let them be rebaptized and ordained; but if they are not shown to be irreprehensible, B let them be deposed. But deaconesses who have been deceived, since they do not partake of ordination, let them be numbered among the laity. 21. On the Lord's days it is not proper to bend the knee, but straight men should pray.
Epitome of the canons of the 150 holy Fathers assembled at Constantinople.
1. Let the Nicene faith prevail: but let the heresies be anathema. 2. No one should be an outsider to the confusion of the Churches, neither ordaining nor enthroning. Nevertheless, C in the case of churches which are among the Gentiles, the custom of the Fathers shall prevail. 3. The bishop of Constantinople shall hold honor immediately after the bishop of Rome. 4. Maximus the Cynic is alien to the bishops, and every unholy man who has been enrolled by him into the clergy shall be held profane. 5. The tome of the Westerners, asserting that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit are consubstantial, is readily acceptable. 6. Whoever is falsely accused shall complain before the bishop. If it is a crime of priests, let him not speak; D and let no one speak if he has been previously condemned; let the excommunicated not speak; let the outcast not speak, and let one who is accused of some crimes not speak until he clears his own matters. But let the orthodox, the communicant, the irreproachable, and the unaccused be the accuser; and let the crime be communicated to the provincials. If they are unable to resolve it, let them turn to a greater synod; and let them not be heard without a written statement of the complainant. And he who comes to the emperor against these rules, and causes him trouble, shall be excommunicated.
Epitome of the canons of the holy Fathers assembled at Ephesus.
1. If the metropolitan who has been intercepted adheres to Coelestinus, or shall adhere to him, he is to be rejected, and thenceforth removed from the administration of the Church. 2. Any bishop who is of the same mind as Nestorius is to be excommunicated. 3. Whoever has been prevented from the priesthood by Nestorius is most holy, and worthy of the priesthood: but whoever has been received by him is profane.
A 5. A layman who resists the synod is to be excommunicated; but a cleric is even to be deposed. 6. A bishop who brings forward a faith other than that of Nicaea is alienated from the Church; but a layman is to be exiled. 7. Let the rights belonging to each province be preserved pure and inviolate; but he who introduces a rule contrary to these is worthless. 8. Eustathius, being bound to resist courageously—for this is what every bishop must do—instead easily turned his back and resigned. Theodore was ordained in his place. He indeed, weeping and entreating, seeks back the honor. But he who ordained another in his place is blameless, having essentially taken his resignation as a crime. And it has been decided [to be] just that he retain the name of the bishopric and the communion itself, and that this [decision] has been deemed the more benevolent.
Epitome of the canons of the holy and blessed Fathers at Chalcedon
2. He who buys or sells an ordination is in danger regarding [his] rank; and the law extends even to the B *paramonarius*. 3. Those who take upon themselves the care of secular houses are to be corrected, unless the law has unavoidably called them to the administration of [the affairs of] a minor, or the bishop has entrusted them with the care of orphans and widows. 4. Houses of prayer dedicated [to God] are not to be built without the bishop's judgment. Moreover, every monk shall be subject to the bishop, and shall not depart from his dwelling, unless invited by him. And a slave, unless with the judgment of his master, let him not embrace the monastic life. 5. Those who move from city to city must observe the canons concerning this matter. 6. One shall not ordain in C martyrion shrines or chapels without [proper] release; otherwise, he who is thus ordained is unordained. 7. Whoever, having been enrolled as a cleric or monk, impudently aspires to military service or an honor, is accursed. 8. Whoever is enrolled in a poorhouse or monastery, let him look to the authority of the bishop of the city. But he who resists this, let him know the penalty. 9. Clerics who are involved in lawsuits, if they abandon their bishop and rush to secular courts, are to be corrected according to the canons; and a cleric in dispute with a bishop D must await the synod; and a metropolitan bishop must appeal to the one of Constantinople. 10. A cleric is not to be enrolled in the churches of two cities; but if he should be enrolled, he shall be returned to the former. If, however, someone is already transferred, he shall in no way partake in the affairs of the previous church. 11. Let the poor travel with letters, but not with recommendatory ones; for recommendatory letters are provided for those who have a reputation. 12. One province is not to be split into two provinces; and he who splits is to be deposed from the episcopacy. As for those [matters] by imperial letters
A fear of the terrible Gehenna to strike into themselves, and to appease the Divine with tears. Since this was done often, a habit of goodness would prevail in some, and divine fear, falling upon them, would prepare them to bid farewell not only to brothels, but also to every adornment, and to frequent monasteries and asceteria—that is, places where they might exercise themselves—with a ready and eager spirit. Many of them also resolved to go to Jerusalem, having received from him the expenses sufficient for their travel. And these women, having shown a life most pure and diametrically opposite to their former one, were not even found to be lacking in the gifts of the good Spirit; but some of them healed diseases by prayer, while others easily cast out from men the demons which they had previously assiduously cultivated. He did this, not as one might do who overflows with great riches and empties out what is superfluous, but on account of the great aid he brought to the needy, not sparing even his own necessities. But sometimes, when he had carried out and given away everything he had in his hands, he left for himself only hope in that which is good and to look only to the hands of God; so that with his other virtues, he ceded the first place to no one, even B regarding the matter of poverty.
XX. A sign of that which I speak.
It is said that at one time, returning from a feast of the saints—for he would not be absent for the sake of piety even from such feasts, nor from those of the Lord which take place in the midst of many, but would attend with great zeal—as he was returning, since it happened that a rainstorm burst forth, he became soaked, and having entered his house and locked himself in, he took off his tunic and was drying it over a few coals. It happened, however, that the most God-loving patriarch summoned him at that time. Those who had been sent, finding the house locked, knocked on the door and ordered him to come out. But shame, for fear of being seen naked, compelled him to stay inside, since he had no other garment to put on in order to go out. And for this reason, he indeed promised that he would come, but he still delayed; until one of those who were present, behaving with a little more curiosity, when he had placed his eye to a hole and contemplated what was being done, was himself filled with wonder, and ensured that he used others as witnesses of this thing, while they beheld it with their own eyes. C After, therefore, what had been seen had astonished everyone, they returned and reported everything to the patriarch with wonder. But it did not even occur to him to wonder; rather, it occurred to him to rebuke them, because from such small things they had decided to judge Marcian great, when it was possible to consider him wonderful and blessed from many other things, which no one else could easily accomplish. DXIX. How great the reverence of all for this great man, of the people, I say, and of the senate, and of the emperor himself, surely fame testifies; and those who were most powerful at that time, Aspar and Ardaburius, testify as well;
A honored cities, let them enjoy their honor only, and the bishop who is there; but to the true metropolis, let its own rights be preserved.
13. A cleric without commendatory letters is not received into another city.
14. A heretic, or a singer, or a reader, who has married and had children, may bring his children to communion, if they have been baptized there. But if they still remain unbaptized, they shall not be baptized among the heretics.
15. A deaconess is not to be ordained unless she is forty years old; but to her who brings disgrace upon the ministry through marriage, anathema.
16. Monks or nuns shall not marry; if they do so, let them be excommunicated. B
17. A local or rural parish, if it has been held for thirty years, shall be possessed; but if within that time there has been any dispute concerning them, let the possessors be subject to judgment. But if by imperial order a city has been renewed, the order and form of the ecclesiastical parish shall follow the civil and public regulations.
18. Clerics and monks, if they are found either forming factions or conspiring against bishops, shall fall from their grades.
19. He who has lost his own country, if he has come to another Church, is irreproachable.
20. A bishop who has received a foreign cleric along with the one who was received shall be excommunicated. C
21. An unapproved cleric or layman accusing a bishop is not to be admitted.
22. He who takes the goods of a bishop who has departed from men will be punished by [the loss of] his grade.
23. Those who dwell in Constantinople without the bishop's [permission] and stir up troubles shall be driven out of the city.
24. A monastery founded by the will of a bishop shall remain unalterable; and whatever belongs to it, unalienable. But he who attempts otherwise shall not be held guiltless.
25. The ordinations of bishops shall be performed within three months; but some unavoidable necessity may prolong the time. If not, the ordaining [bishop] shall be liable to penalty, but the revenue shall remain with the steward. D
26. A steward shall be appointed in all Churches from the clergy; but a bishop who despises this is not free from guilt.
27. A cleric who abducts a woman is to be excommunicated; a layman shall be anathema; and those who consent to this shall be subject to the same penalty.
28. The bishop of New Rome shall enjoy the same honor as the bishop of the elder [Rome], on account of the transfer of the imperial scepter.
29. Those of Pontus, and Asia, and Thrace, and the barbarians, are ordained by the [bishop] of Constantinople.
30. He who degrades a bishop to the rank of presbyter,
§ II. Writers of the Life of Saint Theodosius.
2. Therefore, the Greeks celebrate the feast of Saint Theodosius the Cenobiarch on this day in the Menologion edited by Canisius: "Commemoration of our holy Father Theodosius the Cenobiarch, from the town of Marissus in Cappadocia." It is also mentioned in the Horologion and in the Menologies of Maximus, Bishop of Cythera, and Christopher, Proconsul of Mitylene: and likewise in the Calendar of the Greeks edited by Genebrard, and in the same words by Molanus in his additions to Usuard: "On the eleventh day, of the holy Father Theodosius the Cenobiarch." The Roman Martyrology: "In Cappadocia, in the village of Magariasso, Saint Theodosius the Cenobiarch, who suffered much for the Catholic faith." Galesinius, following the Greek Euchologion, refers it to January 11th: "In Greece, Saint Theodosius the Cenobiarch." He was of incredible abstinence, such that for thirty whole years he did not taste bread, living on the fruit of the palm and a few legumes; and thus, while he withdrew food from his body, he nourished his soul day and night with the constant contemplation of heavenly things. The German Martyrology follows Galesinius.
The Life of Saint Theodosius was edited from Metaphrastes by Lipomanus in volume V, and by Surius from him. Baronius wove much of it into volumes VI and VII of his Annals. We provide the same work, collated with the Greek manuscript of the Vatican Library and emended in several places. The same exists in a condensed form in Latin in the Lives by Francis Haraeus and Lippelo, and in the Marian Fasti; it was published in Italian by Gabriele Flamma, and in Spanish by our Ribadineira, etc.
3. The Menaea declare the following concerning him: "This venerable Father of ours, Theodosius, was born in the village of Mogariso in Cappadocia to Christian and truly religious parents, Proeresius and Eulogia; he embraced the monastic life and assumed the holy habit of religion. He traveled to Jerusalem and from there went to Antioch, where he met that eminent man, Symeon the Stylite, by whom the future holiness of his life was predicted, for he was to be the pastor of a great flock of rational sheep. Afterwards, being instructed in divine matters in the desert by a certain highly praised man named Longinus, he arrived at such abstinence that he would refresh his body with food only once a week; and eventually he did not taste bread for thirty whole years. Likewise, he advanced so much in other studies of virtue that, having reached the highest pinnacle of piety, he produced illustrious miracles. He saw a certain monk named Basil, who was dead and placed in his tomb, standing with another monk before the brethren and singing psalms. He lit coals, with no fire applied, where he was about to build a monastery. He freed a woman coming to him from an issue of blood. From a single grain of wheat, he filled entire granaries through prayer. He pulled a boy out of the deep abyss of a well by his invisible presence. He suppressed the abortions of fetuses, which, while they emerged into life prematurely, were being driven from life through death. Wherefore, he made their mother fruitful after this affliction just as if she had been barren. He drove away a huge swarm of locusts by rebuking them with a word. He rendered Kericus, the Count of the East, invulnerable with his hair shirt, which he had put upon him to serve as a breastplate. He restored the crops of the earth, damaged by the heat, by prayer—the rain having been granted. He foretold the ruin of Antioch by a great earthquake. He rescued many who had suffered shipwreck and were struggling with the waves from imminent danger. Having been the author of religious life to many, he departed from this life to the Lord. His feast day is celebrated in the venerable church of the blessed Apostle Peter." Thus far the Menaea. A Regarding the woman here said to have been freed from an issue of blood, it is recorded in the Life, n. 58, that she suffered from cancer in her breast. The same things, with most of the miracles omitted, are read in the Anthologion of the Greeks, approved by Clement VIII.
5. Baronius asserts in his notes to the Martyrology that these Acts are "worthy of all acceptance," and in volume VI of the Annals, A.D. 511, n. 20: "How most accurately described, even if by an uncertain author, yet one certainly of that same time, so that there is nothing which can justly be called into doubt, being consistent with the truth in every respect." That the author was contemporary is proven by what he writes about the Emperor Anastasius, n. 45: "Our own time also bore an emperor who, indeed, had previously been (as much as appeared) a paradise of pleasure, but finally, in reality, became known as a field of destruction; and he was, indeed, one of those shepherds who scatter the sheep of the flock and destroy them, and force them to drink of turbid subversion; and, that I might omit the rest concerning him, this [judgment] will indeed be received by the time that will follow after us."
6. Baronius conjectures that this author was Cyril the monk, by whom the Acts of Saints Euthymius, Sabas, and John the Hesychast were described. Thus he writes in A.D. 491, n. 14: "But the Lives of Theodosius the Cenobiarch and also of Cyriacus the anchorite, who were most holy men that flourished in the same times, are also believed to be by the same author. But because those lack an author's name, they are carried under the name of him who finally edited them, Metaphrastes, even though he himself only transcribed those things written of old." And in A.D. 511, n. 21: "Although the author is considered unknown by name, I believe him to be this same Cyril, who, just as he pursued in writing the lives of Saints Sabas and Euthymius and John the Hesychast and others, so it is not right to believe that he bypassed Theodosius, whom he had before his eyes, and failed to hand down to posterity the marvelous deeds done by him, which should by no means be buried in silence due to their own dignity. I conjecture that the name of the author, Cyril, was indeed obliterated by some imprudent person who, referring it to Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem, who flourished under the Emperor Constantius, falsely thought that the history—in which deeds are treated that were done under the Emperors Leo, Zeno, and Anastasius—was wrongly attributed to Cyril, being ignorant that the noble historian Cyril of Palestine, of whom there is speech, lived in this very time."
7. This is the conjecture of Baronius. Cyril, as a young man, to
is sacrilegious; for he is guilty and unholy. But the bishop who has been degraded A is innocent.
31. It is customary for the Egyptians, if the archbishop does not permit it, not to write; hence they are blameless in not subscribing to the epistle of holy Leo, until an archbishop is created.
Scholia on the 9th Canon of the Fourth Ecumenical Council
B. — It calls the patriarch of each diocese an Exarch, under whom the metropolitans of that diocese are counted and numbered. The canon therefore says that when a bishop or cleric of any diocese has a controversy with his own metropolitan, he should either approach the patriarch of that diocese, or if he does not wish to, he has the liberty to have recourse to the throne of Constantinople; which privilege has not been granted to any of the other patriarchs, either by the holy canons which the four ecumenical councils set forth, or by the pious laws.Epitome of the Canons of the blessed Fathers gathered at Ancyra.
2. Presbyters and deacons who have previously sacrificed, but then have truly repented, shall share only in the seat and the honor, performing none of the holy mysteries. C
3. Those who have been truly tortured and constrained, and under tyranny have taken food offered to idols, shall not be prohibited from communion. And laymen who have suffered this, as having sinned in nothing, if they wish to obtain ordination, let them obtain it, provided they are otherwise irreproachable.
4. As many as were carried away and went up with aversion, and ate, let them submit to six years of penance.
5. Those who went up in mourning garments and ate, let them perform penance for three years in submission with tears; but if they did not eat, for two years. D For the life preceding and the life following, if it be diligent or not diligent, shows the bishop more or less philanthropic.
6. A man who has yielded only to a threat and sacrificed, then repented, let him submit to five years of penance.
7. If anyone, having his own food, has feasted with the Gentiles in their festivals, let him submit to two years of penance.
8. He who has sacrificed a second and a third time, but under force, let him submit to seven years of penance.
9. He who has not only voluntarily sacrificed, but has also compelled another, let him submit to ten years of penance.
10. He who is intended to be ordained a deacon, if he protested to the bishop that he could not remain unmarried, let him be a deacon after marrying. But if he was silent and married later, let him be deposed.
11. If a girl has been betrothed, and has been snatched away by another, she is to be restored to the former.
A Our Petavius, in book XIII *De doctrina temporum*, writes that in the month of June, A.D. 529, this Julian was constituted king by the rebelling Samaritans and Jews, and was subsequently slain by the forces of Justinian along with his rebels. In the following year, 530, he reports the embassy of St. Sabas to Justinian, at which time St. Sabas was in his 91st year, having been born under the seventeenth consulship of Theodosius, that is, in the year of Christ 439, as is apparent from the assertion of Cyril at the beginning of the *Life of St. Sabas*. St. Theodosius, therefore, died on this 11th of January, A.D. 529, before the start of the Samaritan sedition, in the second year of the reign of Justinian, who, upon the death of his uncle Justin on August 4th or 2nd (authorities vary) of the year 527, had succeeded him before the Calends of April, having been made emperor by him on the third day of Holy Week. During his reign, St. Theodosius survived for one year and five or nine months. At which time Kericus reported the victory over the Persians, having been clothed in the hairshirt of St. Theodosius and, as it is said in sections 73 and 74, having been strengthened beforehand by his admonition. With these things thus established, St. Theodosius was born in the year of Christ 423. He departed from his homeland after having long set forth the Holy Scripture to the people, as mentioned in section 4, at 28 years of age, in the year of Christ 451, while the Council of Chalcedon was being gathered.
11. Baronius (vol. VII, *Annal. Eccl.*, a.d. 532, no. 21) thinks that Theodosius passed away long after St. Sabas and was still living in the times of Agapetus, the Roman pontiff; thus, he says, "what was added in the acts of Sabas, that Theodosius died before that day, must be plainly corrected." So says Baronius. But how does he prove that what was added to the Acts is true? He himself, in volume VI, a.d. 475, no. 43, had called this Cyril, a diligent seeker of the truth and a flourishing historian of those times, and a.d. 491, no. 5, had called his history worth knowing and consistent with ecclesiastical annals; especially, he says, because it was written by Cyril the monk, a disciple of that admirable Euthymius who lived in those times. May it be permitted to say without envy that I have found no one after the holy Athanasius and Jerome who has written the deeds of most holy men with greater fidelity, accurately managing and distinguishing them by time, than this same Cyril, while he delivered as a most sacred deposit to posterity the sincere truth—both what he saw himself and what he learned from the accounts of men preeminent in every probity—without the slightest suspicion of falsehood, namely the acts of Euthymius, as well as those of Sabas and John the Silent. Why, then, do we not receive this history of so great a writer, which is also honorably cited by the Fathers of the Second Nicene Council in the first acts, as unimpaired and intact?
12. He derives the cause for correcting these Acts in volume VII, a.d. 536, no. 1, where, having related the acts from the Constantinopolitan council under Menas and the petition of the monks offered to Pope Agapetus against Anthimus, Severus, and the other heretics, he adds: “Among others, there was an embassy from that great Coenobiarch Theodosius, regarding whom more most worthy praises for his services to the faith have been told above. For Hesychius, a priest B of his monastery, is read as a subscriber to the same petition as a legate of Theodosius. Indeed, Theodosius himself was still living, of whom these things are read in his life, after other struggles undertaken for the orthodox faith: ‘When he (that is, Theodosius) learned of it, both he who beautifully held the seat of elder Rome (who was Agapetus) and he who ruled the Antiochene seat, Ephraim (or Ephraem), themselves also preached the right faith to the peoples.’ In which there are many things composed to the praise of this blessed man, which bring no less glory to those who wrote them than to him who was praised, because the praise was made not for favor, but clearly for the truth.” Thus Baronius. But neither Pope Agapetus nor Patriarch Ephraim are said to have praised St. Theodosius while alive; but since his struggle with Emperor Anastasius for the orthodox faith, already begun long ago, is joined to this laudation in the same place at no. 55, it seems that the petition offered by his successors provided the occasion for praising the recently deceased Theodosius, their most pious parent and the founder of the monastery. Agapetus was created pope on June 11, 535, and died in the following year.
13. Furthermore, it is difficult to prove that this Hesychius (who is called Isychus or Isichius) was sent by Blessed Theodosius while he was still alive, and not rather by Sophronius his successor. For in the first act of the same synod, in the petition offered after the death of Agapetus by the same monks, it is signed thus: “Hesychius, by divine mercy a priest and monk of the monastery of the blessed abbot Theodosius, holding the place of Sophronius, priest and archimandrite of the same monastery and the first of the whole hermitage of Jerusalem, together with all these who were sent with me, the Jerusalemite archimandrites to this royal city, who act for all the archimandrites and monks who dwell in that same hermitage and the three Palestines, who supplicated together with me; I have signed with the consent of all and presented it.” Indeed, this Hesychius, who with Polyeuctus the deacon and Julian the monk, both alumni of the same monastery of Blessed Theodosius, was present at that synod, is sometimes called an Ambassador (as in acts 2 and 4), sometimes Prior (as in act 5), and sometimes even archimandrite (as in acts 1 and 5), either because he was already the prefect of another monastery subject to the Theodosian one, or because he succeeded Sophronius upon his death, and the title of archimandrite was added to the copies by the scribes. Archimandrite Gregory presided over this monastery in the time of Emperor Tiberius around A.D. 580, whom John Moschus mentions in chapters 92, 93, and 94 of the *Spiritual Meadow*. In the eulogy of John Moschus, when his body was being brought back to Rome to this monastery in the year 619 or the beginning of 620 (as is gathered from the beginning of the 8th indiction), its prelate George is named, perhaps the successor of that Gregory.
14. These things we have disputed regarding the age of St. Theodosius, as if skirmishing, rather timidly because it is against the opinion of the great author of the *Ecclesiastical Annals*, yet nowhere unless setting our foot firmly on solid ground;
12. He who has sacrificed before baptism, after baptism shall be held innocent. A
13. A chorepiscopus shall not ordain without the permission of the bishop.
14. A priest abstaining from meats, if he has tasted only, let him so abstain; but if he does not taste even the herbs which are with the meats, let him be removed from his office.
15. If presbyters have seized anything belonging to the Church, it shall be invalid, and shall remain subject to the judgment of the bishop.
16. He who has committed bestiality before the age of twenty years shall be subject to penance for fifteen years; but if he has passed this age and, having a wife, has fallen into this, let him be subject to penance for twenty-five years; and he who has a wife and is over fifty years of age, let him be subject to it until the end of his life. B
17. A leper who has committed bestiality, or who has also become leprous, let him pray with those who are vexed by demons.
18. A bishop who has been appointed, if he is not received by the diocese to which he was called, but causes trouble to other bishops, let him be excommunicated; but if he wishes to be numbered among the presbyters, let him be numbered. But if he also causes dissension with the bishops there, let him be cast out even from the honor of the presbyterate.
19. He who has promised virginity and makes it void, let him be excommunicated for four years; and let not virgins approach to any as if to brothers.
20. Let the adulteress and the adulterer be excommunicated for seven years. C
21. Let harlots who take abortifacients be subject to ten years of penance.
22. Let the voluntary murderer be deemed worthy of communion only at the end of his life.
23. Let the involuntary murderer be subject to penance for five years.
24. Let him who practices divination, and him who introduces someone into his house for the discovery of witchcraft or for purification, be subject to penance for five years.
25. If someone betrothed to a young girl has violated her sister, and then has taken his betrothed, the first has hanged herself; and let those who were privy to it be subject to penance for ten years. D
Of the Council of Neocaesarea
1. A presbyter who has married, let him be demoted. But if he has committed fornication or adultery, let him be cast out.
2. A woman who has married two brothers, let her be cast out for all her life; but if at the time of death she renounces the marriage, she shall have penance; but if she dies, it is grievous for the survivor.
3. The time for those who have many marriages is clear, but the zeal of their penance shortens it.
4. If desires before the works of fornication are hindered, they are not hindered without divine help.
A for we have obtained a new argument, which we might use to establish our conjecture, and one of such a kind that we believe it cannot be shaken. For the life of St. Sabas edited by Metaphrastes, hitherto cited by us and to be cited again below, because it is in everyone's hands, we obtained from an ancient codex, transcribed before the year of Christ 1034, translated into Latin before the age of Metaphrastes himself; and from this we note that the work which has been published is that which was slightly amplified here and there by Metaphrastes, and then we learned the year and day of St. Theodosius’s death. For it holds thus: "At the beginning of the ninety-first year of the life of our Father Sabas, the blessed Theodosius mentioned above, already old and full of days, leaving this earthly life, passed to heaven, in the month of January, on the eleventh day, in the seventh indiction." Sophronius succeeded him in the governance of the monastery, being sufficiently perfect in monastic activities. But after the decease of Abbot Theodosius, the Samaritans, rushing in, stirred up the whole race of Palestine, doing many illicit things, plundering and burning churches, killing Christians without any pity, and delivering the whole region to fire. Coming, however, to Neapolis, and becoming exceedingly proud, they appointed for themselves a certain man named Julian as emperor; and invading the city, they killed the bishop, a man full of holiness, named Mamon. Similarly, they also caught certain priests, and having mangled them with various tortures, delivered them to the fire; and the roads, which were called the royal roads, they rendered impassable to Christians.
§ IV. The site of the monastery of St. Theodosius.
15. What is named above in § 1, n. 2 and 3 in the Martyrologies, as the seat of St. Theodosius, Cappadocia Greece, and the village of Magariassus (which is Moyapisos in the Anthology, Moyapiassos in the life from the Vatican library, and Marissus in the Menology) is not to be understood as though he either died there or spent the main part of his life there; but because about the year of Christ 423, as we have said, he was brought forth into the light there, and having been educated, lived until the twenty-eighth year of his age and explained the Holy Scripture to the people. B
16. Then in the year of Christ 451, when the ecumenical council was being celebrated at Chalcedon, he set out for Jerusalem, stayed there for some years, and breathed in the spirit of the solitary life. He went, therefore, into a certain neighboring wilderness, which John Moschus, in the *Spiritual Meadow* (chs. 82 and 105), calls "the desert of the holy city of Christ our Lord." Here he inhabited that cave, to which, it is traditionally said, the Magi who had adored Christ in Bethlehem turned aside when they were commanded by the angel to return to their own provinces by another way. Moschus (ch. 105) teaches that the descent into this cave was accessible by eighteen steps.
17. Others, later stirred by the fame of his holiness, submitted themselves to his discipline, and provided the opportunity for building a famous coenobium in the same place. Having prayed that the spot where he ought to establish that monastery might be shown to him by God, by divine instinct he filled a censer with coals, and without fire, placed incense upon it and carried it all about through the Judean wilderness; he passed to the banks of the Dead Sea; since the attempt did not yet succeed, he returned to the cave: he approaches it, and lo, he sees smoke ascending from the coals; he lays the foundations, and builds a temple and monastery, which he afterwards made very spacious with expanded borders, having built four temples in it, as is said in no. 37. The first and principal part of it at the cave is called the Cathisma in the Life of St. Sabas with these words: "Theodosius had already withdrawn from the church which is called the Cathisma, and in a part of the laura which looks to the west, he had established a monastery, which was suitable for living the common life, distant from the Laura (of St. Sabas) by thirty-five stadia, that is, almost one and a half Belgian miles, or four thousand paces."
18. At about this time they called the mansions or cells of the monks a "laura," which they distinguished by adding their own names, as the laura of St. Euthymius, of St. Sabas, of Pharan, etc. Its origin seems to be traced to the river Laura, which is near the region which it flows past, and which gave its name to the monasteries built in it. Concerning this laura, it is written thus in the Life of St. Cyriacus, September 29: "The divine Cyriacus came again into that part of the wilderness in which no anchorite had remained, nor had ever passed through. The place, however, was named Susacim by the locals, and in it flow both the new laura and the river Suca, which are the largest and deepest of those we know. These are carried, however, to be those concerning which it was said to Christ by David: 'Thou hast dried up the rivers of Ethan.' Ps. LXXIII, 15."
19. St. Isidore of Pelusium, being consulted about this place by the deacon Epiphanius, responds thus, book II, epist. 66: "Ethan was a place in Palestine, irrigated by rivers, and abounding in trees and fruits, and, due to the abundance of huge animals and fish, suitable for hunting, etc." He then alleges the authority of Josephus, whose words are these, book XVIII of the *Jewish Antiquities*, c. 2: "There was a certain estate distant from Jerusalem by the space of two schoeni, named Ettan, pleasant and at the same time opulent with gardens and introduced fountains, to which Solomon gladly made exits (or loved to go out). Moreover, the Schoenus, σχοῖνος, is an Egyptian measure of land, containing sixty stadia, according to Herodotus, book II, c. 6; although Pliny, book XII, c. 14, says forty stadia; where, however, Budé suspects an error of the notes in the *Prior Annotations*. Therefore this place was distant from Jerusalem, according to the calculation of Herodotus, by seven thousand five hundred paces, or a journey of two and a half hours. The *Jerusalem Pilgrimage* of Christopher Radziwiłł agrees with this; he, having gone out beyond the Fish Gate, having traveled three large miles, arrived at the monastery of St. Sabas, which still exists; from which he departed about midnight, and by a night journey covered three thousand paces, and at dawn beheld the Asphaltic Sea, to whose shore he arrived at the second hour of the day. Adrichomius is to be consulted, who places it at An
5. He who sins while being instructed, let him hear while not sinning; but if he still persists, A let him be utterly cast out. 6. A pregnant woman may be baptized whenever she wishes; for the preference of each is judged. 7. A presbyter shall not feast with one who is twice-married; for how will he deem him worthy of forgiveness? 8. A layman whose wife has committed adultery may not be admitted to the clergy; and one already in the clergy, if he retains her after the adultery, shall be expelled. 9. If a presbyter confesses that he has sinned previously, let him not offer—and that alone; for ordinations remit some sins. But if he does not confess, and is not convicted, let him hold the authority himself. 10. And a deacon B bound by the same crime, let him remain a minister. 11. Let no one become a presbyter unless he is thirty years of age, even if he is worthy, having as a pattern the baptism of the Savior. 12. Let one who was baptized because of sickness not become a presbyter, unless it be because of the struggle he subsequently undergoes, and the scarcity of men. 13. A local presbyter shall not celebrate in a city church unless the bishop is absent, and the whole presbytery; but if they are absent, and he is called, he shall celebrate; and the chorepiscopi shall celebrate as concelebrants. 14. Let there be seven deacons in a great city according to the Acts of the Apostles, holding the place of the seventy.
Epitome of the Canons of the blessed Fathers who gathered at Sardica.
1. A bishop is not to be examined [for transfer] from a larger city to a smaller one. 2. He, therefore, who jumps from a humble see to a higher one, being looked upon as an arrogant and greedy man, shall be excommunicated for his whole life. 3. Let no bishop cross into another's city C uninvited; and a provincial, if he is in litigation, shall not appeal to foreign bishops, unless the one from Rome, if he should judge it [necessary], decides. 4. When a bishop has been deposed, and asserts that he has a defense to present, no other shall be installed unless the one from Rome defines it; for he will examine the deposition either by envoys or by letters. 5. If, when laymen are seeking a bishop, the bishops are present, and one is missing, let him too be called; but if, when called, he is willing neither to write nor to attend, let the one being sought be ordained. 6. When a metropolitan is constituted, the neighboring D bishops shall also be summoned. And in a city or village of few [inhabitants], where one presbyter is sufficient, a bishop shall not be constituted. But if a city should become very populous, it is not unworthy of a bishop. 7. A bishop shall dare to go to the aid of an orphan, and a widow, and one who is oppressed and in distress; but let him not, under such a pretext, linger at the imperial court.
A that not even you both, he said, who suffice to feed the whole of Palestine at once, could satisfy his stomach to the full. Such a strong and robust body was possessed by the generous soul of the blessed Sabas. He was endowed with the greatest modesty, and was gentle and easy in his manners. Indeed, it was easy to get access to him, he was pleasant in speech, and most simple in character, yet most steadfast in prudence, maintaining a love that was unfeigned and sincere toward all. He was very attached to Theodosius, so much so that they visited each other daily and discussed virtue between them, and both were like beacons to all who embraced the monastic life. But the latter was the leader of those who practiced the communal life, while the former—Sabas, I mean—had undertaken the stewardship of those living in a secluded and quiet gathering apart. It is certainly said that the blessed Sabas often said urbanely to the divine Theodosius that he was the superintendent of boys, while he himself was the superintendent of superintendents: ὅτι ἐκεῖνος μὲν παίδων, αὐτὸς δὲ ἡγεμόνων, that is to say, because the former admitted even the beardless and eunuchs, which shall be spoken of below.
B 25. An equal conjunction of spirits shone forth in defending the Catholic faith against the violence of the heretics. Thus, when the aforementioned John had been intruded into the Jerusalem see by Olympius of Caesarea, after Elias had been expelled—because he appeared likely to accept the communion of Severus and to subject the Council of Chalcedon to anathema—then the blessed Sabas, to whom it soon became clear that Saint Theodosius had been an ally, having taken up a holy army of monks, confronted John and, testifying against the new patriarch, warned him not to admit Severus into communion, but rather to protect the Council of Chalcedon, and, for its sake, to risk even his own blood. This he indeed did, revering the protestation of the Fathers and forgetting entirely his agreements with Olympius. Then, being variously agitated by the duke Anastasius who had been sent against him, he cautiously confessed the Catholic faith in the church of St. Stephen, contrary to the expectation of the duke who was present. Immediately, therefore, John ascended the pulpit, holding Sabas and Theodosius, the champions of piety, by both hands. And when he had sustained himself for a little while, he seemed to hear the multitude gradually whispering and saying that it was necessary to strike with anathema those who did not think correctly. Having accepted this as a kind of divine sign, and having had his heart filled with boldness, he emitted one voice with the multitude: if anyone does not think what Eutyches, Nestorius, Severus, and Soterichus, the bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, think, let him be anathema. Then the duke perceived the fraud, and fearing the unanimous consensus of the people, deemed it sufficient if he escaped by fleeing in silence, and he departed for Caesarea.
26. The same things are related in the first session of the seventh ecumenical council, or Nicaea II, where Saint Theodosius is set before the others: "John had with him Theodosius and Sabas, the leaders and guides of the monks." But the Latin Life of Sabas, after the anathemas pronounced by Patriarch John, adds: "Saying these things, they descended. And again, Abbot Theodosius, turning to the people, spoke thus with a loud voice: 'Whoever,' he said, 'does not accept the four councils just as the four Gospels, let him be anathema.' Having done these things, the duke, very much fearing the multitude of monks, fled to Caesarea. But the consul (Zacharias, nephew of the emperor), binding himself with many oaths, spoke thus to the venerable Fathers, saying: 'Because I came here, not that I might wish to consent to Severus, but that I might be able to merit your fellowship.' With this saying he offered one hundred pounds of gold to the holy Resurrection, and one hundred to holy Calvary, and one hundred to the holy Cross. Moreover, he also gave to the venerable Theodosius and our holy Father Sabas another hundred pounds of gold to distribute to the monks who were in the region. But the emperor Anastasius, when he had heard what had been done in Jerusalem, thought and devised a council to condemn Archbishop John, Theodosius, and Sabas to exile."
27. Lastly, the friendship of both and the proximity of their monasteries are indicated by various monks transferred from one to the other. Thus, a certain man named Jacob, having been expelled by Sabas from his monastery because of his perverse zeal for castration, was received through the intercession of Saint Theodosius; and when he had been ordered to go down to him and had greeted him, he fell asleep in piety. Saint Sabas also received into his monastery a certain Aphrodisius, who had been expelled by Saint Theodosius because he had killed a mule with a punch, and allowed him to go down to Saint Theodosius before his death so that he might obtain remission from him. Besides this, Saint Sabas, when he understood that two of his monks who lived in the Tower of the monasteries built by the empress Eudocia had fallen into the Nestorian heresy, obtained for them a place in the convent of Saint Theodosius, and he set John of Byzantium, a man excellent in character and doctrine, in charge of the care of the Tower.
A Let a deacon rather be sent. Those who seek refuge in the Church must be assisted with every effort. 8. If a brother sends to a brother, the metropolitan shall furnish the envoy with his letters, and shall write to those with whom the bishop requests that the envoy be received. 9. A scholasticus or a wealthy man B is not to be created a bishop unless he has passed through the sacred degrees. But the interval between the degrees must not be too short, so that there may be a better opportunity for proving his faith and probity. For he who is appointed otherwise is a neophyte. 10. A bishop summoned by [another] bishop, when the one who summons him happens to be a layman, should not speak too frequently; for this is a reproach to the layman and [looks like] a courting of the bishopric for himself, and both are not blameless. It is unworthy, except in case of grievous necessity, for a bishop to be absent from his own church for too long a time. 11. If a bishop who possesses property beyond his own borders intends to visit it, he should not linger longer than the space of three Sundays. For thus his own flock will enjoy his presence, and he himself will remain free from vanity. 12. He who deems one who has been excommunicated worthy of communion, knowing his status, is not guiltless. 13. He who has been condemned by an irascible man and is in need of assistance is not to be denied a hearing. But he shall remain excommunicated until he has obtained aid. 14. Anyone who institutes a strange minister into a grade without the consent of his own bishop, indeed institutes him, but the ordination is invalid. 15. The terms defined regarding the slowness C of bishops have force also regarding presbyters and deacons. 16. A bishop unjustly expelled, if he resides in a foreign church, should be received until he has repelled the injury and is restored to his former status. 17. A cleric who does not perform duties in the church in which he was ordained is not to be received. Eutychian and Museus, however, shall not claim for themselves the title of bishop; they shall, however, obtain communion with the laity, if they so wish. 18. He who attempts to undermine with arrogance things that have been well and godly established is not a bishop. And if a bishop sees a bishop going to the imperial court, let him not be an obstacle to him if he knows he is traveling for any of the reasons stated above; but otherwise, let him denounce excommunication upon him. D
Epitome of the canons of the holy fathers at Gangra
1. To him who rejects legitimate marriage, and to him who condemns one who eats meat, apart from what is strangled and offered to idols, anathema. 2. To him who persuades a slave to depart from his master under the pretext of piety, and to him who hesitates to receive communion from presbyters joined in matrimony, anathema. 3. To him who calls the house of God contemptible, and
A who holds private ecclesiastical gatherings, and performs the duties of the Church without the judgment of the bishop or presbyter, let him be anathema. 4. He who gives or receives offerings outside the Church, contrary to the judgment of the bishop or presbyter, let him be anathema. 5. He who practices virginity not for the sake of goodness, but because he abominates marriage, or exalts himself against those who are married, let him be anathema. 6. He who holds in contempt those who call him to love, and does not communicate with them when invited; and he who treats those who wear sheepskins B with contempt; and whatever women wear men’s garments, and whoever among those separated from their husbands disdain marriage; and those who abandon their children and do not instruct them in piety, and children who depart from their unbelieving parents—let them be anathema. 7. Whatever women cut their hair while pretending piety; and he who fasts on the Lord’s Day, and he who overturns the ecclesiastical fasts; and he who despises the gatherings at the houses of the martyrs, let him be anathema.
Epitome of the canons of the Synod of Antioch
1. He who attempts to alter the lawful tradition of Pascha, if he be a layman, let him be cast out; if he be a cleric, let him be excluded from the Church. 2. He who enters the church and listens to the holy Scripture, but then goes out and despises the liturgy, and turns away from communion, is to be cast out. 3. He who communicates with an excommunicated person is considered excommunicate; and he who prays with those who do not pray with the Church is guilty; and he who receives one who does not gather in the church is not without blame. 4. A bishop deposed by a synod, and a presbyter or deacon removed from his rank by a bishop, if he performs his duties through contumacy, is past hope. 5. Every presbyter or deacon who despises his bishop and separates from him, and builds another altar, if he persists in his arrogance after being summoned twice or three times by the bishop, let him be deposed and left without hope of restoration. 6. As for a cleric or layman excommunicated by a bishop, if a greater synod receives or condemns him C, it is necessary to acquiesce to the decision. 7. A stranger who does not bring letters of peace is not to be received. 8. A presbyter living in the country shall not give canonical letters, except to his own neighboring bishop. D 9. The bishops are to depend on the opinion of the metropolitan, and to manage nothing of his providence without him, except for those things that pertain to their own diocese and the ordination of blameless men. 10. The chorepiscopus ordains exorcists, readers, subdeacons, and cantors; but he does not ordain a presbyter or deacon without the bishop of the city; but he who
dares to transgress this, let him be deposed. The city bishop makes a chorepiscopus. A
11. If a bishop or presbyter approaches the emperor of his own accord, without the order of the metropolitan of the province, let him forfeit both communion and his dignity.
12. If a deposed man harasses the ears of the emperor, let him request a greater synod, and stand by its decree. But if he is angered again, there is no hope for him of recovering his former dignity.
13. If any bishop, at no one’s request, goes to another province and ordains [someone], and administers affairs, these things remain void, and he shall be deposed. B
14. If, when a bishop is being judged, the bishops of the province disagree, others from neighboring places must be called in to decide the controversy with certainty.
15. If, when a bishop is being judged, every bishop of the province is found to be of one mind, no retrial occurs.
16. Whoever, without a full synod and the metropolitan himself, leaps into a vacant church, even if he himself is without a position, is to be ejected.
17. Whoever is excommunicated after receiving ordination, and scorns this, [stays excommunicated] until he repents and submits. C
18. Let the bishop who has been ordained, but is not received by the city, enjoy his honor, and let him perform priestly functions only, awaiting whatever the synod of the province might pronounce.
19. Without a synod and the metropolitan, let there be no bishop. But if, on account of some difficulty, not all can gather, let the majority in the meantime assent even by letter. If, however, when the matter is finished in this way, some contend, let the vote of the majority prevail. D
20. Let a bishop not be compelled, either by the people or by bishops, to move to another parish.
21. Let not a bishop presume to ordain anyone from city to city, except by the opinion of the bishop of that city. If he does so, the ordination is invalid, and he is himself liable to judgment.
22. Let not a bishop, at the end of his life, appoint another bishop in his place; but after he has fallen asleep, let a worthy man be proposed with the assembly of those who have the authority.
23. All things of the church are to be known to the whole clergy, so that when the bishop is dying, the things belonging to the church may be preserved; but the things belonging to the bishop shall be administered according to his own disposition.
24. Let the bishop be lord of the things of the church; but if he is not satisfied with what suffices, and transfers the property and revenues of the church to outsiders without the counsel of the clergy, let him undergo the judgment of the synod. If he even claims for himself what is owed to the poor, let him also render an account to the synod in this way.
Epitome of the Canons of the Synod of Laodicea
1. If a bigamist has not entered into marriage secretly, after having undergone a slight penance, let him be considered innocent. A 2. Those who are entangled in various faults, if they confess them, let them repent in proportion to them, and they are easily received. 3. One who has recently been enlightened is not fit for holy orders. 4. A priest does not accept usury. 5. Ordinations are not to take place in the presence of hearers (catechumens). 6. The sanctuary is inaccessible to heretics. 7. Novatians and Quartodecimans are not to be received unless they anathematize other heresies and their own. After the anathema, however, having been anointed, let them communicate. B 8. Phrygians who are repentant are to be re-baptized, even if they have been enrolled in the clergy among them. 9. Whoever prays in the cemeteries and memorial chapels of heretics is excommunicated. 10. Presbytides (women elders) are not to be baptized in the church. 11. Do not enter into alliance with a heretic. 12. One who is most approved in faith and conduct and most learned is fit to be ordained bishop. 13. One elected by seculars is not to be ordained. 14. It is unworthy for the holy things to be sent to another parish. C 15. No one is to ascend the ambo except those who read from the codex. 16. Gospels and epistles are to be read on the Sabbath. 17. In the assemblies, let the readings be followed by the psalms. 18. At the Ninth Hour and at Vespers, let the same prayers be performed. 19. After the prayer of the catechumens, let the prayers of the penitents be offered, and after this, that of the faithful; and after the peace, let the oblation be made, with only the priests sitting near the sanctuary. 20. A deacon is not to sit without an order. 21. A subdeacon may not touch the vessels, for he is not vested with an orarion. D 22. A cantor and a reader do not wear an orarion. 23. Every cleric must not enter a tavern. 24. A subdeacon does not give the bread and the cup. 25. One not promoted by the bishop does not exercise the office of exorcist. 26. A cleric is not led into shares from the hearth. 27. Accubita (sofa-meals) and agapae (love feasts) are not held in the churches. 28. A Christian shall not keep the Sabbath, but shall rest on the first day, that is, the Lord's Day. 29. One must be restrained from entering into unlawful bathing with women. 30. One must neither receive nor give children to heretics in marriage. 31. The blessings of heretics are to be considered as nonsensical.
32. He who honors the false martyrs of heretics, let him be anathema. A 33. He who holds separate gatherings and names angels, is akin to idolatry. 34. There shall not be a magician, or an enchanter, or a mathematician, or an astrologer, or a wearer of amulets, or one who claims to exercise priesthood. 35. You shall not celebrate festivals, nor exchange gifts, with Hebrews and gentiles. 36. He who is called to a synod and refuses, unless he is sick, is not without fault. 37. A cleric without commending letters, or unbidden, shall travel nowhere. 38. A minister, having left the doors, shall not pray. B 39. To women, the sanctuary is inaccessible. 40. He who is being baptized shall state the faith on the fifth day of the week. 41. And if he is in sickness, shortly after. 42. In Lent one must not make an offering, nor break the fast entirely, nor celebrate the memories of the martyrs, except on Sundays and Saturdays. 43. In Lent, neither marriage nor birthdays are celebrated. 44. To play the flute at weddings, or to dance, is unworthy. 45. However, one in holy orders must depart before the entry of the theatrical performers. 46. Neither cleric nor layman shall hold communal banquets. C 47. A presbyter shall not enter upon the dais before the bishop, nor sit. 48. A bishop is not to be appointed for a village or town; if, however, one is appointed, he shall not administer anything without the bishop of the city. 49. A bishop or presbyter shall not offer the oblation in private houses. 50. Private books are not to be read in temples.
Epitome of the Canons of the Council of Carthage.
1. If bishops depose a bishop, if he appeals to the one of Rome, he shall be granted a hearing, especially with the Roman pontiff writing or commanding. 2. Since the acts of the Council of Nicaea have not been found, it is fitting for the bishop of Rome to write to the bishop of Constantinople or of Alexandria, and receive them from there, and present them to us. D 3. A presbyter and deacon who has been excommunicated has the liberty to appeal to neighbors. If, however, the one who excommunicated him bears it with patience, he is bound to accept what will be confirmed. 4. Things permitted by the Council of Nicaea to all are unchangeable. 5. Nothing that differs from the Trinity is either known or taught, according to the confirmation of those in Nicaea. 6. A bishop, and a presbyter, and a deacon
be pure and continent, and abstain from his wife, so that they may obtain what they ask.
7. In matters where a layman is corrected, a cleric is condemned more severely.
8. A presbyter who is condemned by his own bishop shall be allowed to appeal to neighboring bishops; but if he does not appeal and yet offers the sacrifice to God, committing schism and being puffed up, let him be anathema. A
9. If a bishop be deposed, provided a full synod is not present, twelve bishops shall keep watch over him in the meantime; and for a presbyter, six; and for a deacon, three.
10. By order of the primate, three bishops shall appoint a bishop; whoever dissents from his own confession or subscription shall be branded with disgrace by his own judgment.
11. Because of the want in Tripoli, even one bishop is sufficient for a deputation. B
12. If a bishop or cleric, having a criminal case brought against him, abandons the Church and runs to public courts, and is acquitted, let him lose his own rank; if he also prevails in a civil matter, if he persists in this, he shall also lose his own rank.
13. Ecclesiastical judges, if they cannot be proven to have acted out of favor or enmity, one who has appealed is not to be protected.
14. If the parties choose judges, they shall not withdraw from them.
15. A priest shall not become a curator.
16. A lector who has reached puberty must profess either continence or marriage. C
17. He who is advanced as a deacon before the age of twenty-five is no deacon.
18. A lector shall not bow down to the people.
19. The candidate who is to be ordained shall give heed to the matters which have been determined by the synods.
20. To the body of the deceased, the Eucharist is not to be given, for it neither eats nor drinks.
21. Through ignorance, a presbyter shall not baptize the dead.
22. A bishop who is accused and brought to judgment shall have two months' grace, in case the other party needs the help of any delay. Afterward, however, if he does not appear, he is deprived of communion; but if the accused flees when the accuser is present, he shall be deprived of communion. D
23. An accuser who is slandered is no longer an accuser.
24. Children of clerics are not to be joined to heretics in marriage.
25. Those who handle sacred things must abstain from their wives according to their own rules.
26. Church property is not to be sold. But if it has no income, it may be sold with the judgment of the bishops. If necessity does not allow for such consultation, the seller shall call upon the neighboring bishops. If he does not do this, he shall be held guilty before God and the council.
27. A presbyter who is convicted and repents, as one who will succeed, is not rebaptized, nor is he again ordained as a layman.
A One might call those virtuous souls "rational deer," yearning for spiritual waters; and many others, including not a few of those endowed with high status and great riches, joined them. The number of the disciples was already large, but the cave was small and quite insufficient for their accommodation; the disciples themselves kept pressing him, urging him to build a monastery, so that he might enlarge the fold of their spiritual sheep, telling him not to worry about the expenses for the building, for they said that their hands were sufficient for the cost, and their will was even more generous than their hands. Thus, as the truly good shepherd was pressed into the duty of presiding over a larger flock, it is impossible to say how many anxieties he was tossed by, and how he was divided in his thoughts. For whenever he looked toward the good of stillness, and the purity and calm of the mind, he would grieve at being torn away from this dear silence, as if from a mother. But when he looked toward the duty of caring for those who gathered around him, and that one must not live for oneself alone, but much more for one's neighbor—seeing that the common Lord himself set this pattern from the beginning, he who gathered disciples for himself, appeared as a shepherd of rational sheep, and laid down his soul for them.
24. When he pondered these things at leisure, his mind was pulled in different directions, and he could not clearly settle on one. For he was not ignorant of the fruits of stillness, but he also knew what the fruits of caring for the brothers were; and for this reason he clung to both, and was not entirely devoted to either, and he kept withdrawing from each, and then returning to both. What then does he do? He entrusts everything to God, who alone can mingle things that cannot be mingled; and he trusts in His inclination, that it might be possible for him both to preserve the good of stillness and not miss out on the rewards for leadership. For, as the divine David defined it, the monastic life is perfected not in the solitude of the body, but rather in the stability and calm of the heart. Indeed, even with this judgment, he still leaves it to God and becomes His suppliant, if the undertaking—for he had in mind what the divine Symeon had long ago prophesied concerning him—were at all pleasing to Him; he asks that He manifest this by a sign, and clearly point out the place where he was to lay the foundations of the monastery.
25. B Having therefore taken a censer into his hands and filled it with coals, and then, without fire, having placed incense upon it, he walked through the wilderness, chanting a prayer with his lips. The prayer was as follows: "O God, who didst confirm Israel of old through many and great miracles, who through many and various wonders didst persuade Thy servant Moses to undertake the leadership over them, and didst change the rod into a snake, and the hand into snowy leprosy, and then didst restore to it its former color; Thou who turnest water into blood, and easily restorest the same back into water; Thou who [didst grant] to Gideon as a sign of victory the fleece
A 28. He who is excommunicated and communicates, has passed a sentence of condemnation upon himself. 29. If an accuser pleads the length of a journey, he shall bring the witnesses to the nearest place. 30. He who is summoned to a higher honor and does not obey, shall be deprived even of the honor he already possesses. 31. He who, after having been promoted, acquires a field, having previously had nothing, must acknowledge that he offers this to the Church, unless it has come to him by succession of kin or by pure liberality. A presbyter shall not sell any matter belonging to the Church without the bishop, nor shall a bishop sell any estate unless the synod has examined it. 32. No one is to be ordained who has not made all in his house orthodox. 33. Bread and wine mixed with water shall be offered, and nothing else. B 34. Clerics and those living in continence shall not approach widows or virgins, unless by the order of the bishops and presbyters; and thus, not alone, but with those whom the bishop or presbyters bring with them. 35. The holy mysteries are not to be offered except by those who are fasting. 36. A cleric shall not feast in church. 37. She who withdraws from her father for the sake of virginity shall be entrusted to the most honorable women. 38. A stage-player who turns back is to be received into penance. 39. Re-baptisms, re-ordinations, and translations of bishops shall not take place. 40. Cresconius, having abandoned his own people, has invaded the church of Tubia. And because he is not moved, though warned ecclesiastically, he shall be restrained by judicial authority. C 41. He who thinks to be satisfied with his own crowds, and despises brotherly love, shall be deprived even of his own public authority. 42. If Julian ordains the reader of Epigonius as deacon, unless he produces him before he is compelled by judicial authority, he shall increase the penalties for his own contumacy. 43. A deacon is not even found in the region of the Africans due to scarcity, let alone ministers of a higher grade. 44. Because of necessity, those who were baptized as infants among the Donatists, if they have repented and anathematized that heresy, and are found worthy in other respects, shall be ordained. 45. The remnants of idols shall be utterly destroyed. 46. Spectacles shall not be held on Sundays and feast days. 47. Banquets which are celebrated according to pagan custom shall be abolished. 48. Those ordained by the Donatists, even if they have been excluded by the transmarine council, shall be received if they repent and correct themselves, since it is good that all be saved. 49. If witnesses are not [present] on behalf of those of other lands...
A And the place where they are received, and the manner in which they are cared for, is assigned variously to this one or that. One thing is exhibited to all equally, namely the profound cheerfulness and kindness of the hospitality. Furthermore, Theodosius took great care of the poor: whose poverty he overcame by provision, and yet he held it in turn inferior to his own resolve; just as he indeed always had his own resolve overcome by the great gift of the Spirit, as will be shown shortly. And this is very reasonable, and consistent with the facts. For if he, being a man himself, strove to overcome the desires of needy men with the greatness of his resolve, how was the human resolve not to be in turn surpassed by divine riches and kindness?
28. B But he was so full of sympathy for all who were simply oppressed by need, that he increased his compassion all the more for those over whom suffering was intensified, and with whom, besides poverty, there was also disease, or the gnawing mutilation of limbs, or even that holy [affliction] which is the most grievous. For this reason, he was an eye to the blind, a foot to the lame, clothing for the naked, shelter for the homeless, a doctor to the sick, a provider, a minister, a servant, becoming all things to all men because of the abundance of his humanity; washing away blood, cleansing wounds, bringing his lips to the lips of those whose flesh was mutilated, and so very wisely comforting them and persuading them to bear their calamity with moderation, in that they knew that those who are wise not only do not turn away from such people, but rather count them blessed and embrace them. C He did not, however, behave with the pride and inhumanity of many people, who, when they ought to be winning for themselves the kindness and mercy of God by having compassion on their brothers—these people (O, the inhumanity!) are so haughty and high-minded, or (to speak more truly) are too much lovers of themselves and so petty and abject in soul, that not only do they not receive them, but they cannot even bring themselves to look upon them: just as if they did not wish to remember or even know at all, that they themselves are also flesh subject to such afflictions. But this blessed one was not so; rather, he was (as we have said) of a great and generous soul. And many are the witnesses of this, especially those who laboured with him in this ministry; D who, although at first they might have turned away from these extremely humane and compassionate things just as others did, yet afterwards, having revered his outstanding moderation, were persuaded to think rightly, and in accordance with human weakness and humility.
29. Therefore, if anyone should call him a common harbor, a common infirmary, a common hearth, a common storehouse, he would speak rightly and in accordance with the truth, for the sick, the hungry, the shivering, and the wayfarers. For he took the care that was appropriate to them all. But one who was despised or looked down upon—if you had sought anyone there of low estate, you would have found no one; but for this very reason, I say, that he was lowly and humble, if you had searched there, you would have found no one; but for this very reason, I say, it was the lowly one, and the least, and one deemed worthy of greater care; since even Christ is in the least, and the...
they shall testify that the infants have been baptized, and if they themselves do not remember having received baptism, they shall be baptized. A
58. That the bishop may not be harassed, there shall be defenders.
51. A cleric convicted of a crime, if he says he wishes to defend his own case, let him compete within a year; but after this, let him be inadmissible.
52. Whoever receives someone from another monastery and promotes him to the clerical state, or [promotes] the leadership of his own monastery, shall be excommunicated.
53. A bishop who writes heretics or Greeks as heirs, let him be anathema.
54. Altars set up in fields or vineyards, in which the relic of no martyr lies, unless a public disturbance arises, are to be torn down.
55. Likewise, and those set up through vain dreams and revelations, unsubstantiated, are to be treated as empty and idols.
56. You shall not prefer yourself to those before you, but shall follow them. But he who despises those who came before is to be despised.
57. He who has been ordained in Africa shall produce the handwritten document of the one who laid hands upon him.
58. But kings born in piety and raised in the faith ought to extend a hand of support to the Churches; for even when Paul was in need, a military hand dissolved the conspiracy of the disorderly B.
59. A heretic is incapable of being a legate, and unworthy of leaving or receiving [the favor of] association; but he who converts is worthy.
60. Defenders are provided because of ecclesiastical difficulties.
61. And defenders have the authority of defense.
62. Those who convert from the Donatists, and ask for their own bishops who have converted, are not to be rejected; but when this man has died, if they do not receive another, if they flee to another bishop, let them remain.
63. Separated spouses, if they are not reconciled, let them remain so; but if not, they are compelled to penance. C
64. He who seeks a public judgment from the emperor is not a bishop.
65. He who says that the first-formed man would have died even without sin because of the necessity of nature, let him be anathema.
66. He who says that newborn infants being baptized do not draw from the sin of Adam that which is cleansed, let him be accursed; for through the one, both death and sin are universal.
67. He who teaches that the grace of God provides solely the forgiveness of sins already committed, but not also help against future ones, let him be twice accursed. D
vilis et minimus, majorem consequeretur curationem; quoniam Christus quoque est inter minimos, et quæ sunt illorum, aperte sibi tribuit. Quare eorum qui expellerentur, nulla illic habebatur ratio. Nullus despiciebatur, nullusque indignus reputabatur commiseratione. B Quod quidem patrum quoque nonnullis non est admodum facile servare in filios. Sed aliis quidem vestes quoque dabantur, quibus iis erat opus: omnibus similiter dabantur alimenta. Atque meminerunt quidem, qui ad hæc ministrabant, se uno die plusquam centum mensas parasse. Et humanus quidem misericordiæ fons erat hujusmodi, et tam aliunde scaturiens. Dei autem fons qualis? Nunquid est manifestum, quod multis atque adeo infinitis partibus superabat? Nunc autem declarabit oratio, quibusnam indiciis, et finem imponet ei, quod est pollicita.
30. Castigabat aliquando terram Deus, castigabat autem fame: erat autem non brevis aliqua fames, neque in hos quidem dominabatur, in alios vero non; sed ex æquo omnes invaserat flagellum. Cum sic autem affligerentur homines, ut eorum, quæ scelerate fecerant, poenas darent (malorum enim studiorum hæc esse fructum, dicit divinus Michæas), et adesset dies festus Palmarum, quo pauperum et agrestium multitudo, festi accepta occasione, in eum locum convenerat, jam hoc quidem pro more facentes, sed tunc magis a fame jussi. Qui itaque ad parandum prandium inserviebant, ad tantam caligantes multitudinem, conabantur quibusdam libris et trutinis alimentum distribuere, ut hac accurata subtilique ratione et parcitate posset pluribus alimentum sufficere. C Pondus autem eis ad libram, ut dixerit quispiam utens lingua Romanorum, redibat. Accedens autem magnus ille, cum id quod fiebat, visu apprehendisset, et a magna multitudine vim afferri januis, et idem quod Job, didicisset sentire et dicere: Foris non diversabatur hospes, et patebat ostium omni viatori; jubet portas aperiri, et permittere, ut omnes volentes possent ingredi: et hominibus mensas consuetas apponere, quos difficile erat vel numerare, non solum eos cibo satiare. Quicunque ergo ei erant inservituri, quando ad solam tantummodo aspiciebant multitudinem, non credebant: tantum abest, ut aliquid facerent, propterea quod modum jussio superabat. Postquam autem aspexerunt ad virtutem et gratiam ejus, qui jubebat, ab humanis destiterunt, et altius aspexerunt, et portas statim aperuerunt, et lubenter admiserunt eos qui veniebant: et deinde etiam parandis mensis dabant operam, et hilariter ea etiam apponebant, quæ habebant. Quid ergo Deus admirabilium? Rursus quoque suffecit ad paucis alendam magnam multitudinem, sicut etiam prius quinque panibus quinque millia. D Simul ergo eorum impleti sunt ventres, et arcæ panariæ ostendebantur plenæ panibus: et illi quidem existimabant fore, ut omnia deficerent: eæ vero erant plenæ, et plura tenebant quam præbuerant, et
68. He who preaches that, apart from grace, we find it more difficult, yet still fulfill the commandments, is accursed; for the Lord said: "Without me you can do nothing." A
69. He who interprets the saying of the Theologian, "If we say that we have no sin in us, we deceive ourselves," as though he had said this not truly but out of humility, is anathema. B
70. He who paraphrases "Forgive us our debts" in such a way as to say they are the debts of the many, and not that each person should say they are his own and personal, is anathema; for he sees Daniel saying with the many: "We confess our sins and the sins of the people." C
71. Those who have converted from Donatus shall divide the dioceses, and the senior shall make the division, but the junior shall choose. D
72. If anyone converts a location to the orthodox faith and holds it for three years, he shall be beyond reproach; and similarly, a bishop converted from Donatus, if he brings a legal claim within three years of his conversion, shall have the right to do so.
73. A judge requested by both parties cannot be rejected.
74. A bishop who is negligent in providing care for heretics, and who, even after being advised, remains in his own diocese for six months without reproach, is blameless. But if he persists in such sloth after this, he shall be excommunicated.
75. A priest and deacon who have a grievance against their bishop shall appeal to neighboring bishops, and shall not cross the sea.
76. If the bishops who have come to the council cannot wait there for a long time, let them select three from each province.
77. He who is excommunicated does not bear witness.
78. Nor does a slave.
79. Nor a freedman, nor one who has been previously accused of any of those crimes for which one is barred from public court, nor a stage-actor.
80. Nor a pagan, nor a heretic, nor a Jew.
81. Nor one who has brought many accusations and proven none; nor one who is not yet fourteen years of age.
82. An accuser shall not present witnesses from his own household.
83. If a bishop says that his neighbor confessed a crime to him in private, and the neighbor denies it, he is not easily believed.
84. A bishop who has deprived one of communion who has not been convicted of a crime, shall himself likewise be deprived of the communion of others.
Epitome of the Canons of Saint Basil
1. A heretic is one who is alien to the faith; but one who holds a different view regarding some corrigible matter is a schismatic. And those who gather together those who are insubordinate, acting against...
rationis compotes, intelligere ac noscere opificem et auxiliatorem, et non esse ingrati in eum, qui eis dederat gratiam; ii experti sunt eum valde benignum, et paterne in ipsos se gerentem. Pro eis enim accendebatur, tanquam pro filiis propriis, et alioqui benevole in eos afficiebatur. Cumque eis constituisset locum quietum et tranquillum, permisit ut in eo agerent: ut esset ei quodammodo alterum monasterium, et ob multitudinem eorum, qui erant congregati, et ob ordinem ministerii, et ob statum eorum qui ministrabant, et ob sumptum eorum, quæ suppeditabantur.
35. B Magis ergo quam aliorum, homo Dei, sicut diximus, vincebatur ipsorum commiseratione, et in eis recreandis magnam adhibebat curam et diligentiam, et eos consolabatur verbis aptis ad persuadendam tolerantiam. Nequaquam, o filii, dicens, nequaquam resolvamini, et enervamini hac temporali afflictione. Neque hoc verbis videatur optandum, a Deo omnino non corrigi. "In laboribus enim," inquit, "et in flagellis castigare Jerusalem" (Jerem. vi, 8 juxta LXX). Sic dicit Deus per Jeremiam: Anima mea nunquam a te deficiat. Castigat enim, sed benigne: "Et castigat omnem filium, quem recipit" (Hebr. XII, 6), possum discere ex divina Scriptura, adeo ut disciplina ejus et castigatio non sit iræ, sed dilectionis, ad correctionem peccatorum, inducta propter benignitatem. Bonum est ergo, o fratres, et valde bonum, cum hic spiritualiter castigati fuerimus, illic Dominicas plagas non experiri: et cum hic ad tempus afflicti fuerimus, quæ finem non habent tormenta effugere. C Hic enim nihil pati, longe est gravius quam pati: et excedere e vita absque tentationibus, ut cujus non fuerit purgata materia peccatorum multis afflictionibus, quod est apertum indicium terribilium afflictionum, et nothorum potius, quam germanorum filiorum signum evidens. Quanquam ne illud quidem omnino conturbabit animum eorum qui sapiunt, si figmenti divini dæmon evadit dominus. Nam datur quidem eis potestas ab eo, qui creavit, tanquam quibusdam punitoribus (hei mihi!), ad castigationem filiorum qui declinarunt. Datur autem, quantum ille novit sufficere ad castigationem, non quantum ipsi volunt. Vix enim parcerent hominibus, qui ne brutis quidem pepercerunt, ut sacra docent Evangelia (Matth. VIII, 32). Conspiciamur ergo per hanc disciplinam sensum accipere eorum quæ peccavimus, et non egere aliis plagis gravioribus, quod incorrecti maneamus post plagam. D Efficiamur probati per afflictionem; quod contra nostram voluntatem est illatam, fiat etiam proprium voluntatis, in eo quod moderate feramus ea quæ contigerunt: et gratias agamus ei, qui intulit disciplinam legibus benignitatis. Ipse percussit, et ipse nos sanabit. Et hoc habeo a prophetis: "Percutiet et alligabit, et non tardabit ad curationem" (Ose. vi, 1).
the Church, are to be shunned. A The baptism of a heretic is not to be accepted; that of a schismatic and of one who holds separate meetings is to be accepted. The Pepusians call Montanus that Paraclete. Whence also those baptized into him are deemed not to have been baptized. The baptism of the Cathars, and the Hydroparastatae, and the Encratites, although it is not to be accepted because the Holy Spirit is lacking among them, yet for the sake of dispensation let it be accepted.
2. Whoever deliberately destroys a fetus, whenever they destroy it, is held for homicide.
3. A deacon who has fornicated, having been relegated to the place of the laity, let him not be prevented from communion.
4. A digamist is excommunicated for one or two years; a trigamist for three or four, and five, in accordance with the custom which has prevailed until now.
5. A heretic who repents at the end of his life is to be received after examination. B
6. If a cleric is joined in marriage, he is to be separated.
7. Corrupters of males, and murderers, and poisoners, and idolaters are to be received according to the ancient form.
8. A murderer is one who, in anger, has used an ax against his wife.
9. An involuntary murderer is one who, having cast a stone at a dog, hits a man, or one who corrects with a strap or a reed; but he who in a fight has struck with a club or with his hand upon vital parts and has killed, approaches nearly to the voluntary.
10. He who has used a sword or any such instrument is altogether a voluntary murderer. Likewise the robber, and the enemy, and he who gives poison for any other cause, if he kills, is voluntary. C
11. Also those who give and those who receive abortifacients.
12. According to the word of the Lord, husband and wife are condemned likewise when separated on account of fornication; but custom does not separate the adulterer and the fornicator from their spouses. If any woman is joined to a man dismissed [by his wife], she is not perhaps an adulteress; for the blame is to be cast upon the one who dismissed [her] without reason; or she is an adulteress if she is joined to another; but the one who was dismissed is worthy of pardon. But he who, having left his wife, goes to another, is himself an adulterer, and causes her to commit adultery, as well as the woman who lives with him.
13. You shall not compel one who has sworn [if he has not been ordained] not to be ordained.
14. The involuntary murderer shall be subject to penance for ten years.
15. The digamist is also excluded from the clergy.
16. One who is an enemy of piety shall be subject to penance for three years. D
Epistle II of the same author
1. The presbyter Bianor, having sworn and repenting, because of the levity of that oath, is to be received.
2. After one year the Fathers used to receive the virgins who had fallen after their profession. But because...
A And, following these things, all are gathered into one—except for those possessed by demons—into the great church of the Greeks; and this they do even to this day, and they partake of the sanctified gifts there. But who [could describe] the shepherds, I say, and the flock? And would one prize the virtue of his [flock] or the multitude? For throughout his entire life, those whom he begat in a spiritual sense, and raised in a fatherly manner, and afterwards sent onwards to God—having finished their lives well—were six hundred and ninety-three in number. And those whom he [trained] after that one, as he led the monastery, were more than four hundred, preserving the clear character of his paternal virtue, sons loving their father, and children exceptionally cherished by their father. The cause of the affection in both cases was not nature—a thing worthy of praise and rewards—but a good disposition loving what is beautiful, and for this reason, entirely worthy of crowns. And I could tell with great pleasure how many shepherds, how many bishops his instruction produced; and how many of his own sheep became shepherds in turn and took charge of sacred monasteries, not themselves enamored of authority, but rather judged worthy to rule, fitting to be entrusted with the oversight of souls; and how many lived by themselves out of a desire for stillness (hesychia) and for greater struggles, for some of whom the ascetic life extended to eighty years, and the great number of these years gathered for them B a wealth of spiritual richness. Through all these things, Theodosius was known and proclaimed, and his golden lineage was preserved for him (by which I mean, does not the better part excel in honor?); through which his fruits and sheaves were multiplied, and his reward increased. Therefore, the discourse would have gladly mentioned each one of them, if it were not itself extending toward immeasurability. It is necessary, then, to summarize by saying that almost no region was left behind that did not enjoy the oversight and also the benefit from him.
C Since, therefore, the fame of this divine man was already coursing through the whole world, and he was drawing towards himself souls that loved virtue, many of the soldiers, bidding long farewells to wars, were transferring themselves into his phalanx. And many of those in high positions and glittering with honors, despising these things just like dreams—or rather, leaving them behind as if they were other sirens exerting a spell unto the ruin of those who pay attention to them—were crossing over to him with their whole stride, believing that being despised for Christ’s sake is a true glory, and better even than kingship itself. Many, too, of those who had shone greatly in learning D [index: entries preserved]
A the Church has become stronger, we call one who has confessed her virginity and fallen an adulteress, and he who keeps such a one an adulterer. A virgin is acknowledged to be one who has reached the age of about seventeen years, and who is examined, and who persists in her request.
3. And he who renounces the world shall be questioned, and shall clearly confess, so that if he changes his mind, he may be rebuked.
4. A virgin who has fallen into heresy, if she afterwards repents and receives [penance], she is punished.
5. A man shall receive her who has been defiled. But a man shall send away a wife who has been defiled; for a fornicator—not an adulterer—is he who, being joined to a wife, has relations with an unmarried woman.
6. He who carries off a betrothed woman shall restore her to the one who betrothed her; but if she is not betrothed, he shall place her with her relatives, and the marriage shall proceed according to their judgment, if they are willing. He himself shall know the penance for fornication.
7. It is impossible for a brother to have his sister as a wife.
8. If a widow who is serving [the Church] marries, she is despised. But he who is a widower, if he marries only once, let him know the penance of digamists. A widow who marries after sixty years of age is suspended from communion until she departs from her impurity. But if any one is enrolled before the sixty years, she shall be held liable for the crime.
9. Whoever has corrupted [a virgin] and is permitted to have her, let him know the penance.
10. If an unhappily married couple is separated on account of fornication, it is better; but if they are indivisibly joined, let it be permitted, receiving a penance.
11. A presbyter who through ignorance has entered into an unlawful marriage, let him enjoy only the honor of the presidency, being deprived of his active function.
12. He who has vowed to abstain from swine's flesh is ridiculous. He is to be received, however, if he should partake of it.
13. If swearing is forbidden, it is the more forbidden when it is for evil; so that you shall forbid not only the deed, but also the oath itself which arises from it.
14. A cleric who has committed a mortal sin shall communicate with the people; for one shall not be punished twice for the same fault. B
15. She who has given birth on the road and neglected the child is a murderess.
16. We have known that those who have committed adultery and are convicted are not to be publicly exposed; but we appoint that they be excluded from communion until they have fulfilled their penance.
17. If a woman has departed without reason, she herself is not blameless; but he who has remained is blameless.
18. Soldiers' wives who, because of the disappearance of their husbands, are joined to others, are more pardonable than others who do not wait for their husbands on account of their travels.
19. He who has dismissed his wife and takes another in freedom...
A, must indeed be rebuked for the first, but is free from blame for the second. 20. She who follows [a man] against the will of her father is judged a harlot; but if the parents are reconciled, and the act seems to have received a remedy, she shall nonetheless be subject to three years of penance. 21. She who lives with an adulterer commits adultery. 22. An enslaved woman who gives herself to a man commits fornication; but she who is joined with the consent of her master is married. For the things done by those who are subject to the power of others are invalid. 23. A widow who takes a husband is not subject to accusation. 24. A son who is under authority, and a slave, who contract marriage without the consent of their masters, are subject to blame. 29 B. He who strikes with intent to kill, both he who begins the blow and he who retaliates, is a homicide. 26. A deaconess who has been seduced by a Gentile and has repented, shall be subject to seven years of penance. 27. A Christian who insults Christ shall derive no fruit from his calling. 28. A certain woman married a man by ignorance who had been dismissed, and then he was restored to his first wife, but the woman who was dismissed is considered a harlot by ignorance, and if she wishes, she can marry; but it is better if she does not marry. 29. You shall rebaptize the Encratites, and the Sarcophori, and the Apotactites. For although they may say that they were baptized into the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, yet because they impiously assert, according to Marcion, that God is the author of evil, they are not to be received unless they are rebaptized. 30. She who has been dismissed by her husband must remain as she is; for if she commits adultery according to the Lord’s word, she is excluded from communion with another. 31. Defilement forced by violence carries no blame; and a slave woman being violated by her master is innocent. 32. The third marriage is illegal; yet as the affairs of the Church now stand, such acts, if they are not publicly denounced, are judged more tolerable than unbridled fornication.
The third epistle of the same
1. Clerics who fall into transgression are cast down from their ranks, whether they serve as ministers or have been ordained. 2. She who has caused the loss C of her fetus, through abandonment or lack of the necessities for life, is free from crime. 3. It is no great offense for a widowed slave to be carried off into a second marriage; yet she shall incur the penalty for bigamy. 4. The penalties for homicides are increased or diminished according to the nature of the circumstances. 5. The voluntary homicide shall be subject to twenty years of penance. 6. The involuntary [homicide] to ten years. 7. The adulterer to fifteen years. 8. The fornicator to seven years.A 9. Virgins who have lapsed after their profession, fifteen years. 10. He who has stolen and repented, one year; but if he is convicted, two years. 11. The sodomite, as the adulterer. 12. He who acts against nature, similarly. 13. The perjurer, ten years. 14. The sorcerer and poisoner, as the murderer. 15. The tomb-robber, ten years. 16. He who has defiled his sister, as the murderer. 17. A marriage forbidden in consanguinity, as adultery. 18. A reader who enters into a contract before marriage with his betrothed must remain a reader without promotion; but he who has entered into a clandestine marriage shall be expelled. 19. A deacon and presbyter who have confessed to having sinned with their lips, shall be removed from the ministry and be admitted to communion. 20. He who is privy to another's sin and conceals it, is subject to equal punishment. 21. He who has denied Christ, let him do penance for his whole life. 22. Let not him who has been defiled with his sister or betrothed enter the temple. If, however, he has desisted from the sin, let him weep for three years, and be subject to six years of penance. B 23. He who has left his own wife and taken another, being an adulterer, let him be subject to seven years of penance. 24. He who is mad for his stepmother, as he who is mad for his sister. 25. Polygamists are beast-like; but yet let them be received after three years. 26. Let those who have violated the faith through torture do penance for eight years; but those who have done so of their own accord, twelve. 27. He who has perjured himself through duress is to be received after six years; but if without necessity, after twelve. 28. Do not judge penances by time, but by the manner; but if they continue in their sins and object, do you save your own soul.
The Council of CLXV Fathers convened in Trullo at Constantinople under C Justinian, who is called the "Slit-Nosed."
1. Let the faith of the apostles remain unchanged. And may the Council of Nicaea, which is complete, which destroyed the opinion of Arius introducing degrees of divinity through the consubstantial, remain. May the Council held under Theodosius the Great, which is inviolate, remain, which deposed Macedonius for saying the Holy Spirit is a servant. The two hundred who gathered at Ephesus under Theodosius the Younger cast out the most impious Nestorius, who called the Lord a man separately and God separately. Those who gathered at Chalcedon with Marcian, D worthy of eternal memory, deposed Eutyches for daring to say that the great mystery was performed by appearance only; and Nestorius and Dioscorus, who had argued things similar to him in a diametrically perverse manner; [gathering] at the royal city, one hundred and sixty-five [bishops] under the aforementioned, concerning the consubstantial...
[The council members] A agreed, and condemned Origen, who asserted the cycles of bodies and souls, and likewise Theodoret, who had boldly inveighed against the twelve chapters of Cyril. At Byzantium, a synod was convened by Constantine Pogonatus, which cast out Honorius of Rome and Sergius of Constantinople, bishops who taught one will and one operation in their dogmas.
2. Works surreptitiously inserted by heretics into the Clementine Constitutions of the apostles are to be rejected.
3. Priests who are bigamists and impenitent are deposed from their rank; but those who have removed the evil from themselves shall abstain from the sacred office for a fixed time. For the wounded man does not bless, nor do those who have contracted marriage against the laws.
4. And those who have cohabited after ordination shall, after a fixed time, be restored to their degrees, yet in such a way that they are not promoted to higher ones, having of course dismissed their marriage. But those who, even after the fixed time, remain dissolute, shall be deposed. B
5. A cleric who joins himself to the bride of God shall be deposed; but a layman shall be excommunicated.
6. And a priest who is a eunuch shall not keep handmaidens or other persons, except those who are above suspicion.
7. The one who is ordained, if he is married, is deposed.
8. And a deacon having an office, unless he be the representative of the patriarch or bishop, if he sits before the presbyters, shall be the last of all. C
9. A cleric is forbidden to enter a tavern, and he is even more strictly forbidden to have one.
10. The unleavened bread of the Jews is to be abhorred. And whoever calls them as doctors, or bathes with them, is to be cast out.
11. Although it has been said that one should not cast out his wife, yet, looking to the advancement toward better things, we command the president who is being ordained that he no longer live with his wife.
12. Even if the Romans wish him who is promoted to be a deacon and presbyter to dismiss his wife, we wish the marriages of deacons and presbyters to remain in force. But whoever is forced to dissolve them, let him be deposed. D
13. A presbyter who is under thirty years of age, and a deacon under twenty-five, and a deaconess under forty, and a subdeacon under twenty, are to be deposed.
14. Let him who says that there are seven deacons according to what is said in the Acts, know that the discourse is not about those who serve the mysteries, but about those who ministered at tables.
15. He who receives a foreign cleric and ordains him, is deposed along with the one who was wrongly ordained.
16. He who has changed his location because of an incursion of barbarians, when the incursion has ceased, let him return to the [church] of his...
cleri- A cal appointment: but if not, let him be excommunicated along with the one who has received him.
17. Let the one who presides over an Church, in particular on the Lord’s days, teach the dogmas, and let him interpret them, not from his own mind, but as the holy Fathers have expounded.
18. He who has been perpetually deposed and thrust down into the order of the laity, if he is repentant, let him be tonsured and only that: but if not, let him nourish his hair.
19. And he who, when administering the immaculate communion, demands an obol or any other form of payment, let him be deposed.
20. Let a cleric who goes to the races, even if he does not recede from those of the theatre who are about to enter into marriage, be deposed.
21. Let rural and local parishes that have been held for thirty years remain [as they are]: but as for those held for less time, a controversy may be raised concerning them.
22. A presbyter who has fallen into an unlawful marriage, once deposed, let him participate in the cathedra only, having been purified of all contagion.
23. Some bring grapes to the bloodless sacrifice; it has been decreed that this is no longer to be dared.
24. Some of the Fathers used to offer the day of the divine supper after they had supped. It seemed decided to the synod, therefore, that this should no longer be done.
25. And let the priests who are in barbarian churches, if they refrain from the temporary intercourse of B their wives, nevertheless no longer have dealings with them in any manner whatsoever.
26. Unless with the consent of the bishop, you shall not offer in an oratory inside a house.
27. Chrysostom, when removing the heresy of the hydroparastae, says: "When the Lord suffered and rose again, He used wine." Taking this, the Armenians offer wine alone, not knowing that Chrysostom himself, and Basil, and James also used wine mixed with water and handed it down to us to offer in this way. If, therefore, anyone uses either wine alone or water alone, and not mixed, let him be deposed.
28. Let one worthy of ordination, both from the clerical line and from another, be ordained. But he who is not tonsured, even if he has obtained a blessing, shall not read the holy scriptures from the ambo.
29. When a bishop C dies, the clergy shall preserve his property; but if no cleric is left, let the metropolitan preserve it until the ordination of another.
30. A bishop who, because of an incursion of barbarians, has not stood upon his throne, let him obtain his own cathedra, and let him ordain, and let him perform all the functions of the priesthood with full validity.
31. Let a monk spend ten years in the monastic life; for even if the divine Basil thought fit for her who has been tonsured to complete the seventeenth year, yet because the Apostle commanded that a widow be chosen for the Church at sixty years of age, the Fathers said that a deaconess...
A stood sadly near the choir of those around them, and looking toward one of them—who was the most God-beloved Isidore, who ruled over the pious Laura of Soukas—she signified, by her demeanor, her gaze, and the flood of her tears, the pain that strongly tormented her. Then, having approached him more closely (for the pain did not allow her to maintain the modesty fitting for women to keep), she asked if the great Theodosius was also among this holy multitude, and what he was like in appearance; for the fame of the man had already sufficiently taken hold of her. And he, having learned the reason for which the inquiry was made, and having at once looked at the affliction, and marked how painful it was even just to look upon, and turning his face away from the bitterness of the spectacle, and next knowing that it belonged to him and to the Spirit that was in him to release such things with the powerful medicine of grace—since he himself was not ignorant of the power of the man in Christ—demonstrated the physician to the woman with his finger and accurately described him by signs.
B 68. She, for her part, approached noiselessly, thirsting greatly for him, and having that woman with the issue of blood in mind. When she was near, having quietly exposed her nipple and having allowed him to touch her cowl, she steals the healing again just as that woman did, and finds a release from her great pains without any effort; for as soon as she touched his garment, the pain departed, like darkness by the presence of light, or as grass is consumed by the onset of fire. C But he—for he could not be ignorant of what had been so beautifully and faithfully stolen—turned immediately, and having seen the woman, he dissolves the fear that had seized her into the great joy of her cure, saying, "Take heart, daughter, for my Master has said, 'Your faith has saved you.'" The divine Isidore, however, having immediately run quickly to the woman—for he desired to feast his own eyes on the miracle—and having then arrived and looked more carefully, sees the breast so healthy and without pain, that not even a scar nor any trace remained of the very grievous wound of a little while before. Thus God makes manifest the hidden virtue, and does not allow those who wish for the things being accomplished by them to lie manifest only to His eyes to be hidden, nor does He abandon them to a corner, nor does He store up the proclamation of them only in the world to come, but even here He brings those who are hidden into the light, He proclaims them, and those who are often insignificant and obscure He makes glorious and conspicuous, and seats them with the princes of his people. But indeed, this is that. It is necessary to pursue the others as well.
D 61. For since the sickle of death had taken away the tyrant, and that which the Fathers had sought had been successfully achieved,
A should reach forty years of age; and when the Church has grown stronger, we too may designate the seal for the monk more quickly.
32. He who is to be enclosed shall spend three years residing in the monastery, and before the enclosure, shall pass another year; thus he may enter, and shall not go out, unless death or general utility compels it.
33. A monk should not wear black, nor be a long-haired hermit; unless he is tonsured and enrolled in a monastery, let him be expelled from the city.
34. Let everyone who flees the storms of life and desires to enter a monastery have permission for this matter.
35. Let a monk who enters into a marriage or commits fornication undergo the penance of a fornicator.
36. Parents shall not clothe a daughter who has resolved to live as a solitary in silk garments, nor shall they thus place the habit upon her; for this is a reminder of the passing world.
37. A nun shall not go out of the monastery unless with the blessing of the abbess; and not alone, but with another elder sister; and she shall not in any case stay out overnight. A monk likewise, if he does not have the permission of the abbot of the monastery, shall not go out.
38. Nor is it appropriate for a woman to sleep in a monastery of men, nor a man in a monastery of women.
39. She who has been separated from a bishop who is about to receive an episcopacy, after the ordination, shall enter into a monastery as far as possible from the bishop and the episcopal see, and shall enjoy the provision of the bishop.
40. Whatever monasteries have been established by the consent of a bishop are no longer to become secular inns, nor be leased to secular men.
41. Nor is it appropriate for a layman to gamble, nor to be a mime.
42. Nor to indulge in theaters and hunts.
43. Throughout all of Lent, except for Sunday and Saturday, the sanctified gifts are offered.
44. You shall not permit those who have received children from baptism to be united with the mothers of those children; but if anyone is united, after being separated, let him also know the penance.
45. You shall not permit a female cousin to marry a male cousin, nor a son and father to marry a mother and daughter, nor a mother and daughter to marry two brothers, nor brothers to marry two sisters; but if any such thing should happen, after the dissolution, let them be subject to seven years of penance.
46. The Romans fast on the Saturdays of Lent. Therefore, the synod reminds them also in these matters to uphold the apostolic canon.
47. The Armenians eat eggs and cheese on the Saturdays of Lent; therefore, it has been ordained that all the world should abstain from these as well. But if not, let them be utterly excommunicated.
48. A layman shall not administer communion to himself; but if not, he is excommunicated for seven days.
and each returned to his own monastery. Now the noble man would journey to Bethlehem for the purpose of prayer, and anon, having finished his prayers, he would return. Finding the labor of the journey to be great, he would break his travel by stopping with Marcianus. This man was full of spiritual graces. When they came together for an embrace and imparted to each other a spiritual kiss—with their souls also drawing together in that kiss—at first the table of words was set before them, with which they fed their souls most brilliantly, taking delight in the sayings of the saints and the narratives of the elders, whose manner of life was akin to their own. But when the time called for them to be mindful of bodily nourishment, there was no grain present for bread to be set before them, so the good Marcianus ordered his disciples to cook lentils. These were served without bread. When the great Theodosius perceived such glaring want, he—who, though needy, was rich in his poverty—became ambitious to bestow a feast upon those who had entertained him. He therefore directed his disciple to bring forth from his bag the loaves he had prepared for travel. These were produced and set out, and they celebrated the feast with as much joy, by reason of that love which gladdens, out of these necessities, as if superfluous foods had been served. And at the feast there was much conversation, and most of it was refined and pleasant. The divine Marcianus asked him, still in high spirits, not to take it ill to be suffering in such a famine-stricken guest-quarters, nor to reproach them for not placing bread before him, seeing that their store of grain had failed them most wretchedly. When he had said this, the wonderful Theodosius looked fixedly at the beard of Marcianus, and seeing a grain of wheat—whence it had fallen, I know not—he took it from there with a cheerful and careful hand, saying: "Behold, grain! How then do you say that you are in want of grain?" And this was said and done by him with charm and pleasure. But he, having received the grain into his hands as if it were some noble and excellent seed, placed it in the storehouse of the grain, believing that it would without much labor bring him an abundant harvest and surpass the efforts of the husbandmen. This eventually exceeded his expectations by a great deal. For when, on the following day, he was about to open the door D of the granary (O, the secret miracles of yours, Master!), he saw the interior filled with grains, grown in such an untilled manner—or rather, cultivated by prayer alone. Marcianus, not hesitating at all in this, immediately sent one of his disciples with all speed to the great Theodosius, making known to him the mystery of the event, and at the same time calling the man to share in the spectacle of this paradox. When he arrived, the doors were opened but a little, and the grain pushed itself out, the storehouse being unable to contain the multitude, and so much of it was pouring out. This is similar to the accounts preceding it, and in no way unlike the miracle concerning the loaves, which my Christ performed of old A. For the operation in both instances is one and the same, except for the fact that there He himself was present performing the miracle, whereas here he used his own servant as a minister of the miracle,
49. In oratories which are within the houses of the great (magnates), baptism shall not be performed. 50. If anyone pretends to be possessed by a demon, he shall endure the penalties of the possessed. 51. Whoever gives himself over to centurions or fortune-tellers so as to learn some secret thing, let him fall under six years of penance; in the same manner also he who extorts oaths. He who attaches himself to vagabonds (circulators) and cloud-chasers (nebulones), and who believes in fate and fortune, is to be excluded from the assembly of the Church. 52. Let the festivals and midwinter celebrations be removed from the life of the faithful, as also the dances in honor of the gods, and the comic, satyric, and tragic masks, and the invocation of Bacchus at the wine-presses, and the laughter in the vats. Those who persist in these things after this canon shall be held liable for the crime. 53. Let the martyrologies B fabricated by the Greeks not be read in churches. 54. A layman shall not teach; for are all prophets? are all apostles? 55. Let the bonfires in workshops at the new moons, and those who leap over them, be abolished. 56. For the entire week following the Resurrection, let every believer attend church. 57. A cleric who eats blood is deposed; a layman, however, is excommunicated. 58. You shall not destroy a divine book, nor shall you deliver one to be destroyed, unless it is completely useless and worn out. 59. Except for the Emperor, no layman shall enter the sanctuary. 60. Women are not permitted to speak in Church. C 61. A scholar of the law is excommunicated who follows a Gentile custom, and is drawn to theaters, and to rollers (circles). 62. A marriage with heretics is invalid; but those who contracted it beforehand, if they wish, may remain in it. 63. The cross on the ground is to be effaced. 64. Agapae and feasts are not to be held on Sundays. 65. The disorderly shouting of a singer who acts shamelessly, and anyone who utters in church things that are unfitting, are not acceptable. 66. Within the sacred precinct, a tavern should not be established; and to sell food there is improper. D 67. A Christian shall not bathe with women. 68. Let him who has been illuminated profess the faith on the fifth day of the week. 69. He is excommunicated who, after the feast of the Theotokos, prepares fine flour or other things for what are called the postpartum purifications. 70. If someone, except by necessity, is absent from church for three Sundays, he is excommunicated. 71. He who adds "who was crucified" to the Trisagion hymn is considered a heretic.
A And me, too, filled with joy and wonder, being as it were divinely inspired, he would not allow to be still. When she had said this, she proceeded to action, immediately rolling herself at the father’s knees, catching hold of his feet with both hands, embracing them with both her lips and her soul, shedding hot tears upon them, and calling the great Theodosius the savior and the author of life, not only for the boy, but also for herself. For, she said, her life would henceforth be unlivable for her, or rather, far more bitter than death itself, had her son perished so untimely and wretchedly for me.
66. B The narrative can also recount something else similar to the preceding story. For a certain other woman, experiencing the throes of birth and bitter labor pains every year, derived no profit from them. For, before the child could emerge into life, he would depart from life, and mourning would succeed the birth pangs, and death would follow the delivery. This woman, therefore, having thus been at once a mother of many children and childless, and having long suffered from this misfortune, at last and with difficulty found a remedy for her evil. Having taken refuge with the saint and told him of her affliction and calamity, with tears rather than with words, she fervently besought the man to put an end to the further progression of this evil for her. "It will be stopped," she said, "in no other way than by your name alone, if you allow that which is to be born to be called thus. And this will be for me both a solution to my calamity and, for the child, the cause of life."
67. C Having requested this and having obtained the consent of the great Theodosius—and having named the child born thereafter Theodosius—she found a reward worthy of her fervent faith. For her birth pangs no longer provided sources of tears, but rather, quite the contrary, occasions for joy; for she saw the first-born among the living, Theodosius, still surviving, and fulfilling the choir of monks of him who had begotten him according to the spirit, and being clearly seen to be a fruit of prayer rather than of the womb, by his works. For the one was shown to be the mother of dying children, while the other was the mother of a living one; and he was brought to the monastery by her who bore him and was given back to God, so that he might attain to the life that remains, just as he had to the present one. One could recount many other such things about him.
68. D A certain other woman, therefore, hailing from the city of Bethlehem, having undergone the same pangs of labor, and suffering the same failures, and being in such extreme distress and danger regarding childbirth, obtained the same from the great Theodosius, having used the same "medicine" for her cure, and calling her child by the same name as his. She saw him not only grow up and reach the age of manhood, but also surpass others in the wisdom of his hands, becoming the best builder of his time. These things that have been said are wonderful, but those that remain are far more wonderful than these.
72. Do not carve a lamb in the image of Christ, but rather that very One Himself. 73. A servant set free by his master, upon the testimony of two witnesses, shall be free from servitude. B 74. He who gathers harlots to the ruin of souls is excommunicated. 75. She who goes from one man to another is an adulteress; and he who goes from one woman to another, according to the Lord’s sentence, is held in the same manner. 76. No beast is brought inside the temple, unless the most dire necessity has overtaken one on the road. 77. On Great Saturday, the fast must be continued until about the middle of the night. 78. After the evening entrance of Saturday, do not genuflect. 79. Both he who gives and she who receives abortifacients are murderers. 80. When a man has disappeared, if she marries before being persuaded of his death, she commits adultery; but the man who returns, if he was previously mentioned, shall take her back. 81. He who swears in the pagan manner is to be censured. 82. Those who arrange their hair with artifice, to the detriment of those who see them, are to be excommunicated. C 83. The effeminate man who remains in the temple in a contemptuous manner is to be expelled even from the order of catechumens. 84. He is an adulterer who takes a woman betrothed to another. 85. Some have cooked meat after the Jewish manner in the temples; whoever, therefore, permits this or receives such meat is no priest. But if someone brings it from home, let him receive it according to the sufficiency of the one bringing the offering. 86. Paintings which incite the sight to shameful things are not to be painted. 87. The one who is about to partake of the Eucharist shall form his palms into a cross; but he who prepares a golden vessel or other material instead of his hand is to be excommunicated. D 88. The quality of the sin is considered in all things, and the conversion is observed, and thus mercy is measured out.
SYMEON LOGOTHETES ANNALES
FROM THE REIGN OF LEO THE ARMENIAN UP TO NICEPHORUS PHOCAS See among the writers whom our one hundred and ninth volume includes, col. 665.and to recognize as the only invincible ally that power to whom it is very easy to make one pursue a thousand, and two put to flight ten thousand. When the holy man had spoken thus to the count, he was so captured A by his exhortations and became so attached to him by his fervent faith, that he asked for that very hair-shirt, which the great man wore next to his skin, as a protective charm for battle in place of anything else. Having received and donned this, and having engaged in his customary contests, the count returned shortly after as a victor, having displayed many deeds of soul and hand worthy of mention.
B 75. Having returned thus illustrious with his deeds of valor in war, he did not appear ungrateful toward his benefactor, nor did he forget the favor after having received it, as do many; but remaining the same man toward all, he came again to the holy man with a fervent leaping of the heart, giving thanks and attributing the whole of the victory to him. For he said, "At the time of the battle, when I had donned your hair-shirt in place of a breastplate, it caused me to take heart and to charge against the enemies. But when we came to close quarters, a great darkness arose as if in a deep mist, and to all the others even things very close were invisible; but I thought I saw you alone preceding me, and with your hand signaling and advising me to leave these parts of the battle alone and to go and fight in those areas, and for us to spur the horse under your guidance and leadership, until, having appeared to the adversaries as someone terrible and irresistible, and having cast an unbearable fear into all of them, you caused them at last to look to their feet and willingly choose a shameful flight." And these things were told by him, who was held worthy of this divine apparition.
76. The great man was an aid C not to him alone, but to many others as well—to many at sea, to many on the road; to some struggling with a raging sea and the violence of winds, to others who had fallen into the mouths of wild beasts, standing by them either in sleep or in their waking sight, he delivered them from dangers. He was such a ready helper not only to men, but this good-loving soul was also ready to show its benevolence even toward irrational animals, as the account will demonstrate. For once, as a traveler was leading an ass, a fierce lion encountered him, and it ignored the man but began to attack the ass. The traveler, as often happens to a friend in unexpected terrors, was seized by amazement and fear; but the urgency of the moment allowed him to find one remedy for help: the naming of the saint. Upon his saying this, the rage of the beast immediately ceased, and its violent rush was halted.
77. But what was he like regarding the foreknowledge of future things? For it is necessary to show all his works in a few words, as if in tastings, so that it may be manifest to all that, just as in the case of none of his achievements, so too in the case of D
SYMEONIS METAPHRASTÆ OPERUM PARS TERTIA COMPLECTENS VITAS SANCTORUM A SYMEONE METAPHRASTE SCRIPTAS
MONITUM EDITORUM
It is most difficult, in the manuscripts and editions in which the Lives of the saints are described, to distinguish the Lives written by St. Metaphrastes from those which Metaphrastes either interpolated, or adopted without change, or which others after Metaphrastes composed from his writings. Whatever light is cast upon this difficulty comes from three catalogs which Leo Allatius compiled when dealing with the writings of our author: the first, namely, of the Lives which Metaphrastes is reported to have written, found in Lipomanus and Surius; the second, of the Lives which are certainly not written by Metaphrastes; the third, of the Lives which, with considered authority of the codices and careful examination of the style of writing, certainly have Metaphrastes as their author. Those catalogs seem to have been compiled not lightly, but with care. A new aid in distinguishing the Lives of the saints written by Metaphrastes can be provided by two catalogs which we append here: one which Hanckius compiled with great diligence in his book *De scriptoribus Byzantinis*; the other which Daniel De Nessel compiled from the manuscript codices of the Vienna Library. They follow here.
MARTINI HANCKII Catalogus Vitarum quas Symeon Metaphrastes composuit
(De Byzantin. rerum scriptor. in 4°, Lipsiæ 1677).1. The History of the martyrdom of Martyrs and Marcian: the former was a subdeacon, the latter a cantor of the Church of Constantinople; both were notaries to Paul, patriarch of the Constantinopolitans; both suffered death under the Emperor Constantius, son of Constantine the Great, an Arian—truly for the sake of orthodoxy, though under the appearance of crimes perpetrated.
2. The History of the life of John Chrysostom, the Syrian of Antioch, patriarch of the Constantinopolitans. Having set forth the events before his patriarchate, from his birth, c. A.D. 355; it begins from the patriarchate of Chrysostom, A.D. 398; it ends in the exile of Chrysostom, A.D. 403; with the events until his death, A.D. 407, appended.
3. The History of the life and martyrdom of the holy apostle and evangelist Matthew.
4. The History of the life and martyrdom of the holy apostle and evangelist Luke.
5. The History of the life and martyrdom of the holy apostle and evangelist John.
6. The History of the life and martyrdom of the holy apostle Philip.
7. The History of the life and martyrdom of the holy apostle James.
8. The History of the life and martyrdom of the holy apostle Thomas.
9. The History of the martyrdom of Sabbatius, Trophimus, and Dorymedon, which Sabbatius underwent among the Antiochenes in Syria, and Trophimus and Dorymedon among the Synadenes in Phrygia under the Emperor Probus.
10. The History of the martyrdom of Thyrsus, Leucius, Philemon, and their companions, which they underwent in Bithynia under the Emperor Decius.
11. The History of the martyrdom of the Bithynian virgins Menedora, Metrodora, and Nymphodora, which they underwent under the Emperor Maximinus.
12. The History of the life of abbot Joannicius, who was born in the Bithynian village of Marycatos, in the fourteenth year of the Emperor Leo IV (who had Constantine Copronymus as his father), in the year of Christ 793; after he had been an iconoclast, a cultivator of the solitary life, he eventually died in Bithynia, as abbot of the monastery which he had built and dedicated to the martyr Eustachius, in the fifth year of the Emperor Michael Balbus, in the year of Christ 825.
13. The History of Marcellus, abbot of the Acoemetae [the Sleepless], whose native city was Apamea of the Bithynians; he lived in a Bithynian monastery, which had received the name of "the Sleepless" because of the perpetual hymns—not only during the day but also during the night—that were accustomed to be sung there; he was abbot under the Emperor Leo the Thracian, in the year of Christ 469. A 14. The History of Euphemia, virgin martyr, who suffered in the region of Chalcedonia in Bithynia under the Emperor Diocletian. 15. The History of Anthimus of Nicomedia, bishop of the Nicomedians, who suffered martyrdom under the Emperor Maximian. 16. The History of the eunuch Indes, the virgin Domna, and others, who suffered martyrdom under the Emperor Maximian within the city of Nicomedia, perishing partly in a temple burned while filled with Christians, and partly outside it. 17. The History of Juliana, virgin martyr, who suffered within her native city of Nicomedia under the Emperor Maximian. 18. The History of Barbara, virgin martyr, who died in Nicomedia under the Emperor Maximian. 19. The History of the martyrdom of the brother and sister Eulampius and Eulampia of Nicomedia. 20. The History of the martyrdom of the soldier Theodore Tyro (otherwise known as Tero), who suffered among the Amaseni in Pontus under the Emperor Maximian. 21. The History of the life of Abraham the Mysian, an hermit, who in the sixth century after Christ left his wife and lived a solitary life on the Hellespont in Mysia. B 22. The History of the life of Theophanes, who had a monastery in the region of Ager Magnus, in Sigriana in Lesser Mysia, and who died around the year of Christ 818. 23. The History of the life of Abercius of Hieropolis in Lesser Phrygia, an intrepid bishop under the Emperors M. Antoninus and L. Verus. 24. The History of the martyrdom of Carpus and Papylus of Pergamum in Phrygia, who suffered under the Emperor Decius in Lydia in the city of Thyatira; the former was a bishop, the latter a deacon, and they suffered with their companions. 25. The History of Timothy, who had the Lycaonian city of Lystra as his native place; he was a disciple of the Apostle Paul and a successor of John the Evangelist, bishop of the Ephesians in Ionia, and is said to have died a martyr at Ephesus under the Emperor Nerva. 26. The History of the life of the virgin Eusebia, who, when she arrived in the Carian city of Mylassa, hid her own name and called herself *xene*, that is, a guest/stranger; she there founded a monastery sacred to the martyr Saint Stephen, in which she closed her life in the fifth century after Christ. C 27. The History of the life of the virgin Matrona of Perge, who had the city of Perge in Pamphylia as her native place; she was the wife of Domitian and mother of Theodota; having finally set aside her husband, though against his will, she passed her life in monasteries. 28. The History of the martyrdom of Zenobius, who suffered at Aegae in Cilicia with his sister Zenobia under the Emperor Diocletian. 29. The History of the martyrdom of the shepherd Sozon, of Cilician origin, which he underwent at Pompeiopolis in Cilicia under the Emperor Maximian. 30. The History of the martyrdom of Boniface, which he underwent among the Tarsenses in Cilicia. 31. The History of the life and martyrdom of Clement of Ancyra in Galatia, who, born in the year of Christ 257 and created bishop in 277, ennobled his native city of Ancyra with his martyrdom under the Emperor Maximian, around the year of Christ 309. 32. The History of the martyrdom of Plato of Ancyra in Galatia, which he underwent in his native city. 33. The History of the martyrdom of Menas of Egypt, who, while a soldier under the Emperors Diocletian and Maximian, suffered at Cotyaeum, a city of the Galatians, under the same emperors. 34. The History of the martyrdom of Eustratius, Auxentius, Eugenius, Mardarius, and Orestes, which they underwent in Cappadocia under the Emperors Diocletian and Maximian. 35. The History of the martyrdom of the centurion Longinus, who was a Jew by nationality and a guard of Christ hanging upon the cross, and who, having been converted to the Christian religion, is said to have suffered death for Christ at the instance of the persecutor Pilate in the city of Caesarea in Cappadocia. 36. The History of the martyrdom of Mercurius, born of Gordian the Scythian, who was a leader of soldiers and suffered at the city of Caesarea in Cappadocia under the Emperor Decius. D 37. The History of the martyrdom of Mamas of Paphlagonia, which he underwent under the Emperor Aurelian at the city of Caesarea in Cappadocia. 38. The History of the martyrdom of Severianus the soldier, which he underwent at the city of Caesarea in Cappadocia under the Emperor Licinius. 39. The History of the life of Gregory “the Parthian,” who, after suffering manifold afflictions from the Armenians for the Christian religion, converted both their king and the people of the Armenians to it; having been their bishop for some time, he finally, as a lover of solitude, took his son Arostanes as his successor in the episcopate, who attended the Council of Nicaea, A. C. 325. 40. The History of the martyrdom of Romulus, Zeno, Eudoxius, and Macarius, who suffered, Romulus under the Emperor Trajan and the others under the Emperor Diocletian, in the city of Melitene in Lesser Armenia. 41. The History of the martyrdom of Hiero and his companions; among whom Hiero had the city of Tyana in Cappadocia as his native place; he suffered martyrdom with 30 companions in the city of Melitene in Lesser Armenia under the Emperors Diocletian and Maximian. 42. The History of the martyrdom of the 40 martyrs, soldiers of Cappadocia; when the fortieth fled from them, a pagan man, the guard of the prison, suddenly becoming a Christian, took the place of the one who had fled and followed them in martyrdom; their martyrdom occurred in the city of Sebastia, which the older writers set in Cappadocia, though more recent ones…
A in Lesser Armenia teach it to be situated, which they endured under the Emperor Licinius.
43. History of the life of Spyridon, bishop of Trimythus, who lived under the Emperor Constantine the Great and was present at the Council of Nicaea, A.D. 325.
44. History of the martyrdom of Ignatius Theophorus, bishop of the Antiochians in Syria, which he underwent in the city of Rome in the 11th year of the Emperor Trajan, A.D. 108.
45. History of the martyrdom of Lucian, who had the city of Samosata as the homeland of the Syrians; he was a presbyter of the Antiochians in Syria; he died a martyr near Nicomedia in Bithynia, under the Emperor Maximinus, about A.D. 312.
46. History of the life and martyrdom of Cyprian, bishop of the Antiochians, which he underwent along with the virgin Justina of Antioch, under the Emperor Decius.
47. History of the martyrdom of Artemius, whom the Emperor Constantius had placed in charge of Egypt; the Emperor Julian summoned him to Antioch, and there deprived him of both his province and his life.
48. History of the life of Symeon Stylites, the elder, a Cilician by nation, who left his monastery and ascended a mountain situated in the territory of Antioch in Syria; it is said that there he stood for many years, first on shorter columns, and finally on one raised to a height of 40 cubits; he died in the fourth year of the Thracian emperor, A.D. 460.
49. History of the martyrdom of Ananias, one of the 70 disciples of Christ, which he endured in his homeland, that is, in the city of Damascus of the Syrians.
50. History of the life of Ephraim the Syrian, who had the city of Edessa of the Syrians as his homeland; he was a deacon of the Church of Edessa and died under the Emperor Valens.
51. Life of the holy prophet Daniel and his three companions.
52. History of the life of Chariton the Confessor, a native of Lycaonia, who under the Emperor Aurelian barely escaped martyrdom; besides two other monasteries, he founded a laura, which is also called Pharus, in Palestine, in which monastery he died. B
53. History of the life of the anchorite Cyriacus, who, born in Corinth in the 40th year of the Emperor Theodosius the Younger, A.D. 447, after having lived as a monk in several monasteries, was a hermit for five years, and finally returned to the monastery of Chariton, which was in Palestine; after 107 years of life had passed, he closed his life in the same monastery in the 29th year of the Emperor Justinian the First, A.D. 555.
54. History of the life of Theodore Graptus, a Jerusalemite, a monk in the monastery of Saba within Palestine, who suffered much on account of the veneration of images, which he defended, from the iconoclast emperors Leo the Armenian, Michael Balbus, and Theophilus; he finally died an exile in prison among the Bithynians.
55. History of the life of the Roman Melania, who, having entered into a pact of continence between herself and her husband, departed into the East, and having founded several monasteries in Palestine, it reports that she died there.
56. History of the life of Cornelius the centurion of Caesarea, whom the Apostle Peter converted to the Christian religion.
57. History of the life and martyrdom of Galaction and Episteme, who C as spouses preferred the solitary life to marriage; it relates that they departed into monasteries and eventually suffered martyrdom in Arabia near Mount Sinai.
58. History of the martyrdom of Samonas, Gurias, and Abibus, of Mesopotamia, of whom the first two died as martyrs under the Emperor Diocletian, and the third under the Emperor Licinius.
59. History of the life of Daniel the Stylite, who, having found a village in Mesopotamia as his native place, lived as a monk under the emperors Leo, Zeno, and Basiliscus.
60. History of the martyrdom of Acindynus, Pegasius, Anempodistus, Aphthonius, and Elpidiphorus, which they sustained in Persia under Sapor, king of the Persians.
61. History of the martyrdom of Acepsimas, Joseph, and Aithalas, of the Persians, which that eighty-year-old man, this presbyter, and that deacon underwent in Persia under Sapor, king of the Persians.
62. History of the life of Anastasius the Persian, who, having set out from Persia into Palestine, began his monastic life in the monastery of Anastasius near the city of Jerusalem in the 10th year of the Emperor Heraclius, A.D. 620; afterward he returned to Persia and, having suffered martyrdom as a martyr under Chosroes, king of the Persians, D closed his life in the 18th year of the Emperor Heraclius, A.D. 628.
63. History of the martyrdom of Bacchius and Sergius of the Romans, which they suffered under the Emperor Maximianus in Africa, under his prefect Antiochus.
64. History of the martyrdom of Varus and his companions, which they sustained in Egypt under the Emperor Maximianus.
65. History of the martyrdom of Catherine (also called Hecaterine), a virgin, who underwent it in Egypt under the Emperor Maxentius in Alexandria.
66. History of the martyrdom of Menas, Hermogenes, and Eugraphius, which they sustained in Egypt under the Emperor Maximinus in Alexandria.
67. History of the martyrdom of Epimachus of Egypt, which he underwent in the city of the Alexandrian Egyptians as a hermit of Mount Pelusium.
68. History of the life of Athanasius, bishop of the Egyptians, who, as a presbyter of the Alexandrian Church, was present at the Council of Nicaea, A.D. 325; in the place of the deceased Alexandrian bishop of the Alexandrians, he was created bishop in A.D. 326; having suffered grievous afflictions from the Arians for a long time, and having held the episcopate for 46 years, he died under the Emperor Valentinian I, A.D. 373.
69. History of the life of Euphrosyne, an Alexandrian virgin of Egypt, who, born under the Emperor Theodosius, son of Arcadius, spent her life in her father's house for 18 years, in a monastery for 38 years, and on Earth for 56 years; she died about A.D. 470.
70. History of the life of Theodora, who as a woman among the Alexandrians in Egypt was born in the time of the Emperor
renowned for her virtues in the same place in the time of Zeno, after abandoning her husband for an adultery she had committed, she lived inside a monastery eighteen miles from Alexandria, where she dwelt among the monks as a man and spent the remainder of her life, he narrates.
71. The history of the life of John the Almoner, that is, the Merciful, bishop of the Alexandrians, who obtained his homeland, Amathus in Egypt, and his patriarchate in Alexandria in Egypt, in the fifth year of the emperor Phocas, 606 of Christ, and having undertaken a journey to his homeland where he was soon to depart from the living, he died in the year of the emperor Heraclius VII, 616 of Christ. B He had the city of Amathus in Egypt as his homeland.
73. The history of the martyrdom of Arethas, under the Christian king of the Ethiopians, the governor of the city of Najran in Ethiopia, when Dhu Nuwas, the king of the Arabs and enemy to Christians, had occupied it, he died along with other martyrs.
74. The history of the martyrdom of Eustathius, who was a leader of soldiers under the emperor Trajan; under the same emperor he was converted to the Christian religion with his own, and with his wife Theopiste and his sons Agapius and Theopistus, he suffered [martyrdom] in the city of Rome under the emperor Hadrian. C
75. The history of the martyrdom of Sophia of Italy, who, with her three sons, Faith, Hope, and Charity, suffered under the emperor Hadrian in the city of Rome.
76. The history of the martyrdom of Eugenia the Roman virgin, which she endured in the city of Rome under the emperors Valerian and Gallienus.
77. The history of the martyrdom of George of Cappadocia, whom the common people think to have engaged in combat with a dragon; the emperor Diocletian, having created him a tribune of soldiers and finally a count, ordered him to be killed in the city of Rome on account of the Christian religion.
78. The history of the martyrdom of Anastasia the Roman widow, which she endured in the city of Rome under the emperor Diocletian.
79. The history of the martyrdom of the Roman virgin Anastasia, which she underwent under the emperor Diocletian.
80. The history of the martyrdom of Eleutherius, bishop of the Illyrians by homeland, which he endured with his mother Evanthia under the emperor Hadrian.
81. The history of the martyrdom of Nicetas the Goth, which he endured under the Roman emperor Gratian, when Athanaric, king of the Goths, was then persecuting the Christian Goths dwelling by the Danube.
82. The history of the life of Gregory, Bishop of Agrigentum in Sicily, who, having arisen from a village to the city of Agrigentum, through Macarius the bishop of Jerusalem was made a deacon of Jerusalem, and finally by the Roman bishop was created bishop of Agrigentum, the successor to Theodore.
83. The history of the martyrdom of the virgin Agatha, who had the city of Catania as her homeland, which she endured within Sicily in the city of Catania, under the emperor Decius acting as consul for the third time, in the year of Christ 251.
84. The history of the life and martyrdom of Dionysius the Areopagite of Athens, whom the holy apostle Paul converted to the Christian religion. He was the first bishop of the Athenians, whom many later narrate to have been the first bishop of the Parisians; he died a martyr under the emperor Domitian.
85. The history of the life of the virgin Theoctiste of Lesbos, who had as her homeland the city of Methymna on the island of Lesbos in the Aegean Sea, near the province of Phrygia in Asia, a Greek island which some also call Mytilene; she practiced monastic life on the Greek island of Paros. D
86. The history of the martyrdom of the ten martyrs, which they endured on the Greek island of Crete under the emperor Decius.
87. The history of the life of Andrew of Crete, who under the emperor Constantine Copronymus the Iconoclast preferred to die than to condemn the veneration of images.
DANIEL DE NESSEL: Catalog of Lives which Symeon Metaphrastes composed.
(From the Catalog of the Vienna Library, Greek manuscripts, in folio, Index I, page 109.)Symeon, surnamed Metaphrastes, who was magister and logothete at the Constantinopolitan court, and flourished in the tenth century after Christ. The history of the life of St. Alexius; The history of the martyrdom of St. Panteleemon; The history of the life of St. Nicholas, bishop of Myra; A compunctious poem in the form of a confession according to alphabetical order; A sacred canticle in alphabetical order; A Synaxarion on the crucifixion of Christ in political verses; The history of the martyrdom of the holy Goth Nicetas; The history of the martyrdom of the holy Eleutherius, bishop of Illyria, and the history of the martyrdom of the holy Polyeuctus; The history of the martyrdom of the holy Demetrius the proconsul; The life of the holy Mary, who lived most holily in a male monastery under a male habit and the name Marinus, and was discovered to be a woman only after her death; A fragment of the history of the life of Saint John Chrysostom; The life of the holy martyr Tryphon, whose homeland was Cambsadensis in Phrygia, but who suffered at Nicaea in Bithynia in the year of Christ 250 under the emperor Decius; The martyrdom of the holy martyr Isidorus of Alexandria.
CATALOGUE OF LIVES
The martyrdom of the holy virgin and martyr Agatha; A The martyrdom of the holy martyrs Fausta, Eveiasius, and Maximus; The life of the blessed Eugenius and his daughter Maria, who was called Marinus in the monastery while she lived under a male habit; The martyrdom of the holy martyr Nicephorus of Antioch in Syria; The life and martyrdom of the holy martyr Blasius, bishop of Sebastia in Cappadocia, and his companions; The martyrdom of the holy Pamphilus, Valens, Paul, Seleucus, Porphyrius, Theodulus, Julian, and their companions (written at first by Eusebius, an intimate friend of the holy Pamphilus himself, and bishop of Caesarea in Palestine, but interpolated many centuries later by Symeon Metaphrastes); The life of the holy Andronicus and his wife Athanasia; B The martyrdom of the holy Orestes of Tyana in Cappadocia under the emperor Diocletian; The martyrdom of the holy Victor and the holy Stephanis; The martyrdom of the holy Vincent, archdeacon of Caesaraugusta; The martyrdom of the holy virgin Catherine; The life of the holy Alypius the Stylite; The martyrdom of the holy Jacob the Persian; C The narration of a miracle performed by the holy archangel Michael at Choniae, or Colossae, in Phrygia; The martyrdom of the holy martyrs Gurias, Samonas, and Abibus, performed at Edessa; The martyrdoms, lives, and encomia of the saints of the month of October, namely: The martyrdom of the holy Ananias; The martyrdom of the holy Cyprian and Justina; The martyrdom of the holy Dionysius the Areopagite; The martyrdom of the holy Charitina; The martyrdom of the holy Babylas, bishop of Antioch; The narration of a miracle performed by the holy archangel Michael at Choniae, or Colossae, in Phrygia; The martyrdom of the holy Eudoxius, Romulus, Zeno, and Macarius; The commentary on the holy apostle Thomas; The martyrdom of the holy Sergius and Bacchus; The life of the holy Pelagia of Antioch; The martyrdom of the holy Eulampius and Eulampia; The martyrdom of the holy Probus, Tarachus, and Andronicus; The martyrdom of the holy Carpus, Papylus, and their companions; The martyrdom of the holy Nazarius, Gervasius, Protasius, and Celsus; The martyrdom of the holy Lucian; The martyrdom of the holy Longinus the Centurion; The commentary on the holy evangelist Luke; The martyrdom of the holy Varus; The martyrdom of the holy Andrew in Crisi; The martyrdom of the holy Artemius; The life of the holy Hilarion; The life of the holy Albericius; The commentary on the holy apostle Jacob, called the brother of the Lord; The martyrdom of the holy Arethas; The martyrdom of the holy Marcianus and the martyr notaries; The martyrdom of the holy Demetrius; The martyrdom of the holy Anastasia of Rome the elder; The life of the holy Abba the hermit; The martyrdom of the holy Zenobius and Zenobia; The martyrdom of the holy Epimachus; D The life of the holy John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople; The martyrdom of the holy Plato;
The martyrdom of the holy virgin Catherine; The life of the holy Alypius the Stylite; The martyrdom of the holy Jacob the Persian; The life and martyrdom of the holy Stephen the Younger; The commentary on the holy apostle Andrew; The narration of a miracle performed by the holy archangel Michael at Choniae, or Colossae, in Phrygia; The narration of the life, achievements, and miracles of the holy Nicholas of Myra, bishop in Lycia; The martyrdom of the holy Nicetas the Goth; The martyrdom of the holy virgin Euphemia; The life of the holy Ambrose, bishop of Milan; The martyrdom of the holy Eustratius, Auxentius, Eugenius, Orestes, and Mardarius; The life of the holy Theodora of Alexandria; The life of the holy John the Almsgiver, Patriarch of Antioch; The history of the martyrdom of the holy soldier and martyr Polyeuctus; The martyrdom of the holy virgin Catherine; The life of the holy Symeon the Stylite, the elder, who died in the year of Christ 468, at a centenarian age; The contest of the holy martyrdom of Mamas; The contest of the holy martyr Anthimus, bishop of Nicomedia, who suffered in the year of Christ 302; The martyrdom of the holy Ananias; The martyrdom of the holy Cyprian and Justina; The martyrdom of the holy Dionysius the Areopagite; The martyrdom of the holy Charitina; The martyrdom of the holy Babylas, bishop of Antioch; The narration of a miracle performed by the holy archangel Michael at Choniae, or Colossae, in Phrygia; The martyrdom of the holy Eudoxius, Romulus, Zeno, and Macarius; The martyrdom of the holy Sozontes; The martyrdom of the holy Severianus; The martyrdom of the holy martyrs Menedora, Metrodora, and Nymphodora; The life of the holy Theodora of Alexandria; The martyrdom of the holy Autonomius, bishop; The achievements of the holy Cornelius the Centurion; The martyrdom of the holy Nicetas the Goth; The martyrdom of the holy Euphemia; The martyrdom of the holy Sophia and her daughters, Pistis, Elpis, and Agape; The martyrdom of the holy martyrs Trophimus, Sabbatius, and Dorymedontius; The martyrdom of the holy Eustathius and his wife Theopiste, and their two sons, Agapius and Theopistus; The martyrdom of the holy virgin Thecla; The life of the holy virgin Euphrosyne of Alexandria; The commentary on the holy apostle and evangelist John; The martyrdom of the holy Gallistratus and his companions; The life of the holy Chariton the confessor; The life of the holy Cyriacus the anchorite; The life and martyrdom of the holy Gregory, bishop of Great Armenia; The martyrdom of the holy apostle and martyr Ananias; The life and martyrdom of the holy martyrs Cyprian and the virgin Justina; The martyrdom of the holy Dionysius the Areopagite; The martyrdom of the holy virgin Charistina;
A moved by these things, and he [Licinius] orders him to undergo the most severe punishment. And it was this, that he should receive the blows from those rods upon his entire naked body, and this until even the voice itself, he says, should fail him. And so it was with Licinius. But the martyr, although entangled in so many evils, gazed fixedly at his friend, and was calling him to alliance, and using him as an intercessor with Christ, saying: "Hermylus, pray for me to Christ, so that having kept my confession to Him secure, I may be able easily to overcome the treacheries of the tyrant." Meanwhile he was also looking back at Licinius, forbidding him to sacrifice to blind gods, and brandishing toward him the defense of the true God, in whose hands to fall brings a truly terrible, inevitable, and completed destruction. Licinius, however, when he had seen the holy Stratonicus sufficiently wounded, refrained from punishing him further: not that human mind and merciful spirit moved him B to pity, but so that he might give him a place for repentance, having first terrified him with torment. And therefore he delivered him for the time being into custody. But he, even though in custody, brought forward Jesus as his consolation, and conversed with Him through prayer, saying: "Lord, do not remember our ancient iniquities [Ps. LXXII, 8]. Bring us help, O God our Savior, for the glory of Thy name." And at once a divine voice followed, saying: "You have finished the course, you have kept the faith. Moreover, there is laid up for you a crown of justice, which you shall receive tomorrow."
XI. C When day had already dawned, Licinius summoned and interrogated Hermylus again, as to whether he would sacrifice to the gods. But he said: "I give you, O king, the same answers as before, so that you may flay, punish, cut, and do everything that comes into your mind. For I have learned not to fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul." The king, having heard these things, and having despaired of the holy man ever changing his mind, hangs him upon a wooden frame and orders him to be severely lacerated. But even he [Hermylus], while his flesh was being so bitterly cut, was not ignorant of whence the salvation of the just comes, namely that it is from the Lord, and that He is their defender in the time of affliction. And D for this reason he kept saying: "Be my helper, O Lord, and redeemer," and it seemed to him as if he were hearing someone speaking from above: "Do not fear; for I am with you, and I am your God." Licinius, therefore, fearing, and as if troubled by what he had heard, takes the martyr down from the wood and pronounces upon him the death of the river Ister, ordering him to be thrown into it, perhaps the foolish man thinking that Hermylus, having suffered in this way, would perish utterly and that there would be no recovery even of his precious body. Having then brought Stratonicus forward, he seemed to suggest and advise him as to what would be advantageous, and said: "Believe me, wretch, believe, and sacrifice if only you yourself to the gods, so that you may not endure the same things
CATALOG OF THE LIVES BY SYMEON METAPHRASTES
Commentary on the holy apostle Thomas; A The martyrdom of the holy martyrs Sergius and Bacchus; The life of the holy Pelagia of Antioch; The martyrdom of the holy martyrs Eulampius and Eulampia; The martyrdom of the holy martyrs Probus, Tarachus, and Andronicus; The martyrdom of the holy martyrs Carpus, bishop of Thyatira, Papylus the deacon, and their companions; The life and contest of the holy martyrs Nazarius, Gervasius, Protasius, and Celsus; The life and martyrdom of the holy Lucian; The martyrdom of the holy Longinus the centurion; The martyrdom of the holy Andrew in Creta.
Commentary on the holy apostle and evangelist Luke; The martyrdom of the holy Varus and his companions; The martyrdom of the holy Artemius; The life and conversation of the holy Hilarion; The life of the holy Abercius. Commentary on the holy apostle James, called the brother of the Lord; The martyrdom of the holy Arethas and his companions; The martyrdom of the holy Marcian and the martyr-notaries; The martyrdom of the holy Demetrius. The life and martyrdom of the holy martyr Anastasia of Rome; The life of the holy Abraham and his niece, the holy Mary; The martyrdom of the holy Zenobius and his sister; The martyrdom of the holy Epimachus; The martyrdom of the holy Dionysius the Areopagite; The martyrdom of the holy virgin Charitine; The life and penance of the holy Pelagia of Antioch; The martyrdom of the holy martyrs Eulampius and Eulampia; The martyrdom of the holy Longinus the centurion; Commentary on the holy apostle and evangelist Luke; The martyrdom of the holy Demetrius; The life of a holy martyr; The life and martyrdom of the holy Stephen the Younger, abbot of Mount Saint Auxentius, situated in the region of Byzantium near Bithynia, who suffered in the year of Christ 767, on account of the veneration of holy images, under the Emperor Constantine Copronymus; The martyrdom of the holy virgin Catherine; The life of the holy Ambrose, bishop of Milan. B The martyrdom of the holy martyrs Menas, Hermogenes, and Eugraphus; The martyrdom of the holy martyrs Eustratius, Auxentius, Eugenius, Mardarius, and Orestes; The martyrdom of the holy Nicephorus, martyr of Antioch in Syria; The martyrdom of the holy Blasius; The martyrdom of the holy Nicetas the Goth; The martyrdom of the holy Ananias; Commentary on the holy apostle Thomas; The martyrdom of the holy Demetrius; The life of the holy Symeon the Stylite, the first or senior; The martyrdom of the holy great martyr George; The martyrdom of the holy Eustratius and his companions.
you also, and that both of you may pay the penalty for this disobedience." Stratonicus replied: "Truly, I should be a miserable man if, by obeying you, I chose to live after my friend has died for Christ." Licinius then asked: "Do you truly wish to die together with Hermylus?" "Most certainly," said the divine Stratonicus; "for if we must share our friends' misfortunes, it is fitting that we should also share in the enjoyment of their good things. And what could be more pleasant or precious to us than to suffer for Christ?" Dealing with this, and seeing that he had despaired of being able to change Stratonicus' mind, the emperor passed the same sentence upon him, and condemned both to an equal end—an end which, in truth, they received as an equal lot and a common blessedness and exultation.
B XII. The martyrs were thus led to death, saying: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men." This is a hymn suitable for those about to enjoy some good, not for those who are being led away to death or any other cause of sorrow. When they had reached the river, they were cast into it in a hamper by those assigned to that task, and were sent down into the depths. The river, however, having received the bodies of the saints, and having been sanctified regarding the current as was fitting, gave them up again into the hands of the faithful—as if, I suppose, it could not bear to conceal such a treasure within itself, and the primary goodness would not permit the Christians to be deprived of such a great good. Therefore, on the third day after that, the martyred bodies were seen lying on the shore, and certain God-loving men, whose task it was to attend to the bodies of the saints, C having found them, took them up with pious hands. After they had sung sacred hymns and performed all that is customary for Christians, they laid them to rest together in a certain place eighteen stadia distant from the city of Singidunum, so that all things might be common and friendly to them: their confession in Christ, their dwelling in the prison, their dissolution in the river, their ascent on high, and the burial of their bodies in one place, by the grace and philanthropy of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom, to the Father and the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, honor, and adoration, now and for the ages of ages. Amen.
JANUARY. LIFE AND CONVERSATION OF THE HOLY EUPHROSYNE OF ALEXANDRIA.
(Year 420.)
A I. When Theodosius, the son of Arcadius, was piously ruling the Roman sceptre, a certain man named Paphnutius was known in the great city of Alexandria, wealthy in riches and eminent for his worldly nobility, but even more abounding in the wealth of virtue and proud of the nobility of his soul. He was joined in marriage to a woman who was a lover of virtue and who possessed great piety toward God, such that this union was truly unfeigned and held in mutual benevolence. When the husband saw that she was childless, he was distressed in spirit. And why not? For whoever is joined in matrimony primarily desires this: to be a father of children. He sought, therefore, to find a solution for his grief, and having rightly communicated the matter to his life’s companion, he advised that they flee to Him who can do all things. Wherefore, she, applying herself to fasts and prayers, imitated Anna and spoke the words which she spoke: "Adonai," she said, "Lord Eloi Sabaoth, if looking upon me thou wilt look upon thine handmaid, and give me a son from my womb, I will offer him to Thee, the One who gives." B And he went around to the holy monasteries, calling upon those who were practicing asceticism therein to intercede with God.
II. Furthermore, when he heard that there was an elder in a certain holy monastery to whom a great purity of life granted confidence before God, Paphnutius went to him; and when he had spoken of what was appropriate, he then asked him regarding the matters at hand: "Look upon me, Father," he said, "and see my humbleness, and with the light of your prayers disperse the cloud of sadness which presses upon me. For it is now a long time that I have been living with my wife, who is as young as I am and a partaker of the troubles of matrimony, yet I am miserably deprived of the goods that come from it—if the bearing of children is the good of matrimony—and because I lack children, I am oppressed by an C entire sickness of soul, if not by anything else...
1 1 Kings 1, 11.
LIFE OF ST. JOHN THE CALYBITE
A III. When John had heard this, he took the monk by the hand, and led him aside, and bound him with a very terrible oath that, after he had finished that journey, he would return to him, so that he might take him with him to that holy monastery. Then blessed John said to him: "Listen, I beseech you, my abba, and let compassion for me touch you. For my parents, since they love me beyond my other brothers and all my other household, and take care that I be instructed in abundant letters of learning and doctrine, are thinking of raising me to some great rank of dignity. For, as my master and father says, he wishes to promote me to a dignity which is greater than that rank which military tribunes hold. After these things, they have it completely in mind to join me in marriage. But I, partly coming into the holy church, and partly from those things which I have read and pondered within myself, have realized that all things that are in this life are vain, and that he alone is saved who, scorning the affairs of this life, serves Christ constantly in this habit of yours. For this reason, B I beseech you, master, that you take me with you into the holy monastery and enroll me among your holy flock." The abbas, having heard these things, assured him under oath that he would make the return trip through him, and would take him with him to the monastery.
IV. When therefore they had agreed with each other, each went his own way. But when the monk had departed, blessed John said to himself: "In the meantime, I will do this first: I will ask my parents for the holy book of the Gospels, from which I may learn the commandments of Christ, and how I may be able to do those things which are pleasing to Christ." Therefore, approaching his parents, he said: "I cannot, out of shame, go to the school, since all who study letters with me, after they have finished those tasks which are performed in the gymnasium, have Gospels with them, and sitting down, they read them; but I am C as one of those who do not have parents, for I lack a Gospel. Therefore, I beseech you, my masters, that you also order the Gospel to be given to me, so that I also, having it in my hands, may read." When his mother had heard this, she rejoiced greatly that her son was gripped by such a great desire for learning, and having spoken with her husband, she said: "Come, my lord, take care that such a book of the Gospels be written and given to our son, which may not only stir up desire in the son by the shapes of the letters and by those things which are written within, but also that it may be so beautiful in its binding and exterior appearance D that it may excite his desire even more." Immediately, his father ordered a goldsmith to be summoned, and said to him that he should take as much money as was sufficient to bind the book of the Gospels for his son. The goldsmith, therefore, having taken five hundred gold pieces and precious stones and pearls, bound the book for John. When John himself had received the Gospel and held it in his hands, he studied it with great desire, awaiting the return of the abbas of whom it was said above.
V. After an interval of time, that abbas returned, just as he had promised he would do. When John saw him, he rejoiced greatly, and running up to him, he embraced
A by the reproaches of neighbors, who mock me and attack me with insults as one barren and fruitless." These things he said with tears, grasping the feet of that holy old man. But he (for those who devote themselves to virtue and to God are compassionate and merciful) was swayed by the entreaties of Paphnutius, and gave himself wholly to prayer. The prayer of a just man, therefore, being made effective by the inclination toward God of those who invite him to this—through fasts, and prayers, and social and philanthropic deeds toward the needy—received a hearing from Him who always hears the prayers of those who call upon Him in truth. And there is born to Paphnutius a little daughter, who from infancy displayed B exceptional bodily beauty, which perhaps also suggested the elegant and refined soul that was in her later; and straightway she removed her mother’s childlessness and also removed her father’s dejection. In order, therefore, that the name might be appropriate to the event which they had obtained, they immediately decided she should be called, and at once named her, Euphrosyne, which is to say, "joy."
III. Regarding the life of Euphrosyne.
III. Paphnutius, then, having this fruit of prayer, nurtured her with virtue rather than with things that fatten the flesh, and persuaded her to pay heed to things that stand and abide rather than to those that flourish and fade, and to take care of the soul—an immortal thing—rather than of the body, which quickly withers. And she, looking toward the virtue of her parents, and possessing a mind quite in sympathy with their nobility, increased as much in the beauty of soul as she did in body. C She was already in her twelfth year, and her mother had departed from the present life. The girl, being thus formed, and as her age progressed, having virtue all the more added unto her, longed for the true Bridegroom, and took care of the beauty of soul which He loves. But those who were intent only on bodily things, and who observed the bloom of her body, and who knew precisely what noble birth she had, approached her father, who was entering upon his eighteenth year [with her], and requested her in marriage. He, not being able to rebuff their requests, betrothed the maiden to one who excelled all in wealth, glory, and virtue; having reflected on something far unworthy of his own virtue, inasmuch as he did not look to the state of the maiden, and her love for God, and how she was wholly attached D to God, and made it her meditation to please Him alone and to be betrothed to Him. Ignoring all these things, he prepared nuptials for the girl that were not at all suitable. But the Lord, her true Bridegroom, was jealous with a godly jealousy, and snatches her away, as the account will show as it proceeds, from marriage and from the things that follow marriage; but he urges her toward a better life, which joins her to Him through great purity.
IV. For as these things had been devised by the father, it did not seem safe, however, for her to proceed to marriage without first having received the prayers of the old man—she who was the very fruit of them—and so she goes to that great man along with her father, for the sake of a blessing. Then, having heard the words of that man, and having for the first time [heard] of the monastics...
A his feet with many tears. By his long fastings and vigils, and by his longing for his parents, his body had been worn away and become as a shadow. When the archimandrite saw him so afflicted, looking like a shadow approaching death, he said: “Did I not tell you, child, that God requires of his servants only what is within their power? But you, by excessive struggling and asceticism, have made yourself destitute and like a shadow.” John says to him: “I beseech you, father, it is not fasting that subdues me, but my sins are a hindrance to me. For many days have passed since the enemy of all that is good, the devil, troubled my soul, inciting in me the desire to see my parents and my home; yet this wicked one does not know that even if I go there, with my God willing and your holy prayers helping me, I shall trample B upon him and prove him to be powerless and vain.” The archimandrite says to him: “Did I not tell you from the beginning that the struggle of asceticism is great and the labor is heavy?” Having said this, and weeping for the child’s sake, he blessed him.
IX. On the following day, John came to the archimandrite, and falling at his feet, begged him not to be angry with him, but to intercede with God on his behalf, to grant him leave to depart and see his parents, and in this way, with the Lord’s help, to trample upon the adversary. The archimandrite gathered all the brothers who were in that monastery, and after offering an earnest prayer to God on behalf of the boy with tears and groaning C, he said: “Go, my child, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and have with you the Lord Jesus Christ, may He lead you on this path as He Himself wills.” John, having risen and walked about to all the brothers, knelt down and asked to be blessed by them, and said: “Be saved, all fathers and brothers; and blessed be this holy company which has received me well; yet I was unworthy of your reception.”
X. Thus, having been commended to the Lord by those holy Fathers, he went out from that monastery. Having gone a long distance from its gate, he turned and, looking back at the holy monastery, he wept bitterly. He placed his knees D upon the ground, and having prayed, he wept for a long time; and thus having risen, he walked on weeping incessantly, and continued his journey. When he had traveled half the way, he found a certain beggar wearing tattered garments, and said to him: “Greetings, brother and fellow traveler; and if you wish, let us make the journey together.” And the beggar answered: “I am very grateful for this.” As they were traveling, John said: “I see you, brother, quite worn out and unable to carry the garments you have on you; but I pray you, take off your clothes and take mine, and I shall clothe myself in your garments.” And having traveled for a considerable distance, and having bid farewell to one another, they
A seen that state, she often said: "Blessed are they who embrace this way of life for the sake of Christ." And that man, having perceived with the penetrating eyes of his soul what the maiden desired, poured forth prayers also that were in harmony with her desire: "May God, O daughter," he said, "bring about what shall be profitable to your soul, and may He confirm you in His fear, and deem you worthy of the good things prepared for those who have been well-pleasing to Him." Having said these things, and having prayed for her in this way, he infused into her soul a twofold love for God, and fanned more fiercely into flame the piety that was already within her. Returning home, therefore, she repeated, "Blessed are they who embrace the monastic way of life, because even here they live in a way that differs little or not at all from the life of the angels, and after their departure from here, they shall enjoy eternal life."
B V. Having returned home, she neglected the adornment of her body to such an extent that she did not even wash her face with cold water; but with tears and fastings she brightened the beauty of the soul. Necklaces, earrings, and the gold that adorned her hands were diverted to the ornament of the soul, being dispensed to the poor. She had no interest in soft clothing, but instead of that, she sought after the wearing of haircloth. She took no pleasure at all in those who spoke of things that lead to luxury, but was always pleased to associate with those who possessed a love for God similar to her own. She did not endure to let the trifles of old women and female vanities touch her ears at all. Further, she made it a point of zeal to converse with those monks who were staying in the city and who for some pious purpose happened to visit her father, and to learn divine things from them.
C VI. Not much time passed before her father traveled to the monastery where that great man happened to be, to celebrate the memorial along with the monks of him who had built the sanctuary. When her father after the flesh had stayed in the monastery for three whole days, Euphrosyne seized the opportunity, and having sent for a certain monk from the hermitages of Scetis, who had at that time come to Alexandria by divine providence (for this man was great in virtue), she communicated her secret decision to him. And he immediately said, "You have heard, and because you are yourself a lover of God, as I can see, and are well-versed in the divine teachings which the Savior speaks of in the Gospels—how he who honors father or mother more than Him is shown to be unworthy of Him—by making use of this instruction, D and by lifting up your mind to this resolve, be quick to put into effect what you have planned. And having received into your heart the fire of Him who cast it upon the earth, take care not to extinguish it through sloth or delay, but with all speed bring to an end that which you are considering in your mind. For no one putting his hand to the plow (as the divine Scripture says), and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of heaven." Having heard these things from the elder, she obeyed his words immediately, and asked of him that she might obtain the monastic habit. He
each went their own way. But John, having arrived and seeing his parents' house, threw himself upon the ground and prayed, saying to the Lord, “Lord Jesus Christ, do not abandon me.” A And in the deep of the evening, having entered by his house, again he lay upon the ground and, weeping before God, said, “Lord Jesus Christ, behold, you have even shown me the house of my parents, and may I not fall from your grace, but grant me that I may perfectly conquer the devil, and die well in this house, nor suffer me to be tempted any further.” And he remained there the whole of that night.
XI. When the day came, the gate of the house was opened, as was the custom, so that his parents might go out for a little while. And the one in charge of the house went out, and sees him lying there and dressed in torn clothing, and says to him, “Who are you, man, and from where? And how, being such as you are, did you dare to approach here? But give place, for my masters are about to go out.” John says to him, “I beseech you, sir, show mercy upon me, for I am a poor man. B Leave me to lie in this corner, since I do nothing wrong, and God Himself will give you the reward for the mercy, if you leave me, a pauper, to remain at the gates of this house.” The man allowed it and went away. And when after this his parents came out, John sees them and was filled with tears, and said to himself, “Behold, devil, I have even looked upon my parents by the will of God, and I shall trample down your stings by the power and help of Christ.” And again he said, “Lord Jesus Christ, do not abandon me.” And he remained in that corner. C And his father began to send him food from his own table, saying, “The patience of this poor man is great, since in such winter and frost he so persists and sits in the gateway. God is powerful through him to save us, too. For surely this man was sent to our house for this reason, that we also might be saved.” But his mother, having gone out one day, and seeing him in such a wretched state, stood amazed because of his wild and barefoot appearance, and says to her servants, “Drag him from here, for I cannot enter with him lying here.” Immediately, the servants dragged him away. D Yet being dragged a long way from the gate, he remained there and did not depart. But the one in charge of the house having come out at one time, John says to him, “As you showed mercy to me from the beginning, so now build for me here a small hut against the frost, and so that I may not be seen by your mistress.” The man, hearing this, and not delaying, built him a small hut; and he remained there, praying to God. And each day his father sent him food. But the things sent to him by his father, he distributed to the poor, he himself neither eating nor drinking of them, so that all the poor coming to him were fed. So muc
being eager to fulfill what was being asked, and having finished his customary prayers and all that was habitual, clothed her in the monastic habit. And having prayed that her end might be beneficial to her purpose, he returned to his own monastery. B
VII. After that God-loving elder had departed, Euphrosyne considered within herself how and where she might trade with the talent given to her, especially since she knew her father would be an obstacle to what she desired. Since she was looking for a way by which she could altogether remain hidden, and avoid the affection of her father and the romance of her suitor, she decided to put off her female dress and assume male attire. And since she knew that those who were going to pursue her as a woman would search in the monasteries of women, she decided to enroll herself in the choir of monks. Having formed this plan, one night she took off her own clothing, and along with her tunic she also put off her female weakness; she put on the garment of salvation and at once was transformed into a male habit. Then, having eluded the multitude of servant girls and the eyes of her parents, and having looked down upon her rich and magnificent house, taking up the cross of Christ, she departed at once, wishing to make herself worthy of what she desired. She arrived at that monastery which was led by the elder of whose prayers she had been the fruit, and, having come into the sight of the one appointed to the monastery, the superior of the monks, she was asked who he was, whence he came, and for what reason he had come to him. She said that she was called Smaragdus, and that she was from the imperial court (for so she said, wishing to remain hidden), but that she had left everything as unreliable and useless, and longed for the life of the monks; she had fled the queen of cities as being full of noise, and because she did not wish to be troubled by the associations of friends and acquaintances, or to have her desire for quiet soiled by them, but having heard much of the sanctity of these monks, she had come there, if by any means she might be deemed worthy to be included in their number. C
VIII. That man, admirable both in words and the modesty of his character, was gladdened and said: "Behold the monastery, my child; if it pleases you to be included in the number of the brothers, there is no one who will forbid it. But since you are still young in age and have not yet gained a perfect experience of the monastic state, it is necessary that you be placed under a teacher and learn from him the perfection of life." She said, "This also is to my liking, and I wish to have not one alone, if it seems good, but many who will train me toward virtue." Thus, having first laid down obedience to the elder as a solid and valid foundation, she is handed over to the monk Agapius, who was learned in divine things and had advanced to the summit of dispassion; and by him, as the divine David says, she was fashioned by a daily molding, and was conformed to a pious and religious life. D
A But he who from the beginning has been envious of us, and who boasts of being about to encompass the whole inhabited world like a nest, could not bear to see a woman flying above his cunning snares, and borne aloft in the spirit like a dove. But he was tormented, seeing a decision of such prudence, and how she had prepared herself to remain hidden; and he was vexed to see his own arts being mocked by a youthful body, and a female one at that. Indeed, he strove at times to tear away her care and meditation toward God, by kindling longing for her parents; at other times he devised to soften her resolve by the memory of wealth, glory, and her suitor; and furthermore, he brought to her mind the companionship of her acquaintances and peers. But though he attacked her from every side and cast temptations before her, he was repelled. What, then, does he do? He distributed himself into the eyes of others, and wounded them with the arrows of her beauty. And they, being unable to contain the intensity of their desire, and knowing it was not safe to conceal the malady, revealed the matter to the superior, and triumphed over the war that had been waged by the evil one. And this became for them indeed a relief from the evil, but for her, a greater advancement toward the perfection of virtue. For the superior of the monastery gives to them remedies suitable to the malady; but to her—the one who knew nothing of what had happened—he says: "I wish, my child, for you to live in seclusion in a cell, in which you may keep the rule handed down to you, and neither receive anyone there, nor go out at all, nor give yourself to anyone for conversation; but Agapius alone shall minister to you for your needs." B He spoke, and immediately he ordered Agapius to care for Smaragdus as was fitting, not only in spiritual things but also in bodily ones, as far as it was possible, so that she might be in need of nothing necessary. Therefore, the blessed one, as was pleasing to her, being delivered from disturbances, increased her love toward Christ even more, adding labors to labors, fasting to fasting, and to her former vigils joining a greater struggle against sleep, so that even Agapius, seeing her, marveled, and made these things manifest to others. But these things are for later.
C
IX. Recounting the rest of the narrative.
The things we have omitted to say, let us now recount. When her father at last learned that his dearest daughter was not at home, he first brought forward his male and female servants, and asked what this was, and inquired to which of their relatives or acquaintances the daughter had gone. And when they said that in the evening, after she had, according to her custom, closed the doors of her chamber, she had gone to sleep in her bed, but in the morning, when she did not come out, they had entered and found both her bed and the house empty; he supposed she had gone to her suitor, and sent to inquire if Euphrosyne had arrived at his house. And when the suitor himself, having learned nothing of what had happened, and being filled with perturbation and turmoil at the sudden news, arrived at his house, he found Paphnutius overcome by paternal bowels of compassion, plucking at his beard, and tearing his cheeks with his nails, and Dmiserably saying: "Where have you gone, my child? Why have you left me, your parent, to weep and mourn? I did not raise you with such hopes, but that I might have a staff for my old age and a comfort for my infirmity. Woe is me, my child, how shall I bear your absence? How shall I endure solitude, having fixed all my hopes on you alone? I have no other child to look to, through whom I might find solace for the grief I suffer on your account." Nevertheless, her betrothed, no less than her father, suffered grief, and vied with his lamentations, thwarted in his hopes of such a blessing. Yet he advised him to adopt a more manly frame of mind, and, putting aside lamentations, to arise and search for her. They therefore send as quickly as possible in all directions those who might search for her; and horsemen are sent off towards Libya, Egypt, and Palestine itself. The gates of the cities are seized, as are the ports, roads, crossroads, and whatever else was hidden and capable of concealing her. A But the lamb of God, who was being hidden by Him, could not be caught by those who wished to catch her. For how could she be, if He did not will it?
X
Paphnutius, therefore, was dubious and perplexed on every side, having no one to console him; for his house was filled with wailing and lamentation, and whatever met his eyes B led to a greater memory of the misfortune. For if her garment, or some ornament, or any other thing seen by chance happened to be present, this was an occasion for wailing; and fixing those things before his eyes, and turning them about with the greatest longing, he soaked them with his tears. Struck on all sides by grief, and unable to find a cure for his solace, he resolved to return again to that great elder, through C whom he had been deemed worthy to be called her father, and to recount what had occurred. For he judged thus: that the one who had been able to grant her to him through his prayers, though she did not exist, would be able to make her manifest, even though she were now hidden. He comes, therefore, to him, and falling at his feet: "Woe is me, Father," he cried, "I have lost the fruit of your prayers, and I am childless, who through you had a beautiful child. By the envy of some demon, D Euphrosyne has perished from my house; she has perished beyond hope, with no one of those at home knowing where she is or whither she has departed. Grant me, then, a little time for yourself and those with you; and occupying yourself a little with this matter, ask of Him who is worshipped by the pious, that He may signify to me where the light of my eyes might be." The elder, being moved and perturbed in spirit, and having wept himself at the tears of Paphnutius, summons the whole brotherhood and presents the account of what had happened to Paphnutius: he commands them to give themselves for a whole week to fasting and prayer, so that it might be revealed to someone hiding where on earth Euphrosyne might be.XI
But this having been done, their prayers came to nothing. For the prayers of Euphrosyne were resisting, as she begged that she should not be known. For God had determined to allow him to mourn for a little while, rather than, by relieving him of his grief, to grieveher soul still more, which, both by nature and by paternal affection, had disregarded all reason for his sake; and besides, he did not wish to give any setback or obstacle to that virtue, than which nothing is more precious in the eyes of all. A Since matters were proceeding in this way, the elder said to Paphnutius: “Do not be sad, child Paphnutius, and do not lament the departure of your daughter in a cowardly manner, like one of the unbelievers who measure all things by this life and are capable of thinking of nothing beyond it. Believe me, an old man, that she has set out on this path with a pious and religious intent; otherwise, the Lord would surely not have kept the event hidden from us. Give thanks, therefore, to Him, and venerate the dispensation as it happens to seem best to Him; and you shall see her in a little while, even in this life, if it is profitable for you both. But if not, then after you have departed from this life, the divine tabernacles will surely receive you both. For such is the understanding that her piety and love for God give me to hope for.” Thus Paphnutius, having yielded in his despondency, returns home, and having set his affairs in order, he again reaches the monastery.
B XII. As he was thus continually visiting the monastery, seeking out the more zealous of the monks, as one who loved to enjoy their company (observe the ineffable reasons of Providence!), he hears from the brothers of the monastery that there was among them a certain brother who, although he had not practiced the monastic life for a long time, had nevertheless arrived in a short while at the pinnacle of virtue. Smaragdus was his name; he was born of a distinguished family, and was one who abounded in wealth and money. But having despised all these things, he chose the monastic life, and progressed so much in virtue that there was almost no one among all the others who could compete with him. Hearing this, he was drawn away to come and see him. C He meets that man, who was supposedly to be admired for his virtue, through Agapius. When she saw the face of her father, and recognized him—though she herself was not recognized (for she was altered by her extreme austerity and fasting, and the features of her face were unclear)—she was overcome by nature, and quietly shed fountains of tears. Her father, however, imagined that this was happening out of contrition, unable to guess that he himself was the cause of the tears, as one who had struck her with a paternal spectacle. Then, having ceased her lamentations, she admitted nothing of what concerned her identity, as if struggling to conquer that nature which had already conquered her and induced her to shed tears; but she filled him with such benefit, from the decorum of her manners and from the instruction of her words, that he arrived at the elder full of wonder, and said that he owed him a great deal for having been deemed worthy to see and speak with such a man.
D XIII. Euphrosyne, therefore, having spent thirty-eight years living such a life in the monastery, and having been known to no one as to who she was, when it was time for her to depart from this life, that blessed one summons her father—who by some divine providence was in the monastery at that time for some necessity—and asks him to remain in the monastery for three days, saying that she would not
if any should desire to emulate him, such a person—whether living or having passed away—might become most renowned. I must therefore begin now to speak of his affairs from the highest point, and these things must be committed to the ears as far as is possible.
B II. When the impious Julian had recently, along with his reign, wretchedly ended his life, and then, after a short time, the kingdom had passed to Valens, difficult wars from all sides besieged the Church on account of the bitter communion of Arius. And with paganism having ceased, the war of Arianism held sway powerfully, and the affairs of the Churches were patently ailing. Now there was a certain man in Melitene of Armenia, near the Euphrates, named Paul, living with a wife called Dionysia, both of them illustrious in both virtue and lineage. But the woman was barren, and being destitute of children, she did not consider this a moderate tragedy, nor one worthy of only slight concern; rather, she was cast into sharp cares in her soul, and was tormented by sorrows, and her bowels and heart were burned with the fire of childlessness, as she longed for the fruit of the womb—a thing most desirable to most women, most sweet to the eyes, and sufficient to clothe them with glory, and to prevent them from looking lowly and without confidence into the faces of men. Thus, therefore, having such a disposition, and being pressed by such a calamity, she went with her spouse to the nearby temple of the divine martyr Polyeuctus (for she took him as a companion in her prayer, whom she also necessarily had as a sharer in her grief), and for many days they persevered in that place in prayer. They asked that the bonds of sterility be loosed for them, and they prayed to see the fruit of their own labors. C And once, as they were praying alone at night, a certain divine vision appeared, saying: "Be of good cheer, be of good cheer, for behold, God gives you a son, who shall receive a name synonymous with 'euthymia' [cheerfulness], and shall have ways worthy of that name; and at his birth, God shall also give 'euthymia' [tranquility] to His Churches."
III. They, therefore, having marked the time of the vision because of the marvel of the sight, returned home, and promised to dedicate what was born back to God. After a little while, the swelling of the womb guaranteed the conception, and Dionysia’s soul was filled with joy. Then, when the child was born to them, during the fourth consulship of Gratian, they name him Euthymius, making him harmonize with the vision. And the deed followed the vision, and the war against the orthodox...
A find this delay unprofitable for himself. Though he was a man who, in every way, was driven by the concern to learn about his dearest daughter, the father obeyed willingly. When the third and final day arrived, she summons him to her side and says: "Since God has governed the matters concerning me just as He willed, and has strengthened me to remain with the purpose I undertook from the beginning until the very end, I wish today to relieve you of many cares and to speak to you about your daughter, for whom you thirst like the deer and are utterly consumed with longing. Know, therefore, O father," she said, "that I am your child," showing him her face, as clearly as was possible. "I changed myself into this habit for the purpose of hiding, so that, by the goodness of God which fully consented to this, I might both see you throughout my entire life and yet have no hindrance from you in taking up the struggle of the ascetic life; and so that now you might be present, so that your own hands may commit my remains to the grave." Thus she spoke, and immediately surrendered her soul to the Lord.
B XIV. But he, stunned by the unexpectedness of the event, breathless, fell to the ground as if dead, to such an extent that Agapius sprinkled his face with water, and when he had recalled him to himself, he asked what had happened to cause his spirit to fail him. He said that he had seen such marvelous things that he desired to exchange this life for death immediately. Then, when he had arisen and was poured out over those holy remains, he watered them with his tears, and gave vent to lamentations mingled with joy, and cried out: "Woe is me, sweetest daughter, why did you not reveal yourself to me long ago? Why did you not take me along with you as a companion in the work of your purpose? C Woe to me, what has befallen me! How great was my ignorance! How could I not know that I held in my hands what I was searching for? What shall I do? Shall I celebrate a feast, seeing her who came forth from my loins in such a state, or shall I mourn, overcome by paternal affection? But it is not proper to mourn those who, after they have departed from here, go to a better life, even if nature, clinging to those of one's own house, compels me to do so. Yet even so, joy overtakes me as I mourn, checking the fountains of tears and persuading me to ask that I might depart from here as soon as possible. For I know that I shall see her and that I shall be seen by her, the goodness of God granting this, and that I shall live forever with her, who was indeed born of me, but lived for Him, and surrendered her blessed soul to Him."
XV. When Agapius had understood the whole story from these words, he announces it with shouting and wonder to the superior and the brethren. They were eager to outdo one another, stunned by the new and strange report, and each one strove first to embrace the venerable relics. D When one of the brethren, who was blinded in one eye, also approached to embrace her, he obtained sight from her who had been held worthy of divine light, and he had two unharmed eyes, becoming an accurate witness of her faith and of the blessedness which she had obtained. Therefore, those who were present no longer remembered the burial; but
A devoting herself to divine matters, was ordained a deaconess of the church under his care. Having adopted the boy, he became for him not only a foster-father and pedagogue, but also, through the laws of affection, a father and mother. He did this not so much for the sake of the child as to gratify himself, desiring to be the guardian of such a youth. Euthymius, therefore, having been dedicated to God from his early childhood in this manner and having been sacredly entered into the ecclesiastical rolls, immediately thereafter Theodosius the Great became master of the empire. And thus, at the same time, God miraculously bestowed peace upon both civil affairs and the Churches; granting Theodosius to the former and bestowing Euthymius upon the latter, so that in their cases, according to their names, the events themselves also resulted in harmony.
VI.
As time passed and the boy had already moved beyond the age of infancy, the bishop entrusted him to teachers of letters. These were Acacius and Synodius, who were distinguished in the choir of readers for their nobility, prudence, and temperance, and were well-versed in the divine Scriptures, while also being not-negligent lovers of secular education. After many struggles for Christ, both of them were, separately and in their own time, entrusted with the leadership of the Church at Melitene. The city of the people of Melitene even to this day delights in the many tales of them, as they were truly men suited for the governance of churches and the care of souls. The boy, therefore, having been handed over to them, and having received the abundant seeds of instruction into the folds of his mind, brought forth much fruit in a short time, and which was beyond his age. For he conversed with the divine Scriptures and applied himself to them with diligence. Whenever he found mention of some ancient and divine man having set them as a goal for virtue, this man became a most passionate object of pursuit for Euthymius, and he was immediately seized with a longing for the man, and he was inflamed toward a similar zeal. For such is a good and virtue-loving soul, whenever it finds even a moderate occasion for virtue. It is like a razor to a whetstone, a brand to a fire, a horse to a plain; as the common sayings go. So that at every time, it was the most diligent work for Euthymius to go through the books of the divine Scriptures and to inscribe the power of what was contained within them upon his mind.VII.
He also became an emulator of the ways of his teacher Acacius, imitating them as much as possible, so that he was shown to be a disciple not only of his words but also of his deeds; and as he diligently gave his ears to him when he was speaking, so did he also give his eyes to him when he was acting. Regarding food, not using that which washaving forgotten it, they were divided in their doxology and joy at the miracle. A And when, late and with difficulty, they realized that this was indeed the treasure, even after the burial, they placed her in the tombs of the fathers, with divine light shining upon her face. Her father, however, did not even consider departing from the monastery. Having withdrawn only so far as was necessary to distribute his possessions to the poor and to churches, and to those who otherwise live piously and do not have what is necessary, he nevertheless consecrated something to the common life, and thenceforth enrolled himself among the brothers. He passed the rest of his life there, lying on the mat and in the cell of Euphrosyne, and he reckoned this a great source of joy.
B XVI. When he also had spent ten years in this monastery, and had finished a life of perfect precision, he departed to the Lord, having given orders that his body should be placed near that of his daughter. Even after death, he considered this to be a sufficient consolation: that the dust of his body should be granted proximity to her whom he desired, for the eternal memory and glory of God, who ordered these things in this way. To Him befits all glory, honor, and adoration, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
LIFE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN APOLLINARIS
(Year 400.) [In Surius, under the 5th day of January, vol. I, page 41. We have not found the Greek text.]I. The emperor Anthemius, son of the emperor, had two daughters; of whom one possessed an unclean spirit, but the other, from an early age, was devoted to churches, martyrs, and prayers. Her name was Apollinaris. When she was of marriageable age, her parents sought to join her to a husband, but she was unwilling. C One day she said to her parents: "I desire to go to a monastery." But her parents said to her: "We wish to join you to a husband." She said to them: "I do not want to be joined to a husband, but I hope that in the same way God has kept His holy virgins undefiled, He will also keep me undefiled in His fear." It seemed new and wonderful to her parents that, being of that age, she should speak such things, desiring God. Again she asked them to bring a nun to her, that she might teach her the Psalter and how to read.
II. But the emperor was affected with no small distress because he wished to join her in marriage. When she persisted and would not accept the betrothal gifts, her parents said to her: "What do you want, daughter?" She said to them: "I ask you not to bring this to God, so that you may receive the reward of my virginity." When they saw that her mind was so firm and immovable, and that she had been so loved by God, they said to her: "We hope, daughter, that the will of God will be done." A few days later, they brought nuns to her, who taught her the Psalter and how to read the Scriptures.
III. On a certain day, when both were considering, she said to her parents: "I ask you to let me go to the holy places, that I may pray and worship the holy resurrection and the venerable cross." But they had no intention of letting her go, since they loved her more than her sister, who was afflicted. D When, after some space of time had passed, she was persistent with them, the emperor ordered that...
A permitted by himself, and secretly departing from the city in the twenty-ninth year of his age, he set out eagerly for Jerusalem, for the sake of venerating the holy and venerable places. Having visited the Fathers who lived in the desert, and having learned the manner of life of each of them, he became more fervent in his impetus, and was, as it were, lifted up by wings; and being struck by a sharper sting towards the zeal of a similar conduct, he arrived from there at the laura of Pharan, which is six miles distant from the city of Jerusalem. Having found there a cell outside the laura, which was every way well-suited for stillness, he passed his time there continuously, weaving branches of palm in it, and making the fruits of his manual labor common to himself and to those in need, so that he might not only be a burden to no one, nor keep his eyes fixed on the hands of others, but also that he might worship God, himself becoming rather a helping hand to others. And having freed his soul from every care for earthly things, he wholly attached himself to the hope of future blessings. B
XI.
Now there was among his neighbors a certain man named Theoctistus, who practiced the same life as he, and followed the same manner of living. Thus the love of similar things, and the communion of labors, so bound them together with the bond of love, and they were so mingled with each other by the affection of the spirit, that each of them resided in the soul of the other, and whatever one of them might think, this was also in accordance with the mind of the other. Thus, therefore, thinking with one mind like brothers, they would depart every year into the desert of Koutila, on the eighth day after the Epiphany; separating themselves from all human company, and conversing with God alone through prayer. And they spent the whole intervening time in the wilderness, until the feast of Palms arrived. For then they would both return to their cell, bringing with them a rich wealth of virtue, which they were about to offer to the risen Christ—far more precious than the gold which the Magi offered to Him when He was born. Yet Euthymius the Great excelled in the goodness of his character, in the simplicity of his manners, and in the greatness of his humility, and for this reason his confidence towards God increased for him each day, and he summoned forth a more abundant grace of the Spirit. BXII.
After passing five years in Pharan, he departed from there together with Theoctistus, to the customarythe boys and maidservants be brought to her, along with gold and silver; and they said to her, "Receive this, daughter, and depart; fulfill your vow. For God desires you to be His servant." And having been placed on a ship, with those boys following, they said to her, "Daughter, remember us in the holy places." She, however, said: "As you have satisfied me, so may the Lord deliver you also in the evil day." And having bade her parents farewell, she began to sail.
IV. But when after a few days they had arrived at Ascalon, they remained there for a few days on account of the turbulence of the sea. She, however, praying in all the churches and monasteries, offered those things that were necessary to them as well. Some days later, having found companions, we arrived at the holy city. When we had turned aside into a certain place on account of our baggage and the boys and maidservants who were with us, we rested a little. Blessed Apollinaris said to them: "Come, let us adore the blessed resurrection and the venerable cross." But while they were praying, she was praying for her parents. And she began to perform acts of charity for those who were in need. They often went to the monasteries of the virgins and to those who were leading a monastic life, and she provided them with what was necessary.
V. Furthermore, one day she said to one of those who were with her: "I wish, if God wills, to free you." Hearing this, they were troubled. But she said to them: "Be not anxious in spirit. For if God brings anything toward my humility, I will provide for your sustenance." And when they had received her blessing, they gave her great thanks. But when they had retired, she went with those who remained with her to the Jordan: and there she again provided for those who had need. And when they had set out from there, they came again to the holy city.
VI. When some days had passed, having completed her prayer, she said to those who were with her: "My brothers, I wish to free you also. But for now let us go as far as Alexandria and adore at Saint Menas." They said, "As you command, mistress." When she had descended to Ascalon, she distributed on the way to those who had need; and having found a ship that was going to Alexandria, they sailed there. The governor who was in charge at that time heard of this, and sent to adore her. She, however, did not allow it, but came by night to the praetorium, and adored the governor and his wife. They fell at her feet, saying: "We beseech you, mistress, why have you done this? We sent those who might come to your feet, and you, our mistress, have come to our feet?" She said to them: "Do you wish to do a pleasant thing for me?" They said to her: "Certainly, mistress." She said to them: "Let me go, for I wish to go to pray at Saint Menas." They then let her go with splendid gifts. Having received them, she distributed everything to the poor.
VII. But when she had remained in the city for a few days, she went everywhere to the monasteries, and diligently provided for them. A In that place in which she had a house, she found an old woman, to whom she offered a modest blessing, and said to her: "Accept this, sister, and go to the church, and buy me one monastic *lebetonarium*, and likewise a scapular, and a hood, and take also a girdle." The old woman, having gone, served her in this matter. But when she had brought them, she prayed for her, saying: "May God help you, Mamma." And when she had received them, she hid them because of the boys. When, however, she wished to go out to Saint Menas, having manumitted all of them, she gave them what was necessary for food, and let them go. They then, having prayed well for her, departed.
VIII. But when she had taken with her one eunuch and one old man, she came by ship to Lemnos. B And when they had arrived at the house of Philoxenus, the one who was the *Paramonarius* there learned of it; and he came with great ceremony, and prostrating himself, said to her: "My mistress, where do you command me to remain until you have gone up and done your prayer?" She asked him with an oath that nothing be brought to her. She said to him: "Perform an act of charity. Bring me four animals, so that as I ascend I may adore at Saint Menas." The next day he brought the animals. She said, "Believe in the Lord, I will not mount them unless I have paid their price." When she had given more than was customary to be given, she bade the steward farewell. He himself departed, having received a blessing from her.
IX. When she had ascended, she made the groom also mount another animal. And when they had arrived at Saint Menas, C they adored his venerable monument. The steward heard, and came with the clergy to adore her. She, however, was affected with trouble by this. For she did not wish to be recognized, but the steward asked her, saying: "Mistress, command that you be in my house." She said to him: "I wish to stay in the church for one day, until God lets me go to where I am about to go," and he sent his holy blessing to her. She distributed it to those who were in need. After three days, she said to the steward: "Perform an act of charity. Provide me one litter, so that I may go and adore the Fathers of Scetis." He, having summoned a litter-bearer, said to him: "In the name of God, bring the litter to me." He said: "You have commanded." The blessed one brings to her the boy who had remained with her, and blessing having been given to him, she let him go as well, saying: "Pray for me."
X. When on the following day the litter-bearers had arrived, she remained until it was evening. And when she had bade the steward and the boy farewell, she ascended into the little litter, having monastic clothes inside, and she made the eunuch ride behind, but the litter-bearer in front. D She began to pray, while she was inside, and to seek help from the Lord God. Around midnight she arrived at the marsh near the spring, which to this day is called the Spring of Apollinaris. And when the litter-bearer had opened the skins, by the providence of God he found both
A time for their withdrawal; and as they passed through the wilderness by a certain precipitous and deep torrent, they came upon a great cave at the northern cliff of the torrent, as if drawn by some guiding hand. Being gladdened in their souls, and thinking that this had not been shown to them without God, they made it their dwelling. The place which had previously been a refuge for wild beasts later became a holy temple and a habitation for angels. They remained hidden in the cave for a long time, and no one came near them, nor did anyone share at all in their needs; rather, they were nourished only by the herbs that grew there, as far as was possible. But because God, I believe, could no longer endure the concealment of their virtue (for how could He? Since neither the closed garden nor the sealed fountain provides benefit to many), but rather willed that they should become a cause of salvation and an abundant and common good for others as well, He orchestrated a certain event regarding them.
XIII. B Some shepherds of the Lazariote [flocks] were one day leading their sheep to the torrent, and having cast their gaze upon the cave, they saw them standing above their heads. Being disturbed by the suddenness and the strangeness of the sight, the shepherds immediately fled as fast as their feet could carry them. But the holy men, most skillfully removing their cowardice with voices as gentle and mild as they could command, said, "Do not fear, brothers, do not fear. We, too, are men, even if we have chosen to inhabit the present place on account of our sins." Then, indeed, the shepherds, emboldened to ascend toward them, entered the cave which they inhabited; and having found absolutely nothing there of the things useful for the body, they returned, greatly marveling, and recounted everything to their own people. Thereafter, the servants of the Lazariote [territory] did not cease to provide them with the necessities of life; thus did God wisely and philanthropically arrange these things, so that they might have what they needed for the use of the body, and in return might offer to those who provided for them that which is far superior: the salvation of the soul.
XIV. C When those from Pharan enquired about them and learned where they were staying, they frequented their company continuously. And first, two of the brothers, Marinus and Lucas, approached them and never again thought of returning. But being captured by their words and virtue, as if by certain truthful Sirens, they surrendered themselves to them as to fathers and curators of their souls; the great Euthymius received them with open hands and instructed them in the whole ascetic way of life; and so excellent was this, that they, having attained...
sleeping. And when she had stripped off her female garments, she put on monastic ones, saying: “O Lord, You who have given the beginning that I might attain this holy habit, make me worthy to bring it to an end fitting to Your will.” And when she had signed herself, she let herself down from the litter and entered the marsh. Now when God saw her charity toward Him, He caused the palm to suffice for her nourishment as long as she lived. B
XI. But when the litter-bearer and the eunuch were awakened, and realized she was not in the litter, they were greatly astonished; for they found the garments which she had been wearing in the litter. Returning, they came to the saint, and reported the matter to the steward, and also showed him her garments. He, being struck with awe, went into the city with the litter-bearer and the eunuch, and explained the whole matter to the governor. The governor was terrified, and wrote a letter to her father the emperor, explaining everything in order, and also sending her garments. But when her father had received the letter and read it, he wept bitterly. And when he also saw his daughter’s garments, his heart grew dark C with deeper gloom, and he began to weep with her mother and the whole senate. Afterward, however, they grew quiet, giving thanks to God. The emperor said: “O God, who chose her, strengthen her in Your fear.” And when everyone had wept again, some of them said to the emperor: “Truly, lord, she is the daughter of the pious emperor; she is the daughter of your power. Hence your good works have appeared all the more.” And when they had said this, and more besides, everyone prayed for her.
XII. But when the blessed one had remained many years in the marsh and had strenuously struggled against the devil, her body became as the skin of a tortoise, for it had been consumed by mosquitoes. She herself, however, had been worn down by abstinence and by the rule she had taught herself. And when the Lord Christ willed to make her worthy of the crown of the holy Fathers, He caused her to come out of the marsh. Now she was unknown to all to be a woman, but was thought to be a eunuch. For she appeared to someone in a dream, who said: “If anyone asks you how you are called, say, Dorotheus.” And when morning came, Saint Macarius met her and said to her: “Bless, Father.” And D they, having given each other the kiss of peace, walked in the desert. Dorotheus asked him, saying: “Father, who are you?” He said: “I am Macarius.” Then he said: “Perform a work of charity: let me live with the brothers.” And he granted her a cell immediately. Therefore, she offered fervent supplications to God all day and all night. But the devil began to tempt her with nocturnal visions. The blessed one, however, struggled vehemently against him, so that she might not reveal that she was a woman. She exercised herself beyond measure, neither leaving the church nor her rule, praying to God night and day.
XIII. On a certain day, Abbot Macarius came to her cell and said to her: “Perform a work of charity, good brother: offer prayers for us.” She said: “Father, I wish to be blessed by you.” And when she had offered prayers, they sat down. Now the abbot Macarius asked her, saying: “Tell me, brother, whence do you come, and what is your name?” But she said: “I am called Dorotheus, and when I had heard of the holy Fathers who are here, I wished to live with them, if I am worthy.” And the elder said to her again: “What work do you do?” She said: “I will do whatever you command me.” He indicated to her that she should make a rope. But God, wishing to show her strength of soul, did not reveal to Abbot Macarius that she was a woman, but he thought she was a male eunuch. And God performed many healings through her.
XIV. But in the passage of time the devil, who is malicious toward the good, attacked her sister, who was being vexed by a demon; and she was with the emperors. The demon began to lacerate her and say: “Unless you receive me and take me into the desert, I will not depart from her.” The demon wished to prevail upon her sister because she was a woman. But God obstructed the demon, that he might not say it. However, the demon urged the girl greatly, that she should go into the desert. Some of the nobles advised the emperor to send her. Then the emperor sent her with a great retinue to the Fathers in the desert. And when they had come to Scetis, Saint Macarius knew for what reason they were present in that place, and he went out to meet them, and received them, and said: “Why do you come here, O sons?” They said: “First, our pious emperor Anthemius has sent his daughter, that she might be healed through God and your prayers.” And when he had received her from the chamberlain, he led her to Abbot Dorotheus, and said to him: “Perform an office of charity: because she is the emperor’s daughter, and has need of your prayers and those of the Fathers. Pray for her, that she may be healed. For this is your reward.”
XV. But when she had heard this, she began to weep and say: “Who am I, a sinner, that you have conceived such an opinion of me?” And bending her knees, she said: “Grant me, Father, that I may weep for my sins: for they are many. For I am weak, and clearly unlearned and ignorant in this matter.” Abbot Macarius said to her: “Are there not also other Fathers who perform signs through God? But yet this reward remains.” But she said: “Let the will of God be done,” and moved to repentance, he received her into the cell, and he knew her to be his sister, and weeping he rested. And embracing her, he said: “You have come well, sister.” But by the work of God the mouth of the demon was obstructed, that he might not denounce the handmaid of God, that she was a woman. And when the demon had afflicted her for a long time, through prayers he subdued him.
XVI. But on a certain day the demon began to afflict her. She, however, rising, extended her hands to heaven, and weeping, supplicated God for her sister. Then the demon, crying out, said with a loud voice: “O, cast out by you, I depart.” And she being prostrate, he went out. And when he had received her, he brought her, whole, into the church to the feet of the Fathers, saying: “Forgive me, for I have sinned among you.” And they, having given the peace, called the men of the emperor, and delivered to them the healthy daughter of the emperor.
A compliant to reason, and the fiery heat of youth may be extinguished; and that we may become imitators of Paul, and at the same time fulfillers of his divine laws, not merely avoiding the charge of idleness (since he does not judge the one who is so slothful and negligent [as depicted by Paul] to be worthy even of food; for he says, "If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat"), but also acquiring the same hands as he had. For he says, "These hands have ministered to my needs, and to those who were with me." For indeed it is among the absurdities that those who live in the world, having a wife, children, and a whole household, should provide for themselves from the labor of their hands, and should pay their annual tribute from them, and even offer the firstfruits of their labors to God, and do good according to their ability; yet we, on the other hand, should not share the fruits of our hands with others.
XVII. Those things also which are among his precepts are worthy to be committed to memory. For he urged that a decorous silence be embraced in the temple of the Lord, and that no one should speak during the assembly of the brothers while the sacred mysteries are being performed; nor indeed should they loosen their tongues in the refectory while the brothers are gathered for a meal; but in both, they should maintain the same silence. Furthermore, he was displeased that some of the brothers, especially those who were young, would openly and publicly show a greater fast than was observed by the rest in the coenobium, and would break the common rule of the brothers, following their own will and law. For he did not want good deeds to be heralded by a trumpet, nor to be manifest and publicized, but as far as possible to remain hidden; and for this reason, he said that the best abstinence is that which forestalls satiety and suppresses food while we still have a need for it—which is to take food in an amount less than necessity; and in secret to resist the passions of the flesh, and to be securely fortified on all sides with the armor of the monks; which things are: humility, moderation, meditation, discernment, obedience according to God, and the virtue that is truly an imitator of God. By such teachings from that most sweet tongue did the brothers benefit daily.
XVIII. Our discourse now begins to proceed to the affairs of the elder Terebon; which all the elder Fathers narrated to me with one voice; but more accurately, that Terebon, grandson of this elder Terebon, who ruled a tribe among the Saracens and left behind a great name for himself among them for his renown. But it is necessary to weave the beginning of the narrative from above, so that our account may thus be more easily understood. There was among the Persians a certain Greek, Aspebetus by name, who B
Who, after having adored all the Fathers, set out for the emperor. And there was great joy in the city on account of the emperor’s daughter, and they glorified God, seeing the maiden’s great modesty. But the blessed Dorotheus humbled himself more, practicing mortification beyond measure. And he was a perfect standard-bearer.
XVII. But the devil once again approached the emperor’s daughter and made her appear pregnant. The emperor began to be afflicted with great grief, and he questioned her, saying: “From whom are you pregnant?” But she answered nothing else there, except this alone: “I do not know whence this has happened to me.” The emperor, however, examined her more closely. Then Satan suggested to him the thought that the monk who was leading her about had caused her pregnancy. Then, filled with great anger, the emperor sent men to destroy that place. But when the princes had arrived at Scetis as quickly as possible, they sought to understand what was happening there, saying: “Give us the monk who has made the emperor’s daughter pregnant.” The holy Dorotheus of God, having heard these words, came forward into their midst, saying: “I am he.” However, the holy Fathers were afflicted and said: “We also will go with you.” But she said to them: “My lords, only pray for me, and I hope in God and in your prayers that I shall soon adore you again.” And departing for the church, they came with the whole assembly of the brothers; and after prayers had been made, they went out together, escorting the abbot Dorotheus. For abbot Macarius knew that there was no evil in him.
XVIII. And when they had arrived at the emperor’s, abbot Dorotheus fell at his feet, saying: B “I beg your piety to hear in silence concerning your daughter. Let us go aside, and I will tell you everything. For no vice has been brought upon her, nor does she possess anything evil—far be it!” After they had gone aside, she and her parents, she said to them: “Swear to me by the Lord that, if you learn the truth, you will let me depart to my place.” When the emperor and his wife had promised her this, she said to them: “He who, after God, made your daughter healthy, is my own humble self, through the prayers of the Fathers.” Upon hearing this, they were stunned, remaining silent and astonished. Then she said to them: “I will make you certain of this matter,” and opening the collar of her habit, she showed her breasts and said: “Father, I am your daughter Apollinaris.” When her parents heard this, they were stunned, and many tears were shed on that day. A They brought their sister and said to her: “Do you know this man?” But she, answering, said: “Truly this is that eunuch who, after God, healed me,” and falling at his feet, she asked him about her womb. And when he had raised her up and laid his hands upon her womb, he rendered her healthy. When they had seen this, they were amazed and glorified God. Therefore they said: “Truly this is our daughter Apollinaris.” There was weeping with joy in the emperor’s palace.
XIX. But when she had spent a few days with her parents, she told them everything. When they had heard this, they praised God. They begged her to remain with them, but they did not persuade her then; yet, because of what they had promised her, they sent her away with many tears. But she asked her parents to pray for her. And they said to her: “The God to whom you were betrothed, He himself will accomplish mercy with you. But remember us, daughter, in your holy prayers.” When they had embraced her, they let her go. They wanted to give her money for the needs of the Fathers, but she did not accept it, saying: “My Fathers have no need of the money of this world, lest we fall away from heavenly goods.” Having made prayers, they sent away their daughter joyful and exultant. When she had come to Scetis, the brothers and fathers received her and praised God that their brother had returned healthy, and they made a feast day for her.
XX. But a few days later, when she knew that she was about to depart from the world, she said to abbot Macarius: “Perform an act of charity. If it happens that I depart from life, do not let the monks prepare my body.” But he said to her: “How can this be done?” Yet when she had finished her course, the holy Fathers came to wash her holy body. They saw that she was a female by sex, and they cried out, saying: “Glory to you, Christ, who have many hidden saints.” Abbot Macarius was amazed that this had not been revealed to him. But one night he saw a vision which said to him: “Do not be troubled on that account. For it is fitting that you be crowned with the holy Fathers who are from of old.” Then he told them the life and the name of the blessed one. D And having brought her holy relics, they placed them to the east of the holy church, in the cave of abbot Macarius, with joy and glory, even to this present day, through God and the holy Fathers: and after her holy falling asleep, cures are performed by the grace and clemency of our Lord Jesus Christ. To whom be glory and power for ever. Amen.
ON ST. SYMEON THE STYLITE
(Year 460.) [Acta SS. Boland. January, Vol. I, Day 5.]
§ I. The celebrated name of the elder Symeon Stylites.
The ecclesiastical calendars present three Symeon Stylites. The elder, the primary forefather of his institution, is honored by the Latins on January 5, and by the Greeks on September 1. Baronius is mistaken when he writes that his birthday falls on May 24, having rashly followed the Menologion of Cardinal Sirlet; in that text, since the younger Symeon is discussed on that day, it is incorrectly appended that the deeds were committed to writing by Theodoret, bishop of Cyrrhus; for it is certain that Theodoret had passed from this life long before the younger Symeon was born. Therefore, another Symeon Stylites, on the Wonderful Mountain, is recorded in the Roman Martyrology on September 3, and is honored by the Greeks on May 24, the day on which we shall speak of him at greater length. The third is celebrated by the same Greeks on July 26, and is called presbyter and archimandrite; he is perhaps the same one mentioned by John Moschus in Chapter 57 of the *Spiritual Meadow*, or the ten books *On the Lives of the Fathers*, as having been struck by lightning.
2. The Roman Martyrology honors the elder on January 5: "At Antioch, Symeon the monk, who lived for many years standing on a column, whence he received the name Stylite: his life and conduct were admirable." Bede, Hrabanus, Usuardus, Bellinus, and more extensively, Ado, Notker, and others, contain nearly the same. A The Menologion of the Greeks for September 1: "Commemoration of our Holy Father Symeon the Stylite, who was under the Emperor Leo the Great, and the bishop of the city of Antioch, from the province of Cilicia, from the castle of Sesan: who, having entered the monastic life, ascended a column; on which he stood for forty-seven years, and having performed many miracles through him, he passed away in peace." The Menaea and the Greek Anthologion, approved by Clement VIII, contain the same on that day. Christopher Patritius and Proconsul of Mitylene, in his epitome of the Menologion on the same day: "Symeon is praised by me, whose sign is the column."
3. Francis Maurolycus, in his Martyrology for January 5, writes thus concerning him: "At Antioch, Symeon the Stylite, the admirable: for he lived in a dry well for many years, and stood for forty years on one foot on a column. Even the birds mourned for him when he died." B But Maurolycus is mistaken in thinking that he lived for many years in a dry well, where he was only for a few days; nor is it as he implies, that he stood on the column constantly balanced on one foot, but only for one year. Petrus Gelesinius: "At Antioch, Symeon the Stylite monk, who, enclosed in a hollow column for forty years, took food once a week, and lived on the roots of herbs and a draft of water. By which admirable abstinence and sanctity the man, famous also for many miracles, departed to the Lord." But from where did Gelesinius learn that he was enclosed in a hollow column? The opposite will be clear from the following section. Nor did he take food once a week, except at the beginning of his monastic life; but only on the fortieth day, as will be stated in his *Life*.
§ II. Whence the Stylites were so called. C The form of the column.
4. It is worthwhile, while we deal with the Stylites, to set forth what is the notion of the term, and what was the form of the column. This our Rosweydus briefly explains beforehand in his *Notes* on the life of St. Symeon Stylites: "It is derived by grammarians from *stulos* and *stele*, from the same root, standing. Suidas: *Stulites*, he who stands on a column ('Stylita, qui columnam insistit')." Who among the Romans first built a cell upon a column, Asconius teaches us in his commentary on Cicero's oration against Q. Caecilius, which is called the *Divinatio in Verrem*: "When Maenius was selling his house to the censors Cato and Flaccus so that a basilica might be built there, he reserved for himself the right of one column, above which he could cast a roof from protruding planks, whence both he and his descendants could watch the gladiatorial spectacle, which was even then given in the forum: whence from the same Maenius they are called *Maeniana*." Festus: "The *Maeniana* buildings are so named from Maenius; for he was the first to extend beams beyond the columns, so that the upper parts might be enlarged." D Glossary: "Maenianum, *exostra*. Menianus, *exostes*." Thus Rosweydus. Raderus has almost the same in part II, chapter 4, of the *Viridarium*, on the Stylites, who added: "A *stele* was properly a tombstone placed upon burial mounds, with an inscription." And soon he adds that tables or columns of proscription were accustomed to be inscribed for the sake of the ignominy of those guilty, and it was in a way a register. Whence a *logon steletikon*, and a letter *steletiken*, are accepted for a famous writing by which the crimes of a guilty person are set forth to be read publicly.
5. Concerning the form, the same Raderus argues: "Columns, which I prefer to all the prodigious pyramids of Egypt, the elaborate and painted obelisks, colossi, and the columns of Trajan, because of the very stars that shone above them, the form was, as I judge, round, the height varying. For the author of the Stylites, Symeon, first ascended a small column of only six cubits (or the name of feet), then twelve, later twenty-two, and finally thirty."
Migne’s marginal A note in book xiv, cap. 51, contains an error that has slipped into the numbering. For "twenty-nine," one should read "thirty." If this calculation is true, he could not have reached his hundredth year. Otherwise, it would be necessary to claim that when he was forty-four years of age, he first entered the monastery: which does not square with the Life written here by Anthony, who writes that he entered the monastery immediately from adolescence.
8. From this, the following summary of his life is gathered: when he was thirteen years old, he tended sheep. From there, it seems he entered the monastery, where he lived for 1 year; thence 11 years in seclusion; B after this, 4 years on a column of four cubits; again 12 years on a column of twelve cubits; again 12 years on a column of twenty cubits; after this 4 years on a column of thirty cubits; finally 16 years on a column of forty cubits. And thus 52 years of exercise arise, not differing much from the number of Evagrius.
9. «In Theodoret, it is held that he remained for 10 years in the first monastery: 10 years in the monastery of Heliodorus: 3 years in the village of Telanessus: 28 years on the column, up to the time when Theodoret wrote his Life. Here are held only 43 years of exercise: but he was still alive at that time.
10. «Cedrenus in his *Compendium of History* says that in the 25th year of Theodosius the Younger he ascended the column, and in the 4th year of Leo he finished his life. From which interval, according to the calculation of the Annales of Baronius, only 28 years are completed.
11. Thus far Rosweyde. These things must each be weighed. Regarding Meletius, who dealt with the holy Symeon, Baronius received from Theodoret, cap. 26 of the *Philotheus*, writing thus: «Afterwards, however, that admirable Meletius, to whom the care of the episcopacy of the region of the Antiochene city was entrusted at that time, a man wise, clear in prudence, and adorned with the cleverness of his genius,» etc. Gentianus Hervet translates it so. But Albericus Longus Salentinus: «When, however, Meletius, who at that time was prefect of the Antiochene region.» From which words it does not clearly follow that this Meletius was the patriarch of the Antiochene see, although Meletius Metaphrastes asserts it clearly. If indeed we give the date of the Great Meletius (whose Life we will give on February 12th), at the time he stood on the column, how could neither the holy John Chrysostom, nor historians of his standing, have mentioned him? I believe, therefore, that this Meletius praised by Theodoret was a bishop of another see, in the Antiochene region. For beyond that Meletius, colleague of Theodoret in the convention against holy Cyril, who perhaps was transferred from some lesser see under the Antiochene patriarch to Neocaesarea, another is often mentioned in the synod of Chalcedon, Meletius, bishop of Larissa, who in that synod performed the duties of his own metropolitan, Domnus, bishop of Apamea in Syria. Larissa is, moreover, a city of Cassiotis, in which province Antioch also is. Although if this was the Meletius, it does not seem that he was still the bishop of Larissa at that time.
A If, however, this was the praiseworthy Meletius (as I conjecture him altogether to have been), the foundation of Baronius’s calculation already collapses. Add to this that Domnus of Antioch, as Nicephorus reports (lib. XIX, c. 51) and Evagrius (lib. I, c. 13), came to Symeon, and upon seeing him was shocked by extreme admiration: from which it is conjectured that Symeon had not begun to dwell on that very high column long before. But Domnus, as Baronius has it, in the year 432, departed from the wilderness, against the will of St. Euthymius, to convert his uncle John, patriarch of Antioch, who favored Nestorius: then, in the year 436, he succeeded him in the episcopate. But what indeed would have been the cause for such great astonishment for him, if Symeon had already held that station for fifty years? What more? Because from that time, in which Symeon began that rigid regimen of abstinence under the discipline of Blastus or Bassus, until Theodoret wrote his account, only 28 years had passed? And yet, at least three years before his meeting with Meletius, he had assumed that fasting. Therefore, if the great Meletius was that man, those years must be counted from the year 377 or 378; and thus we must admit that Theodoret wrote in the year of Christ 405 or 406; which he himself refutes, when in his letter to Eusebius, bishop of Ancyra, he lists, among other things written by himself after the Synod of Ephesus, the book on the lives of the saints.
13. Since, therefore, these things are so, and the number of years handed down by Evagrius is followed by the Menaea, the Menologium of Sirletus, and the Anthologion approved by Clement VIII, I do not see why we should disagree with it: especially since Metaphrastes also seems to agree, when he says that he lived a full fifty-six years, in the exercise of, naturally, the religious life.
14. Indeed, that Rosweydus notes an error to have crept into the numbers according to Nicephorus—and it is not corrected even in the accurate edition of Fronton du Duc—is true. Yet in the Greek it is expressly stated: *ἔτη τριάκοντα*, thirty years [he] spent on the forty-cubit column. As to the number of years, Rosweydus, as will appear below, is not entirely certain, since manuscript copies, through the negligence of copyists, diverge not a little. Here, according to that life, this calculation would be most approved by us (if Theodoret did not stand in the way): he lived in his parents' house for 13 years, in the first monastery 4, in a cell 3 or 4, B on a column of four feet 4, on a column of twelve cubits 12, on a column of twenty cubits 12, on a column of thirty cubits 4, and finally on a column of forty cubits 16, and thus the life totals 68 or 69 years, of monastic practice 55 or 56, which approach more closely to the number of Evagrius; and this number is expressed in the Latin life, chap. 8, n. 53. Antonius counts far fewer years in his first life than what we shall provide from the Greek manuscripts; but it is clear that some error has crept in.
§ IV. By whom the Life of St. Symeon was written.
16. Antonius, his disciple, wrote the Life of St. Symeon, whom Evagrius signifies when he writes in lib. I, cap. 43, as follows: *Τούτου τὰς θεοσημείας ἔγραψε μὲν καί τις τῶν αὐτοπτῶν γενομένων, γέγραφε δὲ καὶ λογίως ἀπέθετο καὶ Θεοδώρητος ὁ τῶν Κυρεστῶν ἐπίσκοπος.* «The divine signs of this man were indeed written by one of those who were eyewitnesses, and Theodoret, bishop of the Cyrresthians, also wrote and set them down eloquently.» His deeds, which were altogether signs of divine virtue, were written by someone of those who had seen [them] with their eyes. Theodoret, bishop of Cyrrhus, also wrote and explicitly explained them. We provide two lives here, of which Antonius is cited as the author. The former, written in Greek, we received from the library of the most serene Duke of Bavaria, which Guilielmus Gratius of Bruges, a priest of our Society, rendered into Latin. Since this one is far shorter, I would believe it to be rather written by Antonius. For thus Metaphrastes says: *Μέγας τοίνυν οὕτως ὢν καὶ πολὺς τὴν φήμην γενόμενος πολλῶν ἔτυχε καὶ τῶν γραφέων· ἀλλ᾽ οὐδεὶς οὐδέπω κατὰ μέρος τὰ κατ' αὐτοῦ διεξῆλθεν, ὅπως ἅπαντα καθῆκεν ἑαυτῷ· οὐδὲ ἀκριβῶς ὅπως ἕκαστα εἶχεν, ἔγραψεν.* «Being therefore so great and having become widely famous, he attained many writers; but no one yet has gone through in detail the things concerning him, as he applied all things to himself; nor did he write accurately how each thing happened.» This, clearly, Metaphrastes promises he will do. Truly, the other life long ago published under the name of Antonius has not many fewer things than Metaphrastes.
17. I judge it, therefore, to have been compiled long ago from that brief account of Antonius, with the addition of things that were rumored about him either by fame or by the writings of others. Certainly, it is not credible that the life of one whom Theodoret reports to have been so famous in Rome and throughout the West was not published there as well. Rosweydus C our friend had transcribed it from a very ancient codex of the monastery of St. Laurentius at Liège, written before the year of Christ 1034, which we have compared with other manuscripts from the Imperial monastery of St. Maximinus at Trier, from St. Mary of Ripatorio, and from the church of St. Omer. In the Ripatorio codex it was in many places abridged. The same life, but with the phrasing generally differing slightly, was edited in lib. 1, *De Vitis PP.* by the same Rosweydus.
18. Finally, the life of St. Symeon "was written by the great Theodoret," as Nicephorus writes in lib. XIV, c. 51, "and by Symeon of the same name, Metaphrastes; offering in it a new and admirable feast of all kinds of spiritual foods." This Baronius in his notes to the Martyrology, Ra--
A Ra— — Græco regis Galliæ, translated into Latin by the same person, by our William Gratius. Almost all of the previous accounts were written word-for-word from Theodoret’s *Philotheus*, ch. 26, as will be plain to anyone who compares them. We are the first to publish this version from a manuscript.
SYMEONIS MAGISTRI ET LOGOTHETÆ VITA S. SYMEONIS STYLITÆ
(The Greek text is here published for the first time from two royal manuscript codices from Paris, no. 136, 13th century, and no. 1607, 14th century. EDITOR.)
CAPUT I.
*S. Symeonis ortus, et vitæ religiosæ rudimenta in duobus monasteriis.*
1. All subjects of the Roman Empire know Symeon as a man most celebrated, a miracle of the inhabited world; his name has flown even to the nomadic Scythians. The Persians, too, and the Indians, and the nations of the Ethiopians, and all who occupy any other part of the earth, having perceived his deeds—some with their own eyes, others by hearing of them—have celebrated him with praises. Great and widely renowned as he was, he obtained many writers; yet no one hitherto has individually detailed his virtues in writing, A nor has anyone applied his mind to narrating each event accurately. But those who in former times discoursed on his life in a brief summary passed over certain events that occurred in the middle of his age; nor did they bring such famous deeds to their conclusion. Wherefore, our account of this man will be most useful, as we begin from the very head and will follow it through to the end. But I fear that to those in the future the narrative may seem more like a fable, stripped of truth. For men are accustomed to measure past events by nature: but when something is said to have occurred that exceeds its bounds, B any discourse concerning it is judged false by those unskilled in divine matters. But since this man yielded to the laws of nature—and did not even endure human conditions, but rather demonstrated the perseverance of an incorporeal being in a mortal body—and especially since the whole earth and the seas themselves are filled with those who were taught divine things by him; from here, therefore, I shall begin my narrative.
the steward, requested once again, with the others, Auxentius as well. A Since he was still disobedient in this way, and the Sabbath had already passed, at which time it was permitted to meet with the great man, the steward reported everything regarding Auxentius to him. And he immediately summoned the brother, urging him to obey, and not to be so unyielding and disobedient, adhering only to his own will and refusing the service that was commonly useful to the brothers. But as he respected neither exhortation nor even the mere sight of such a person, but rather declined clearly, and brought forward every kind of pretext, so as only to show his own will to be master—now claiming to be a stranger and unacquainted with the local tongue, now alleging the snares of the flesh and the various arts of the evil one; "Lest," he said, "finding me outside your eyes, he might trip me up and make me a work of his own malice"; and furthermore, how he might not be beset by cares and tumults, and remain discordant and out of harmony with the quiet and tranquility of the soul.
B XLVII. While he was saying such things, and putting forward the harm to his soul as something sufficient to cause shame, the great Euthymius said again: "But we shall pray, my child, to God, that through your obedience you may not appear liable to capture by any of those things that harm. For His is the voice: 'I came not to be served, but to serve' (Matt. xx, 28). And: 'I do not do my own will, but the will of the Father who sent me'" (John v, 30). C At these words, as Auxentius became still more harsh and in no way yielded, the divine Euthymius, speaking more sternly to him, said: "We, my child, have counseled what seemed to be for your own advantage; but you, remaining in the same disobedience, shall soon know what the fruit of disobedience is." The great man had not yet finished the things he had said, when Auxentius, suffering a convulsion of the body, I know not from where, poor wretch, falls to the ground, worthy only of tears because of his calamity. D Those of the brothers who were present, having their souls softened for him because he was in such a pitiful state, begged, beseeched, and entreated Euthymius to help him as he lay there, having suffered an evil retribution for his disobedience. But he, to one so disobedient and insubordinate, was ready to be obedient. And taking him by the hands, he raised up Auxentius, still trembling and suffering the punishment in almost all his limbs. Then, applying the sign of the cross to him like some medicine, he released the man from the affliction and immediately showed him to be healthy.
XLVIII. Auxentius, therefore, having recovered, and having come to a remembrance of the disobedience, and understanding also the affliction that had fallen upon him, and not being ignorant that it was the work of disobedience alone, was being punished with an even greater penalty by his conscience, and a terrible repentance entered into him. Indeed, he falls down before Euthymius, partly asking for forgiveness for what had already happened, and partly for future security. When
A 2. There is a village situated between Syria and Cilicia, which the inhabitants call Sisam. From this place, this wondrous Symeon took his origin. And at first, he was taught by his parents to tend the sheep, so that in this regard he might be numbered among those who in time past were men of great virtue: I mean Jacob the patriarch, Joseph the temperate, Moses the lawgiver, David the king and prophet, and Micaiah, and finally those other most holy men of that same order.
3. But when, on one occasion, by reason of the excessive force of snow falling from the sky, the sheep were compelled to remain indoors, having obtained some leisure, he accompanied his parents to the holy church. There, having heard the evangelical voice, which calls blessed those who weep and mourn, while it proclaims the ridiculous those who laugh, and likewise invites to imitation all those who are pure in heart, and whatever else is conjoined with these things, he asked one of those who were present: "What must one do to attain each of these things?" And another—who was, as it appears, a cultivator of virtue—suggested to him the monastic life, and pointed out to him that supreme philosophy.
4. Symeon, therefore, having received the seeds of the divine word, and having hidden them in the deep furrows of his soul, ran to the nearby temple of the holy martyrs. B In this place, planting his forehead and his knees upon the ground, he besought Him who desires to save all men, to guide him upon the straight path of piety. While he remained intent upon this task for a long time, he gradually slipped into sleep, and recognized the following vision. He seemed to be digging foundations, and then to hear someone standing there saying that he must deepen the trench further. When, therefore, he had excavated the depth as he had been commanded, he again tried to rest. But he who had appeared to him commanded him once more to dig, and not to cease from his labor. When he had enjoined this a third and a fourth time, finally, since it was not possible to dig further on account of the excess of the depth, he declared that the depth was sufficient, and commanded him to build the structure from then on, as his toil had ceased and the building would follow easily. The event bore witness to this prediction. For this was what the appearance signified: that the things which were to happen subsequently would exceed the limits of nature, and that after those supernatural labors which Symeon undertook in the beginning, the ascetic life would proceed for him in a steady flow. C
5. Having arisen from there, Symeon departed to the dwelling of certain neighboring ascetics. And having spent two years with them, and having become desirous of a more perfect virtue, he arrived at that village called Teleda, in which the wondrous Heliodorus was entrusted with the care of the monks who were with him, who D
to be unacceptable not to admit the thoughts suggested by the evil one, whether he suggests sadness, or hatred, or listlessness, or a move to another place, and not to yield the mind to him at all from the start; but rather to fend these off and push them away with all one’s strength, lest he escape notice to deceive us through some stratagem, and cast us into a fall worthy of tears. A If someone should perhaps be unable to practice virtue here, let him not think that by moving elsewhere he will more easily accomplish what he is striving for. For the operation of the good does not proceed from the nature of the place, but from our own free will. On the contrary, this is even dangerous for monks, and capable of making them weak and fruitless in virtues. For not even a plant can bear fruit if it is being constantly transplanted.
B LI. For the greater confirmation of what has been said, he also used to relate to them a story of certain Egyptian elders. He said, therefore, that there was a certain brother in Egypt, residing in a certain coenobium, who, being continually carried away into anger, became wild and troubled, and his mouth was filled with bitterness and rage. But when a certain repentance came upon him, seeing that he was warring against himself because of this anger and the ease with which he fell into perturbation, and fearing that he might lose whatever good he had already managed to acquire, he persuades himself to withdraw from the coenobium, and to live quietly by himself alone, inasmuch as the silence of the wilderness could contribute much to his tranquility and freedom from disturbance. C For he supposed that if there were no one present at whom he might get angry, and against whom he might exercise his wrath, that terrible and most quickly kindled fire of anger would surely be extinguished by degrees of its own accord, and that he would henceforth be mild and full of all tranquility and peace. Having reasoned thus, he departed from the coenobium and embraced the solitary life. And when at one time, for some need, he had filled a cup with water, and wanted to set it down on the ground for a little while, by some art of the evil one it was overturned. When this had happened not once, but twice and three times in succession, the brother became angry, and vanquished by the impetus of his wrath, he immediately, just as he was, threw the cup to the ground and broke it; and thus he incurred a much greater and more stinging mockery from the enemy.
D LII. Upon this, Clematius indeed laughs, being warmed in soul by the wit of the story. But the divine Euthymius, having observed the matter, says, "Do you also, brother, move yourself by some evil demon, since you laugh so shamelessly and brazenly? When you ought to be weeping and lamenting, expecting consolation from that source, if He who is to be our judge then is truthful, calling those blessed who mourn now (for, says He, they shall be comforted), and wretched [are you]...
A had lived for sixty-five years, and for the same number, minus three, had been shut up in a cell; for he spent those three in suckling and infant instruction; for he was barely three years old when he was immediately offered by his parents to God, and entered this wondrous flock. This man was guileless, like that great and wondrous Jacob, and had attained such a degree of meekness and purity that he surpassed the ascetic laws, and in every form of virtue he excelled all men and drew near to God.
B 3. To him this five-fold winner, this trainer of piety, arrived and spent ten years struggling in this spiritual contest; and having eighty fellow soldiers, he surpassed them all; and while the others took food every two days, he himself would spend the whole week without food. This fellow troop often felt troubled, since they were unable to imitate Symeon, and they called this matter a confusion and disorder of ascetic life.
CAPUT II. Pænitentia, et abstinentia mirabilis.
C 7. But he did not stop there, nor did he curb his zeal; but he offered a secret struggle to the searcher of all secret things. For you all know how rough is the rope woven from palm leaves, and how painful it is even to hands that merely touch it; yet Symeon girded his loins with this; he did not put it on externally, but attached it to his own skin, and tightened it so severely that the whole part of the body which was circled by it became ulcerated. When he had spent more than ten days in this way, and the ulcer was becoming more severe, a discharge of blood flowing from there became a sign of the hitherto hidden wound. D Then one of the onlookers asked him what was the cause of so much blood. While Symeon said that he felt no pain at all, he did not persuade them, for the blood flowing before everyone’s eyes contradicted him more than any cry or patience of the man, and triumphed as a mystery. Therefore, one of his fellow soldiers, having forced his hand into his side, learned the cause and reported the whole matter to the one in charge; who, while severely rebuking him and arguing against the cruelty of the deed with reproaches, with difficulty finally released him from the bonds, to which he indeed submitted patiently; but he persistently resisted that any remedy be applied to the ulcer.
8. Consequently, those in the ascetic wrestling ground, seeing him doing other such things, and unable to compete even with the least of his labors, on the other hand not bearing to see themselves being left behind, ordered Symeon to leave the village, lest, as they said, he might be the cause of some harm to those who were somewhat weaker—those whose bodies were in such a state, and who, striving for things beyond their strength,
A regarding Cyril of Alexandria and Acacius of Melitene, and how they brought to bear great zeal for orthodoxy; and that an ecumenical council was soon to be assembled at Ephesus against that impious man. When these things had thus been spoken by Synodius, Euthymius was gladdened in soul, having learned such things about Acacius, to whom he used to go as a boy and under whom he was instructed in the study of letters. Afterwards, however, when Synodius had bidden him farewell, he departed from the laura, taking with him his nephew Stephen, and went up to the holy city; he persuaded the one entrusted with the governance of the church there to count Stephen among the deacons under him. The latter, together with him, also ordained Cosmas the Cappadocian, and enrolled them both in the choir of deacons.
B LV. Now, as the bishops from everywhere were already gathering for the council, and on the point of arriving from Palestine as well, the great Euthymius charged Peter, the bishop of the Saracens, to attach himself to Cyril of Alexandria and Acacius of Melitene, and that whatever seemed good to them should also seem good to him. And he, when the council was finished, returned again to Euthymius and narrated to him in detail all that had happened at it, and what course it had taken. But he, having learned both the other events from the bishops of the East, and that John, the prelate of Antioch, though an orthodox man, had been led away to hold the same views as those of Nestorius, was stricken in his heart with grievous sorrow.
LVI. Domnus, his nephew, was afflicted with the same suffering. Accordingly, he asked of Euthymius that he might be permitted to go to Antioch, in order to set his uncle on the right path when he had stumbled, and to raise him up as one already lying low. But he, C foreseeing that the arrival there would not be safe, but rather useless and unprofitable for him, said: "By no means, my son, ought you to withdraw from the laura. For he does not need your presence; but even if he has turned aside a little from the sound faith, yet God, who knows that his heart is rightly disposed, will himself turn him back and lead him to what is well. And you, my son, if you persevere to the end in this place to which you were called, you shall be successful, and you shall be glorified with a glory that is truly divine and that never fails. But if you neglect these things and dishonor the thoughts of perseverance, and attempt to depart from the laura, [you will obtain indeed dignity and...]
A became the cause of their own harm. Having gone forth now, and having reached the most desolate parts of the mountain, and having found a certain pit, dry and very deep, he lowered himself into it, persisting in his customary prayer and philosophy. When five days had passed, those who had been the cause of the man’s departure began to repent again; and having picked out two from among their number, they sent them off in search of Symeon. It had been told to them that if they should be able to find him anywhere, they were to bring him back to the common monastery. Wandering about the mountain in every direction, they encountered some shepherds of flocks, and they asked them if they had seen anyone of that description, clearly relating in full the appearance, the garb, and the bearing of the man. Since he was hidden nearby, they pointed out the pit to them with their finger. Those men, having immediately stood over the spot, called out for Symeon by name, and having brought a rope, they drew him up with much labor; for the ascent is not as easy as the descent.
B 9. Then they returned with him to the brotherhood and the monastery. Having spent but a short time among them from that point, he arrived at the village of Telanissos (this lies at the foot of the mountain); in this place, having found a small hut, he shut himself in it for three years. Always striving to increase the wealth of virtue for himself, he entered upon a noble contest with Moses and Elijah, and for forty full days he remained without food.
10. Now, one Blasus, a man fearing God and greatly concerned for the approbation and benefit of the brothers—and who at that time was also in charge of the priests in the villages—went about everywhere, urging those in them toward the ascetic life, providing them greater endurance in prayers and progress in fasts. This man went at some time to visit Symeon, and the latter took the man as a counselor of his intent and shared with him the movements of his mind. And Blasus, realizing the arduous and violent nature of the matter, counseled and advised Symeon not to consider such a violent death to be a virtue, but on the contrary, an extreme evil, a separation from God, and truly a death of the soul itself. “Well then, Father,” replied Symeon, “set before me ten loaves and a vessel of water, and if I see that my body is in need of nourishment, I shall consume some of them, and thereby I shall properly comfort my nature.” Since it seemed well that these things be done, the loaves were immediately placed before him, as was the water; the door of the hut was shut, and the latches were smeared with clay on the outside so that it might be inaccessible to everyone approaching. When the forty days had passed, the wonderful Blasus arrived at the room to visit Symeon again. Having removed the latches and the clay, and having gone inside the door, he found the number of the loaves not diminished by even the smallest part, and he found the vessel of water full; and he saw also him.
And how can we describe his compunction? And his tears, his all-night vigils, that love of solitude, and his state of being strictly withdrawn from all; and in addition to these, his compassion, his power of discernment, his readiness and intensity in prayer, and the man’s surpassing endurance in all things? If, therefore, he so imitated the life of that man, did he not also become worthy of his charisms? Or did he become so, but not to an equal degree? By no means; rather, there are some things in which he truly surpassed him. But leaving others aside for the moment, we shall truthfully show how he knew and foretold future events.
A LX. Anastasius, to whose charge the custody of the sacred vessels of the Holy Resurrection had been entrusted—being also a chorepiscopus, and having been both a disciple and a zealous follower of Passarion, who is among the saints—desired vehemently to see him. Feeding such a desire to behold the man, he shared this noble longing with Fidus, the bishop of Joppa, and with Cosmas, the guardian of the Cross; and taking them along, as well as another Fidus, the nephew of the bishop (for he was still a youth in age, and was enrolled in the choir of readers; and he, indeed, is the one who handed these things down and related them to the monk Cyriacus), he set out with them toward the great Euthymius. When they had already reached the vicinity of the laura, they were invisible to the others, not having yet arrived, but they were revealed to Euthymius in a mysterious way by the Spirit. Immediately, therefore, he summoned Chrysippus, the steward of the laura, and said to him, "Let things for hospitality be prepared by you; for behold, along with your brother, the patriarch is coming to us."
LXI. Now that they had already arrived, the great man, having been seized by a certain more divine contemplation, conversed and spoke with Anastasius just as if he were the patriarch of Jerusalem. Those who were present were all in wonder; and Chrysippus himself, being astonished, inclined toward Euthymius and said, "But, venerable Father, the patriarch is not with us; it is rather Anastasius, the guard of the sacred vessels." But Euthymius said, "Do you see how he is dressed?"—pointing to his garments; for these were bright and silken, such as, he said, it is not at all proper for the patriarch of Jerusalem to be clothed in. Having paused for some time, and as it were coming to himself, the elder said, "But believe me, child, I saw him thus far clothed in a white garment, and [in] such as it is becoming for a patriarch to be clothed, and [I saw that he was] bearing gifts; and I think that I am not deceived; but what God has foreseen, He will also bring to an end; for His gifts are without repentance." B He said this in the presence of many.
A whom he had left lying upon the ground, and who by the mere sign of his breathing declared that he was not dead; for he was totally unable to speak or move, his vital spirits having been almost extinguished by that long fasting. Therefore, the divine Blasus, having taken a sponge of water, and having wetted and cleansed the mouth of Symeon with it, offered him the symbols of the divine mysteries.
11. Having received these, he began to be strengthened; then, gradually rising from the ground, he would take a little light food, namely, wild lettuces and endive. Blasus, therefore, having ceased to reproach him, as one nearly at the point of death on account of the fast, and indeed having much admired the man’s endurance, returned to his own flock (which numbered more than two hundred) to narrate this great miracle to his brethren (11). Symeon, however, from that time forward, throughout his whole life (12), used this same fast, and for thirty-nine days in total he would pass his time without any food at all; and the fortieth day, being the end of the present abstinence and the beginning of the future, would restore the exhausted body, which could no longer serve for the perpetual station, but was now, as it were, stretching out a hand to him, even as he lay there. For when he began the fast, he would spend his time in his accustomed station, singing celestial hymns, and standing erect, he would dedicate them to God; but when he reached the middle of the forty days, B excessive fatigue would force him to sit, even against his will, as his bodily strength was gradually exhausted by the lack of food. Then, when the certain circuit of days had elapsed, the vital functions would cease, and they would cast this man onto the ground: yet even so he would not abstain from the sacred hymns; but his relaxation, indeed his sustenance, and finally his sleep, were the divine words. Such was the manner of life of Symeon while he still touched the earth, though he was worthy of the heavens.
12. But after the column held him up on high, he seemed to have forgotten the common nature of all men, and rejected every opportunity for sitting or lying down. Furthermore, he would set an upright beam upon the column, to which he would bind himself so firmly that it was not permitted to him, even if he wished, either to sit or to incline himself, and in this manner he would complete that forty-day stadium of fasting. But afterwards, having obtained more abundant grace from above, he did not even need this aid: but for forty whole days, unbound, without shelter, standing erect, not inclined, without food, and having almost no flesh, he would stand as a kind of living and ensouled pillar. C D
CHAPTER III. The great concourse of people to him.
13. But our speech anticipates the order of events, which, like fragrant flowers, draw all things to themselves. But clinging to the prior [accounts], [ιγ'.] But the discourse outruns the sequence of events, attracting all things to itself even as the scent of flowers; for us, [tending] to the former...
A let the narrative proceed. Having endured three years in the aforementioned small house, he ascended that celebrated summit of the mountain, where, enclosed by a wall all around, he kept his dwelling in the open air, struggling with heat and cold. He prepared an iron chain, twenty cubits in length, and fastened one of its ends to a massive rock, while the other he fitted to his own foot by means of a ring, so that he might not be able to pass beyond those fixed limits, even if he were ever so desirous. He resided within, ever gazing only upon the beauty of heaven, and dwelling in the sights therein, and being raised up with a greater and more fervent desire toward the Creator of that beauty. Now Meletius, who at that time held the seat of piety B and governed the helm of the patriarchal throne of Antioch, having come to witness the man—as the report concerning him was spreading through all—when he saw him thus using an open-air way of life, and with his other foot fettered by the iron bond, regarded all other things as a matter for wonder; but he did not approve of the iron, saying it was superfluous, since the mind was sufficient to impose rational bonds upon the body. The admirable Symeon obeys these words without delay, and having ordered a smith to be called, commands that his foot be loosened from the iron bond. But, being loosened, he did not even so exceed the limits of the chain; for the love of Christ held him more strictly than the bonds of iron.
C 14. Now, as the iron encircled a part of his leg, a sheepskin had been placed beneath it, which occupied the same space on the leg as the iron, so that by rubbing against the bare flesh it might not wound it and, causing sores, bring him pain. When, therefore, the iron bond was loosened and the underlying skin removed, more than twenty bedbugs were seen lurking on his leg, feeding upon the holy man's flesh. And let no one rightfully reproach me for recounting these things, when other great and supernatural works abound that might be recorded. For I do not pass over even these most minute things; nor because bedbugs are tiny creatures do they therefore create, by their bites on a human body, tiny pains or inflict D less annoyance. Those who have experienced it know this. The chain was indeed sufficient as a specimen of greater endurance; but with the bedbugs added, to persist in this evil for so long a time, especially when it was easy to kill them by hand and thus be freed from the pains, and yet to continue instead to feed and fatten them on his own flesh—what limit of endurance does this not surpass?
15. The fame of Symeon, therefore, pervading all regions of the world, we know that there flocked to him not only his neighbors, but also those distant by a journey of many days, and even months, each asking for the cure of the infirmity by which he was tormented.
A Yet they did not depart as they had come: they arrived sad and dejected, but returned cheerful and full of joy, each having found the solution to their afflictions, having cast aside all their troubles and hardships there, and sending up thanks to God and to Symeon with festive voice and tongue. Therefore every road leading to this physician took on the appearance of a marketplace, and the place where the inflowing crowd gathered presented the aspect of a city—a city now lamenting its infirmities with pity, and now celebrating its recovery. And this did not happen once, but very often, so that anyone who beheld the throng from afar would have surmised it was a city; but upon approaching closely, it seemed no longer one city, but an assembly of many different cities, distinguished by the multitude of each in their own tongue. B
16. But what need is there to enumerate the herds of Syrians or Cilicians or Phoenicians, or as many others as recognize the scepter of the Romans? Indeed, even the nations of the Ishmaelites and Arabs, and of the Persians and Armenians, and all the peoples inhabiting Iberia flocked thither. Moreover, even the Homerites and those even further remote filled the ranks of that polyglot crowd. Nor were there few who arrived from the West—I mean Britons, Spaniards, and Gauls, and as many as inhabit the regions in between.
17. Indeed, the virtue of this man shone forth in Italy—to put it well; for Rome itself was so astonished by this admirable man, and paid him so much honor and veneration, that it carved his holy image on many columns, in porches, on the walls of chambers, and everywhere indeed, as if drawing from thence a treasure of ten thousand blessings.
18. There shone such grace and beauty in the countenance of Symeon that if anyone who was hostile and inimical to another happened to cast his eyes upon him, that single gaze would instantly eradicate all hatred and enmity from his soul; and he would bind them to one another with the bond of friendship, concord, and goodwill. And this became evident from the following: for many of the various nations that flocked to him, who had previously delighted in each other's blood, once they came into the presence of the Saint, would first dissolve their enmities and then strike a covenant among themselves. C Thereafter, they converted their old dissensions into a noble rivalry, as each one strove with the utmost zeal to precede the others and be the first deemed worthy of the man's blessing. To touch the Saint's feet with one's lips or hands was also considered a great thing. And the many who merely touched the skin with which he was clothed—for that was his only garment—thought they had obtained every possible blessing. D Yet to handle his hand or to kiss it with the mouth was the portion of those to whom familiarity contracted through virtue granted a greater liberty than it did to others.
A 19. When those who came surpassed all number, first, in order to decline the great honor surrounding him, and next, being burdened by the labor of the situation, and furthermore, because he strove to be as close to heaven as possible, not only in mind and thought but with his very body, he devised that station on the column. And at first the column was raised to six cubits for him, then it grew to twelve, then to twenty-two, and in the end the total height stood at thirty-six cubits.
20. If this invention itself seems strange B and wonderful, it is not to be wondered at; for since he was the first champion to undertake many and great things for which no prior example existed, this life on a column is by no means to be despised because it lacks an example, but rather it is to be praised even more precisely because, without any precedent, it has been proposed to others as an example. This is especially true because the events that follow will bear witness that it was done not without mature consideration and divine inspiration. For this new manner of life on the column rescued the Ishmaelites, who had increased to many myriads and were shrouded in the darkness C of impiety, from that state, and, illuminating their minds with the light of the divine Word, showed those who were formerly children of the night and of darkness to be children of the light and of the day. Truly, having received laws from those holy lips, they readily abandoned the orgies of Venus (for this demon was the ancestral goddess of those people). Many, too, of the Iberians, as I have said, as well as the Persians and Armenians, treating their ancestral error with derision, also joined themselves to the evangelical teaching.
21. When Symeon devised this new manner of living D on the column, his fame being quickly spread everywhere (for in such novel matters it is accustomed to use swifter wings, as it were), the divine Fathers who were making of the wilderness a heavenly city through their ascetic struggles and labors, astonished by this strange and alien practice, sent some men to that man who was suspended on high. And they instructed them to rebuke him for his strange invention, and to teach him to walk in the beaten and customary path of the saints, and not to despise that path which a choir of so many blessed ones had trodden to reach heaven and enter into those eternal tabernacles. But then, fearing lest his purpose might truly be pleasing to God, and wishing to put this action of his to the test, they commanded those they were sending that if they should see the man abandoning his own will and willing to descend from on high, they should immediately oppose him and bid him to persist in his first purpose and not to neglect his goal. For in this way, they believed, it would be divine...
A providence, and they would no longer be doubtful about the future; for it is clearly evident that when the beginning is good, the end will be of the same nature. But if he were to be resentful, and not even in the smallest degree tolerate such advice, but were to follow his own will simply and without reason, it was clear that he would be far removed from the virtue of humility, and that therefore such thoughts B must be judged as having been suggested to him by the evil one. Thus they gave orders that, if such were the case, they should immediately pull him down and force him to descend from the pillar, even against his will.
22. When in this way the envoys reached Symeon, the father of all obedience and humility, they were so filled with reverence at the very sight and greeting of him that they were no longer even able to look him in the face; nevertheless, because of the mandate of the Fathers who had sent them (for this is the perfection of ministry), they explained to him all that had been said by them. But he, with a gentle spirit, being truly gentle and humble of heart, endured the rebuke; he did not contradict, nor was he indignant, nor did he break out into reproaches, nor did he say much or little; but with a most cheerful countenance and downcast eyes, he accepted the reprimand, and having first religiously given thanks to God, and then having professed that he owed much to the Fathers themselves for such care and solicitude, he did not hesitate in the least, but prepared to descend from the pillar. They, however, immediately forbade him, revealing the mind of the Fathers, C by whose authority they declared his station upon the pillar to be permanently confirmed and approved. Finally, having prayed for a good end and a firm rest from his continuous labors for Symeon, they departed. Yet the height of his humility and the magnitude of his obedience may be seen in many other instances.
CAPUT V.
*Remaining attached to divine things, he even denies the sight of his mother: the death of his parent.*23. But let our narrative, resuming the order which the preceding digression interrupted, finally proceed. When the Ishmaelites, divided into tribes, approached Symeon, the guide of salvation, and renounced their ancestral impiety, and finally enjoyed divine baptism—some initiating others into the sacred rites—there happened to be present at one time also Theodoret, the prelate of the church of Cyrrhus (20). To him, therefore, the man of God presented no small multitude of people, and urged him to recite over them the accustomed prayers and to baptize them. While the prelate began to comply with his mandates, each of them strove to be the first to wash away the stains of his crimes (21), and also to cleanse the filth of D impiety; each one, eager to be the first to obtain grace, raised a certain contention,
[LXXXIV.] Eudocia was not negligent regarding these things, nor sluggish in the quest for the good; but having immediately made many inquiries concerning the man, and having learned that he had forbidden himself access to any city, she built a tower in the desert towards the rising sun, upon a very high promontory, no more than thirty stadia from the Laura. She used to ascend to it, so that, with no one to hinder her, she might enjoy to her heart's content the teaching of Euthymius. She immediately sent for him, intending to seek his presence, through Cosmas, the guardian of the Cross, and Anastasius, the chorepiscopus mentioned above. These men, bringing to the urgent command an equal degree of zeal, arrived immediately at the Laura; but having learned that he was not present, but had long since departed for Ruba, they did not for that reason cease from their undertaking. Taking with them the blessed Theoctistus, they departed to him, prayed with intense and vehement common supplications, and finally persuaded him to come to the tower, where the monastery of Scholarius is now built.
[LXXXV.] As the Empress Eudocia saw him, she did not look upon him lightly, but as one who is thirsty in summer looks upon water; and falling at his feet with the greatest joy, she said, "Now I know that the Lord has visited me." He, having imparted to her his customary blessing, said, "But it behooves you, O daughter, to attend to yourself from now on, and to exercise diligent caution for the future. For because you were led away, even if only slightly, by Theodosius, grievous things befell you concerning your dearest ones. But you must strive throughout your life to abstain from this unreasonable contention. For it behooves you, in addition to the other three holy and ecumenical synods—namely, the one in Nicaea, which convened against Arius; the one in Constantinople, which was assembled against Macedonius; and the first in Ephesus against Nestorius—to also accept the decree which was published by the one lately held at Chalcedon; and, separating yourself from the communion of Dioscorus, to communicate fully with Juvenal, the Archbishop of Jerusalem, and to agree with him in all things."
[LXXXVI.] Having said these things, and having prayed for the Empress, he then bid her farewell and departed. She immediately put the things commanded into action; and having entered the holy city, she communicated with Juvenal and the Catholic Church; and at the same time she led in a great multitude of monks and laymen, having become for them, just as she had been an example of dissension, so also an excellent example of communion. One of these was the archimandrite Elpidius. Since Gerontius, as one who preferred to grow old in evil, became the cause of ruin not only to himself but also to many others; to whom indeed two men from the company of Elpidius, Marci...
A behaving rather barbarously, as some pulled him and others pulled him back; while others, standing apart from the rest, pushed forward and stretched out their hands, some grasping his beard, others his garments, so that they almost tore the man asunder, had not the wonderful Symeon, calling out from above, suppressed their unruly impulses in such a way that they were immediately all changed and, with all modesty, came forward to receive grace and be bathed in the divine laver. Thus, therefore, the torch of his tongue was able both to terrify whomsoever he wished, and to enlighten, both for the sake of the brothers’ salvation. He furthermore practiced continuous meditation on the Lord’s commandments, but his diligence did not stop at the mere keeping of these; rather, he considered it no ordinary loss if he did not add something of his own to them, and thus he employed unrelenting zeal and was of such indefatigable spirit in all these matters! B
24. Indeed, as the narrative has already related, he left behind his father and mother, following the one whom he desired, and became wholly intent upon the love for Him, which is the apex of the Lord’s commandment—but he also added this too of his own accord. For when twenty-seven years had passed since he, one who was above the world, had renounced both the laws of nature and all things in the world, his mother, still bearing the innate spark of affection and deeply embedded within her heart, and unable otherwise to extinguish the flame, went to her son, who was living in the flesh but without the flesh (for the narrative is constrained to speak of him thus), longing to see the face of her child and to hear the conversation of which she had been deprived for so long a time. C But he, having learned of his mother’s arrival, see how he distributes the honor to his mother, and how he keeps the unbreakable law that surpasses the commandment. He does not admit the meeting, but sends word to her, saying: "If it seems good to you, O mother, we shall reserve the sight of one another for the world to come; and if our way of life is indeed pleasing to God, after our departure from here, we shall see one another in Christ much more familiarly and clearly." And he sent these things to be relayed to her. But when the mother, because of the flame of love that was burning within her soul, did not understand what had been said, but was still burning with the desire of seeing her son; "I, for my part, O mother," he said, sending word a second time, "would have preferred to admit you, because that is what is fitting for both of us, and not to force such a meeting. But since, as I see, all things are secondary to your desire, it is fitting for me for the time being to remain in silence. D I will see you, however, after a little while, for this has seemed good to God." The mother, therefore, having received the promise most gladly and prayerfully, had her soul uplifted by it, and she was cheerful and rejoiced in hope, and was wholly in the world to come, and seemed to see her child as if he were already present, and to embrace and kiss him, and to hear his voice. While things were in such a state, she suddenly ended her life, and delivered her soul to God—a soul that had been happy and blessed in life, and was much happier at the end, because she was called the mother of such a son, and had left behind her one so adorned with such virtues.
needed for their use, with no one forbidding it; nay, they were seen to live apostolically, and as for those who dwelt in the solitude, they were like to them, having one heart and one soul; A seeing that no one of those possessing anything judged it to be his own, but all things were held by them as common in equal measure. And this too is related concerning the anachorets: that when some approached him and asked that it be permitted to them to warm water, and to partake of cooked food, and to read by a lamp, the great Gerasimus replied, saying, “If you wish to live in this manner, it is much more beneficial that you pass your time in a coenobium. For I, for my part, will in no wise permit this to occur among the anachorets throughout the entire duration of my life.”
B XCII. Therefore, the people of Jericho, hearing that the conduct of those with Abba Gerasimus was so constrained and devoid of consolation, and held so much hardship and severity, laid down a law for themselves such as this: that on Saturday and Sunday they would go to them and convey to them no small consolation. But this, indeed, is the praise of the people of Jericho, and a proof of souls that love virtue. Many, however, of the combatants under this great Gerasimus, seeing the worldly coming to them with such an intention, were so far from deeming their arrival cheerful or agreeable, that they would not even endure them or tolerate them in the region at all; but rather, as if they were going to do great harm, they would flee and withdraw from them. For those men knew well that abstinence is the mother of accurate self-control, capable of repelling shameful thoughts and lightening the heaviness of sleep; in that they had learned this most excellently from their father, not by words only, but also by deeds.
C XCIII. For they said that he held abstinence in such high esteem that during the forty days of the fast, he went without food, content with the reception of the sacraments alone. When Gerasimus had lived thus—having become for those under him an archetype of virtue and a cause of salvation—the common end arrived, on the fifth of the month of March, in the thirteenth indiction, during the second consulship of Zeno Augustus. However, we must return again to where we left off.
D XCIV. Leo, the pious and Christ-loving, having then succeeded to the empire of Marcian, a certain Timotheus, surnamed Aelurus, was shaking and throwing the whole of Alexandria into confusion; and later, when he had (oh, those wicked and unholy hands!) [the text continues, but the page ends here].
B 25. The divine Symeon ordered that the dead body of his mother be brought into the enclosure of the monastery (for this is what the wall around the column was called), for a small wall had been built all around the pillar, so that it might not be accessible to women. When, then, his mother had been brought in dead, he looked upon her according to his previous promise, and having performed the customary rites and prayed for her, he buried her right there by the column. Thus he rendered to his mother the honor that was due, and he did not only carry out the Lord's commandment to the end, but he also showed himself increasing in his own personal progress.
CAPUT VI. Varia Ismaelitis collata beneficia.
26. From that point, like a light shining forth everywhere with B supernatural virtues, he guided those who were lying in the most grievous tempest of night and impiety, as if toward a haven of piety, and many could be seen enjoying calm through him. Once, in fact, two tribes of that same nation of Ishmaelites which I mentioned a little before were present with him; each was insistently pressing in, asking for a blessing through his lips, so that they might carry it home to their phylarch as a most precious gift. But a great contention and discord arose between them about the gift itself. For one side said that their own phylarch ought to be deemed worthy of the blessing first; the other side brought forward its own commander and was eager to snatch the blessing for him. Thus, as the tribes were divided against each other, the rivalry would have erupted into barbaric cruelty, had not Symeon, that man so fond of peace and concord, dissolved these threats with a serious admonition C and sent them away in peace, having bestowed the same prayer and blessing upon both. And observe how those who were formerly unbelievers, and who had earlier been brandishing their tongues like a spear against piety itself, were now willing to do and suffer anything for the blessing of this holy man; for they would not have been so frenzied against one another had they not firmly believed that the blessing of this divine man possessed the greatest power.
27. But now let another phylarch, and he too a prince of the Saracens, be introduced into this narrative. Having arrived, he was beseeching that divine head to assist a man who, while journeying along the road, had become paralyzed in the members of his body; he said this had been suffered at Callinicum (this is a very great fortress), and that the disease D was in its prime, and at the very beginning—for it was no longer possible for the sufferer to lie down, due to the strangeness of the posture and those intense, crushing pains. He was entreating these things, and he ordered the man who had been brought in to be placed before the wonderful Symeon, a pitiful sight, if by any possibility he might move him to compassion by the sight of such a calamity. The man who was thus presented, having...
spoke, concerning whom the true promises were made. Remembering these immediately, he ordains as deacon Fidus, who had arrived at the laura with him and had heard those predictions, and sends him back to the great man, along with the guardian of the cross, both to communicate the outcome of the prophecy and to ask that his own departure to him be permitted. He, however, gives these responses: "It is always my desire to see your perfection, and thus to enjoy spiritual gain. But your previous visit was under different circumstances, outside all crowds and any business. Now, however, the magnitude of your office, by God's will, gives you a different order; so that your presence evidently far exceeds my weakness. I entreat you, therefore, not to trouble yourself any further to come here. But if you must, then I will receive you readily when you come; yet it will be necessary by all means not to turn away all the others; and consequently, I will no longer be able to dwell here, being straitened by the multitude of those who visit." But such, and in such manner, were the things of the great man to the patriarch. The discourse now wishes to return to Terebon.
B 97. This Terebon, therefore, the phylarch (tribal leader) of the Saracens, having come to Bostra on some business, and having been slandered by a fellow-phylarch to whom the administration of the region had been entrusted, was arrested and condemned to inhabit the prison for a long time in the interval. Having learned, then, of the drama of this calumny, the great Euthymius writes to Antipater, who was at that time ruling the Church of Bostra, having sent along with the letters Gaianus, the brother of Stephen of Jamnia, so that he might bring to bear every effort to have Terebon released from his bonds. He, having received the letters and having accepted Gaianus, after delivering Terebon from every accusation and sharing with him whatever expense was necessary for the journey, sends him to the great man. But Gaianus, as one who would retain a spark of the teaching of Euthymius, he decides to establish, and ordains him bishop of the city of Medaba.
C 98. The blessed Eudocia, moreover, having built very many temples to God, and having piously established gerocomia (homes for the aged), ptochia (alms-houses), and monasteries—which cannot even easily be submitted to a count—ordered in one of those built by her, which is dedicated to Peter the chief of the apostles and is situated opposite the laura of Euthymius, not less than twenty stadia distant, that a cistern of great depth and at the same time length be dug, for the sake of some necessary use. Once
A bewailed his own evil, and invoked the holy man to compassion, finally sought to be liberated from his affliction. But he, being prompt to pity and greatly moved to sympathy, caring for the cure of the soul before that of the body, enjoined the sufferer to abjure the impiety of his ancestors; for he knew that he still took pleasure in it. And when he had readily heard and fulfilled what was commanded, then Symeon, that truly great miracle of the world, asked if he believed in the Father and the only-begotten Son, and in the Holy Spirit; and upon his confessing that he did believe, "Believing in these persons," he said, "arise." And straightway the word (O thy ineffable grace, O Christ, toward the man!) became a cure for the paralyzed limb. He then, imitating his Lord in this very place, commanded him to carry his own bed upon his shoulders, which he did, and encouraged those who were present to a greater thanksgiving.
B 28. Nor should this be passed over in silence. A certain man of note among the Ishmaelites who had already given their names to Christ, made a vow, with this venerable Symeon as his witness, that he would never taste of any animal that had possessed life until his death. But in the course of time, I know not how, either having forgotten his vow or being lured by the bait of gluttony, he attempted to kill and eat a bird; but, while he was making ready to eat it (O prodigious event!), it changed its nature into stone; whence it was not possible for him to taste it, however much he wished, for the stone checked his appetite. The barbarian, stunned by this fact, made haste to the teacher of repentance, and with contrition of heart revealed his sin—for he had lied in his promises—and begged that it might be brought to pass that the Divine might be propitious to him, to whom he had broken his word; nor was he frustrated in his petition. Indeed, the miracle which occurred concerning the bird, although it did not happen immediately, had afterwards the eyes of many as witnesses; for the breast, which retained its proper shape, was afterwards seen by many to consist of bone and stone, as if the bone proclaimed the original nature, while the superinduced stony substance testified to the conversion of the flesh.
29. Another leader of the tribe of the Saracens, having been enrolled in the flock of the faithful, also came to the great Symeon. And having obtained that for the sake of which he had come, he sat by the pillar, plucking the sweetest flowers of that sacred tongue and enjoying his discourse as long as he was permitted. In the meantime, one of the worms crawling upon the holy man's leg (for his leg had become a breeding-place for worms, because of that continuous and incessant standing), rolled down from the pillar and fell before the feet of the phylarch. He quickly took up the worm with eager hands and honorably placed it in his bosom, and applied it to his eyes, his mouth, his ears, and other members, as if it were a relief for all diseases; and (O excess of love!) C he did not consider it a worm, but a precious pearl, and with such great longing he kept it as a remedy.
she had arrived to behold it, she saw the laura of Euthymius situated in the midst of the desert, and how the cells of the brethren were set apart from one another. And having reflected upon that A scriptural passage: "How beautiful are thy houses, O Jacob, thy tabernacles, O Israel!" she was vehemently pricked in her soul thereby. Immediately she sent Gabrielios to him, asking that it be permitted her to approach him and to enjoy his words and instruction. At the same time, she intended to assign revenues to both the laura and to him; the reason for this was so that the provision of necessities might be a lasting one for the brethren in the future.
But he addressed her beforehand, saying, "As death is at the door, why, O daughter, art thou anxious and distracted about many things? Let only those things be prepared for thee that pertain to the departure from this life. As for us, do not be mindful of any revenues or riches, but remember us before our common Lord, where indeed we ask you to remember us all the more." Upon hearing this, she felt her soul divided between these two emotions—amazement and sorrow: the former, ascribing it to the foresight of the great man, and how he understood from afar those things which she was revolving in her mind concerning him; the latter, because of the disappointment of her hopes regarding that matter. For she desired to leave him money and sources of income, just as we have said.
From there, she arrived at the holy city; and having sent for the Patriarch Anastasius, and having explained to him what she had learned from the divine Euthymius, she acted in harmony with her former intention. And first, indeed, the temple of Stephen, the protomartyr of Christ, not yet being completely finished, she B dedicated on the fifteenth day of the month of January. Then, having assigned to it much revenue and having entrusted the providence concerning it to Gabrielios, she did not neglect the other churches which had been built by her; but she visited them also with great diligence, dedicating them and setting apart for each a sufficient revenue. But after four months had already passed since the dedication, she herself, leaving behind human life, departed to the Lord.
C Long after that time, when Euthymius was already ninety years of age, the holy Theoctistus fell into a grave illness, so near to death that he indicated he was about to pass away, having already reached a most profound old age and being himself full of human days. Coming down, therefore, to visit him, the great Euthymius, and having seen him in such a dangerous condition, determined to remain with him for a few days, so that when his holy soul should already have departed to the Lord, he might perform the customary rites for his body, and complete all that is D prescribed for him. Learning of Euthymius’s condition from the local monks, and that his end was approaching, he prepared everything that was necessary for him as was the custom.
C For when faith covers the sight, and longing hides the form, he considered the object of his veneration to be something sacred, looking upon it and carrying it about as an averter of all evils. The great Symeon, therefore, from his place on high, rebuked the prefect for the honor he paid to the worm, plainly teaching him everything: that what was being honored was a worm, and that it had fallen from his own flesh. He said that it was not fitting, therefore, for a product of corruption, decay, and stench to be handled or touched by any part of the body. The prefect, having opened his hand to see what kind of a worm it might be, saw it — O miracle! — changing into the nature of a pearl, clearly transforming in radiance and beauty; and he departed, rejoicing in his faith and in the miracle of the wealth that resembled a pearl. D
CAPUT VII. Proles sterili impetrata : sanata.
30. A certain woman, distinguished by birth and not obscure, lived with the prince of the Saracens, and was barren of children. Moreover, she had this as an additional augmentation of her calamity: her husband frequently reproached her for the lack of offspring. Desirous, therefore, of children, she went to the great Symeon, and standing at the entrances of the enclosure (for it was not permitted for a woman to enter within), she lamented her misfortune, bewailed her affliction, and brought the reproaches of her husband into the midst. She petitioned through those who were entering, she besought, she supplicated, and asked for a release from her sterility, adding that she would gladly yield up her own life if she could see a child of her own. The most divine Symeon was by no means forgetful of his accustomed compassion here; but pitying the woman’s hot tears, he removed her childlessness through his prayers, and urged her to return home, adding that God, who from the beginning fashioned our nature, would also transform her sterility for the better. She — for it was not right to doubt those things which that God-moved tongue had signified — returned with a light heart, and conceived immediately. Then she became the mother of a daughter, and the birthday of the child was celebrated with great pomp by the parents. But a short space of time measured out their happiness, and bitter sadness followed that festival; the solution of her calamity was turned into a far heavier mourning, so much so that the parents considered the fact that they had ever given birth to be a calamity, and they truly longed much for their former childlessness. For the time now required the child, who was already three years old, to speak in broken syllables and to walk with a childish gait — a thing sweet to parents — but she remained on the bed that held her, speechless and motionless; for her feet were limp, and her tongue was bound. To her parents, it was a monster that they saw instead of a child, and the successor of the family seemed not only unworthy of the splendor of her ancestors, but also an ignominy to their glory, and…
A a provider of the utmost reproach to those to whom she belonged. Since they were beside themselves and accomplished nothing more, they fled again to the ingenious and industrious physician of incurable things. They gave him thanks for his benefits, but they also begged and vehemently entreated him not to allow the child granted them by God to remain in this state any longer, so that the gift might seem to be more of a disgrace and dishonor to them, bringing forth in their life more sorrow and sadness than joy and gladness; rather, they asked that he deem it worthy to remove the paralysis of her limbs and to restore the child to them whole and perfect. They spoke these things with tears, and persevered, awaiting his mercy. But Symeon, as a treasury of compassion, comforted them for the time being with words regarding their calamity, and did not allow them to be tormented in spirit for long. The seventh day from that time was passing, after their perseverance seemed to be in vain. Despairing entirely of the salvation of their daughter, and full of sorrow in their souls, they returned home with grim countenances, taking the little daughter back with them, bitterly blaming themselves for the folly of their thoughts, B and that they had even desired to be called parents in the first place. But after they had accomplished so much of the journey that they were no longer able to see the pillar, the child suddenly turned toward the direction where it happened that the pillar stood; the bonds of her tongue were loosened, and she cried out loudly, "Glory to you, holy Symeon!" Having then obtained movement and strength in her feet, she walked straight home, playfully skipping along to her parents on the way as if nothing had ever been amiss. The parents, however, struck with such an unexpected miracle, could hardly believe their own eyes; but due to the greatness of their desire, they feared lest the girl might not truly be healed, and thought it was some kind of fascination of the eyes. Then, having carefully investigated and learned accurately that the child was indeed healthy, they praised God who is over all, and magnified his servant Symeon. They surpassed the celebration of the child's birth with the celebration they held for her healing. They called themselves blessed for the birth of their daughter, and the house received them, filled with joy and radiance. C
CAPUT VIII. The woman, not yet entered into his enclosure, is recognized and blessed.
31. But one deed of Symeon almost escaped me! A divine desire had seized a woman to see this holy man with her own eyes and to enjoy his grace and blessing; but the enclosure, which barred all entrance to women, placed a barrier before this desire. The pious matron, therefore, being seized by the fire of this good love, turned over all ways and means in her mind. Meanwhile, certain soldiers undertook a journey for the sake of seeing Symeon; the woman, having assumed a similar habit, conformed herself entirely to their appearance. Seeing that all things were secure in this regard, she mounted a horse and rode along with them, quickly finishing the journey. When they arrived at the enclosure, the soldiers dismounted from their horses D and entrusted them to the woman as if she were one of their fellow soldiers, since it was not yet manifest that she was a woman.
A She readily accepted the deposit, wishing to attain the same grace from them in return; for she had made a compact with them that they, in turn, would entrust their horse to her, that they might have it again when they returned after beholding the saint. For that was her constant aim, and she looked only to this: how she might see the man and be deemed worthy of a blessing from him. But it was not granted for her to enjoy her desire; for when the soldiers came to the saint and had already attained what they desired, the divine Symeon said to them: "One of you," he said, "has been left behind; when you reach him, say to him in these words: 'Your soul’s prayer has reached the ears of the Lord. Now the Lord God, who searches the heart’s innermost desires and thoughts, has bestowed His blessing upon you; having attained His blessing and the height of your wishes, there is no need for you to come here.'"
When these things were spoken by the admirable Symeon, the soldiers departed from the enclosure, amazed at the man’s prophecy, and yet they admired the virtue of the soldier who had been left behind (for they still deemed it right to call him a soldier, because it was not yet manifest that he was a woman): for they believed that one who had been spoken of by such a great and blessed mouth could not be adorned with anything less than exceptional ornaments of virtue. Having gone outside, therefore, they reported the commands they had been given; then they wearied the blessed matron with various questions, asking who she was and whence she was adorned with such great merits of virtue. B "For by no means," they added, "would that honey-sweet and pleasant mouth, that blessed tongue of Symeon, have made such an honorable mention of you, unless some hidden treasure of virtues were stored up within you."
Then she, realizing that nothing of her affairs was hidden from the holy man, unwillingly revealed the secrets of her soul to those men, saying in these words: "As for me, brothers, a great desire long ago took hold of me to behold the holy man and to behold with my own eyes the gifts and graces of the Spirit that are in him. But when I saw that the wall set against women made it impossible to enter, I judged it right to hide my sex (for I am a woman) and to attain a sight of him by a ruse. But since the man is also a knower of hidden things, and it is impossible to escape his notice even in this way, I shall depart henceforth, and I will not resist this command; for I have already been deemed worthy of the blessing—not because I appeared to have escaped notice, but because I have been discovered, and having been discovered, I was granted the grace I desired." After that virtuous woman had detailed these things, the soldiers admired the man even more, and they each returned to their own lands. C
(29) A different outcome of a similar intent, but one undertaken (it seems) with rashness and boldness, is related by Saint Gregory of Tours in *De gloria confessorum*, cap. 26, where, writing of Saint Symeon, he says: "After he had fervently ascended the higher column in his holiness, he did not permit himself to be seen not only by a strange woman, but not even by his own mother. And even now he defends that place from the access of this sex. For they say that a certain woman was dressed in men’s clothing and wished to enter the basilica of the column. The wretched woman reasoned with herself that she could act through her attire, in such a way as to escape the notice of the Most High, ignorant of that [word] of the Apostle, that 'God is not mocked' [Gal. 6:7]; and although she came to the temple and raised her foot to enter the holy threshold, she immediately fell backward, and died; and she was a salt to the peoples, so that no woman might presume to do this any further, when she beheld the most wretched punishment inflicted upon that one." Ado of Vienne in his Martyrology, Notker, and certain manuscripts under the name of Bede, report the same.
CHAPTER IX. The conversion and pious death of the robber Antiochus.
A 32. And this miracle is of such a kind. But who would wish to pass over that which is narrated next? There was a robber, the most cruel and bloodthirsty of all brigands (30), Antiochus by name, surnamed "Agonatus," who led a band of cutthroats; he governed them not so much by counsel as by the strength of his muscles, the boldness of his soul, and his recklessness when facing dangers. For he possessed such strength of body and swiftness of foot, and was so confident in these, that he did not hesitate to invade and plunder the most populous villages and even the suburbs of the city of Antioch itself. And if it were necessary to ride a horse, he would mount a mare because of her greater speed. After the fame of many deeds made him known, while no one checked him in his predatory life, many laid traps for him; and especially those to whom the duty of punishing criminals was entrusted strove with all their might to apprehend Antiochus. When, at one time, he was staying in an inn and drinking there, a cohort of one hundred and fifty soldiers, thinking this an opportune time to capture him, surrounded the house on all sides. But he, B as soon as he perceived the ambush, neither weakened in his brigandous boldness from the weight of his stomach nor from the lethargy of wine; rising up with rage boiling over, he loaded his baggage onto the mare with all possible haste, drew his sword with his own hand, and by brandishing it continuously in the air like a madman or a lunatic, gave no one leave to approach him; thus he emerged from the inn, terrifying to all. Moreover, the mare was of no small assistance to him in striking terror; for she would leap with her front hooves upon those coming against him, and would bite with her teeth, and was altogether capable of striking his pursuers and casting them into unspeakable dread. Having thus thrown the multitude of soldiers into confusion, and having, furthermore, the reputation of his deeds as a kind of path opening up for him—which greatly aided him and struck terror into many who had not yet seen him—he escaped the extreme danger; and, having mounted his beast, he fled like another thief to Symeon, who was fixed upon the pillar: for he knew him to be a disciple of the One who was crucified for the salvation of the human race. And so, although a robber, and broken and pained at heart, he cried out pitifully from afar: "Save a perishing soul, O saint of God; save, I say, this soul. Alas! what refuge will there be for me? What redeemer of evils shall I find? Every hope of salvation is gone; nor is there any time left for me to seek a cure. I am worthy of a thousand deaths through the awareness of my crimes; yet I do not fear these, even if it were permitted to die many times over. For what has the death that is brought by the sword that is terrible to me? How small a punishment is this, to be deprived of the present light just once, I who have taken the life of many, and daily polluted myself with the blood of my fellow men?"
A If that inextinguishable fire and perpetual torment were not threatened, which makes me afraid and troubles me and throws me into helplessness, which I fear even when I think of it, and which touches the very middle of my heart; for my hands still drip with the blood of my brethren, and still the sight of those civil slaughters appears to my mind. What hope of consolation, then, is there for me? What way of salvation? Be a helper to me in my helplessness, O servant of God, and reach out your hand to a soul brought to the extreme precipice of destruction.
33. B He laments these things and the like before the holy man, who was moved to great compassion for his calamities, and who, even before he began to speak, beheld the repentance in the depth of his heart. Condoling, therefore, with the bandit, he began to refresh his mind with great kindness of words, and bade him hope for good things. While these things were going on in this manner, the soldiers, seeing him no longer holding his hands out in the manner of a bandit, but as a suppliant, demanded him for punishment most cruelly; and to such a degree, that with incredible audacity they said that it was not fitting for that sacred head, nor was it of a human judgment, to assist a man who had killed so many with his own hand. But that calm and gentle mouth, making little account of their long trifles, speaks thus: "He who always desires the repentance of sinners, He also brought this man, who was falling into the abyss of destruction, saved beyond all hope, to this place—not I. How, therefore, could anyone deliver to the hands of tormentors him whom He himself has called with his own hands?" That band of soldiers, upon hearing this, withdrew; for they themselves also revered the virtue of the man, even though they were rushing against Antiochus with their whole impetus. C But Antiochus throws himself prone upon the ground, shedding hot tears, and sighing bitterly from within, and altogether showing a great warmth like the thief on the cross and displaying repentance of heart, he confessed his transgressions to the Lord; and he was restrained by the multitude of his deeds from the turning toward philanthropy. Yet, using the good mediator, the prayer of the divine Symeon, he too quickly obtains pardon for his sins. And a divine voice from above confirmed the vote of that sacred tongue, saying that the repentance of the bandit was accepted, and promising at the same time that the end of his life was imminent and his departure to the common Lord of all was at hand, and offering this as a sufficient sign of His benevolence toward him. D When, therefore, these things sounded in the ears of the bandit, he turns to the guide of his repentance and tells him of the strange voice. While the words were still lingering upon his lips, Antiochus, lifting his hands to heaven, breaks forth into these words: "Lord Jesus Christ," he says, "only-begotten Son of the unbegotten Father, who came not for the sake of the righteous, but for the repentance of sinners, receive my spirit." And simultaneously, as he was praying in this manner, life departed from him on the spot, and manifest pardon was wondrously granted to the man. Wherefore a huge wonder possessed all, and a common repentance occupied the minds of the people: the theater itself was flooded partly with tears, and partly with joy.
was divided: one part belonged to repentance, the other to remission; and through all these, God, who is over all, was praised, and the servant of that same God, the Savior, was proclaimed. Thus, however, Divine Providence administered these events from above, both magnifying the great Symeon still more and opening the gates of repentance to all for the sake of salvation, so that they might embrace it without excuse.
B 34. The soldiers, unaware of what had happened (for they were intent on one thing—to capture Antiochus—and furthermore, the rumor of the event, because of its extraordinary nature, did not seem sufficient to command belief unless one had seen what had been done with one's own eyes), with greater boldness and impudence than before, arrive again at the great Symeon and shouted with a great clamor: "Deliver up to us the man who has committed the most atrocious deeds, who has done the greatest injustices and who is beyond any forgiveness, who has been caught in the most extreme crimes, and who is the destroyer of the whole city. Why do you hold your own judgment to be preferable to the established laws, and why do you strive to rescue from the punishment due to criminals, with a glance of humane sympathy, one who has shown contempt for them?" But he, deviating in no way from his customary gentleness, answers them thus, cheerfully and mildly: "As for the fact that it was not I who sent for the man, but the common Lord of all who brought him here, I said this to you before, and now, indeed, his tomb confirms the truth with irrefutable testimony; for the One who called him to repentance is the same who also removed him from here and summoned him to Himself from the things of this life." When the wondrous Symeon had said these things, and the tomb was already being revealed to them, an unbearable trembling seized the men, and they were in a state of most wretched distress; then, having begged for forgiveness and having received it from that blessed soul, they departed as true witnesses and heralds of the miracle.
CAPUT X. Absentia et futura divinitus cognoscit.
D 35. Let there also be brought forward for us, in this sea of his miracles, a ship laden with thousands, and let it provide salvation through the intervention of his prayers to those in danger upon it. For a most severe tempest once took hold of it in the middle of the sea, and it was already sinking, as the waves were dashing against it with greater force. The sailors, having abandoned all craft and all good hope of success, and having spoken their final words of salvation one to another while embracing, and awaiting the danger, at last cast their final anchor. And remembering Symeon before the common Lord, they at once beheld him praying for their salvation upon his pillar, and at the same time he appeared to them again upon the ship; and they immediately perceived the sea calmed; for upon a gentle breeze blowing, they were carried with full sails across the tranquil deep, and the land received them.
The man, returning thanks for the benefit, offered money to the saint's monastery, part of which he presented magnificently at once, and part of which he promised to give annually.
A CXXVIII. Returning home, therefore, and meeting with Bishop Stephen in Tripoli—for it is the nature of the mind in such matters to willingly recall past afflictions—he recounted to him every detail: how the malady had attacked him; how the entire hand of physicians and the presence of his kin, the former for healing and the latter for consolation, availed nothing; and how, when all hope was lost, he had run to the tomb of Euthymius, and using only the oil from there, had found healing immediately, a thing which he had never dared not only to hope for, but not even to desire.
B CXXIX. Thus he recounted these things one by one to the bishop. A certain Leontius, his cousin, a youth of very tender age, happening to be present at the narrative, was immediately inflamed in spirit as he listened. Conceiving in his mind something greater and more mature than his age, he condemned all the things of the world, by which youth is for the most part easily deceived and ensnared, and went straight to the monastery of the great man, and chose the monastic life. When he had subsequently become illustrious and eminent in virtue, Bishop Stephen summoned him and entrusted to him the care and administration of the monastery, which itself was founded in honor of the great martyr Leontius. C A little later, however, Stephen left him as his successor to the see and departed this life on the twenty-second day of the month of January, having presided over the monastery for twenty-one whole years. Furthermore, Leontius, the cousin of this man, ordained a certain Nilus, a presbyter of the monastery, as bishop of Orthosias, when he was traveling to Antioch and had been received by Nilus with hospitality, having been graciously entertained by him from the things that were available. And these things were so.
CXXX. We must now turn back again to the monastery of the great Euthymius, and add the subsequent events to the narrative. After the passing of Bishop Stephen, Thomas, who derived his origin from Apamea, took over the monastery while it was flourishing and in a very prosperous state, but he diminished and curtailed it. D During the time that he held the administration of the monastery, Caesarius the Antiochene came to it again; and after having been received by him humanely and kindly, and having reclined at the same table with him for a common meal, then, as is wont to happen while discourse is being exchanged between persons, hearing from him what [was] in
A 36. Neither should this be passed over. Symeon seemed to see a rod sent down from heaven, and he said, "God will send a scourge upon us after two years." The time prescribed by him arrived, and the earth yielded nothing at all, being deprived of water from above; a great drought had seized it, and at the same time famine and pestilence, the evils born thence, afflicted it more grievously than any punishment and tormented men bitterly. Such, then, were the eyes of Symeon's mind, purified of all earthly mist, so that he viewed all future things as if they were already present. Next, he foretold a plague of locusts. Yet he was not as swift and prompt in proclaiming God's wrath as he was diligent and powerful in averting the evil; but he forewarned of it for the reason that, being foreseen, they might do less harm. For, he said, "The threat is still present, the punishment decreed: let us only correct the things wherein we have sinned." He spoke this, indeed, concealing the righteous deeds of his own labors; for by this means he wished both their repentance and his own confidence toward God to be made manifest; for he knew that He would not neglect those suffering unworthily, but that it would come to pass that by his own intercession he would appease the wrath of the divine Being and trust that he could stay the impending scourge. B Not thirty days had yet passed when lo! a huge cloud of locusts swarmed around and came near to occupying the whole face of the earth. Men had neither any hope for the future, nor could they know if there would be any relief from the evil; in short, they were now utterly despairing of escaping such a danger from the reptiles, and expected nothing but the most immediate destruction, since the fruits of the earth were in part not yet grown, and in part already consumed by the locusts. But Symeon had scarcely finished praying to God, when lo! the whole swarm of locusts—which had nearly destroyed the fodder for the beasts of burden—was immediately consumed, and did not inflict the slightest injury upon the food intended for human use.
37. It is worthy to add this to the foregoing. C Two rods had once been seen by this spectator of invisible things sent down from heaven, one of which leaned toward the rising sun, the other toward the north. He declared that this vision betokened the incursion of the Persians and Scythians against the Romans, and he narrated this vision to those present. He himself, however, besought the Divine with an abundant outpouring of tears and supplications; nor did he cease from prayer until the Persians, who had been stirred up against the Romans, dissolved their military preparations due to a civil dissension that had arisen among them. The Scythians, for their part, having learned of the hesitation of the Persians, themselves also grew quiet and gave no indication of the movement to the general public.
38. Such was that admirable Symeon; and in such a way D was the matter brought about by the prayers of Saint Symeon, as Theodoret and Metaphrastes write. Regarding the kings of the Persians who followed Isdigerdes and Vararanes, see Agathias, book V, and Peter Teixeira, book I, on the Kings of Persia.
the diaconicon—that there were some parts of that wood in which the Master underwent the crucifixion of that awesome dispensation for our sake—he requested from him the veneration of those precious woods, and that he might receive some small part of them. The superior of the monastery, having consented, at that very hour opens both doors of the diaconicon for him; he unlocks the caskets of the treasures, doing [it] as if for a more fervent and friendly reason. And Caesarius entered with those about him. Having worshipped and embraced [them], they receive a part of that saving and venerable wood. Then, having entered into the inner cell of the diaconicon, they turn again to friendly refreshment. A
CXXXI.
Now a certain Theodotus, a Galatian, who was ministering to them, frequently going out through the diaconicon and entering in to them, with those sacred caskets opened, steals the six hundred gold coins already mentioned, which were lying in three purses. Then, the superior, focusing his attention on Caesarius and those with him, did not notice what had happened. In the morning, having risen, Theodotus feigned that he was angry, and pretended to be greatly indignant, as if he were not allowed to enjoy peace. B Therefore, he departs from the monastery—in appearance, from a desire for a place free of noise, but in truth, with an eagerness to take himself off and to cause the gold to disappear. Having hastened toward the Holy City, and having entered upon the roads leading to it, when he was opposite the monastery of the monk Martyrius, having sat down quietly, and having placed the purses upon his knees, and having taken fifty gold coins in number from one of them, he puts the rest under a certain large stone; and having marked the spot, and having made it as known to himself as he could, he proceeded straight toward Jerusalem; and from there, toward Joppa.CXXXII.
Having hired beasts of burden and having paid a deposit, he returns to the stone under which the gold was hidden. And when he was already near—O eye that beholds all things! C O most just judgments!—he sees a certain serpent of immense size and terrible form having crawled out from the stone, as if it had been appointed to guard the gold and to keep him from approaching a possession not his own. Filled with fear, therefore, he returned empty-handed that time. He goes down again on the following day; and again he finds that terrible guardian of the gold, keeping watch most diligently and staying vigilant over the money, so that it was not even permitted to approach the stone at all; but even upon approaching, he was driven away swiftly by the serpent for a long time, and he felt fortunate if he managed merely to escape from there in safety. On the following day, then, he arrives at the place again; and immediately a certain aerial power, flying down, and as if striking Theodotus with a kind of club, and having inflicted a fatal blow upon him, casts him down, and [leaves him] having the death-like, throwing him to the ground. Certain Lazariotae then, passing by...A he cared for the salvation of all in common, but he certainly did not neglect that of each individual. And here, too, he was a foreseer and a herald. Bishop Theodoret, whom we have already mentioned before, knows this. He was being opposed vehemently by someone, and he felt great distress and bore the accusation heavily. But after he had tried everything, as the saying goes, by straining every nerve, and saw that he was gaining no good result from that labor, he fled to the wonderful Symeon, the focus of all hopes, and entrusted his own affairs to him. He then heartened him in his despondency with various comforts, and exhorted him to bear his trials nobly; and, adducing proof from the divine Scriptures, he showed how great is the profit that comes from trials. Then, after a short pause, he said, "But you, my dear friend, must also, in another way, give thanks to God; for after fifteen days your enemy will depart, and you will quickly beat back the clamor of your troubles." Thus, when this number of days had been completed, the man ended his life, and the other, having exchanged his life with death, stood outside all agitation and distress B in peace, with the divine verdict bringing the end, as the holy man had foretold.
CHAPTER XI
*He encourages the monks Theodosius and Daniel to a holier life; he assists the barbarians in various ways.*C ...and the great Theodosius flourished, that Theodosius who was the sum and head of ascetic contests and pastoral wisdom. He, having recently kindled the love of virtue in the chambers of his soul, but not yet having it inflamed into a torch, approached the common guide of salvation, and coming up to the pillar, before he could utter any sound from his mouth, he was addressed from above by the wonderful Symeon: "Welcome, man of God, Theodosius." Then, astonished at the foreknowledge of his own name—because, although he had not previously come to the attention of the man, yet he was called by his own name as if he had lived with him for a long time—he pressed his head to the ground and requested a blessing from him. And he not only granted his request but also permitted him to ascend. Having ascended, therefore, he encouraged Theodosius significantly toward ascetic contests, and added, "My friend Theodosius, proceed on your way rejoicing, for 'your steps will be directed by the Lord'." Then he did not stop the discourse at this point, but also foretold the future to him: how he would arrive at a great height of virtue, and how he would transfer many of those wrapped up in this worldly vanity to the monastic life, how he would lead a rational flock, and how he would advance to that magnitude and height of excellence, and how he would make many imitators of his own labors, and offer them to God. These things, then, the wonderful Symeon had foretold to the great Theodosius; whoever reads the life of that Theodosius will know how they all came to pass later, even if they occurred after some time, as it is related in his Life. D
Zenon’s mind, having taken up the monastic habit, being bitten by the fierce sting of the love of the quiet life, and desiring himself also to dwell in the wilderness, I was seeking elsewhere a respectable pretext so that I might achieve this. Being at a loss for another, I pretended to be seized by a great desire regarding the dedication of the Church of Jerusalem, and I asked for leave to go there. Having been dismissed, therefore, by the superior, when I was already about to depart from the metropolis of the Scythopolitans, my mother gives me this instruction: that I should do nothing out of my own mind pertaining to matters of the soul without the admonition and counsel of John the solitary, in order that, she said, "Lest perhaps, even from the outset, you should inadvertently be led astray into the error of the Origenists." A Therefore, when I had arrived at the holy city, and had venerated the holy places in which the Lord spent those salvific times for our sake; and having venerated also the wood of the divine cross; I then cross over to the man. He, however, both gives other counsel and makes suggestions, but finally he gives me this injunction: "If you wish," says he, "to be saved, come to the monastery of the great Euthymius, and dwell there." Having heard these things, I proceed through the wilderness with all speed to the Jordan, and having spent [a] sufficiently long time with the Fathers who were there B, I was brought to the monastery of that great man around the month of July, and was received. Moreover, Leontius was the one to whom the care of receiving [guests] and the administration of the monastery had at that time been committed.
CXXXVII. C Dwelling there, I see in that same summer someone, a Cilician by race, a monk by habit, Paul by name, who had set out from the monastery of Martyrius; he was afflicted by an evil spirit and was brought by his intimate friends to the monument of Euthymius. The monk having therefore been placed at the shrine of the relics, the great man, appearing after a little while in the middle of the night, drives away the demon. And this was an unerring testimony of the healing. For on that very night, Paul, having arisen at the hour of the nocturnal psalmody, becomes one of those who were chanting, and in the presence of us all confesses the healing to God. Those who were in the monastery of Martyrius, having learned of what had happened, come in order to lead Paul back to his own monastery. But he, wishing to show himself grateful, and keeping the grace [he had received] written in his own heart, remained thereafter in the cenobium, and participated in every labor and service with all eagerness along with the brethren.
CXXXVIII. D At one time, therefore, while we were gathering food in the wilderness—it was, in fact, that which it is the custom to call manoutia—
40. Let Daniel 35 come forward, who undertook the same contest with Symeon and reveals in himself the gifts of that prophetic tongue. For while Daniel was still under his master and shepherd, he was being exercised in ascetic labors, and an intense desire seized him to ascend a column and to act before Symeon. Once, therefore, when he had arrived with his own shepherd before him, he begged both of them most fervently: the one, that he might permit his ascent to the column; and the master, that he might grant his ascent. He obtained his wish from both, for he ascended the column freely. And when Symeon B welcomed him as he was coming up in a fitting manner, "Be strengthened," he said, "and behave like a man, my child Daniel; for you shall endure many labors for the sake of our common Lord. But truly rejoice; for strengthened by his grace, having overcome the common enemy, you shall at last enjoy that blessedness which awaits those who struggle so bravely." And at the same time, having placed his hand upon the head of Daniel, he sealed the aforementioned words with prayers.
41. These words, then, soon received confirmation in deeds. For Symeon, having sent Daniel away filled with grace and blessing, held him in his heart even more thereafter, and burned with a great desire for him, not only while he was alive, but also after his departure, even being absent. Once, therefore, when Daniel was setting out from Mesopotamia for Jerusalem 36, for the sake of adoring the holy places, and was desiring from there to seek the desert, behold, Symeon, having assumed the guise of a traveler, appeared and detained him from the journey which he had already almost begun, both for many reasons, and especially that he might not have anything in common with the wickedness of the Samaritans C; for at that time a great and savage sedition had been stirred up by them, and had filled the road to Jerusalem with evildoers, who threatened pillage and slaughter to passersby. But conversely, he persuaded Daniel to take the journey towards Byzantium, where nothing that pertains to the salvation of the soul would be lacking to him. It was then around evening, when the holy Symeon, having assumed the persona of a traveler, gave these instructions to Daniel. But when he turned aside to an inn and expected his traveling companion to rest with him, he was nowhere to be found. But when Daniel, having taken a meal, fell asleep, Symeon appeared again, and enjoined the same things as before; but he, with a sober soul, having shaken the sleep from his eyes, executed those commands. D Much later, after Symeon had left his little body and the column and had been translated to the seats of immortal and blessed spirits, he seemed to stand before Daniel again in a dream, and called him to the way of life upon a pillar, and commanded him to ascend a column. Having seen these things, and rising from his bed, just as the vision had declared to him, so he went to ascend the column.
It seemed to me, furthermore, that a certain black cowl, full of wool, was placed upon my head; but that wool (O Euthymius, servant of God, who wards off evil!) may it never befall others to endure. For the interior, instead of soft wool, was bristling with thorns—and these not tolerable or moderate ones, but equal in size and length to the points of writing implements—and it pricked my head severely, and did not allow me to open my mouth at all, nor even to breathe.
[715 B] CXL. Being pressed by such an evil, it seemed to me that I was turning the name of Euthymius upon my tongue, and imploring him. And he immediately appears to me, glowing all around with great light, gray of hair, round of face, bright of eye, short in stature, deep of beard, wearing a black cloak, and holding a staff in his hand. And without delay he says to me, "What is it you wish me to do for you?" When I answered with trembling and fear, "Have pity on my suffering, and deliver me from this grievous demon," he replied more sternly: "Have you not been persuaded, then, that nothing of what happens is hidden from God? Have you not learned, from what you have suffered, how great an evil it is to hold in contempt the things of the Church—or rather, the things of God—and to squander them as chance might dictate? For just as the grace of C those who dedicate things to the churches passes directly to God—and He Himself, in turn, knows how to provide the recompense from on high—so also do they who misuse them commit an outrage, not against another, but against Him Himself, and render to Him the fitting penalty. For if Ananias, in days of old, together with his wife, because they had purloined from what they themselves had offered, paid such a penalty that they died at the very moment of their theft, what pardon, then, will he obtain who does not even spare an offering that is not his own? But," he said, "if you make a covenant no longer to lay unjust hands upon sacred things, nor to feast upon the admission of evil thoughts, God is implored, he says, and He heals you. For He is loving toward mankind, and does not desire the death of the sinner, as the divine Oracles also teach, but D that he should turn and live. Since it is for this reason that the present things have befallen you: because, having been entrusted with the service of sacred things, you did not keep yourself faithful to God, but turned immediately to deceit and theft; reaping, if one may speak the truth, where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter. Hence the abandonment on His part; hence the assault of the flesh and intemperance; and hence, he says, this grievous surge from the demons has inundated you."
CXLI. Having heard these things, I make a covenant with him for my future guarding. And then, he says, having threatened the little demon, and having taken hold of the cowl with his hand, he forces it—with difficulty and by violence—off my head.
He instituted the same manner of life that Symeon had previously maintained, becoming a new Elisha who took Elijah as his example. And these matters, indeed, were thus.
42. A The King of the Persians, being jealous of being surpassed by no one, became by far second to this man alone regarding the fame of his virtue; and he inquired diligently of those who frequented him as to what manner of life the man lived, and what his miracles were. The memory of Symeon was of no less concern to him than public affairs, and the accounts of the man’s deeds, and his fame itself, struck him with wonder. Indeed, his wife also, struck with awe—together with her husband—at the wondrous miracles of Symeon, requested that blessed oil be sent to her from him, and received it most gladly; by means of which she not only cured her own illnesses but also applied the remedy to many of her kinsmen, whatever the malady by which they were oppressed. And all those around the king, captivated by the same fame and having learned accurately about the actions of Symeon, called him a divine man.
43. B The Queen of the Ishmaelites, being barren C and bitten severely by the pain of her childlessness, and taking no pleasure in any desirable thing, sent first some of the most notable men, praying that she might become a mother. When she attained her request and was set free from her despondency—her soul filled with calm and likewise with joy—she took the child who had been born, the king, and brought him to the divine Symeon. And since the enclosure was not accessible to women, she sent the infant to him, deeming it worthy to obtain his blessing. "For," she said, "this is the drama: I have presented as a seed, with tears, the object of my prayer; but you have made the seed into a sheaf, having drawn down the rain of divine grace through your prayers." And she, having obtained what she desired, returned to her house; but as for us, how long shall we strive to encompass in speech things that are superior to every human understanding?
CAPUT XII. His daily exercises; precepts given to various people.
44. D For he stood night and day, seen by all; and having removed the doors and destroyed no small part of the enclosure, he lay open to all as a spectacle surpassing every cause for wonder—at one time standing for a long time, at another bowing frequently and offering adoration to God. Many even attempted to count these adorations; and once, one of those with the virtuous Theodoret reported that he had counted one thousand two hundred and forty-four adorations, and then—
[CXLVIII] Furthermore, the very person who suffered this injury, and who harvested his cure at the holy tomb, still being alive in the monastery and one of its monks, bears witness with his own tongue and voice. For there is a certain brother in the monastery, a Galatian by birth, named Procopius. This Procopius, while he was still involved in civil disturbances and business, was seized by an evil spirit, and he had it living with him for a long time, secretly terrifying him and filling his insides with turmoil, just as he himself narrated to me. But after he left the world and ran to the monastery, he was received by the company of the brothers, and when he paid homage at the casket of the relics, the evil spirit was immediately convicted, as darkness is by light, and was brought into the open; and Procopius was recognized as being possessed, suffering all those things proper to those so afflicted, being terribly torn apart, thrown to the ground, and furthermore having his tongue bound, and not being allowed to speak as usual. The great one [Euthymius] heals even this man, and delivers him from the affliction, from the madness, and from the bonds of his tongue; just as he is shown to be present in the monastery to this day, not only being free from the malady and healthy, but also excelling in all temperance and patience, and pulling the sweet yoke of Christ in this place according to his strength.
[CXLIX] Consequent to these events, it would be appropriate to recount what pertains to that peregrine stranger. For while we were sitting at the entrance of the monastery some time ago, and holding a mattock in our hand and cleaning, he arrives at us with a great rushing sound and like a tempest, driven by the evil spirit, and crying out with a clear voice: "What have I to do with you, Euthymius, servant of God? Where are you dragging me with violence? I will not go out." Then the evil spirit throws him down before the gates, a fall most miserable to those who saw it. We rose up, therefore, with Babylas the doorkeeper, and with difficulty lifting him up, we brought him down to the casket of the relics. He persisted in the same cries, screaming: "Why do you thus violently pull me apart and drag me? Why do you lead me to my enemy? Why to my foe? Why do you pull me toward him who is always setting me on fire? O violence! I will not go with you, but I am leaving, and I will stay no longer." After we had toilfully brought him to the very tomb of the saint with the traveler, the demon casts him down again, and after he had spent that whole night utterly mute, he rose in the morning moderate and sober, having not even the slightest remnant of his previous condition. Having, therefore, eaten bread with him, we asked him during the meal what it was that he had suffered the day before, and how he had come there, and what on earth he had been shouting. He said he knew nothing of all this, and he knew nothing at all of how he had come or what he had been crying out.
[CL] These things, then, being such as they are, and in such a manner leaving no room for any hyperbole in the account of the miracle, yield only to those events that took place in the village of the Bolagabaeans, to which the discourse is now hastening. For there was a certain presbyter in the monastery, originating from that village, Achthabius by name, who for forty
A he set aside the count, and bending his forehead, he would constantly press it against the toes of his feet; for because of the lack of food, his belly allowed his back to be easily bent.
45. Moreover, from that perpetual and supernatural standing, a chronic ulcer grew on one of his feet, from which a large amount of pus flowed. But nothing of this repressed his philosophy; for he bore all things nobly, overcoming the labors with the promptitude of his mind. And he was once forced to show this ulcer to someone. For there was a certain man, a deacon by rank, who was a lover of virtue; moved by the fame of Symeon, he once came from Ravenna, and having climbed the height of that hill, "Tell me," he said, "by the truth itself, are you a human being, or some other nature devoid of body, and putting on a human form?" B When those standing by were annoyed at the question, the divine Symeon calmed the tumult among them, and turning to him, said, "Why, pray, do you ask me this?" And when he replied that he heard everyone saying that he neither took food nor enjoyed sleep—both of which are proper to man; for no one having this nature could live without food and sleep—Symeon ordered a ladder to be placed against the column and invited him to ascend. When he reached him, he first let him examine his hands, then he bade him put his hand inside his leather garment, and to see not only his feet, but also that most grievous ulcer. Having seen the magnitude of the festering ulcer, he climbed down from the column, and having reached Theodoret, of whom mention was made before, he recounted everything accurately. From there he returned to his homeland, a most eloquent herald of the superhuman struggles of this man.
46. For other athletes of virtue, certain periods of days and appointed times grant rest to their labors; but for him, the rest from that continuous endurance was a change to other labors. For the sun would set, C but he, lifting his hands to the intelligible and never-setting Sun, would stand the whole night through, neither charmed by sleep, nor overcome by sloth, until that [sun] would again reach the eastern horizon, and he would dissolve the gloom of the night with the smile of the day. Then, other exercises, and other deeds, and ways of prayer much more difficult, would succeed this struggle.
47. Thus, therefore, in such great labors and in the weight of such accomplishments and the multitude of miracles, having ascended to the summit of virtues, and having surpassed all men by a great distance, such was the state of his mind. D
B And he discharges the morbid fluid and scatters it; he also takes out of the belly a kind of plate made of tin, bearing certain characters, and sets it on a table before his eyes. Then, having joined together the incision with his hand and anointed it, and having made that part sound and whole, he relates the entire drama to him in order: the envy regarding his wealth, the hiring of the sorcerer, and the invocation of the demons. "Yet," he says, "the machinations of the enemy would not have prevailed against you in this way, if you had not provided him with the handles yourself. For consider how much time has passed, and you did not deign to go to Church, nor to approach the immaculate mysteries, but lived carelessly and without concern, insofar as it touched your own soul. Since, therefore, God has shown you mercy, from now on pay attention to yourself, and no longer neglect your own salvation in any way."
C CLIII. When Romanos had heard these things, he immediately arose just as he was, healthy, the swelling around his belly now having dissipated. Having called together his kinsmen, he announced to them the coming of the saint, that strange incision made by the fingers, and the vision in its entirety. Then he came to us also, and recounted these things to the head of the monastery, to his brother Achthabios, and to all of us. Moreover, he celebrates the day of this miracle as the greatest festival even to this time, and still gives thanks to the saint year after year. But this matter is of this kind.
CLIV. But as for what my discourse now hastens to say, I fear it may appear incredible to many, and little in keeping with the man’s character and kindness; such heat and precise zeal does he manifest against those who swear falsely. For there is a certain village toward the rising sun, ten stades distant from the Laura of Pharan, which is also itself called Pharan; not, I think, that it received its name from there, but rather that it gave its name to the Laura. A certain man named Cyriacus, originating from this village, was a shepherd of flocks; and while he was grazing the flock in those deserts, he is entrusted by someone from the same village, a poor man like himself, with ten other animals, so that he might graze them along with his own. After some time had passed, an inescapable need seized the poor man. Having1 no other resource, he immediately looked to that small flock, and hastened to sell it because of the pressure of necessity. But Cyriacus, being as it seems, of a base mind, and not preferring the truth to even a small gain, returned only eight, and kept insisting that he had received only that many from him at the start. When the other man demanded the other two, Cyriacus refused; the matter proceeded to a dispute between them, and both were vehemently contentious.
CLV. Certain arbiters, taken as mediators between them, imposed an oath on whichever of them was willing, so that by this means they might resolve the quarrel. Therefore, because Cyriacus...
A He was moderate, gentle, and graceful, and he answered each of those who spoke with him, whether they were workmen, beggars, or some countryman who approached him, as if he were far inferior to all the rest in the dignity of virtue. Moreover, besides other things, the charm of spiritual discourse flourished on his lips, and a certain divine persuasiveness rested upon them, so that he would offer exhortations twice every day, seasoned with a certain singular grace, bringing very great utility; and he exhorted them to look up to heaven and to fly upward on the wings of virtue; he bade them leave the earth and contemplate the kingdom prepared in heaven, and at other times to fear the threats of Gehenna, to despise earthly things, and to await those that are to come.
48. One could see him also judging; for this reason, many who had previously stained their lives with various disgraces were seen to be lovers of justice after his judgment, and whoever the lot given by his vote declared to be defeated, he nonetheless departed happy, as if he were the victor. But these and such things he performed after the ninth hour; for he spent the entire night and the daytime interval up until the ninth hour in prayer. After the ninth hour, he would first set forth divine teaching to those present, then he would furnish cures for the requests of each B and render righteous judgment, and he would resolve the disputes for those who were at odds. Toward the setting of the sun, he would again enter into communion with God.
49. Yet, even while occupied in these things and divided among so many duties, he did not neglect the care of the holy Churches, now fighting against the impiety of the Greeks, now dissolving the insolence of the Jews, and at other times scattering the gangs of the heretics—at one time sending word to the emperor concerning these matters through messengers, at another rousing the minds of the princes to the zeal of God, and sometimes exhorting the shepherds of the Churches themselves to take greater care of their flocks. And it is worth mentioning something in particular.
50. Theodosius the Younger, to whom the Roman scepters devolved by succession (for he began to reign while young, and on account of the distinction from his grandfather he was called "the Younger"), this noble Theodosius, having been persuaded by the wickedness of certain men of money, who (alas!) were betraying piety, C allowed the Jews in Antioch their former synagogues. Having learned of this, the man great in divine things and fervent in piety, Symeon, condemned the impiety of his action, and rebuked him with great boldness. He immediately changed his mind, and recalled his own decrees, and he not only took them away from the Jews, but he even removed the prefect himself (for he had suggested those evil schemes to him) from public duties, and into such danger D
that for his own life he felt fear and trembled, lest along with the authority he be deprived of his life itself. And this is what Theodosius did, while still young in understanding; he also wrote to Symeon, the wonder of the world, asking for forgiveness regarding those things in which he had sinned on account of the fault of others.
CHAPTER XIII. The gift of speech restored to the mute. A public calamity averted.
51. And what was the nature of this event? How should it be told? Some travelers, while going on their way, see in a field not far off—at a distance where the eye can distinguish objects—a large stag grazing. Smitten with a desire for the hunt, and since they had no way to pursue and catch the stag on foot, they used this new kind of hunting: they invoked the name of Symeon. Remembering him, they captured it immediately, just as if it had been caught in a trap, and after slaughtering it they prepare a meal, being gladdened by both things: the hunt itself and the feast that followed. But not long after, pain succeeded this pleasure; for their power of speech seemed to be extinguished, and the voice itself, by which they had captured the stag, failed them. Reflecting then upon themselves, and since not one of them could conjecture the cause, they asked one another with gestures what this might be and why their voice had failed them. At length, when they perceived the matter and understood that they had fallen into this calamity on account of their own wickedness (for the divine Symeon had given it to them out of human kindness, but they had used the gift with cruelty, and had dared to slaughter the stag with their own hands without mercy), they flee to this great Symeon, beating their breasts and grieving, and displaying the hide of the stag as a proof of their own cruelty and inhumanity—for they were still carrying it in their hands. He, having compassion on their repentance and confession, returned their voice to them and sent them away, at once grateful and rejoicing.
52. Not long afterward, a great earthquake shook the city of Antioch and the neighboring places; this was followed by a surge of the sea, and chasms opened up, and even to the
A foundations of the East extended this horrible devastation. It struck down all the temples and buildings to the ground, some it cast down from the roofs, others it overturned from their very foundations. Men, along with various kinds of animals, some caught inside as their houses collapsed, ended their lives together with them, while others were most pitifully buried in the chasms of the earth, as if in a sepulcher prepared for them on the spot. In so bitter a destruction, when such an intolerable scourge was carried indiscriminately through every sex and age, the sole and common solace for all became the wondrous Symeon. Him they used as a reconciler before God, and finding relief, they were delivered from their evil. For he, after having first rebuked their luxury and intemperance (48), and other sins of their life, and having sufficiently upbraided them, exhorted them all to cry out with one voice and with tears: Kyrie eleison, that is, "Lord, have mercy." Then, desiring to appease God for them and to rouse them to compunction, he himself also turned to prayer.
B 53. Since this prayer with tears was being extended for a long time, he signaled to the crowd and indicated silence with his hand. Being himself in deep anguish, both in voice and in mind, he burst into these words: "Men and brothers," he said, "what I am about to say to you first cruelly cuts my heart and pierces my inmost soul as if with a wound; I know indeed that these things also severely affect you, yet I will speak. See, I beseech you, how great is your number, how many tears you have shed, and what a loud cry you have sent up; yet God has lent an ear to only one of you all, and his prayer alone has reached His ears." Having said this, he called a certain man by name, and having summoned him to himself, in the hearing C of all, he said: "Your prayer stays the just wrath of God that is brought upon us, and the evil will cease as soon as may be. Tell me, however, omitting nothing, by what means you have so greatly pleased God? For the Divine power commands you to declare all things, so that these others, having imitated your virtue, may be moved to perform the same." But he was the more fearful, calling himself a sinner and naked of every virtue, and saying that he was not conscious of ever having done any good thing in his whole life, even involuntarily. But since the divine Symeon still pressed him hard, commanding him to tell everything, he said, "My life is one of toil; for I am bound to the earth and subject to the seasons, and first I sow a small plot for myself, and for the rest of the time I hire myself out to whomsoever wishes to employ me D and I sleep under the open sky, and first..."
(48) Evagrius seems to assign the cause of this earthquake to certain individuals from the local populace who were raging with every madness, surpassing even the nature of wild beasts, and providing, as it were, a beginning for such evils. Nicephorus also says that this was the origin of those evils, that those who were citizens there, being estranged from divine laws, had become beastly in every way of thinking and were raging with every fury: thus both seem to note the same things which this saint censures—luxury and intemperance, and what usually follows these, the lust for shedding human blood. Baronius in the cited place, n. 29, thinks that these evils flowed from no other source than the impiety of the heretical depravity which, springing from the evil seed of Nestorius who had lived there for a long time, grew under Patriarch John. That there were many Apollinarians there, the same Baronius shows at the year 471, n. 7.
A I cultivate my little field, and at another time I serve for a contract of wages for anyone who wants; and gathering together what comes to me from my own small plot and what I receive from the cultivation of the land, I divide these into three parts: the first I share with the needy, with the second I pay the annual tax, and the third I spend on necessary uses. Meanwhile, I never acknowledge in my life that I have done any good thing. This was heard by an innumerable multitude of men, who, when they saw the wrath of the Lord appeased and the succession of scourges stayed, being struck with amazement, as was fitting, glorified God with tears; they gave thanks to the holy Symeon, they praised the rustic, they escorted him, greeted him, embraced him, gave thanks, emulated his virtue, and accused themselves of negligence in good works; and finally, for many living in the vicinity, it was a useful example for taking up better things in their minds. B
CHAPTER XIV.
St. Symeon dies: his body is carried to Antioch.
54. Thus Symeon, having become distinguished by so many and great good deeds, having lived in total fifty-six years [(50)], when the bond of the body was loosened, passed on to his beloved, to enjoy Him more purely and more closely. Being a man of flowing matter, he was finally believed by those who lived on earth at that time, a thing which before no one could persuade themselves of, because of his endurance of labors that surpassed all nature and the insignia of such varied and excellent virtues. C He was separated from the body, he who had previously denied all things of the flesh, and in spirit moved about in heavenly places, and was not rarely present in angelic splendors; now, however, he returns to his former vows. The body was already devoid of soul and left without spirit: yet not even so could it abstain from its accustomed exercises; for it refused to be reclined on the earth even to catch a little rest, but remained standing upon the pillar, depicting the figure of the wrestler in a living way.
55. But after it was reduced to dust and paid the debt to the earth, neither did the celestial Maker neglect its clay as if it were devoid of honor, but reburied in a venerable tomb it became famous for many miracles: which were not only performed around the sepulcher [(51)], but even in whatever places that wonderful man had frequented and had undergone those outstanding struggles, all these things, as if offering a silent specimen of miracles for emulation, were more abundantly endowed on all sides by divine gifts.
56. Not long after, Leo the Great, [(52)] as he was called, was placed at the helm of the empire, and Martyrius [(53)] was the administrator of sacred affairs, D and a brilliant procession of that divine body [(54)] was led forth, not only as a receptacle of holy relics, but also as a monument of his highest virtue and long-suffering struggle: that great, I say, and celebrated column of this just man and of Symeon who is to be celebrated with praises.
The funeral of the sacred body was conveyed from the monastery to the city of Antioch. The vast abundance of lamps made the sun seem mournful and sad, as did the multitude of those following and those meeting it; and from every side a crowd of all ages flowing thither rendered the mountain itself and the narrow plains crowded. There was present also the commander of the eastern forces, Ardaburius, who stationed his own spearmen as guards over the relics, and by opposing their watch like a wall, fortified them against the incursion of neighboring cities; for individual cities were striving to snatch this sacred treasure and place it among themselves. B
57. When, therefore, the burden of the holy body was being carried in a carriage, and had already arrived at the place called Meros, which lies on the right hand to those entering Antioch, the carriage suddenly stood immovable, and was entirely prevented from the journey it was making toward the city. This unexpected stopping of the carriage struck everyone with no less astonishment than terror. A certain man, having rushed forth from a monument—of which there were not a few constructed near that place—ran with great speed toward the sacred coffin; and while he testified with cries to the various tumults of his soul, he wretchedly lamented his own crimes; furthermore, he begged to be released from his bonds and lash. Now the lash by which he was tormented was a malignant demon, which had long since leapt upon him for having insolently attacked the dead body of a woman; and immediately binding his hands with insoluble chains, and horribly contorting his eyes, and inspiring trembling in him, it had kept him bound ever since then—up to that point—beside the tomb of the woman he had violated, and was assiduously crushing him as he paid the penalty for such remarkable insolence. C As soon as he ran to the sacred coffin, he was immediately freed from these bonds: which having happened, the carriage was at once moved, and with the most splendid pageantry was brought into the city, which received the desired treasure into its own bosom, and placed it in the illustrious church of Cassianus. Then, a little later, after a divine vision had occurred, another temple was built in a nearby place, and the divine relics were transferred into it. That man, however, who had obtained the release from his evil from him, having made no small progress in virtue from that time, became the warden of this temple, and paid the holy man the just reward of a change of life for the better; which for him was far more desirable than any other honor: the salvation of the suppliant himself.
CHAPTER XV.
Relics requested by Emperor Leo. The temple on the mountain where he stood.
58. When, then, the sacred urn had covered the entire region with the report of its miracles, he who was administering the Roman empire, of whom mention was made a little before, wrote letters to the Antiochenes, by which he commanded that the spoils of the holy body be carried off to the royal city. D
A They, however, made suppliant requests to him, that he should not deprive such a great and admirable city—a city which had so many times experienced the wrath of heaven, had been razed almost to the ground, and had been reduced to ashes—of so great a blessing; that he should not take away him who was accustomed both to avert the wrath of God and to stay the scourges inflicted from above, whom it had set up for itself in place of all fortifications, walls, and arms. In short, they begged that he not remove the head of all their hope: for even if divine vengeance might not again overtake them, yet they said that a city lacking its defense would lie open to the incursions of enemies. Induced by these words, the emperor allowed the Antiochenes to retain their common treasure; and although it was hidden among them, it nevertheless traversed all places far and wide by its miracles, and became a private treasure for each individual.
59. B Indeed, on the summit of the mountain where divine Symeon completed those great labors of his, a holy temple was built, which on both sides encompassed four porticoes, which columns and hewn stone supported from the roof above. Between these lay an open-air courtyard, brilliantly lit from every side by the sun. In it stood that column of forty cubits, on which he spent that angelic life. Moreover, at the top of the porticoes there were windows, through which the lower places received the light of day. In that part, therefore, where the column stood to one’s left as one entered, a star used to shine, which obscured the heavenly constellations in splendor no less than in magnitude; it would now set, now rise again, and it shone most brightly at every part of the window; to those who were present it seemed to descend to the earth and to circle around it, and it was of such ineffable splendor and beauty that nothing could be added to the magnitude of the miracle, as it provoked all spectators to sing divine praises to the truly divine Symeon, from which they made a conjecture of the splendor which he himself, standing before the great Light, enjoys perpetually, and being more purely illuminated by the Trinity, and receiving a single ray from the single Divinity, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be all glory, honor, and power unto the ages of ages. Amen. C
OF S. LUCIAN, PRIEST AND MARTYR.
(Year 312, Acta SS. Bolland. Jan. 7)A § I.—Lucian's sanctity, his Catholic doctrine. This glorious martyr and doctor is celebrated by the Latins on the 7th of January, but by the Greeks on the 15th of October, as is evident from the Menologium and the Menaea, and as approved by Clement VIII; formerly, however, he was celebrated on the same day he died, January 7th, as is clear from the sermon of Saint Chrysostom delivered in his praise on the day after the Theophany. Usardus says of him: "On the same day, Saint Lucian, priest and martyr of the Church of Antioch, who was noted for his learning and eloquence, having suffered for the confession of Christ in the persecution of Maximianus; and who was buried at Helenopolis in Bithynia." Nearly the same statement regarding him is made by Bellinus of Padua, and the Roman Martyrology, except that they wish him to have suffered not under Maximianus, but under Maximus.
A fuller eulogy of him, from the acts which we shall provide below, differs slightly from Notker and the manuscripts of Adonis, of the monasteries of St. Laurentius Leodiensis and Lobtensis: "And the Nativity of Saint Lucian, priest and martyr of the Church of Antioch, a man most learned and most eloquent, who suffered at Nicomedia for the confession of Christ, and was dissected into four parts, and bound to individual stones, and submerged in the sea; and his body, found whole along with the stones, was honorably buried at Helenopolis in Bithynia. Which city, before it was called Drepana, the Emperor Constantine, honoring the same martyr, renamed Helenopolis after his mother." Nearly the same in the MSS of Laetiense and St. Martini Tornaci, and in the MSS of St. Martini Treviris and St. Mariae Ultrajecti: "At Nicomedia, of Lucian the priest, who, broken into four parts and submerged in the sea, was found whole." The old Roman Martyrology also remembers this, as do the MSS of St. Hieronymus, Wandelbertus, Maurolycus, Galesinius, and others.
3. Saint Jerome, in *De scriptoribus ecclesiasticis*, chap. 77, celebrates him thus: "Lucian, a man most learned, a priest of Antioch, labored so much in original study of the Scriptures that even today certain copies of Scripture are called Lucianic. His books on the faith are current, and his letters to some people. He suffered at Nicomedia for the confession of Christ, under the persecution of Maximianus, and was buried at Helenopolis in Bithynia." Almost the same is written by Honorius Augustodunensis, ch. 77, but he is mistaken in saying he was buried at Nicomedia.
4. Two things regarding Saint Lucian can be called into controversy; first, whether he correctly held the orthodox faith, and second, at what time he died. As for the first, since it is not our practice to evaluate the writings of individuals, provided it is established that they died in the Catholic faith and are numbered among the Church’s saints, we shall but touch upon it; especially since we know our Petreius Halloix will treat this more fully, and we pray to God to add many years to his life. For of the writings he has already issued on the lives of the Saints, and those on that holy Abbot of Laetiense, Antonius Wingius, they have been so wondrously praised by this saint and by other learned men that no one should refuse, with the greatest pleasure of mind, to read whatever they may hold otherwise. But let us return to Saint Lucian.
5. When Lucian was refuting the errors of the Sabellians most sharply, he was B carried to such a degree of heat in the disputation, that, inclining a little too freely to the opposite side, and, as they who were with him were separating the persons in the Trinity in such a way as to seem to separate [their] substance. The same thing happened to Saint Dionysius of Alexandria (of whom Nov. 17), when he was acting against Sabellius, and the business was brought before the Bishop of Libya, so that it became necessary to refer the cause to the Roman Pontiff, by whom he was absolved of all suspicion of heresy; so Lucian, being agitated by the same cause, and by the bishops who followed one another in the see of Antioch, was also ejected from the Church. This is evident from the epistle of Saint Alexander of Alexandria, which Theodoret records in *Hist. eccl.*, lib. 1, cap. 4, where he states as follows: "Then that pestiferous study of Paul of Samosata, bishop of Antioch, was ejected by a council of bishops everywhere and by the judgment of the Church: whose perverse doctrine Lucian remained a successor to for many years, [remaining] outside the Church while three bishops, one after another, governed the Church." While he strove to defend the integrity of his faith with his writings, he came into the hands of the persecutors by the deceit of the Sabellian Pancratius, and was crowned by glorious martyrdom.
6. And neither Jerome, nor any other, speaks otherwise of him than as a man of C excellent Catholic character. However, some of his disciples, already infected beforehand with idolatry, declined into the sect of the Arians, and called themselves Arians [or] Collucianists. Nicephorus Callistus, book 11, ch. 5, reports a formula of faith tainted with Arianism: "Lucian, a man divine, and in the Holy Scriptures above others..."
A—this which Datianus had ordered as a punishment for the saint more grievous than death—saw it transformed into a complete feast, glory, and restoration. For a terrible and brilliant angelic state appeared, healing and recovering the athlete from his toils; and the cold and everlasting night of the accursed one was illuminated by a strange and paradoxical light. For candles were burning in triple rows, and in a manner contrary to custom, the light illuminated the fortress. And he himself, having already recovered his body on the softest bedding and having been warmed by the Holy Spirit, was striking up a psalmody to the Lord, and, sounding in rhythm with the sweetest instrument of the voice, he was bewitching the entire neighborhood, which had been knowingly stirred up to contemplate his punishments, as it listened to the echo of the harmony. Suddenly the guards were startled, B their sleep having fallen away, thinking that the martyr had escaped from the prison. But as they were disturbed for a long time by fear, the saint began to say to them: "Do not be troubled, nor shout, O soldiers of impiety, being afraid; for I do not flee my own glory, nor the crowns stored up for me. But if you are able, enter quickly, and behold the glorious consolation of the servant of God, through angelic healing and visitation; for where you left the darkest gloom, rejoice to see an unworldly light; and the one whom you despaired of, by his suffering, as having no breath and little substance, gaze upon him now as he is moved into hymns of the true God, and marvel."
16. "For the bonds poured out around me have been loosened, and my powers are more consolidated than before, and my body has been renewed on soft and abundant bedding; therefore, be all the more astonished at the ineffable power and goodness of my God, and with a full mouth proclaim it with pious voices, using these words and announcing to Datianus that the confessor of the true and only God exists always as a victor, and of how great and such a light I partake. Let him devise further, if the devil thinks of anything terrible, and let him still add to my praises; but let him steal nothing of the noble deeds of my blessedness, and let his own signs be exercised, reigning; if he should track down anything, I fear only his compassion, lest he be seen granting me death." But when the guards went and explained to Datianus all that had happened in the prison, he fell silent, lifeless and pale, and he already sensed that he was doing very badly himself (for the lacerations and the torments of the martyr's punishments were being turned back against him), and he lay back grievously, overcome by the combatant; nevertheless, he offered a precise voice in a simpler fashion, and even if not according to his will, he says: "What further shall we wrestle since we are beaten by the greatest things? Let him, therefore, be carried on a bed and softest bedding; for I do not wish him to die in the terrible torments, lest he be shown as possessing too much glory. Let men, then, carry him on a bed, rejoicing and exulting, who might take his footprints and his entire mangled body, kissing them; and let them wipe up the blood that has thickened or is flowing on him, for the recovery of their own strength." Let the most approved servant of God, Vincent, use the escort of such men; indeed, he is worthy to be cared for even by his enemies, not to mention by his own kin and Christians.
17. The C accursed and evil-minded Datianus was doing these things while gripped by great helplessness, now confessing his defeat and his impotence and weakness, now even against his will magnifying the immense endurance and the
learned, falsely ascribed to him by some, as if they were seeking to cast luster upon the martyr by the magnitude of his writing. Sozomen refers to this in book 3, ch. 3. The Macedonians also falsely boasted of Saint Lucian as a patron of their error, as Saint Athanasius shows A in Dial. 3, *De Trinitate*, who nonetheless freely professes that he believes the same as Lucian, and in the *Synopsis of Holy Scripture*, he praises him with this illustrious eulogy, speaking of the edition of the sacred volumes which is called the Lucianic: "The seventh and last," he says, "is that of the holy ascetic and martyr Lucian, who himself, having come upon the aforementioned versions and Hebrew books, and having diligently inspected the words that were missing or redundant beyond the truth, and having corrected each thing in its own place, published this version for the Christian brethren;" which truly, after his struggle and martyrdom—which he endured under the tyrants Diocletian and Maximian—was found at Nicomedia under King Constantine the Great, encased in lime in the wall of a cupboard where it had been placed for safekeeping, the book having been written by his own hand. Regarding this same edition, Jerome, Epistle 107, which is a preface B to the Book of Chronicles for Chromatius: "Alexandria and Egypt in their Septuagint praise Hesychius as their author; Constantinople as far as Antioch approves the copies of the martyr Lucian: the provinces midway between these read the Palestinian codices, which Eusebius and Pamphilus published, having been elaborated from the source: and the whole world struggles among itself with this triple variety." Baronius treats these matters at greater length in Vol. III of his *Annals* at the year 311, n. 2; and likewise at the year 318, n. 74 et seq., and in his notes to the Martyrology.
§ II. The Acts of St. Lucian; the time of his death.
7. The Acts of Saint Lucian, described by an ancient author and inserted in the collection of the Metaphrast, and edited in Latin by Lipomanus and Surius—which Baronius at the year 311, n. 3, calls "genuine and commended by the perpetual memory of writers"—to these we shall subjoin certain things from the *Ecclesiastical History* of Rufinus, book 9, ch. 6. For what he records, interpreting and subsequently expanding upon Eusebius, concerning the persecution that was stirred up again by Galerius Maximinus after the six-month truce granted to Christians by the edict of Galerius Maximian Armentarius (ch. 2 and the following four), existed both in the MS of Ripator and the MS of Saint Maximin of Trier, under the title of the Acts of Saint Lucian, as well as in the Trier codex, with the words differing only slightly from the edition of Rufinus. We shall transcribe only those things that properly pertain to Saint Lucian. We shall add what is recounted about him in the Greek Menaia and the Anthology: and finally, some things from the homily of Saint John Chrysostom on the holy martyr Lucian, which is number 46 in Volume III of his Works edited in Greek and Latin by Fronto Ducaeus.
8. Regarding the time of his martyrdom, Baronius writes this in his notes to the Martyrology: "That he suffered under Maximinus, Eusebius, living at that time and writing the deeds of the martyrs, testifies in book 8, ch. 5." Saint Jerome C states the same in *De viris illustribus* regarding Lucian. It seems that an error was made so that Metaphrastes as well as Suidas say that he fell in martyrdom under Maximian. But in his *Annals* at the year 311, n. 3, Baronius seems to have retracted this, writing that he suffered under Galerius Maximian, not however under Maximinus (in the consulship of Maximian VIII and Licinius), before the same emperor, having promulgated an edict, prohibited the persecution. Our Dionysius Petavius asserts the same in *De doctrina temporum*, book 13. This man appears to have been led into that opinion, and Baronius himself as well, because Eusebius, book 8, ch. 25, while reviewing the more famous martyrs who attained the palm of martyrdom in the persecution of Diocletian and Maximian, not yet having commemorated the prohibition of that same persecution, lists Lucian also among them in these words: "But among the Antiochene martyrs, Lucian, a priest of his parish, most distinguished for his pious institutes of life, who before the emperor himself at Nicomedia first proclaimed the heavenly kingdom of Christ by speech in an *Apology*, and then by his deeds."
9. But the persecution of Maximinus himself is considered no different from that which they had once stirred up, even if it was briefly interrupted around the death of Maximian Armentarius: so that he who was slaughtered by the order of Maximinus could be attributed to the persecution of Maximian. For which reason they themselves also are forced to explain what we brought forward above from Saint Athanasius in n. 6, who writes that Saint Lucian was killed under Diocletian and Maximian. It seems D therefore that Lucian was apprehended after the persecution flared up again at Antioch towards the end of the year 311. And this will be easily proven to one who has read carefully the beginning of book 9 of the Eusebian *History*. Where, when he had recounted the simulated abatement of the persecution in Chapter 1, in Chapter 2 he recounts the fraud of Theotecnus, in the third new edicts issued by Maximinus, in the fourth the forged acts of Pilate; and finally in the fifth, he mentions the slaughters carried out in various places, and by name Silvanus the bishop of Emesa, Peter of Alexandria, and Lucian. And regarding this indeed, Eusebius writes these things: "Also Lucian, a priest of the Antiochene Church, a man in all other respects easily the first, as well as distinguished for his continence, and exercised for long and much in sacred disciplines, having been led to the city of the Nicomedians, in which the emperor was then staying; when he had recited before the prefect of the city an apology for the doctrine of Christ, whose patronage he had undertaken, he was thrown into prison, and there slaughtered." So many and so grave evils in a short space of time were prepared against us by Maximinus (it is certain from the preceding and following [passages] that the discourse is about Galerius Maximinus, not [Galerius] Armentarius), an adversary of virtue and honesty: so that this later persecution, excited at that time, seemed to us much more bitter than the former. These are the words of Eusebius. Which, because Baronius could not refute, he denies were written by Eusebius, but supposes that they were written by another.
10. We shall treat of Saint Peter of Alexandria on November 26, where the arguments of Baronius, which pertain especially to him, will be weighed. But concerning Lucian, it is manifestly proved that he was crowned under the persecution reignited by Maximinus.
But even here, at the present moment, following the ancient divine command, A he performs the proper services for the martyr, and he began to lament and say: "Alas! Not even when he is dead can I prevail over him; on the contrary, because of my cruelty, he is revealed as more glorious. Since, therefore, it is impossible for him to be consumed upon the earth, let him be sent down to the depths of the sea; let the ocean hide the magnificence of his victory, so that I may not become a laughingstock before the eyes of all every day. Let him be cast away, therefore, in an *eurungus*, in the same manner that patricides are bound up in an ox-hide bag and thrown into the sea; and let stones be piled upon his swaddled body, and when the sailors have traveled a great distance into the depths, let them cast him into the waves, so that if any part of him remains unfingered or free from a wound, the fish, starved [for his flesh], may persistently attack and consume even that. Being torn apart by an insatiable mouth, he shall be entirely consumed; and if he is cast upon foreign shores, tossed by the return and the eddies of the waves, and dashed against the crags, not even in death will he find rest." Behold, again, what you are doing, you who are truly a devil in the flesh! For you make the athlete even more glorious in the element of water. And so the holy and precious relic of the martyr is cast, as the sacrilegious Datianus ordered, into the *eurungus*. The *eurungus* is a basket-like mesh fashioned into the shape of a sack, long B and narrow, which in the Greek dialect the sailors are accustomed to call a *koike*, useful to anyone who wishes to transport such a vessel, and for the carriage of grain and other supplies necessary for a voyage for the preservation of life. And when the body of the contestant was crushed and forced into the so-called *dika*, they secured it with such stitches that one might fear that Datianus was worrying lest the relic might escape and abandon the *dika*. C Ch. XX. Upon these matters, a certain man named Eumorphius, a pest in his intentions and sacrilegious in his soul, stepped forward and promised the tyrant that for his part of the city he would have trustworthy sailors to provide to him, those who were most suitable for the matter requested; and they cast into the boat the most precious relic of the most holy martyr Vincent; and they drove out onto the sea to such a distance that they believed they were hiding the shores and the mountains from the sight of their eyes; and, finally, being exhausted, when it seemed to them that they were far enough out at sea, and fearing lest they might carry him to another homeland—which they did not wish—they accomplished what had been commanded to them, and they sunk him, sending him to the depths among the waves. And then they returned to Datianus with joyous faces, as if bringing back the greatest tidings of joy, exulting, as is the custom of sailors who are accustomed to act impiously, making confused noises and claps, and they hurried themselves toward the governor with more haste than was necessary, lest others might get ahead and report to him the desirable news that Vincent had been snatched away from the eyes of all. But in truth, according to what was righteous and holy, before the sailors who had cast the body of the martyr into the sea returned to the dry land, it [the body] itself, which had been cast away, was brought to land by the hand of Christ; and that which they believed had been submerged in the deep and boundless sea, when they saw it exposed before their own eyes—as if it were demanding the debt of the honor of a sepulcher—they were seized with stupidity and fear, and abandoning those very relics, they departed.
A For these things were added, and indeed (as it seems) in the Latin. Yet whoever this person may be, he writes in book II on Job, near the middle: "Thus was finished the blessed and glorious Lucian, luminous in life, luminous also in faith, and luminous in the consummation of his endurance. For this reason he was named Lucian, as if 'luminous,' either shining for himself with his own light, or shining for others. For this blessed man, stretched out for twelve days upon broken potsherds, was finished on the thirteenth day." What "pottery meal" (testæ pollinæ) might be, escapes me. Baronius has "many potsherds," just as if the author had written *ostraka polla*. But what if we interpret them as dust of potsherds, or potsherds crushed to the consistency of flour?
12. That the relics of St. Lucian were translated to Gaul, Andreas Saussayus testifies in the Gallican Martyrology, writing thus: "The birthday of the holy Lucian of Antioch, presbyter and martyr, most illustrious for doctrine, eloquence, and sanctity, who suffered in Nicomedia under Caesar Maximinus for the confession of Christ, and was dissected into four parts: to which, tied individually to stones and cast into the sea, the next day in Helenopolis of Bithynia the entire body was found with the same stones, and buried by the faithful with the highest veneration. But after some centuries had passed, Charlemagne received them from the East and brought them to Arles; and an church having been built in his honor there, he re-interred them honorably through Turpin, the Archbishop of Reims, for which reason the festive memory of so great a martyr is celebrated today at Arles according to ancient custom."
LIFE AND MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY HIEROMARTYR LUCIAN
LIFE AND MARTYRDOM OF THE SACROSANCT MARTYR LUCIAN
(We have transcribed the Greek from the Coislinian manuscript codex no. 145, of the 10th century. *Edit. Patr.*)CHAPTER I
S. Lucian’s fatherland, virtues, and learning.
1. Samosata is a city of Syria, which the Euphrates flows past; the city is the fatherland of Lucian. He was a man well-born, as the discourse that treats of him will teach. His parents were Christians; there was great zeal among his parents that Lucian, from the very first sprout of life, [should be brought up] in godliness.
His body was translated to Constantinople through the efforts of Emperor Constantius. A Wandelbert writes on May 16th: "The seventeenth [day] shines with the name of Timothy, whom blessed Paul taught with truth-telling voice." The August 22nd entry of the very ancient Rhinawien manuscript reads: "Timothy, disciple of St. Paul." But the last three words seem to have been added by a scribe; otherwise, the Roman Martyr St. Timothy is honored on that day. Finally, the September 27th manuscript of St. Jerome’s Martyrology states: "At Ephesus, [the passion of] Timothy." Whose? The writer of an ancient Martyrology, preserved in the monasteries of Lætien and St. Martin of Tournai, held this view, for therein are read these words on that day: "And of St. Timothy, disciple of Paul the Apostle, whom the same 'vessel of election' took up, teaching him all ecclesiastical discipline, and by the laying on of hands, made him acceptable to the Churches. This man, remaining chaste and a virgin, rests buried with great honor at Ephesus on the mountain which is called Pion." But why is he said to have been "made acceptable to the Churches"? Is it because he was consecrated a bishop at the beginning, bound to no certain see, so that he might more perfectly fulfill the apostolic office wherever it was needed?
§ II. Acts of St. Timothy, time of death. Polycrates, Bishop of the Ephesians, flourished in the times of Emperor Severus, as St. Jerome testifies in his book *On Ecclesiastical Writers*, chapter 45, where he recites some things from his Synodal epistle concerning the rite for celebrating the Paschal feast on the 14th of the month, which was observed in that Church from the times of St. John the Evangelist. Sigebert writes of him, chapter 3: "Polycrates wrote the passion of St. Timothy the Apostle, and many other things." But Baronius, in his *Notes to the Martyrology*, pronounces thus regarding it: "Sigebert is the authority for the claim that the passion of Timothy was written by Polycrates; but this is entirely unknown to Eusebius and Jerome, who write about Polycrates." Yet other writings of other authors were also passed over by them. B Photius, however, although he writes that he had read this passion, names no author. Aubert Miraeus, in his *Bibliotheca Ecclesiastica*, says: "In that passion, mention is made of Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons: from which it may be gathered that it cannot be attributed to Polycrates, who succeeded Timothy after Onesimus." But it is nowhere said that he immediately succeeded Onesimus, who is handed down as having suffered under Trajan, as we shall relate on February 16th. Miraeus himself asserts that Irenaeus was crowned in the 40th year of Severus (which was the year of Christ 202, or 203, already twenty days begun). St. Jerome says Polycrates flourished in the times of Emperor Severus: so that it could easily have happened that he read some commentary, or even all of them, of his contemporary Irenaeus. Polycrates himself calls himself the author (a); he who would certainly have to be considered an impostor if he falsely arrogated to himself the honor of another's name, but it is a serious writing as far as the subject matter is concerned—even if Photius asserts it is humble in style—and it is consistent with those things which others have also handed down about Timothy. C Vincent of Beauvais, book X, chapter 38, recites certain Acts of Timothy from Polycrates; which, our Peter Hallois says in his *Notes to chapter 7 of the Life of St. Polycarp*, "by their style, sufficiently proclaim themselves to have been translated from the Greek"; and he attributes those very lines to Polycrates. We described them from ancient manuscripts of the monasteries of St. Maximus and St. Mary of Ripatorio, and compared them with the published agonies of the martyrs, with the manuscript of Nicholas Belfortius, and with the Greek manuscript history of the martyrdom of St. Timothy, which perhaps itself is that of Polycrates, but was revised by someone after the relics were translated to Constantinople, omitting the prologue in which Polycrates declares his name; and deservedly so, since that later writer inserted a period concerning the translated relics, to which he could not, therefore, prefix the name of Polycrates; but he kept silent his own, or else the negligence of the age or the scribes obliterated it. We conjecture from this that he lived before the times of Justinian, who makes no mention of the temple founded by him. Metaphrastes included the martyrdom, the translation, and the building or restoration of the temple. D We present his Acts as written by Symeon Metaphrastes.
Both of them, however, departing from the living, leave him behind as a boy twelve years old. He, having found in God alone, as it were, a consolation for the loss of his parents, flees to a certain divine temple; and having distributed all his wealth to the needy, he associated himself in his early youth with a certain blessed man living in Edessa, who interpreted the holy books, and in a short time he collected whatever was most beautiful within them.
A 2. And when he had first approached the laver of regeneration, regenerated by water and the Spirit, he inclined toward the monastic life: then, when it seemed good to him to abstain altogether from wine and the eating of delicacies, he immediately strove against all the pleasures of the flesh, as if from the very first line of battle. Applying himself to fasts, he led himself into a firm and stable custom, to take food only once in the day at the ninth hour. There were also certain periods of days for him, during which he remained fasting for the whole week. Moreover, he spent the greatest part of his life in prayers and tears. He was so far removed from scurrility and laughter, as he judged these things to be truly ridiculous. On the contrary, he strove to imitate those who were mourning, and considered them worthy of beatitudes. Embracing silence, and addicted to constant meditation, he always appeared pensive and full of sadness to those who approached him, even if in spirit he was perpetually exulting and rejoicing within himself. If ever a word seemed to proceed from his mouth, the divine Scriptures were what he spoke: for such a divine love for them had seized him that he scarcely wished to take sleep because of his continuous meditation upon them. If ever his body wished to find a little rest, he did not take sleep without intense prayer, nor without hot tears and the bending of his knees. But these things were accomplished by the saint while he was still leading a childish life.
C 3. But after he had already passed beyond this, and began to be a young man, he made his flesh, which was no longer waging sedition against the spirit, subject through the operation of the Holy Spirit; he refreshed his body with some very slender things for food, so that for many days he used only bread, and not even bread for the most part, but things even more slender than that for nourishment. Water was his most pleasant drink. Sometimes, indeed, he even abstained from the use of fire.
D 4. And having thus arrived at every human virtue, he was quickly the most famous of all those of his own time. He therefore gives himself to the Church of Antioch; and having been advanced to the priesthood, he established there a very great school of literature, for those who everywhere
to know who he was, and that he was truly an apostle of the living God, and an adversary of these so-called gods, sent for this very reason, that men might be delivered from their error, and that B by preaching God, he had the power not only to restore such mutilations of the body, but even to raise the dead, many abandoned their deceit and turned to piety. The fruits of that miracle were the ancestors of this wonderful disciple and apostle, who received Paul into their home with both fervor and generosity; and having received from him the light of piety, they surrendered to him, as it were in return, the God-loving Timothy, who was still young and tender, and fit for the seeds of piety to be sown in him—a fact which can be learned more clearly from the book of the Acts. For it says: "As Paul went around Lystra and Derbe, there was a disciple there named Timothy, the son of a faithful Jewish woman, but of a Greek father, who was well spoken of by the brothers in Lystra and Iconium."
III.
Having thus been committed to Paul, Timothy became a son to his spiritual father, much more intimate than the one according to the flesh; and as he was about to depart from that city with him, he was circumcised by him because of the Jews with whom the city and all its surroundings were then filled, since all those people knew that his father was a Greek. Now Paul went around the cities sowing the message, proclaiming the truth, and regenerating everyone in the Spirit; and Timothy followed him like a star following the sun, sent forth by his parents, yet wounding their hearts not obscurely by his departure. And how could they not, being parents of such a child, and one who was blossoming with such a sweet flower of virtue? He himself, however, seemed to suffer nothing from their separation, but rather, by his desire for Paul, concealed his affection for his parents and showed that his love for the former was much stronger than natural necessity. From this point he was instructed in the study of letters under him, and became his tent-mate and lived with him in all things. Then he was also established as his deacon and strengthened for the apostolate, becoming a companion to him in dangers, toils, and labors, and not at all hindered by the frailty of his youth from the resistance to such toils, but rather introducing a nobility of purpose that was more powerful than his age, so much so that he had his teacher himself as a witness to this noble intent and pious work, as he said: "See that no one despises him, for he does the work of the Lord as I also do."IV.
Having arrived at such a height of virtue, and having acquired so great a witness to it, not only here but also in many other places—"For now," says Paul, writing to the Corinthians, "I have sent you Timothy my brother, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, who will remind you ofas being most eager, from all quarters coming to him. He was trained in shorthand, and what he acquired from that source, he would provide at once for his own nourishment and for the poor; for, unless others had shared in the living earned by his own hands before he himself partook of his food, he considered the matter a wrong. Having seen that the sacred books had admitted much that was spurious, both because time had corrupted many things in them and because of constant translation from one tongue to another, and indeed because certain most wicked men who stood at the head of Hellenism had attempted to pervert the sense within them and had scattered much that was counterfeit among them, he himself took them all up and restored them from the Hebrew tongue, in which he was most exact, bringing a great deal of labor to this correction. Furthermore, who among those who lived in that time could have found B the purity of the divine dogmas better preserved than it was by him?
CAPUT II.
S. Luciani comprehenditur. Puerorum constantia.
5. When Maximian the emperor raged against the Church of Christ with an insatiable fury, thinking in his madness to eradicate the name of Christians from among men if he could but make away with those who were foremost in all things, he inquired about this man, since a great report of him was circulating everywhere; and a terrible desire entered his heart to seize him. He therefore sent those who were to capture him by force; but he, having learned of it, did not surrender himself to the danger, but acted with caution and security so as not to be seen to rush headlong into peril, nor to cause great tribulation to the Church on his own account. He therefore kept himself safe as much as he could, as the Lord also had done and instructed, and his disciples likewise. Retiring from the city, he remained hidden in a certain field. But a certain Pancratius of that same Antioch, who held the rank of presbyter, having been swayed by the opinions of Sabellius, and having long envied the man's glory, betrayed him to those who were searching for him.
6. And he was led toward Nicomedia to be killed; for Maximian was there, and great and various was the slaughter of those who would not deny Christ. Maximian had put to death Anthimus, who was bishop of that same Nicomedia, and had delivered up Peter, who was bishop of Alexandria; and this extended to many other good and brave D men. And his cruelty in these matters progressed to such a degree that he would not even spare young infants, but even them he would kill; since he could not persuade them to taste the things
For he enjoyed a more abundant grace, and made use of two-fold fountains of doctrine; not being delighted only by the wonderful lyre of the Spirit of Paul, but also by associating with the disciple whom Jesus loved specifically, and having been entrusted by him with the throne of the Ephesians, and having heard from him and learned what he in turn had learned from the good Spirit.
B VII. For when Nero, who had come to the empire in an evil manner—in an evil manner, O justice and forbearance of God!—had subjected the holy leaders of the apostles, Peter and Paul, to the end of martyrdom, and other disciples who were with them had departed this life by various means, it happened that this great evangelist and Theologian came to rest in Ephesus, cast there by a storm and shipwreck, as the writings of Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, record and as tradition holds. Then, those of the disciples who had followed the other evangelists and apostles, having brought to the city of the Ephesians the accounts which had been composed by them in a different tongue—for they were not yet using a common dialect—delivered them to him. They say that he, as also seems to be the view of Eusebius Pamphili discussing these matters, accepted what had been written and bore witness to their truth, but observed that there was in them only a narration lacking regarding what was done by Christ in the first times and at the beginning of his preaching. C And the statement is true; for if you examine it carefully, you will find that the three evangelists recorded only the things done by the Savior for one year after the imprisonment of John the Baptist, and they give a clear indication of this same fact at the beginning of their history. For instance, after Christ’s forty-day fast and the temptation that followed upon it, Matthew declares the time of his own writing by saying: "When he had heard that John was delivered up, he withdrew from Judaea into Galilee." And Luke also, before beginning the actions of Jesus, similarly indicates this, saying that Herod, adding to what he had already done, shut John in prison. For this reason, then, they say that the Apostle John, having been entreated, delivered in his own Gospel the time that had been passed over in silence by the previous evangelists, and what had been done by the Savior during that time—that is, the things done before the Baptist was D cast into prison—even though he had previously used an unwritten preaching, and he also marked this fact, at one time saying: "This beginning of signs Jesus performed," and at another time making mention of the Baptist in the midst of the actions of Jesus, as one still baptizing at that time in Aenon near Salim. He shows this even more clearly by saying: "For John had not yet been cast into prison." It is therefore clearly demonstrated from these things that the Theologian records in his Gospel the things that were done by Christ while John had not yet been cast into prison; but that the remaining three evangelists...
A that were being sacrificed to the demons. For he did not persuade them, but the children resisted, strengthened evidently by some invisible aid, for a greater refutation of the demons and those who serve them, not only of their wickedness, but even of their weakness; since it was a manifest weakness to be unable to demonstrate their own resolve to be firmer and stronger, especially when they were desiring everything and attempting everything. For those who were struggling with understanding and judgment, the fortitude and constancy of the children even unto death was the greatest aid, as those who felt ashamed if they were clearly seen to be inferior to children in the face of the infliction of terrible things, as those others were not resisting. But those who were again being broken by dangers, the sufferings of the children brought reproach upon them, because it appeared that they had been overcome not so much by the weight of the terrible things, as by the softness of their own minds. Thus, there is nothing, nor was there, nor will there ever be, that happens without the best reason among those things allowed by God and His providence; just as then, too, B various and manifold sufferings came upon the children. From all of which I shall recount one, which is most worthy to be committed to memory. For it is as follows:
7. C Maximianus, having brought forward two children, brothers by birth, born of an illustrious family, at first attempted to entice them with certain promises—such as he thought would be most attractive to children—and ordered to be brought to them some of the offerings that were with him, which he had sacrificed before the eyes of the children, so that they might taste them and suffer no evils. But when they turned away and wept, and as best they could—their tongues still lisping—said that they had not learned to do so from their parents, but that the manner [of worship] which they practiced was different, he was changed by anger, threatened them, and even subjected them to various scourgings. But when the children resisted bravely and would not yield in any way, being strengthened by divine power, one of the sophists who was present there with the emperor, D and who was most of all egging him on and prompting him regarding such things, undertook to see to it that they would immediately eat of what was offered. For he said it was ridiculous if the emperors of the Romans were seen to be overcome by children who were still lisping. Therefore, he contrives the following: having devised a certain mixture of mustard, most sharp and difficult to endure, he stripped their heads of hair; and having applied a thick layer of this medicine—so that, from the greater mass of the substance, a sudden and greater power might penetrate into the depths—he cast them into a fire-reddened bath. In that place, the children’s heads were struck as if by some lightning bolt, and they were immediately bent down to the ground. And not long after, the younger of them fell and died, not having been able to withstand the magnitude of the flame that had been kindled on his skull. But the other, when he saw his brother had fallen, cried out as loudly as he could, rejoicing in his brother's victory, and embracing him, he kissed him, and proclaimed him a victor, constantly exclaiming: "My brother,
you have conquered!" Having spoken this, he breathed his last, and lay there, holding his brother in his arms already. At that time, this great suffering occurred, most pitiable to those who saw it, as the very age of the victims drew the hearts of many to compassion. Those who were related to them, having taken them up, buried them with the other children, on account of their shared cause. And this is the martyrdom around Nicomedia, which is called the martyrdom of the infants, down to the present day.
CHAPTER III.
Lucianus converts various people: he is cast into prison.
B8. But when Lucianus, while being led [to Nicomedia], had arrived in Cappadocia and encountered certain soldiers there, who were indeed Christians, but had been compelled to deny the faith, he recalled their minds to themselves, showing and explaining that it was the most shameful thing of all for men, and soldiers at that, to appear ignoble and faint-hearted, and most timid in facing the danger of death, when even some women, and indeed children, have shown themselves superior. "How," he said, "will you, for a fleeting and earthly king, face dangers, having so quickly betrayed the heavenly one? And what protection or defense for your salvation will be yours, if He should soon call you from here? Do you not realize that He Himself directs and governs this whole universe, and that He is the dispenser of life and the Lord of death? It is therefore far better, caring less for the present life, to attain the blessedness which never ceases beside Him, than by clinging to this life here, to fall from it nonetheless, as you might perhaps be deprived of it by enemies, and not attain the other, and besides, be made to pay the penalty of eternal punishment." When they heard these words, they repented, and were sorry that they had denied Him. And when they had returned to their senses and spoken freely, the majority of them, being no fewer in number than forty, underwent death for Christ. Some, however, having struggled against all kinds of tortures, survived, having shown nothing base or ignoble in their second trial; but they had also wiped away the judgment of their former denial through this present steadfastness for piety.
9. Lucianus, having accomplished these and many other such deeds in the course of his journey, was brought to Nicomedia. This man had many companions; some of whom were present there with him while he was contending in Nicomedia, and others were away. Among these, when some were approached by those who compelled Christians to follow the rite of the pagans, they at first yielded, being unable to withstand the tortures; but when the divine Lucianus (for he was still alive) had summoned them to himself, and with all manner of words
A corrected their minds and shown them how great is the danger of transgression, and declared that no one who has betrayed his confession in Christ will escape the unquenchable flame of Gehenna, he prepared them to repent and led them back into the Church again.
10. Among those who had come to Nicomedia to Lucianus, Antonius was also present, the most beloved of his disciples. After he arrived, Lucianus employed him as a minister for writing letters, as Lucianus himself indicates in one of his letters. Among those who were absent, there were many men, and of the women, Eustolia, Dorothea, and Severa. They say that Pelagia also was one of his disciples, who lived in Antioch of Syria; who is also said to have cast herself down from a very high roof, when those who were to arrest her had arrived, fearing that she might undergo something abominable by force (for she was a virgin), and in that way she died. Those who are lovers of martyrs honor her to this day as having become a martyr.
11. Moreover, when Maximianus heard many things about Lucianus, such standing reverence resided in his countenance—so it was said by many—that if he merely saw the man, he would be in danger of becoming a Christian. Because he feared that something of the sort might happen to him, after he ordered the man to be brought, he separated the conference by an intervening veil and sent his words to him from afar, using a minister of speech in between. B And at first he promised that he would grant him innumerable gifts, and that he would have him as a counselor in the conduct of affairs, and as a father of imperial dignity, and as a partner in the solicitude which is undertaken for all matters; and many other things of this kind. For all these things he said he sought only one thing: namely, that he should sacrifice to the gods. But when he, having heard the magnitude of the gifts, made light of the words said about them, and said that not even the whole world was to be compared with piety toward God, then the emperor, changing, threatened that he would subject him to whatever punishment a long passage of time had found for torment, and whatever new and unheard-of thing he himself could find. C But since he opposed this with undaunted boldness and stood ready to go into battle, the emperor was greatly enraged. He did not, however, think he should do away with him as soon as possible, for he thought he would be doing him a favor by thus delivering him at once from evils; but he ordered him to be cast into prison and tortured in various ways.
CAPUT IV. In tormentis moritur.
12. Those, therefore, who were appointed for this, having taken him, afflicted him with many and various tortures, by which he was indeed destined to receive grievous pain, D
A for they placed both his feet into the stocks—a long piece of wood which is a torture instrument—having stretched them out to four holes; and this is the most grievous part of this punishment, as the hip joints on both sides are violently dislocated from their sockets. Furthermore, they spread dense and continuous sharp shards of pottery against his entire back with malicious intent, and in order that it might not be permitted to the righteous man even to turn, nor to move while being wounded by such shards, they stretched out his hands and bound them to a piece of wood placed above his head. And they insulted him in many other ways besides, and indeed they kept him from all food, unless he were willing to partake of those things which were being abominably sacrificed among them; for they kept offering these to him in abundance. But he would rather have undergone B ten thousand deaths, and believed it was better for him, remaining without food and gradually being consumed by famine, than even to endure the mere sight of them. Thus, therefore, the servant of Christ remained, being consumed by famine for all fourteen days, performing his usual routine, and encouraging those who were imprisoned for Christ in the prison with words of instruction, and strengthening them with most persistent prayers.
13. But when some days had passed while he was being afflicted in the manner described, and the feast of the Theophany was already approaching, sadness entered into the disciples (for many were present there with him, having gathered from Antioch and certain other places), C reasoning that the master would soon depart, leaving them behind, no longer being able to withstand that long-lasting famine; and they believed they would by no means be accounted worthy to celebrate the day of Theophany with him (for it appeared to them to be still far off, and that the body of their master would not be able to last until that day, inasmuch as the lack of food had already consumed most of it). That renowned man, speaking to them in answer to these things, strongly urged them to be of good courage. For I shall be with you, he said, and I shall celebrate the day of the Theophany with you, but I shall depart on the following day. And indeed that which he had said was brought to effect, the divine power being clearly shown in this.
14. When, therefore, the day of the feast which was expected had arrived, D the disciples indeed longed to receive this last divine mystery celebration from their master. But it seemed impossible as to how they might bring a table into the prison, or how they might escape the eyes of the impious, since many were present there at that time, and others were arriving. But he said, This chest of mine shall be a table for you, which I believe will be no less honorable to God than that which is made of lifeless material, and you yourselves shall be a holy temple to me, surrounding me on all sides; and thus these things were accomplished in this manner. For already, as the martyr was at the end of his life as if for a rite, the guards had become lax, and God, I believe, both honoring the martyr and not enduring that the sorrow of his disciples should be left uncomforted, prepared what was destined for the completion of
A their desire, bringing it about that they should carry out what was proposed without hindrance. For when the martyr had made them all stand in a circle, so that, standing near one another, they might safely surround him, he ordered the symbols of the divine sacrifice to be placed upon his breast. When they had done these things, he immediately lifted his gaze to heaven, though he could scarcely raise it, and he performed his accustomed prayers. Then, having spoken many divine words and having performed all that was proposed according to the sacred rite, he himself both partook of the Sacraments and sent them to those who were present, as he himself also indicated in his final letter to them. And he spent this day with them, as he had promised.
15. On the following day, however, when some men came from the emperor to see if he were still alive (for the perseverance of his life up to that point seemed to them a wondrous miracle), when he saw those who had come standing near him, having exerted himself as much as he could, and having said for the third time, "I am a Christian," he breathed his last at the same moment as his final utterance. B
CAPUT V. His burial. The city of Helenopolis.
16. But there are some who say that he was thrown into the depths of the sea while he still possessed breath. For Maximian, amazed at his constancy until the very end and at his unyielding nature, ordered those who serve in such matters to cast him into the sea, having attached a great stone to his right arm, so that, being submerged, he might nowhere appear, and his body might receive no burial, nor might any funeral rites be performed for him. And truly he remained in the deep for fourteen days, being exactly as many as he had struggled against the various sufferings of his body while in prison. On the fifteenth day, however, a dolphin brought him out onto dry land in the following manner: while his disciples were wandering here and there around the banks and the shores, to see if they could in any way find him cast up from the sea—but since it was wintertime, the sea was greatly agitated—the long duration of time caused them to despair entirely of being able to find him.
17. Meanwhile, as the fifteenth day was dawning, C the martyr appeared in a dream to a certain Glycerius, one of his faithful disciples, who at that time was staying in the region opposite the coast of Nicomedia, and said to him: "O you, as soon as you have risen in the morning, go to this place" (pointing out the location on the shore); "for I will meet you," he said, "when you have arrived there." But he, as soon as he awoke from sleep, moved by the great clarity and marvelous nature of what had been shown, and as day was now breaking, arose, and taking with him some others of the pious, he came with them to the spot that had been signified to him. At that place, a dolphin of enormous size was coming up from the sea, just now emerging; and when it was stretched out upon the surface of the water, it was breathing heavily, and at
the shore it arrived, and much foam and roaring of the waves, which were being parted by it, was around it. It was carrying the dead man stretched out, as if lying on a bed; and it was a wondrous sight that upon a body so slippery and round, the dead man remained tranquil, and was rolled off neither by its own weight nor by the violence of the waves of the vehicle that was carrying him. But when the dolphin was near the mainland, it was lifted high by a wave, and when it came upon the dry land, it immediately gave up the ghost. A
18. The dead man, having been brought upon the sand, lay safe and sound in every part, except that the right hand, to which the stone had been attached, had not followed along with the rest of the body. And there are some who say that not even afterward was it sent forth from the sea, but that it remained in the deep, because it so seemed good to God. Some, however, say that it also, not long after, was restored, when the bond had slipped away from it, and it having been brought to land, those who were present took it up and restored it again to the same symmetry of the body. But this misfortune concerning the hand happened, I think, because God wanted to honor it specifically, as He had accepted the labor performed through it in the correction of the Scriptures. For in the sufferings which one has endured for Christ, that which was the heavier is the more honorable. B
19. For no one would imagine that the dead man was brought out by the dolphin by accident, nor that some fortune had brought it about. For that in truth a dolphin carried him out of the sea in the way that has been described, seems most manifest, since many who lived at that time have made mention of this occurrence. Indeed, even I myself, from my youth, know a song that is sung about it, the end of which is this: Bringing on its back from the sea to land the dolphin, It expired. C
And that such a thing would not be of chance, the very magnitude of the accomplished miracle makes clear, and indeed the dream which came to pass on account of it; and not only that, but also the things that were shown afterward. For the body having been brought out of the sea was an extraordinary wonder to those who were beholding it; except for the injury to the hand, it remained otherwise untouched, neither had the sea in so many days damaged it, nor had any fish touched it, nor was any foul odor emitted from it, so that it was clear from every side that that which had taken place was divine. And neither before, through any contempt, nor because He could not defend him, did God permit such great dangers to befall the martyr; nor now, without a most just cause, did He permit the hand to be separated from the rest of the body for him—He who had performed such great miracles upon him—but even then, about to adorn his entire virtue, He called him to the fellowship of the sufferings of His Son, providing him with a most excellent and most just occasion for D
A his becoming a participant in His glory. And this is my general way of speaking regarding all the martyrs, that is, the witnesses of the truth. But now, wishing to confirm the zeal he brought to the sacred Scriptures, and as his work was worthy of great value, He deemed it right that his hand, which served him specifically in this matter, should also be honored with his sufferings; just as, I believe, the spectators in the games are accustomed to bind the arms of the athletes with ribbons. B If, however, anyone should believe that it remained in the sea, it is possible for him to consider this too: that God often mixes those things which proceed from nature with miracles, so that through the former the wonder-working power may be demonstrated, and through the latter, nature may not be disbelieved. But regarding these things, and the reason why each event occurs, let him who administers these things clearly know. Moreover, in each of the things which are wondrously done and brought about by Him, let everyone learn that there is also another hidden reason, and one that is above us, an excellent and incomprehensible administration, and that nothing happens rashly or by chance.
20. Then, therefore, as the body was brought out by the dolphin, it was carried onto the sand. The disciples who ran together first of all greeted it as was proper, coming together one from one place and another from another, and they kissed it and embraced it C as much as each was able out of readiness of spirit. Then, truly, having taken it up, and having carried it out with their own hands, and having performed all the things customarily for them, they laid it to rest in a notable place. And at that time they established for him such a tomb as they were able, as the urgency of the time required. But later, the venerable Helena, who restored to us the saving Cross of the Lord, and gave birth to Constantine, that great king among illustrious D emperors, when she was returning from Jerusalem, honoring the place, also founded a city in it, having called together the inhabitants from the regions round about, and having made them participants in the work; and she surrounded it with a strong wall, and built a very great temple for the martyr, which even now is seen, conspicuous and wrought in beauty, by those traveling and sailing by land and sea, to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of those who strove for His sake: for to Him is fitting power, and praise, and magnificence, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
A Asterius B had committed the care of his soul, how often, having been brought before the governor, he had shown forth his confession, and how he had chosen to suffer everything for the sake of piety, he himself, along with the rest of the brotherhood of monks, was filled with joy; and he thought that he was present with Anastasius, and that he himself was contending in those limbs of his. And since he could not assist with his physical presence, he assisted with prayers and by means of writing. On one hand, he most fervently besought God, with the whole brotherhood, that the stadium of martyrdom might be brought to a fair conclusion for him; on the other hand, he sent two of the brothers, and by means of letters he still more heightened his zeal.
In the meantime, while the martyr was being kept in the prison of the fortress, he was continually delighting in the divine words and in thoughts according to God; and neither did the night interrupt his hymns to God, nor did the toils of those grievous chains and his other afflictions hinder him. Indeed, even when a certain young man, who had been caught for some alleged crime, was shackled by the neck and foot to the martyr, the saint, rising up in the night to offer the customary doxologies to God, and wishing not to trouble him, but instead taking very great care that he should sleep and rest, would incline his neck toward the one lying down, and would press his foot against the other's foot, so that he might not, by the stretching of the chains, cause to him any unpleasant or burdensome disturbance of his sleep, so sweet to all.
Once, at night, while he was chanting, one of the executioners who were in the prison, being awake and sober, was listening; he was a Hebrew by religion and one of the jailors, yet mild in his mind and disposed toward a more virtuous manner of life. He, having known that blessed man—that by day he was ever exhausted by the carrying of stones, and that by night his rest was again interrupted by prayer and standing, and that he in no way relaxed his tension, nor did he allow his tired limbs a little recovery—was pondering to himself who this might ever be, and what sort of nature he had been allotted, being so enduring and firm and invincible to toils.
16. That man, therefore, looking fixedly at the martyr as he sang the matutinal hymns, and as his whole mind departed toward God, and he was being carried away even in his body before the martyrdom, sees some people clothed in white, wearing omophoria C and such things belonging to that sacred robe and the venerable vestment of chief priests, emitting as it were a light from themselves; a light most sweet to see, but not easy to describe; or rather, greater than human sight could attain, and greater than any narration could convey. And this was in the moonless darkness of night, as they circled the holy man. And having thought them to be angels, as they were indeed in truth, he sees shortly after the martyr also having the same brightness and the same covering as them. Then also a youth, in form and beauty beyond description, with a thurible hanging from his right hand, in the great glory of the angels that was about him, stood censing before the martyr. Seeing these things, then, and having his heart struck by the strangeness of the sight, he was in an agony D, such that he also startled the one sleeping beside him (for this man was a Christian by the
THE MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY MARTYR POLYEUCTUS
(Year 250)A 1. If there is any other most beautiful narrative, the account of the admirable martyr Polyeuctus is also most beautiful; for besides its usefulness, it possesses great grace, and the experience of this matter can bear witness to it as true. Let it therefore be brought into your midst and proposed to those pious listeners, who contribute according to their own ability, providing your ears as attentive to the speech, and offering a spirit that is entirely prompt and awakened for the narration.
B II. During the times of the emperors Decius and Valerian, there was a certain Nearchus and a certain Polyeuctus. Soldiers by profession, they were so bound together in friendship that even more than if the necessity of blood and kinship had intervened between them, their souls were joined by such deep and mutual longing, that each imagined he lived and breathed entirely in the other’s body. Nearchus was a Christian, a believer, and precise in his piety. Polyeuctus, the noble man, was a Gentile in religion and not yet illuminated by the light of the truth, yet he carefully preserved the habits of a true Christian and adorned himself with every virtue. He was indeed a fruit-bearing olive tree, though this alone was still lacking to him: that he was not yet in the house of God. Since that Decius and Valerian did not use their empire well, nor did they wish to acknowledge and worship Him who had granted it to them, but rather raised an impious hand against Him—striving against God, they not only denied Him themselves, but also summoned all their subjects by written edicts to do the same, and in every way debarred them from the knowledge of God—they established gods, alas, false and vain, in the place of the true God, and forced men to honor and worship those who possess even less sense than stones and statues.
C III. Since, therefore, these things were so, and close upon their heels followed the punishments and rewards—for those who obeyed,
to whom the prefecture of Scythopolis had been entrusted) and made him a companion of such a spectacle. His hand did not follow in any way; but with a sober mind and fixed eyes, he attended to what was being seen, while in body he remained motionless and speechless, whether because that sudden astonishment was causing his immobility, or because God was managing some other thing more wisely and secretly. Nevertheless, when late and with difficulty the one who was near had brought himself close (for he could not use his hands or feet), that man, disturbed, asked him of the cause. But he, struck with fear, pointing the vision out to him and saying, "Do you see, do you see?" had not finished speaking the word when the vision vanished. And so for the governor, who had looked with all his eyes toward the sight, there was nothing to see; but the prisoner related everything to him in detail with pleasure and wonder. And these things have been told so that pious souls would not be deprived of such a great miracle.
But let our account of the martyrdom proceed further, keeping to its sequence.
A XVII. For since Marzabanas, seeing the martyr’s firmly immutable resolve, and how he was ready and willing to undergo not just one death for piety, but thousands if possible, had reported about him to King Chosroes, and had learned from him how the man was to be handled, he summoned him from the prison. Not deigning to have an interview with him face to face, he sent word through the one called the *Meizoteros*, saying: "Behold, the king has ordered you: since it is impossible for you to be entirely impious, deny Christianity with a word alone, and you shall immediately be released from the prison and from the shackles; and for the rest, whether you wish to be a monk or a horseman, this shall lie in your own judgment." The martyr replied again, "Far be it from me," he says, "O Christ Savior, to deny your confession on behalf of the Trinity, neither in soul nor in lips." B And since, after many other contrivances of the governor, he did not even then slacken that beautiful constancy and boldness, he brought this final trial to him, making these things known again through the *Meizoteros*; he says, "I know that being ashamed of the eyes of many, and especially of those who are promoted from the same country and tribe as you, for this reason you do not even do this light and ready thing in their sight, to make a setting aside of your religion by a word alone. For what harm," he says, "is there from this, if the heart does not speak in agreement? Since the matter is a royal decree, and there is no way one could avoid it, if you were to say this, which is much lighter, in my sight and that of two certain chair-attendants, be quit of both imprisonment and punishments." To these things the martyr offered the same prayers as he had before, saying, "May neither you, nor anyone else see me, King and God, denying your name, neither in appearance, nor in a dream, nor in any other way at all."
C XVIII. The governor, therefore, knowing that he would accomplish nothing by himself against such an heroic and noble soul, and that the matter was greater than his own power D and measure of authority,
honors, gifts, and money; but for those who disobeyed, threats, punishments, and the final evil, death—Nearchus feared for his friend, and thought that this was the time which would bring about that the disagreement in religion would also dissolve their friendship. As he held these things in his mind and turned them over, he was clearly being strongly tormented, and was bearing a great tempest in his soul, and was secretly grieving for his friend. But the all-excellent Polyeuctus, when he saw his friend so disposed, and pelted with the stings of grief, which cannot be explained in words, and attempting to lighten the great distress of his soul with inarticulate groans, and showing the traces of tears in his eyes, approached him in a friendly manner and asked the cause, seeking to learn why he was in such a state. For he himself was no less grieved, seeing his like-minded friend suffering in this way. But Nearchus did not wish to speak, and indicated that he had nothing hidden from his friend; but that there was some other cause, on account of which, even if he wanted to speak, he was under a necessity to keep silence, B and could not obtain consolation from his friend in this matter. But since the divine Polyeuctus was very insistent, and was demanding an explanation of the secret, and rebuking him for neglect of their affection, and for such an alteration in his disposition toward him—"Have we," he said, "offended in anything? Have we caused you pain in anything? What has been done that is so serious as to cast your Polyeuctus out from all forgiveness?"
IV. C When he said these things and was distressed in mind, Nearchus, unable to endure it, with his eyes filled with tears, and with a deep sigh signifying the internal flame of his heart: "When I think, my dearest friend, of the separation of our fellowship and affection, I am of necessity also compelled to tear asunder my very soul." When he heard this, that other was most grievously struck in his heart. "How are these things," he said, "Nearchus, how and why are these words beyond hope? And whence will this separation between us come, which we have known that not even death itself could effect?" And Nearchus: "This, indeed, is what does it, my dearest friend, which almost chokes me, and constrains my very spirit and soul; because this separation of which I spoke is for us stronger and more grievous than human death." But Polyeuctus, not yet having understanding of what the speech might mean, immediately rising and embracing his friend, and clinging to him most fervently as he did: "But tell me," he said, "Nearchus, tell me clearly and explain how this separation will D come to pass. For I cannot bear this unfriendly silence any longer. If not, you shall soon see your Polyeuctus dead and breathless lying on the ground." And Nearchus seemed indeed to wish to speak, but being overcome by the intensity of his emotion, he had his tongue bound, and only, in a state of distress and agitation, fixed his eyes upon his friend, and manifested the excess of his despondency. But when he saw Polyeuctus suffering something and being more long-suffering, and casting himself upon the ground, and already being wholly overcome by the passion, he is compelled to break into voice: "O most beloved," he said, "Polyeuctus, this imperial decree will bring upon us separation and disjunction." When the all-everything Polyeuctus heard these things, immediately putting together what Nearchus wis-
A “For your objects of worship,” he said, “are clear destruction and the delusion of demons. Having formerly practiced them myself, I have now exchanged darkness for light, night for day, and lightless gloom for the sun, by dedicating myself to that God who is the Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things seen and understood.” To this the magistrate said, “Wretch, did the Jews not crucify the one whom the Christians worship? How, then, have you preferred the religion of the Christians over that of the Persians?” The martyr replied, “That He was crucified by the Jews, I myself agree; but it was voluntarily, and for the sake of us who are ungrateful and mindless. For this is the most paradoxical aspect of His philanthropy: that being God and Savior of all and Creator of this entire universe, He not only took the form of a servant, having descended from heaven for our sake, but He also chose the cross and death for us, so that He might take away our sin, which had been inflicted upon humanity by the counsel and delusion of the evil one. You, however, have preferred the enemy, foolishly following his deceits even to this day, and sacrificing to the sun, the fire, and the moon, without even feeling shame—if for nothing else—at the slaughter of Christ.”
B XXII. The magistrate replied, saying, “What is this to you, with these foolish and redundant words? For behold, for your sake, dignity from the king, and golden girdles, and horses, and everything else that is brilliant and renowned, have been prepared. Come then, and take up again your ancestral worship.” To this the martyr said, “To me, O magistrate, those things that are here—delights and enviable things, namely fame, luxury, riches, and splendor—have long since been held in contempt, having taken up the monastic life, and hanging only upon the hopes that are from above. Of this fact, even before my tongue speaks, this venerable habit of monks and this cheap rag is a truthful messenger. How, therefore, should I now hold in contempt that which has always been my study, my care, and my meditation, being ensnared by the promises of a temporary and perishable king?”
To this, the magistrate, having nothing to say, returns him to the one who sent him C from the prison, reporting everything to him by word of mouth. On account of this, he became no little indignant and ordered that, along with persuasion, force should also be applied, and to mix punishments with words. On the following day, the magistrate again appeared at the prison and began to execute what had been ordered, and commanded that the athlete be dragged out from there by force, he himself also pouring out many threats from outside and assuming that by the vehemence and tumultuous nature of the assault he would terrify that noble soul. But he, feeling nothing womanish, nothing small-minded, nothing ignoble, and nothing unworthy of what had preceded, with that customary and most graceful simplicity of character, said, “Do not labor, master magistrate, do not weary yourself; for I, being strengthened by the grace of my Christ, will not be persuaded
was implying—for he considered how the difference between them regarding reverence, going now to an examination, and the severity of the rulers would compel a division to be placed between them—he was raised up by a more divine understanding. And as he reflected on the vision he had seen, and judged it to be consistent with the time, he began to be filled with joy and pleasure; and he shared with his friend what the vision had been. "There is something, Nearchus," he said, "which perhaps will prevent this separation from happening to us."
A E. For I saw Christ, whom you worship, coming toward me and stripping me of this filthy garment with which I am clothed, and vesting me in another very precious robe (who could describe its beauty and splendor!), whose shoulder was held together by a golden clasp. Then, too, he handed me a winged horse. B Such was the vision indeed that the divine Polyeuctus saw; but it was by no means an empty one, but rather it accurately depicted what was to come. For that most beautiful robe that was put on him signified the change from the worse to the better, from the earthly military service to the heavenly and divine host, according to which the martyr was to be joined to the chorus of martyrs; and as for the winged horse, what else could it signify but his rapid ascent from earth to the heavens?
C VI. When Nearchus heard these things, he was gladdened, and having become joyful, he said, "Did you recognize Christ? Christ, O Polyeuctus, who is truly God?" And he replied to this, "When, pray, did I ignore Him? Or when, while you were speaking about Him, did trembling not enter my soul? Or when you were reading, did I not marvel at the words? For I lacked only the name, for in my disposition I was already a Christian, and I was hastening to enroll myself in the service of the Master Christ, having bid a long farewell to the vain worship of idols. What then shall we do, O Nearchus? Why do we not openly show our confession in Christ?" And Nearchus, having gladly received these things, and as if stripping and uncovering himself, said, "For me, O Polyeuctus, neither wealth, nor glory, nor any military rank at all, nor anything else of this world is more precious than the life which is in Christ; for I desire this alone, and the others are to me small and worth nothing." Then again the divine Polyeuctus, as if testing his resolve: "What then," he said, "do you not yearn for this rank that you presently hold?" And Nearchus, conceiving these things from the heart and not as proceeding from a test: "You seem, O Polyeuctus, to ignore the true rank in Christ, and the glory that is with Him, and the bliss that never ceases." Thus indeed they were conversing and making their own resolve clear to one another.
D VII. The noble Polyeuctus, wishing to say something to his friend pleasantly and with wit, "You indeed suspected," he said, "that I ignore the glory that is in Christ and the bliss that is with Him; but I, even before you, O
A departure from piety; do therefore whatever you wish, abstaining from none of them.
XXIII. Concerning the constancy of Anastasius with prudence, no moderation or humanity followed, but bound in the Persian manner, he was cruelly beaten with rods. B And as he was being beaten, the magistrate chanted such things: Since you have not been persuaded by the king’s greatest gifts and honors, be prepared for such things henceforth. For by beating you thus each day, I shall consume you with blows. But when he again ordered him to do what he wanted, he commands the martyr to be released from his bonds and, laying him supine, to have his lower legs held fast between wooden beams, and on each end of these he caused several robust men, who excelled in both size of body and the prime of youth, C to press down. And the martyr, even while his lower legs were being crushed in such a way to the very bone, endured it with a great, lofty, and truly philosophical soul. And when the magistrate saw this, and realized that he was, from this, only increasing the [martyr’s] constancy of patience and endurance, he again commits him to the safest custody, so as to report about him again to the king. But because the one to whom the care of the prison was entrusted, the *sellarius*, was a Christian by religion, D and for this reason pitied those who labored for the sake of piety and that which is good and honest, and granted entry to those who wished it from among the Christians, a brother of the monastery, who had traveled from Caesarea with the martyr, entering during the day without any prohibition, would console that harsh and gloomy dwelling in the prison, and the pains he had experienced from the blows, and the distresses he had received from the bonds and the other affliction of evils. Many other pious men also, among whom were the sons of that Iesdin, coming in to him, would fall down at his beautiful feet freely proclaiming good things, and would kiss his bonds, and would beg to receive from him some prayers and blessings. But because he was altogether highly unreceptive to these things (for that man [was] always with his whole heart and with his purpose of soul cutting off occasions of human glory, this empty and treacherous and deceitful one, and which has nothing firm or stable), they themselves, applying wax to his bonds, would take away the impression from them as if it were a great preventative and a relief from every labor and suffering.
XXIV. Not much time passed, and the magistrate, coming again to the prison, asked in vain whether he would yield to the king’s mandates, or rather seeking an opportunity to gratify a most cruel soul, which desired to inflict punishments. But when he [Anastasius] was not a little vexed at the interrogation, and with vehemence and a shake of the head [responded], as he had often said, and now also answered: "Know that I shall prize nothing more than Christ and piety," he commands him to be beaten with clubs once again, just as before. And when they seemed to be striking a statue rather than a man, as much as could be surmised from the unyielding nature of his spirit, the magistrate for the time being left him in the prison and went away; and after some days had passed, he comes to him again, being much in the
Nearchus, appear to have made progress, and, as you know, to have received the royal and also the heavenly robe through revelation. Yet I desire to ask you about some spiritual head; for I fear lest, without going through the rites and mysteries, I should appear before the Savior unacceptable, and unworthy to be numbered among His soldiers." When Nearchus heard these things, he immediately rises, and becomes sharper and more vehement in his spirit; and he begins to revive his friend, and to render him ready and eager for the faith of Christ, saying: "Let there be no doubt for you, O dearest one, about this. For it is written that God is able even from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. B And what else is this, than that even the Gentiles can unexpectedly attain salvation, and be established as soldiers of Christ? For the heavenly gate is open to all absolutely, and the entrance of salvation is closed to none of all. Whence also he who believes shall receive the great reward of that long faith. For this reason, for those who come to the vineyard at the first and third and ninth hour, an equal reward is decreed. Wherefore, even if you yourself have come late, you shall attain the same rewards as the first." To these things the divine Polyeuctus, as if a recollection had entered his mind, said: "By the truth, O dearest Nearchus, I once heard you secretly reading something of this kind from divine Scripture, that Christ had honored with an equal portion those who had labored for one hour as those who had endured the whole heat of the day." Nearchus however said: "You will find, O excellent man, many examples of this kind. C For the thief, who was crucified with Christ, although he was guilty of innumerable crimes, for a small and brief word found great rewards: and the conversation of paradise, which is bought by many toils, is obtained by him quite easily, since even a small faith can move great mountains."
VIII. When the divine Polyeuctus had heard these things, he is immediately lifted up in his soul, and as if he had already utterly forgotten all bodily and earthly things, and had condemned the low and groveling to deepest oblivion, he says to Nearchus: "Let us agree, so that we may keep more firmly and stably the things that have been resolved. For I have henceforth renounced human affairs. But what is it that we must testify for Christ? The divine clemency of the Lord, which foreknew this, has already made it plain. D Behold for me, O Nearchus, my mind apprehends the beauties that are in the heavens: and I see Christ standing before my eyes, and my face is illuminated by the splendor of that vision. But now it is time to read the impious edict of the emperors, and to know rightly what it wishes us to do." So he spoke; and when he had received it, he read it through; while reading he spat upon it; and when he had broken it into minute pieces, he committed it to the winds. Then, having turned, he sees the idols that were being carried, and were being led to the altars to be adored by the foolish. Which, when most pleasantly and
A bitterness of the persecutor, and the slaughter of the tyrant rather than the king, he had truthfully predicted, speaking clearly thus: "Know, my brothers, that by the grace of the good God, I am to be perfected tomorrow; and you, after a few days, shall be released, when the most unjust and wicked king shall be destroyed. But as for you, with God’s total guidance and direction, when you have returned to the holy city, take care to betake yourselves to the monastery of Abba Anastasius, and to greet them in my name, and to report everything to my father and to the brothers." Not only did they hear these predictions, but having seen the results come to pass, they did not dishonor the martyr's final commands; rather, having set the road to the monastery as more important than the return itself—or rather, having found the return easy and smooth—and having arrived at the monastery, they explained everything to the brotherhood as they had labor, travel-supplies, and the journey itself.
B XXVIII. Now the brother who has been mentioned so often (for the flow of the account leads back to him again) had laid the martyr’s body to rest with piety and with the honors appropriate to a martyr in the monastery of the great Sergius, and he himself was dwelling there for a time, considering how he might reach the one who had sent him and the brothers safely and without danger. On the tenth day after the depositing of the relics, another king arrived with an army. He was not like the aforementioned persecutor—that apostate, excessive in villainy and incurable—but rather very mild and gentle, and in piety and humanity the complete opposite of that man. When the monk saw them gladly in a foreign land, like lamps lit in the darkness, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief from the burden of his anxiety regarding the return; and, as if lightened in his soul, hoping that he would soon see the brotherhood and the monastery, he addressed them in the language of the Greeks, thereby revealing his identity to the men. Having recognized that he was a Christian—a thing extremely rare in Persia (for this was indicated by both the monks' clothing and his speech)—they asked him why he was staying there. When he had explained to them in detail the account of the blessed Anastasius, they, moved in their souls partly by desire for the martyr and partly by compassion for the monk, took the man into their own tents, making him a companion of their roof and table thereafter; and as it behooved Christians and lovers of the martyrs to be disposed toward him, they brought him out through Armenia. Having arrived at the monastery a year later, he presented to the superior and the brothers a most sweet feast and lavish banquet: the narrative concerning the holy Anastasius; and he brought back the monastic tunic of the martyr, in which he had been clothed at the very time of his dissolution—and not only did he bring it, but he also recounted certain D wondrous things. For he said that there was a certain brother in the monastery where the relics had been deposited, young in age, who was being held by an evil spirit. But when...
A vehemently he had laughed, at first he pretends to approach them with a ready and eager spirit. Then, taking them one by one, and immediately dashing them upon the ground, he simultaneously crushed everything and reduced them to a fine powder.
IX. These things having been done, his father-in-law Felix came (for he had already been appointed a persecutor by the emperors), and having seen what Polyeuctus had done, being highly displeased, "Alas!" he said, "Felix is deprived of his children; and I, who before was distinguished and held in high regard on account of my children, am suddenly afflicted by the loss of them! No god or man can have mercy on Polyeuctus, who has dared such things and crushed our gods." To this the divine Polyeuctus, as if glorying all the more in what had been done (so far was he from even suspecting anything to fear), said: "Now, indeed, I, by despising these, have shown by the deeds themselves how weak they are. But if there are others, let them also be brought into the midst, for then you shall know how it behooves us, the servants of Christ, to spit upon these things." Felix, however, thinking and speaking of the holy man with a certain human and miserable affection, said: "If you wish, Polyeuctus, to live for a little while until you see your wife,"—"But what concern," said the saint, "have I now for my wife and children, I who no longer care for any human things, having my mind fixed only on heavenly and incorruptible things? But your daughter, if she follows me, will be blessed in her purpose and aim; but if not, she too, with your gods, will perish miserably."
C X. Tears, because of these things, Felix shed in complete despair; and from this, being doubly blinded, both from the despondency that beset him and from the madness he suffered regarding the idols, he spoke words worthy of such darkness and such dementia. "Woe is me!" he said, "that you, too, Polyeuctus, have been deceived by the magical arts of Christ." But the martyr, very wisely and bravely, said: "I do not deny, by the sacred contests of the martyrs, that I have been called by Him to the knowledge of the truth. For He it is, who with His own hands having soothed my soul, led me from darkness to light and from error to truth, and deemed me worthy to be and to be named His soldier." And while these things were being said, the persecutors of the saints approached, and having seized the martyr, they struck his sacred mouth; truly hating him who refuted them at the gates, and being unable with their evil ears to bear the power of the truth. But to the noble Polyeuctus, these blows were of no concern at all; for he saw Christ, who had suffered for him, standing near him, and having made Him his refuge, he counted neither the evils that were coming upon him, nor the scourges that were striking his body, as anything.
XI. These blows, therefore, as it has been said, were of little concern to Polyeuctus; D but he wrestled against another art of the malignant devil. For when he had brought to him his father-in-law and his wife weeping and miserably wailing, he was attempting in this way to trick his soul with their
A I had asked the hegumen for the colobium as much as I could, and he had received it along with the young man he had clothed—(O swift visitation, O most warm aid!)—he immediately cast off the demon, which, just as cold to heat or darkness to light, had easily yielded to this martyr's garment, to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom belongs all honor and worship, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
CONCERNING ST. CLEMENT OF ANCYRA AND HIS COMPANIONS
(Beginning of the 4th century, January 23. Acta SS. Bolland. at this day, p. 458.)§ I. The time of St. Clement’s martyrdom, and his companions.
1. The Galatians, an Asian race bordering on Bithynia, migrated from the Gauls—as the name itself testifies, and their language; for, as St. Jerome testifies in the preface to Book II of his *Commentary on the Epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians*, except for the Greek language, which the whole East spoke, they had their own tongue, almost the same as that of the Treviri: namely, the Teutonic, which was once common to all the Gauls, and is now to part of the Belgians, the Germans, and other peoples toward the North, though altered by such varied dialects that they can scarcely or hardly at all understand one another. The metropolis of the Galatians was Ancyra, whose prelates are afterwards called "Most honorable princes of all Galatia" in the B Exposition of Andronicus Palaeologus the Elder.
2. St. Clement was elevated to the episcopal throne of this city formerly, and was the leader of the glorious band of martyrs that followed, when he had completed only his twentieth year of age. He was born in the consulship of Valerian, in the 12th year of the reign of Valerian, in the year of Christ 250. This was the epoch of certain Greeks (as we have warned elsewhere) such that they dated the Christian era eight years later than the Latins usually did. Therefore, if Clement was born in the year of Christ 250, according to their calculation, that year was 258 or 257 in the vulgar era, in the latter part thereof, for they commenced the year from September. Valerian was then consul for the fourth time, and Gallienus for the third, but it was only the fifth year of their reign; nor did Valerian reach his twelfth year, having been captured and most inhumanly put to death by Sapor, king of the Persians, in the year of Christ 260. But if one prefers to retain the twelfth year from the start of the reign, during which Gallienus was still administering the empire which he had undertaken with his father, that was the year of Christ 265, in which Valerian the younger, the brother of Gallienus, was consul for the second time with L. Caesonius Lucillus Macer Rufinianus. And Metaphrastes favors this, who writes that Clement was born in the consulship of Valerian and Lucian (perhaps "Lucian" was written for "Lucillus"). But those Greeks who followed the previously established epoch did not count 250 as that year of Christ, but 257, unless it was written thus, and the "seventh" C was omitted by the carelessness of a copyist.
3. Then, after his twentieth year of age had passed, in the year of Christ 277, under the Emperor Probus, or rather 284, in which Diocletian also seized the empire on the 15th of the Kalends of October, Clement was made bishop; and when a persecution was soon stirred up, towards the end of perhaps the following year, he was cast into chains; after the various cruel struggles of many years, with Diocletian and Maximian still reigning, he ended his labors with a glorious exit on January 23, a Sunday, in the leap year 304, in which same year they both resigned the empire on the very Kalends of April. Yet the years in which Clement struggled are not 28, but only 18 and some months. Or certainly it must be confessed that he was put to death in the year 309 under Galerius Maximian; for in that year, too, January 22 fell on a Sunday. And Nicephorus, who is to be cited below, seems to hint at this when he says that it was in that very same year in which St. Pantaleon had suffered martyrdom. But we shall inquire into this on July 27.
4. So much for the age of St. Clement: now for his companions in struggle and triumph. The chief one was Agathangelus, who had been crowned two months before him, on November 5, eighteen days earlier; on which day the Greeks in their Menaea sing these things about him: D "On the same day St. Agathangelus ends his life by the sword." Some kindly Angel sent a decree to Agathangelus, a decree of death by the sword. Yet both are honored with solemn liturgy on this day, January 23, especially in the church in Constantinople dedicated to them, beyond the region of Eudoxius, past the Anaplus, and in the most holy temple of St. Irene, both old and new, as the Menaea and Maximus Cytheraeus relate.
5. Concerning both of them, the Menologium edited by Canisius says of this very day: "The Feast of St. Clement of Ancyra in Galatia, who, born of a Gentile father but a Christian mother named Euphrosyna—who predicted that he would be a martyr of Christ—suffered martyrdom under Diocletian and Maximian: on which day also St. Agathangelus at Ancyra...
A wiles, and to dissolve his strength and constancy as much as possible. But he, B not ignorant of the snares of the malignant one, having very profitably disquieted himself, and having roused the noble and spirited part of his soul, and having risen against that effeminate softness which arises from tears, very gravely and courageously, he said to his father-in-law, "O wicked man and leader of profane idols, why do you strive to turn me away from the confession in Christ with your treacherous tears and those of my wife? And why do you bewail Polyeuctus, when it would be much more fitting for you to bewail and lament yourself, since you are given over to eternal fire because of the princes who are but for a time?" And these things indeed he said to his father-in-law Felix. But after he saw his wife Paulina also weeping miserably, and saying, "What has happened to you, O Polyeuctus? And how have you been led by deceit to shatter our twelve gods?" The saint, smiling gently at her, said, "If I alone have conquered and shattered your twelve gods, behold, you are completely destitute of gods. Come then, Paulina, and I will make you know the true God, whom you yourself should strive to worship diligently, and to exchange this brief life for the eternal one." While these things were being said, and many unbelievers were being converted by him to the faith in Christ, and all the persecutors were gathered together, and were striving by promises on the one hand, and by threats on the other, to change the mind of the saint, since there was no way or reason that this could be accomplished, and no hope of such a thing remained, the sentence was passed against him, that he should immediately undergo death by the sword.
XII.
But when the matter had already been made clear to him, it was possible to see Polyeuctus in no way gloomy, in no way sad, in no way revealing anything at all of an effeminate and cowardly spirit, nor saying or suffering what another might have endured, C being separated from this pleasant light and life. But rather, as one passing from darkness and affliction to glory and delight, he showed great cheerfulness and alacrity of spirit, as one who was already beginning to enjoy that blessedness which is there. For he also affirmed to those who were present that he saw a certain youth approaching him and speaking with him, and in every way preparing him to forget all earthly things. But who, O divine Polyeuctus, could weave a worthy praise for this alone of your deeds? For as you were already about to be perfected, and to receive the divine baptism and the seal in Christ through your holy blood (O noble soul! O firm and truthful purpose!), you did not thus forget the friendship of Nearchus, but looking at him, you said, "Farewell, Nearchus, and remember my covenants." Having bravely left this voice as a final gift to your friend, O brave man, you proceeded to the sword, and you underwent the death inflicted by it with a prompt and cheerful spirit.XIII.
When Polyeuctus had thus been perfected, those who were more zealous among the brothers placed his precious body in Melitene, a city of Armenia, thus securing for themselves an eternal inheritance.It was the fourth day, which saw the end of Polyeuctus and the deposition of his body. Nearchus also served here, who, having received the blood of the martyr and placed it in a shining linen cloth, carried it into the city of the Chananæans, bestowing upon it the weapons of salvation, and a truly blessed inheritance.
XIV. These things were done in the time of Decius and Valerian in the first persecution of the East. For the first martyr was most holy Stephen in Jerusalem, the second was Philoromus in the Egyptian city of Alexandria, and the third was the divine Polyeuctus in Melitene of Armenia on the fourth day before the Ides of January. He often showed, even after his death, that he took great care for the Christians, not lightly or obscurely, but openly and evidently. For why would he not do so, being such a man, and drawing his lineage from there, and having been of the same fellowship? Of the noble, I say, and illustrious in their faith in Christ: who were following the Emperor Marcus, waging war against the Barbarians, when the Roman army was laboring under a scarcity of water, and the emperor was in dejection, while the enemy was growing very strong, and thirst, among other things, was vexing our men. But those brave soldiers of Christ, who were filling the same legion as this venerable martyr, when they had separated themselves and removed to a distance from the army, lifted their pious hands to God, most fervently proclaiming the pious faith which they honored. They asked for the mercies of God, that He might look upon them with benign eyes and resolve this necessity which was oppressing the multitude. When they had prayed in this way, they were not cheated of their prayers. For they had not yet put an end to their petitions, and a dense cloud approaching the heavens filled the air with thunder, while lightning flashed, and much rain burst forth, so that, while the thunderbolts and showers were thus carried, the Christians were refreshed, but very many Barbarians perished, and from that event the legion was nicknamed Κεραυνοβόλος, that is, the "Lightning-hurling" legion, known until now from the performance of this great miracle, to the glory of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, of one and consubstantial divinity. To Whom belongs all glory, honor, and adoration, now and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
LIFE AND CONVERSATION OF OUR HOLY FATHER MARCIANUS, PRESBYTER, WHO WAS OIKONOMOS OF THE GREAT CHURCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE (Year 450)
I. There are indeed many other things which adorn this royal city: the thrones of emperors, and wealth, and beauties of every kind, its situation and size, and walls, which are more powerful than any hostile hand: but nothing brings to it a glory and ornament as great as the lives of men who are honorable and lovers of virtue. For they bring more delight, and more wonder, and they also procure for it greater profit. For—
A Migne’s view is that the primary glory of a city is to be adorned with pious and religious men rather than with the battlements of walls. And indeed it has brought forth many famous men, who adorn it with various ornaments of virtue; of whom if any one should carefully select the first, and desire to compare with them, or even to prefer, the life of Marcian, he would not seem to me to fall short of a right judgment. That our opinion concerning him is not evil, but right, he himself, as they say, will show, and the discourse as it proceeds will be worthy of belief.
2. This Marcian flourished during the times of him who had the same name, namely Marcian, who at that time was lord of the Roman empire. Tracing his lineage from ancient Rome, from his ancestors (for they, having departed from there, migrated to this city of Constantine, which was more recent), he was consequently also born of an illustrious family, notable in wealth and dignity, and one that referred its nobility to imperial splendor. Having obtained parents so notable in glory, but far more notable in piety and religion, he himself also is educated liberally, and is finely taught in learning—ours, I mean, and the secular. Then, just as Moses to the Egyptians, so also Marcian most excellently visits the Byzantines, and turns to the greater and more perfect wisdom, that which is of the Spirit, I mean. From which fact, both the splendor of his life and the grace of speech B coming to him, won him a name and made him notable among all the laity. A little later he is also co-opted into the clergy of the Church; and when he was worthy of sacred things, he is led to the rank of priests. He who applied force to him for this was the patriarch of this city. For the siren of that man’s virtue captivated him, and the ears were full of the discourses and praises that were spread abroad concerning him. Since, therefore, there was nothing to hinder him in the ranks that intercede between the priesthood, but rather much to invite him to proceed to greater things: having passed through all in a short time, the occasion calling, he is enrolled also in the number of the priests. Then also he becomes steward of the Great Church by common suffrage—not forcing his way, but forced—and he honored those who had judged thus concerning him even more than he was honored. But this, indeed, later. C
III. Now when he was yet a young man and the priesthood had been entrusted to him, and his parents had already departed from life, and he had received the wealth of both, which was considerable, he was known to manage his youth temperately, his priesthood honorably, and his wealth piously; in that he took the needy as co-heirs of his inheritance, and ceded to them the greater part; or to say this rather, he conducted a most profitable trade with them, and in supplying small things, he acquired the greatest in return. Indeed, he appeared to despise other pleasures with a certain great and lofty mind, and to use them not at all; but he was overcome by one love only: that of the words of the divine Scripture; and he was ever turning and nourishing his eyes towards those, and through all his D
was constantly engaged, so that nothing was so hidden or difficult to find within them that it did not, through his laborious diligence, become manifest and known to him. He powerfully controlled his appetite and his eyes, knowing how the bloom and vigor of youth are easily driven to ruin through these. And many and grievous were the falls resulting from such things. He gave himself up largely to prayers and vigils, and instructed boys in the way of virtue—not only those who were enrolled in the number of priests, but, to speak once for all, as many as were pious and religious in their old age, and who had a care for philosophy. B With that noble love of the good and honorable, he also greatly loved the holy shrines of the martyrs of Christ, and he would restore those of them that were in decay and threatening ruin, while raising others that had not yet been built. But what he loved most ardently, and what he deemed the end of his desire, was this: that he might build a splendid and magnificent temple to Anastasia, the glorious among the martyrs. He labored, therefore, in finding a place where, most opportunely, he might raise her holy shrine.
IV. While he was thus anxious, a certain woman who drew her lineage from the Syrians of Antioch, Nico by name, having recently lost her husband, wished to sell an illustrious house that had devolved to her by inheritance—which was situated in the middle of the forum of Constantinople—so that, having received its price, she might return to her own country. C When this ardent lover of the martyr had learned this, and had seen that the place was suitable, and the location well-adapted for his purpose, he considered the matter a godsend; and, approaching the woman, he spoke to her about the price, and by counting out two thousand gold pieces, persuaded her to sell the house.
Having thus concluded the matter, he was evidently prepared to tackle the work. But he who is opposed to all good things did not here show himself to have forgotten his art, nor to have ceased or intended to cease from doing evil. Instead, slyly insinuating himself to the woman and inspiring in her a heavy repentance, he strongly besieged her mind, moving her to shame as if by some other engine of war: D that she would, forsooth, be held in mockery by the common people for thus squandering such beautiful possessions; for the house was ancient and magnificent, and it had been the lot of the great Constantine to have it built, and it yielded a sufficiently great profit from its rents and annual revenues. By these things, the woman—as women are wont to be—was shaken and attempted to dissolve the contract. But Marcian, wishing to be a burden to no one and not wishing to force her to do anything she did not wish, yielded his legal right and released the property to the woman, seeking for the work to have a holy foundation, and wishing to offer nothing to the holy martyr that was not given with a ready and eager mind, or that was constrained. Therefore, the wicked one seemed from this to have gained the victory; but that was the beginning by which it was brought about that he was most of all defeated. For God, who knows how to turn all things to what is profitable, provides that the outcome of this matter should be far better and more splendid.
A For Marcian, cherishing this love, and at one time conversing with the discourses of him who shone most brightly in speech, in character, and in theology—I mean the wise Gregory—learned something concerning the temple of this martyr, which lies in those areas called the Domnus Porticoes, which at that time served as a kind of stronghold for the Orthodox against those who favored the Arian heresy. Having learned what that great man had predicted concerning this holy place, he encouraged his own flock, saying: “This Anastasia, this one, I say, who took her name from the resurrection, you will see—I know well—become more spacious and greater.” And having learned that these things had not been predicted by that great man without the will of God, nor in vain (even if the prophecy concerned the people more than the temple), and that He who had predicted these things through him was also capable of bringing his words into action; and neither considering the multitude of expenses nor that the undertaking was greater than what was commensurate with his own strength, he entrusted the matter to faith, which can do all things, and began to press forward with the work. He left that smaller and old temple in its former state, so that, lying thus in the view of all, it might proclaim the prophecy of the Theologian more clearly than the tongue could; but he raised up for her another, most great and beautiful, encompassing it in a circle with various porticoes, atriums, and vestibules, which even before the temple present an elegant appearance, and rising in the midst like a great star or the moon herself, surrounded by many and beautiful stars. For what great beauty has enclosed it—the splendors of the columns, the colors and the size, the brilliance of the lamps, and the clarity of the material, with gold shining down from above upon the vault—so that everywhere there are paintings, which by the perfection of their art astound the mind, while by the variety of their material they soothe the eyes! And as for the house of the venerable illumination, or that which is established for storing the sacred vessels and votive offerings, how could one speak of them in a way worthy of them, and not fall short of the dignity of the works? And as for the number of the vessels themselves, or their material, or the art, anyone who wishes to pursue this in speech will know entirely that it is possible only to marvel at them, not to express them with the tongue. Thus, all things are equally transcendent, so that even if no one had predicted it, it would be manifest to those who see it that these things proceeded from the mind of God, and with the divine hand from above providing assistance.
D VI. When all had gathered, as is fitting, the dedication of this new temple was celebrated, and also the day on which the martyr herself completed her struggle—in the month of December, I say. He called to the dedication the faithful emperors, the sacred senate, and, to speak once for all, the entire city. But it was necessary that Marcian, who lived in concealment, should also be revealed on that day—what he was in his character, what he was in his virtue, and how greatly he extended himself beyond the commands. For when the whole city was rushing thither, and the needy along with it, as if in a certain agreement
A of those being drawn along, a certain poor man approached the noble man (for such men seek out and discern gentle and benign souls no less than those who are suffering seek out physicians). Having approached, therefore, he looked toward his right hand and begged to receive some remedy for his hunger. But he (for he was at that time carrying nothing in his bosom, but in the deeper bosom of his soul—as a man who had withdrawn from the midst of all people and sought a place that was as hidden as possible—he truly possessed great goodness and mystic instruction) happened to be covered by nothing more than a single tunic, which was his custom throughout his life, not to use two garments. Thus, therefore, the divine man was situated; although it would have been easy to decline the supplication by pleading poverty, since he had as witnesses to his having nothing all the eyes that were beholding him, he, as if it were impossible not to grieve God if he did not give, stripped off the very garment with which alone he had been clothed, and gave it to the needy person with a ready and eager mind. And henceforth he possessed only his priestly vestment and the phelonion covering his body, which he sought to draw together from all sides as much as possible, in order to hide himself and to keep the deed hidden from the eyes of all. B
VII. But after they had entered the holy temple, and the foremost of the priests ordered for him to celebrate the divine mystery, he, in the same manner, gathered and folded the phelonion, desiring, as we have said, for the matter to remain hidden. Those who were standing by, however, and along with them the pontiff, having fixed their eyes upon him, see a certain new and ineffable miracle, and one almost credible only to those who had beheld it: they see him clothed within with some royal garment of exceptional quality and interwoven with shining gold; it appeared even more clearly in his hands when he was imparting the divine body to those who were approaching. Seeing these things, some kept the miracle to themselves, while others reported it to others—some as if in wonder, others, as is likely, even out of envy. These men even approached the pontiff Gennadius himself, thinking that he did not know what they desired him greatly to know, and reported it to him. Then they also attempted to disparage him and stirred up slanders against that blessed soul. And he himself also said that he had seen it, but that he was ignorant of the manner of it and was truly in doubt about it. C
VIII. But after the mystery had reached its end for Marcian, the patriarch called for him, and meeting him privately, reproached him regarding the garment, saying that such things were more fitting for emperors than for priests. But he, more in doubt of mind than he who was in doubt, falls at his feet, and pouring forth many tears upon them, entirely denied what had been said and insisted that the other’s eyes had been deceived. For to have even only thought such a thing, he said, is manifest madness. To this, the patriarch (for he thought it foolish and openly contrary to reason not to believe one’s own eyes), immediately touching him with his own hand, himself pulls back the phelonion along with the priestly vestment, and from then on, the miracle was both seen and spoken of. For that golden tunic, which a little while before was being seen, was nowhere to be found, but the saint appeared to be naked just as he had indeed been. D
of endurance and fortitude are spread? But your noble and great spirit ought by all means to have some pious and righteous motivation, and not one so impious and unjust, which is itself a manifest destruction of both soul and body. For now, the greater it is, the worse it is, and it provokes us even more to anger and stirs the gods to vengeance. B But you, by changing your mind to the contrary, display this firm and courageous spirit for the sake of piety toward the gods, so that you may thus also enjoy more worthy rewards. For they themselves, I suspect, taking pity on this bravery and fortitude of yours, have for this reason enabled you to withstand such punishments, and have not allowed you to perish miserably long ago, nor to be snatched away prematurely, expecting absolutely your recognition and conversion." He said these things, and immediately places before the eyes of the saint, on one side, gold and silver, and imperial commissions granting him the rank of patrician, and then the insignia of other offices and dignities; in addition to these, bright and luxurious garments, and all other things which entice the eyes of lovers of beauty. On the other side, again, the instruments of torture, iron hands, bedsteads—and these of iron—wheels and scrapers, grates, cauldrons, spits, frying pans, and heavy chains, C and a great multitude of other instruments, diverse in form but most terrible to behold, and in their trial even more grievous than in their very appearance. Then, looking gently at the martyr and pointing with his hand to the money, he says: "With these we reward you, if you become pious toward the gods and holy toward us."
XXVII. But when the saint had turned his eyes away from them, and had, as it were, sneered at them, and groaned deeply at the words spoken, and said, "May they perish for you, and the gods with them," then, looking very sharply and sternly at the noble Clement, and at the same time casting his eyes toward the forms of the torments, he said: "Do you see? These are for those who do not obey and who are impious." D But the martyr said: "If your punishments are, as you think, so terrible and unbearable to experience, just as the gifts are again ambitious, brilliant, and worthy of all blessedness, what then do you consider those of the heavenly and only God to be? What kind of immortal punishments and inexorable pains? What kind of rivers of fire, not even bearable to the sight alone? And what, on the other hand, are the good things awaiting those who have loved Him? For it is written that such things are, as neither to be comprehended by the mind, nor seen by the eye, nor can the pleasure derived from them be even conjectured. For the present things, this silver and this gold, are only dust and mud, or a base and fruitless matter, which is born basely from the earth, and is transferred more basely into the form that is seen through iron and fire, subject to robbers and thieves; and if not to these, then consumed by diminution and rust and flowing away,
A I say naked, yet truly covered by the golden tunics of virtue, which do not fall under the sight of the unseeing. This moved the high priest to admiration, and it moved the rulers as well, now that the account had reached them; and it set up a visible trophy against the wicked one and the wretched madness of Arius, which, alas! was still advocated by some. For the multitude of the faithful, having taken courage as if by a miracle and having been confirmed in the true faith, despised the teachings of Arius as mere trifles and nonsense; and they themselves flowed into the temple with eagerness, like a river of water, to see this beauty of his and to hear his true words. This crowd that gathered was so great and boundless that even to be near the outer courts was considered by many to be a reward for great labor and worthy of much ambition.
IX. They gathered, therefore, celebrating a feast for one day after another. For miracles also happened frequently. From among these, so that I may not delay by telling of many, I shall take one to recount, which is sufficient to demonstrate the grace of the great Marcian and that this holy temple came to be by the will of God. A conflagration, such as few have seen the like of, was ravaging the arcades of Domninus. B For the fire had taken hold of the places by the northern sea and was girding the entire city; and thus, creeping fiercely as far as the southern sea, it was consuming everything that lay between. Consequently, the vehemence of the fire involved this holy house as well. Each of his own folk, therefore, neglecting their own calamities, was rushing with fervor to the temple, their souls themselves burning with a fire that was not to be looked upon. But the man of God, in no way cowed—not even when the fire was circling around him—paying no heed to it, but believing firmly that all things yield to faith in God, took the holy Gospels and went up to the edge of the roof; C and standing in the midst of the flame, and turning himself to prayer, he said: "Christ our God, the God of our fathers, who accepted the sacrifice of Abraham, and who, according to his promise, didst provide him a son beyond hope, and beyond hope didst release him from the slaughter, who didst also once show the three captive children in the Babylonian furnace to be stronger than it—do thou also now, Master, preserve this thy house untouched by fire. And do not grant that the fire should destroy the work which we with much toil and longing have fashioned for thee, so that the enemy may not still further boast insolently against us, D nor that the mouths of the Arians, who are close to us, may find occasion for reproach against us; but show even now something worthy of thy kindness and majesty, for the glory of thy name, and as a boast and exultation for us who believe in the truth."
A Purple-dyed and gleaming garments are merely the threads of worms and the inventions of barbarian men; so that if we are honored by these, then, according to you, man is more dishonorable than a worm. And if, because of these things, one ought to admire men, I would much rather have admired those who know how to fashion such things than those who boast vainly and pointlessly in being clothed by them. For the former, by the skill of their craft, transform nature for the better, deceive the senses, and offer a sweet bait to eyes that love finery; but the latter boast while clothed in them, bearing witness to the lightness of their own minds, and whereas they ought to be ashamed of the deception, they puff themselves up all the more, and lift their eyebrows, honored by the works of others—if indeed one ought to call such things honor at all. But these things from you are such, and are thus; whereas the goods from our good God are entirely the opposite. For He possesses pleasure that is immortal and brilliance that is continuous; for it does not fear the change that comes from time, does not suspect transformation, does not know old age, but flourishes continuously, remaining in the same seemliness, being fixed for all time and immovable.
B C XXV. To these things, Diocletian said, "You seem to me, O Clement, to speak well, but to think very wrongly; for with your tongue you prefer immortality, but upon a mortal you always have your hope—I mean your Christ, whom they say suffered countless terrible things at the hands of the Jews, and finally underwent death by the cross. But our gods are always immortal, and they endure nothing painful or difficult." And the martyr, taking up the word, said, "Concerning their immortality and painlessness, you speak somewhat truly, O Emperor. For how indeed would those who never lived at all in the beginning die? Or how could those who are utterly devoid of even sense itself feel pain? Yet, even if they do not feel painful things, they are at least subject to countless blows and insults. For as many as have been made from stones, they received blows from the hand that carved them, and were smoothed with iron, and thus, with so much empty labor, became idols of human form and statues. But as for those whose entire substance again is gold, or bronze, or silver, they too, having been melted by the most intense fire, underwent similar things to the others in total insensibility; so far are they from being able to assist others, that they are altogether unable to prevent themselves from suffering such things. Therefore, they do not die, since, as I hastened to say, they never lived at all in the beginning; but they flow away and are shattered, receiving existence from time, and likewise receiving non-existence from it. Our own [God], however, is not like these; but the true Lord Himself and Creator of all, my God, being timeless and immortal, later becomes man for my sake, so that I through Him might become God, and He is willingly crucified and buried, and on the third day He rises, and ascends again into the heavens from whence He descended, raising up with Himself
A And when he had said this, and with his words showed that his soul was melting within, and had then added, "Amen," almost all who were present saw, first, the fire hissing round the whole house and making its attack upon it; and then, receding and being driven back as if by some invincible and most powerful strength. Indeed, this holy house too, just as the bodies of the divine youths formerly, was preserved whole, unscathed, and untouched in such a fire, O Christ Savior! And not only this, as we have said before, but many other wonders are shown in this church: many indeed then through Marcian, and many also after his death—partly by the great one among the martyrs, Anastasia, and B partly by the common queen of all herself, the undefiled Theotokos, I say, acting and showing herself most clearly to those who are more zealous within it. She, appearing with her customary posture and form—not only in dreams, but in reality—becomes the cause of flight for passions, demons, and diseases; and she is truly an invincible medicine against sorceries and other evils. But to speak of these things is no easy labor, and to recount them is the same as trying to empty the sea with a cup.
IA'. That not only the living, but also those who are dead, have received the power to live in this church, the account, wishing now to disclose it, may find the ears of those present ready to receive the miracle. A woman, leaning out from the upper portico on the left side, as she was looking down—and more than was safe, leaning out—falls from the height. And she brings death C to herself, and—woe is me!—to the fetus that dwelt within her. When the divine Marcian and the crowd saw this, they could not bear it; but in the midst of the festival, there was lamentation, and the event was a cause for tears. Yet he who is by nature good did not allow the suffering to prevail for long, but before those who were gathered had left the church (for it was necessary that at the same time the philanthropy of God and a work of glory for those who loved Him should be seen), Marcian raised his hands on high; and as he prayed together with the multitude, the woman rose up unexpectedly, and the infant within was moving miraculously. But let this be enough about the miracles for now.
IB'. But it is necessary for the discourse to embrace also the other churches D which he built in his love for God: I mean that of Irene, the miraculous among the martyrs, which is situated by the sea, and that which is adjoining to it, that of the divine Isidore, namely. For this church of the martyr Irene was originally not worthy to be seen, neither in size, nor in beauty, nor in any other adornment or excellence; but it was the concern of God to raise it up entirely to such size and beauty as is seen now. Whence also to Gennadius the Patriarch a certain divine vision appeared. And the vision said: "Loosen this temple; for I am going, it says, to raise it up again in the time of your successor." Therefore, he, having at once
and even he was of a somewhat more youthful spirit. A For he had not remained behind to escape the struggle, but rather to grapple with even greater evils, so that he might secure a cause for still greater crowns. This was the admirable Agathangelus, concerning whom it shall be declared more clearly hereafter.
XXXIV. Diocletian, having remembered the great Clement B a little later, brought him forward again. At first, as if having cast off his former madness out of repentance, he approached him with praises, trying in this way to overcome that man's bravery and nobility of soul. But when he saw that he was dealing with a man of understanding, and one who was not only able to endure the onsets of evils with fortitude of mind, but who, through prudence, would not fall through the flattery of words or cleverness, he immediately cast off that mask and his feigned gentleness. He appeared all at once as he really was, and devised yet another more novel torture, being incited to this C especially by a certain Amphion, who held the first place among those under him. This torture was such that the martyr was stretched by so great a multitude that the very joints of his limbs were dissolved, while the lictors, standing around, beat him cruelly for a long time with dried ox-sinews, four of them at a time.
XXXV. After he had stood bravely against this torment also, and remained as impassive and unmoved as if another person were suffering, "I know, Clement," said Diocletian, "that you have a soul that is exceedingly contentious, and a body that is able to serve it. But I shall not yield again, but will try you with iron claws; for perhaps you are made of iron, or are sluggish and devoid of feeling, that I may see if I can awaken you with these from the deep sleep in which you so lie." But the martyr replied, "You have spoken well, O Emperor. For I am sleeping as it were a sweet sleep, since my Christ so lulls me to the labors undertaken for Him with the hope of things to come; yet He also prepares me to be sober and watchful when it is necessary to preach Him and to speak boldly for His confession." D Those things, then, he said; and the Emperor immediately commanded the lictors to desist from the scourges, to raise him upon the wooden rack, and to tear him with iron claws until his flesh should be entirely consumed, his blood drained out, and only the bones should remain. While the lictors were applying great diligence once more, being spurred on to such things by the hidden executioner, the martyr, first focusing upon himself and then looking toward the tyrant, said, "It is not my body that is present, which I am wearing and which you, O Emperor, are now tearing. For I am not suffering at all as much as I ought to while being torn; but that which had been given to me by nature was gradually consumed in the preceding tortures, and not even a small part of it remained for me; but the flesh now running to my bones and to my limbs
fulfilled the command, also ended his life. But Marcianus, that admirable man, when this vision had reached his ears, and the administration of the Great Church had already been entrusted to him, thinking that the dream referred to himself, turned various thoughts over in his mind as to how this work might be accomplished according to his intention. Therefore, having secretly left almost everyone, he went there with a few; then calling even them to withdraw (for it was already night), he knelt alone with his soul inclined to God, where now the holy altar is placed, and prayed, saying: "O God, who with your nod and saving will did abolish the filthy sanctuaries of the idols, and rescued the creation of your own hands from their deception, and commanded holy houses and temples to be raised, in which you also always perform many divine signs, look down now yourself, according to your truthful promise, upon this labor and sanctify it with your ineffable grace and power, raising up, O Master, through us the house already foreknown to you for your glory, for my rejoicing, and for the salvation of many souls who call upon your name. Yes, God and King of all, to whose will all things yield, and whose thought is truly the work." Thus, as he prayed, God cast sleep upon his eyes, and a dream at once set before him both the site of the temple and its magnitude, and all the A other arrangement. Then also he heard a divine voice as in a dream: "Marciane, all things are possible to him who believes."
XIII. Having risen, therefore, full of fear and joy, he approaches the archbishop, and explains the vision. Having obtained his favorable assent, he applies himself to the work, and in order that he might make the house magnificent according to the design shown to him, having by labor and great expense pushed back the sea, which until then almost washed the doors of the temple, he thus laid the foundation of the temple, so that what was said might be appropriate also to this temple: "He founded it upon the seas," the Creator of all, clearly. Having laid the foundations, he proceeded to build the rest of the structure as well; for having set up magnificent columns in a row on both sides, and then placing others above them, he constructed both the lower and the upper porticos. Then, having enclosed the house on every side with open-air walks, he thus laid on the roof, surrounding it with the largest beams and covering it with lead. What could one say about the solidity of the walls, about the delightfulness of the floor, about the precise decoration and beauty of all the other things? For wherever one might fix his eye and linger, appearing to be set upon the most beautiful object, then again if he were to pay attention to another, he would regret his former delay; and thus passing through all, he will find that what went before is always seen to be surpassed by that which is present. What kind of demon, however, attacked, attempting to hinder this noble work? For when two great columns, which had been set up before the venerable altar, were already B C D
and as it were a member common to all having been severed, he offered up the due prayers for the city and for himself, and thus boarded the ship and began his voyage. But what is it that God, the wise Pilot of all things, is arranging regarding the ship?
XXXVIII. B He who previously, alone of those who had believed under Clement in the prison, had escaped the martyrdom—concerning whom the discourse previously promised to speak—a Roman by race, Agathangelus by name, became a fellow-voyager there for the martyr. For having reached the ship by which he was destined to sail away from Rome, and having spoken a few words to the sailors, he persuaded them easily, and boarding quietly, hid himself, lying concealed in a certain part of it. And it was God, in truth, who both pointed out the ship to Agathangelus and made the sailors compliant and gentle toward him. But when the martyr himself arrived with the soldiers, and they had gone inside the ship, and they were distant from the land by about two hundred stadia, Agathangelus, seeing the soldiers occupied with themselves and the ship, and only the holy Clement praying alone to God, avoided all observation of eyes and came near to him; and having taken hold of his feet, he reminded him of the confession he had made in the prison and of the baptism. Then he also recounted his flight from the slaughter, and how he had known of the ship beforehand, and how he had come, and how he had hidden in it.
XXXIX. C The martyr, therefore (for what is it likely that he would have felt upon recognizing Agathangelus? For he was also the first of those who were baptized by him at that time), greeted him, embraced him, and spoke to him in a kind manner, and was manifest as being filled in his bowels with fatherly pleasure on account of him. D Then he also persisted in prayer more fervently, partly giving thanks on behalf of Agathangelus and offering words of a cheerful soul, and partly calling upon God for alliance for him, and praying that the man might become a partner with him in the confession: "I give you thanks, Lord Jesus Christ," he said, "who are my only and single consolation and help, because you do not leave me deserted of your help either by land or by sea, but you have assisted me and gone before me on every path, and have revived my soul, exhausted by toil, becoming its consoler, in the way which you yourself know. For behold, even now in the sea, you have made yourself known to me in Agathangelus, this faithful brother of mine, who from his very name pledges to me the help that is from you, being both an angel of good things and so called. But grant to him also, O Christ the King, to bring his will to an end, and glorify him with your confession, that you may also be glorified again in him."
XL. He, therefore, was praying thus with Agathangelus day and night, not taking any food (for not even a small amount happened to be present for them, as he who
A destined to be raised, one of them resisted the hands of the men for a long time, and was difficult to handle, and kept deviating from its proper placement, and the instruments were constantly breaking; and the industry of those who were managing this had grown weary. Finally, therefore, having come to an agreement and having as it were abandoned the task, they come to the holy man and report what had happened. But he did not intend to give in to sloth, nor did he despair of the cure, having looked upon the weakness of human reasoning and hands; but entrusting everything to the hope in God, he went to the place. And at first, having stretched out his hands and having braced his whole being for prayer, and having marked the sign of the cross, he rebuked the demon who was the cause of the impediments; saying, “Enemy, foe of all good, cease to envy and to hinder those things which are being done B for the glory of God.” Afterward, he himself also having joined in the work with the others, by his now aged hands, he gave a great impetus to the work, more by his spirit, one might say, than by his body; and the column immediately became manageable and yielded to his hands. The proof of this miracle remains even to this day, becoming apparent in the column through its slight deviation from being perfectly straight; and we say that this is the column which is set up on the left of the holy altar for those who are looking toward the east.
XIV. But how, indeed, could anyone explain in few words the beauty of the most beautiful illuminatory which he also constructed, which we are accustomed to call a baptistery, which pours forth great pleasure with wonder to those who see it? For it is divided by five porticoes, just as they say the sheep-pool C is in Jerusalem; but here, I think, even greater miracles seem to occur than there. For in that one, an angel was indeed descending, and it was only one person on one day who was deemed worthy of healing; but here, it is not a servant who ministers, but the Lord himself who makes the visitation. And the healing is not on one day, but continuous; and the cures are not for one person only, but for many; and not of bodies only, but openly of souls as well. The divine Marcianus showed, also by the form of this baptistery, that he had made the whole thing according to the type of that celebrated pool. For having divided the ceiling into domes, and having adorned all of those things with golden tesserae, he depicted the forms of the sick with precision, and also Christ healing the sick, so that it might be permitted to see not only those who are suffering, but also the physician. But it would be best, not needing the present discourse so much, to comprehend the things which have been said with one's own eyes. For I think that the things which are there are greater than that we can attain to them by speech, and things which sight alone can comprehend. Wherefore, I decide to pass over these things. But those things which are germane to these, and which were accomplished at a near time, these I shall indeed speak of, and the temple of the divine Isidorus, which is already in my memory, I shall commit even more durably to memory.
XV. Since the truly good Marcianus was possessed by a certain D very intense love for the building of houses of prayer,
mystical table laid out, and a multitude of those in white robes flying above in the air. Those, then, being unable to bear the sight, cast themselves prone and lay there, not even having the power to look back at the light itself that came from thence. As the rumor ran through the whole city in a little while, many even of the infidels flocked together publicly, and especially those who had children, or relatives, or others near to them oppressed by incurable diseases; and they kept flocking together, each leading their own sick, and while some cast them down at the feet of the martyrs, others brought them to the touch of their blessed hands, and saw them immediately cleansed from their diseases. B Many of the souls of the Gentiles themselves were also healed, and by the miracle of the healing wrought upon them, were guided toward the truth. These things astonished the soldiers, and as they saw the great longing of the city for Clement, fearing lest some innovation be made against them and the martyr escape from their hands, they placed shackles upon him again and led him to the ship, using his abundance of virtue as a pretext for treating him badly. Agathangelus went ahead and was the first to board the ship, as one destined to open the way for his martyrdom.
CHAPTER VIII. The torments inflicted upon the Saints at Nicomedia.
XLIV. Having, therefore, obtained a favorable wind, they crossed the sea and, having landed at Nicomedia, were immediately led to Maximian. C When he had received the emperor’s letters and had learned many things from the men themselves, and had seen that these things matched the letters—namely, an appearance that preserved the virtue it professed, a noble stature, freedom of character, nothing servile, base, or easily led to change his mind—seeing these things, Maximian, as one skilled in judging such cases, immediately declined to examine him, and pleading certain military occupations, entrusted the case of Clement to Agrippinus, the prefect of the city. He, having immediately caused him to be brought before him, asked this above all else: whether he was that Clement who was so commonly spoken of. When he replied that he was, and added, "and a servant of Christ," Agrippinus, moved to anger, ordered the soldiers to strike him on the face, telling him to call himself a servant of the emperors, and not of Christ. But the martyr said, D "Would that your masters and emperors were also called servants of Christ, so that all other nations might be their servants and subjects, rather than that they themselves be basely overcome by impiety and foolishly strive to conquer us!"
XLV. These words, having fallen like a flame into the soul of Agrippinus, made the furnace of his madness the more intense; and to Clement he answered nothing, as one showing that the anger conceived against him was greater [than could be expressed in words, being] greater than any threat; and looking toward Agathangelus, he said, "And who are you?" he said, "not knowin
A nor did he neglect the matters concerning the great Isidoros; but he deemed it worthy of much zeal to collect his sacred relics and to erect for him, as it were, a most reverent house. He did not cease to contemplate and survey every place. And for this reason, the building was still delayed for a time; but having gathered his relics and placed them in a coffin, he resolved to keep them for the present in the new temple of the martyr. When, after a short time, he attempted to transfer them, something there occurred that was miraculous and mysterious. For neither he himself nor any other large company of men was able to move the chest any further. Thinking, therefore, that this was something divine—and since the martyr himself had also indicated to him in dreams that he rejoiced in the place and was not willing for his relics to be moved from there—Marcianus, B thereafter obeying the vision, constructed this house which is situated near the temple of the martyr Irene. That this house is indeed pleasing to the martyr, this is clearly shown by many signs; for it is continually performing great miracles, delivering those who are held by demons, calming the waves and rebuking the fury of the winds for the shipwrecked, comforting those who are suffering, taking away the causes of sorrow for them, and for those who are otherwise sick or in need, putting an end to their hardships and providing good things. When the great Marcianus had accomplished these things, and had adorned the city with these—as if with other golden walls for the sake of beauty and security—he departed from life in a deep old age, before he could celebrate the dedication of the great temple of Irene; having uttered, as it were, a farewell statement: "Both these things I commit into Thy hands, O Lord: both the soul which Thou Thyself hast created, and the temple which I, by Thy will, have constructed." Having said these things, he passed away on the tenth of the month of January.
XVI. The whole city gathered, about to conduct the funeral procession of the relics; and both he who was then the high priest, and all who were of the ecclesiastical order, and a multitude of monks, and the companies of noble women, and as many among the magistrates as were pious and God-loving [attended]. C His sacred relics were received by the monastery of John the Baptist, which is also called that of Daniel, located near the divine temple of the glorious martyr Mocius; [a monastery] which was also the work of his own hand, or rather, I should say, of his purpose. In that place, to this day, his memory is celebrated brilliantly and piously. As for the house he built for the great Irene, the most pious Verina (for she was the wife of the great Leo) undertook the care of it. She diligently fulfilled whatever was lacking in terms of its adornment, and magnificently decorated the ceiling with gold; the inscription there makes these things clear. The dedication of the temple is celebrated annually on the twentieth of January; at which time there is a great gathering of the multitude, and Marcianus is praised in the mouths of all, as if the multitude, seeing these two temples, were seeing his children, and through them renewing the memory of him—so much so that some even among...
knowing even the letters of Diocletian." And he, dividing his gaze, and lifting his eyes simultaneously to heaven and to Clement (for he expected assistance to come to him from both sides), said, "I also am a Christian, through the servant of Christ, Clement, having been deemed worthy of this blessed calling." Then A Agrippinus orders Clement to be suspended and scourged, and Agathangelus to be beaten most cruelly by the executioners with oxen-sinews. And since the great Clement endured even such torture so nobly, being so far from reckoning the blows as of any account, that he prayed without distraction for himself and for Agathangelus, the prefect, thinking these things small and unable to reach a soul that had placed such a fixed and unshakable resolve within itself, released them from the punishment and delivered both to prison; and he orders a theater to be readied for the following day, and wild beasts [to be prepared], many in number, of different kinds, and noted for their cruelty.
XLVI. The saints, being left in the prison, were even more intense in their vigil of prayer; and angels, standing over them from above, were strengthening them for martyrdom. Now, all those others who were dwelling in the prison for various reasons, then seeing the intensity of their prayer, and then also perceiving the presence of the angels, and being struck with wonder at that marvelous consolation, their souls moved by a certain divine warmth, fell at the feet of the saints, and pleaded that the things concerning Christ might come to their knowledge, and that they might not be considered unworthy to make that same confession. They, therefore, conversing, exhorting, and teaching the men until the middle of the night, did not cease until they had brought them into the true faith and sealed them with divine baptism. Then the great Clemens, by his prayer having opened the prison gates for them, sent them away rejoicing, while he himself remained with Agathangelus alone in the custody.
XLVII. This enraged Agrippinus violently, and dragging them to the theater, he first roared at the saints like a lion, and then ordered lions and many other wild beasts to be set upon them. But those that were released did no harm at all to the saints, but rather looked upon them with a pleasant and gentle gaze, and now they would joyfully lick their feet, and now they would approach them affectionately, doing nothing unlike what dogs do to their own masters when they see them returning after a long time. The wild beasts, therefore, did nothing evil to the saints, but they struck Agrippinus’s heart violently, for he was perplexed in all things, and, as the saying goes, attempting the impossible, even though the darkness of error had so deeply B
themselves would A charmingly and with delight say: “Behold, this is another daughter of the great Marcianus, equal in beauty and magnificence to the great Anastasia.” And what he himself indeed said only regarding the temple of the divine Anastasia, how could anyone think it right to overlook? For when one of his acquaintances was marveling at the great expense, he said: “If I were intending to betroth my daughter, would I not have chosen to provide for her magnificence and adornment as generously as I was able? Now, however, that we have determined to spend [our wealth] upon the temple of the bride of Christ—and such a bride, who shed her very blood for Him without sparing it—are we not to spend even more abundantly and alacritously, and to omit no beauty, grace, or ornamentation whatsoever?” So B magnificent was Marcianus in works that were pleasing to God, and he spared no expense.
XVII. For he was not merely the founder of these, but he also showed himself to be a builder, and indeed a restorer and repairer, of many other sacred edifices; such as those of the great martyr Theodore at Tænaron, and Stratonicus the martyr at Rhegium. And, which is most admirable, while his hand was so liberal in sacred buildings, it was far more lavish in the care of the poor. This is what our discourse now wishes to pursue briefly, so that it may be clear not only his philanthropy toward those in need, but also the nature of that philanthropy itself, and with what gifts He deigns to honor those who love Him. By night, C that admirable man would go about the squares and narrow streets of the city, taking diligent care of this as well. If he ever found a dead body cast aside through extreme poverty, whom no one took care of, he would look upon it with joy, as if he had obtained some great profit; and with haste he would wash and clothe it, and having performed the other customary honors, he would then address the dead man as if he were alive, saying, “Come, brother, and partake with us of the love that is in Christ.” Saying this, he had the one who lay there obeying him. For he would rise (O miracle, ineffable and beyond words!) and embrace Marcianus, showing that the care taken for him was being received not by him, but rather by Christ. Then, being dead, the man was dead again, and such he appeared to those who were passing by. This was known on other occasions as well, but by this incident it became more manifest.
XVIII. In the middle of the night, when he thought that at that hour he would be seen by no one, he would go to a certain familiar moneychanger to exchange gold, taking back a large amount of copper coinage, so that he might have something to distribute to the poor, and immediately he would return. The moneychanger, however, using the untimely night as an occasion for profit, D would weigh the gold pieces with unjust scales. But he, contradicting nothing nor examining it at all closely, clearly showed that he committed the whole matter to the conscience of the one performing the weighing. When this had happened many times, and Marcianus, feigning not to understand,
A remained aloof from the money-changer, a great astonishment seized the man. At the same time, considering the hour—for it was the dead of night—he moved toward a better understanding, and he held thoughts closer to the truth and appropriate to the life of Marcianus. For he ordered one of his own boys to follow him as he departed, so that he might learn where in the world exactly that money of his went. For Marcianus was in no way recognizable to the money-changer, skillfully concealing his face whenever he entered to him to receive that small sum of money. The boy, therefore, followed. But when the divine man fell in with a dead pauper lying on a bed, and having taken him from a certain huckster's room, washed and clothed him, and after he had risen, embraced him, and then laid him down again and went off; when the boy saw these things, horror seized him, and turning back, he as quickly as possible reported everything to the one who had sent him. Repentance for what had passed entered the man, and he was weeping over the ways in which he had acted most unjustly toward the holy man, and was exacting punishment upon himself from his own conscience. Indeed, when he B approached him again in order to do the same things, he fell at his feet, confessed the evil things he had done, and enumerated everything he had gained through fraud. Thus, a good deed done in silence is more able to accomplish things than a multitude of words; and those whom rebukes and exhortations did not benefit at all, to them an act of praise, proceeding quietly and secretly touching their conscience, made them better and caused them to desire of their own accord to learn what is good. The divine Marcianus, saying that he had been in no way injured, refrained henceforth from both what was given and the one who was giving—not as if he were turning away from him as an evil man (for he not only forgave him, but even declared that he held him as a most dear friend), but by running with every foot away from the harm creeping in from empty glory, and being unwilling that his own affairs should be made manifest to any man, but storing them up with God alone. It is permitted, therefore, to whoever wishes to consider what one might admire sooner: the excess of the miracle, or the zeal for well-doing, for the contempt of glory, or the freedom of his mind from every contrivance. But this true account of his well-doing reminds me of another good thing.
XIX. D For such great care did the man have for this virtue that he did not disdain, for its sake, even to visit houses of harlots, nor did he consider such a thing to be shameful; but looking toward that same Christ whom he loved as his archetype (who often associated with tax collectors and sinners for their salvation), he even exhorted wicked women in things conducive to salvation—women for whom poverty was the cause of their perdition, while they wished, alas! to make gain by their own body. Toward these, therefore, the excellent Marcianus was even more lavish and more ready, and especially if it happened that a feast day was to be celebrated on the following day. For then he was most ready to provide them with more than they were about to receive from their abominable wickedness; and he persuaded them both to use a bath and to keep themselves undefiled for the following day, and afterwards to approach the church, and
being reminded of their past lives, to strike horror of the terrible Gehenna into themselves and to appease the Divine [Power] with tears. As this was often done, the habit of the good eventually overcame some, and a godly fear falling upon them caused them to bid farewell not only to brothels, but to all finery, and to go forth readily to monasteries and ascetic houses—that is, places in which they might practice virtue. B Many of them also resolved to go to Jerusalem, having received from him the funds sufficient for their journey. And as they showed a life that was most pure and diametrically opposed to their former one, they were not left without the gifts of the good Spirit; but some of them freed diseases by prayer, while others easily cast out from men the very demons they had previously diligently served. And he did this—not as one of those who abound in great wealth and merely empties out what is redundant, but because of his great inclination toward those in need, not even sparing his own necessities. But sometimes, when he had carried out and given away everything he had in his hands, he would leave himself only with a good hope and the act of looking solely to the hands of God; so that, along with the other good things he possessed, he yielded the first place to no one, even regarding the matter of poverty.
C XX. Here is a sign of what I say. It is said that at one time, when he was returning from a feast of the saints—for he was never absent from such, nor from the praise of the Lord that takes place in the midst of many, for the sake of divine worship and religion, but he would go forth with great eagerness—as he was returning, since a downpour happened to break out, he became soaked. Entering his house, he locked it, and then, having taken off his garment, he was drying it over a few coals. It so happened that the God-loving bishop at that time sent to summon him. But those who were sent, finding the house locked, knocked at the door and ordered him to come out. Shame, however, for fear of being seen naked, compelled him to remain inside, since he had no other garment with which he could be clothed to go out. D Therefore, he promised that he would come, but he still delayed for a while, until one of those who were present, behaving a bit too inquisitively, applied his eye to an opening and beheld what was happening. He himself was filled with wonder and caused the others to use their own eyes as witnesses of this event. So, after what had been seen had astonished everyone, they returned and with wonder disclosed everything to the patriarch. But it did not cross the mind of the latter to wonder at all; rather, he was inclined to rebuke them for thinking to indicate that Marcian was great based on such petty things, when it was possible to consider him wonderful and blessed from many other deeds which no one else could easily accomplish.
XIX. As for the extent of the reverence which this great man enjoyed from everyone alike—the people, I say, the senate, and the emperor himself—fame testifies to this; those also testify to it who were most powerful at that time, Aspar and Ardaburius.
A For although they were of evil belief and were in every way hostile to those who held the correct faith, nevertheless they could not even look easily upon the divine Marcian, being overawed by the excellence of his virtue; and for this reason they bestowed great honor upon him and adorned the church of the Great Anastasia, which had been founded by him, with costly vessels made of gold and silver. And he, returning their gift, decreed that on solemn days the divinely inspired Scriptures should be read in that temple in their native language (for they were Goths). But Marcian was thus venerable to the Byzantines. Report also summoned those from cities situated far away, and they came streaming from every side; some to obtain the healing of their sins, others of their diseases; and not even those from ancient Rome were lacking, but they also came. Among whom there is something worthy of mention, which I do not think it good to deprive your ears of.
XXI. For a certain woman, who had been suffering from a chronic flow of blood so severely that all medical art, as far as she was concerned, was considered useless and superfluous effort, on hearing of the divine signs of Marcian, which were sung of by all, left Rome and arrived in Constantinople. Nor did she repent having made such a journey, as if she had obtained nothing worth such misery B; but as soon as she approached the righteous man and made known her disease, the source of the blood dried up, and the woman enjoyed healing. For such was this divine man, that he would often set free those who approached and besought him not even by touch, but by prayer alone and a mere look. So great was Marcian in his miracles. Great also was he in those things which were done rightly and according to virtue, in accordance with the divine promise which says: *Them that honor me I will honor* (1 Reg. II, 30). By whose intercessions may it be granted to us to be partakers of those goods, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
OF ST. THEODOSIUS THE COENOBIARCH NEAR JERUSALEM IN JUDEA.
(Year 529 according to the Bollandists, 11 Jan.)[§]I. The feast and sacred honors of St. Theodosius. D In one century, four Theodosii have illustrated the Church: two emperors and two archimandrites. The former were notable for prudence, piety, and zeal for the Catholic religion, the elder also for martial virtue; the latter for the holiness of their lives and the glory of their miracles. Both of these share public honors of veneration on one and the same day; the former, as we said above, almost solely by the Greeks, the latter also by the Latins. The former was from Antioch and founded a coenobium in Cilicia that remained famous even among posterity, called [the monastery of] Scopulus; the latter was a Cappadocian who built a monastery in Palestine, about which [we shall speak] a little later. The latter was the junior, born some years after the death of the former, as one who would explain the sacred Scripture to the people, when Theodosius II the emperor had departed from the living in the year 450. Far different from these is the Theodosius who, from a monk, became the pseudo-bishop of Jerusalem, an Eutychian, who lived in the age of the emperor Marcian, as will be noted below in the Life of St. Euthymius on January 20th.
A His remains rest in Rome, where he died. "It is, moreover, added there, that it is the location of the cave-cemetery in which, when Herod was deluded by the Magi in accordance with the oracle of the Gospel, they stayed there when they departed to return to their own country. In this cave, our holy Father Theodosius, after he had completed the agonies of a religious life, was gifted with the grace of casting out demons; and not only in this brief, temporary life, but even after his death, he casts them out to this very day, to the glory and praise of Christ the true God and our Savior, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." These things are in the Eulogy of the author, from the Greek manuscripts in the later edition prefixed to our work by Rosweyde, which we suspect was compiled after the death of Moschus himself by some monk of the same monastery. Many of these things are cited from it in the Bibliotheca of Photius, under theme 199. Furthermore, those things here concerning the Magi, the burial, and the power of St. Theodosius over demons are referred to; the same are read in the Life, n. 9, 10, etc., which it is right to conjecture was written even before that, because otherwise Moschus would not have commemorated his virtues unless a book concerning them had already been written in the hands of all.
8. We believe, however, that another is the author of this Life of St. Theodosius; or for the reason that nowhere in it is there mention either of St. Euthymius or certainly of St. Sabas, between whom and St. Theodosius B however, it is constant that the highest friendship and familiarity intervened, as will appear below in § 5. Furthermore, Cyril is profuse in describing the circumstances of place, time, associates, etc., which the other barely touches upon. Finally, he cites himself elsewhere, and the Lives described by him: but not even in the Acts of St. Sabas, where he mentions St. Theodosius so many times, does he even lightly indicate that a Life of him was composed by himself.
9. They say below, n. 40, that many of great erudition embraced the institute of St. Theodosius, and at n. 39, that many of these men of learning emerged as bishops and pastors of the Church, and superiors of various monasteries. Why should not one of these have described the illustrious virtues of his teacher and most excellent father? That this was done not long after his death, perhaps under his successor, is indicated by the cited passage, in which are enumerated those who were educated in the discipline both of St. Theodosius and of his successor. Julian was among the disciples of Theodosius, whom the great Theodosius, as is read at n. 71, "always had as a companion of the life to be led in Christ, and wished to philosophize with him, and for him to be his companion in solitude." From his account, or perhaps also from his commentaries, it is permissible to conjecture that this author drew not a few things from those which are said in ch. 16, n. 71. But Julian was a great man, and a disciple worthy of such a teacher, who even had become bishop of Bostra while he (Theodosius) was still living, and, because he would not consent to the heretic Severus of Antioch, was compelled to take flight of his own accord, as Evagrius says, 1. III, c. 33. And he himself is the one whose life, or rather the miracle of the poisoned chalice, which he drank unharmed after having first made the sign of the cross, is told in ch. 94 of the Spiritual Meadow by John Moschus; who himself also, as is related in the preface of his work, "in the beginning renounced the world in the monastery of our holy Father Theodosius, abbot and archimandrite of all the coenobia or monasteries that are in Jerusalem," to whose cemetery his C remains, having been carried from Rome where he had died, now rest.
§ III. His Age. Time of death.
10. Just as Cyril was diligent and accurate in recording the circumstances of time, so this author here almost neglected it, content to have said only this at n. 84, that St. Theodosius died when he had lived one hundred and five years and a little more. From which, if the year of his birth or death is deduced, the rest is easily inferred. The time of death (for those things which the old man performed in his prime are more diligently described) must be inquired into first. St. Theodosius survived the emperor Anastasius (n. 55), who died in the year of Christ 518. He predicted the earthquake of Antioch (n. 76) some days before it happened, in the year of Christ 526. Peter III of this name, patriarch of Jerusalem, who succeeded to John II when he died on April 22, in the second indiction, in the year 524, and who closed his last day in the year 546, was present at his burial (n. 87). These things are from the Life; Nicephorus Callistus writes thus in 1. XVII Hist. eccl. c. 24: "While Justinian was still administering the empire, and that great Sabas and the illustrious Theodosius, leaders of the desert, were still alive. But the earlier one, Theodosius, passed to God. Sabas, however, then in his ninetieth year, went to Constantinople as a legate to Justinian, sent by the bishop of Aelia, while he was still fluctuating in a thin and very frail old age. For the Samaritans, having created a certain Julian as king for themselves, had proudly inflicted many injuries upon the Christians," etc., which Nicephorus took from the Life of St. Sabas, where Cyril relates it thus: "When, however, Justinian had assumed the empire and had taken up the administration of affairs, the blessed Sabas was indeed in his 91st year, but the divine Theodosius had already reached the end of his life. For in Palestine the people of the Samaritans, when they had created a certain Julian, who himself also was a Samaritan, as king for themselves, were doing many injuries to the Christians," etc.
A of Herodium, between Herodium and Thecua. This monastery of St. Theodosius was one and a half miles distant toward the west; it was closer to Jerusalem, as the vision granted to St. Sabas required, "showing the Torrent, which flows from Siloe to the south, and commanding him to dwell in the cave of the Torrent, which turns toward the east." This Siloe, or swimming pool, with respect to Jerusalem to the south, flows into the Cedron, commonly called the Torrent; which, enlarged by streams and springs, flows through the plains of the desert toward the east into the Dead Sea, where it is absorbed. Into this Torrent the aforementioned streams of the Laura and Suca flow, while the tributaries of the Susacim of St. Cyriacus are ninety stadia distant from the Laura of St. Sabas. This much concerning the location of the Laura of St. Sabas and the Monastery of St. Theodosius.
20. It is said (in the Life of St. Sabas) that the blessed Empress Eudocia, wife of the late Theodosius II, received profit from the most celebrated teaching of Theodosius B when she renounced the Eutychian heresy, which she had imbibed from the pseudo-monk Theodosius, and, sent by Symeon Stylites to St. Euthymius, visited St. Theodosius together with him; she died in the year of Christ 460. Concerning this, one may also read in the Notes to the Life of St. Simeon Stylites by the author Metaphrastes, 5 Jan., ch. 12, letter h, and at greater length in the Life of St. Euthymius, 20 January. This monastery of St. Theodosius, named after his passing, always had illustrious defenders of the orthodox faith, who, above other monasteries of Palestine, held the highest preeminence before emperors and in councils. John Moschus frequently praises their virtues in the *Spiritual Meadow*, most especially in chapters 3, 22, 23, 92, and the twelve following, as well as 109, some of which wrongly bear the title of the monastery of St. Theodosius in Scopulo Cilicia, such as chapters 95 and 99, which is a marvel that no one has yet noticed.
V. The Familiarity of SS. Sabas and Theodosius.
21. The author of the Life of St. Sabas does not even mention his name. In this Life, Cyril praises the friendship of both in several places. "A certain monk approaches Sabas," he says, "by the name of Anthus, a man who is a lover of virtue, who had also spent a long time with the great Theodosius..." In the Latin Life, he is called Florus: "Then for the first time this Sabas was divinely made known to Theodosius, when Anthus had beautifully interceded for this acquaintance. Afterward, C Sabas also creates a desert, and established a laura in it." This year was 477 of Christ.
22. "The divine Sabas (Cyril continues in the same place), if he saw someone from among those who had renounced the world, whose face, that is, was not yet covered with hair, would send him to Theodosius, who, receiving most willingly those who were sent, strove in every way to take care of them, thereby gratifying him who had sent them: for the divine Sabas and this blessed Theodosius were joined by a great love between them, and each preferred the will of the other to his own; nay rather, he truly believed the will of the other to be his own, for the love of Christ had so joined them, and had persuaded them to feel the same thing. And this was celebrated in the speech of all, and they were judged and named by the Jerusalemites as another apostolic pair. By the archbishop, I mean Salustius, who was to be perfected in Christ, the administration of the entire assembly of monks was commanded to them, not that they themselves had desired this task, but rather they were elected by the monks, and had accepted that administration as a reward for their virtue. But I shall say in a few words how they arrived at this administration.
23. When Elpidius and Elias, successors of the great Pasarion, had passed from life, the administration consequently passed to Lazarus. Likewise, it is entrusted to the brothers of Gerontius. When these, therefore, Lazarus, I say, and Anastasius, were in charge of the administration, the affairs of the monks were extremely turbulent, and were agitated by the greatest billows. When, therefore, these whom we have mentioned, Lazarus, I say, and Anastasius, were not having little or no care for monastic perfection, but were with their whole mind and soul converted to certain worldly cares and D the emoluments of money; especially when Anastasius had then assumed the empire after Zeno, and they spoke with the utmost impudence and license against the Church in their schisms. When, therefore, the divine Salustius (who was then Patriarch of Jerusalem) had decided to free the brothers from that tempest, he first decided that Marcianus, whom I have already mentioned, should be in charge of them and should accept their stewardship. But when some time had passed, the divine Salustius was ailing, and was ill in body; and all who were in the solitude came to him: he himself, however, by the common vote of those who had gathered together, decided that Sabas and Theodosius, whom the present narrative shows you, should preside over the monasteries that were around the holy city. From that time, therefore, Theodosius indeed presided over those who lived communally, but Sabas over those who associated with no one and were entirely separate." The death of Salustius is subjoined, as if this illness of his seems to have been fatal. He died in the year of Christ 513.
24. When Sabas had been called by the Bishop of Jerusalem to a banquet, because Antonius, bishop of Ascalon, who was the brother of the archbishop, was also present, when they had intercepted Sabas in their midst, they drank to him in a friendly manner, and invited and entertained him as much as they were able. But neither were the hands of the saint idle: but, as was proper, with all fiction and simulation removed, he ate of what was set before him. There was also present the divine Theodosius, who was very dear and familiar to him, as has already been often said by me: who, desiring to add, as it were, a certain seasoning of gracious and pleasing speech to the meal, with great urbanity and wit, brought it forward and said that the divine Sabas was so hungry for
A his spiritual father, he whom his own mother had been by the flesh; for in place of carnal generation, he rightly received his spiritual regeneration. And if it is difficult for a son to return worthy thanks to his parents, who are the authors of his being, why should not he be still more superior, who was the cause of his mother’s well-being?
3. Having thus proceeded from such origins, this noble and blessed plant, he was nourished and grew both in physical stature and spiritual age, as was altogether fitting for one born of such stock and destined to become such a man. When he had attained that age which provides foresight and discernment, he immediately manifested to what his mind was inclined; he was no lover of money, nor of bodily things—which are, indeed, B the leapings and shoots of a youth that is not noble and not correctly raised, like the colt of a horse that has not been accustomed to the bridle, nor to the earth that has not received the hands and labors of a farmer—but, conceiving a love for the philosophical life and desiring to see the holy places in which the Maker of all and God endured the sufferings salutary to the whole world, he was struck with awe by these very passions of Christ. For if he himself were to hold them in such low regard that, yielding to idleness and sloth on account of bodily hardship, he did not come to those holy places, he would [also fail to] embrace that solitude which is an excellent helper to philosophy, and [to] embrace a life strictly solitary and quiet. For he did not desire a name that lied about the truth which exists in reality. But what the occasion of this pilgrimage was, the story now wishes to pursue. C
4. The illustrious Theodosius was excellent at reading the divine Scriptures, if anyone ever was. For he was heard gladly, not only because he was beautifully instructed in this, but because he cast a sharp desire into all, both from the modesty of his character and from that reverence which befits young men more than anything else. Therefore, the command was given to him to read the sacred books to the people. While he read them neatly and diligently, he would sometimes hear God commanding Abraham to go out from his land and kindred, and at other times hear that the forsaking of country, house, parents, and brothers—which happens D for His sake, as the holy Gospels say—is for those who have done so the cause of eternal life. Reading these things and such like, and pouring them into the folds of his mind, he was naturally inflamed in his soul and possessed by a great desire to follow Christ through the narrow and rugged way. And while he incessantly turned these thoughts in his mind, he poured out prayers which were the reward of his most beautiful way. "Lead me, O Lord," he said, "in your way, and I will walk in your truth" (Ps. LXXXVI, 11). Then, with diligent zeal, he set out on the road that leads to Jerusalem, at that time when the Emperor Marcian was already at the sunset of his life; and [the Council of] Chalcedon...
made it clear that a departure from the blessed Theodosius was troublesome, especially since he preferred to obey rather than to rule, just as the account will declare.
A 9. For having been persuaded and moved, and having inhabited that divine temple, his reputation subsequently spread abroad to everyone (for virtue is accustomed to make him who possesses it no less conspicuous than a lamp does him who carries it), and, unable to endure staying there any longer, he moved to this mountain and this holy cave, from which he made his only transition to God, leaving his body there. However, his movement to the mountain happens in a God-beloved way for these three reasons. First, that he might flee the office as a great burden—which the fathers there were about to impose upon him—or rather, that he might flee the superior excellence of his virtue. Second, that he might also demonstrate the change of place, as a transfer to a model of a more exalted life, considering the desertion of human company to be productive of many fruits of virtue. Third, because he was moved not from his own initiative, but by God, that he might there be entrusted with the generalship of Christ's phalanx, where he was to offer so many myriads of soldiers, or rather spiritual champions, to the common Master. Thus, moved by a God-beloved intention, he approaches the peak of the mountain and dwells in this cave until the end, and it is here that his holy remains remain even now.
C 10. A certain report transmitted from the fathers of old has reached us, which says that those faithful Magi who came from the East to Bethlehem, having most piously offered gold and frankincense and myrrh to Christ, who had come from the heights above to the West of this world, and then having been warned by an Angel not to return by the same way they had come, but rather to return to their own country by another—these Magi, it says, lodged in this cave on their return, and having slept here at night, thus set out in the morning on the path leading home. And such a thing, as they say, might perhaps be considered implausible; for in one respect, since they had intended to travel through Jerusalem, it is not at all easy for them to return home from Bethlehem by another way, without passing through that place. As, indeed, we now see those who are from Bethlehem, or from the region around it, passing through here.
D 11. Furthermore, there are many things that happened long ago, but are not contained in the divine Scripture; oral tradition alone causes them to be held as certain even to this day. Such are the things said about the place of the skull, which have been treated by the great Basil. For he, preserving in the Church some memories not indeed committed to writing, tells what is such as this: that Judea was the first to have man as an inhabitant, namely Adam, as soon as he fell from the delights of paradise, being placed in this land to mitigate the loss of the goods of which he had been stripped. Therefore, the first [earth] also received the dead man, who there fully carried out the sentence of condemnation to which he was subject. And so it seemed strange and new,
boni et honesti studiosas animas ad se traberet, non secus ac magnes ferrum, aut potius ut bonas quasdam apes, jucundum illud mel virtutis. Ad ill- A um itaque jam ventilabant quidam ex iis, qui erant amatores virtutis, et malebant cum eo incolere so- litudinem, quam cum imperatoribus praeclaras ci- vitates. Qui vim afferentes, vis quidem, sed tamen persuadent, ne sua solum consideraret, sed ea etiam, quae sunt proximorum : et ejus, quae est ex Deo, vitae eum accipiunt veluti pedotribam. Et tunc quidem sex vel septem numero erant chorus qui erat circa ipsum.
16. Cum autem sciret ille magnus, iis qui ex Deo vivere elegerint, nihil aeque conducere ad parandam virtutem et ad partam conservandam, B ac mortis memoria, quae etiam vera philosophia et dicitur et creditur; quid facit? Sepulcrum jam construere his suis jubet discipulis: simul quidem ut ejus esset monumentum finis, sicut etiam vocatur, et sic eos magis excitaret ad de- certandum, et diligentius stimularet ad virtutem; et simul etiam et mortuos acciperet; quin etiam ille ex futuris aliquid praevidens et praesagiens; jam enim haec charismata et gradus attigeret, in luce gratiae lucem videns. Quid autem erat quod praesagiebat, jam declarare aggreditur oratio. Paratum enim erat sepulcrum, et adstabat quidem ipse desuper; discipuli autem ipsum circumsis- tebant. Ille autem acuto mentis oculo intuens id, quod erat eventurum, sic lepide dicit, eos aspi- ciens: Sepulcrum quidem est paratum, quisnam C autem ex vobis est encania ejus celebraturus? Et ille quidem sic, lepide et urbanae orationi miscens seria: solebat enim ipse quoque inter alia tem- pus nosse, austeritatemque et tristitiam gratia moderata solvere.
17. Quidam autem Basilius, dignitate quidem sacerdos, propter rerum autem bonarum deside- rium, expressos aperte servans paternos characte- res; et eum qui ipsum genuerat spiritaliter, non mi- nus referens similitudine virtutis, quam carnales patres ii qui ex illis nati sunt, et alioqui sciens quaestionem non frustra esse propositam a magi- stro, primus arripiens sermonem, erat prompto et alacri animo ad mortem eligendam, tanquam D rem non repudiandam, sed valde utilem et condu- cibilem. Protinus ergo genibus flexis, cum se humi projecisset: Benedic mihi, inquit, Pater, Ego autem, inquit, hujus sepulcri primo celebrabo encaenia. Hic ergo petiit, ille vero dedit. Et ipsum quidem habuit sepulcrum. Jubet autem Pater omnia ipsi fieri, quae lex vult fieri mortuis; tertianas, inquam, et novenas, et consequenter etiam quadragenas. Cum autem jam finem acciperent quadragenae, (o quo- modo explicaverit oratio id quod est valde quidem verum, sed est valde creditu difficile, propterea quod modum exsuperat!) Basilius neque a febre arre- ptus, nec capitis dolore vexatus, nec ullum dolorem sentiens in ulla parte corporis, tanquam molli sommeil sicut somno suavissimo sopitus, ad Dominum migrabat, praemium virtutis
A and what remained of the bones they were boiling, as has already been said, and were using them for the solace of their hunger. Thus, they were forcing the man, who had always desired to remain hidden, to become manifest because of their own faint-heartedness and abject spirit; and they were urging him—who had been accustomed to turn his eyes toward God—to stretch out his hands to men in a disgraceful manner, forsaking the hand which is open and satisfies every living thing with a blessing, as if they had judged it in the present to be severe, or parsimonious, or sordid. And they, indeed, were downcast. But he, gently admonishing them, said: "Which of those who have ever trusted in God was ever abandoned? Or who, having endured in Him to the end, has not been comforted? He who inebriates every thirsty soul. Let divine Jeremiah say these things with us:" *And he shall satisfy every soul that hungers.* B Who prepares food for the raven, and for the young of the ravens, that I may also bring in the divine Job and David speaking in harmony together. Let us know how great the difference is between human striving and divine providence, which reaches even to the extremities; and we shall know how we shall again abundantly and copiously enjoy those things which, through Christ, we willingly abandoned, by the providence of Christ.
22. He said these things, and shortly after a certain man appeared leading a laden animal. But he was going, not toward the monastery of the Great one [Theodosius], but his aim was to pass it by, and to deposit the load in some other place. But when he was already near the monastery, the beast brought the man to a halt, even against his will; and although he inflicted many blows upon it with a whip, it remained immovable, no differently than if it were a stone. Since C the man then rightly judged that this did not happen without the will of God, he presently changed his strategy and used the animal as his guide, and having loosened the rein, he permitted it to go wherever its impulse carried it. When the man had done so, the animal immediately did not go anywhere else, but, as if someone invisible were pulling the rein and guiding it, it went straight toward the monastery. And having entered there, the man learned of the destitution that held them at its greatest, and was struck with wonder at the mystery of the providence of God: how He had brought it about that the distress of penury should become an occasion for crowns for them, and that He Himself should contrive the solution to that distress, and that for this reason the animal had visibly disobeyed him—as providence was calling him to nourish the souls of those who were ministering to God but were laboring under the weakness of the ministering body. Having learned these things, he provided D double the amount of his alms than what the first distributor had given. From then on, therefore, his disciples, ceasing to show that distress and to be of a faint and abject heart, strove rather to imitate him, and deemed him blessed because of his firm hope and faith in God. But these things, indeed, thus far.
CHAPTER VI. The monastery is constructed.
23. Since, however, students were adding themselves to him daily—for the sources of his graces called them—
their arrival and the place where they were received and the manner in which they were cared for were assigned to each respectively. One thing, however, was presented equally to all: namely, the utmost cheerfulness and kindness of A hospitality. Furthermore, Theodosius took great care of the poor: having overcome their poverty by supplying them, he held it in turn to be inferior to his own willingness—just as his willingness, at the proper time, was overcome by the great gift of the Spirit, as will be shown shortly. This was very reasonable and consistent with the facts. For if he, being a man, was eager to surpass the desires of needy men by the greatness of his willingness, how was his human willingness not to be surpassed in turn by divine wealth and kindness?
28. Since, however, he had such sympathy for all who were oppressed by need, he increased his compassion all the more for those in whom an even greater evil existed, and who, along with poverty, were also afflicted by disease or by the crippling of limbs—which is the most grievous thing of all. For this reason, he was indeed an eye to the blind, a foot to the lame, a garment to the naked, and a covering to those who lacked a roof. He was a B physician, a benefactor, an administrator, and a servant to the sick; becoming all things to all men because of his overflowing kindness—washing away blood, cleansing wounds, bringing his lips to the lips of those whose flesh was mutilated, and so very wisely consoling them and persuading them to bear their misfortune moderately, since they knew that those who are wise not only do not turn away from them, but rather consider them blessed and embrace them. Yet he did not conduct himself in a proud and inhuman manner, as do many who, when it behooved them, by taking pity on their brothers, to reconcile to themselves the kindness and mercy of God, are instead—O the inhumanity!—so haughty and of a lofty spirit, or (to speak more truly) too much in love with themselves, and of so small and abject a soul, that they not only do not admit these [poor], but do not even bring themselves to look upon them in their minds; just as if they were unwilling C to remember or even to know at all that their own flesh is subject to such afflictions. But this blessed man was not so; rather, he was (as we said) of a great and generous spirit. There are indeed many witnesses to this with their own eyes—especially those who shared this ministry with him; for those who at first were likewise shunning such an act of extraordinary kindness and compassion, having afterwards revered his great moderation, were persuaded to think correctly and to act in accordance with human weakness and humility.
29. Therefore, if anyone should call him a common harbor, a common infirmary, a common house, or a common storehouse, he would speak correctly and in harmony with the truth for those who are sick, hungry, cold, or traveling. For he took the care that was proper for all those of whom it was fitting to take care. As for him who was neglected or overlooked—if you had searched there due to the insignificance of the person, you would have found no one; but for this very reason, because he was, I say, insignificant and lowly, you would have found him worthy of even D more care; since even Christ is among the least, and the things that are
near neighbor to love are the care for the sick; and it is especially this that knows how to purge our souls’ capacity for suffering. For it is not sufficient for perfection to feed a hungry brother, and to give drink to the thirsty, and to house and clothe the stranger and the naked; but, in addition to these, one must also sympathize, so that the good deed may not be done simply, but also well—that is, according to the disposition of the soul, so that mercy is shown not by the hand alone, but by the soul as well. Such was he in this matter, as the account now intends to make clear. A Having built three houses, he assigned one to those who for the sake of Christ had remained unmarried and were crucified to the whole world, for the care of their bodies in infirmity. Then he allowed the two others to those who were living and moving about the world; and of these, he assigned one to the more distinguished and honorable, and the other to the lower-born and poorer ones who were in need of the help of others. But for his own monks, too, whose strength of limbs had been dissolved by old age and the toils of long asceticism (for it was necessary that not even this should escape the cares of Theodosius), he built a fitting infirmary for the aged in a separate place, and gave it to them for the refreshment of their long-standing suffering, like a suitable inn for good travelers who had become tired B from a long and difficult journey. In addition to these, another hospital was constructed by him, a work of compassion for a truly compassionate and philanthropic soul. This, too, was a gift from a woman who was very respectable and Godly in her way of life; she, having admired his goodness, bestowed upon him the house, herself, and her children simultaneously, renouncing the world and entrusting herself entirely to God, and choosing that her children should live under his care.
34. But furthermore, what is a greater sign of benevolence and kindness than those who, even though they chose to live in mountains and caves for the sake of Christ, did not choose to live according to Christ, having pursued asceticism with an irrational and misguided fervor, and having forgotten their own human weakness and the words of Christ, that apart from him we can do nothing? Persuaded by empty pride and vain conceit, and—alas!—attributing their achievements to themselves—(Oh, my evils! Oh, the grievous C folly, or rather, to speak the truth, the madness! For what good, Savior, can human nature do, stripped of your assistance? You who instruct me through the tongue of your prophet Isaiah, saying: "I have let down my hands, and they have withered, and they have become as dry grass upon the rooftops, as herbage." What does this signify? That having lost the flower of virtue, which those who have your helping hand have embraced, they then withered by the lack of your richness, and miserably put on the shame of deformity)—those, therefore, who have thought so foolishly, and for this reason were delivered to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, as Paul says, so that the spirit might be saved, or having otherwise become deranged in their minds and having undergone their own corruption, and as it D
were, to hear the divine voice; and in addition to this, for all of them, except those possessed by demons, to be gathered into the great A church of the Greeks. And this they do to this day, and there they partake of the holy things.
39. But what need is there to recount everything, of that sacred shepherd and his flock; and which of these might one admire more, his virtue or their multitude? For throughout his whole life, those whom he had begotten in a spiritual sense, and had nourished in a fatherly way, and then sent forth to God—having well completed their own lives—numbered six hundred and ninety-three. And those who, succeeding him in the monastery, followed after him, were more than four hundred, manifesting the clear character of his paternal virtue, sons who were lovers of their father, and children whose affection for their father was quite extraordinary. The cause of the love in both parties was not nature, which is a thing devoid of praise and of reward, but was a good will that loves what is good, and for this reason is altogether worthy of crowns. B And I could speak with great pleasure of how many shepherds, how many bishops, his training brought forth; how many of his sheep became shepherds in other places, or presided over sacred monasteries, not themselves desirous of authority, but rather judged as worthy of it, and fit to be entrusted with the care of souls; and how many lived by themselves from a longing for solitude and a desire for greater struggles—for some of whom the exercise lasted even until eighty years, and the multitude of their years gathered for them a wealth of spiritual riches. Through all these, Theodosius was known and proclaimed, and his golden lineage was preserved for him; by which I mean, does he not excel in honor through that which is better? By which the fruits and the sheaves were multiplied for him, and his reward increased. C About each one of them, then, the account would gladly have made mention, if it did not stretch out to excess. One must, therefore, sum it up by saying that there was left almost no region that was not partaker of the supervision and the benefit from him.
40. When, therefore, the fame of this divine man had permeated the whole world, and he had drawn to himself souls that were studious of virtue, many of the soldiers, bidding farewell to the wars, transferred themselves into his phalanx; many, too, of those in positions of dignity and those who were viewed with honor, despising these things as though they were dreams, or rather, setting aside these things as other sirens that beguile to the ruin of those who pay attention to them, moved toward him with their whole stride, believing that the dishonor for Christ’s sake was true glory and better even than the kingdom itself; D and many, too, of those who shone greatly in learning...
A how shall we grasp with our eyes that terrible and manifest day of the Lord, in which He will receive into the kingdom of heaven those who, through good deeds, draw near to the Lord on the right, while those who are cast to the left, because they are destitute of good works, will be hidden away by the gehenna of fire, eternal darkness, and the gnashing of teeth? We say that we desire the kingdom of heaven, yet we do not trouble ourselves about those things through which it is possible to attain it; but instead, undertaking no labor for the commandment of the Lord, we imagine in the vanity of our mind that we shall receive the same honors as those who have resisted against sin unto death.
45. And then, having traversed the discourse up to this point, he would sometimes add things of his own which stirred them to obedience, and prepared them for endurance, and bound them to concord. He added his own words, not as someone boasting or glorifying himself, but as one who showed that he himself held the same sentiments; and at the same time, because the things already spoken by the ancients exceed the grasp of the common people due to their brevity or the magnitude of their meaning, he himself, by his own additions, made them most manifest, evident, and clear to all. And so indeed the holy Theodosius excelled in his instructional discourse; but how did he fare regarding dogma, and what kind of speech or zeal did he possess in these matters? Or is there any need to inquire about this, since all things speak more clearly than any voice, and proclaim his zeal for piety more openly? That, however, is to be sought more diligently: what tongue is so learned and eloquent that it could rightly describe the triumphs of his tongue? For he was in all other things the most gentle, and most ready to be honorably overcome rather than to win in an unpraiseworthy manner. But where there was a danger to piety, B there the strong-minded Theodosius was present, possessed of an unstinting resolve, a soul contentious and unyielding, becoming—to say what the divine Scripture says—a consuming fire, or a cutting axe, or the sword of a warrior. There are many other proofs of this, but for me, one will suffice to recall to memory.
CHAPTER XI.
The Emperor Anastasius attempts to subvert St. Theodosius with money.
46. Our own time also D bore an emperor who, at first, as far as was apparent, was as a paradise of delight, but in the end...
for what is the use of the name alone, when the sacred things themselves are truly being subjected to outrage? We, therefore, A by no means admit or entertain any thought—much less would we say or accept anything—that deviates from the holy and ecumenical councils. The first of these is adorned by the three hundred and eighteen Fathers, who, having gathered in the Holy Spirit at Nicaea against Arius, subjected that wretched man to anathema and cut him off from the ecclesiastical body, as he was alienating the Son, who is by nature of the essence of the Father, and was introducing dogmas alien to the true faith. The second, gathered by divine impulse against Macedonius, who also spoke wickedly against the good Spirit, condemned him. And the third, regarding the profane and execrable tongue of Nestorius, who had also spoken absurdities against the economy of the incarnation of Christ, gathered well at Ephesus. In addition to these, B there was also the council at Chalcedon of the six hundred and thirty divine Fathers, who, having spoken in harmony with those who preceded them, and having set forth more accurately what those men had said, cut off the unhappy and execrable Eutyches, together with Nestorius, from the body of the Church, and confirmed the apostolic faith, decreeing that anyone who did not think so was an alien from the Church of Christ. Against these things, let fire be kindled, let the sword be sharpened, and let bitter death be brought upon us—or rather, if it might be possible, instead of one death, let ten thousand be brought—for we shall never betray the true religion, nor shall we dishonor the things that the Fathers rightly decreed by repealing them. Let their labors, which they underwent for the faith, and their many struggles be witnesses. But these things will remain firm and immovable, both among us and among those for whom it is right to follow both God and us. May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, be the guardian and guide of your power.
50. When the emperor had received this letter, C he immediately set aside the use of force and the attempt to persuade, and instead, he retreated and set himself to apologize for the things of which he was accused, and thus he composed the letter: “Of this innovation, O man of God, we are not the authors. We confidently call as witness the eye of God, who sees all things; but this movement arises from those who, more than others, ought to have honored these things with silence. But now, desiring each to be seen as the first in power of speech and in dignity, they strike at one another and draw us into their midst. D What else, then, is it necessary for us to do, other than, while they are in motion, not to be moved ourselves, but to embrace quietness, so that we might thus be able to persuade those who have decided to stir up these things to dismiss such contention and to be at rest with us? For it is by no means hidden from your piety that certain monks and clerics, who claim for themselves the opinion of the orthodox faith, have been those who have stirred up these scandals...”
A and who impiously defend two hypostases and introduce two sons, the one indeed God, begotten of the Father separately and apart, and the other, who is from the holy Virgin, attributing to him by grace alone the dignity of adoption.
55. Eutyches, however, and Dioscorus, and indeed Severus—who has recently joined himself to them and, choosing to be a partaker of their impiety, as though they wished to abolish the absurd division of Nestorius, cure evil with evil—they themselves, too, foolishly dare again to introduce a confusion, naming one and the same nature of divinity and humanity, and not hesitating to bring down the impassible divinity to suffering, insofar as it pertains to them. For if, according to them, the nature of Christ is one, and he is truly God and man, then the divinity has also partaken of death. B But may their filthy mouths be stopped, and may the evil ones perish miserably with their dogmas. The blessed Peter also rebukes them, saying that Christ suffered for us in the flesh, but not adding that he suffered in his divinity. For even if, as regards his essence, the divinity of Christ was united to the suffering flesh, it was not itself a partner in the suffering; for how could it be, since the divine is altogether impassible? Rightly, therefore, and securely has it been ratified by this holy synod that there are two natures of divinity and humanity, to be honored in one hypostasis, without confusion, without change, and without division; the same one, begotten before the ages from the Father—in respect, of course, to the Word of the divinity—and in the last times born again from the holy Virgin, according to the newer law of humanity; similar to the Father and to the Mother in essence; the same one without father and without mother, the one being well-known from the generation below, the other from that above; C the only-begotten and the first-born: the one according to the nature of the divinity—for he has no brother according to that—and the other according to the substance of the humanity, for many are those who after him have been adopted by the Father through baptism.
56. Such things, then, and similar things, that person taught with a free tongue and with a boldness well-sharpened, and because he provoked the emperor all the more to anger, he is condemned by him to perpetual exile; by him, alas, who was already ignorant of his own inescapable removal and the departure from here that was to follow. And for this reason, he himself is released from the present life—but this divine man is delivered D immediately from exile; and that violent storm is calmed for the Churches by the nod, surely, of Him who executes judgment for those who are wronged, and by a more divine decree. And those who had leapt upon them like brigands—what they were about to do, they themselves suffered in greater measure; and, as the proverb says, the potsherd having turned over, they were condemned to exile.
A They were held by such zeal, and each returned to his own monastery; at one time this illustrious man would go to Bethlehem for the sake of prayer, and at another, having prayed, he would return. Calming the great weariness of the journey, he would stay with Marcian. This man was full of spiritual graces. When they had come together for a greeting and exchanged a spiritual kiss—with the soul also joining in this kiss—first of all a table of discourse was set before them, with which they fed their souls most brilliantly, delighting in the sayings of the saints and the narratives of the elders, for there existed a kinship of character between them. But when the time invited them to remember also the nourishment of the body, there was no grain present so that bread might be served; the good Marcian ordered B his disciples to cook lentils. And these were indeed served without bread. But when the great Theodosius perceived such manifest scarcity—he who was a pauper and yet rich in poverty—he himself greatly desired that his hosts should be received with a more lavish banquet. He therefore ordered the disciple to take from the wallet the bread that he had prepared for his travel provisions. And these were brought out and set before them. Yet, because of the charity that gladdens, they celebrated a banquet no less lavish with these necessary things than if superfluous foods had been served.
62. As usually happens at such banquets, conversations also accompany the meal, and most of them were witty and pleasant. The divine Marcian was cheerfully imploring him, saying: "Do not take it ill that you are laboring under such a famine-stricken hospitality, C nor complain that we have not set bread before you, since our grain has failed us most shamefully." When he had said this, the admirable Theodosius, having fixed his eyes on Marcian’s beard, saw a grain of wheat—which I know not how had fallen there—and he took it from there with a cheerful and careful hand and said: "Behold, there is grain. How then do you say that you lack grain?" And this was said and done by him in a spirited and pleasant manner. But he, having received the grain in his upturned hands as if it were some noble and excellent seed, placed it in the grain storehouse, believing that without labor it would bring him abundant fruit and would surpass the industry of farmers. D And indeed, it happened for him far more amply and abundantly than he expected. For when on the following day he was about to open the door of the storehouse (O your secret miracles, Lord!), he saw within what was full of fruits which truly had grown without agriculture, or rather, with the agriculture of prayer alone. Therefore, Marcian, delaying nothing in this, immediately sent one of his disciples to the great Theodosius, informing him of the wonderful and ineffable outcome of the matter, and at the same time calling him to share in the sight of the admirable spectacle. When he also had come, the doors were opened ever so little, and the grain was being pushed out by itself, for the storehouse could not contain the multitude, and so a great deal of it was spilling out. This is similar to those that preceded it, and it is in no way unlike the miracle concerning the loaves, which my Christ long ago performed. For the operation of both is altogether one, except that in the former case He Himself was present and
A became known as the excellent shepherd, and into his care was entrusted the administration of the Church in Bostra. He himself, therefore, used to narrate these things about him, how when we were in the city of the Bostreni (for the great man always kept him as a companion of his life lived according to God, and wanted him to philosophize with him and to share in his solitude), when they were in the said city, first a certain woman who was prominent and notorious for her wickedness, having called the holy man a deceiver and an impostor, paid the penalty before our eyes, having endured the swiftest punishment for her unbridled tongue, and having poured out her soul in a miserable death.
73. Then, he says, when we had gone out of the city, we set off for the church of the apostles, which is nearby. Some monks from the neighboring monastery, B who were ill with the malady of Severus, seeing us passing by, struck the wood that summons to the church before the customary hour, and signified a synaxis to the brothers. The great Theodosius, therefore, having understood the scheme, and having his soul inflamed with divine zeal, used the words of the Lord at the proper time: and he justly defended himself against those who were insulting him, having himself also threatened that not a stone should remain upon a stone in that place. Furthermore, the consequence followed upon the threat. A short time elapsed, and a certain multitude of Agarenes, having made a nighttime incursion, consigned that monastery to fire, and plundered absolutely everything that was there, and carried off the monks as captives. And now the place lies before our eyes as a C grievous spectacle, which is more worthy of being wept over than seen. But this narrative is openly a matter of discipline and correction; but the story desires to add another, which is entirely partaker of grace and utility.
CAPUT XVII.
He is present to various persons in danger. He predicts the earthquake at Antioch.
74. The commander of the Roman army (it is the custom to call him the Comes Orientis), Kerykos by name, bold in war but pious toward God, when he was just about to make an incursion against the Persians, thought it necessary to run first to Jerusalem and gain from there help—the influence from on high—against the enemies. Since, therefore, on his way he decided to go to the man of God (for his reputation strongly drew him, as did the charms of his virtue), having gone to him, it was given to him to hear many things from that holy tongue, and among other things, not to hope in his bow according to the divine David, nor to D trust in the strength of many thousands of men [to win the victory], but to look for salvation from God alone; for he predicted that the war would end in a way different from his expectations. And the outcome proved the truth of the prediction. For both he himself was captured by the Persians, and the army was brought to naught, being broken by the divine judgment because of its lack of trust in God.
A It is a similar thing, just as if one were to order healthy people to tolerate what the sick tolerate; so that it is manifest that the brother was suffering from another, more grievous malady—namely, impudence. What, therefore, did the great Theodosius, most exalted and heavenly in his moderation and humility, do? He accepts the penance as justly imposed and as having a place in his own case, nor did he communicate in the divine mysteries until he himself who had bound him also brought about the release. For he was clearly an imitator of Moses; terrible and inexorable toward those who sinned against God, but very gentle and mild toward those who offended him, so that he neither became contemptible on account of being mild and gentle, nor burdensome and troublesome on account of excessive severity, as one who ruled only over bodies, not souls. For I call that rule which proceeds only from fear the rule of bodies; but that which has desire tempered with it, [the rule] of souls as well.
80. B He imitated not only the excellence of Moses in virtue, but also that of anyone else: as, for example, of Abraham, the obeying of God in all things, and for His sake holding all things cheap—not merely money or country or acquaintances and kinsmen, but nature itself and life. For he believed that not only God but also those who live according to God were to be preferred to those who are close by blood, and he drew the latter more into kinship by the reason of virtue and the study and determination that is directed toward the same goal. He imitated Isaac in his obedience to spiritual fathers even unto death and the pleasing sacrifice of his own body; Jacob in his genuine simplicity and freedom from all wickedness (and of this, those who have made trial of his way of life and conversation are worthy witnesses); John in his solitude and fasting; Peter in his fervor along with exact faith; Paul in his constant activity, affliction, and diligence for the sake of the good, and in the fact that he traversed almost the entire world, just as that apostle did, C part on foot, part through his words, and part by his reputation; and, to put it briefly, like some most excellent painter who collected the finest colors of virtue from every side and mixed them well, he set forth his own life as a kind of archetype, more easy to praise than to imitate, for those who are studious of virtue.
81. Nor was the admirable Job outside the choir of those taken by him for imitation, but he imitated his patience also, always indeed, but more openly at the end. For when he was already about to depart from human life and, in return for the labors he had endured, was about to receive the rewards and retributions for which he had hoped, a final and long-lasting illness attacked him, one that was D almost unbearable even for a body that was young and in its prime, let alone one worn out by such great old age and the affliction he had undertaken for the sake of virtue. For this reason he was bedridden for a whole year, wrestling with unconquerable pains and expanded by such tribulations. For then, his skin wasted away due to the decay from his illness, and he became, as the saying goes, a phantom of a shadow, as to his
A body, for at that time he was clear-headed and of sound mind, which kindled his grief all the more violently, since he was able to contemplate to what kind of calamity the wretched man had fallen, and since he possessed the only hope of release, and even this had been taken away. He was to remain, therefore, until the end, enduring this grievous tyranny, and bearing the movements of the demon, those secret impulses, that horrible fury, and the unspeakable agitation, and the miserable collapses that arose from them, and the inexpressible ignominy among men. Considering these things in his mind, and understanding clearly that henceforth no hope remained, and no release from such things was left to him, his heart was struck with sharp pains, his inward parts were consumed by fire, and his soul was held by the most grievous mourning. What was there that he did not say, what miserable act did he not perform? Furiously tearing his hair, beating his chest violently, striking the ground wretchedly with his forehead, wailing sharply and at length, and drenching his feet with tears, he spoke to him who lay there as if he were still living: "The only hope," he said, "the only savior, is departing and has left us, having abandoned us to the demon. What refuge is there now? What expectation remains? Now it is better to go of one's own accord toward the sword, now toward the fire, now toward the sea, and thus to escape the attacks of the demon."
87. B Thus the wretched man, lamenting, would throw himself upon the bed, and embrace the relics, preferring to be buried along with him rather than to behold the light, serving such a tyrant. But what then does the God of wondrous things do? The demon indeed, while he is lamenting, stirs the man, and having cast him to the ground, and having violently shaken him in the eyes of all, so that he might thus manifest—even against his will—the departure, and how hostile and mad he was towards men, he leaves him; or rather, he is expelled himself, being moved by a more divine scourge. Thus to him, both in life and after death, the earth, and the heaven, and the sea, and the air, and the demons yielded; the earth indeed from wild beasts, the heaven from drought, the sea from dangers, the air from the locust, I say, and the bruchus, and the demons from the plagues—releasing men; and there was nothing left that did not subsequently attest to his virtue and his great boldness before God.
88. D When, therefore, the report had suddenly spread everywhere that the great Theodosius had now departed to his own Master, and indeed the miracle concerning the demoniac had been spread by reports to not a few, Peter the Great, who at that time held the apostolic throne in Jerusalem—that Peter, I say, who was great in fame but greater in virtue than his fame—arrived with many other bishops for the burial of the relics. A multitude of monks and of the common crowd also gathered from everywhere. And all made it a matter of great diligence to draw near and to touch some part, whether of his holy hairs or of his sacred vestments, or at least to approach and behold that blessed face; and it was a matter indeed greatly contested, so that the relics were not for a long time even permitted to be buried, but were considered more excellent,
and he received a more shining crown of martyrdom from above. Thus does God arm us against the invisible tyrant; thus does He gird us with power, and teach our hands for war, and lay down as a bronze bow our arms, and give us the shield of salvation. A IV. After the third day, when Licinius had again ascended his judgment seat, he immediately had the divine Hermylus brought before him. "Have you now," he said, "at last decided to sacrifice to the gods, and to be delivered from the impending terrors, threats, and dangers? Or are you still rushing over the precipice, and has the same madness seized you again?" To this, the soldier of Christ, worthy of Him who had so well armed him, replied most courageously: "Once, O emperor, I gave you my answer, and it is fitting that, being satisfied with what has been said before, you should not move to stir up the same things again. For I have a God in heaven, to whom I live, and to whom I am eager to offer myself as a sacrifice with all speed, and from whom I expect the greatest help to come to me." "Then let us see," says the emperor, "whether this one who dwells in the heavens will provide you with sufficient help." And immediately he gave the order; and six men, seizing the one commanded to be taken—men robust of hand, ruthless in soul, breathing fury and madness—stretched the martyr out upon the ground and lashed him most cruelly with rods. B And they, for their part, performed their service, offering up their obedience to a mortal king; but the martyr, as though having nothing in common with the flesh that was suffering such things, and feeling no sense of pain, remained most fearlessly and calmly in prayer, attending only to God. And this was the prayer:
V. "O Lord my God, who for my sake endured whips and scourges under Pontius Pilate, do Thou strengthen me, who am now suffering for Thy sake, that I may finish the present course; so that, having been a partaker of Thy passion, I may be deemed worthy to become a partaker of Thy splendor." And such was his prayer. And a voice was immediately heard from above, saying: "Amen, amen, Hermylus, after these three days you shall be delivered from present troubles, and you shall receive from Me abundant and generous rewards for your labors." And the voice imparted great boldness and courage to the martyr, but it struck a terrible fear into the executioners, and all of them, falling suddenly to the ground, were seized with trembling, so that not even the emperor himself or the others were immune to this perturbation of spirit, but all were equally moved; C even though he, blinded by impiety and raging most grievously, did not wish to understand so as to do good, nor did he turn away from his wickedness—to use the words of the divine David—nor did he gain even the slightest inkling of the God who was working these miracles, but delivered the martyr again into a dark and gloomy prison, devoid of light.
VI. But it is necessary to apply our mind to the prayer and to understand the secret mystery of God’s wisdom. For from this springs that which is most marvelous in prayer, namely the bringing of a fellow-soldier to the athlete. For he who had been entrusted with the keeping of the saint, and who had the responsibility...
A of him, was moved by this to the most severe punishment. And this was that he should receive the lashes from those rods upon his entire naked body, and that he should continue to do so until his very voice failed him. And this was the act of Licinius. But the martyr, although he was enmeshed in such great evils, looked steadily at his friend and called him for support, and used him as an intercessor before Christ, saying, "Hermylus, pray for me to Christ, that having kept my confession to Him secure, I may be able to easily overcome the deceits of the tyrant." In the meantime, he also looked toward Licinius, warning him against sacrificing to blind gods, and casting upon him the vengeance of the true God, in whose hands to fall brings a truly terrible, inevitable, and finished destruction. But Licinius, when he saw the holy Stratonicus quite wounded, refrained from punishing him further: not that his human mind and mild spirit moved him to mercy, but so that he might give him a place for repentance, having first terrified him with torment. And therefore he straightway delivered him into custody. But he, even though he was in custody, led Jesus as his own consolation, and spoke with Him through prayer, saying, "Lord, do not remember our ancient iniquities; offer help to us, O God our Savior, for the glory of Thy name." And at the same time, a divine voice followed, saying, "You have finished the course, you have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for you the crown of justice, which you shall receive tomorrow."
XI.
When day had now come, Licinius questioned Hermylus B once more, whether he would sacrifice to the gods. But he said, "I give you the same answers as before, O emperor; therefore, burn, punish, tear, do everything that comes into your mind. For I have learned not to fear those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul." When the emperor had heard these things, and having despaired of ever bringing the saint to another way of thinking, he hung him on a wooden beam and commanded that he be severely lacerated. But even though his flesh was so bitterly torn, he did not fail to know from whence the salvation of the just comes, namely that it is from the Lord, and that He is their defender in time of affliction. And therefore he was constantly saying, "Be a helper to me, O Lord, and a redeemer," and it seemed to him as if he were hearing someone speaking from above: "Do not fear; for I am with you, and I am your God." Licinius, therefore, becoming afraid and, as it were, troubled at what he heard, took the martyr down C from the pole, and sentenced him to destruction in the river Ister, commanding that he be cast into it; the fool perhaps thinking that if Hermylus suffered in this way he would be utterly destroyed, and that not even his venerable body would be found. Having then brought Stratonicus forward, he seemed to suggest and advise him in things that were supposedly to his advantage, saying, "Believe me, O wretch, believe me, and choose to sacrifice to the gods yourself, so that you do not suffer the same D things, and both of you meet the same end."A III. When John had heard these things, he took the monk by the hand, led him aside, and bound him with a most terrible oath that, after he had completed that journey of prayer, he would return to him and take him with him to that holy monastery. Then the blessed John said to him, "Hear me, I beseech you, my abba, and let compassion for me touch you. For my parents, since they love me beyond my other brothers and all my other household, and take care to have me instructed in much erudition and learning, are thinking of raising me to some great rank of dignity. For as my lord and father says, he wishes to promote me to some dignity that is higher than that rank which the military tribunes hold. After this, they have it in mind to marry me off entirely. But I, partly from going into the holy church, and partly from the things that I have read and pondered myself, have recognized that all things that are in this life are vain, and that he alone is saved who, having despised the things of this life, serves Christ steadfastly in this habit of yours. For this reason, B I humbly entreat you, sir, that you take me, and that you take me with you to that holy monastery and enroll me in your holy flock." When the abba had heard these things, he assured him with an oath that he would make his return through him, and would take him with him to the monastery.
IV. When therefore they had come to an agreement between themselves, the abba departed. But John said to himself, "In the meantime, I shall do this first: I shall entreat my parents that they may buy for me a holy book of the Gospel, in which I may learn the commandments of Christ, so that by doing them I may be pleasing to Him." Therefore, approaching his parents, he said, "I cannot C go to the gymnasium; for behold, all the boys who are with me in the gymnasium have Gospels, after they have finished the matters that are practiced in the gymnasium, and they sit and read them; but I am as one who has no parents, lacking a Gospel. But I beg of you, my lords, command that a Gospel be prepared for me too, so that having it in my hands I may read." When his mother had heard this, she rejoiced that he was so earnest about learning, and she said to her husband, "Cause such a thing to be prepared, my lord, by writing the Gospel and giving it to our child, so that not only may the inner letters and what is written therein stir him to longing, but also that the beauty of its D construction may give him greater delight and adornment." His father immediately ordered a goldsmith to be called, and said to him, "Take as much money as you wish, and prepare a Gospel for my son." The man, having taken five hundred gold coins and precious stones and pearls, constructed the Gospel for John. And John, having received the Gospel, carried it around and studied it with great desire, awaiting the return of the abba.
V. After some days had passed, the abba arrived according to his promise. And when John saw him, he rejoiced greatly, and running up to him, he embraced
his knees; for from his excessive fasting and vigils, and the longing for his parents, his body had been consumed and had become like a shadow. A When the archimandrite saw him so afflicted, as if he were a shadow approaching death, he said, "Did I not tell you, child, that God requires of His servants only what is within their power? But you, by striving and exerting yourself beyond measure, have rendered yourself desolate and like a shadow." John said to him, "I pray you, father, it is not fasting that subdues me, but my sins that are an obstacle to me. For many days have passed since the enemy of good things, the devil, disturbed my soul, stirring up in me a desire to see my parents and my home. And this wicked one does not know that even if I go there, if my God wills it and your holy prayers assist me, I shall trample him underfoot and show him to be weak and futile." The archimandrite said to him, "Did I not tell you from the beginning that the struggle of the ascetic life is great and the labor is heavy?" Having said this, and having wept on account of the lad, he blessed him.
IX. On the following day, John arose and went to the archimandrite, B and falling at his feet, he begged him not to be angry with him, but to pray for him and to grant him permission to depart and to see his parents, and in this way, with God’s help, to trample upon the adversary. And the archimandrite, having gathered together all the brothers who were in that monastery, and having offered an earnest prayer to God on behalf of the lad with tears and groaning, said: "Go, my child, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and may you have with you our Lord Jesus Christ, who will guide you on this path as He Himself wills." John, having risen and walked around to all the brothers, knelt down and asked that he might be blessed by them, and said, "Farewell, fathers and brothers, and may the holy brotherhood, which has nurtured me well, be blessed; I was wholly unworthy of your hospitality."
X. Thus, having been commended to the Lord by those holy Fathers, C he went out from that monastery, and having gone a long way from its gate, he turned and, looking back at the holy monastery, he wept bitterly. And having placed his knees upon the ground, he prayed and wept greatly; and thus having arisen, he continued his journey, weeping without ceasing. When he had traveled half the journey, he found a certain poor man wearing tattered garments, and said to him, "Hail, brother and fellow traveler, and if you wish, let us travel the journey together." And the poor man answered, "I have great gratitude for this." As they were traveling, John said, "I see you, brother, that you are shivering and are unable to bear the garments you have about you; but I pray you, take off your clothes and take my raiment, and I shall clothe myself in your garments." And having traveled a sufficient distance, and having agreed with one another, they D
command me to be buried; for I am not worthy of other garments, nor of being buried in a more honorable place." Having said this, he handed the Gospel to her, saying: "Let this be to you a protection in this present life, and a provision for you and your husband in the life to come."
When she had taken the Gospel and turned it over on every side, she said, "This Gospel is similar to the one which my master once gave to our son." She ran immediately and showed the book to her husband. When he saw it, he recognized it, and said to her, "Truly, this is that very Gospel, and no other. But whence did he have it? It is right to ask him where our son John is."
When both of them had gone to him, they said to him, "We adjure you by the most pure Trinity, tell us with all truth, whence you have this Gospel, and where our son John is?" Unable to bear the rush of tears, he said, "I am John, your son; I am the cause of many tears for you, and this Gospel is that which was given to me by you. But desiring my Christ, I have borne his very light yoke." When his parents heard these things, they threw themselves upon his neck, and from the first hour until the sixth they wept, so that all who dwelt in the city wept with them at the discovery of their son.
B XIV. But so that his upright and holy life might not be stained by any of the disturbance of this life, having been aided by the Spirit that spoke within him, he rendered his soul to God. But his mother, having forgotten the aforementioned oath, stripped him of his ragged garments and clothed him in golden ones; and when he had been clothed in these, his mother was immediately struck with paralysis. When his father recalled to memory the words he had spoken: "Let that be observed," he said, "which the will of our holy son requested." When, therefore, they had stripped him of the golden garments, they clothed him in the ragged ones which he had been accustomed to have before. Upon this happening, his mother was immediately healed.
The parents buried the relics of that holy man in that hut. They built a holy house and a very large temple there, and they dedicated all their substance to that divine temple. And when they had bestowed much money for the ministry of strangers, they died in peace. This was the discipline of John; this was his life and the holy manner of his exercise. This [holy man], I say, having trampled upon the devil, was made worthy of the prize of the heavenly calling, in Christ our Lord, to whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.
A And with small loaves, to the number of four hundred, he fed those who had turned aside from the road to the monastery. Nor did he only himself, through divine power, find relief from the sterility with which his parents were afflicted, but he also rendered many other matrons, desirous of offspring, fertile through his prayers. He himself also, as once the great Elias, opened the gates of heaven and gave relief to the earth suffering from sterility and drought. He further manifested his internal brightness—a pillar of fire— which those who stood around while he was offering the unbloody sacrifice saw descending from heaven and remaining with the saint throughout the time of the sacrifice. Moreover, it is a proof of his most holy and pure mind that he perceived the state of those who approached to participate in the divine communion, and knew who among them came with a pure conscience, and who with an evil one. He, when he was ninety-seven years of age, migrated to the Lord, in the reign of Leo the Great. His form was excellent, his manners sincere, his complexion fair, his old age decorous and venerable, with white hair and a beard reaching down to his thighs. It is told of him that when a certain monk was near death—who was commonly believed to be temperate and continent, but in reality was not, but on the contrary was lustful—the blessed man saw an angel tearing out his soul with a trident, and he heard a voice at the same time, revealing the secret uncleanness of that monk. His feast is celebrated in the most holy Great Church." Thus the Menaea. What is related here concerning the lustful monk was missing in the Gentian version, but was supplied from the Greek manuscript, in which Euthymius narrates that he received these things from the Egyptians, as appears in number 65.
7. Besides the surname of "Great," which is attributed to him by all, he is also called "Theophorus" by some. In the Horologium of the Greeks: *toū hosiou kai theophorou patros hēmōn Euthumiou tou megalou*. The Monologium edited by Canisius: "Of our holy and god-bearing Father Euthymius the Great." The same is reported by the Monologium of Christopher, proconsul of Mitylene, and the Calendar published by Genebrard. Among the Latins, Molanus, in the Notes to Usuard, says: "The twentieth day of the holy and Theophorus Father Euthymius the Great." Hence the occasion for Ferrarius, in his General Catalogue of Saints, to hallucinate and posit a Saint Theophorus distinct from Euthymius. "In Palestine," he says, "this is the day of Theophorus the Confessor," citing the Menologium of the Greeks. Regarding Euthymius, the Roman tables say: "In Palestine, the birthday of Saint Euthymius the abbot, who flourished in the Church during the time of the Emperor Marcian, through his zeal for Catholic discipline and the power of miracles."
§ III. Life of Saint Euthymius
8. The Life of Saint Euthymius was written by Cyril. He reveals his own name in the epilogue, number 163. Baronius, in the year of Christ 475, number 43, pronounces him a diligent seeker of truth and a flourishing historian of those times. Concerning whom he had also pronounced earlier, in the year 391, number 15: "Let it be permitted, without envy, to say that I have found no one after the holy Athanasius and Jerome who has written the deeds of most holy men with greater fidelity, arranging and distinguishing them accurately by B times," and Cyril himself: during the time that he learned from the accounts of men who witnessed what he saw, or who excelled in all probity, he handed down the sincere truth as a sacrosanct deposit to posterity—namely, the Acts of Euthymius, and likewise of Sabas and John the Hesychast. In the Acts of Saint Euthymius, which he narrates from number 135, he testifies that he witnessed the miracles that took place before him, and that the rest he had received from various Fathers. For he was not a disciple of Saint Euthymius, as Baronius opines in the cited number 43, nor did he live in the fifth century, as the same writer says in the year of Christ 420, number 31; but in the sixth century, in the year of Christ 530 or the following, as a boy he was brought by his parents from Scythopolis, where he was born, to Saint Sabas, and merited to be chosen as his disciple, and was tonsured by the metropolitan and established in ecclesiastical rank. He came to the monastery of Saint Euthymius, which had been converted into a laura, in the year 543, as he narrates below at number 135, and in the Acts of the holy Sabas and John the Hesychast he tells of himself.
9. From this time, he wrote down most accurately what the Fathers and those elders related to him about Saint Euthymius, as he says at numbers 18, 135, and 161, though confusedly and inordinately; but after the fifth synod, held at Constantinople in the year of Christ 553, he pursued the work he had begun for two continuous years in the new laura, having obtained the grace from God, through the benefit of Saints Euthymius and Sabas appearing to him, to write their deeds fittingly. The Fathers, indeed, who recounted to him many things concerning the virtues of Saint Euthymius were Saint Quiriacus, or Cyriacus, Saint John the Hesychast, and his companion Thalelaeus, of whom there is more at number 71. In his youth he had acquaintance with Saint John and his disciples, because they would stay at the house of his parents in Scythopolis, as if at their own guesthouse, and would receive an annual blessing, or alms, from his parents for the coenobium and the parts of the laura; with whom, as we have said, Sabas had dealings. Then, by the counsel of this man, he came to the monastery of Saint Euthymius, as Cyril himself narrates below at number 136, and in the Life of Saint John, from which he later departed from the monastery of Saint Euthymius to the laura of Saint Sabas, and was made his minister of letters to Saint Quiriacus. He met the latter in the laura of Old Souka; who, when he understood that Cyril was from the great monastery of Euthymius, said with great joy: "Behold, brother, you are of the same [coenobium] as I" (for he had been clothed in the monastic habit by the hands of Saint Euthymius); and he began to recount the deeds of the saints Euthymius and Sabas in prayer. But he, having learned these things openly from this blessed Quiriacus, wrote down the details in the books he composed about them, as anyone can learn from them, if he does not read them lightly and with wandering attention, but accurately (especially numbers 48, 49, 58, 60, and 76, in which places the witnesses are produced, from whom Quiriacus himself had learned most things). And thus, indeed, did the divine Quiriacus [conclude]. But when Cyril had filled his soul with this conversation and these D narrations, he departed in peace. But when a certain desire had again come upon Cyril to meet Quiriacus, he went to him
A 1 July, and St. Elias, Patriarch of Jerusalem, 11 July. Justin the Elder succeeded Anastasius; John, who died seven years later on 22 April, indiction 2, A.D. 524, leaving a successor. Upon the death of Justin, also, after 9 years of rule, on 2 August, A.D. 527, Justinian succeeded, having already been raised to the empire in the month of April, on Thursday in Holy Week. In the year 529, St. Theodosius, the coenobiarch, departed this life, indiction 7, 11 January. In the month of April, indiction 6, A.D. 528, St. Sabas sets out for Constantinople, and returns in the month of September, indiction 9, A.D. 530; he soon proceeds to Caesarea, and thence to Scythopolis. He admits Cyril, the writer of these Lives, as his disciple, and not long after dies, indiction 10, 5 December, in the 94th year of his age, A.D. 531. Melitas succeeds St. Sabas, B and in the monastery of St. Euthymius, upon the death of Stephen the Arab in A.D. 534, Thomas of Apamea succeeds; to him, on 25 March, A.D. 542, after the 70th year following the death of Euthymius, succeeds Leontius, to whom Cyril was sent by St. John the Hesychast, and was admitted among the Euthymian monks, in the month of July, indiction 6, A.D. 543, who, after the Fifth Synod held at Constantinople, departed for the New Laura in A.D. 553. He spent two years in writing the Lives of the holy Euthymius and Sabas; around which time St. Cyriacus died. But St. John the Hesychast still survived, in the 104th year of his age, A.D. 557, when Cyril published his Life. Meanwhile, Gerontius of Medaba succeeded Leontius in the prefecture of the monastery of St. Euthymius, of whom Cyril speaks in the Life of St. Sabas as being very well known to him, and speaks of his father and grandfather. But what this Gerontius narrated to John Moschus and Sophronius the Sophist C is recorded by them in the *Spiritual Meadow*, ch. 21. These two survived into the following century, and were counselors to St. John the Almsgiver, of whom there is more to be said in his Life.
PROLOGUE OF CYRIL
*From an ancient Latin manuscript.*1. To the venerable and magnificent man, my father in the Spirit, namely George the presbyter and hegumen, Cyril, an unworthy presbyter and monk, sends greeting in the Lord.
You commanded me, venerable Father, by your directive, to discourse somewhat on the deeds of great men, that is to say, of Euthymius and the most blessed Sabas, for a monument to those who shall come after. Perceiving that I was less than suitable for doing this, I decided to seek your kindly aid, so that, assisted by it, I might more fully carry out the duty enjoined upon me. For I desire to implore the help of Him who said through the Psalmist: “Open thy mouth, and I will fill it.” Although I consider myself weak, D and altogether unworthy of the gift of God, yet, constrained by your commands, I have presumed to proceed beyond my own strength, fearing the evil of disobedience, or rather, dreading the sentence of the Lord, by which it is said to the disobedient and lazy servant: “Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou oughtest to have given my money to the bankers,” etc. Therefore, with God favoring me, I shall begin to weave the history of the conversation of the aforementioned saints, showing the places, times, and persons, just as I learned them diligently from faithful and truthful men. But I ask all who shall read these things, or who, having read them, shall hear them read, that they may lend faith to what is read or heard, praying to God from the full depths of their hearts that He may make me a partaker of those whose deeds, which will be of benefit to many, I recount now in a very humble style.
A ...and the Churches began to find relief, and the difficult winter started to clear, and the sorrowful state of affairs began to be transformed into gladness for them. For since the time of the persecution of Constantius that had pressed upon the Churches, and during the times of the tyrant Julian, as we have already declared, and after that, during the reign of Valens in the East, for no less than forty years the Arians had breathed mightily against piety; now, with Euthymius born—a man truly worthy of his name—all the sorrows of the Churches ceased. For Valens, not even five months after the birth of Euthymius had passed, marched against the Barbarians who were fearlessly troubling and plundering Thrace; and having had his forces cut to pieces, he later paid the penalty deserved for the war he had waged against God. For when he had fled to a certain village near Adrianople, the Barbarians, having made an incursion, captured him shamefully and burned him together with the village, he receiving a temporal fire there as a prelude, as it were, to that which was to come.
IV. In the third year after this, Paul, the father of Euthymius, departed this life; and his mother, left a widow and destitute with her child, went to her brother Eudoxius, whom Otreius, the prelate of the Church at Melitene, had made his confidant; and placing the boy before his knees, she prayed fervently, shedding tears from her eyes, believing them to be a strong medicine of persuasion. B She begged him to have pity on both herself and the infant, and to take the boy to Otreius and dedicate him to him in place of a father. The mother saw that her petition had succeeded according to her desire: the boy was offered to Otreius, and through him to God, just as Samuel had been by Hannah long before.
V. Otreius, however, when he looked upon him, did not simply gaze at him, but also entered into the depths of his soul, most sharply conjecturing some of the more secret movements of that same soul. And having learned of the mother’s sterility, and of that more divine apparition, and how his conception had been a work of prayer, and how his parents had consecrated him to God even before his birth, he was a true and infallible prophet of what was to come. "And in truth," he said, "the Spirit of God shall rest upon this child." Then, having baptized him and shorn as much of his hair as the law prescribes for children, he admitted him to the rank of readers. As for his mother, Dionysia, since she was C consistently...
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A rendering herself to Him, and leaving the city secretly in the twenty-ninth year of his age, he traveled with a ready mind to Jerusalem to venerate the holy and venerable places. Having also approached the Fathers in the desert and learned the manner of life of each, he became more ardent in his pursuit and seemed to be lightened as if by wings; and being pricked by a sharper goad toward the zeal of a like conduct, he went from there to the laura of Pharan, which is six miles distant from the city of Jerusalem. Having found a cell outside the laura that was in every way well-suited for stillness, he dwelt there from then on, weaving palm branches and making the labors of his hands common for himself and those in need, so that he might not only be a burden to no one, nor looking to the hands of others, but might also serve God, becoming a hand himself rather to others. Having freed his soul from every earthly care, he committed himself entirely to the hope of future goods.
XI. There was one among his neighbors named Theoctistus, who was practicing the same life as he and pursuing the same conduct. Thus, the love of similar things and the fellowship of labors bound them together with the bond of love, and they were so tempered to one another by the affection of the spirit that each of them resided in the soul of the other, and whatever one of them thought, that also was pleasing to the other in mind. Thus, thinking brotherly thoughts toward one another, every year they would depart into the desert of Cutila on the eighth day after the Feast of Lights, separating themselves from all human company and being alone with God through prayer. And they would spend all the intervening time wandering in the desert until the feast of Palms would arrive. For then each would return to his cell, bearing with them the rich treasure of virtue which they intended to offer to the risen Christ—far more precious than the gold which the Magi offered to Him when He was born. Yet Euthymius the Great excelled in the kindness of his character, the simplicity of his ways, and the excess of his humility; and for this reason his boldness toward God increased in him day by day, and he called forth the more abundant grace of the Spirit. B D XII. After spending five years in Pharan, he departed from there along with Theoctistus, by their accustomed
A discipline, so that they might be more yielding to the Word and that the heat of youth might fade; and that we might be imitators of Paul, and at the same time fulfillers of his divine laws, not merely avoiding the simple crime of idleness (since he does not deem even worthy of food one who is thus sluggish and negligent; For the idle, he says, should not eat), but also acquiring hands that are the same as his. For these hands, he says, have ministered to me and to those who are with me. For it is absurd that worldly men should support their wife, children, and whole household by the labor of their hands, and that their annual tribute should be paid by them, and furthermore that they should offer the first-fruits of their labors to God and do good according to their strength; while we should not share the fruit of our own hands with others.
XVII. Those things also, from his precepts, are worthy of being committed to memory. He exhorted them to embrace an orderly silence in the temple of the Lord, and that no one should speak during the assembly of the brothers, while the sacred mysteries were being celebrated; nor B even in the refectory, when the brothers were gathered for dinner, should they give rein to their tongue; but to remain in the same silence in both. Furthermore, it displeased him that some of the brothers, especially the younger ones, should openly and publicly display a greater fast than the rest in the cenobium, and break the common rule of the brothers, following their own will and law. For he did not wish goodness to be heralded by a trumpet, nor to be open and proclaimed, but as much as possible to remain hidden: and therefore he said that the best abstinence is that which forestalls satiety, and checks the nourishment while we are still in need: which is to consume food below the level of necessity; but to resist the affections of the flesh in secret, and from every side to be securely fortified with the arms of the monks; which are: humility, moderation, meditation, discernment, and C obedience towards God, and virtue which is truly an imitation of God. With such instructions, therefore, from that most sweet tongue, the brothers were nourished day by day.
XVIII. But now our discourse begins to proceed to the affairs of the ancient Terebon; which all the senior Fathers have narrated to me with a harmonious voice; but more accurately Terebon, that descendant of this ancient Terebon, who ruled a tribe among the Saracens, and left behind an extremely great name for distinction among them. But it is necessary to weave the beginning of the narrative from above, so that our account may thus be more easily understood. There was among the Persians D a certain Greek, named Aspebetus, who
A believed, and he went down immediately to the Barbarians, and having prayed fervently for the boy, and having traced the sign of the cross over him, he required no other time, nor any long perseverance in prayer, but straightway rendered him strong and perfectly whole.
XXIII. This event struck the Barbarians with astonishment, and more quickly than the body of the sufferer, their own souls were also healed; or rather, they collectively received the healing of their souls, and immediately became believers. Wherefore, casting themselves prone upon the ground, they besought that holy soul that they might be signed with the seal of Christ, and be deemed worthy of the portion and the name of Christians. B
XXIV. Certainly it was not for a godly man, a lover of God, to delay in such matters. Therefore, Euthymius had no hesitation at all. But seeing that they requested holy baptism with their hearts rather than with their lips, he ordered a pool to be made at that time in a corner of the cave—which remains constituted to this day—and having recited the usual prayers, and having performed all that the law prescribes over them, he first baptized Aspebetus, renaming him Peter, and next Maris, the brother of Aspebetus’ wife. Both were of noble birth, abounding in vast wealth, and adorning their wealth more with prudence and virtue than even making their wealth itself a subject for virtue. After them he baptized Terebon and, following him, the rest. He kept them by him for forty days, and having encouraged them, and having taught them the worship of piety accurately, and having established securely in every way the things pertaining to salvation, he dismissed them in peace—no longer Agarenes, nor even Ishmaelites, but descendants of Sarah and true heirs of the promise through divine baptism.
XXV. Maris, however, who was the uncle of Terebon on his mother’s side, would no longer look backward, nor did he endure to depart from the monastery at all. But having consecrated all his substance to it, and having considered all the things of this world as small—of which the desire would ill become a generous and magnanimous soul—he clung to God alone, and resolved to live under Him for the whole of his life, using the great guide. C
XXVI. When the report of the miracle had been spread through many parts of the desert, many who were seized by sufferings and diseases flocked from many places to the divine Euthymius. And in this way, gathering a healing that was free and easy, they returned joyful; so that in a short time he became famous throughout the entire desert, so that his name could not be contained even by all of Palestine, but passed even to the surrounding provinces, and was greatly celebrated there. To another, perhaps, this would have been a pleasure. But to Euthymius, it caused great indignation and distress; not only because he abhorred human glory, but also because he remembered his former quiet, and how D
A he had referred the favor, by calling in many builders for pay, and had dug a great cistern in the garden with two mouths, which is seen and remains a trench to this day; at which cistern he built a bakery, and constructed three cells for Euthymius; and between them he raised a house of prayer, so that Euthymius might lack nothing of what was necessary for his use.
A XXXVIII. The multitude of the Agarenes, however, who, as I said before, had been baptized by him, desiring always to drink the water of the sweetest stream which the tongue of Euthymius clearly was, could no longer bear to depart even for a little while, but begged instead that they might remain with him, and considered his words as their delight and water of life. But he, keeping for himself the good of quietness free from distraction, did not allow them to reside here, but led them elsewhere, and having marked out a church and tents for them in a circle (the place is between the two monasteries), he enjoined them to build according to the pattern of the line and the size, and to remain in them. To the place where they had thus built houses for themselves, and were thereafter remaining in an orderly fashion, the great Euthymius came constantly, and always visited them to see how they were faring. For he knew how much profit he gathered for himself from that. And he did not cease doing this until he had purified and trained their souls and caused them to be placed under a presbyter and deacons. So that they remained there happily, not only those who had been the first to be baptized, but also many others among those who came to him and were baptized day by day.
B XXXIX. Thus, then, as the children of Hagar were being multiplied so greatly and were being transformed into true nobility, and as they were expanding into different camps, the divine Euthymius sent to Juvenal, the patriarch of Jerusalem, asking for a bishop to be ordained for them. And he sent back Peter, the father of Terebon, as being sufficiently capable of presiding over souls and leading them to salvation. Thus, therefore, Peter was the first to be ordained bishop of the Camps in Palestine. The multitude of the Saracens, however, flowed in just like the streams of never-failing rivers; and those who were now coming were added to the forerunners; and all of these, being marked with the seal of baptism, were numbered with the flock of the Christians. But regarding these matters, what has been said is sufficient. For us, therefore, the discourse must now proceed to those matters from which we digressed in order to relate these things.
C XL. The great Euthymius did not have it in his mind to establish either a coenobium or a laura at all in that place. And for this reason, whenever some [people] came to him,
A descending from the holy city toward the Jordan, and turned aside from the road to the right, as if someone were going before them on their journey and conducting them to that laura, I believe that this too was wisely ordained by Providence, so that the great virtue of the Father might become even more renowned. Seeing them there having alighted, B so as to rest for a short time from the fatigue of the journey, the great man called Domitian, to whom he had entrusted the administration of the affairs of the laura, and ordered him to set a table for them. When he objected [due to] poverty, and replied that he did not even have the food of the brethren for a single day, he, relying on Him who poured out abundant nourishment for the widow on account of the abundance of her good will, 3 ordered Domitian to go to the bread-chamber. For you will understand, he said, what human thoughts mean, and what divine grace can unexpectedly dispense and provide.
XLIV. And he, yielding immediately, and approaching—(O your ineffable miracles, Christ!)—found, by some divine and wise providence, the room so full of loaves that it was not even easy to open the door a little, [for it was] obstructed by the multitude of those placed inside. Having then called other brethren, and having with their assistance broken open the door, he sees the things that were inside: an innumerable multitude of loaves; and, I say, a great abundance of wine and oil, C entirely consistent with the magnanimity of Euthymius in giving.
XLV. When Domitian saw these things, and grasped the operation of divine grace, he fell at the feet of the great man, asking forgiveness and requiting the squalor of parsimony with the warmth of repentance. And he, having extended a benign mind and hand to Domitian, and having raised him up, said, "O son, he who sows in blessings, in blessings shall also reap." 4 Those, therefore, who provide a common roof and salt to those passing by, unknowingly prepare for themselves a more abundant supply, and do not give as much as they receive. This, indeed, must be kept by you also, brethren, if you intend both to please God and to always abound in the supply of many necessary things. From this, a heap of good things, as they say, was constituted, and the affairs of the laura began to flourish and abound; when the number of the brethren reached fifty, D and a cell was built for each of them; and the holy mysteries were celebrated daily.
XLVI. Furthermore, he to whom the administration had been entrusted, while reflecting that for so great a multitude of brethren there would also be need of much service for him, prepared mules also for the laura. Now there was a certain man in it, an Asian by race, by name Auxentius, who was fit for the service of the mules. He, therefore, being asked by this steward to undertake that administration, was putting it off and would not obey. But since the matter was necessary for use, the steward, taking with him John and Cyrion the presbyters, asked Auxentius again with them.
A to the monk to be unreceptive to the suggestions of the Evil One—whether he suggests sorrow, or hatred, or listlessness, or migration to another place—and not to permit his mind to give way to him in any manner from the beginning, but to beat these things off and repel them with all his might, lest he should secretly supplant us through his artifice and throw us into a pitiful fall. If anyone, perhaps, is unable to practice virtue here, let him not think that by moving elsewhere he will more easily succeed in his desired goal. For the performance of the good does not come from the nature of the place, but from our own deliberate choice. On the contrary, this is actually dangerous for monks, and capable of rendering them weak and fruitless in virtues. For not even a plant is capable of bearing fruit if it is constantly being transplanted. B
LI. For the greater confirmation of these things, he also related the history of certain Egyptian elders. He said, therefore, that there was a certain brother in Egypt, residing in a coenobium, who was continually carried away into anger, becoming savage and disturbed, and his mouth was filled with bitterness and rage. When, however, some repentance came upon him, because through this anger and the ease of his perturbation he was making war upon himself, and if he had already attained anything good, he was losing it again, he persuades himself to depart from the coenobium and to live quietly by himself alone, since the wilderness was able to contribute much to his tranquility and lack of disturbance. For he thought that if no one were present against whom he might become angry and upon whom he might vent his wrath, that fierce and most rapidly kindled fire of anger would surely and gradually be extinguished, and that he would henceforth be himself gentle and full of all tranquility and peace. C Having reasoned these things, he departed from the coenobium and passed his time alone in quiet. And once, for some need, having filled a vessel with water, and wishing to set it down upon the ground for a little while, by some art of the Evil One it was overturned. And as this happened not once, but twice and three times in succession, the brother became angry, and having been overcome by the impetus of his wrath, immediately, just as he was, threw the vessel onto the ground and shattered it; and thus he certainly suffered a much greater and more stinging derision from the enemy.
LII. At these things Clematius indeed laughs, warmed in his soul by the pleasantness of the story. But the divine Euthymius, observing the matter, says, "Do you also, brother, move because of some evil demon, since you even laugh so shamelessly and brazenly? When you ought to be weeping and lamenting, receiving the consolation from that fact—if He who will then be our judge is true, calling those who now mourn blessed (for, he says, 'they shall be comforted')—while [he calls] those who... D
now are in positions of authority [to be] condemned. But you will be deprived of it again by evil and deceptive men, having been previously led astray by them through ignorance—and these things [he said] accordingly, the saintly Euthymius.
LVII. A But Domnus, caring little for such commands, set out for Antioch, neither saying goodbye to the saint, nor in any way signifying his departure to him. When, however, he had arrived there, all things that had been predicted by him came to pass. And he, later led by great repentance because he had not obeyed, returned to him, his insides being tortured with heavy pain, and weeping bitterly. Juvenalis, moreover, ordained Stephen of Melitene as bishop of Jamnia B, and appointed Cosmas the Cappadocian to the order of the presbyters, and entrusted to him the custody of the crosses.
LVIII. These things also were related about him to the monk Cyriacus by the man’s intimates and successors; but for us, Cyriacus unfolded each detail: that no one ever saw him eating, except on Saturday or Sunday, nor speaking with anyone, nor in any way meeting with anyone, unless by chance someone necessarily requested a meeting; and that he never slept on his side, but sometimes sat and closed C his eyes a little, and at other times held with both his hands a rope that hung in a corner of his cell from the roof, and thus tasted of sleep in such a moderate way, perhaps saying to himself, "Come, you wicked servant," in the manner of the great Arsenius. For they confirmed that he had indeed become a zealot of Arsenius—Arsenius, I say, who in a fatherly manner had reared and trained the emperors Arcadius and Honorius, and therefore was distinguished by the title of "Father" by the holy Fathers themselves; afterwards, however, he also shone with virtues in the solitude of Egypt.
LIX. Euthymius, therefore, D was emulating him most diligently, and would very gladly apply his mind to monks coming from Egypt if they related anything about his way of life; and he strove to inscribe his virtues onto the tablets of his own soul as if they were his own; and he imitated his quiet, his humility, and his silence; and furthermore, the baseness of his clothing, the abstinence of his belly, and his watchfulness and sobriety in all things; and [he would say] the word of Arsenius: "Why did you come out?" according to the statement of that...
A which we have accepted in our mind, we shall not be immune from sin; but though we are not joined in body, we shall be judged as having committed fornication in our mind.
B LXV. He then related to them such a thing as this, which, he said, certain of the Egyptian elders once told me. There was someone in a city, whose life was considered admirable by all, and who was supposed to be endowed with great intimacy with God; yet in truth he was frequently provoking Him to anger in the secret movement of his heart, due to his ready assent to evil thoughts; so that, although he did not sin in deed, he easily sinned in thought. Being at length seized by a grave illness, such a man was at his final breaths, and was already looking toward death. Mourning held the city, and every generation was lamenting; and all were wishing that they might be snatched away by death instead of the man, if it were possible, thinking it better to undergo this than to see the departure of a man celebrated by every tongue. Meanwhile, a certain excellent contemplator, having entered the city, and seeing that grave and public mourning; hearing then also the people C so lamenting over him with wailing: "O Saint! O Father! O our savior! by whose intercession we are all saved; what hope of salvation will be left to us hereafter? What security after him?" This contemplative man, seeing and hearing these things, goes to him eagerly, hastening for the sake of obtaining some prayer or blessing. But when he was already near, he indeed sees the most illustrious of the citizens, he sees also the order of priests, and in addition the bishop himself, who were holding torches in their hands, and awaiting the procession and funeral rites of the body. Then, having pushed aside the crowd, and having entered to the one lying there, he finds him still breathing a little; but he sees a certain spectacle with his internal and hidden eyes, both horrific to see D and tearful to hear. For it appeared to him that some [spirit] was inserting a fiery, trident-like object into the heart of that man, and was violently and cruelly plucking out his soul, alas! from there; and that afterwards he heard a voice from above, saying: "In the same way that this soul did not allow Me to rest even for a single day, so do not you cease to tear it, to rend it cruelly, and to afflict it with torments."
LXVI. Euthymius related these things to the brothers who were present; then he began to exhort them, urging them to be attentive and always prepared for the departure of the soul, saying: "Let this Aemilianus be a pattern to you; whom God for this very reason permitted to be thus foully and miserably overcome in the eyes of you all by the bitter demon of lust, so that you might become better and derive profit from his punishment. But let us," he said, "pray to God that the man be delivered from such snares." And he indeed immediately prayed for the brother. But the whole place was immediately filled with a foul odor.
A This admirable man, in what way, with such great moderation and gentleness of soul, did he carry such zeal for the right dogmas of the Church, so that he was in truth both meek and a fighter! And indeed, against all those who did not think correctly on all matters, he possessed great and ardent zeal; but especially against the Manichaeans and those who maintain the nonsense of Origen: since many of them were at that time in the regions surrounding Caesarea, and would come to him under the pretext of piety, he was a lion against foxes, in speech impregnable and irresistible, powerfully suppressing and stifling them with demonstrations taken from the Holy Scriptures; and, according to the words of Jeremiah 25, he brought it about that they were confounded by their own boasting; he also overturned and destroyed with all his strength the pre-existence and restitution B fabulously handed down among them. Furthermore, he breathed fiercely against those who suffered from the madness of Arius and Sabellius, and, according to the Prophet, he hated them with perfect hatred 26.
LXXII. Moreover, in the seventy-fifth year of the age (87) of the great Euthymius, the Council of Chalcedon was assembled; to which almost all the bishops of the whole world gathered from everywhere (88): for the things which had been innovated at Ephesus by Dioscorus, I say, the Alexandrian, called them to the assembly; whom, together with those who asserted the same things as he, they cast out from the sacred catalogs; and they set forth an accurate decree of faith. C Disciples of the excellent Euthymius also took part in this council, Stephen of Jamnia (89), and John, bishop of the Saracens; for Peter had already departed from this life, and he who succeeded him, Auxolaus (90), had adhered to Dioscorus, and for this reason, alas! had ended his life in hatred, certainly, to the great Euthymius. These men, therefore, namely Stephen and John, being present at the council, after the decree of faith had already been committed to writing, having seized it immediately, came as quickly as they could to Euthymius. In what state of mind? Wishing to know whether he too would assent to those things which had been written. For they were not a little terrified by what had happened to Auxolaus; nor D did they have it in their power how to agree or to differ, before they knew the inclination of his opinion. But after he had read it, and had found that the things which were written held well and harmonized with the straight rule of truth, the rumor suddenly spread through the whole desert, that the great Euthymius also followed the Council of Chalcedon.
25 Jerem. XII, 13. 26 Psal. CXXXVIII, 22.
A And to the best of their strength he led them to the truth; he also now departs to the deepest desert, having prepared many others to become imitators of his life of withdrawal.
B LXXVII. There was furthermore a great anchorite there who had arrived a short time before from Lycia, Gerasimus by name, who had shown in his homeland all the virtue becoming to monks, and had endured many labors against the spirits of wickedness. This man, therefore, living well in the desert near the Jordan and striking the demons in many ways, was himself also struck, or rather tripped up, by their malice, and was led astray by the heretics. But hearing from almost all the anchorites about Euthymius, and having his ears filled with the things celebrated regarding him, he came at one time to him at Rube. Having spent a considerable amount of time with him, and having drunk of the purest stream of his tongue, he vomited forth the heresy like some disease and returned to the sound faith, having great repentance for his deception and punishing and chastising with the goad of sorrow the heart that had been corrupted by empty words. Other anchorites also followed this same man—Petrus, surnamed the Gyrnite, Marcus, Julon, and Silvanus—and they too departed from the harmful communion of Theodosius.
C LXXVIII. After a second year had passed since these events, Theodosius departed from the sight of men, and the great Euthymius returned from Rube to the laura. Once, on one of the Sabbaths, he was ministering to God and offering to Him the bloodless sacrifice, and Domitianus stood at the right side with that mystical fan. As the Trisagion doxology was already about to be performed, Terebon the Saracen and Gabrielius, brother of Chrysippus—one standing nearby, the other inside the altar (O Thy great grace toward Euthymius, Christ!)—saw fire of a sudden, as if spread out in some cloth, descending from above, and it enveloped the great Euthymius himself and Domitianus with him, and thus remained around them from the beginning of the Trisagion until the completion of the sacred liturgy. D He says that Terebon, seized by fear and trembling, withdrew from the altar and never again dared, as he had formerly done, to go in boldly and confidently into the sanctuaries, but stood in the vestibules of the temple with great reverence throughout the gathering; just as the anchorite Cyriacus later recounted to me, having heard these things from Terebon and Gabrielius, the spectators of the miracle.
A LXXXIV. Eudocia was not negligent regarding these things, nor was she sluggish in her search for the good; rather, having immediately inquired much about the man, and having learned that he had forbidden himself access to any city, she built a tower in the desert toward the rising sun, on a very high promontory, no more than thirty stades from the laura. She would go up to it so that, with no one to hinder her, she might enjoy the teaching of Euthymius to her heart's content. She immediately sent Cosmas, the guardian of the Cross, and the aforementioned chorepiscopus Anastasius to seek him out. They, bringing an equal degree of zeal to their ministration as they had to the urgency of her command, arrived immediately at the laura. But having learned that he was not present, but long since had moved on to Roubas, they did not even then abandon their purpose; instead, taking the blessed Theoctistus with them, they went to him, and they entreated him with a common, intense, and earnest prayer; and they importuned him, and finally persuaded him to come to the tower, where the monastery of Scholarius is now built.
B LXXXV. When the Empress Eudocia saw him, she did not look upon him lightly, but as one who thirsts for water in summer; and falling in her entirety at his feet with the greatest joy, "Now I know," she said, "that the Lord has favored me with a visitation." He, having imparted to her his customary blessing, said, "But, my daughter, you must from henceforth pay attention to yourself and secure your future with precision. For because you were led astray, even if only a little, by Theodosius, for this reason painful things have befallen you regarding those who are most dear to you. But see that you abstain throughout your life from this irrational contentiousness. For it is necessary for you, in addition to the other three holy and ecumenical synods—namely, the Nicene, which gathered against Arius; the Constantinopolitan, which was assembled against Macedonius; and the first Ephesian, against Nestorius—to accept also the definition proclaimed by the one newly convened at Chalcedon; and, breaking away from the communion of Dioscorus, to be in complete communion with Juvenal, the Archbishop of Jerusalem, and to be in agreement in all things."
C LXXXVI. Having said these things, and having prayed for the Empress, and afterwards having bidden her farewell, he withdrew. She, however, immediately put into practice the things that had been commanded, and having entered the Holy City, she entered into communion with Juvenal and the Catholic Church; and at the same time she brought with her a great multitude of monks and laypeople—just as she had been to them an example of discord, so she became excellently an example of communion. One of these was the archimandrite Elpidius. Since Gerontius, having preferred to grow old in evil, had become a cause of ruin not only to himself, but also to many.
A to take what he wished from those base and necessary things, with no one to stop him; and moreover, they were seen living apostolically, and those who dwelt in the desert were similar to them in heart and soul, one. Since no one of those possessions of his deemed anything to be his own, but all things were held by them in common. And this is also related concerning the anchorites, that when certain people approached him and requested that they be allowed to warm water, to consume cooked food, and to read by lamplight, the great Gerasimus took them up and said, "If you wish to live in this manner, it is much more beneficial for you to dwell in a cenobium. For I, indeed, shall by no means grant for this to happen among anchorites throughout my entire life."
B XCII. Thus, the people of Jericho, hearing that the lifestyle of those who were with Abba Gerasimus was so constrained, devoid of comfort, and held much that was unpleasant and harsh, laid down a law for themselves: that on Saturday and Sunday they would go to them and bring them no small consolation. But this, indeed, is the praise of the people of Jericho, and a proof of souls that love virtue. However, many of the strugglers under this great Gerasimus, seeing laymen coming to them with such an intention, were so far from considering their arrival joyous and pleasant that they would not even endure them to stay in the region at all, nor would they tolerate them; but rather, as if they were going to do great harm, they fled from them and withdrew. For they knew well that temperance is the mother of accurate self-control, able to cast away base thoughts and lighten the heaviness of sleep, inasmuch as they had learned this most excellently from the Father, not only in words but also in deeds.
C XCIII. For they said that he held temperance in such high regard that he would pass the forty days of the fast without food, content with the reception of the sacraments alone. Gerasimus having lived thus, and having become a pattern of virtue and a cause of salvation for those under him, his common end arrived on the fifth of the month of March, in the thirteenth indiction, in the second consulship of Zeno Augustus. But we must return again to where we departed.
D XCIV. When, at that time, Leo, the pious and Christ-loving, had succeeded to the empire of Marcian, a certain Timotheus, surnamed Aelurus, was shaking and disturbing all of Alexandria; and afterwards, he even [disturbed] the patriarch of the city himself, in his own (O those iniquitous and impious acts!)
And when at some time she came to see it, she beheld the laura of Euthymius situated in the midst of the solitude, and [noted] how the cells of the brethren were separated from one another; and meditating upon that passage of Scripture: *How beautiful are thy tents, O Jacob, thy tabernacles, O Israel!* A (Num. xxiv, 5), she was vehemently pricked in soul thereby, and immediately sent Gabriel to him, requesting that she might be permitted to approach him and enjoy his speech and instruction. She also had in mind to assign revenues to the laura and to him, for this reason: that henceforward there might exist a sufficient supply of necessary things for the brethren.
B 49. But he, anticipating her, says to her: "While death stands at the doors, why, O daughter, art thou anxious and troubled about many things? Let those things alone be prepared by thee which pertain to the departure from this life. But as for us, do not concern thyself with any revenues or money, but remember us before our common Lord, where indeed we ask thee to remember us even more." Having heard these things, she had a mind divided between these two affections, admiration and sadness: the former, attributing [it to] the great gift of foreknowledge, and [marveling at] how he perceived from afar the very things she was revolving in her mind concerning him; the latter, because she had failed in her hope regarding this matter. For she wished to leave him money and a supply of revenues, just as we have said. Hence she came to the holy city; and having summoned the patriarch Anastasius, and explained to him what she had heard from the divine Euthymius, she acted in accordance with her former resolve. And first, indeed, the temple of Stephen, the protomartyr of Christ, not yet constructed in every part C on the fifteenth day of the month of January, she dedicated. Then, having assigned to it much revenue, and having committed the care of it to Gabriel, she did not neglect the other churches that had been built by her; but those also she visited with great diligence and labor, dedicating them and assigning to each a sufficient revenue. And when four months had now passed since the dedication, she too, departing from human life, passed on to the Lord.
D 50. But a long time after that, when Euthymius was already ninety years of age, the holy Theoctistus fell into a grievous illness, and was so close to death that he signified he would soon depart; for he had already reached a very profound old age, and had also become full of human days. The great Euthymius, therefore, coming to visit him, and having perceived that he was in such a dangerous state, determined to remain with him for a few days, so that as his holy soul had already departed to God, he himself might perform the rites for his body, and all things that are the custom.
A And the land was parched and altogether without water. I, therefore, being entirely unaccustomed to dwelling in the desert, was seized by a most intense thirst, and fell into a fainting spell, and my feet no longer had the strength to perform the function of walking. But the great Euthymius, turning and seeing me thus failing and exhausted, felt compassion in his soul for me; and moving a little way from us, he cast himself upon the earth and prayed, saying: "Lord, give water on thirsty ground, to bring relief to the brother's thirst." And after the prayer, he rose, took the mattock with which we used to cut the roots of herbs to prepare our food, and struck the ground slightly, and immediately water gushed forth from the earth. Then he called me to himself, pointed out the water, and allowed me to drink. Drinking, therefore, and having cast off the strain of the thirst, I gave thanks to God, who through His servants works such miracles in an extraordinary way.
B CV. Since Euthymius possessed such confidence before God and had drawn down such grace of the Spirit from above, not even the time of his common death was hidden from him, nor whatever was to happen in his laura, as these divine Fathers narrated to me concerning these things. For they say that on the eighth day C after the Lights—the day on which it was his custom to set out for the inner desert—we gathered, both those who were to escort him and those who wished to be companions of his journey at all; among whom were Martyrius and Elias. Since, however, they found nothing prepared, nothing ready, nor anything suitable for a departure, but found the man entirely unprepared, they asked whether he would not be departing the next day. But he said: "I shall be with you in the laura for the whole week, and at midnight on the Sabbath I shall be separated from you." By this he meant to prefigure that he would die at that time.
D CVI. Thus, on the third day after these things, as the feast of the divine Anthony was already arriving, he enjoined them to keep vigil in the church throughout the whole night. And when those nocturnal hymns had been completed by them, having summoned the presbyters into that which is called the diaconicon, he said: "No longer, brothers, shall I spend the vigils with you. For God is already calling me from the present life. But now, go out and call Dometianus to me; and in the morning, let the entire assembly of the Fathers gather." Accordingly, at dawn, they all flocked to him with haste. And after pausing a little, he began to address them in these words:
CVII. "My fathers and brothers beloved in the Lord, and children; I am now traveling the final path of my fathers. It behooves you, however, to show your love for me through the observance of these commandments, among which the primary one is charity, which is the bond of the perfection of virtues." For what 34 Coloss. III, 14.
A the continuity of the miracles inspired stupefaction. Thus, because of the nearly infinite crowd that had gathered, the holy body was prevented from being buried, until the ninth hour had already arrived, when the soldiers, as they had been ordered by the patriarch, drove back the multitude.
By these means, the path was at last granted to the divine Fathers, so that they might perform the funeral rites for that body which had struggled so often and suffered so much, and deposit it with the appropriate hymns in a richly adorned coffin. Indeed, the grief over the loss of Euthymius was a cause of many tears for all; but it touched Martyrius and Elias far more vehemently, and they wept bitterly. Yet the patriarch consoled them through Chrysippus, the guardian of the Cross, and using suitable admonitions, he exhorted them to visit him more frequently. Leaving behind Fidus the deacon in the laura, he entrusted him with the business of building; and having returned to the holy city, he sent craftsmen and materials for the work, so that those blessed relics of Euthymius might be deposited in a suitable and convenient place.
CXI. Domitianus, however, a great disciple of the great man in very truth, and his genuine follower, inasmuch as he was a most accurate imitator of his life, having served the saint for more than fifty years, did not depart from the place, but remained at the sepulcher until the sixth day thereafter; as if he judged it was no longer possible for him to live, nor at all bearable to behold this light. But when the seventh day had already arrived, Euthymius appeared to him by night with a joyful countenance, saying: "Come, that you may enjoy the glory prepared for you. For behold," he said, "God has granted that our dwelling here, too, should be in common." This Domitianus announced to the brethren when he had come to the synaxis; and thus he himself, in joy and in the hope of future good things, departed this life.
CXII. But the deacon Fidus, having collected a great number of workmen and applied great zeal, turned the cave which Euthymius had occupied in quiet at the beginning into a most beautiful and very large church; and having assigned the middle part to the coffin D of the great Father, he labored on both sides to construct coffins for the priests, hegumens, or those set over monasteries, and other holy men. After everything had now been completed, the patriarch immediately sent from Jerusalem the slab which was to be placed upon the tomb, and the silver urn, and the chancel screens, and whatever else is accustomed to adorn churches: then he himself also descended to the laura, and with his own hands, entrusted with lights and psalms the holy body of the blessed man, he translated it to the church which he himself had recently built, and deposited it safely in the holy coffin, so that it could never again be opened, nor any small portion of the man's relics be taken from it. Furthermore, having placed the slab, he fixed the urn above it, as if at the chest. And from that time down to the present day it...
A continues to delight in the account of both the one who saves and the one who is saved, and in some places even shedding tears from her eyes, she exhorted her son to fulfill it all. Furthermore, having crossed over to the patriarch, Fidus reported everything to him as well. And he, having been greatly amazed by the extraordinary nature of the account, said, "Truly, the great Euthymius is a prophet of God, and great and ineffable is his boldness toward Him; for those things which pertain to the laura, he foretold in the presence of us all as witnesses, being about to be perfected in Christ." Having said these things, he gave permission to Fidus and he himself [granted] the building of the cenobium; and he gave him permission to go down there, having promised at the same time that he himself would, with all his strength, take part in the work. B
117.
Fidus, therefore, having taken a large group of laborers and builders, and having engaged one of the mechanics or architects, went down to the laura; and having built the cenobium, and having enclosed it in a circle with a fence and a wall, he assigned the old temple to the brothers as a refectory, and built a new one above it. And inside the cenobium, he conspicuously erected a tower, as if it were a bulwark for the entire wilderness, and in the middle of it he set the cemetery. I shall describe with my words, to the best of my ability, the position of the place in which this holy cenobium is founded, which is both beautiful because of its great flatness and suitable for monks for their practice, and not least because of the temperate state of the air.118.
There is a certain very small hill between two C valleys coming from the east and west, quietly converging toward the same point and mixing with each other toward the south. To the north of it, however, a bright plain lies spread out, covering about three stades, as if it had been perfectly devised for pleasure and delight. A torrent flows through the middle of it, descending from above from the hill which is to the east, and becoming like a belt for the place. Indeed, at the very point where the hill slopes down to the plain, and where they meet and join together with the time, a tower has risen, like a peak and an acropolis. And next to the tower, a gate follows toward the plain, sending out those who go forth with joy, just as if one were looking down from some viewing point at those beautiful spectacles of the plain. But why should one recount the nature of the place? How mild and fertile it is; and with what kind of air it D is tempered above [one's] head, and how it is subject neither to excess heat nor to cold, but, having fled from that which is annoying in both, it is enriched with the mean of each; and it is warmer than the colder [places], and again slightly colder than the warmer ones, and accordingly drier than those that are excessively humid, and more humid than those that are moderately dry, with the commensuration that is fitting for each.119.
Now, since the whole building of the cenobium and its decoration required no more than three years due to the assistance of many hands and diligent ministry, those divine Fathers wished, along with the other adornment and craftsmanship, to perform the dedication of the church alsoA a relief from the man's disease, where only an anointing had taken place. He, however, returning thanks for the benefit, presented money to the holy monastery, partly already giving it magnificently, and partly promising that he would provide it annually.
A CXXVIII. Returning home, therefore, when he had met with Stephen, the bishop of Tripoli, in the manner that a soul is fond of willingly recalling passed trials in such situations, he recounted to him every detail: how the malady had invaded him; and how the whole band of doctors, and the presence of his familiars—the former for a cure, the latter indeed for consolation—were of no avail; and in what manner, when all was despaired of, he had run to the tomb of Euthymius, and having used only the oil from there, he had found his cure on the spot, and in a way he had never even dared not only to hope for, but not even to desire.
B CXXIX. This he indeed recounted detail by detail to the bishop. But a certain Leontius, his cousin, being quite young in age, chanced to be present at the account, and immediately upon hearing it, his mind was kindled; and harboring thoughts greater and more mature than his age, he condemned all worldly things, by which youth is for the most part easily deceived and ensnared, and immediately went just as he was to the monastery of the great one, and chose the monastic life. And him, when he had blossomed in virtue and become illustrious, Bishop Stephen gifted with the care and oversight of the monastery, which itself had been founded in honor of the great martyr Leontius; and a little while later, leaving him as successor to his see, he departed this life on the twenty-second day of the month of January, C after having been head of the cenobium for twenty-one full years. Furthermore, Leontius, this man’s cousin, ordained a certain Nilus, a presbyter of the cenobium, whom he had received as a guest when he was traveling to Antioch, and had sufficiently provided for from what was available to him, as bishop of Orthosias. And these things are thus.
CXXX. Now we must return again to the monastery of the great Euthymius, and whatever pertains to it hereafter must be added to the narrative. After the passing of Bishop Stephen, Thomas, who traced his origin from Apamea, having taken over the monastery—which was highly prosperous and flourishing—diminished and curtailed it. At the time, however, when he held the administration of the monastery, Caesarius the Antiochene returned to it, and having been kindly and D graciously received by him, and having reclined with him at a common meal, then, as is the custom, while conversations were stirring between them, hearing from him what in...
A Zenon, having assumed the monastic habit, being stung by the terrible and vehement goad of the love of the quiet life, and desiring himself also to dwell in the desert, I sought for some other honest opportunity so that I might achieve this. But being at a loss for any other, I made a pretense that I was held by a great desire for the dedication of the Church of Jerusalem, and I asked for permission to go there. Having been dismissed by the superior, when I was already about to depart from the metropolis of the Scythopolitans, my mother gave me this command: that I should do nothing out of my own household regarding matters pertaining to the soul without the admonition and counsel of John the hesychast. Lest, she says, from the very beginning, you might imprudently be led astray into the error of the Origenists. Therefore, after I had come to the holy city and had worshipped at the holy places where the Lord, for our sake, spent those salutary times, and after I had likewise worshipped the wood of the divine cross, I then cross over to the man B (88). He, however, as well as giving other counsels and admonitions, finally enjoins this upon me as well: If you wish to be saved, he says, go to the monastery of the great Euthymius, and dwell there. Having heard these things, I came through the desert as quickly as possible to the Jordan, and after having spent a sufficient amount of time with the Fathers who were there (89), about the month of July, I was brought to that great monastery and received. Moreover, Leontius was the one to whom the care of receiving [guests] and the superintendence of the monastery had been entrusted at that time.
B CXXXVII. Dwelling there, I saw in that same summer a certain man, a Cilician by race, a monk by habit, Paul by name, who had set out from the monastery of Martyrius, who was indeed possessed by an evil spirit, but was brought by his friends to the monument of Euthymius. The monk having been placed, therefore, by the reliquary, the great one, appearing a short time later in the middle of the night, casts out the demon. And this was a certain proof of his healing. For when, on that very night, Paul had come at the hour of the nocturnal psalmody, he became one of those who were chanting, and in the presence of us all, he confessed his healing to God. When those who were in the monastery of Martyrius learned what had happened, they came in order to lead Paul back to his own monastery. But he, wishing to show himself grateful, and keeping the grace inscribed within himself, remained thenceforth in the coenobium and made himself a participant with the brethren in every labor and ministry with complete readiness of mind.
D CXXXVIII. Sometimes, therefore, while we were gathering food in the desert—and this was what is habitually called manouthia—
it suddenly changed its form, and there appeared to me in the hand of the holy one a little Ethiopian, whose eyes were like fire; and there seemed to be a very deep pit dug before his feet. He threw that one into the pit; then turning toward me again, he said that which Christ said to the paralytic: "Behold, you have been made whole; sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you." 43.44 Being released from this affliction, and having rendered more fervent thanks to God, I have been preserved from that time to this present day free from every evil. Since Paul explained these things to me, I have set forth the story as common property for all.
CXLII. But truly, my speech breaks forth again to pasture your ears with other matters. For the continuity of the miracles does not allow one to cease, but always spurs on the discourse all the more, and, as if striving with itself and wishing the succeeding to surpass the preceding, is eager to advance toward further things, which are more excellent and more delightful. For the two cisterns which tradition says were dug from the beginning by the Amorrhoeans, situated two stadia from the cenobium, the great Euthymius, while he was still alive on earth, renovated—as we have already declared—and having placed a door over the mouth of one, he granted it to the laura for watering; the other, however, he conceded at a set time to the Agarenes whom he had baptized. The cisterns thus having been disposed, one attributed to the laura and the other to the Agarenes, a scarcity of rain came upon that wilderness, which was otherwise arid and almost entirely without water. Those, therefore, who inhabited the laura, fearing a lack of water, secured the door of the cistern with keys and bolts. C
CXLIII. When, however, the chiefs of the tribes subject to the Roman empire, Arethas and Asuades, had taken up arms and war against one another, the barbarians, dispersed through many parts of the wilderness, were plundering money, overturning houses, and doing other things that tend to happen in such violent and tyrannical circumstances. Once, therefore, as we were sitting before the entrance of the cenobium, two barbarians approached; with them was a Christian named Thalabas, a kinsman of the Agarenes who had long ago been baptized by Euthymius, bringing with them one of their own multitude, a barbarian who was himself also possessed by a certain cruel demon. After they had approached, Thalabas explained the cause: that when the barbarians had once come to the laura to water their camels, and had found the door lying upon the cistern, this demoniac, stirred up in a more barbaric manner, broke it with a heavy stone; but the demon immediately struck him back in return far more grievously, and thereafter he lay convulsed and torn, and his mouth was filled with foam.
A having accomplished his forty-fifth year therein, and having proven himself a worthy servant of the commandments of Christ. There was also a brother to him by birth in the village of Betagabae, which is twelve miles distant from Gaza; he did not act in any way like his relative, Romanus (for that was his name), but lived softly and dissolutely. Therefore, a certain man, moved by envy of his wealth, lay in wait maliciously and attempted to steal it away. But having missed his mark, and then being struck by the more vehement sting of envy, he went to Eleutheropolis and took with him a certain sorcerer to use against him, the wretch purchasing the neighbor's destruction at a great price. Now the one practiced his arts as he knew and was able; but Romanus, as one who had foreseen nothing of what was being plotted, lived in the country, keeping no guard at all against his wicked deeds. And when he was seized by a certain lethargy of the body (God cutting short his great slothfulness and leading his soul back to diligence, and for this reason permitting him to be overcome for a short time by the wiles of the evil one, as the things that follow will show not long after), he was brought back to his house. Then, when the malady struck more vehemently, he lay there dropsical and had received the final abandonment of hope from the art of the physicians; but his kinsmen and friends sat around him, shedding for him the final tears of separation.
B CLI. Thus, therefore, being most grievously affected, and already expecting death itself, with difficulty and only so much as to be able to see something dimly, he raised his gaze and begged those who were present to withdraw for a little while. Being left alone, and turned toward the wall, just as that great Ezechias once prayed, he prayed such things as these in contrition of heart: "O God of hosts, who hast said: 'When you shall turn and groan, then shall you be saved,' do Thou look upon me and deliver me from this necessity and calamity which presses upon me." Meanwhile, however, it came to his mind to also call upon the great Euthymius against the illness, and he offered the man to God as an intercessor, and through him prayed that he might be delivered.
PNB’. CLII. Afterwards, as if he had become caught in an ecstasy, he saw a certain man standing by, a monk in dress, with white hair, saying, "What do you wish that I should do for you?" And he, divided between fear and joy, asked, "Who are you, master?" And he replied, "I am Euthymius, whom you just now were calling. Do not be afraid at all at my appearance; but let me see," he said, "what you are suffering, and what sort of calamity is besetting your body." And when he showed his belly, he joined his fingers together straight, and using them as if they were a sword, he cut that swollen part of the belly, and expelled the passion.
He kept telling the story, and weeping for his calamity before them. Then he begged to be carried by them to the shrine of the saint, saying, It is likely that he who inflicted these unbearable wounds would more easily heal them, being a disciple of Him whose nature it is to be kind rather than to punish; since medical arts and hands would hardly have sufficed for such pains. Having heard this, and having also seen how very severely he had been struck, they themselves were terrified not a little; nevertheless, yielding to the man’s desire, they devised the following way of transport: A they filled two sacks with straw, and having placed them well across a donkey, they then set him between them, and so they carried him to the monastery and the shrine. They, too, told us everything that had happened to him, and showing us the wounds on his back, they struck such fear into the brethren that from then on, they would not allow anyone to swear by the saint’s shrine, nor, as far as it depended on them, to exact such an oath from another.
CLVIII. Furthermore, when these men had spent the day among us, they saw that Cyriacus was deprived even of the slender and weak hope of life, and was looking toward death; for his belly had gone into a flux, and his mouth could not hold back the vomiting in the slightest. Taking him up, they carried him home again. Having barely survived that night, he died the following day.
CLIX. At that time, another foreign traveler also came, and having been received as a guest in the monastery, he went into the temple for the sake of prayer. After he had observed everything that was in it, he crept toward the saint’s tomb at midnight. B He took the silver vessel that had been placed upon it, not only with unwashed hands, as the saying goes, but plainly with profane ones, and by a nocturnal and unseen exit, he concealed his departure. Now, of all those who were in the monastery, no one detected the ruse; but the deed was unknown to them. In the morning, however, Procopius, who was stationed at the gate and who had previously received great healing from the saint, having gone a little way from the entrance, found the foreigner (O, what a miracle!) standing there in front of the monastery like a column. Perplexed and uncertain as to what he should do, the man revealed the secret to the gatekeeper. C The latter brought him into the monastery, but ensured that he confessed the miracle in the presence of all the brethren as witnesses. And he recounted a new and almost incredible thing. For he said that even around midnight, he had stolen that silver vessel from the shrine; and immediately he had followed the animals of the monastery as they went out; and he had traveled for the rest of the night, with a very courageous and swift foot, not less than thirty stadia; D yet he had by no means passed the boundaries of the monastery.
THE CONTEST OF THE HOLY AND GLORIOUS MARTYR OF CHRIST, VINCENT
(A.D. 300, January 22.)
A I. That the victory which the most holy martyr Vincent won over the enemy was highly approved can be understood from this very fact, that the devil, the enemy of all good things, endeavored to overwhelm in silence the venerable memory of the struggles which that martyr sustained and endured. But we shall bring each individual event into the open, as they occurred, and adhering to the most certain faith of these things, we shall narrate the martyr’s inviolable confession, his enduring constancy—maintained until his final breath—and the judge's incredible inhumanity.
A Α'. This too is sufficient proof of the victory won by that most holy martyr Vincent against the enemy: that the hater of good should have wished to store away in silence the memory of his struggles and of his passion. Nevertheless, we shall at least bring each event into the light in due order, offering the most perfect faith regarding the truth of what was done—I mean his pure confession, the martyr’s unwavering perseverance until his final breath, and the indescribable cruelty of the judge.
B II. This man, then, thirsting—if anyone ever did—for the ruin of the Christians, set out for Spain to undertake the administration of that province, which had been entrusted to him by the Roman emperors who held sway at that time. That judge was a Greek, formed by wickedness, madness, and the perversity of the devil, and an extremely suitable minister of that malice; he was called Datianus. When, therefore, he had arrived at the first city of that region, which was called Augusta—a city to which, as all are agreed, the integrity and certainty of the truth bears witness—he did not rest from his madness. But, being a sacrilegious man, as I have said, and extremely Greek in his ways, he raged excessively against the Christians, and thought that he would enjoy his position in due order if he showed the prompt nature of the madness that possessed him. For a certain loathsome insanity of illicit cruelty and strange destruction breathed into him, and he hastened, more swiftly than he ought, with the pettiness of his own spirit, to seize bishops, members of the clergy, and, in short, every holy person, by a certain devilish temptation—or rather, if one must speak the truth, that they might be proven acceptable to God.
B Β'. For this man was indeed thirsting—as much as any other—for the ruin of the Christians; and having received the governorship of Spain from those who at that time governed the Roman Empire, he set foot there. He was a Greek, a profane man, filled with madness and existing as a well-wrought instrument of all the devil’s mischief; Datianus was the name he was called. But when he arrived at the foremost city of those parts—Augusta, as I say—he did not refrain from his madness. Being a sacrilegious man, as I have said, and one of the most Greek kind, he raged excessively against the Christians; and he thought, since he had attained the office, that he would enjoy it in due order if he displayed the readiness of the madness that was driving him to frenzy. For a certain rabid madness of illicit cruelty and strange destruction breathed into him, and he hastened, more quickly than was necessary, with the smallness of his own spirit, to seize the bishops and those in clerical orders, and simply every holy man, by a certain diabolical temptation—or rather, if one must speak the truth, so that they might be rendered approved before God.
A and his limbs be torn apart, and his whole body crushed, so that before he is afflicted with other tortures, he may see himself lacerated and consumed.
VII. When, therefore, the martyr had been torn for many hours, Datianus addressed him thus: "What say you, Vincentius? Do you not see in what miserable ways your poor body has been torn apart?" Then Vincentius smiled at him and said: "This is what I myself have desired with all my heart; therefore, believe me, no one has ever been more desirable to me than you, nor has anyone conferred a greater benefit upon my soul; for although you do this with a hostile spirit, yet you confer the greatest benefit upon me. Behold how I ascend to higher things; behold how I attain to heavenly things; behold how I despise your emperors all the more. Therefore, do not desist from this cruelty of yours; for you bring me a more complete victory, in that, by enduring greater torments, I shall overcome you. Be, I pray, more and more incensed against me, and with the perversity of your wicked spirit, rave as much as you will, so that you may in no way diminish my glory, nor bring harm to my praise. Behold, I, the servant of Christ, am ready to endure all things for the name of the same Lord Jesus Christ. But by whatever threats and tortures you think I am to be vexed, by those very things you yourself shall be more bitterly vexed."
IX. Upon hearing these words, Datianus, inflamed with a certain fury and madness, and lifting up cries out of insanity, was beating the executioners with wood and rods, because they were sluggish in torturing the martyr; he was fuming more against the executioners than against that holy man, beating his own domestics and household members before the martyr. But since the judge himself was raging more against his own people, then the athlete Vincentius (whose name, if anyone translates it from Greek, will be found to mean the same as if one were to say Nicetes, that is, Victor), hanging on the wood, addressed the wicked judge thus: "What say you, Datiane? Behold, I receive vengeance from those who torture me, and you show yourself to me as an avenger against your own men." B By these words, he tormented him all the more.
X. When the martyr had said these things, he tormented the judge himself more and more. Wherefore he began to rage and shout all the more, and to gnash his teeth, torturing himself beyond measure even more than [he tortured] the martyr. C At this, the executioners themselves, being exhausted in the act of lacerating him, had gone numb as if lifeless, and their hands, like dead things, had stiffened about the martyr's sides; and when they had turned pale, their whole body was drenched with much sweat; in short, they were dissolved in all their limbs. And so it was possible to see them more affected by torments than the martyr, and almost dead; nay, even Datianus himself—pale-faced, lifeless, trembling, eyes dim, and as if seized by death, and made immobile—began again to be uncomposed, raving, and shouting against the executioners: "What is it that you are doing?" he said; "Are your hands not known to me? Often have I recognized the cruelty of murderers prostrated by you." D
For the surface of his body A and his skin were being burned, and wounds added upon wounds were being renewed, and lacerations increased by new lacerations. Others, casting burning coals onto his body, were consuming his limbs with persistent flames; and when there was no flesh left upon him, the flames themselves would proceed to penetrate even to his internal parts; and when these were added to previous wounds, they would afflict the martyr’s body with a new torment. Though no part of him remained sound, nevertheless, his mind, firmly enduring those torments, became more robust—and not without cause, for he was fortified on all sides by divine protection that cannot be comprehended by human thought. Datianus, however, stirred by great insanity and rage, proceeded to bring to bear that abundance of torments, expecting, of course, to hear a contrary confession from the martyr.
XIV. Meanwhile, the military cohort, struck with amazement at the martyr’s constancy, reported to Datianus that the executioners themselves were exhausted and reduced to their final breath in administering the torments, but that the athlete had magnificently overcome that multiplied abundance of torments and the contest. Then Datianus, deceived in his hope and oppressed by the darkness of his mind, said: "Alas, we are defeated! But even though his mind has not been conquered by so many torments, since he has courageously endured the flames of his body, let us nevertheless take care that his soul be tormented with such punishments for which no remedy can be applied. Seek out, therefore, a place dark and gloomy on every side, so that he may be punished in a sort of eternal night. And strew that place where his body is to be deposited with broken pottery, sharp on both sides, and having pointed angles, so that it may pierce him, and in whichever direction he turns his side, he may be lacerated B. After this, so that no limb may have any respite or recovery, but his whole body be afflicted by the constant renewal of torments, drag this man onto such shards, that he may be variously lacerated limb by limb, and may yield up his soul and spirit, he who undertook this contest against our emperors. Finally, shut him up in that dark place and leave him there, so that he may not even see the slightest part of light with his eyes, nor may anyone approach that place, and every means and hope of consolation may be removed from him. Close the doors themselves on all sides, and secure them with bars; and take diligent care that, as soon as he has given up his soul, you report it to me."
XV. When these things had been done as the impious Datianus’s wicked edict had prescribed, and the martyr had been shut away in that place, night approaching, the guards themselves were immediately oppressed by a deep sleep. And so, what Datianus C D had contrived against the holy one...
the equivalent of that same bird—I mean, the raven—had fulfilled; for even among those present, by virtue of the divine command of long ago, it performed the appropriate ministrations for the martyr. A XIX. With this miracle Datianus was struck, and he began to cry out and say: “Alas! Can we not overcome even the dead? On the contrary, the greater the harshness we use against him, the more glorious he is shown to be. Since, therefore, it cannot be that he be consumed upon the earth, let him be sent beneath the waves of the sea, so that the sea itself may hide the magnificence of his victory, lest I daily become an object of ridicule to all men. Let him be thrown, therefore, into a *eroungklon*, in such a way as parricides are wont to be bound up in an ox-hide bag and cast into the deep. Let stones be heaped upon his swaddled body, and when the sailors have traversed a great distance into the depths, let them cast him into the waves, so that if any part of the body of this man is left intact or free from injury, the fish, B hungry, may persistently gnaw upon it and consume even that. With an insatiable mouth everything shall be devoured. But if, having approached strange shores, he should be cast up, being carried by the return and the channels of the waves, and driven against the cliffs, he will not find rest even in death.” Behold again, what you do, you who are truly a devil in the flesh! For you make the athlete even more glorious in the element of water. And so the holy and precious relic of the martyr is put into the *eroungklon*, as the sacrilegious Datianus ordered. The *eroungklon* is a sort of wicker-work woven into the shape of a sack, long and narrow, which in the Greek tongue sailors are wont to call a *koika*, suitable for anyone wishing to use such a vessel, and for transporting grain or other freight necessary for life during a sea voyage. As the body of the contestant was compressed and fitted into the so-called *koika*, they secured it with stitches, such that C they thought, and Datianus feared, that the relic might escape and abandon the *koika*. D XX. After these things there came a man named Eumorphius, a pest in his intentions and sacrilegious in soul, who had promised the tyrant that he would provide sailors from his own part of the city who were trustworthy and very suitable for the demanded deed. They cast the highly precious relic of the most holy martyr Vincent into the boat, and rowed out so far onto the deep sea that the shores and the mountains seemed to vanish from the sight of their eyes. And when they finally felt that they were sufficiently far out at sea, and feared that they might carry him off to another fatherland against their will, they performed what had been commanded them and sank him, sending him beneath the waves. And then they returned to Datianus with joyful faces, as if bringing the greatest tidings of joy, behaving wantonly, as is the custom for sailors who are prone to impiety, shouting with disordered voices and clamoring. They hurried themselves toward the governor with more haste than was necessary, lest others anticipate them and report to him the desirable news—that Vincent, snatched from the eyes of all, had vanished. But, for that which was just and holy, before they had returned to dry land, the body of the martyr which they had cast into the sea, that very thing which had been cast away, was brought to land by the hand of Christ; and that which they thought had been sunk into the deep and measureless sea, having seen it exposed before their very eyes as if demanding the debt of burial, they were seized with stupor and fear, and, leaving those very relics behind, they departed.
5. Others celebrate his commemoration on different days. Wandelbert on May 16: *The seventh of Timothy with the tenth shines in its name,* *Whom the truthful Paul taught, blessed by his voice.* On August 22, the very ancient Rhine manuscript has this: «At Rome, of Timothy, disciple of St. Paul.» But the last three words seem to have been added by a copyist; otherwise, St. Timothy, the Roman Martyr, is venerated on that day. Finally, on September 27, the manuscript Martyrology of St. Jerome: «In Ephesus, of Timothy.» Of this one? The author of an old Martyrology A which is preserved in the monasteries of Lätien and St. Martin of Tournai, thought so, in which these things are read on that day: «And of St. Timothy, disciple of the apostle Paul, whom the same chosen vessel, taking him up, taught all ecclesiastical discipline, and by the laying on of hands, made him acceptable to the Churches. This man, remaining chaste and a virgin, rests buried with great honor at Ephesus on the mountain which is called Pion.» But why is he called «acceptable to the Churches»? Perhaps because he was consecrated a bishop at the beginning, not bound to any fixed see, but so that he might more perfectly execute the apostolic office everywhere?
§ II. The Acts of St. Timothy, time of death. 6. «Polycrates, bishop of the Ephesians... flourished in the times of Prince Severus, as St. Jerome testifies in his book *On Ecclesiastical Writers*, chap. 45, where he recites some things from his Synodical epistle on behalf of the rite observed in that Church from the times of St. John the Evangelist, of celebrating the Pasch on the fourteenth [day of the moon].» Concerning him, Sigebert, chapter 3: «Polycrates wrote the passion of the apostle St. Timothy, and many other things; but Baronius in his Notes to the Martyrology pronounces about it in this way: Sigebert is the author that the passion of Timothy was written by Polycrates (in *De viris illustribus*, c. 3), but it is completely unknown to Eusebius and Jerome, who treat of Polycrates. But there are also other writings of other authors omitted by them.» (a) We have provided the Life of St. Timothy by the author Polycrates in volume V of our Patrologia, col. 1302. Now we present the acts of the same written by Symeon Metaphrastes. EDIT. PATR.
B Photius, however, when he writes that he read this passion, names no author. Aubertus Miraeus in *Bibliotheca Ecclesiastica* says: «There is, he says, in that Passion a mention of Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons: from which it is given to be gathered that it cannot be attributed to Polycrates, who succeeded Timothy after Onesimus.» But it is nowhere said that he succeeded immediately after Onesimus, who is handed down to have suffered under Trajan, as we shall say on Feb. 16. Miraeus himself asserts that Irenaeus was crowned in the 40th year of Severus (which was the year of Christ 202, or 203, already begun by twenty days): St. Jerome [asserts] that Polycrates flourished in the times of Prince Severus: so that he could easily have read some commentary, or indeed all of them, of Irenaeus, his contemporary. Polycrates himself calls himself the author (a); who indeed would have to be considered an impostor, if he falsely arrogated to himself the honor of another's name, but the writing is serious as far as the subject matter is concerned, although Photius asserts it is humble in style, and it is consistent with those things which others also have handed down about Timothy. Vincent of Beauvais, book x, chap. 38, recites certain Acts of Timothy from Polycrates; which, says our own Petrus Hallois in his Notes to chap. 7 of the Life of St. Polycarp, «by their style, sufficiently proclaim themselves to be translated from the Greek;» and he himself attributes them entirely to Polycrates. We have transcribed these from the old codices of the monasteries of St. Maximus and St. Mary of Ripatorio, and compared them with printed martyr-agonies, the manuscript of Nicolaus Belfortius, and the Greek manuscript history of the martyrdom of St. Timothy, which perhaps itself is that of Polycrates, but recognized by someone after the relics were translated (to Constantinople), with the preface omitted, where Polycrates proclaims his own name; and deservedly so, since that more recent writer inserted a period about the translated relics, for which therefore he could not place the name of Polycrates at the front; but he kept his own silent, or age or the negligence of the copyists obliterated it : we conjecture from this that he lived before the times of Justinian, who does not mention a temple built by him. Metaphrastes included the martyrdom, the translation, and the building or restoration of the temple.
A And again: "If Timothy comes, see that he may be with you without fear." And now, writing to the Philippians, he joins him as a partner in the salutation: "Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ." And subsequently in the Epistle: "I hope in the Lord to send Timothy to you quickly, so that I too may be of good spirit, having known things concerning you. For I have no one of like spirit who will genuinely take care of things concerning you." He joins to these things the Thessalonians as well: "Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ," honoring him there also with a share in the salutation: "I sent to you Timothy our brother and God's minister, and coworker in the Gospel of Christ, to strengthen and comfort you concerning our faith, that no one should be shaken in these afflictions." And elsewhere: "You know his proof, that as a son to a father he served with me for the Gospel," taking those also as it were as witnesses of Timothy's virtue. Then also to the Colossians: "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Timothy the brother."
CAPUT II.
S. Timothei zelus, martyrium. S. Joannis exsilium.
C V. Therefore, being so testified to by his teacher, and held worthy to be called now a faithful and beloved son in the Lord, and now his brother and coworker in the Gospel, and enjoying such and so great praises up and down from him, nevertheless, he did not even so have confidence in himself or fail to fear; but he lived with such great precision, and was so diligent and hardworking, and endured such great hardship, that the teacher even brought comfort to him—advising the disciple no longer to drink only water, but to use a little wine: "For your stomach," he says, "and your frequent infirmities."
D VI. But although his body was laboring under continuous infirmity, and he had lost the strength of his stomach, the noble spirit shone forth. For the weakness of the body was not able to depress such a noble soul, but it was flying everywhere on the swift wing of his zeal, and the sirens of his tongue were charming now Ephesus, now Corinth. He encompassed Macedonia often, and Italy, and the whole earth and sea with the teacher in preaching. And what would you say of how many he delivered from this heavy service, who were slaves to most irrational and absurd desires? He who says this knows accurately, for he was not even ignorant of the sin of the one who had committed fornication in Corinth. For the divine Timothy was not only most sharp in understanding, but also most ready in speaking, and most skillful in using elegance of speech, and most pleasant in explaining the divine things, and in the composing of the Church.
A
X. But they, bearing his freedom of speech with ill will, used against him whatever they had in their hands, striking him and dragging him along the ground with as much cruelty and inhumanity as can be told, and finally as he lay upon the ground, and every vital power and activity had left him, certain Christians took him up, still breathing a little and feebly, and already near to death, and laid him down beyond the city’s harbor: there, when he had commended his spirit to God, they again piously and holily buried his body in a certain place, which is called by those there Pion, that is, "fat" or "fertile."
CAPUT III. S. Timothei reliquiarum translatio.
XI. But a long time afterwards, divine love for him moved those who were of Constantius, who was the son of Constantine B the Great, I say, of him who was the first of the emperors of the Christians, to carry the relics from there, using Artemius as the administrator of their desire: who, having been an imitator of that excellent Timotheus in his freedom of speech, became also after this time conformable to him in the likeness of his death, and was adorned with the ornament of martyrdom for the sake of Christ. And he is deposited in the holy altar of the famous temple of the Apostles (this was the work of the hand and faith of Constantius), under that very mystical table, as a supplier of miracles, a dispenser of graces, a treasure that cannot be exhausted, a wealth that is not consumed, and he is numbered with Luke and Andrew: God perhaps providently C and kindly ordaining this, that just as all things were common to them—the way of life, the discipline, the preaching—so too the tomb might be common, since for them there is also a common rest there.
XII. But Justinian later built and transformed the temple with more magnificent skill and a more industrious hand, and exhibited to it the beauty and magnitude which is now seen and perceived, except for the mystical and divine table. For he abstained from it alone, doing well and holily for the sake of the deposit of the sacred relics. Wherefore it has been placed in the middle of the temple to this day, having constructed the table out of most pure silver, and with a great manifestation of his own love for Christ, he had re-deposited the holy bodies of the holy apostles of Christ.
XIII. But when the impious Domitian had reigned most wickedly, and had ended his life most miserably, Nerva succeeded to the empire, and immediately after him Trajan also, and desiring to show themselves as humane and law-abiding as possible, they released the Evangelist and Theologian, D among many others, from his exile. And he, having returned to Ephesus (oh, with how much joy and honor, as one might say!), and having learned that the divine Timotheus had already departed to the Jesus whom he longed for, and had sealed the course of the Gospel with the end of martyrdom, and was desolate...
again the Persian took up [his journey], and returned with great vehemence toward A his own land. Anastasius leaves the Persian army and enlists in another, far better and more divine. He leaves behind his own brother and fellow-soldier, that he might please Him who had mustered this army, and might have the strength to follow Him alone always, and to join battle with His enemies alone.
III. And first, indeed, when he came to Hierapolis, he put up at the house of a certain Christian Persian, who followed the craft of a silversmith. After he had spent considerable time under his roof and had practiced the silversmith’s art, his hands were indeed B applied to the work, but his soul and his thoughts were always turned toward God, and were nurtured by love for Him; this love he set more and more ablaze within himself, and was himself rekindled by it ever more fervently. Wherefore the blessed man entreated him that he might be deemed worthy of divine baptism, and might be cleansed altogether from his former defilement and from that sorcerous rottenness, so that, purified not in purpose only, but also in soul and body, he might become part of the portion of Christ which he desired, having been marked with His seal. But because the other feared the danger from the Persians, and for that reason kept putting the matter off to future delays, meanwhile he consoled his C great longing by going to the divine temples; and when the silversmith went to them, he went along as well, and prayed whenever he prayed, and seeing the miracles of the saints and their struggles depicted upon the walls, he inquired with great diligence about them. But when he heard how their life, their manner, their virtue, and the nature of their struggles for Christ was, and what sort of boldness it was possible for him in turn to attain among them—he was no longer able to contain the pangs of his heart, but resolved to set out for Jerusalem rather than to touch upon it [only in passing], and that there he should attain the grace of baptism. Having arrived, therefore, at the holy city, and having gone into the house of a certain man who also plied the silversmith’s trade, he revealed to him the purpose of his arrival—namely, that, he says, he wished to be converted to piety and the true worship of God, and to be brought to Christ through baptism. He brings him D to Elias, the most holy presbyter of the Holy Resurrection, who, when he had taken up the young man with open hands, as they say, referred the matter concerning him to Modestus, who at that time presided over the apostolic throne. And so he obtains divine baptism, and truly a beautiful fruit of the venerable cross is shown forth, and he is renamed Anastasius, having taken the name from his recall and his conversion to better things from his former unbelief and sorcery. With him also another is baptized, of the same fatherland and religion as Anastasius; he also later shared in the same witness for Christ and was deemed worthy of the same crowns in Edessa.
IV. However, after Anastasius had remained for eight days at the house of the presbyter—during which period it is the custom to keep those who have just been enlightened in retirement—the divine Elias asked him...
A whether he was now about to depart from us for the final time. He, relating the dream to him with the greatest possible affection, affirmed that he would certainly die before very long—whether he would die this common death, which is equal for all, or in some other manner—but that he would die nonetheless. For he did not know how to reveal the secret—namely, the longing for martyrdom that had taken root in his soul—to which he referred in his dreams. He feared, indeed, lest he might perhaps be rebuked by him, and that in this way the warmth of his soul might be cooled, and he might fall away from such great wealth and treasure. Therefore, at that time, having been comforted in his heart by many God-loving exhortations from his teacher, Anastasius rendered his morning psalms to God with the brothers. Then, when the sacred mystery was being celebrated, he partook of the divine sacraments; and when he had communed with the brothers at the common table, and had slept but a little, he rose B because he did not know how he could extinguish that noble love for contending for Christ’s sake; rather, since his heart was being vehemently kindled by it, he left the monastery secretly, carrying with him nothing except what was necessary for the covering of his body.
VIII. And first, when he had come to Diospolis, and then also to the mountain called Charisim, for the sake of prayer and adoration, and had visited the other venerable places that are there, and arrived at Caesarea in Palestine, he stayed for two days at the temple of the Virgin Mother of God. C And from there, the temple of the all-lauded Euphemia received him again, as though he were using some secret guide who was paving the way for him quite smoothly toward his martyrdom. For as he was passing toward the temple of the all-lauded one, as we said, he saw certain of the Persian magi occupied with some sorceries; and his soul was immediately filled with zeal, for he knew the impiety and foulness of the matter, because he himself had once been practiced in such wicked arts. “What is this great darkness,” he said, “poured over your eyes, that you cannot even discern the things that lie at your very feet? How is the whole thing a deception of your own ease and levity, mocking you, and leading you to the very same destruction into which you are dragging others?” D Those men, astonished at this boldness, inquired who he was and whence he had been moved to say such things to them. But he said, “I too was once like you, and I was deceived by the same deception, and was occupied with these same sorceries.” He said this confidently, in no way ashamed of the impiety and the filth of his former life that he had received from his early youth; but rather glorying in the fact that he had been translated to the faith and washed by holy baptism. Then he began to speak at length, mocking the foulness of the matter and making clear the enormity of the absurdity, and thus gently setting himself before them as an example and calling them to a similar conversion toward the better. But they were not only deaf to these things, but also begged the man quite fervently
A that, instead of any other pleasure or delight, he might embrace them. When, therefore, he had fallen prone upon the ground and had himself quietly stretched out, he was struck with clubs as continuously and as frequently as rain falls downward; having asked only this one favor from his enemies, that he might strip off the B revered mantle of the monks and be beaten with flesh exposed, lest, he said, it, too, be disgraced along with my members. Thus did he show honor not only to the manner of living according to God, but also to its very symbols. But while he was being tortured so cruelly for a long time, neither held by anyone at all, nor pressed down, nor prevented from moving or shifting himself—yet he held himself firmly and immovably, not by the strength of his hands, but of his mind, overcoming the C necessity of nature with the necessity of choice, refreshing the sharp pains of the body with sharper desires for God, and comforting present grievances with the hope of future things.
XIV. When that foolish governor could devise nothing wiser to oppose to such fortitude and endurance, he again threatened him with the king and asked the athlete to be persuaded. For I shall make known to the king himself, he said, the things concerning you; like one of the children’s bladders, as the saying goes, trying to frighten you. But he answered the same things as before, and told him to do D whatever he wished according to his own judgment. Upon which the former asked similar things again, saying, Do you not fear the king? Why, said the martyr, and what am I about to suffer from him? For is he not himself also a man, enduring the same corruption and the same death as we? Whom, then, ought I to fear more: him who perishes in the same way as I, or Him who is forever, and who brought both us, and the heaven and earth, and all things visible and understood, into being? When, therefore, the governor saw that his attempt was again fruitless, and that Anastasius was yielding his constancy for piety to no one, he sent the athlete back to the fortress again. But as one is wont, as he wishes, to easily expect something, after a few days he brought the holy man out of the fortress, while still some hope was coaxing him, and said: Take the magic rites and sacrifice, lest you foolishly deprive yourself of this light. But the martyr said, To which gods do you order me to sacrifice? And he: To fire, and sun, and moon, and horse. Therefore also to mountains, the martyr said, and hills, and beasts, and all the servitude of men, which we have been ordered by the Creator to rule—not rather to be ruled by, as you wish—as if we were using them as things not made for us, but just as if you were brought forth for their sake, so you honor them and basely name them gods. With these words the martyr having stunned the governor, he was again led away to the fortress, condemned to custody under the pretext of his inability to answer. He was led away, therefore, glorying in the adornment of his confession and in his bonds for Christ.
XV. When he who had charge of the monastery had learned the things concerning him,
A and had brought the blessed one into his own sight, "Behold," he said, "I have been commanded to send you in iron chains to Persia to the king." But the martyr replied, "If I were permitted by you, I would arrive there even without any chains. For what need is there for me of chains, when it is a pleasure for me to suffer for Christ, for whose sake, indeed, I am being sent?" When the judge therefore saw that he was thus disposed, and that he neither yielded to threats nor was enticed by flatteries—being utterly invulnerable and unconquerable—he placed a seal upon him and on two other pious men whom he had subjected to the same fate, and delivered him to the public prison, as they were to begin the journey after five days. B In the meantime, when the venerable festival of the life-giving Wood—I speak of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross—had arrived, the wonderful Anastasius himself, the two brothers who had come to him, those who had received the same seal from the judge that he had, and certain other pious men who were in the city, spent the entire night celebrating with prayers and psalmody; they caused everyone in the prison to forget all their own troubles, behaving as if they were in the house of those who were celebrating the feast, rather than passing the time in a dungeon. In the morning, the *Comerciarius*—a pious man who knew how to sympathize with those suffering in their souls and how to console them in their afflictions—went to the Marzaban and asked the ruler to release Anastasius from the prison, so that he might also be present at the festival of the Christians.
XIX. When the ruler had granted this request and the martyr had reached the church, consolation, joy, and gladness were diffused among the souls of the faithful. For previously, sadness and despondency had seized them because of the arrival of those unspeakable miseries. C Many were already growing lax in piety, and stood in imminent danger of being miserably captured by the snares of the evil one, there being no one to redeem or save them—or rather, to rouse their falling and fainting souls. But when holy Anastasius entered the church, such zeal for piety entered into everyone, and the hearts of every one of them were so warmed by the very sight of him, that they were not only prepared to suffer death for Christ and the truth, but they even kissed his chains and, shedding tears of longing over them, they gave him courage with their praises and exhortations, and further inflamed and kindled his love for martyrdom. And who were these people? Those who were already weakened by time and insults, and were already looking toward change—the betrayal of what is good—not only men, but also women. For in this matter there is no difference of nature, because the choice and the resolve are common. Thus the festival for the people at that time became twofold: D one on the appointed day of the feast, the other upon the arrival of the martyr. After the completion of the sacred mystery, the *Comerciarius* would not let him go, but pressed the martyr strongly and begged him to come to his house; for he thought that merely his arrival...
A at the piety [would be enough]; do therefore what you wish, abstaining from none of them.
XXIII. No moderation or humanity followed this steadfastness of Anastasius, but he was bound in the Persian manner and cruelly beaten with rods. B And while he was being beaten, the magistrate taunted him thus: Since you could not be persuaded by the king’s greatest gifts and honors, be prepared for things like these; for by beating you like this every day, I shall consume you with blows. And when he again granted him the chance to do what he wished, he ordered the martyr to be released from his bonds and, while stretched out supinely, to have his shins gripped between pieces of wood, while some robust men, who excelled in the size of their bodies and the vigor of their youth, pressed upon both ends of them. Now the martyr, as his shins were being crushed like this even to the bone, endured it with a great and lofty, and truly philosophic, soul. C When the magistrate saw this, and realized that he was only increasing the firmness of his patience and endurance, he again handed him over to the safest custody, in order to report to the king about him once more. But because the *sellarius* [officer] to whom the care of the prison was entrusted was a Christian by religion, and for that reason had compassion on those who labored for the sake of piety, and because of what is good and honorable, and granted entry to those among the Christians who wished it, the brother from the monastery, who had set out from Caesarea with the martyr, entering by day without any prohibition, consoled that harsh and gloomy habitation in the prison, and the pains he felt from the blows, and the distress he had received from the bonds and the rest of his grievous suffering. Many other pious men, including the sons of that Tesdin, also entering in to him, would fall down at his comely feet, clearly proclaiming the good things, and would kiss his chains and ask to obtain from him some prayers and blessings. But he was altogether very unreceptive to these things (for he was always, with his whole soul and disposition of mind, cutting off the occasions of human glory, that vain, faithless, and deceitful thing, which has nothing firm or stable in it); they themselves, applying wax D to his chains, would carry off the impression made from them as some great protection and a release from all labor and suffering.
XXIV. Not much time passed before that magistrate arrived again at the prison and asked in vain whether he would yield to the king’s commands, or rather, seeking an opportunity to gratify a most cruel soul that desired to inflict punishments. When he was not a little vexed at the inquiry and, with vehemence toward him and a motion of his head, answered now also what he had often said, namely, "Know that I will set nothing before Christ and piety," he ordered him to be beaten again with clubs, just as before. But when they seemed to be beating a statue rather than a man—as much as one could conjecture from the immovability of his mind—the magistrate left him in prison for the time being, and after waiting some days, he comes to him again, being very...
A bitter in his pursuit, or rather, in the killing of a king, had predicted most truthfully and explicitly, saying: “Know, my brethren, that by the grace of the good God, I shall be consummated tomorrow; but you, after a few days, shall be released when the most unjust and wicked king shall be slain. But as for you, God shall certainly guide you and provide for your return to the holy city, B and it shall be your concern to visit the monastery of Abba Anastasius, and in our name to greet and report everything to my father and the brethren.” Having not only heard these forecasts but also having seen their fulfillment in action, they did not disregard the martyr’s final commands, but setting the journey to the monastery as more preferable than their own return—nay rather, having encountered an easy and smooth return, and having brought to the monastery, with the toil of the journey, the provisions they had for him—they explained everything to the brotherhood.
[H] XXVIII. The aforementioned brother, however (for the account leads back to him by way of sequence), having deposited the martyr’s body with piety and with the honors befitting a martyr in the monastery of the great Sergius, also spent some time there himself, C considering how he might reach the one who sent him and the brethren safely and without danger. But on the tenth day after the depositing of the relics, another king arrived with his army. He was not like the aforementioned persecutor and apostate, who was excessive in malice and incurable, but was indeed most equitable and gentle, and in piety and philanthropy, entirely the opposite to that man. When the monk saw them gladly in a foreign land, like certain lamps in darkness, he soon breathed again from his concern about the return and the burden of despondency, and, as if relieved of the weight on his soul, and also expecting that he would behold the brotherhood and the monastery before long, he addressed them in the Greek tongue, thereby disclosing his identity to the men. But when they learned that he was a Christian—a thing most rare in Persia (for both the garment of the monks and his speech made this known)—they asked him why he was staying there. D When he had explained to them in detail the events concerning the blessed Anastasius, they, their souls moved partly by a longing for the martyr and partly by compassion for the monk, having received the man into their own tents, and having made him a companion of their lodging and table from then on, and having been disposed toward him as Christians and lovers of the martyrs ought to be, led him out through Armenia. Having reached the monastery a year later, he provided the superior and the brethren a most pleasant feast and an elaborate banquet—namely, the narrative concerning the holy Anastasius—having also brought back that monastic tunic of his, which he was wearing at the very moment of his dissolution; and he brought it back not simply, but accompanied by a marvelous account. For he said that there was a certain brother in the monastery where the relics were deposited, young in age, who was held fast by a wicked spirit. But when...
LIFE AND CONTEST OF THE HOLY HIEROMARTYR CLEMENT OF ANCYRA
CAPUT I. The birth and upbringing of Saint Clement. The death of his parents.
A I. Two hundred and fifty years after the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ into heaven, in the twelfth year of the reign of Valerian, and in the consulship of Valerian himself and Lucianus, that truly great and admirable Clement, in Ancyra, the metropolis of the Galatian province, was, like a noble shoot, flourishing on every side with the clusters of the good Spirit. For this city, having borne him and having sent forth to many other cities a brilliant example of martyrdom, reaped the fair fruits of his life and his perfection in later times.
B II. He was illustrious by birth, and descended from noble blood. For his parents were such: the mother was from both famous and faithful parents, but the father was greatly at variance with the faithful Sophia (for this was the name of his spouse) concerning religion, and was addicted to Hellenic folly. For, having her as a companion in life and a fellow-dweller, he was always saying and doing many things, striving to make her a partner in his own religion. But she, excelling her husband in greatness of soul, pursued this with greater zeal, if it were at all possible, to draw him toward true piety. But he, sleeping in the deep darkness of error, was evil by his own choice, and refused to look up to the great light of truth. Therefore, he died miserably a double death, of both flesh and soul. To the wife, there was left only this child, the admirable Clement, while he was still a very young infant, whom the mother held in her arms and nourished at her breast.
C III. The mother, having thus been widowed of a husband and placing all her hopes in the child alone, applied herself to him so diligently and paid such attention to him, that he might be entirely...
A disappointed of the hopes I have conceived for you. Once, a Hebrew woman produced seven martyrs, and she herself contended in the bodies of those seven. You, however, will suffice for me alone unto glory, and I am blessed among mothers, for through you I shall be renowned. Behold, I go before you, O child, and henceforth I am separated in body today from your most beloved eyes; yet my soul, when I have departed, believe, O child, to be forever hanging upon your soul, with which I shall confidently worship at the tribunal of Christ, exulting in your labors, beautified by your marks suffered for His sake, and becoming a participant in those precious rewards and that brightness.
B VIII. These things the mother said to the child, and at the same time she kept kissing all his limbs. "Happy am I," she said again, "that I kiss the limbs of a martyr, limbs that are to be offered as a sacrifice to Christ." Embracing him thus, and conversing as sweetly as possible, she rested in a truly blessed rest, when she had commended her spirit to God and her body to the most sweet hands of her child. He, however, as one who had always been a pious son to a loving mother, buried her most splendidly and honorably; he himself then takes up the solitary life, immediately yielding to this first request of his mother, that he might depart from the world for Christ’s sake, he who was soon after to depart from life itself for His sake.
CHAPTER II.
The Adolescence of St. Clement. His Episcopacy.
D IX. Now when Clement had thus been orphaned of his mother (for he had God as his father), He introduces to him another mother, who differed in no way from the former, neither in name nor in character: for she too was of noble and wealthy lineage, and illustrious in virtue; she was likewise called Sophia, and she occupied herself night and day with prayers. Though she was, if any woman ever was, most loving toward children, she was completely barren. But Divine Providence, which administered their affairs from on high, not bearing that the tender age of Clement should be destitute of a mother, and wishing again to fulfill the desire of Sophia, wisely brought Clement to her and caused her to adopt him. Since Sophia was truly wise, she instructed him in that wisdom which is from God, and she was as deeply affected toward Clement—and cared for him to the highest degree—as if she herself had given birth to him. Nor did Clement show less love toward his mother than was fitting; rather, he preserved for her a pure and sincere reverence and affection. He soon returned much fruit from her instruction, like good, rich, and deep soil, which does not distress the farmer with scarcity, but by the abundance of what springs up encourages him all the more to cast in other seeds: these things, which
A by His word all things were produced, and from Whom we also have the power both to speak and to reason.
XVI. The vicar, answering, said: "By the gods, you have caused me distress, for you have begun from the very outset to babble such nonsense, contrary to all expectation. But if you would believe me, and bid farewell to this long and tedious babbling, I advise you to approach the propitious gods, and consider the punishments of those who despise and deny them, and on the other hand the honors of those who revere and worship them. And we are an example to you of what is said, who have attained this office through them, and offer thanks to them for the benefit, providing honors to those who worship them, and inflicting punishments upon those who will not obey them." When he had laughed at these things, as is natural, because the magistrate had mentioned the gifts by which he was being affected and the base honors, and it seemed that he was trying to dissolve his enthusiasm by these, he said: "But we, O magistrate, are of the opposite mind, and we consider your gifts to be a loss, your honor to be disgrace, and your office to be servitude; and on the other hand, we consider insults, punishments, and threats to be pleasure and luxury, and what is greater than these, union with God. Knowing this, do not imagine that you can ever turn us away from piety with promises and honors, or again with threats and punishments." B
XVII. These things gradually stirred the anger of Domitian, and looking more sharply at the saint, he said: "I have made you altogether more arrogant, since I have behaved towards you so leniently. But it is no wonder, if, having lived your whole life with boys, you have a mindset similar to theirs. But unless you appease the gods with sacrifices, and thereby earn our goodwill, know that death shall be your penalty, and this not as you might perhaps expect, brought about briefly and quickly, but having first been handed over to many and various punishments, you shall also suffer a most grievous mode of death, so that you, being evil, may be miserably destroyed, and by your example may chasten the folly of many." C
XVIII. But the admirable Clement said: "Since, you say, you reproach me with boys, I, for my part, have endeavored to instill in them that prudence which the men among you, and even the elders and the wiser ones D among them, are ignorant of. For truly the wisdom of God has hidden itself from the wise and prudent, and has revealed itself, clearly, to infants. I also pray to offer sacrifices, but to my God, rational ones: not, as they do, torrents of blood, and fumes and odors, with which you serve the gods that are among you in the most irrational way. But if I should sacrifice my own blood for Him, it will come to pass that I too, if not with equal, yet in some measure at least, may requite my Master. For He Himself, O Christ King, bought me back with His own precious blood."
A XXIV. But Domitian, having quite despaired of his mind, sent him back into custody. And because he thought he could no longer use his feet for walking, as his body had been exhausted by the preceding tortures, he ordered him to be carried on both sides; however, He who strengthens all and raises up those who are bowed down did not allow him to need a hand to heal his gait, but pushing away the Gentiles who were approaching, and reciting that phrase under his breath: "Let not the oil of sinners anoint my head" (Ps. CXL, 5), he finished that road on his own feet. When the vicar saw him departing in this way, he was greatly astonished at his endurance, and turning to those standing by, said: "By my faith, what great endurance! Such soldiers, indeed, the emperors needed, that they might be superior to any danger and maintain such a spirit in the midst of adversity. Nevertheless, this man shall not remain any longer before my tribunal; I shall send him to the emperor Diocletian, for he alone will be able to overcome him." B
XXV. He spoke, and as soon as he had signified by letters how things stood, he ordered him to be led to Rome with all speed. When the martyr was outside the city, lifting his hands with his heart to heaven, he said: "O Lord God, who doest all things and providest for the whole race of mankind, and who hast cut for us many ways of salvation, preserve this city of Thine, and the souls of those who have believed in it, so that they may not be entangled in the snare of the devil and taken by the intrigues of tyrants. And do not allow us to be forever estranged from the land that bore us, but as Thou didst bring back Jacob to the house of his father and deliver him from the hand of Esau, and as Thou didst take up the bones of Joseph from Egypt with Thy people C and restore them to the tombs of his fathers, so be it pleasing to Thy will to bring me back to the fatherland which gave me birth and nourishment and brought me to this age, as if to pay back some debt once more." When he had prayed these things to God, he finished the journey with a stout heart. D
CHAPTER V.
Diocletian's promises rejected.
XXVI. When they arrived at Rome, where Diocletian happened to be staying at that time, those who had been sent delivered the letters to him, and at his command, they brought the admirable Clement into the midst. When he stood before him, Diocletian, seeing the pleasant, radiant, and noble aspect of the man, at first concealed in secret what his mind intended, being amazed within himself whether he had endured all those things which the letters indicated to him. Then, looking at him more intently with fixed eyes and surveying him thoroughly, he said, "Are you that renowned Clement, whose great
ascension, from where he had descended, when he made us rise also, and led us back to the former principality, from which we had miserably fallen through disobedience. A
CAPUT VI. Varii tolerati Romæ cruciatus. Multi conversi et martyrio coronati.
XXIX. Because of these things, the emperor is stirred to anger; and being vanquished by words, he turns to punishments, not knowing—fool that he is—that he is to be overcome all the more by these; since it is an obvious proof that he is vanquished who punishes, because the one being punished yields nothing at all to the torments. B He commands, therefore, that the martyr be bound to a wheel, and that the wheel be turned with great force, and that the martyr be beaten with the most cruel rods. Immediately the martyr had been bound, and the wheel was turned rapidly. But when the martyr was aloft upon the wheel, he was handed over to those who were beating him; but when the wheel drew him beneath itself, his body was cruelly lacerated, and his bones were crushed. And as he was being thus torn, "Lord Jesus Christ," he said, "come to bring me aid, and relieve me of this weight of torment: for the sorrows of death have compassed me about, the perils of hell have found me. Look upon me, and have mercy on me, and deliver me from my necessities. Be present with me, as you were once to the paralytic, C for your glory, for the confession of your name, for the disgrace and ignominy of my enemies, and for the endurance of greater sufferings for your sake."
XXX. When the saint had said these things, immediately both the wheel ceased from its motion, and those who were beating him ceased from inflicting wounds: and the martyr was at once set free by his own accord from everyone, and from the wheel, and from those bonds, and was restored to his former health; but a loosening of limbs came upon the torturers. And many of the Romans, who had run together to such a spectacle, escaped with healthy souls, and cried out with a loud voice, "Great is the God of the Christians." But the noble Clement, who was in truth a branch of Christ, when he had offered his own limbs as it were certain beautiful fruits to God: "I give you thanks," he said, "O God, that you have deigned [to allow] me to suffer in this greatest and most populous city D for your only-begotten Son, who himself also suffered for us, and poured out his own blood as the ransom of our captivity and servitude." Then he added also the series of the saints who were at Rome: "Whom Peter," he said, "taught to worship, and Paul preached, and he who was of the same name as I, Clement the wise, decreed was to be adored; and divinely, in turn, Onesimus confessed. On account of whom they themselves also suffered, and have great boldness of speech toward him, and are adored by the faithful, and not long after they will be adored also by
the structure of my members, like some garment. My Christ has clothed me, on whose account I also put off the former one. And now that this too has been scraped away, he will again clothe me with another; for the clay would not fail the potter." When he had said these things and more than these, he ceased. Diocletian then ordered torches of fire to be brought to him, but to him these too were a pleasure, as they were light, but did not have the force of fire. B
CAPUT VII. In itinere Nicomediensi, ac præsertim Rhodi, gesta.
A XXXVI. The emperor was henceforth struck with amazement, and turning to those who stood around, he said: "I have punished many of these ill-named Christians, and many I have sent to their death; but never yet have I seen a man of such a soul and mind, nor indeed a body so firm, hardy, and difficult to kill. I shall therefore send him to Nicomedia, to Maximian—a prodigy, as is likely, past all belief—for I do not think that even he has ever encountered a man so dreadfully self-willed and obstinate." Having said these things in wonder to those present, he decreed that Clement, bound, should be sent by sea to Nicomedia to be examined by Maximian, having written down everything concerning him: both what he had suffered before from Domitian, and what he had again endured from him, contrary to expectation and all human nature. He also gave warning of this: that if he could prevail upon him—which was altogether to be despaired of—and change his mind, he should send him back, a thing which would be a welcome proof of his own great mind and wisdom; but if not, he should hand him over to the beasts, or else by other bitter tortures put an end to his life, lest, if he should still survive, he might cause great harm to both Christians and Greeks, corrupting and drawing away the former, and making the Christians more stubborn and confirming them. B
C XXXVII. The holy man was then led out of Rome, escorted by many, and by many being the cause of tears, by which they sought to console themselves for the pain of the separation. For who could recount in speech the things that the faithful said at that time, and what again they did for him? For some grasped his feet and kissed his hands; others, embracing his neck, kissed him and shed bitter tears for him because of the departure; others anointed themselves with his blood, and clung to his wounds, and could not be torn away from his garments, saying, "The brilliant champion, the noble athlete, is stronger than iron." Now those who were leading him away, softened by the lamentations, and being themselves also affected in their souls, stood for a long time, yielding to the suffering and to the piteous spectacle. D When at last the time called for the martyr to board the ship, being with difficulty torn away from those who surrounded him, he
A offered to the contemplation of the beholders a most excellent sight, set as he was upon a mystical table, while a multitude of those clad in white hovered in the air above him. And they, indeed, not being able to endure the vision, cast themselves down, lying prone upon the ground, and were not able to so much as glance against the radiance that emanated from him. When the fame of this had traversed the whole city in a short time, many of the unbelievers also flocked together in a public gathering, and especially those who had children, relatives, or others of their kin suffering from incurable diseases; and they all flocked there, bringing the sick with them. Some they cast down at the feet of the martyrs, while others they brought to the touch of their blessed hands, and they saw them immediately cleansed of their sicknesses. Many of the Greeks [gentiles] also had their souls healed, and by the miracle of their healing were guided toward the truth. These things astonished the soldiers, and seeing the great longing of the city for Clement, and fearing lest some insurrection should be made against them by the people, and the martyr should escape from their hands out of their midst, they put bonds upon him again and led him to the ship, making the abundance of his virtue a pretext for ill-treating him. Agathangelus was the first to lead the way, and boarded the ship, as if he were to prepare the entrance for him for his martyrdom. B
CAPUT VIII. Tormenta Nicomediæ Sanctis inflicta.
XLIV. Therefore, having obtained a favorable wind, they crossed the Aegean Sea, and upon arriving at Nicomedia, they were immediately taken to Maximian. He, having received the emperor's letters, and having learned many things from the soldiers themselves, and seeing that these things agreed with the letters—namely, an appearance that preserved the virtue it professed, a noble bearing, the freedom of his character, nothing servile, lowly, or abject, nor a man easily swayed to another opinion—Maximian, seeing these things, and being a man keen at judging such matters, immediately excused himself from the examination. Alleging certain military concerns and occupations, he entrusted the case of the brave Clement to the prefect Agrippinus. He, having immediately caused him to be brought before him, asked him before all else whether he was the same Clement who was so commonly spoken of. When he replied that he was indeed he, and added also that he was a servant of Christ, Agrippinus, moved to anger, ordered the soldiers to strike him on the face, saying that he should call himself a servant of the emperors, and not of Christ. But the martyr said, "Would that your masters and emperors were also called servants of Christ, so that all other nations might be servants and subjects to them, rather than that they themselves should be so evilly held by impiety, and should foolishly contend to prevail over us!" D
XLV. These words, falling like a kind of flame into the soul of Agrippinus, made the furnace of his madness burn all the more fiercely; and he answered nothing to Clement, as though showing that the wrath he felt against him was greater, and
A he himself also presides in the high tribunal; and when he had brought the saints into the middle, he said: "Why, pray, have you stirred up sedition among the people with your jugglery and incantations, and persuaded them to raise their hands against us and to proceed to the denying of the gods and the uttering of blasphemies against them?" The martyrs said: "Nothing, O prefect, has been done by us to cause the subversion of the people or sedition; but even while we were silent, the true Lord was known to them by the truth itself, and with a great voice, as you yourself know, they proclaimed him the only living God. But if you wish to bring some punishment upon us again for his sake, do not delay, but bring it; for he is able to deliver us even from this, and to rescue us from your hands."
B LI. Thus, shamefully defeated by the soul and resolve of the martyrs, Agrippinus sought at least to overcome their bodies. And having stretched them out on the rock which was on the summit of the mountain, and having broken their bones with very thick clubs, and—alas!—having torn their flesh, he then cast them into sacks, and having tied very large stones to them, he threw them down the mountainside most violently. And there was none of those who were present who was not convinced that the martyrs would immediately perish, torn asunder and mangled by that most violent impetus. But they, being carried down so swiftly, did not even stop at the bottom of the mountain's side, but passing even beyond the shore itself, they slipped into the depths of the sea.
C LII. There, therefore, some of the pious were standing, supposedly to hunt for the martyrs' relics, so that if anything from them were cast up by the sea, they might take it up. When they had remained there for a long time, they saw the sacks returned from the deep and slowly floating upon the waters. Having therefore immediately boarded a ship and come near to the sacks, they took up the martyrs—living! (O your power, Christ King!)—not having as much as a small trace of those wounds still upon them. And at midnight a great light also shone from heaven around the saints, and angels openly reached out a hand to them, and having led them out to the land, they gave them heavenly food, and restored their strength, which had been cast down by the continuous evils.
D LIII. Then, when the saints had thus entered into the middle of the city, and were telling the other saints of the great deeds of God, they themselves, lifting their hands to heaven, offered thanksgiving to him most fervently. Now, an addition to their arrival into the city was that there were two blind men standing by a certain portico, and another who had his hand withered, and another again who was suffering from paralysis of the body; these, from the mere touch of those blessed hands, found healing without labor or price. Many others also, who were suffering with various and diverse diseases, having brought the same faith as those men, obtained the same healing.
A and who it was that had contended with him, and who it was that was once again shut up with him, he inquired of each distinctly. And when the great Clement had explained everything in detail, how they stood, she wiped away their blood, and having cleansed their wounds with clean linens, she offered them food, with which she had known from his earliest youth that Clement was nourished.
LIX. Meanwhile, when Curicius had considered that nothing of this sort could be devised by him for their punishment, so as to overcome such endurance in men, he committed the cognizance of them to a certain vicar who at that time had the administration of the Amisenes (his name was Domitius). And when the martyrs were being led to him, Sophia, who was held by the love of her children, or rather to the martyrs, could not be absent from them, but with a ready and eager spirit followed with the children who were nurtured by her; whom, as we have said before, Clement had entrusted to her.
LX. But when it had been immediately reported to Maximian concerning the children, he ordered that if they were willing to depart from Clement, he should permit them to return home; but if they should not easily recede from him, he should give them over to death. When therefore this sentence had been passed upon the children, the soldiers, taking hold of them, attempted to tear them away by force from the martyr. But they, being unable to bear the separation, casting themselves to the ground and embracing his feet with both hands, did not let go before each one of them had received the end of his life by the sword, having shown courage and prudence beyond their age, and having clearly demonstrated that this perfect gift had descended from above from the Father of lights, as a most generous reward for a good purpose and intention. The place, indeed, where the bodies of the children were allotted by fate was called the Campus. But the God-loving Sophia, on account of her extreme benevolence toward them, took care even of the dead bodies, and did not deem it worthy of her to allow them to lie upon the ground; but even though against her will, she separated from the great Clement and the divine Agathangelus, having first bidden them farewell, and said that if God should grant it, she would return to them again. Wherefore, B when she had holily covered those martyric bodies of the children with her holy hands in the earth, she returned home with joy.
CAPUT X. Cruciatus Amisi illati. SS. Phengontis et Eucarpi martyrium.
LXI. When the martyrs had arrived at the city of the Amisenes, they bowed their knees to the ground for some time, and when they had invoked God with hot tears to be present with them again for their aid, they were led by the soldiers to Domitius. But he, being occupied in examining other Christians, reserved them for the next day for specific tribunals and punishments, saying that it was not fitting that they C should be judged without order.
A LXIX. Thus, therefore, the noble Clement, having received from heaven a sure pledge of martyrdom, was confidently proceeding to the city of the Ancyrans once more, together with Agathangelus. But the soldiers who were leading them, learning that the emperor was still staying in Tarsus, a city of Cilicia, led the holy men thither to him. And he, when he had caused them to be brought before him, and concealing what was truly in his mind, attempted first to entice them with feigned kindness, gently and affably: "You seem to me, O men," he said, "to have been unwilling, up to this day, to yield or submit at all, but rather to have been disobedient and contentious toward those to whom you were sent, so that you have come as far as us, and would not change your minds before anyone else, but only under the eyes B of the emperor himself." For he knew that7 often a royal presence can change even a person's resolve, and stir up what is very hostile toward benevolence. "See, therefore, you have been deemed worthy to be in our presence now; and shortly you shall be deemed worthy of our benevolence, if you first worship the gods as the sustainers and common guardians of men." But the noble men, answering most nobly: "That we have stood before your power, O emperor," they said, "we ourselves rejoice, but in no other way than that we may be deemed worthy of punishment for the sake of Christ and before your tribunal, and not for the sake of any other honor. For so, with great confidence, we shall stand before that terrible and incorruptible tribunal of His, which we pray to attain, and you also, O emperor, we beseech to attain. For He is the One through whom kings truly reign, and tyrants hold dominion C on earth. He is the One who both destroys every nation and lifts up the Roman Empire, and will lift it up even more, and through Him all nations will be ruled." This, indeed, the prophet also calls a rod of iron, saying: "I have given you nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as your possession; you shall shepherd them with a rod of iron." [8a] And the Lord will raise up pious kings after you; for this, too, the Spirit has foretold.
LXX. Maximian, irritated more vehemently by these words, said: "What are these, O you who are about to perish by a violent death, the magic books you have read that fable such things?" But they said to him: "Not magic, O emperor, but prophetic books rather, in which it is also written: 'God will raise up in the last days pious kings.'" And Maximian, D seizing upon their words in the midst of their speaking, said: "What then? Are we not the ones who use such piety toward the gods, that we deliver those who do not obey them—as we do you now—to incurable evils?" Upon which, the great Clement, while Agathangelus kept silence, said: "But, O emperor, if there had been any change of impiety since that prophetic prediction was foretold, the words you have spoken might have had some reason. But since the worship of idols still prevails in the world today—
[GREEK COLUMN] 877 A of their fortitude, so that he himself endured even what it was likely that they would suffer. For they indeed returned to the prison on their own feet, when he had so commanded. But he, fainting from the shame and despair of his defeat, and being carried by the hands of many, retreated in such a shameful manner from the tyrannical tribunal. Meanwhile, as the saints were proceeding toward the prison, their flesh falling away with their blood, this caused the faithful from all sides to run together to collect it, as if they were gathering a certain treasure of good things. And having immediately taken up those pieces with the very dust, in their thirsty hands, they believed they were drawing to themselves a certain blessing and grace.
B LXXV. But when Sacerdos, after he had attempted every terror, and applied every experience, and shrewd devices and artifices and prestiges, could avail nothing, but—as the saying goes—had "shot his arrow at the sky," and Maximianus learned these things and poured laughter upon Sacerdos, "Is this," he said, "the Sacerdos who is sung of by all?" Now there was a certain Maximus, who was also a governor standing by Maximianus at that time, and hearing what was being said, his soul was filled with zeal against the saints. "I ask, oh Emperor," he said, "of your power, that these men might also be handed over to me, and I put my trust in the greatest gods that I shall either persuade them completely to change their mind, or else miserably deprive them of life." Upon this, when Maximianus had given his consent, he himself, as the eighth, takes over the martyrs and weaves some new scheme against them, holding conversations with them at intervals, and pretending to be a true counselor and friend to the saints. For he approaches them at first with seemingly friendly talk, C and conversing with them for pleasure and favor; and then, after another few days had passed, he would call them to an interchange of words, and seem only to suggest and advise them, and not to force or compel them in the least.
D LXXVI. But when this had gone on for a long time, the fraud of Maximus was clearly exposed, and it made manifest the reason for that deceitful and pretended friendship. For having summoned the saints, "Rejoice," he said, "oh men, whom the immortal gods likewise love, and hold both of you in the place of genuine sons. For often they have even given me replies, and have appeared in my sleep, restraining their anger concerning you, for no other reason at all than because they are waiting for your own voluntary change, which will indeed arrive in a little while, just as the great Dionysius among the gods made clear to me during the past night, having commanded us, saying: 'Bring the men.' Behold, therefore, the altar is ready, and the sacrifices are prepared: approach and sacrifice to their benevolence." To these things the saints, answering, said, "You have spoken falsely, oh judge, and in no way credibly. For whatever your gods speak to you during the day, so many they surely say also at night. And what kind of Dionysius stood by you? For he is double, as we see: or whom do you name from among these as the immortal one? Is he the bronze one, or the stone one?"
A seeing how cheerful and bright they were because of Christ, and how their bodies flourished under so many and such great punishments, quickly casting off those incurable wounds and being deemed by them as impassible and immortal, they confessed the true God and gladly joined themselves to piety. Thus, Aphrodisius also having been defeated with much abundance, these things become clear to the Emperor. But he, having despaired of any hope of change, as it was impossible for the martyrs to be persuaded—especially since many more were being drawn to piety from that very source—condemns them to a perpetual prison, so that, wasting away for the whole time in an inglorious dungeon, they might thus end their lives; God providing for them in this so that the prayer of Clement might receive the end he had himself petitioned for, and that the rewards of martyrdom might be greater for them. B
CAPUT XIV. The Martyrdom of Saint Agathangelus at Ancyra.
LXXXI. After they had thus remained for a long time in custody, many others of the pious, who had begun their martyrdom after them, received their consummation before them. But the jailers appointed by Maximian over Clement and Agathangelus, those noble athletes of piety, wearied by that long-continued attendance upon the martyrs, at length and reluctantly come to Maximinus, who had then taken up the empire, and ask, "What do you command regarding those whom we have held in bonds for many years now, who are of the Christian religion, and who are difficult to kill, or are rather C immortal?" For so they called the blessed ones, because they had endured evils that human nature cannot bear. Maximinus, therefore, having first cursed his own gods with many blasphemies because they were unable to remove those men from the present life, then inquired also into the city in which they were born and from which they had set out, and of what race they were. When he learned that they were Galatians and from the city of Ancyra, he sends them off to Lucius the governor; for he at that time ruled over it. Thus is the Lord known, executing judgments, who, even after so many and such great dangers, restores the martyrs again to the land that bore them, in ways which He Himself knows. They, therefore, having departed from Tarsus with thanksgiving, finished with willing feet the road that leads to their homeland. But as soon as they saw Ancyra, they are presented before the governor Lucius. He, having not even granted them the opportunity of speech beforehand, then securely shuts them up in the stocks, having bound a stone to each, so that they could not move at all, nor extend their legs. D
And she herself had put on a white garment, and to show the inward joy of her soul for the noble Clement, she placed her hand on his left side, so that it might support him and offer aid to the martyr as he walked.
B LXXXVII. They were still on their way, and the great Clement, as one who had already perceived that the Master was calling him to Himself, lifted his right hand toward heaven (for he held the Gospel in the other) and prayed for Sophia, his mother in the Spirit, and for the clergy and the entire flock. He asked that for those who would call upon him after his departure from this life—and who otherwise honored and venerated him—there might be defense and salvation from the Lord, and that whatever they might ask might be granted to them for their profit. And praying thus in his final moments, he entered the church along with the martyr-loving Sophia and those who were escorting him. And they, having secured the doors with bolts and keys (for they feared that some of the impious might fall upon them), chanted hymns throughout the night. When the saving day finally arrived, shining very brightly and pleasantly upon the souls of those who were worthy, and the martyr had most gloriously accomplished the holy liturgy and had shared the undefiled and unbloody sacrifice with those present, then the sweet branch of Christ, I mean Clement, poured out upon them the sweet wine of doctrine.
C LXXXVIII. Seeing them distressed and fearful, as they suspected that some incursion of the infidels might occur, he strengthened their spirits, and having set before their eyes the things that were to come to pass, he said: "Be of good courage, brothers, take heart; not one of you will perish. But two, and I the third with them, will now depart from you in our final exodus. Then the madness that rages against the Christians will be extinguished, and peace will arise in the Roman Empire; every city and region will be filled with the knowledge of Christ. Every holy house will be opened, but the temples of the Greeks will be closed; those who worship in them will flee, and they themselves will be afflicted with the fear that we now suffer. But this time is near, and some of you will see the overthrow of our persecutors."
D LXXXIX. While he was speaking these things so openly and clearly to those present, Sophia, lover of Christ and lover of the martyrs, having her heart full of joy and gladness on account of Clement, was calling together widows and orphans. She kept providing them with bread, food, and wine in abundance, and assisted them as much as her means allowed. These things were done for twelve successive days, and Sophia lavishly entertained those who came; all were in a festive and joyful mood, and they celebrated Clement’s departure. But when the appointed day was at hand (and it was the Lord’s day) calling the athlete of the faith from the present life
LIFE AND CONDUCT OF OUR HOLY FATHER JOHN, ARCHBISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA, SURNAMED THE ALMSGIVER
CHAPTER I. Birth, Marriage, Patriarchate, Almsgiving.
Bless the Lord.
I. A To commit the actions of good men to writing and to transmit the memory of them to posterity is a task that procures great benefit for life. For the narration of deeds accomplished by them sends a sting of zeal into the souls of those who love God, and exhorts them to the performance of similar acts. One such life, which is now proposed to us for narration, is that of John—I mean the good, whose name is appropriate to his conduct. For he is called *Eleemon*, that is, Almsgiver, on account of his great inclination toward this [virtue] and his abounding goodness.
II. B The island of Cyprus bore him, and reared him up like some plant flourishing and laden with virtues; and the illustrious [city of] Alexandria was fortunate to have him as its high priest and guardian. His father was among the illustrious, by name Epiphanius, whose preeminence in virtue caused the governance of that island to be entrusted to him. His mother was a virtuous woman, befitting such a husband, shining forth in both bodily beauty and soul. John, having obtained such parents, did not bring shame upon his lineage, but rather strove to adorn it; so that it was clear that the tree is known by its fruit, and he did not derive his decoration from them, but rather they were the more honored through their child, being recognized as the parents of such a one.
III. C But when he had been well brought up and educated, and had reached the measure of adulthood, he was joined in marriage against his will by his parents to a wife. While he admitted to living with her in order to obey his parents, he turned himself away from the union, embracing temperance and continence even in marriage. But the great urgency of his father-in-law D
A after the devastation and pillaging of the venerable places of Jerusalem; when that man of God heard this, and that all the holy things had been delivered to the flames, he wept for what had happened no differently than Jeremiah. But his compassion did not stop there; he even sent a certain Cetsippus, a pious man, entrusting him with much gold, grain, and other provisions and garments, along with many beasts of burden for their transport. He did this both that he might see the devastation, and that he might sufficiently refresh, through the aforementioned means, those who had remained from the captivity. Furthermore, he sent Theodore, bishop of Amathus, Anastasius, prefect of the great mountain of Antony, and Gregory, bishop of Rhinocolura, to receive those who had been abducted into captivity, providing a near-countless sum of gold.
CHAPTER II
Varia misericordiae opera exercita.7. But how could any man consign this to silence, and not rather gratify the ears of the compassionate with it, since it signally demonstrates how most diligent and fervent he was in almsgiving? For as soon as the episcopate was entrusted to his care, having summoned those who administered the affairs of the Church, and with those who were of the secretariate also present, he said: "It is not right, O brothers and fellow-ministers, to care for any other thing before Christ. Therefore, going through the whole city, describe my masters one by one." When they, after he had said this, were in doubt, and asked who the masters of the patriarch were, he said: "Those whom you are accustomed to call B poor and beggars, those I name my masters and adjutors. For they alone can bring me aid, that I may not fall from the kingdom of Christ." As soon as what had been ordered was done, he understood that those who had been counted amounted to seven thousand five hundred, and he ordered that a daily allowance be given to each of them.
8. After this, the man’s study was turned to ensuring that those who sold goods in the city market might use just weights and measures—a deed which was indeed accomplished by the just man through public edicts. This, too, was done by him through his great concern for those who were victims of injustice. For, having learned that many who were about to approach him to plead for the injuries they had suffered were being kept away by those in his entourage, what did he do? Having appointed two days of the week, namely Wednesday and Friday, he would sit in the porticoes of the temple on these days, and made himself accessible and approachable to anyone at all who wished to see him.
A he says, today I have come to seize and make myself a partner of their lack of faith, and to provoke B them to compassion.
XIII. When a certain stranger had considered his great kindness, he thought of putting to the test him who was beyond every test. Having therefore dressed himself in rags, he approaches him as he was going to visit those in the hospital (for he was accustomed to doing this two or three times a week), and with mournful words: Have mercy on me, he says, master, for I am a captive. But he orders the distributor to give him six coins. And he, having received them and changed his garb, approaches by another way again, begging in the same manner. The blessed one then again orders six coins to be given to him. But the one who was giving, approaching the great man, signifies in his ear that this is the same one who a short while before had received the other six. When, however, he had come for a third time, pretending to receive, the distributor nudges the patriarch, indicating that it is the same man. But he says and does that renowned thing: Give him twelve coins, he said, lest perhaps he himself is my Lord, and tests me. But these things are so. The narrative, however, wishes also to treat of many other things, indicating how great that man was in his kindness C.
CAPUT III. Assistance to a poor merchant, and a nobleman.
XIV. A certain merchant possessing his own ship, having fared most unhappily in his trade, was weighed down by severe poverty. D When he approached him, therefore, and asked to obtain some relief, the blessed one orders five pounds of gold to be given to him. Having received these, and having traded in what he needed, he set sail. But after he was near Pharos, overtaken by violent winds, he loses indeed what he was carrying, but keeps the ship alone, empty. He approaches then again to the patriarch, at once recounting the tragedy of what had happened, and at the same time calling him to greater compassion. And he, having heard, exhorts him not to lose heart, but openly adds, saying: Unless you had combined the money of the Church with those things that remained to you from injustice, this would not have happened to you. Therefore, he again orders ten pounds of gold to be given to him, commanding him not to add them to the others. As soon, therefore, as the merchant sailed, it happened that he encountered a shipwreck even more severe than the former, having lost both the ship and the cargo together. When, therefore, he had fallen into extreme despair, and had been overcome by the distress of his soul, and was not able to contain the agitation of his spirit even a little, and was already about to lay hands upon himself; then when the patriarch again learned what had happened, he summons him. He approached with torn clothing, hair pulled out, and his head sprinkled with ashes, miserable in his appearance, but more miserable by the weight of his misfortunes, drawing tears from his eyes with many tears. And when the great man had seen even him: May God be merciful to you, he says. Why have you so disposed yourself out of faint-heartedness? I trust in God
A that soon He will provide for you far more than what you have lost, if only you believe. And having thus encouraged the man and sent him away, he called all the listeners and explained everything from beginning to end, to the glory of God and in praise of the patriarch who was well-pleasing to Him; but one must pass on to the next part of the narrative.
XVII. Once, as the great man was going to the church, a certain nobleman approached him, having been despoiled by thieves of all his possessions and brought to extreme poverty. The saint, having compassion on him for this indigence that had come upon him in so short a time, commanded that fifteen pounds of gold be given to him. But the person who had been ordered to give it, partly yielding to disobedience and partly to the suggestion of those who managed the church's affairs—as if there were not many resources remaining, given that the great man did not know how to store up wealth—gave only five to the petitioner. B But as the blessed John was exiting the church, a certain very wealthy widow handed him a paper, on which was written a gift of five hundred pounds of gold. When he had read it, he understood through the grace that dwelt within him that what had been done was not according to his command regarding the reduction of the fifteen pounds of gold. Therefore, having summoned those who had done this, he questioned them about it. And when they attempted to lie about what had been done, and having become liars not only in the matter itself but also in their speech, he sent for the man who had requested the money. Having learned that he had received only five pounds of gold, he showed them the woman’s paper, saying: "The Lord is about to exact the other thousand from you. For if you had given the fifteen pounds to the petitioner as I had directed, the woman would have given fifteen hundred to God. But that your unbelief might be proven by deeds, call this God-loving woman to me." C
XVIII. When she had come and brought the promised gold: "Tell me," said the patriarch, "did you resolve from the beginning to offer so much money to God?" She, having sensed that what she had done in private had not escaped him, seized with great fear, confessed the whole secret, saying: "In truth, master, I had written fifteen hundred pounds in the paper I gave you. But a few days ago, when I unfolded it, I found the thousand, I know not how, spontaneously erased. From this I judged that it did not please God at all that I should offer more than five hundred pounds." These words struck great fear into the souls of those who had heard them, and falling together at the feet of the great man, they begged that the sin of their disobedience be forgiven them. The blessed John, however, having prayed for a great blessing from God upon the Christ-loving widow, dismissed her to depart in peace.
CAPUT IV. Abundance provided to be distributed to the poor.
XIX. The wicked demon, envying this munificent soul and hand, suggests to the patrician Nicetas—whom the narrative previously mentioned as having been his friend and intimate—that he think and say something unworthy of his own virtue. D
λοιποὺς δὲ κατὰ μίαν τῶν νυκτῶν εἰς μίαν τῶν πορνῶν πορευόμενος ἐδίδου, A Λάβε ταυτὶ, λέγων, καὶ τήρησόν μοι τῇ νυκτὶ τῇδε σεαυτὴν ἀμόλυντον.
LX. Καὶ οὕτω ποιῶν διετέλει παρ' ὅλην τὴν νύκτα πρὸς τῇ γωνίᾳ τοῦ καταγωγίου τῆς γυναικὸς ἐκείνης ἱστάμενος, γόνυ τε κλίνων, καὶ τὴν γλῶσσαν ἄπαυστον τοῖς ψαλμοῖς ἐπιτρέπων, καὶ χεῖρας ἱκεσίους αἴρων ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς πρὸς Θεόν· ἕωθεν δὲ ἐξιών, ὅρκοις αὐτὴν κατελάμβανε μηδενὶ τοῦτο ποιῆσαι καταφανές. Μίαν τοίνυν αὐτῶν περιφρονῆσαι τοὺς ὅρκους τολμήσασαν καὶ δῆλα τὰ ἀπόῤῥητα θέσθαι, δαίμονι κάτοχον διὰ προσευχῆς ὁ γέρων ποιεῖ· ὡς μηκέτι τῶν ἄλλων μηδεμίαν τολμῆσαι ἔκφορα τοῦ λοιποῦ τὰ κατὰ τὸν αὐτοῦ βίον ποιῆσαι· αὐτὸς δὲ διαφεύγειν τὴν ἐξ ἀνθρώπων δόξαν βουλόμενος, καὶ ψυχὰς ἐξ ἁμαρτίας ἐξάγειν, ἡνίκα παρὰ τῷ Θεῷ ἐμισθοφόρει, τὸ δοθὲν λαμβάνων, ὡς ἀφίεσθαι ἔμελλε, προσεποιεῖτο λέγειν πρὸς ἑαυτὸν εἰς ἀκοὰς πάντων· B Ἀπίωμεν ἄρτι, ταπεινὲ γέρων· οἶδας γὰρ ὅπως ἡ δεῖνα περιμένει σε· ἐκείνην δηλῶν πρὸς ἣν ἄρα καὶ κατάγεσθαι ἔμελλε. Πρὸς μέντοι τοὺς σκώπτοντας αὐτὸν καὶ ὀνείδεσι βάλλοντας ἀπολογούμενος ὡς περί τινος φαύλου πράξεως πρὸς ἀλήθειαν γινομένης. Τί δέ· ἔλεγε, μὴ γὰρ καὶ αὐτὸς οὐκ εἰμὶ τῶν σάρκα φορούντων καὶ τοῖς νόμοις αὐτῆς εἰκόντων; ἢ τοῖς μοναχοῖς ἀπείρηται μόνοις, τῶν τοῦ σώματος ἡδονῶν ἔξω μένειν; οὐ μετέχουσι καὶ αὐτοὶ τῶν φυσικῶν παθῶν τοῖς ἄλλοις ὁμοίως; Εἶτα συμβουλευόντων τινῶν καὶ, Λάβε γοῦν μίαν σεαυτῷ, λεγόντων, τὴν στολὴν ἀμείψας καὶ μὴ σκάνδαλον οὕτω τοῖς πολλοῖς ἔσο, τοῦ μήτε τὸν Θεὸν διὰ τοῦ βλασφημεῖσθαι, μήτε τὸ τῶν μοναχῶν τίμιον ἐξυβρίζεσθαι σχῆμα, καὶ τὸ κρῖμα πάντων κατὰ τῆς σεαυτοῦ φέρεσθαι κεφαλῆς· C τοιαῦτα πολλῶν λεγόντων αὐτῷ, ἐκεῖνος τὸν ὀργιζόμενον καὶ ἀποδυσπετοῦντα ὑποκρινόμενος, Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἔγωγε ἀκούσομαι ὑμῶν, ἔλεγε μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς κραυγῆς. Τί δὲ καὶ ἐμοὶ, ἐὰν ὑμεῖς, ὥς φατε, σκανδαλίζησθε; ἀπόστητε ἀπ' ἐμοῦ· τί κοινὸν ἐμοί τε καὶ ὑμῖν; Ἐξ ὑμετέρας, φησί, συμβουλῆς γυναικὶ ἐγὼ συναφθήσομαι, καὶ βιωτικαῖς περιστάσεσιν ἐμαυτὸν ἐμβαλῶ; Παύσασθε δὲ καὶ τοῦ τὰ ἐμὰ σκώπτειν καὶ διαβάλλειν· μὴ γὰρ ὑμεῖς κατέστητε τῶν ἐμῶν δικασταί; Περὶ τῶν οἰκείων ὑμῶν μελέτω· ἕτερος γάρ ἐστιν ὁ κρῖναι μέλλων τὴν οἰκουμένην, ὃς καὶ ἀποδώσει ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὸ ἔργον αὐτοῦ.
LXI. Τούτων οὖν πολλοὶ τῶν σὺν αὐστηρίᾳ καὶ βοῇ λόγων ἀκούοντες, οἱ μὲν ἐπαύοντο τῶν ἐλέγχων, ὑποστελλόμενοι τὴν δῆθεν ἀναίδειαν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ θράσος· οἱ δὲ διαβάλλειν πρὸς τὸν ὅσιον ἐπεχείρουν. D Ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνος, οἷος ἦν τὴν ἀρετὴν ὁ γέρων ὑπὸ Θεοῦ διδασκόμενος, ἥκιστα προσείχε τοῖς παρ' αὐτῶν λεγομένοις, ἀνάγραπτον τὸ τοῦ ἀποκόπου μοναχοῦ καὶ πρὸ ὀμμάτων ἀεὶ τιθέμενος. Παρήνει δὲ καὶ καθάπαξ ἐκκλίνειν τῆς κατὰ τῶν μοναχῶν κατηγορίας, τὸ ἐξιοζήλωτον ἐκεῖνο ῥῆμα Κωνσταντίνου τοῦ ἐν βασιλεῦσιν ἀοιδίμου ἐπιφθεγγόμενος· ὅς ἐν τῇ κατὰ Νίκαιαν συνόδῳ λιβέλλους κατηγοριῶν κατά τινων ἐπισκόπων ἐπιδιδομένους οὐ παρεδέξατο, εἰρηκώς, ὅτι Κἂν πορνεύοντι ἐπισκόπῳ ἢ μοναχῷ περι
A Approaching the blessed man, he said: "The emperor's hand has need of much money, as it consumes daily vast sums for the necessary requirements of the commonwealth. For you yourself also see into what straits the commonwealth has been reduced. It is appropriate, therefore, that the funds which are being spent by you at random and for no necessary purpose should be transferred to the public treasury." He, being in no way disturbed by this, said: "It is not just that what has been consecrated to the heavenly King should be surrendered to an earthly king. For this is plain sacrilege and no small sin against God. But if it seems good to you to act in this way, behold, take all that belongs to the Church and do as you will, if indeed no reason turns you from this intention. For I, by my own will, will not release even one obol of those things that are deposited." That admirable man, then—I know not how, but having perhaps drawn back—calls those who were following and commands them to take up the money at once, leaving nothing further to the patriarch except only one hundred pounds of gold. B C XX. Meanwhile, as they who were carrying these things were descending, they meet certain men coming up to the patriarch who were bringing jars of honey to him; on some of which was written "Primarium" ["First Class"], and on others "Akapnon" ["Smoke-free"]. When, therefore, the patrician saw these, and had read the inscription as it was, he signifies immediately to the patriarch that one of the jars should be sent to him. And when he to whom the testing of these had been entrusted—as is the custom—had made a trial of them, and then had learned of the miracle that had occurred in them, and had made it known to the blessed man that all were filled with gold, he straightway sends one of them to the patrician—the one which had as its inscription, "Mel primarium" ["First-class honey"]. To him, therefore, he also sends a letter, the force of which was thus: "The Lord who said, 'I will not leave thee, neither will I forsake thee' (Heb. XIII, 5), being Himself truthful, even now gives back other money for that which your Highness has taken away. And the jar which has now been sent to you—which is one of them—will reveal this to you. Know, therefore, accurately that a corruptible man can in no way whatever force God, who provides breath and food to all, into straits." He commanded also those who were carrying the jar that it should be opened in their presence in the sight of the patrician, and that they should report to him that all the others, which he also saw, are in this same condition and are filled with gold. They, therefore, having found him feasting, deliver to him the letter, showing him also the jar; which, as soon as he saw, he said, "My master is altogether angry with me, for he would not have sent me only one." But those who were carrying it, as they had been commanded, having opened the jar in his sight and having poured out the money, announced that the rest also were similarly filled with gold. But when he, upon reading the letter, had found that "man cannot force God into straits," he was humbled by this and filled with fear. D
Αὐτίκα δὲ ὁ ἄθλιος ἐκυλίετο δαιμονῶν· καὶ συνηθροίσθησαν ἐπ᾿ αὐτῷ μικροῦ πᾶσα ἡ ᾿Αλεξάνδρεια, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ δικαίου πόῤῥησιν. Μόλις γοῦν ποτε μετὰ πολλὴν ὕστερον τὴν ὥραν ἑαυτοῦ γενόμενος ῥήγνυσι τὰ ἱμάτια, καὶ διαναστὰς δρόμῳ πρὸς τὸν τοῦ ὁσίου οἰκίσκον ἐχώρει, A «Ἐλέησόν με, κράζων, τοῦ Θεοῦ δοῦλε Βιτάλιε, μεγάλα εἰς Θεὸν καὶ σὲ ἁμαρτήσαντα.» Πάντων οὖν ὁρώντων, ὅσοι παρόντες ἔτυχον, ὡς τῷ οἰκίσκῳ τοῦ γέροντος ἤγγισε, ῥῖψαν αὐτὸν τὸ δαιμόνιον καὶ σπαράξαν ἀφῆκεν.
A ΞΕ'. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ταῦτα εἶδον, εἴσω τοῦ οἰκίσκου γενόμενοι, εὗρον τὸν ὅσιον ἐπὶ γόνυ κλιθέντα, καὶ Θεῷ διὰ προσευχῆς τὴν ψυχὴν παραθέμενον. Εἶτα τῷ ἐδάφει προσκύψαντες, γραφὴν ὁρῶσιν ἔχουσαν οὕτως· «Ἄνδρες ᾿Αλεξανδρεῖς, μὴ πρὸ καιροῦ τι κρίνετε, ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ ὁ Κύριος.» Ἐξωμολογεῖτο τοιγαροῦν ἐπὶ πάντων ὁ τοῦ δαίμονος ἀνεθεὶς ἅ τ2 εἴργασται πονηρὰ κατὰ τοῦ δικαίου, καὶ ἅπερ ἀκήκοε προφητικῶς παρ' αὐτοῦ ῥηθέντα, ἃ δὴ καὶ πέπονθεν. ᾿Ανηγγέλη οὖν ταῦτα παραχρῆμα τῷ πατριάρχῃ, καὶ αὐτὸς ἅμα παντὶ τῷ κλήρῳ παραγενόμενος, ὡς ἀνέγνω τὴν ἐπὶ τοῦ ἐδάφους γραφήν, παρ' ὀλίγον εἶπεν· «Εἰ τοῖς λόγοις τῶν ἐνδιαβαλλόντων ὑπεχθεὶς ἦν, ἐμοὶ ἂν ἐκεῖνο ἐπεκροτήθη τὸ ῥάπισμα.»
C ΞϚ'. Τότε δὴ συναθροίζονται καὶ τὸ τῶν πορνῶν ἅπαν σμῆνος πρὸς τὴν τοῦ τιμίου σώματος κηδείαν· προεκομίζοντό τε αὐτὸ ἀρώμασι καὶ λαμπάσι, τὴν στέρησιν ἐκθύμως ἀποκλαιόμεναι τῆς πολὺ τὸ ὠφέλιμον βρυούσης αὐτοῦ διδαχῆς, ἐξηγοῦντό τε τὸν αὐτοῦ βίον, πᾶσαν πίστιν τοῖς λεγομένοις ἐπάγουσαι, ὡς οὐ κατά τι πονηρὸν τὴν πρὸς αὐτὰς εἴσοδον ποιεῖτο, οὔτε μὴν ὀφθείη ποτὲ ὑπὸ μιᾶς αὐτῶν οὐδὲ χειρὶ χεῖρα προσβαλών, ἢ ἐπὶ πλευρὰν ὅλως κατακλιθείς. Πρὸς μέντοι τοὺς ἐγκαλοῦντας ταύταις τὴν σιωπήν, καὶ ὅτι πολλοῖς ἐντεῦθεν σκανδάλου γεγόνασιν αἴτιαι, τὴν ἐκείνου παραγγελίαν εἰς ἀπολογίαν προέτειναν, καὶ τὴν ὑπὸ δαίμονος ἐπισκήψασιν εἰς παιδείαν τῇ παρακουσάσῃ μάστιγα. Αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ τὸ ῥάπισμα δεδωκὼς καὶ ἀντιλαβὼν οὐ διέλειπέ ποτε, τοῦ δαίμονος αὐτὸν ἀνέντος, τῷ τάφῳ προσεδρεύων τοῦ μακαρίου, θησαυρῷ πολλῶν χρημάτων ἀποδειχθέντι, τὴν μνήμην τε καὶ τὴν ἐκείνου κατὰ τὸ ἔθος διὰ ψαλμῳδίας ποιούμενος. Εἶτα καὶ χρόνοις ὀλίγοις ὕστερον τῇ μονῇ τοῦ μοναχοῦ Σερίδωνος ἀποκείρεται, τὸ καὶ τοῦ θείου Βιταλίου κελλίον κατὰ πολλὴν τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν πίστιν ἐγχειρισθείς· διετέλεσεν οὕτω τὸν ἡσυχον ἐκεῖσε μετιὼν βίον, ἄχρι καὶ τοῦ παρόντος βίου τὸ τέλος ἔσχηκεν. D Ἔτι γε μὴν καὶ ὁ πατριάρχης πολλὰς ὡμολόγει τῷ Θεῷ χάριτας, παρ' ᾧ μὴ συγχωρηθείη ἀνάξιόν τι φθέγξασθαι ἢ ἐννοῆσαι τῆς μακαρίας ἐκείνης καὶ ἀοιδίμου ψυχῆς· ἄλλως τε δὲ καὶ πολλοὶ τῶν τὴν ᾿Αλεξάνδρειαν κατοικούντων τὰ μεγάλα ἐβελτιώθησαν, προχείρως περὶ τὸ κατακρίνειν ἔχοντες, καὶ τὴν πονηρὰν ταύτην ἀπομαθόντες συνήθειαν. Ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν τοῦ ὁσίου ἀνδρὸς ἐκείνου τοιαῦτα καὶ οὕτως ἔχοντα.
A For a noble soul that loves virtue is quickly moved to repentance for things not rightly done. He cried out, "The Lord lives," and not even the humble Nicetas would suffer himself to attempt to bring him into straits.
XXI. Immediately, therefore, he arose, and having taken back all the money that he had taken from the church, and the jar that had been sent, and having added three hundred pounds of gold from his own, he went up to the patriarch, B asking for pardon for his thoughtlessness. The patriarch received him gladly, and neither reproached him nor said anything that would cause him distress; but rather, with consoling words and spiritual admonitions, he confirmed and dismissed him. From that time forth, they were so joined together by the bond of friendship that the patriarch even became the sponsor of his children. But in order that his incomparable disposition and the good hope of his faith in God might be known not only through a more abundant, easy, and free manner of life, but that it might also be made manifest through a narrower path—for it is clear that both conditions are dangerous: prosperity, which enervates and casts out the memory of God, and adversity, which likewise constricts and drives one to faintheartedness—God therefore arranges for him to fall into need. What the manner of this providence is, I shall tell.
XXII. When a great multitude of those who had fled from the Persian force C had taken refuge in Alexandria, and there was a great scarcity of food, especially because at that time the Nile had not risen as it was wont to do, and the funds of the Church had been consumed, the great man was compelled to borrow a thousand pounds of gold from certain people. When he had consumed these as well, he was agitated by great anxiety, and he prayed to the benevolence of God that He might devise a way in doubtful matters. But even though he had been reduced to such poverty, he was not conquered by the calamity, nor did he treat the divine laws and sacred constitutions with disrespect, nor did he cease to direct the flock committed to him with precision. D Therefore, when a certain cleric, one of those who had contracted a second marriage, being abundant in wealth and wishing to attain the rank of diaconate, had learned of these straits of the patriarch, and had seized upon the time as opportune—thinking that if he relieved the need with money, he would himself attain what he desired—he handed a letter to the blessed John, which read as follows: "Having observed the straits in which the munificent right hand of my master is reduced, I did not think it right for me to live in delights and abundance, while my master remains in straits. There are with me many thousands of grain, and one hundred and fifty pounds of gold: these I desire to give through you to Christ, if only I might be judged worthy of His service through your holy ordination. For it has been found written somewhere by the Apostle that 'it is a necessity that there be a change of the law.'"
' A XXIII. The patriarch, therefore, calls the man aside, not wishing to heap disgrace upon him in the presence of many, and says to him: "Your offering, my son, is indeed great and necessary for the present time. Yet it is flawed, and for this very reason it is not to be accepted. For you are not unaware that the sheep which were offered according to the law, if they were not without blemish, even if they were great, were unacceptable as a sacrifice; for which reason not even the offerings of Cain were accepted by God. But that it is necessary that there be a change of the law, this we know from the Apostle to have been said concerning the old law. For what does that which is written by the brother of the Lord, James, seem to you? It is as follows: 'Whoever keeps the whole law, but fails in one point, has become guilty of all of it.' But as for our poor brothers, even if we were to be in need, He who has fed them down to this day, God Himself, will take care of them and of the rest, if only we keep His commandments inviolate. For what is impossible or difficult for Him who once multiplied the five loaves in the desert, and blessed the ten measures in my granary, to increase them for a great multitude? B Therefore, my son, what was said in the Acts to Simon will be fitting for you: 'You have no portion or lot in this matter.'
C XXIV. Nor had he yet returned home, his business unfinished, when it was announced to the great John that two of the Church’s ships had arrived in the harbor, bringing many thousands of measures of grain recently from Sicily. Upon hearing this, he fell to his knees and gave thanks to God, saying: "Those who seek you, O Lord, and keep your commandments, shall not be deprived of any good thing. Therefore I magnify your most holy name, because you have not allowed your servant to put a price of money on your grace." But even so, though expanded in his distress, the celebrated man did not abandon the precision of the rule for the sake of necessary provisions. D
CAPUT V. Mansuetudo animi.
A XXV. It is necessary also to speak of a proof of the great forbearance that he possessed, and to recount how perfect his precision was regarding this commandment. The wonderful man had subjected two of his own clerics, who had raged against one another, to excommunication. One of them gladly accepted the penalty; but the other, having found in it a pretext, as it were, for his own laziness, neglected prayers and gatherings altogether, and was entirely occupied with his own desires; then he even threatened to outmaneuver the great man by means of that great and most holy simplicity of his. Some even say that this is the same man who had suggested to Nicetas the patrician that he seize the money of the Church, thinking that by this means he would become a cause of sorrow to the patriarch. When, therefore, this became known to the great man, he, considering lest he also become food for the devil, B calls
the great man of God surrendered his spirit into the hands of the living God.
BLXXV. A miracle occurred at his burial which yields to none of the marvels ever performed. For as he was about to be laid to rest in the oratory of the worker of wonders Tychon, in a certain chest where the two bodies of bishops were already kept, one could see these dead bodies, as if animated, paying homage to the blessed corpse. For, separating from one another, they received him in the middle. This event, which happened at his burial, was seen by many eyes; and the narrative will disclose another, no less than this, as it proceeds.
CHAPTER XIV. Miracles performed after his death.
LXXVI. A certain woman, originally from the town that had produced the patriarch, upon learning that he was now about to depart to the Lord, and being conscious of a great and grievous sin, ran to the blessed man; and with hot tears flowing, she touched his feet and begged for the absolution of that sin through his prayer. He said, “If you believe that you are to be absolved of this sin through my prayer, you must by all means confess it to me.” And when she said that she could not bring this to her lips, he urged her to signify it in writing. When he saw that she was distressed even at this, he ordered her to write it herself, and to seal it with her own seal, and thus to hand the document to him. When this had been done, and the sealed and entrusted document had been placed in his hands, the woman begged him, binding him with oaths, that nothing of what was contained therein should come to anyone’s knowledge.
LXXVII. Five days had passed from this time and the great man, departing from life, migrated to the tabernacles of the just, having said nothing at all to anyone regarding this matter. But since the woman, by some divine providence, had not happened to be present on the day he departed from life, she arrived for the burial. Fearing that the document committed to his faith might have been neglected and left in his bishop's residence, and thus become known to everyone, she was affected with such pain that she nearly departed from her senses. However, recovering herself again with most ardent faith, she came with the greatest speed possible to his coffin; and as if he were still alive, she cried out, “What have you done to me, O divine man, to me a sinner, so that I shall now be exposed to universal shame and disgrace? For that which I could not even reveal to you on account of my grave lapse, will now be manifest to all. Would that I had not even thought to consult you about this! For imagining that I would escape the punishments to come through you, I failed in this, and have brought upon myself the disgrace that results from it. Yet I shall not depart from your tomb, nor shall I rise from here at all, nor will I cease pressing you, until you have made me certain regarding the things I asked. For I am persuaded that you are not dead, but that you live in God, and that you are able to do before Him whatever you wish.”
A him, and was about to deem him worthy of compassion; but by a better providence, he is diverted from his intention, so that the exceeding greatness of his humility might become manifest through still greater compassion.
XXVI. For when the Lord’s day was present, and he was standing at the B altar and happened to be offering the unbloody sacrifice, in that very hour in which the holy veil is removed from the divine gifts, he came to the remembrance of him who bore him a grudge; and being mindful of the Lord’s command, which indeed bids one to leave the gift before the altar, to proceed first to the reconciliation of one’s brother, and only then to offer the gift, he signifies to the deacon to repeat the continuous petition, and to say it many times until he should return. He himself, feigning a stomach ailment, went out from the altar, and with great speed sends to call that cleric; and he was present immediately. But the saint falls down at his feet, not at all abashed by the eyes of those who were present, asking for forgiveness. Then he, who had previously been senseless, seeing this holy head cast down at his feet, was immediately broken in spirit, fearing the fire from heaven and the lightnings sent from thence. He too, falling prone, begged to obtain forgiveness. But the blessed John said: "May God forgive both of us, my child." Then he takes him also with himself, and with joy and such pleasure as no man can express, having entered the altar, then indeed he dared to say to God with confidence: "Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors." Henceforth, therefore, this cleric became so modest and moderate that he appeared worthy to be ordained a presbyter. But this, as we have said, is a proof of that great tolerance and moderation. C
XXVII. And I shall narrate another thing, which is not much dissimilar to that which preceded. Of the Angels, one of the Fathers said, that they do not at all contend, but are in perpetual peace: but that it is the characteristic of demons throughout their whole life to foster enmity; while it is that of wise men, perhaps indeed to be angry briefly, but quickly and in a short time to hasten to reconciliations. When, therefore, a certain provocation happened to this great John against the patrician whom we have often mentioned—the latter arguing for a matter for the sake of gain, while this man would not endure it out of zeal for justice—when already the eleventh hour had arrived, the patriarch signifies to him through the messenger of the first of the presbyters: "The sun is already near its setting, most honorable one." He, however, being pricked in his soul by that word as by a goad, immediately arose and came to the holy man, whom he having gladly received and embraced, "Believe me," he said, "if I had not foreseen that I would cause you sorrow by my actions, I would perhaps have come to your D presence without taking anything into account."
A LXXVIII. Saying these things, and more besides, she sat by his venerable casket for three days and as many nights, and (O wonders of God!) on the final night that marvelous man emerged from the casket together with the two bishops who were lying with him (for such was the appearance), and said to her: "How long, O woman, do you persistently cause trouble to those who are here? For your tears have already soaked our garments, flowing like a river." When he had said this, he handed her a document, sealed by him just as it was. Then he said, "Do you recognize this, O woman? Take it, then, and unsealing it, see the marvelous works of God." Having risen and coming to her senses, she indeed saw the saints entering back into their tomb, holding the document in her hands with the seal remaining unharmed. When she unsealed it, she found the former writing erased, and she saw a foreign subscription placed there which said: "Because of John my servant, your great sin has been effaced." And what is to be said about him will declare how great the virtue of the man was, and what kind of blessedness he attained from thence.
LXXIX. For a certain man, Sabinus by name, living very temperately and virtuously, conducting a monastic life and one free from worldly business in Alexandria, at the hour when the blessed John departed, thought, having fallen into an ecstasy, that he saw him coming out of the episcopal residence with the whole clergy, holding a lamp in his hands, and making his journey toward the king, with a certain most magnificent man, in the habit of a chamberlain, summoning him; and a maiden of exceeding beauty, as even he himself stated that the sun yielded the first place to her in beauty, having her head crowned with an olive wreath, and sometimes walking before him, and sometimes also touching his hand and walking along with him. When therefore the one who had seen this had marked the day (but it was the memorial of Menas the great martyr), and then some had arrived from Cyprus, he learned from them that on that very day, when these things were seen, the renowned John had departed from this world.
B C LXXX. Another Alexandrian man, who was also one of those distinguished for piety, saw on that same night a swarm of the poor and a multitude of orphans and widows that could not be reckoned by number, holding olive branches in their hands, and, as it were, walking before the patriarch going to the synaxis. These are sufficient testimonies of the greatest boldness of the great man towards God. But that which is the greatest and beyond all doubt: the anniversary of the great and miracle-working Tychon was being celebrated; then, as the hymnody was being performed according to custom, and the multitude of the people being gathered together for this same purpose, the God of wonders, wishing to make manifest what sort of glory he who had been an emulator of His philanthropy, as far as was possible—John, I mean, he who was named for mercy—had obtained from Him, willed that abundant myrrh should flow from his divine relics, sending forth the fragrance of healings; those who were present, having enjoyed these, D
For what if our common Lord did not disdain to go about through cities and villages for the sake of utility and healing?"
B XXVIII. To all those who were present and admiring his extreme moderation, the patrician said to him, "My ears, O master, can no longer bear the reports of those who bring accusations." To this the wise teacher said, "Be persuaded, most faithful son, that if we were to open our ears to all men so simply and without examination, we would be preparing for ourselves a swarm of ten thousand sins, especially now in such a time, when love has grown cold for everyone. For I know that I myself have often, by trusting certain ones who were chosen to manage the public affairs of the city, and being led simply by their words, caused sorrow to people when there was no need to do so, a thing for which I have since then felt no small repentance. Whence, having been deceived once and twice and many times by the craftiness of those who slander, I subsequently set a boundary for myself: not to pronounce anything against anyone before I have heard the pleadings of both sides. And I threatened those who bring such matters to me that, if in the future they were caught recounting any vain and slanderous nonsense to my ears, they would pay the same penalty that the person being accused would have been subjected to if he were truly guilty. From that time forth, every slander of the sycophants was cut off. Therefore, I also ask of your Magnificence not to receive the slanders of ill-willed men so simply and so easily, but to subject them first to a thorough investigation. For it is not merely moderate evils that arise from this, but also seizures of property, C and scourgings, and often innocent murders have followed upon the mendacity of such men; indeed, almost the entire life of humanity has been overturned by such people." Having received these exhortations as if from God, the patrician promised to keep them to the end.
D XXIX. Let another thing be added to what has been said, which is able sufficiently to express the man's gentleness and patience. The great [John] had a cousin, Georgius by name; this man had been insulted by one of the innkeepers of the city, and he was stung vehemently and bore it most grievously. For the great disparity between the two made this [all the more intense], both due to his kinship with the great man, and the utter base-ness and lowliness of the one who had committed the injury. The young man therefore approached the blessed patriarch in private, lamenting the injury with tears and distress of heart. When the patriarch saw him thus overcome by the passion, wishing to soothe and as it were to revive him, he said, "Does someone dare to open his mouth against you entirely, and to insult, entirely, someone who is most dear to me? Blessed be the Lord; I will do a thing in his regard such that all Alexandria will be struck with wonder." But when he saw that, upon this word, he had relaxed a little from his grief, he said, "My most beloved son, if you truly wish to be and to be called a cousin of my lowliness, prepare yourself, not only for the insult, but if
THE CONTEST OF THE HOLY HIEROMARTYR BABYLAS, ARCHBISHOP OF ANTIOCH
A I. When Numerianus had received the scepter of the Romans from his fathers, and had become heir also to their impiety, a grave and immense war was moved against the Christians. For every age and every kind of those who had chosen piety perished by bitter tortures and by a grievous death. The impious Numerianus, therefore, abiding for a time in Antioch, which is near Daphne, did not refrain even from the holy temple of the Christians, but rather concocted a certain snare against it. And when he had sacrificed to the demons, according to his custom, and had performed a most nefarious slaughter—having most cruelly murdered that imperial child, whom he had received from the father as a sure pledge of peace—he hurried to the church and attempted to profane the temple of God by his entry. For he considered that this too would be no small service to the demons, if the holy things of the Christians were defiled and stained by him. B But the divine Babylas, at the time when this drama was being prepared, being in charge of the sacred flock of Antioch and administering the episcopal seat, having long before understood what the tyrant was revolving and meditating in his mind, and that he was about to approach, and how, and having gathered the whole multitude of the pious in the temple, and having sufficiently urged them to bring aid to the laws of God—against which the tyranny was exercised—and having invoked the help of God with prayers and supplications, stood before the doors of the temple with a great and brave spirit. And when he had broken through the haughtiness of those who were walking in front, and the pride of his attendants—who were marching gloriously and haughtily—and of his guards, he rebuked that wicked man as he was approaching, and placed his hand upon his breast, and thus retarded his impulse toward the church, and repelled him from the sacred precincts. Numerianus, therefore, wondering at the boldness of the one who spoke, and furthermore revering his reputation, which was great and C had become firm—though he was swollen with anger and burning with slaughter—etc.
there be anything more to be said, even for the lashes themselves." For true nobility is not received from blood and flesh, but receives its form and character from the virtue of the soul. A Therefore, having immediately summoned the leader of the tavern-keepers, he gave him orders never again to accept from the one who had insulted his cousin the customary tax, nor anything else that was customarily given by him to the Church. At which, all being struck with wonder at the man’s unappeasable spirit of forbearance, they perceived this to be the punishment which the whole of Alexandria was about to marvel at.
XXX. But perhaps he was so diligent in guarding himself against harboring a grudge, while neglecting others in such matters? By no means. For when he had learned that one of the deacons, Damian by name, held a relative in hatred, as one who remembered an injury received, he gave orders to the archdeacon that, at the time of the participation in the Sacraments, he should point out to him the one who was harboring a grudge. B Once he knew, taking him by the hand, he said to him, "Go, first be reconciled to your brother according to the commandment, and then you shall receive the mysteries of the passionless Christ." And he, being shamed in the presence of all, promised that he would do this, and then he shares the holy things with him. Fear, therefore, seized not only the clergy from that time on, but also the laity; and they took care not to harbor hatred against anyone, and to keep in mind an injury received, fearing lest, in the presence of many, they be put to such shame. And his life was so accurate, as much as pertained to himself as it did to those who were shepherded by him.
CAPUT VI. Disciplina domestica, ratioque vitæ exterior.
XXXI. Moreover, besides other goods, he had labored to the utmost in the knowledge of the holy Scriptures, and this was his most pleasing and sought-after meditation. C One could therefore see him every day in the gathering which took place in secret, speaking of or inquiring into almost nothing other than the narratives of the Fathers who were of great name, and dogmatic problems and questions pertaining to Scripture. And this was especially because at that time the multitude of heretics abounded, for the overturning and subversion of whom he had taken to himself those who in those times were most excellent, namely John and Sophronius.
XXXII. Furthermore, it was his study to keep the gathering free from all detraction and any idle speech. But if anyone of those who were seated proposed such a thing, he would ingeniously and aptly repel it, interjecting some serious and soul-beneficial problem. But if someone were boorish and plebeian, and did not depart from what was customary, he did not treat him badly to his face, nor show any angry or rough behavior toward him, but he would give orders that he no longer be allowed to be part of the meeting, so that through this one man the others might take hold of accuracy.
XXXIII. But in order to engrave the memory of death deeply into his mind, and that he might have it always with him
what does he do? He orders a monument to be built for himself; but that it should not be brought to a finish, but left half-completed in this way. Then, when a major feast day arrived, he would command those who were set over the work, while all the members of the synod were gathered in a prominent place, to say: "Your monument, my lord, is to this day unfinished; permit it, then, to receive its completion, for it is uncertain at what hour the thief, that is to say death, may come." B
XXXIV. But who could rightly describe the simplicity of his diet, and his modesty and moderation regarding his clothing and bedding? For among other things, he did not neglect this virtue, so that he was in no way superior in these matters to the many and the despised. Indeed, one of the inhabitants of the city, who happened to be on more familiar terms with him, having learned the state of affairs, bought a mantle [(15)] for thirty-six nomismata and sent it to the Blessed one, begging him insistently not to refuse it, but to clothe himself with it. Although he wished to do this out of the man’s faithfulness and because he desired to render the request as something earnest and fervent, yet he did not cease throughout the whole night from lamenting to himself, as those who waited upon him later explained. "Who," he said, "would not condemn me, humble John, if it is permitted for me to be covered by a garment of thirty-six nomismata, while my brothers in Christ—alas!—are perpetually forced to pass the time in the cold in the open air, and do not possess even the smallest and cheapest scrap of cloth? Most of whom, poor and hungry, lie down without supper, and even desire—woe is me—the very crumbs that fall from my table, like the poor Lazarus. Alas! Alas! How many strangers and sojourners have now come to this city, who have nowhere to lay their head, and lie hungry and thirsty in the middle of the marketplace; while I, revelling in all sorts of good things, cover myself with this luxurious garment along with my other delicacies? What then do I expect to hear on that day? What else, but: 'You received your good things in your life, and the poor their evil things; and therefore they now receive consolation, but you are tormented according to your merits?' But blessed be God, humble John will no longer be covered by this, but the poor shall be clothed with its price."
XXXV. D As soon as it was dawn, he sent the mantle to the market to be sold. The man who had brought it, seeing it, bought it again and brought it back. He, however, received it, but sent it to the market once more. And when this had happened twice and many times over, the great John signaled to the one who was bringing it, saying: "Let us see which of us two will grow weary first: I in selling it, or you in buying and bringing it back." For the man was one of the very wealthy, for which reason the great one purposely wished to gain from him so that his goods might flow toward the poor. He would also say something such as this: that if anyone from among these delicate and rich, and especially those who are heartless, could by any craft...
disciples! I receive the reward of my instruction; I gather the greater fruits of my labors. I give thanks to you, O divine Providence over us, that you have deigned that I be called the teacher of such—not of boys, but of warriors; not of children in age, but of those perfect in virtue."
A XV. Meanwhile, Numerianus also caused him to be brought forward, and said, "Are these yours, these boys? By Jove, they are very similar to you in their mind." But he, "In spirit, O king," he said, "they are my children, not in flesh; for to this time I have been untasted and ignorant of bodily love and the sensible pleasures thereof." But Numerianus said, "Why then, O teacher, do you not sacrifice quickly, and free both yourself and us from these troubles? If the hardships that have preceded sting, pain, and bring you to distress, I could reward you with far many more and greater good things, and cause you to forget those former ones." Then he seemed to be giving him good counsel for the matters at hand, saying, "O master, your white hairs ought to suggest what is fitting for the age of the boys, and persuade them not to wither away so untimely and miserably in the very flower of their youth." But divine Babylas, seeing that solicitude of Numerianus, and the craftiness prepared against both himself and the boys, said to him, "You seem, O king, to bid farewell to the B barbarians, against whom it was most fitting for you to make war, and, altogether abandoning outward concerns, to have turned your entire zeal and preparation against us, not in order to benefit your subjects by your care, but so that you might find excuses for tortures, by which you might gratify your anger and natural ferocity."
XVI. With these words, Numerianus’s heart was boiled through with fire, and, being inflamed, he ordered the martyrs to be led away to death. And they, indeed, were led away rejoicing, and their tongue sang with joy: "Blessed are you, O God, who formerly perfected praise from infants and sucklings; but now you receive as a sacrifice the blood of infants, even if not sucklings, and of a gray-headed old man." With these words, therefore, and many others, interweaving their thanksgiving, they reached the place of martyrdom. And surely, the blessed Babylas, having placed the holy children before himself, offered them to God as the beautiful fruit of his own teaching.
C XVII. But when he saw that they had been perfected, he uttered that blessed voice: "Behold, I and the children whom God has given me." Furthermore, he begged those who were present to bury with him the tokens of his struggles. For he loved and embraced them for Christ’s sake, and he did not wish them to be removed even from his, though deaf, dust; he knew well that these were beautiful ornaments for his burial. And what were these? The collar upon his neck, and the iron that held his feet. Then he too is beheaded, the fourth day of the month of September then being current. And Babylas lies even now in his coffin, D together with his collar.
and device take away from them even their tunics for the sake of charity toward the needy, he would not be straying from what is fitting. For in this way he will accomplish two most beautiful things: one, that he will win salvation for their souls; and the other, that he will prepare for himself no small or ordinary reward A from another’s possessions. He used to bring forward as testimony of what he was saying the example of what the great Epiphanius did, who brought it about that the money of John, the Archbishop of Jerusalem, was distributed to the needy in a pious manner.
CHAPTER VII. The Story of the Publican who became a Monk.
XXXVI. He would also add another thing, which he said he heard from a certain faithful and truth-loving man in Cyprus, who used to relate it B by confirming his words with an oath. “When I was in Africa,” he said, “I lived near a certain publican, who was very rich indeed, but altogether heartless and poor when it came to mercy. It so happened that when the sun shone more warmly during the winter season, the poor gathered together and enjoyed the warmth. As is usual in such cases, they were enumerating the houses: they were blessing those of the merciful and the charitable, while they were lamenting and cursing those that were held by the stingy and those who gave nothing—and among these, he said, they also numbered my master. They were therefore asking one another if anyone had ever received alms from him. And as there was no one among them at all who could affirm that he had received anything, one of them said: ‘But what would you give me if I go today and obtain mercy from him?’ C When they had made an agreement about this, the poor man, having positioned himself opposite the gate of the publican, at that very hour found a muleteer bringing him bread, loaded with loaves of bread, and passing by on the road that leads to his house. The publican saw the poor man standing opposite and calling him to mercy by his sad appearance alone (for he did not even dare to let out a voice to him, so as not to provoke a heartless man), and, being seized with anger even at this, he snatched one of the loaves and used it as a stone, throwing it at the poor man. The latter immediately accepted it, and going off, he showed it to the others, affirming that he had received it from the very hands of the publican.
XXXVII. Two days had not yet passed, and the publican, having been seized by a deadly disease and having fallen into a delirium, was seeing an account of his own actions being demanded of him. D Then he was seen to be in the presence of a balance, and a pair of scales appeared to be separating both sides; on the left pan he saw black figures gathered together, depositing many of his foul deeds into the scale; but on the right, men in white garments, terrible in appearance, were standing by, yet they found nothing good that they could place in the scale to counter it, and they were sad and sorrowful, saying: "We have nothing else that we can set against it, except that one loaf which, two days ago, and not even that voluntarily, he gave to a certain..."
praising the Agonothetes with that ornament of his neck, since to Him belong glory, power, honor, and majesty, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Even now, together with the ashes of Babylas, the fetters admonish all the prefects of the churches to undergo binding, to be beheaded, to suffer anything at all; indeed, to sustain all things with a prompt and ready spirit and with great pleasure, so that we do not betray or defile even the slightest part of the liberty entrusted to us. And in the 9th oration on the Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians: “He himself, while departing, commanded that the fetters of the prisoner be placed with his body, and that the body be buried in bonds; and even now the fetters are with his ashes. So great was his desire for fetters for the sake of Christ.”
THE LIFE AND CONVERSATION OF THE HOLY EUSEBIA, WHO IS CALLED XENE
A I. The life of this truly admirable Xene—or "the stranger"—is, it is true, the shortest and most concise narration possible, but it is nonetheless strange and honorable. Although it is so brief, yet in contests, labors, and matters that provide utility, it has surpassed almost everyone, or at any rate very many. For this most blessed of women, and one of most manly mind, was most distinguished by birth, if one considers her country and parents. For they were illustrious, not only in wealth and glory, but also in piety; and she was of the most glorious and greatest of cities, I mean ancient Rome. And as she was born of such parents—the first and only child—she had an upbringing worthy of her birth, having been raised virtuously, instructed in a Christian manner, and having lived a life pleasing to God.
B II. When she was already of marriageable age, she was sought after by one of the citizens who was himself also distinguished, and matched the bride in both birth and wealth. The girl’s parents, having no reason to find fault with the betrothal, but knowing that the union was worthy and fitting for both, consented to the alliance and looked toward the wedding; a day was appointed, and all things were already prepared. But Xene, being of a great and noble soul, and deeming herself worthy of better things,
A poor man." When, therefore, they had placed this on the other scale A, they made the balance hang perfectly level. Then the white-robed ones said to the tax-collector: "Go hence, add to this loaf also your deeds, for those whom you see, the black ones, are about to take you away." Immediately, therefore, having awakened and having come to his senses, he recognized that what had been seen was true. For he saw all those things that had been done by him from his youth, and those which had already fallen into oblivion, and he saw those Ethiopians, as it were, gathering them and putting them into the scale. B Whence, being struck with amazement, he would often say: "Alas! How great is the power of almsgiving! For if one loaf, and that one cast grudgingly to a poor man, could effect so much, how many evils would he be able to free himself from who joyfully bestows his possessions upon the poor!" Thus, then, he used almsgiving with such generosity, and opened both his hands so unsparingly, as the account says, pouring wealth into the stomachs of the poor, that after he had given away everything, he did not even spare his own body, but sold it also to feed the poor, as the account will show more clearly in a little while.
XXXVIII
For as he was going to the toll-house, a sailor met him, naked from a shipwreck; seeing whom, he immediately stripped off his own garment, which was soft and precious, and gave it to him, having C pleaded with him much to wear it always. But he, partly out of shame at using such a magnificent garment, and partly because he was in need of other things, set it in the market to be sold. When the tax-collector, returning, saw it hanging there, he was seized with great sorrow and was gloomy, reasoning that he had not been permitted to leave with the poor man any memorial of his mercy. While he was pondering these things, sleep came upon him. In a dream, there stands before him a man more radiant than the sun, wearing a cross upon his head and clothed in the garment which he himself had provided to the sailor; who, having come near, said: "Why, dear Peter (for this was the tax-collector's name), are you troubled and pained?" But he, as if he knew who it was who was speaking, said: "Because, Master, those things that you provide to us abundantly, when we often share them with others, we do not see them using them well because of shameful greed." He had not yet completed his speech, and the one who had appeared, showing him the garment, said: "Do you recognize this?" And when he had confirmed it, he said again: "Behold, from the time you provided it to me, I wear it always."XXXIX
When sleep had left him, coming to his senses, he said: "Blessed is the Lord; if Christ appears as one of the needy, I will not cease until I also become one of these least ones." D Immediately, therefore, having called the steward of his house, who had been bought with silver, he said: "I wish to entrust a secret to you, which if you divulge, or if you do not carry out what I wish, you shall be far from my presence, and shall be sold into a barbarian land." Having said this, he handed him ten pounds of gold to be expended for him on business; then: "As for me..."also, he said, take me along for this business (for this is a secret matter), and when you have led me to the parts of the holy city, sell me there to some Christian as a slave. And as for the price that will come back to you from this, whatever it may be, let it be given to the poor. After much insistence, he was with difficulty persuaded and took him, and arrived with him at Jerusalem; where the procurator lighted upon a certain friend who was a goldsmith by trade, Zoilus by name, who at that time was reduced to poverty and want through some misfortune of life. A “He is a slave of mine,” he said to him, “a very good one. If you heed me and buy him, there is nothing to prevent you from being able through him to return to your former prosperity. For he is not only an excellent man, but also highly trained in the goldsmith’s craft.” For indeed, Peter was also highly skilled in this art. But the other, immediately putting forward the poverty with which he was struggling, said that he could not possibly B buy him. Nevertheless, persuaded by the words of his friend and having taken gold on loan, he bought the zealous Peter for thirty coins. And when the procurator had received them, he departed for Constantinople.
XL. It was then possible to see him who out of love for Christ had chosen voluntary slavery, serving his master most diligently in all things that pertained to the needs of the house, and applying himself to fasts and vigils; which even caused the master’s affairs to increase and grow, such that his latter days were blessed, as with Job, more than his former ones. He too, revering his extreme virtue, thought of manumitting him, even though he would not in the least agree to it, wishing rather to persevere in slavery for Christ’s sake than to rest with freedom. C But who could fully describe the afflictions that were brought upon him by the evil one? For all those of the household, regarding him as someone of unsound mind, sometimes mocked him, and sometimes struck him on the cheek, and in every way ceased not to cause him trouble. And as often as it happened that he was insulted by his fellow servants and went to sleep with sorrow of soul, so often did he who had been seen in Africa stand by him in his dreams, wearing his garment and having the price of thirty pieces of gold in his hands: “Do not be sad, brother Peter,” he would say. “For I have indeed received your price too, just as I received your garment before.”
XLI. Some time passed, D and certain goldsmiths by trade from the same region as Peter came to the holy places for the sake of a vow and adoration. His master, because they were of the same craft, brought them into his house and received them with all kindness. But Peter, while waiting on them and having recognized the men, hid himself as much as he could and endeavored in every way to remain hidden. They, however, tracing him as if through his bodily features, recognized him. And at first they whispered among themselves (for the similarity made them hesitate), but after they openly recognized him to be the very one, together with...
A My ladies and sisters, she said, I am fully aware in detail of the great care you have shown for me, and how you took up my weakness when I was a stranger and a wanderer, and how you placed me within your own hearts and kindly made me your own. But now I have need of you—I say, indeed, an urgent need—that even when I have departed you do not abandon me to oblivion, but rather all the more increase your affection, and keep my memory engraved and imprinted upon your holy souls; and whenever you approach God and lift up holy hands to Him, remember also me, humble and insignificant—for what else am I but your servant? If you do this, I shall be living and immortal, and I shall feel it thereafter, if there is any perception after the end. For now, as I can see, my end is approaching, and a certain distress constrains me, and an unspeakable fear agitates my heart, lest my many sins might stand in my way and bar me from the path that leads to God. B But may I find your holy prayers to be good guides, rendering this path of mine easy and unobstructed. This other thing, moreover, disturbs my soul not a little: that I have been left behind by Paul, our common father, and he himself does not happen to be present here now to pray over my departure, which would have ensured that I should not travel hence lacking in good hope. But do you, when he comes, tell him this, and pray very earnestly on our behalf, that he might not forget me, Xene, whom he himself, according to the word of Christ, brought together and led upon this path.
XII. C When she said these things, tears flowed unceasingly from the eyes of all, and they were torn in their souls by unspeakable grief and held by despondency; and as if a common mother and lover of her spiritual children were departing, they stood in a circle and lamented their own bereavement. The emotion touched, D with much greater force, the two maidservants whom she had had as companions in her flight and in her life in a foreign land. When, as is natural, much weeping and wailing and disturbance had been stirred up, she herself was also moved to pity and hot tears flowed down. Yet she quickly recovered, and exhorted them to cease from their lamentations and to compose themselves, and to consider this all the more, saying: "Take care that our end be not such as is worthy of tears. For it behoves us to imitate the wise virgins, and to light our lamps, and to make it our concern to have oil in our vessels." She also called to mind the divine words, that "The Lord does not delay; for the day of the Lord will come as a thief." But when, even after the exhortation, they continued to mourn all the more, and clung to her bed most piteously, and could not bear to depart from it even a little, she herself, having lifted both her hands and eyes toward heaven, and declaring by the tears of her eyes the inward disposition of her soul, said: "O God, who until this day have been most kindly to me in all things, both father and mother and nurse and homeland, the sole and sweet comfort of me, a stranger, do you also, O Lord, deign to receive me in the morning into the supernal
the greatness of his station, they said to those who had invited them: "What is the meaning of this? You told us that a man of such a sort would minister to us—one who is of the senatorial order and second to none in splendor? For this Peter who is now serving us at the table is the tax-collector, precisely the one over whom the Emperor feels such great sorrow, and the whole Senate as well, seeing as he has vanished."
B XLII. When Peter heard these words as they spoke them, he immediately cast to the ground the platter he held in his hands, and ran to the vestibule, where a certain youth, deaf and dumb from birth, was standing, who could close and open things by a nod. Peter said to him, "I say to you, you who are deaf and dumb, in the name of Christ our God, hear me and open." The other answered, "Just as you command," and at once opened. He then ran out; and the porter, coming up, joyfully recounted the miracle that had been worked upon him. He said that he had seen a flame of fire issue from the mouth of the great Peter and enter into his ears; and this, he said, having completely enveloped him, had immediately made him hear and speak. When this man, who had previously been deaf and dumb, recounted these things, stupor and amazement seized everyone, and immediately, each according to the speed of his feet, everyone rushed off to pursue him. But, having searched everywhere, they were unable to capture the one they sought, at which a great repentance seized them, and they lamented their former inattention, that they had led the man of God into such an indignity, striking and mocking him, and every day casting insults at him.
CAPUT VIII. Alienæ virtutis imitatio.
XLIII. Such were the kind and humane narrations of the compassionate and philanthropic soul of John. For in the greatest part, whatsoever things incited to compassion and love for the poor, these he wished to speak of and to hear. Indeed, he would constantly search out the lives of those Fathers who were celebrated for their almsgiving, and he put his greatest effort into this throughout his life, as one who desired to walk the same path as they.
D XLIV. Having therefore once happened upon the Life of the divine Serapion the Sidonian, he never ceased to marvel at that man and to recount his deeds: how, when he had encountered a needy poor man, he stripped off his mantle and gave it to him; then, having met another who was shivering, he similarly provided him with his tunic, and thereafter sat naked, holding only the Gospel in his arms. Subsequently, having been asked by someone who had stripped him, he said, "This did it," showing the Gospel. And when he had sold even that, and had distributed the price received for it to the needy, to a certain disciple who asked him, "Where is the little Gospel, Father?" he said, "Believe me, my son, having obeyed Him who said, 'Sell your possessions and give...'
A fervor, and especially the multitude of women, moved both by a greater warmth of nature and by the fact that they saw one of their own sex to be so wonderfully glorious, were unable to restrain themselves. With great impetus they approached the bishop, saying: "Do not conceal from us the glory of the city; do not cover up the praise; do not bury the pearl. Let us make the procession for her in common; let us carry the lamp publicly. Let all see that women are not to be cast aside, that they are not ignoble. Let them see of what King we are the handmaidens. Let the Gentiles see, let the Jews see, and let them cover their faces in shame; let them know who it is that was crucified by them, and let them lament." And this, indeed, was the women's plea.
XV. The bishop, having approached the litter and bowed his neck with all the reverence that can be expressed, B adored the body. Furthermore, the rest of the choir of priests and the entire clergy offered the same honor to the one lying there. And so, carrying the litter, with many lamps accompanying them and sweet-smelling aromatics, they led it through the midst of the city. That crown of stars, and with it, of course, the cross, followed the litter as it was being carried; and when it stopped, it too was clearly seen standing, almost pointing out the litter and declaring that, because of the one within it, and with her as its leader, it both stood and moved. The report of the miracle quickly reached those outside, and all immediately ran together to see it, so that the city was almost too narrow for the crowds. C Having thus kept vigil through that entire night—for it was the Lord's Day—they witnessed many healings taking place at the same time. For whoever was held by a chronic illness or an incurable affliction needed no great exertions, no money, no time, and no delay; but it was enough simply to approach the litter and touch it, and the touch itself was immediately a release from whatever was pressing upon them.
XVI. When day had already dawned, and it was the third hour, they arrived at the place which is called Sycinium, which is situated D at the southern part of the city, where indeed the Stranger had enjoined that she be buried. They buried her, according to the law of death being hidden in the earth, but according to the reason of virtue being preached everywhere. The circle and the cross were seen again doing the same things—namely, entering together with the litter, and stopping when it stopped; but as soon as she was hidden in the earth, they too became hidden and appeared no more. Having thus laid her there, and, as was fitting, having anointed the linens which were placed upon the relics, the bishop and those who were present deemed them to be things to be fought over; and, as if they had divided a certain inheritance among themselves, they believed that through them they would have release from diseases, afflictions, and anything else that was causing pain, and they were not deceived in their hope. Indeed, the place also was full of healings, which had the good fortune to contain her sacred body, a treasure that can neither be emptied nor consumed. Not much time pass
to the poor,' I even thought to spare the book itself in which this was written."
A XLV. Let this also be added to the things already said, as it brings no small benefit to those who hear. A certain monk at that time was traveling about the city with a beautiful maiden. When some of the people of the Church saw him leading her around—thinking it an occasion for scandal to the many—they informed the blessed John. Being swayed by their words, and imagining that they had brought the matter to his attention out of godly zeal, he ordered that both the monk and the maiden be beaten severely and then locked away in separate prisons. When what had been ordered was done, and the guards were taking them, night had already fallen. A vision appears to the bishop, in which the monk stands before him, showing his back, which was marked with welts and stripes, and says to him, simply and guilelessly: "What does this please you, Master? Believe me, in this one thing at least you have been deceived, even as a man."
B XLVI. Awakened from his sleep, he immediately sends for the monk, bringing him out of prison, though he could barely walk due to the blows. Then, casting his eyes upon his face, he recognized him as the one who had appeared in his dream. Wishing to know if he had really received as many blows as he had appeared to have in the dream, he ordered him to bind himself with a linen cloth and reveal his back. By a perhaps higher providence, as the cloth was loosened, the hidden parts were revealed; the monk was seen to be somewhat emasculated and stripped of his manhood, even if, due to the prime of his youth, he had not previously been free from suspicion. Immediately, therefore, having expelled from their ranks those who had informed against him, he barred them from the Church for three years. To the God-fearing monk, however, he made the appropriate apologies and asked to be forgiven for the sin committed through ignorance. Yet he said that this alone he could not approve: that, being a monk and appearing so young, he should go about in the cities without a guardian, leading a woman with him and being to many an occasion of scandal.
C XLVII. But he, with the reverence and modesty that was fitting, said: "Blessed be the Lord, Master, I do not lie. Not many days before this, when I was in Gaza and hastening from there to worship at the shrines of the holy Cyrus and John, this maiden met me toward evening and fell at my feet, begging to accompany me because she wished to become a Christian—for she was a Hebrew. I, fearing the judgment of God, who said that we should not despise any of the little ones, obeyed and accepted her company, trusting also that, with my members in such a state, it would not be easy for the enemy to set a temptation for me. However, when I arrived there and paid my vows, I had her instructed in the catechism and baptized, and from then on I lead her about in the simplicity of my heart, and I feed her by begging, striving, if I might be able, to settle her in a convent of virgins." When the blessed Pope heard these things, he said, "How many are the hidden servants of God, even if they are unknown to us!" And when he D saw the monk...
offer him a hundred coins, he did not accept them. The monk said, "If he has faith, he has no need of money; but if he loves money at all, he is certainly devoid of faith." Having said these things and made his obeisance, he departed and went his way.
B XLVIII. How great was the blessed man's zeal for the remembrance of death, and how he made providing it with an indelible character his business above all else, has been said before, but shall be told again now. For when a deadly plague once seized the city, his most diligent work was to visit it frequently, both for the care of the sick and the burial of those who were dying; often he would sit by those in their death throes and close their eyes with his own hands. He also permitted the assemblies for those who had fallen asleep to be performed, strongly affirming and maintaining that the memorials and liturgies on their behalf were of great benefit to those who had departed.
C XLIX. To create faith in the things spoken, he used to tell of such an event that had occurred not long before. He said that a certain person, having been taken captive by the Persians into Persia, was kept in a prison which is called "Lethe" (Oblivion). A law prevailed among the Persians that those who were cast into this prison should never be called back; for this reason, it was fittingly named Lethe, which means oblivion. Those who were able to escape from there and reach Cyprus confirmed to the parents of the young man that he had died in the prison. Those parents, therefore, performed three annual services as if for the dead. Four years had thus passed, when the boy, having managed to escape from that place, returned home. When his parents saw him, not as one who had fled from prison, but rather as one risen from the dead, they were filled with great astonishment and ineffable joy. D They did and said all the things that a soul would do and say upon seeing such a thing, and just as they had already done what is customary for the dead, they instructed him as to what the days were—namely, the day of the Holy Theophany, the day of the life-giving Pascha, and the day of holy Pentecost. Upon hearing this and calling it to memory, he confirmed to his parents with an oath that on these very days he was released from his bonds by the intervention of one carrying a lamp, and enjoyed total freedom, but in the following days was held in chains as before.
CHAPTER IX. The power of alms before God.
L. By employing such deeds and narratives, he became an occasion of salvation for many. Therefore, very many also imitating those things which were done in the time of the Apostles, and selling what they had, brought the prices and placed them in his hands, wishing them to be distributed to the poor by him. Among these, someone approached and offered seven and a half pounds of gold, affirming
that no more gold remained with him. He begged of him, however, to receive two favors: namely, that his son might be saved through his prayers, and that his ship, which had been sent to Africa, might be returned without any danger. A But when thirty days had passed after the prayer, his son died; and on the third day after his death, the ship, which was returning from Africa, happened to be opposite Pharos when it fell into a grievous shipwreck, so that whereas the entire cargo was lost, the ship alone was saved with its passengers. When, therefore, after hearing the news about his son and while the grief was still prevailing, the sorrow concerning the ship came upon him, it completely overwhelmed him.
LI. After the patriarch had learned of this, it brought him no less sadness of spirit. He therefore prayed to God that He might invisibly touch his soul, and rebuke the storm of his despondency, and transform it into tranquility. B In his sleep, therefore, on the following night, a man appeared to him, in form and features similar to the patriarch, saying to him: "Why are you so overcome with sadness because of what has happened? Did you not ask me to petition God with these prayers, namely, that your son might be saved? And behold, by His grace, he is saved, as one who has been released unharmed from the evils of life. For if he had lived longer, he was destined to depart not as a good man, but as an evil one, and unworthy of Him who created him. As for the ship, have no doubt, for had God not been entreated by our mediocrity, it was destined to be sent down to the depths with the men themselves, and besides the cargo, you would have lost your brother and other friends as well. It is not right, therefore, to be sad; but for this very reason, one ought to endure what happens with a grateful spirit. C For nothing of what happens happens without the judgment of God, even if many of His judgments are unknown to us." After the sleep therefore left him, he felt that his heart had received a sufficiently great consolation. Immediately going forth, he fell at the feet of the blessed man, offering him great thanks, and recounting the vision he had seen in the night. He, however, persuaded him to attribute the favor not to himself, but to God, who dispenses all things for our good.
LII. But just as he did not deem only those who offered to Christ, and, as the divine Apostle says, sowed in blessing, worthy to be reckoned as blessed and acceptable, but also strove with prudent reason to induce to the love of almsgiving even those who were parsimonious and ungenerous toward Him—this is declared indeed by many other things; but it will be declared also by what happened in the case of Troilus the bishop. D For when he was most avaricious and parsimonious, he determined to convert him to the love of almsgiving in this way. Going to the poor-house which he himself had built, as he was accustomed, he took Troilus along. When he learned that his companion had thirty pounds of gold in his bosom, "These are to be cared for by you today, most holy Troilus, for our brethren in Christ." He, however, as if by that word
CONCERNING THE HOLY SPOUSES XENOPHON AND MARY AND THEIR HOLY CHILDREN ARCADIO AND JOHN
(Fifth Century — Acta Sanctorum Bolland. for January 26th.)
Xenophon, and Mary his spouse, and their children Arcadius and John, having abdicated their senatorial dignity and most ample possessions, and having professed the monastic life at Jerusalem with an equal ardor of soul, are venerated by the Greeks on this day with an ecclesiastical office. For thus the Anthologion approved by Clement VIII says: "In the same month, on the 26th, of our holy Father Xenophon and his companions. This holy Xenophon was at Constantinople, abounding in a wealth of external possessions, but much more luminous in his internal religion toward God; who, when he had learned that his two sons, Arcadius and John, sent to the city of Berytus situated in Phoenicia for the purpose of acquiring the discipline and knowledge of laws and decrees, had suffered a shipwreck, set out from home together with his wife to search for them, and at length found them at Jerusalem, clothed in the monastic habit: where he himself and his spouse also embraced the solitary life, and both so progressed in the arena of virtue, that they attained even to the performing of miracles, as did their children. They all persevered in the service of God, and at length migrated to Him."
II. B Maximus of Cythera and the Menaea have the same, but the latter celebrate them with many additional antiphons. They are also mentioned in the Greek Menologion. Of the Latins, Galesinius writes these things on this day: "In Greece, of St. Xenophon the Confessor. Who, excelling in piety toward God and in incredible kindness toward the poor, set out for Jerusalem and took up the practices of the monastic life: and he so cultivated himself in that manner of living, that by the grace of God and through many things miraculously done at home, he most holily departed this life to the Lord." In the notes, he writes that he received these things from the Greek monuments: but it is strange that he makes no mention of Mary and the children. Canisius recounts the same from Galesinius in his later edition. Molanus, in his additions to Usuard, says: "The 26th, of the holy Father Xenophon and his company."
III. C Furthermore, the same Anthologion of January has these things: "In the same month, on the eighth day, of St. Xenophon and his companions, and of St. Marcian the priest, etc." On which day Philippus Ferrarius in the general Catalog of saints says: "At Constantinople, of St. Xenophon the Confessor." The Menaea mention Arcadius on March 6th, whether as the son of Xenophon or another is unknown to us; they only have this: On the same day, of our holy Father Arcadius. "Girded with virtues, O Arcadius, you who fall under understanding, Adorned with a noble belt, you run to heaven."
IV. D The life of St. Xenophon and his companions, written by Simeon Metaphrastes or some other, more ancient author, had been received by Rosweydus from a Greek codex of the library of the Most Christian King. Our Ortho Zylius translated it into Latin, having never before been brought to light.
M. At what time St. Xenophon lived is clear from Nicephorus Callistus. He, in Book XIV, Chapter 52, when he had dealt with the great Euthymius (of whom we wrote on January 20th), and with Xena, or Eusebia (of whom we wrote on January 24th), and Eudocia Augusta, and others who shone with the reputation of sanctity in the fifth century, adds these things: "Furthermore, that most celebrated Xenophon flourished at the same time; who had previously been of the senatorial order, being no less conspicuous for his internal gifts of soul than for his external wealth. He had sent his sons, Arcadius and John, to Berytus, which is a city of Phoenicia, for the sake of learning discipline and laws. But when they had suffered a shipwreck at sea, he set out with his spouse to search for them. Moreover, when he found them all to have embraced the monastic institute at Jerusalem, he himself, and his spouse with him, took on the habit of a more tranquil life. And they all attained to such virtue, that they also obtained from God the grace of working miracles. And when they had lived a life acceptable to God, they at length migrated to Him."
A of modesty moved, and wishing not to be considered tenacious and sordid, but rather simple and liberal, orders him to whom the monies had been entrusted to provide one coin to each of the poor who were there.
LIII. When all the gold had now been consumed, and that forced ardor for almsgiving, which was not from the heart, had grown cold, a heavy grief and a severe repentance seized the involuntary benefactor. Returning home, he was seized by a strange shivering and fever, and lay in bed. When the time for the midday meal had arrived, the patriarch sent to invite him to join him at the table. But having learned how he was, and not being ignorant of the cause of the disease, he could not endure to overlook him while he was being so vexed and suffering, while he himself sat down to the meal. But rising immediately, he came to him and says with a smile: "Do not suppose, my fellow-minister, that I spoke to you in truth when I asked you to dispense from your own house to the brethren according to God; but because at that time my attendant did not have gold at hand, I took it from you as a loan. Now, however, I am present," he says, "bringing you the thirty pounds, which I return safe to your virtue." When therefore he saw only the gold in the hands of the patriarch, he was stronger than the shivering, and stronger than the ills of the fever; his strength returned, and his face appeared blooming and fresh: so that it became clear that, evidently, the repayment completely dissolved the disease, as that which had first been taken away had invited it.
LIV. The patriarch B then, having given the gold into his hands, asked that he write him a receipt for the payment. And he gladly writes the bond with his own hand, which stated simply: "The God of mercy and loving-kindness, do you yourself restore the payment to John, my master and patriarch of Alexandria, of the thirty pounds of gold that were distributed by me to the poor. For I have received my own." The patriarch, therefore, having taken the bond, takes him along as well, making him a participant at his table. When, after eating, he wished to sleep, God, desiring to rouse him from the heavy sleep of avarice, and to make him know how great a reward he had been deprived of, and to teach him kindness, casts upon him a kind of ecstasy, and he seemed to see a house of great beauty and splendor, and of such grace and magnitude that nothing could be compared to it. Upon the gateway, an inscription was written in golden letters: "The mansion and eternal rest of Troilus the bishop." When, therefore, he had read this, and was delighted, supposing the house to have been given to him by the emperor, there approaches a certain man of distinction, who appeared to be one of the senators, in habit resembling a chamberlain, having certain others walking before him. When he approached the gateway, looking at the guards, he ordered them to cast down the title as quickly as possible, and to put up another, which, he says, "The Lord of the world orders." Immediately another was put up, having inscribed upon it: "The mansion and eternal rest of John
LIFE AND CONVERSATION OF SAINT XENOPHON AND HIS SONS JOHN AND ARCADIES
(The Greek text, hitherto never published, comes from the Paris Regius codex no. 1456. Patristic Edition.)CHAPTER I. Xenophon's homeland, wife, and children.
I. Xenophon, that admirable man, was born of that city A which surpasses all others in beauty, magnitude, and site, and in all other respects, whose founder was Constantine the Great, the first emperor among Christians (who was most renowned for his profession of the true faith as well as for his most pious confirmation of it), and which even now glories in its founder. Therefore, what that city was among cities, Xenophon was among men; in the flower of his age, he was peerless in virtue; he was of the senatorial council, and second to no one in those things that lead to glory; he also abounded in the greatest wealth, and in the abundance of those things which, as Job speaks, are seen to be good. Wherefore, not without reason could he say with him: "My ways flowed with butter, and the mountains flowed for me with milk."
II. But by as much as he was brilliant in wealth, by so much was he humbled in spirit, leaning toward a greater abundance of virtues. B For Xenophon showed himself to be in common with Job not only in those ornaments of splendor, but far more in the likeness of virtues; furthermore, both in temptations and in consolation, and in the victory over temptations, which he obtained from the supreme goodness of God and the gracious regard of the divine eye toward those who thus practice virtue. Therefore this divine man did not weigh his blessedness by acquisitions or greatness, nor (wise man that he was) did he consider vanity his own glory; rather...
A the archbishop of Alexandria, sold for thirty pounds of gold." Awakening, therefore, from his sleep, he recounted the vision to the patriarch, and he himself came to his senses; his manner of life was changed, and he applied himself fervently to almsgiving, and from being parsimonious and grasping, he became most ready to give with his hand.
LX. But God, who permitted the wealth of Job to be dispersed and emptied out to make trial of his virtue, permits the like to happen to this blessed patriarch. For there were thirteen ships belonging to his Church, which, when they were laden and navigating the Adriatic Sea, all fell into a shipwreck together, and the entire cargo perished, which amounted to three thousand and three hundred pounds of gold. Those, therefore, to whom the ships had been entrusted, bringing them back empty, put in at the harbor of Alexandria; they themselves fled into the temple. When the patriarch had learned this, he gave thanks B to God for this as well; but to them he sent a letter of remission, containing only those words of Job, saying, "The Lord gave, brothers, the Lord hath taken away. Go forth, therefore, fearing no danger on account of this. For the Lord will be solicitous for the morrow."
LVI. When, however, many of the citizens came to him to console him, he himself was the first to say to them: "It is not fitting for you, O brothers, to be afflicted with sadness on account of the danger of the ships, of which I alone am the cause. For if I had not taken on great and haughty thoughts on account of the distribution of others' goods, or rather, of God’s own, this would by no means have happened. Wishing, therefore, to repress my inflation, God permits this calamity to befall me. For almsgiving is often a cause of pride to him who does not heed. Poverty, however, as it is written, renders a man humble. I am, therefore, the cause of two evils; the one indeed, C that I am deprived of the reward of almsgiving on account of vain glory; the other, that on account of it I have caused the loss of such a great sum of money: and now I draw upon myself the entire judgment of the souls which are reduced to straits. But God, even if not for my sake, yet for the care which He bears for those who are in need, will provide those things which are necessary for use: for that word, 'I will not leave thee, neither will I forsake thee,' was spoken by Him: and faithful is He who promised." Thus those who had come to console the holy man were rather sent away by him having received consolation.
LVII. Not much time had passed, when God doubled the resources of the new Job, and he was more liberal and bountiful toward the indigent than before; not only showing abundance toward the needy, but also toward those to whom injury was being done, showing commiseration. For when he was going D at some point to pray to the divine martyrs Cyrus and John, a certain poor woman approached him, saying that she had been gravely injured by her son-in-law.
A and that she required his assistance. When those who were his companions on the road advised him, as he was returning, to visit and consider the things that pertained to her, the compassionate man could not endure it, saying: "But how will God attend to my prayers, if I delay her supplication? And who will guarantee that I shall even live until tomorrow, and that, should I die before then, I will not be inexcusable before God regarding her request?" Having said these things, he did not in any way depart from the place until he had rendered a just judgment for the woman.
B LVIII. Thus, he who took the utmost care of those in need, having heard of the son of a man who was merciful—for when his father had died, great poverty held him fast because his father had been a father to the poor and had gladly spent everything he possessed upon them—and that the boy had committed himself only to the Mother of God, Mary, to whose temple he would sit by night and day; he summoned a certain lawyer and commanded him in secret to write up a testament on an old piece of parchment in the name of a certain man, Theopemptus, saying that it showed that he and the boy’s father were true and genuine cousins; and that he should show the boy a copy of this testament, so that, being fully assured regarding the kinship that existed with me, he might fear nothing, but might confidently come to my humility. And everything happened as he had envisioned, and the lawyer went with the young man to the patriarch, and the written testament was produced. The great man acknowledged the kinship, embraced the young man as if he were the most genuine son of a genuine cousin, gave him money, property, and much other wealth, and joined him in marriage to a certain illustrious woman of Alexandria. And in a short while, he rendered him from obscure, noble; from abject, distinguished; and from poor, wealthy; having endeavored to demonstrate that that divine word was most true, which says that he had not seen the just man forsaken, nor his seed seeking bread. 8
CAPUT X.
Historia S. Vitalis monachi.
D LIX. Another certain old man, a monk, who was leading a perfect life, Vitalis by name, desiring to put the great John to the test, to see if, in addition to the other virtues he possessed, he was also not prone to judging others, left the monastery of the great Seridon where he was living in quiet and silence, and arrived in Alexandria. Upon his arrival there, he followed a way of life which, among men, was indeed very shameful and exposed to reproach, and which was capable of causing much scandal to many, but which was, for God, most pleasing. For having entered the city, the old man, already more than sixty years of age, had made it his diligent work to write down all the harlots who were in the brothels. He also began to work for wages, having agreed to receive twelve obols a day, one of which he would use to buy lupines, and these he would eat after sunset, while the remaining
A as if he had already mastered the art of humility, wished to present himself as one of the lowliest, saying, "I am a man, a stranger and humble, and having been caught in a shipwreck, and having found God to be merciful, and having been saved by your prayers, I have been cast up here." Having heard these things, the monk further asked: "And what is your purpose after this?" And John: "If it please God," he said, "and my unworthiness does not turn me away from this resolve, I wish to become a monk." The gatekeeper, having heard the account, praised him and deemed John blessed for his desire. Then he said, "Is it possible for me, then, to put an end to my project here?" And the monk replied, "I must announce you to the superior, and whatever he himself permits, you must do, and a good end will follow for this matter." The monk announced this to the abbot; John was called for, and he came before his sight, and he became to him a cause of as much joy as the grace appearing on his countenance from the beauty of his virtues [afforded]. John heard many things regarding what contributes to the benefit of the soul; then he was instructed in the things of monastic precision, his hair was cut, and with it was shorn away B everything worldly and earthly, and he was clothed with the attire and the thoughts of the monks along with those who joined the rule.
XII. And as he thus persisted in fasts, vigils, and prayers, he was otherwise composed, but he was tormented in his soul by the care for his brother alone; for he thought he had perished miserably in the waves. But it escaped the attention of the noble youth that the God of the one was also the God of Arcadius; for since it was their intention to please God, God also took individual care of both. Through His grace, therefore, the divine Arcadius, having been saved and cast upon the land of Tetrapyrgia, as we have said, gave thanks to God the Savior. And he himself also prayed regarding his brother that he might obtain the same right hand as a guide and guardian, and that he might see him with his eyes before departing this life; for they were brothers not only in body, but also in soul. After the prayer, he traveled to a certain village (O the judgments of God!), needing bread and looking to the hands of others, a man whose parents had simply filled the bellies of many who were in need. Having received, therefore, and eaten, and gained strength, he gave himself to sleep. And in his sleep he had a dream, his brother appearing C to him and saying, "Why do you mourn for me, brother, who live in Christ? Once you have believed this to be true, let nothing subsequent grieve you." When, therefore, sleep left him, understanding what had appeared, he was filled with joy and rendered thanks to God.
XIII. Then he was pondering within himself, revolving thoughts regarding what he ought to do. For he was debating thus: "Shall I depart to my parents? But I will be a cause of grief to them rather, having been seen alone. Or shall I return to the pursuit of my studies according to the command of my father? But I will attend to the instruction unwillingly and with distaste, being deprived of my brother D and...
ones he would give during the night to one of the harlots, saying, "Take this, and keep yourself undefiled for me this night."
LX. A While doing this, he would spend the entire night standing at the corner of that woman’s lodging, bowing his knees, with his tongue ceaselessly occupied with psalms, and lifting up suppliant hands for her to God. In the mornings, when he was leaving, he would bind her with an oath that she reveal this to no one. Thus, when one of them dared to disregard the oaths and reveal the secrets, the elder, through prayer, caused her to be possessed by a demon, to such extent that no one henceforth dared to disclose the things concerning his way of life. He himself, however, wishing to flee glory from men and to draw souls away from sin, when he was working for hire for someone, upon receiving what had been given, would pretend to say to himself within the hearing of all as he was about to depart, "Let us go now, wretched old man. You know how so-and-so awaits you,"—meaning her toward whom he was supposedly about to go. Regarding those who mocked him and assailed him with reproaches and curses, he would offer a defense as if for some evil act that was truly taking place. "What is it?" he would say. "Am I B not also one of those who bear flesh and yield to its laws? Or is it forbidden to monks alone to remain free from bodily pleasures? Do they not also participate in natural passions, just as others do?" Furthermore, when some would advise him, saying, "Take at least one for yourself, change your clothes, and do not be such a scandal to many, lest God be blasphemed through you, and the precious habit of monks be insulted, and the judgment of all be brought down upon your own head,"—when many said such things to him, he would simulate anger and frustration and say with a great shout, "But I will not listen to you! What does it matter to me if you, as you say, are scandalized? Depart from me! What business do I have with you? By your counsel, am I to be joined in marriage to a woman and cast myself into countless cares and anxieties about a living? Cease to mock and slander me. You are not my judges; let my affairs be my concern. For there is another who is to judge the whole earth, who will also render to each according to his work."
LXI. D Many, therefore, hearing these words with bitterness and clamor, some ceased their rebukes, fearing his supposed shamelessness and boldness, while others attempted to slander him to the holy man. But he, being taught by God what manner of virtue the elder possessed, gave little attention to what was said by them, as he always kept that of the castrated monk written before his eyes. He exhorted men to avoid entirely all accusation against monks, uttering that choice saying of Constantine, celebrated among emperors, who at the Synod of Nicaea would not accept the libels of accusation presented against certain bishops, saying, "If I had chanced upon a bishop or a monk committing fornication, I would have cast..."
A XV. When he heard these things, he surrendered himself entirely to grief, striking his chest with both hands. Uttering a mournful cry, and remembering his masters, the good and sensible servant let out a cry, saying, “Woe is me! My masters, what are these things that have happened? What is this bitter and ill-omened report concerning you? What tongue shall announce to your father your most wretched death? What eyes shall endure to behold the consternation of him and of your mother? Who could look upon their bitter depression? Who could look upon dark clothing, hot tears streaming from the eyes, ashes sprinkled upon the head, hair miserably defiled?” Having lamented thus, he wished indeed to turn back and not return to his masters, nor become for them the herald of such an abhorrent report. But, as those present advised him to return, he himself also understood that what had occurred had already occurred and that it was impossible to change these things. He feared, moreover, to be seen as a transgressor of his masters' command, and as one unable to assist in the matter, and as hateful to God and inhuman. Fearing also that by failing to return he might fall under the curse of his masters and foolishly bring destruction upon himself, he turned back to his masters.
B XVI. Reaching the house and entering, he sat down, lost in thought and looking gloomy, wishing to conceal the event as much as possible and speaking not a word to anyone about what he had learned. But his face’s expression was clearer than his tongue (for who could not be overcome by such a great evil?) in declaring the mournful things he knew. Hence a rumor spread among the household servants, and they whispered evil things, which it was impossible to hide from the mistress of the house. Having therefore called the one who had been sent, she asked, “How are our children?” He said, “Well.” But when she asked for the letters, he replied that they had been lost along the way. Her heart was struck, and she became full of suspicion, and her inward parts were terribly stirred. She therefore surrounded the servant with fearful oaths to tell the truth. He, having groaned most heavily and with much pain, and being filled with tears, said, “Woe is me, my lady, that you shall never again see your children, my masters, those lights—alas!—those beautiful ones, as they have already become the work of the sea.” Having heard this, she did not suffer anything soft, nor ignoble, nor feminine, but, as if wishing to show that she was truly the mother of such children, she gave thanks openly to God. Commanding the servant to keep absolute silence, she used these words, with the same state of mind: “The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; as it pleased the Lord, so has it come to pass.”
D XVII. When it was evening, the divine Xenophon returned from the palace with his accustomed splendor and retinue. When the table had already been set (for he was accustomed to take food only once a day, in the evening), the wife, afflicted by the news, and wishing to communicate the
my own cloak over him and covered him, so that he might not be seen by any eye." He knew well that when the failings of such men are made manifest to the multitude, they not only cause those who are worthy of honor and reverence to be despised, but they also provide a great incitement and occasion for vice.
B LXII. But thus the great man would repel the calumnies that were directed against the great elder. He himself, however, would not cease from this work; even if he were subjected to reproach and disgrace by many, he looked to one thing alone: the salvation of souls. And for those who moved their tongues against him, he prayed rather for the forgiveness of their sin. That this endeavor was not unfruitful or useless for him, but became the cause of salvation for many, is evident from the following. For the women, seeing his all-night vigil and his tongue ever chanting divine things, and his constant prayer for their transformation and for their salvation, would abandon their wicked deeds and concern themselves with temperance. Some were joined in lawful marriage; others remained as they were, having desisted from their flagitious actions; while others, having renounced the world completely, chose the monastic life. Yet no one knew of his hidden life in God as long as he was alive, nor how, by feigning wickedness, he turned lewd women from their evil habits.
C LXIII. Wherefore, as he was once departing from the lodging of the chief of prostitutes, he encountered a certain licentious man, who was entering for this very purpose—to spend money to satisfy his lust—and he struck the holy man with his whole hand upon the cheek, saying, "How long, O mocker of Christ, will you not desist from your wicked deeds?" To this, that admirable man replied, "Miserable man, prepare yourself, for you too are about to be struck a blow, so that almost all of Alexandria may be gathered together at your cries." Not much time passed, and that divine man departed to the Lord, being in a very small cell which he had built in a place called the Porta Solis, where, having a small oratory, he held many synaxes. There, a great multitude of unchaste women would gather, deeming themselves worthy of his care, so that even those who led a life of lust and debauchery would grow angry and enraged at him, as though they were jealous of him because of this evil matter, and would say, "How could this impostor have attracted so many to himself?"
D LXIV. When he had fallen asleep, therefore, as has been said, and no one had perceived it, there suddenly appeared a certain misshapen Ethiopian to the licentious man who had struck him, and he dealt him a heavy and forceful blow upon the cheek, so powerful that the sound was heard over a very great distance, and said to him, "Receive this blow, which the monk Vitalis has sent you, just as he predicted." Immediately, therefore, the wretch...
as he approached the elder’s little cell, was released from the demon that had been casting him down and tearing him.
B LXV. When they had seen these things, they entered the little cell and found the holy man who had bent his knees and committed his soul to God through prayer. Then, looking down upon the ground, they saw a writing which stood thus: "Men of Alexandria, do not judge anything before the time, until the Lord comes." The man who had been freed from the demon confessed to all those present the evil things he had done against the just man, and what he had heard prophetically spoken by him, and also what he had suffered. These things were immediately announced to the patriarch, and he, when he had arrived with the entire clergy, as soon as he read the writing on the ground, said shortly afterwards: "If I had been persuaded by the words of those who were slandering him, that slap would have been inflicted upon me."
C LXVI. Then also the entire swarm of harlots gathered for the burial of the venerable body. They were carrying it forward with spices and lamps, bitterly weeping over the loss of his teaching, which had flowed with great benefit for them; and at that time they were explaining his life, bringing every trust to what was being said, that he did not enter toward them for any evil, and that he was never seen by any one of them to have even laid a hand on a woman, or to have reclined beside one at all. Moreover, against those who reproached them for their silence and said that they had been the cause of scandal for many on this account, they held up his command as their defense, and the scourge inflicted by the demon for the instruction of her who had disobeyed. As for the man who had given the slap and had received one in return, he never ceased, once the demon had left him, from remaining at the tomb of the blessed man—which became a treasury of many miracles—and from performing his memorial according to custom with psalms.
D Then, a few years later, he was shorn in the monastery of the monk Seridon; and, having had the cell of the divine Vitalis entrusted to him because of his great faith in him, he continued in this way to pursue a quiet life in silence, until he reached the end of the present life. Moreover, the patriarch also gave great thanks to God, because He had not permitted him to say or think anything unworthy of that blessed and praiseworthy soul. Furthermore, many of those who inhabited Alexandria were greatly improved, having been inclined toward judging [others], and having unlearned this evil habit. But such were the things concerning that holy man, and in this way they stood.
for they were unknown to their parents, as nothing of their outward appearance suggested their identity, due to them having wasted away from the excessive austerity of their toil, as we have already shown. They were, moreover, not only masters of their hunger but even more so of their tongues. For it was surely no small or light thing for those who had come into the sight of their parents after the most intense longing, and who were so greatly desiring them and being desired by them, to endure silence, and not only not to speak a word, but not even to let fall a tear from the abundance of their immense joy—a thing which is manifestly stronger than nature, which overcomes all things. B
XXVII. Since, therefore, the admirable youths, having recognized their own parents, remained unknown to them, "Depart," says the elder to them with a gracious tongue and soul, "and prepare a fine meal for us; I myself shall follow shortly with my two disciples to bring you comfort, and I shall lead you to the place where you may see your most beloved sons." Hearing this, they were filled with no small joy, not so much because he promised them a sight of their children, but because they were judged worthy to be guests of such a man. For they did not look to his lineage or splendor; but rather they looked to his communion with God, and they considered his virtue to be far more precious than wealth and nobility. Therefore, when they had departed, the elder said to his disciples, "Let us go and dine with your parents, since no harm shall come to you from this. For I believe that, however many labors you have undergone for the sake of virtue, you have by no means yet reached the measure of your parents. C Wherefore, not injury, but benefit shall follow from associating with such men." Having said this, he again enjoins silence upon them and forbids them to utter anything at all that might lead to their recognition, leaving the matter of their manifestation to the timing of events.
XXVIII. When they had departed and reclined to eat, the parents of the youths began to ask, "How, Father, do our children fare?" He replied, "They are well, for they struggle to save their own souls." And they prayed that the elder's words might be brought to completion. Then the blessed Xenophon added, "How excellent, Father, are these thy disciples, and how they are disposed toward God! My soul rejoices over them from the depths, and my eyes are delighted to behold them. Pray, therefore, most divine Father, that our sons might turn out to be like them." And so the admirable Xenophon, being in ignorance, was praising his own, and was desiring through prayer what he already had in his hands. D However, the elder, who was most wise, said to him, "Tell me, child" (looking toward Arcadius), "of what city are you? Of what parents? And what manner of upbringing have you received?" To this the divine Arcadius said, "I, Father, have come from Byzantium; and I am the son of noble parents (as is the truth) and illustrious. My father’s name was Xenophon, and my mother’s was Maria, and in the body…"
CAPITULUM XI.
Temeraria judicia vitanda.
A LXVII. It will also suffice to say what follows, by way of testimony to how slow that wonderful patriarch was to condemn. A certain young man, living in unbridled passions, while wandering through the city of Alexandria, led astray a certain virgin who had embraced the monastic life and then made her the object of his own lewdness; a short time later, he fled with her to Byzantium. When the divine man learned of this, he was affected with great sorrow, and, as the saying goes, he left no stone unturned, zealous to call them back from their fall. Some time later, it happened that as the blessed man was recounting to certain members of the clergy a story capable of bringing profit to their souls, the subject of that young man and his recent impulsive act came up. Those who were then present immediately condemned him and declared him an outcast with one voice, as it were, saying that he had clearly brought about the ruin not only of two souls, as it appeared, but of many others as well, for whom he had become a wicked example. B The great man, therefore, rebuking this quick condemnation, said, "Do not, O children, do not be so quick with your tongues to speak against your neighbor, since you are yourselves bound to fall into two evils: first, by disobeying the commandment of Him who orders us not to judge before the time; and second, because you sit in judgment with great readiness, being ignorant of what has transpired up to the present moment. For it is entirely uncertain whether they remain in their sin even now, or whether they have changed their ways for the better. For I, once," he said, "while reading the life of one of the great Fathers, encountered C such a story full of profit. It was as follows."
LXVIII. Two monks had arrived in the city of Tyre, performing a certain service. As one of them was walking through a certain place, a certain harlot named Porphyria followed him, crying out, "Venerable Father, save me, just as Jesus Christ once saved the harlot." He, taking no account of human judgment, took her by the hand and went through the middle of the city while many looked on. Consequently, a report spread everywhere that that monk had taken Porphyria as his wife. As the harlot was traveling with him through cities and villages, she happened upon an infant lying on the ground; and, desiring to nurture it out of charity, she took it up and carried it. Sometime later, the Tyrians D came to the place where they were staying; and, having seen the infant in the arms of the harlot, just as I said, they mocked and ridiculed this noble man, saying to her, "Truly, you have not missed your mark; for a beautiful son has been born to you from the monk." They, having returned to Tyre, spread the story everywhere that she had borne this child from the monk, and that it clearly preserved his features. In such a way are men almost always ready to believe
A and the soul they possess the same nature. And I have a brother, John by name." Afterwards, he narrates in order the story of his education, the voyage, the danger, and how he obtained salvation through God. While he recounted these things, his parents immediately recognized them, and, unable to bear the burning of their hearts—the leap, the momentum, the divine impulse they felt—they suddenly stood up and embraced the children, falling upon their necks. With kisses and with tears, they assuaged that immeasurable ecstasy of the soul, saying: "Are these indeed our children, O Father? Are these truly our most beloved, who caused us such great searching? Are these they?" What followed? With one voice, they offered glory and thanksgiving to God.
B XXIX. Nor did the parents delay in beseeching the holy man with the most ardent prayers that he might also mark them with the seal of that sacred habit, so that they might appear—if not as equal to the children—at least as imitators of the same good, and not, as God forbid, remain excluded from it. The old man, persuaded by their supplication (for how, in a matter so clearly holy, could he resist?), shaved their heads with his own right hand, initiated them, and, letting them go, commanded them henceforth to abstain from all bodily communion until each of them had paid the debt common to nature.
XXX. And such was the providence of the best God toward such good parents and children, full of both admiration and sweetness, so that there was fulfilled in them what was spoken by Isaiah: "I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessings upon thy children. And they shall spring up as grass amidst the water, and as willow by the running water." These are the words of Isaiah, and of the grace of God speaking through him, which, as if spoken to them personally, fittingly apply to them. Of a similar kind is this: "Thou art mine, and if thou pass through the water, I am with thee," and this: "I will make thy salvation heard, and I will cover thee under the shadow of my hand." The children, therefore, having said a final farewell to their parents, followed more willingly the one who had regenerated them spiritually, and, entering the desert with him, they met their blessed end there, having been deemed worthy, even before their end, of divine gifts, and flourishing in both prophecies and other gifts of the good Spirit.
D XXXI. But their father is shown to be a literal fulfiller of the Gospel; having sold all his own possessions and distributed them to the poor, he thus purchased for himself the entire kingdom of heaven with cheap and small things. Having also granted freedom to all his domestic servants, by this means he strove to be inscribed as a son of the heavenly Father, and then he gathered his spouse—his true helpmeet, who breathed with him as one—among the venerable women and virgins, thus...
in suspicions, especially those who are vicious and wicked, and who have from themselves the capability to find grounds for belief. For immediately, just as if they were taking themselves as the most intimate of witnesses, they easily accuse others; at once wishing to revel in the delights of such thoughts and words, and desiring to have others likewise wicked, and thus striving to avoid the wounds which are inflicted upon them by their conscience. The monk, however, after having shorn Porphyria and put upon her the monastic habit, calls her Pelagia, and grants her to live in silence in the convent of the virgins. B
LXIX. But when he had foreseen the day of his passing, she also having been taken [with him], he returns to Tyre. The boy also followed her, already seven years old. The report of their arrival reached everyone, that, namely, Porphyria was returning with her monk-husband. When the monk fell ill and was already looking towards death, many of the inhabitants came to him for the sake of visiting him. In whose sight, when he had ordered a censer full of glowing coals to be brought, he takes those coals and pours them into his bosom, and in the hearing of all says: "Blessed be the Lord, who formerly kept the bush unconsumed: may He be my faithful witness, that just as the scorching power of the fire did not touch my garments which I wear in the fire, so I have not touched a woman in the whole time of my life." Having heard these things, all were astounded, giving glory to God, who knows how to glorify openly those who worship Him in secret. When the monk had done and said these things, he deposits his soul into the hands of God. C Therefore I exhort you all, O spiritual children, as I also said before, not to be prompt to condemnation. For it sometimes happens that we might know the sin of one who has fornicated or committed some other fault as having been done openly, but we ignore the penance done in secret. We must also fear the Lord's voice, which says: "In what judgment you judge, you shall be judged."
CHAPTER XII. Commentary on piety and divine mysteries.
LXX. Nor indeed did he only urge [men] to avoid this D fault; but wishing to correct the slothfulness of those also who neglect the divine precepts, he did such a thing as is worthy to be committed to memory. For when he had learned that many were becoming rather negligent after the reading of the divine Gospels and were leaving the church and occupying themselves with empty and idle conversations, on a certain solemn day, after the sacrifice had been left, he himself also goes out from the temple and sits with the whole multitude. But while all were astounded at this, he says: "It is not fitting to be amazed. For where the sheep are, there it is entirely necessary that the shepherd should also be. For since it is on account of you and your utility that we are accustomed to celebrate the synaxes, if you are lingering outside, it happens that a useless task is taken up by us,
LIFE AND CONVERSATION OF OUR HOLY FATHER JOHN CHRYSOSTOM, ARCHBISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE
A The life of all those who have lived according to God is most profitable to the pious, serving not only as an example and model, but also as an exhortation to virtue. For it injects a spur of holy emulation and inflames the pious soul toward imitation. The life of our father Chrysostom, moreover, is more pleasant to hear than others’, and more salvific and useful to imitate. For that man possessed not only a tongue beneficial to those who hear it, but also a life even more profitable to those who imitate it. Or rather, if one must speak the truth, just as he had an inimitable tongue in speaking, so also was his conduct impossible to attain. Nevertheless, his deeds must certainly be recounted and imitated according to our strength. For even for painters, the most beautiful archetypes are not to be disregarded, even if they do not easily admit of imitation; rather, they serve as a hope that if they should at last attain them, they would become renowned and distinguished. This incites imitators to emulation. As for me, my discourse has set out to walk a middle path, so as neither to recount everything he did, nor to overlook those things which are most essential; but rather to tell those things which, when spoken, will greatly profit the listeners, and whose omission would cause the greatest harm, while leaving the rest to others.
C 1. This man, therefore, was a true and genuine man of God, and, after him who was his namesake, a herald of repentance; a man golden in tongue, voice, mouth, and in all things—nay, far more precious than gold. He drew his lineage from Antioch: Antioch, D that is to say [the place] which is situated in Coelesyria. Since his fame is so...
A I have persuaded myself to go out whenever you go out, and to enter again with those who are entering. This corrected many and delivered them from a habit that was ill-formed.
LXXI. He was eager to correct not only those who spent their time outside the congregation in idle talk, but also those who, within, carried on unreasonable conversations with one another, and especially those of the sanctuary. If he ever saw that someone, after a first and second admonition, was unable to be corrected, he would immediately cast him out, using against them the voice of the Lord: «My house shall be a house of prayer 9*.» On the other hand, he welcomed the piety of those who were more diligent regarding the divine congregations, and he praised them and advanced them to higher degrees, B which what follows will indicate more clearly.
LXXII. Two clerics of his Church, who practiced the craft of leatherworking, lived as neighbors to one another. One of them, joined in marriage to a wife and having children, as well as a father and mother living with him, all of whom he supported with his own hands, nevertheless did not neglect the divine congregations. The other, however, although he was alone and was more skilled in the craft and more diligent in working, was unable to provide for himself even those things necessary for use. Therefore, being envious of his fellow craftsman and no longer able to bear the agony of jealousy, he happened upon him when he was alone, and said, "I adjure you by God, do not hide it from me, but reveal this to me: how is it that you are always rich, and this while you are negligent in your work; while for me, who am diligent and laborious, the opposite happens, and I have already been reduced to extreme poverty?" But he, wishing to render him more diligent, as he was negligent in attending the congregations which take place for the sake of the holy rites, said, "For me too, brother, things were once reduced to the greatest straits. But from the time I persuaded myself to have leisure for the divine congregations, I sometimes find gold on the road as I go along; whence even now has been gathered all the prosperity you see. But if you will be persuaded by me, follow me as I go, and you will have from this no ordinary consolation." He obeyed his words, and by attending every synaxis with him, he perceived before long that a blessing had come from God to his house, and he gave thanks to his good counselor. But he, having soon opened up the scene, manifestly told his fellow craftsman that he had never found gold on the road. "But wishing," he said, "to rouse you to come to the divine congregations, I feigned this discovery of gold." When this reached the ears of the most blessed patriarch, he commended his good intention and ordained him presbyter. C D
were A arranged by him in his own time, by the providence of God. His speech had not yet reached its end, when, possessed by a malignant spirit and dashed to the ground, he lay there miserably, bellowing and causing both tears and fear to those who were present; for he was rolling his eyes, gnashing his teeth, and most disgracefully foaming at the mouth. When the prefect and those around him saw this, they were seized with wonder and astonishment, and were full of tumult. Then they approached the blessed John, becoming his suppliants, and asking him to offer assistance to the affliction. He, however—for who was more compassionate than he?—as one who was an imitator of the philanthropic Christ, both pitied the man for his calamity, and, having prayed on his behalf to Him who alone is able to bring help, he brought a double healing to the one who lay there. For when that man, delivered from the demon, came to his senses and realized what great evil he had been in, he did not consider that healing to be sufficient, but begged that the cause—on account of which he had fallen into such a calamity—might also be healed, so that the same things might not happen to him again. He, moreover (for he knew that ignorance of the true God was the cause of it), advised that with a ready and eager mind he should as soon as possible approach the bishop of the city and ask to be initiated by him into the divine mysteries, and that he should be deemed worthy of the bath of regeneration, through which there should be a healing for the unseen wounds of his soul and a turning away of the vexation of the demon. Obeying his words, Anthemius B quickly approaches the church; and having believed in the Lord, he is baptized, and becomes an example to many to believe in Christ. For the change of famous and great men for the better or for the worse is accustomed to be for many an occasion for a similar change. Hence it happened that the bishop of Athens, when he saw how great an accession that golden John had wrought for his Church, was frequent in his words and exhortations in winning him over, preparing him to be his successor (for he was already advanced in age). But the providence of God had decided otherwise concerning him, intending to place that great light upon a greater and altogether more lofty candelabrum.
III. But when he had profited most greatly from the learning of the Athenians, he was again reminded of his mother’s bowels of compassion and of his fatherland, and he returned again from Athens to Antioch. Then, considering these things to be small—namely, orations and discourses and whatever pertains to vain ambition—he resolved to undertake the angelic or monastic life, using as his counselor and associate in this resolution a certain Basil, his intimate acquaintance, who was of one soul and fraternal spirit with him. He, however, was not that man who adorned the office and see of the Cappadocians, as some think, deceived by the similarity of the name. For to the bringing about of this matter, this man himself, the golden-tongued, suffices, who sufficiently shows this in his books *On the Priesthood*. For he says that he followed him during the whole time, and attained the same disciplines, and had the same instructors. But what most of all prevents this from being that great Basil is that he shows him to be of the same fatherland, and to have been his peer in family and riches. How, then, could this be the great one, and to him C... D
A or to bring another bridegroom into your father's house; but I remained in the tempest and the tumult, and did not escape the iron furnace of widowhood, first of all being aided by help from above. For it brought me no small consolation for my troubles that I could continually look upon your face, and keep the animate image of the departed one, accurately expressed B according to his likeness. Therefore, even when you were still an infant and had not yet learned to speak—when children most delight their parents—you provided me with great consolation. Nor could you charge me with having borne my widowhood bravely, but having diminished your paternal substance because of the necessity of widowhood, which I know happened to many who fell into misfortune by being orphaned. For I have kept this C entire and complete, and I have omitted nothing that ought to have been spent for your advancement, spending money from my own means and from what I brought with me from my own home. And do not think that I say these things to reproach you now, but for all these things I ask of you one favor: do not cast me into a second widowhood, nor kindle again the grief that has already been laid to rest; but wait for my end. Perhaps after a short time I shall depart. For while there is hope for the young that they will reach a ripe old age, we who have grown old look for nothing else but death. When, therefore, you give me up to the earth, and mingle your bones with your father's bones, then take up long travels, and sail whatever sea you wish; then there will be no one to stop you. But as long as we breathe, endure living with us, and do not offend God, nor rashly cast us into such D evils, having done you no harm. If you can accuse me of dragging you into the cares of this life and compelling you to look after my affairs, then, respecting neither the laws of nature, nor your upbringing, nor our acquaintance, nor anything else, flee from me as from an enemy and a plotter. But if we do everything so as to prepare for you great leisure for the path of this life, if nothing else, let this bond at least keep you with us. For even if you say that you are loved by countless people, no one will grant you the enjoyment of such liberty, since there is no one who cares for your reputation as much as I do.
Such is the discourse of this noble tongue. And since Basil indeed took upon himself the yoke of the diaconate, hoping that he would have him as a companion of his rank—but he [John], hesitating to assume the degree and having put him off with a promise, as if he himself were also about to participate in the same—then he avoided the ordination. Having therefore granted this to his mother and continuing to provide care for her old age until the end, when she departed this life, he immediately performed the holy rites for her, and he divided the entire substance of his parents, which was superfluous, in three parts. First, he relieved the poverty of the needy with gold; as for those churches that happened to be lacking in treasures, he distributed the silver to them; and as for whatever there was of immovable property, he brought it to the public and bequeathed it, securing for himself a life free of business and fleeing the crowd of every noisy assembly. Then, also, he set his servants free from their servitude and provided them with the means for their living, and he reserved for himself the most beautiful thing of all: to have nothing, and to be loosened from every bond that connects one to the present world, and to possess God instead of all things, the truly blessed and inalienable possession.
961 LIFE OF ST. JOHN THE ALMSGIVER. 962
...having made his disposition, that great man of God committed his spirit into the hands of the living God.
LXXV. A miracle occurs regarding his burial, which yields to none of the miracles ever performed. For when he was about to be laid in the oratory of the wonder-worker Tychon, in a certain chest where two bodies of bishops were already interred, it was possible to see these dead bodies, as if they were alive, paying reverence to the blessed body. For, separating from one another, they made room for it in the middle. And this, which occurred at his burial, was seen by many eyes; but another miracle, no less than this, the following account will declare.
CHAPTER XIV. Miracles performed after his death.
LXXVI. For a certain woman, hailing from the small town that had brought forth the patriarch, when she learned that he was now about to depart to the Lord, being conscious of a great and grievous sin within herself, ran to the blessed man, and with hot tears touching his feet, she sought through his prayer the absolution of her sin. He said, "If you believe that your sin is absolved through my prayer, you must by all means confess it to me." When she said that she could not bring herself to utter it with her lips, he urged her to declare it in writing. And when he saw that she was distressed even at this, he ordered her to write it down, to seal it with her own seal, and thus to hand the note to him. When this had been done, and the sealed note had been entrusted to his hands, the woman begged him, binding him with oaths, that nothing of what was contained therein should come to anyone’s knowledge.
LXXVII. Five days passed from then, and that great man, leaving this life, departed to the tabernacles of the righteous, having said nothing at all to anyone about this matter. But when the woman, perhaps by divine providence, was not present on the day he departed from this life, she arrived at the time of the burial. Suspecting that the note entrusted to his care might have been neglected and left behind in the bishop’s residence, and thus be discovered by everyone, she was almost beside herself with grief. But, having recovered herself with most ardent faith, she hastened with all speed to his coffin, and as if he were still alive, she cried out: "What have you done to me, O divine man, a sinner, that I shall now be a shame and a reproach to all? For that which I could not even reveal to you because of the magnitude of my transgression, this will now be manifest to all. Would that I had never thought of approaching you about this matter! For, thinking to escape the coming judgment through you, I have failed in this, and have brought upon myself the resulting disgrace. But I will not depart from your tomb, nor will I rise from here at all, nor will I cease to importune you, until I receive assurance regarding what I have requested; for I am persuaded that you are not dead, but live in God, and are able to accomplish before Him whatever you wish."
A IV. But when, after some time, he had with difficulty accepted the order of lector, he not only merely read the sacred books, but interpreted them with the spirit of wisdom, and in his exposition he made use of great light from the Word and good evidence. And although he was endowed with such great grace, and the entire populace hung upon his tongue, yet, because he bore poorly the disturbances that were in the city, and avoided everything that makes for display, and desired to be shielded from the longing which he had conceived in his mind from the beginning—which was to live under God, and for it to be manifest to Him alone—he was afflicted with sadness and was distressed. He thought greatly of solitude, and, as if he were about to encounter some hidden treasure there, he hastened toward it. With this mind, therefore, he turned it over, and having observed an opportune time, saying his farewells to all—kinsmen, friends, acquaintances, civic applause, displays, and even the defenses of those to whom injustice was being done—and without taking into account his mother’s widowhood, nor considering the care of his sister, B who had barely reached a youthful bodily age and had taken upon herself the yoke of virginity, and who had need of careful provision, and thus caring little even for the house itself, he left the city and, having left all things, took flight with his whole heart to a quiet life.
Then, though his age was still youthful, and even though his body was by nature ill-affected and sickly, he surrendered himself to the monasteries, in which life was lived more strictly and austerely than in others; and when he had stripped off his entire garment, together with the wisdom of the flesh—or, to speak more truly, having first stripped off the latter—he put on a garment woven of hair, mortifying his body further and, as it were, thinning out some cloud and providing freedom to the light of the mind. He placed the greatest study on reading the books of the divine Scriptures. This he did with such diligence that he impressed the power of the things contained in them into his mind no less strongly, and then, with his own hand and the labor of his fingers, interpreted them, as has been said, and rendered what was difficult to grasp clear to the studious; and the understanding he himself had gathered with labor, he offered to those who wished to receive it without any labor. If, therefore, to provide bread by one’s own labors is a cause of retribution, how great must be the cause of heavenly reward to feed souls in this way? In this way, therefore, he interpreted the divine Scriptures, and then also adorned them with that which pertains to character, so that the one might be for the illumination of the mind, and the other for the care of morals. Or, if you prefer, the former would only bring to light the hidden wealth of the Spirit, while the latter would clearly teach us how we might also participate in it. C In this quiet and silent conduct, his books on the priesthood are composed, in which he accurately shows how great is the dignity of the priesthood, and what manner of man he who is deemed worthy of this ought to be. At that time he also writes a discourse to a certain illustrious woman who had but recently seen the night of widowhood and was burdened with great grief, gently refreshing her and showing that widowhood is not a base and abject thing, but that its dignity is great and venerable, and that it is worthy of many praises, she who keeps her conscience for the departed, and by not putting herself in a state of dishonor through second marriages, and [the…
LXXVIII. Saying these and other things similar to these, she sat for three days and as many nights by his venerable shrine, and (O miracle of God!) on the last night that admirable man emerged from the shrine together with those who lay with him, the bishops (for such was the sight that appeared), and said to her: "How long, O woman, do you continue to cry out to those who are here? For your tears have already soaked our garments, flowing like a river." When he had said this, he handed to her the scroll, just as it had been sealed by her. Then he said, "Do you recognize this, O woman? Take it, then, and unseal it now, and see the admirable works of God." And when she had arisen and recovered her senses, she saw the holy ones having entered back into their shrine, but the scroll remained in her hands with the seal intact. And when she had broken it, she found the previous writing erased, but she saw a different inscription placed there, which read as follows: "On account of John my servant, your great sin has been blotted out." This will also declare what is to be said about him—how great was the man's virtue, and what beatitude he attained from it. B
LXXIX. For a certain man named Sabinus, living very temperately and virtuously, and carrying on a monastic life free from worldly business in Alexandria, at the hour when the blessed John departed, thought that he was in an ecstasy and saw him departing from the episcopal residence with the entire clergy, having a lamp in his hands, and directing his path toward the King, with a certain most magnificent man, in a cubiculary habit, summoning him; and a maiden of such extreme beauty that he said even the sun itself yielded the first place in beauty to her, she having her head wreathed with an olive garland, was sometimes walking in front of him, and sometimes even touching his hand and walking along with him. Now the one who saw this marked the day (for the memory was that of the great martyr Menas), and then, when some had arrived from Cyprus, he learned from them that on that very day on which these things were seen, the renowned John had departed from this world. C
LXXX. Another Alexandrian man, who was also himself one of those distinguished for piety, saw on that same night a swarm of the poor and a multitude of orphans and widows that could not be numbered, having olive branches in their hands, and apparently walking before the patriarch going to the synaxis. Such are the sufficient testimonies of the great man’s immense boldness toward God. But that which is greatest, and free from all doubt, is this: a brilliant night-long vigil was being celebrated for the biennial memory of the great and wonder-working Tychon; then, while the customary hymnody was being performed and the multitude of the people was gathered together for the same, the God of wondrous deeds, wishing to make manifest what glory he had attained from Him—that imitator, to the extent that it was possible, of His own philanthropy, John, I say, who took his surname from mercy—willed that abundant unguents should spout from his divine relics, sending forth a fragrance of healings; those who were present, having enjoyed these, D
A together glorified God, who thus glorifies those who glorify Him, with far more grateful lips. To whom we also ought to offer the fitting thanksgiving, glorifying the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the one Godhead and power in three, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
OF SAINT BABYLAS, BISHOP OF ANTIOCH, AND URBANUS, PRILIDIANUS, AND EPOLONIUS, BOYS, HIS DISCIPLES.
(Third Century, January 24. Acta Sanctorum Bollandistarum, at this day.)
The name of Saint Babylas the bishop is most celebrated, especially after the impiety of Julian the Apostate was triumphed over and silence was decreed for the Daphnitic oracles. It is inscribed in the calendars on different days, as is the case with many: for the Greeks, on the day before the Nones of September; for the Romans, on the ninth day before the Kalends of February. Whether one day is dedicated to his martyrdom and the other to his translation, or whether there were two bishops named Babylas, is a matter of doubt. Let us say what the Martyrologies proclaim concerning Babylas on both days—whom they also call Babyllus, Babylas, Babila, and Babillus. The Old Roman, edited by Rosweyde: "At Antioch, of St. Babylas the bishop." The Manuscript of St. Jerome: "At Antioch, of Babylas the bishop with the three little ones." Similar things are read in many printed and hand-written copies. Usuardus: "At Antioch, the birthday of St. Babylas the bishop, who, in the persecution of Decius, after he had frequently glorified the Lord by his passions and torments, obtained the end of his glorious life in chains. There are also reported to have suffered with him three little ones, that is, Urbanus, Prilidanus, and Epolonius." The Roman Martyrology, Bellinus, Viola SS., MS. Florius, Cenisius and others have almost the same; Ado, the common Bede, and Molanus in his additions to Usuardus add, to the eulogy already recited from Usuardus, not a few things from Rufinus concerning the triumphal removal from Daphne. Notker and Canisius touch upon it briefly. Maurolycus, Rabanus, Wandalbertus, and the other Latins also treat of him. And he is venerated in certain churches with an office of three readings, in others as an entirely solemn feast, as at Milan; elsewhere a commemoration of him is made with the office of St. Timothy. The Greeks celebrate him on the fourth of September. Thus the Anthologion approved by Clement VIII: "Of the holy martyr Babylas, bishop of Antioch, who drove back the emperor Numerian, who wished to enter the church over which he himself presided, because he had slaughtered the son of the king of the Persians, who had been given to him as a hostage. Therefore, bound in iron chains, Babylas was led about for show, and with his three boys, was beheaded." The Menologium edited by Henry Canisius and the Menæa of Cythereus contain the same.
of the Cross. A Thus, therefore, the blessed one, having lived for four years in that monastery, and having become illustrious and celebrated everywhere, as much for what he said as—even more—for what he did to lead others toward virtue, brought great pleasure to the tongues and ears of all; for some loved to speak, and others to listen to what was said, in equal measure. To this he responded with no great pleasure, but was even very much aggrieved and burdened; and, contemplating how to escape notice by every means, he devised another flight, and how to put himself in the middle [or: out of the way], and lie hidden. And so, having secretly escaped and having become alone, he spent two whole years living in such a desert manner, visible to God alone. He had no lamp, B no bed, no table, nor anything of the kind that pertains to the service of the body. There was only bread, and that quite scant, provided by one of the neighbors; and he struggled against the cold and the heat and all the hardships of the air. But since it was necessary that he also, being human, be tested by the frailties of nature—what happens, and how his affairs are ordered, and how the wisdom of God often makes use of occasions, weaving one out of another in a resourceful way; for his lower belly is afflicted, and the strength of his kidneys is dissolved, having been overcome by C the extremities of the frost—compelled by this need, or rather being led by the Spirit that was guiding him to become a cause of salvation for many, he comes to the Church beyond hope; and having become a cause of great joy to all, but especially to the great Meletius, and having been received and refreshed by him most pleasantly, he then also receives the ordination of deacon from him. And since he had conducted himself in this rank most excellently, as was pleasing to God, for five whole years, using both the prayers which he spoke extemporaneously, due to his great abundance of natural talent, and those he composed at his leisure, and preparing for them with greater study, he watered the face of the Church beautifully, pouring forth like rain from his golden tongue.
XI. But after this, when Meletius had gone to the D synod of bishops that had assembled in Constantinople, for the purpose of deposing those who fought against the Holy Spirit and of seating that theologian Gregory in the place of authority, and having there exchanged temporary things for things that remain, this golden man—at once withdrawing from all eminence and laying claim to the good of quietude—returns again to the first monastery. But having again departed from there, he returns to Antioch, not simply or without God having initiated the transition, as another might, following his own reasoning, but with God moving him and calling him in a manner far superior to any divine manner or word. For just as the great Flavian, who had succeeded Meletius in the throne slightly before this, was offering the holy rites to God at dawn,
THE STRUGGLE OF THE HOLY HIEROMARTYR BABYLAS, ARCHBISHOP OF ANTIOCH
A I. When Numerianus had received the scepter of the Romans from his fathers, and had become heir also to their impiety, a heavy and violent war was stirred up against the Christians. B For every age and every race of those who had chosen piety perished by bitter torments and a grievous death. The most impious Numerianus, therefore, while residing at Antioch—that which is by Daphne—did not refrain even from the sacred temple of the Christians, but plotted a certain snare against it as well. And having sacrificed to demons, as was his custom, and having committed the most abominable murder—that royal child, whom he had received from his father as a safe pledge of peace, he had most cruelly slaughtered—he hastened to the church, and attempted to profane the temple of God by his entry. For he considered this too to be no small honor to his gods, if the holy things of the Christians were defiled and contaminated by him. C But the divine Babylas, at that time exercising care over the sacred flock of Antioch and administering the episcopal throne, having long since understood what the tyrant was plotting in his mind, what he was meditating, that he was about to approach, and in what manner, gathered the entire multitude of the pious in the temple. Having sufficiently incited them to champion the laws of God against which the tyrant was acting, and having invoked the help of God through prayers and supplications, he stood with a great and brave spirit before the doors of the temple. And when he had broken through the haughtiness of those who preceded him and the pride of his satellites—I mean the guards and attendants—he rebuked that wicked man as he approached, and placed his right hand upon his breast. Thus he retarded his rush into the church and repelled him from the sacred precincts. Numerianus, being astonished at the freedom of speech of the man who spoke, and moreover reverencing his reputation, which was great and in... D
an angel standing there, over the monastery which held John, commanded him to arrive as quickly as possible and to lead him to the church and perfect him as a priest, for he was to be a vessel of election unto him according to Paul, and through his word he was to encompass the whole inhabited world. At that same time, a similar vision appeared to A John as he was praying. For an angel standing there, with much glory and splendor, to him also as he prayed, ordered him to follow Flavian to the church and to accept the ordination of the presbyterate. John, though he did not fail to recognize the vision as divine, was nevertheless cautious and hesitant regarding the command; he is said to have heard a more divine voice: "What God wills, who shall be able to scatter?" Having thus been addressed, the blessed man, considering it to be the act of a grateful and prudent servant not to gainsay the Master’s will, calls the monks and announces how he is about to depart from them. He comforted those seized with grief and despondency with words, and in a way healing them, especially B by attending to what was useful for them, he chose two from among all, who in life and word surpassed the others, and entrusted the care of the brothers to them. While this was happening, Flavian arrived, and having conversed with the blessed man with pleasure: "For a long time," he said, "I have been desiring to encounter you, wisest and most honorable of men, but until this day I have not been able, being occupied with ecclesiastical cares; now, however (so it has pleased God), we have come to you." Then, having also revealed to him the divine vision, since it was known to the great man that he must not gainsay the divine will at all, and otherwise because the divine vision had been confirmed by both, he asks the high priest to perform the holy initiation himself on that very day, so that all might participate in the sanctified gifts, and those who C had assumed the care of the brothers might obtain his blessing. After these things, he says, he would follow promptly and with an eager spirit, wherever it is pleasing to God. These things came to pass; and as he was about to depart with the high priest on the following day, a thing occurred that is truly worthy of tears. (Worthy of remembrance and a loss to those souls who are kinder and accustomed to suffer with others in such circumstances.) For the entire choir of monks, standing around him, as if living in communion with him, and thinking that as they were soon to be separated he would also be taken from their souls, what did they not say or do to excite pity? What extremes of lamentation did they leave untried? They were D fawning upon him, embracing him, casting themselves upon his limbs. Their distress of mind made them behave irrationally; they thought that if they were allowed, they could even join their bodies to his; they forbade the return, they fled the monastery, as if it were no longer possible for him to be seen by their own eyes. But when, with difficulty, by the incision of his speech—partly that of the great John, and partly that of the high priest, who was both exhorting and applying a sharper rebuke—they were torn away from him, some returned against their will,
A all directions, desisted from his initial daring venture; whether he suspected that a riot might occur from the crowd (for a great multitude of the faithful had gathered there), or whether he had reached some other counsel, he bore the insult with a grave and heavy heart, but in silence, and ordered a return to the palace.
B II. On the following day, having caused the high priest to be brought before him, he charged him with the obstruction of the temple as a manifest insult, and said, "In whom do you trust, O most wretched of all men, that you dared to restrain my power from entering the temple? Or are you unaware how great an evil this is, to insult and behave insolently toward an emperor?" He replied, "I trust in no one who is on earth, but in the King who is in heaven, who appointed me shepherd of His sheep, and who does not allow me to sleep when the wolf attacks. I did not insult the emperor (for that would be truly insolent and bordering on madness), but I restrained one who was attempting to insult holy things, so that you would be right to thank me not a little for having prevented you from such an undertaking, by which you would have been brought down to the deepest abyss of destruction, having sinned against Him from whom to fall away is more grievous than any death." And Numerianus said, "You ought to repent of what has passed, but instead you pour upon us more lengthy reproaches." The martyr, taking up the discourse, said, "It is not permitted for us to reproach any man in any other circumstances, and so we do not reproach you; for how could we, when you are the creature of God and honored by His image? But if the danger concerns God..."
C III. Numerianus, interrupting the flow of his discourse, said, "But, bidding farewell to this great force of words, if you wish to escape the punishment due for the crime, sacrifice to the greatest gods." The martyr, having first defended himself against the accusation and having said that he would gladly suffer anything for his flock, then continued: "It is not possible, O emperor, for one who has departed from the true God to attend to falsely-named gods, whom it is a great disgrace even to name for those who wish to be pious." And he said, "I tell you the same things as before: letting go of these long-winded trifles, sacrifice to the gods; but if not, my power shall destroy you wretchedly." And Babylas said, "It was my prayer that you might also be delivered from this darkness which surrounds you, if in any way it were possible, so that you might escape those long and immortal punishments. But you incite others also to this, kindling for yourself a greater hell, whose threats are laid against you. For it is impossible to escape the hands of the living God. And what it is to be seized by them, he who has once fallen into them shall know."
D IV. He said these things, and all things changed into the contrary, just as if a counter had been turned. For the consideration
A XIII. There was a certain illustrious woman in Antioch named Euclia. She had a beloved son who was suffering from a burning fever and was coming into danger of death. What then? The mother imitates the Canaanite woman, and approaching the blessed one, and offering voices similar to hers, she sought to obtain mercy; not for a daughter, but for a son she was beseeching. But it is necessary to attend to the mind and consider how his disposition was, to heal souls as well as the body, and even more than those, to heal the former; for he found these to be the causes of the body suffering ills. And this indeed was made clear by what has gone before, and the account will show it again. For as the woman was reaching out toward this entreaty with such eagerness and intense emotion—for she had many motives for weeping, being about to see her son die, following upon four who had already perished—he, seeing into what was hidden by the Spirit indwelling in him, and knowing that the sins of the parents had promised death to their children, brought these into the open as the cause, and said: "You will see even this fifth one dead before your eyes, unless repentance for what has been done enters into you." But when the parents, hearing these things, promised sincere repentance and also besought him for his compassion, he, having pity on the calamity, ordered water to be brought. Having blessed it three times in the name of the holy Trinity, and having sprinkled the sick one three times with it, he restored him, healthy, to her who had borne him. They, then, wishing to return the favor, were offering to present the holy man with a sufficient amount of gold; but to him, not even a small part of what was being offered was acceptable, for he had said that he did not wish to make the gift of God purchasable for money. "But if," he says, "it is your desire to make it clear that you know how to give thanks to God for the healing, show your promise to be true, and by abandoning all wickedness, and by taking up every good deed, you will thus bring to him who has shown mercy the recompense that is due." And this, indeed, is of such a nature; but what is now to be said is none the less suited to the benefit of the soul, and to show the grace that dwelt in great John.
D XIV. At that time, the governor of the city was suffering from the disease of the doctrines of Marcion, and was favoring his followers, and for this reason was providing an immeasurable amount of harm for the orthodox side. The one who works these things out in mystery and in his kindness allowed his wife to fall into a disease of dysentery. She, being overcome by the evil, rejected every skill of medicine; and all those who held the same opinions, being called together for prayer, did not make her condition any better. But with difficulty, having come to the remembrance of John's grace, and having set this in their minds—that if the undoing of the disease were to come through him, they would also pledge to desist from the disease of the doctrine, which is far graver—having thus convinced themselves [to bring the bedridden...]
of the man, Numerianus, having been moved by anger, was appeased, and looking upon him calmly and with friendship, he said, "O teacher of boys, would you be able to explain what God is?" But he replied, "You would not be able to find the nature of God, no matter how much you laboured. For it is ineffable, beyond reach, and unsearchable by human reasonings; the beginning of the universe and its constitution, King and Lord and Creator of all. And being always in need of nothing (for such is the Divine), He created angels and archangels, and all other incorporeal essences. After the creation of these, He made man, and this whole world, and filled him with countless goods, proclaiming him to be on earth what He Himself is in the heavens. Having established him in such honor, just as a royal palace for a king, He assigned to him the most beautiful part of earthly things, namely, Paradise. And in addition to these, wishing to show him from another source how much he surpassed other living creatures, He brings all things to him, and commands him to impose names upon them all. And having taught him through these things that he is more precious than all, then indeed He creates woman, and in this again He honours him and makes it manifest that she was created for his sake. But he did not merely honour him with these things; to him alone of all He granted reason, and allowed him to enjoy His fellowship. Yet he, deeming the enemy more trustworthy than Him who had gifted these things, and disregarding the command of his Maker, preferred the deception of him who was eager to destroy him utterly and to despoil him of all good things at once, even though he had performed no act of kindness, whether great or small, for him, but had merely spoken a word to him. Did God, therefore, destroy him? According to the logic of justice, this was consistent. But He, no less than before, persisted in doing him good, showing that even if we sin a thousand times, He does not cease to provide for what pertains to our salvation. A Numerianus then, hearing these things, and not having the mind to grasp the meaning embedded in them (for how could a soul untasted by divine graces, and partaking of not even a little wisdom, and being entirely uneducated and foolish—for he was so dense and insensitive to those around him—be thought to have realized his own shame?), escapes to a mask of knowledge, ashamed to show his lack of feeling to those standing around him. He feigns the appearance of understanding, and says to Babylas that these things are well-conceived, and that he has answered concerning the grasp of things as they are with accuracy. Thence he inquires of him again: "What is man?" And he: "Of all perishable living creatures, as we have said, the most precious, gentle, social, and loving; even if we have armed ourselves more savagely than wild beasts against one another." D V. Numerianus then, considering the ready tongue of the marvelous Babylas a miracle, and at the same time wishing to wash away the disrepute of his own dullness—because he was unable to offer any counter-argument—swore by his own gods that Babylas was wise, and that the reputation celebrated about him was not at all false, provided only
A that he would sacrifice to the gods and revere and honor them. For he said that he lacked only this one thing: that although he was so wise, he held the gods in contempt and armed an intemperate tongue against them. Then, looking at him again, “Sacrifice,” he said, “O most wise elder, and immediately you shall take the place of a father to me, and you shall be lord of all that is in my empire.” But Babylas, distressed and bearing it grievously that he was again compelling him to sacrifice, and that he [the emperor] altogether expected to overcome him and be able to persuade him with money and honors—not as though he should do so, he said, but that you are bringing loss upon me regarding that which is the greatest of goods, namely piety, without which these things are for me poverty, and extreme ignominy, and the deprivation of those things which I now possess.
B VI. Then, moved by great anger at this, Numerianus gave orders to Victorinus (who was the most outstanding in cruelty and impiety) to place a collar upon his neck, and to fasten iron fetters upon his feet, and to lead him to prison through the midst of the city for all to see: “If perhaps,” he said, “shame before the people might penetrate the stubborn soul of this man, and cause some change.” Indeed, the martyr was led in chains, treating this shameful procession as a golden and sweet dwelling, because he had been deemed worthy of bonds for the sake of the common Liberator of all. Numerianus, therefore, when he saw him in such a state, walking in bonds, cried out, “By the gods, Babylas, the collar, the bonds, and the gait suit you; for these things are appropriate to your elderly and decent manner of movement.” But he replied, “You speak these things for the sake of mockery and derision, but I boast in them more, O emperor, than you do in this flowering purple and splendid diadem of yours.”
C VII. And Numerianus said, “Sacrifice, you wretch, and you shall be released from your tortures yourself, and you shall relieve us of our anxieties; unless, perhaps, these boys here incite you upward to pride and vainglory by calling you ‘teacher,’ and do not allow you to first teach yourself the things that you ought to know.” For it happened at that time that three boys who were following him, brothers by birth, children in age but grey-headed in prudence, were being diligently trained by him in piety, and they were unwilling to leave their teacher even though he was thus D encompassed by a collar and chains. But the divine Babylas said, “If you would make a trial of them, O emperor, you would certainly know what sort of seeds my words are—or rather, those of God who grants them.” The emperor therefore caused the boys to be set before his tribunal, and first he asked if they had a mother. They said, “We have a mother, and our teacher Babylas, whom we love even more than our mother. For she indeed only gave us birth, but he trains us in learning and exercises us in piety, and completely reveals the state of the soul
manner of approaching was gentle; and his discourse flowed into the soul so placidly and pleasantly, and touched it so kindly, that there was no such remedy for the body which, while benefiting it most, brought no distress in its application, as he brought great and painless benefit. On the following day, the emperor himself, and whoever in the city were of high rank and superior to others, coming to the blessed man (for this they desired with all their heart), most gladly enjoyed his prayers and his blessing. Then he, that praiseworthy man, having been previously invaded by fear, and being a supreme imitator of the humility of Jesus, having begun his address, said: B "Terrible to me, O emperor, terrible and greater than my strength can bear, seemed the dignity of this prelacy, which also made me timid and hesitant to undertake it, for I looked both at my own insignificance and at the magnitude of that which was committed to my faith. For the more sublime the dignity is, the more it has need of those who are exalted in strength, and who can trust in the ministry. But since he—whose judgments are a great abyss 10 —has, for reasons known to Him, led us, though we be unworthy and insignificant, to this high watchtower, and has appointed us shepherd of His rational flock, I beseech you, O emperor, by those hopes which we all hold (for it would not be safe for me henceforth to be silent, nor, seeing only my own interests, to be a hireling and not a shepherd), I beseech you, therefore, that you primarily, by offering an attentive ear to the words of God, build upon the foundation of faith gold and silver and precious stones, that is to say, good deeds. But if any have been taken, or should be taken C (which I pray may not happen) in human transgressions, these must be cleansed by repentance and study. Let the great David 11 be for us a beautiful example of this, who, when he had fallen into sin as a man, and had been rebuked by a man, did not behave as a mere man, nor did that most graceful soul conduct itself like the many. For he did not bear the rebuke heavily, nor did the king ward off the reproach of the poor man with insult, but with great moderation and contrition of soul he both accepted the rebuke and, not denying that he had sinned, attained forgiveness more quickly than he had acted. And yet, to slip is indeed easy, but to rise and be restored to one's former state is laborious and difficult. So meek was he, so moderate; so great a fruit D had he derived from divine humility. And we, therefore, who by the ineffable reasons of God have come to you to testify to His will, receiving this first word from Christ and His divine Forerunner, announce and exhort you: 'Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand 12.' And I shall not hesitate to recall these things constantly to your memory; but for you, it is safe to fear, lest, if you become contemners of the testimonies of God, you be found liable to Him in the day of visitation. For it is not anything of our own, nor from our own belly, or rather, [our own] intellect,
A of our teacher who cares for us so affectionately. The emperor summons the mother and commands her to answer how she is called, and whether she is the mother of these children. But she said: My name, she says, is Christodula; these are the fruits of my womb, and I have offered the first-fruits of my pangs to God. But I trust that the wise Babylas will place them in the storehouses of the heavens; for to him I have entrusted them.
VIII. Having heard this, Numerianus is filled with rage, and commands that her face be struck, and that she be told not to address the emperor so rashly. The boys, however, seeing their mother struck, were distraught in spirit, and said: The emperor is striking our mother who speaks the truth. He, however, curbing his anger with sport, commands the eldest of the boys to be punished with twelve stripes, the second with nine, and the last with seven, imposing upon each a number of stripes equal to their years. Yet even while they were being scourged, they praised the Lord; and they sought out their master, desiring to be with him even in prison.
IX. Numerianus, therefore, having brought the mother and the children out from the imperial tribunal through his attendants, summons Babylas from custody, and—as if playing on a stage, or behaving like a foolish actor—says: Behold, he says, your pride and boasting have utterly fallen, and the matter has turned out otherwise than you thought concerning the children; for they are ready to sacrifice to the gods. But he (for he knew who those were whom he had travailed with in spirit), B You seem, he says, O emperor, to be deceiving yourself and to be indulging yourself in vain. For the sheep of my flock, which are Christ’s and the Shepherd’s, would never follow a stranger; but to hear my voice, I know, they yearn, no less than lambs shut up in a shed yearn for the mothers who gave them birth. And if a wolf should snatch them, or some other beast should drag them away, they will depart and be dragged off calling out for me; and a wolf would sooner persuade a lamb to leave its own mother and follow it and stay with it, than they would forget their affection for their own shepherd.
X. Numerianus, unable to bear this: But I, he says, will make you use answers more opportunely. And immediately the athlete was raised high upon the wood, C and opposite him the children were being torn by iron claws. And upon them indeed a certain more divine grace from above, breathing courage and increasing their eagerness, rendered them more impassive than statues.
XI. But some of those who stood around said to the noble Babylas: How long will you be senseless and take ill counsel for yourself? Does not even the beauty of the children bend this hard and untamed heart of yours, thus perishing so untimely and miserably? The martyr, therefore, turning at their words and clearly showing that he was pained and burned on their behalf, says: What is this heavy and dark cloud which blocks the eyes of your mind, and does not permit you to look toward heaven, but inclines you downward and compels you to be fixed upon the earth?
musical language, and showed that they sin far more gravely than those who openly practice things that are shameful. For while the latter are licentious only in themselves and corrupt their own soul, those who are among the clergy and spend their time in such habits corrupt the entire body of the Church, beating their conscience, according to the divine Apostle, and becoming a common memorial of incontinence. But even apart from this, he who reads that discourse as is fitting will precisely know what harm they incur from this life of "subintroducted" cohabitation. Then, he contends more weightily B against the greed of those who lay a heavy hand upon the property of others, and pour it into, as it is said, insatiable urns, caring more for those who commit the injustice than for those who suffer it; for to the latter, the harm is in regards to some one of the things that perish, but to those who commit the injustice, the harm is in regards to a soul that is to be punished immortally. Next, he rebukes the life of the prodigal, I mean those who boast in banquets, in buildings, in such pomp and such delicacies, and who, as it is said in the vernacular, sprinkle themselves with honey. Now he accuses pride; now he chases after vainglory; now he wards off calumny as worthy of vituperation. Again, he removes gossiping from the midst with all his might; he prohibits perjury in such a way that he C dismissed not only that which is sworn simply and truthfully as being beyond reproach, but he also had many excellent discourses against it, elaborated in such a way that they were woven with what is true and what is plausible, and he strove to remove it from the midst as being manifest insult against God and a defilement of the name that is fearful and venerable to all.
XIX. For just as an excellent and most diligent farmer, who wishes to sow discourses concerning virtue, knew that he must first root out the roots of wickedness and the seeds of the wicked one, and thereafter, with the land being thus leveled and made gentle—which is to say, the human souls—deposit the seeds of virtue and philosophy. After these things, therefore, he pours forth discourses concerning almsgiving, like certain opportune rains, upon the souls of D men, and cultivates benevolence to such an extent that he rendered the right hand of many prompt and eager to assist the poor, which was previously parsimonious and ungenerous—not to say greedy and for seizing the property of others—and made some to be munificent and willingly sharing their own, pouring out from the full, as it is said, into the empty with both hands; but others [he caused] to prefer to have nothing, and when they had magnificently and piously distributed all their wealth to the poor, to choose a monastic and separate life. From which everything came back to them in another way, as those who had been enriched by God for all these things, upon whom the whole hope of their life depended, and toward whom alone they knew to look, from whom they had learned to pay heed to wealth, and
What is it that has bewitched your soul and poured such drugs upon it that it has handed you all over to destruction, and does not permit you to take any thought for your salvation? For my part, to say nothing now of Numerianus—for even if he were to appear a thousand times as emperor, it would not profit him—I have often come to the point of weeping and crying aloud for you and for your destruction, alas! because, having been honored with reason, you have become, as I see, more irrational than the irrational beasts. And when you ought to recognize your own Creator, if there were any sense in you, you look only to this one (adding the name of Numerianus) and hang upon his shadow and his tyrannical nod. But as for my own affairs, do you see how Christ lightens my labors and sends down help from His holy dwelling-place, and stirs me on to work, and gives me courage for the contests?" These things, then, the saint said to the executioners. A
XII. Furthermore, not even were the children rendered weak; but while they were hanging aloft on the wood, they did not care for their flowing limbs of flesh, but their whole soul was directed toward their teacher, and on his behalf they thus attacked the tyrant with reproaches: "Are you not ashamed, wretch, to heap such insult upon so venerable a head? Do you not blush? Are you not afraid, you yourself being a slave of darkness, to attack a herald and minister of light? Are you not ashamed to become a laughingstock for children in the sight of all? For you are troubled, and you rage, and you are scorched within, inflamed by the coals of anger; but we, as if with vernal flowers, are beautifully adorned by the marks of your tortures." B
XIII. Numerianus, therefore, having led them away from there along with their teacher, left Babylas himself in a certain little house nearby, still in those iron chains; but having set the children before him—for he thought that because of the tenderness of their age he would more easily prevail over them—he shut them up in another little house, and tried to win them over in various ways, and fawned upon them, and insinuated himself, calling them "sons" and "children of noble character and excellent nature," and promising to give them money and honors, using many tender and flattering words toward them. But they, as if with one mind and one mouth, said: "Cunning one and crafty one, why do you offer us these things as bait, wishing to catch us like sparrows in a trap? We will not deny you, mother Piety, we will not deceive you, dear teacher Babylas. No emperor shall take us, even if he should breathe more fiercely than Numerianus." C
XIV. As the children were thus vigorously contending against the tyrant and crying out with a loud voice, the noble Babylas, truly their teacher, who was shut up in the little house and was hearing them, was filled with joy in his soul at these things; and he was no longer in doubt about the future, but, "Well done, O dear children," he said, "well done, my disci-
disciples; I am receiving the reward of my labors, I am reaping the fruits of my pains. I thank thee, divine Providence over us, that thou hast deigned to call me the teacher of such—not children, but valiant ones; not infants in age, but perfect in virtue."
A XV. Meanwhile, Numerianus also caused him to be brought forward, and said, "Are these not your children? For by Jove, they are very like you in their manner of thinking." But he replied, "O emperor, they are my children in the Spirit, not in the flesh; for up to this present time I have been untasted by and ignorant of bodily love. But why," said Numerianus, "do you not sacrifice quickly, and deliver both yourself and us from troubles? If the sufferings that have preceded do not, but rather bite and cause pain and cast you into distress, I could compensate you with many and far greater goods, and lead you to forget those things." And he even seemed to be giving him good counsel regarding the matters proposed, saying, "O teacher, your gray hair should suggest to the children's age what is fitting, and persuade them not to wither away so prematurely and pitifully in the very flower of their youth." But the divine Babylas, seeing that concern of Numerianus, and the cunning prepared against himself and the children, said, "O emperor, you seem to bid farewell to the barbarians, whom you ought most of all to be warring against; and, having completely abandoned external cares, you have turned your whole zeal and preparation against us, not as one who puts your mind on how you might benefit your subjects, but in order to seize pretexts for torments by which you might indulge your anger and your natural cruelty."
C XVI. At this, Numerianus, boiling over with all his heart and inflamed, ordered the martyrs to be led away to death. And they were being led away rejoicing, and this tongue was singing with joy: "Blessed are you, O God, who formerly perfected praise from infants and sucklings; but now, from infants, though not sucklings, and from a gray-haired elder, you accept their blood as a sacrifice." Weaving their thanksgiving with these and many other things, they reached the place of martyrdom. And having set the holy children before him, the blessed Babylas offered them to God as the beautiful fruit of his own teaching.
D XVII. And when he saw that they had been consummated, he uttered that blessed voice: "Behold I and the children whom God has given me." And he begged those who were present to bury with him these symbols of his conflicts; for he loved and embraced them for Christ’s sake, and did not wish them to be removed even from his own dust, for he knew well that they were beautiful ornaments for his burial. And what were these? The collar about his neck, and the iron that bound his feet. Then he himself also has his head cut off, the fourth day of the month of September being then current. And even now, Babylas lies in the coffin, with the collar
A A certain man of high rank and distinguished by worldly splendor, having been seen with an envious eye and slandered to the Emperor—O bitter envy and the depravity of the enemy!—was driven out of both the royal presence and his station. But when he saw that he was lacking in great resources, and that he who was to bring aid was not available, and when he understood that he was unfortunate and had the Lord against him, and that for this reason he would be an object of care to no one—for tragedy says that if anyone is unhappy, he has no friends, save for that blessed soul who is accustomed to sympathize with such as these, and since neither the manner nor the rank itself allowed any other as it did him to approach the Emperor freely, nor to be liberal with his customs, nor to gain the dignity itself—he sought through some intermediary to come into the sight of the blessed one. And when the latter had learned of his arrival at night, he permitted him to come, for he would not be able to converse with him safely during the day. He also commanded the servant of God, Proclus, who was appointed for this, that when the man arrived, he should arrange for him an easy approach to him. But we must pay attention again, for the narrative will bring both pleasure and wonder.
C XXIII. For when that man had arrived and was within the doors, Proclus went to announce him. But when he had already approached the chamber where the great man was taking his leisure and was intent upon the interpretation, and having immediately placed his eyes to the door, as was permitted, he looked through the opening and saw John proceeding to write, and being diligently occupied with that task, and with him a certain man, bald-headed, just as the images depict Elisha, who had a thick, full beard let down over his shoulders, softly engaging with the blessed one and talking into his ear. When Proclus saw these things, he thought that someone had entered without his awareness, and that he was the one conversing with the holy man. Therefore, having recognized what he had suspected, he ordered the man to wait. But since much time had passed, and he who was expected to come out had not yet appeared, Proclus went again, as the man pressed him, so that if he saw the conversation cease, he might announce it to the blessed one. But when he again looked through the opening and saw the interview still attentive and wakeful, judging it to be untimely, importunate, and shameless to interrupt the speech in such a state, he went back, wondering who it was that was speaking and how he had entered, not having been announced to him beforehand. He waited a short time and went again; and seeing that the conversation was still taking place, and since the wood had already been struck to call to the assembly, he approached the man and said that it was impossible for the present to meet him until the end of the morning glorification, and immediately sent him away, ordering him to return on the following day. The man came, therefore, and Proclus, having delayed nothing, went away, and saw the same things again, with the conversation yielding not at all. For this reason, D not daring to remind him, he returned, appearing sad to the sad man, and considering himself rightly to be accused, that to a man who had fallen into such evils, and who was suffering from the severity of the times, he did not appear kind, nor assisting in what was possible, but rather to others
A of his neck, and with his iron bonds, glorifying his own Agonothetes, for to Him belongs glory, power, honor, and majesty, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Even now the chains with the ashes of Babylas admonish all the prefects of the churches that to be bound, B to be slaughtered, and to suffer whatever may be required, ought certainly be endured with a ready and eager mind, and furthermore with great pleasure, so that we may not betray or contaminate even the slightest part of the liberty entrusted to us. And in Homily 9 on the Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians: “Departing, he commanded that the chains be put with his body, and that the body be buried wearing them, and even now the chains with the ashes lie together. So great was his desire for chains for the sake C of Christ.”
THE LIFE AND CONVERSATION OF THE HOLY EUSEBIA, WHO WAS RENAMED XENE
LIFE AND CONVERSATION OF SAINT EUSEBIA, WHO IS CALLED HOSPITA
A I. The new and foreign life of that truly admirable Hospita, or the stranger, possesses a most brief and, as far as possible, most succinct narration, but one that is extraordinary and, in the first place, honorable. Although it is so succinct, yet in struggles and labors, and in those things which have a rationale of utility, she surpassed almost everyone, or at least very many. For this most blessed of women, and of a great and most manly spirit, was of most illustrious descent, if one considers her country and parents. For they were illustrious, not only in B wealth and glory, but also in piety; and that city was the most illustrious of all cities and of the greatest name, namely ancient Rome; for since she was born of such parents, as their first and only child, she also had an upbringing worthy of her station, being properly and virtuously educated, and instructed in the Christian faith, and she led a life pleasing to God.
II. But when she was already of marriageable age, she was sought C by one of the citizens, who himself was also illustrious, and was suitable for the bride in both lineage and wealth. The girl’s parents, indeed, since they could find no fault in the betrothal in any respect, but knew it to be a worthy and congruent union of one with the other, consented to the marriage alliance. They looked toward the wedding ceremony, the day was appointed, and all things were already prepared. But she, the Hospita—who was of a great and exalted D
by his delays, caused the great John A to be inaccessible. B But Proclus insisted that there was nothing of the kind; that it happened without his own sensation or knowledge, since a great part of the night had already been spent, yet the discourse did not grow less. Then, once more the wood was struck, and he sends the man away full of grief and heaviness of soul, though not so as to abandon hope of a future return. It came into Proclus’s mind to wonder, as was fitting, but he had no one to blame: he complained rather of himself, as if it were happening due to his own negligence. For this reason, he made a firm pact with himself: neither to take food, nor to yield to sleep, nor to move even a little way from the doors, until he might either be the first to secure entrance for the man, or learn who it was who, having slipped in during the previous nights, had stolen the audience. And as he was B thus at the doors, with eyes and ears alert, and his whole mind attentive, this was now the third night, and the man was already present. Immediately, therefore, Proclus, meeting him, said: "Take courage; for I am your diligent guardian now, and no one shall go in to the great one until you yourself, first and alone, shall enter and converse at your leisure, as is your desire." C Having said this, he departs quickly, and applying his eye to the aperture, and seeing things similar to what he had seen before—the one placing his mouth to the other's ear as if whispering secret things, and the other holding a parchment and appearing to write down what was being dictated—Proclus understood that this vision did not happen without God, nor was the appearance human, but a divine thing, and something greater than man. Turning, therefore, he says to the man: "Go, and wait by yourself, praying to God. For it is likely that your entrance was unwelcome to him, and was for that reason prevented. For let this be established for you as certain and beyond doubt, that it is no one of those who is clothed in flesh, but a more divine and transcendent D communication. For it happens again just as the two previous nights have shown me." And the man went away thus, possessed by terrible grief and full of perplexity. But when day had come, the memory of it occurred to the blessed one, and he caused Proclus to be called and said, "And where is he who begged to come to us before this third day, and who received this by our will?" He said, "He came for the third of three consecutive nights, and remained waiting until morning. But since it happened that you were conversing with another, it was thought presumptuous to approach and interrupt the discourse." Marveling, he asked, "And who was it who approached me at night and conversed?" Then Proclus, pointing to the image of Paul which stood before the eyes of John—and which he was accustomed to look at constantly—said in likeness to this: "The one conversing with you, who also appeared as you were sitting and attending to the Scripture, leaning gently against your shoulders, and speaking to you (as I myself believe), he was in very truth that same one." The great one therefore understood that the divine had become his hearer in those things which he sought to learn, if the interpretation of the Apostolical Epistles was in accordance with the mind of the Apostle. And who the one was who addressed you, he said, was
A spirit and deemed herself worthy of better things—cast her eyes towards another, an immortal spouse. When she heard words spoken concerning this marriage, into which corruption falls, she thought them to be trifles; she would not consent to them at all, nor did she allow these thoughts to enter her mind, nor was she in any way affected as a woman would be. Her soul depended on that one true Spouse alone, and her heart and inmost being were deeply wounded by his love, and she turned her mind entirely toward him. Wherefore she determined to withdraw secretly, leaving behind her parents and home, and to commit herself to flight.
Turning this over in her mind, she kept it secret from others; but those of the handmaids whom she knew to be very well-disposed toward her, and who had already given her proof in many things—so that it was clear their judgment was not easily won over, as is common with maids or women—these she called to herself. Having bound them by oaths, she related to them all the facts of the case in good faith, explaining what B she had devised in her mind and how she was entirely determined to escape the marriage; she then added that if they were willing, she would make them partners in this good purpose. Thus she spoke, and at the same time she wisely removed the obstacles that seemed to stand in the way, telling them not to think of her as a young girl reared in the bridal chamber, nor to fear that she might repent of her plan and thereby bring danger not only upon herself but also upon them. She urged them to be of good courage and confident, for even if all force should come upon them—even though sword, fire, wild beasts, or any other cruel thing should attack—it would not move her from this resolve. Having spoken thus, they too were persuaded and agreed to her plan with great eagerness; for they were emboldened and, with very noble and magnanimous spirit, dared to add that if any such thing should happen of which they were afraid, they would choose to die with her rather than live in comfort while separated from her.
C III. As they were thus in agreement and beautifully united in spirit (there were three of them with their mistress), equality of honor existed between them; they were fellow-servants, similar in character, sharing the same mind and the same zeal, subject to one common Lord and united to him. While they sought an opportune time to commit themselves to flight, a time when they would not be observed, they did not decide that the intervening days should be spent in idleness and sloth. Rather, they gave themselves to affliction and labors, as though training themselves and becoming accustomed to the sweat of virtue. Their mistress—the leader, I say, of this most beautiful plan, the blessed Hospita—as she smoothed the path of flight for them beforehand and prepared for it to be altogether free of stumbling blocks, carried away the entire store of women’s finery, as much in clothing as in silver and gold, secretly from her parents, through those handmaids, and distributed it to the poor. When these matters were D well-arranged for her, and the time of the wedding was already at hand, then did the Hospita suggest to them also the way of flight. Having changed their garments, as was necessary for those of such manly spirit, they put on men’s attire and thus slipped out of the house in secret, at once weeping and rejoicing,
nay rather, their very tears were of pleasure and gladness. Departed therefore, they said, "Be with us, O Son of God, and make known to us the way in which we shall walk, for it is toward Thee that we have lifted up our whole mind and soul." As they journeyed, the noble one again addressed them: "Let nothing, O sisters (for so I intend to call you henceforth), let nothing of earthly things turn you back to itself, nor let any regret for your most excellent resolve enter your hearts. For no one could find any path more blessed than this. For whether we look to the present, we are removed from all crowds and affairs; or if we choose to contemplate the future, neither is the mind sufficient to conceive, nor language to express, the good things that await those who have chosen this way." Listening to these words along the journey, they felt their souls grow warm, and were strengthened all the more by the hope which is in God. C
IV. When they had come near to the sea, they find a ship already prepared and about to set sail (a circumstance which surely did not happen for them without God’s providence). Having boarded it and finding a favorable wind, they arrive in Alexandria in a short time. Then, having set sail from there again, they come once more to the island of Cos; for they did everything to remain hidden, and so that, if they were sought, they might not be recognized. Yet, it also pleased them otherwise to rest there from their journey, and to give relief to their bodies and souls, inasmuch as the island provided great quiet and was suited for their purpose, and furthermore, it contributed greatly to their remaining undiscovered. When, therefore, they were safe in Cos, they once again resumed their woman’s attire. Then, having hired a dwelling in a somewhat secluded place, they remained there, diligently occupying themselves with divine philosophy. The one called "the Stranger" D was especially zealous that this should remain hidden—that neither she herself, nor her manner of life according to God, should be manifest to any, but rather that she should be entirely unknown to men, so as to be more known to God. For she was otherwise apprehensive of her reputation, and she suspected that her parents would be searching for her intensely. She knew that the loss of a most beloved daughter is no trivial matter, nor easy for affectionate parents to bear, so that they would willingly purchase her discovery with their very lives. On account of this, she daily instructed her maidservants to be careful not to reveal the mystery to anyone. "And if anyone," she said, "asks for me by name, say that I am not Eusebia—as indeed I am called—but that I am called 'the Stranger' (Xene); for I am, as you see, a stranger. And thus it may come about that we are both pure from lying and may keep ourselves unknown." And these things she said to them.
V. When she was also diligent to find someone to guide them toward salvation, she wished to obtain this from no one else but God. Having therefore bowed her knees and her heart, she prayed with tears: "O God," she said, "who art everywhere present, and seest us thus wandering, do not overlook us, do not forsake us, for whose sake we have left both parents and home, D and chosen to live in foreign lands: but be pleasing to us, providing some savior and safe guide for our way, and..."
one who shall not lead us astray, as once Thou didst send Paul to Thecla; and by following whose footprints, we, wretched and cast-down as we are, may be able to walk in the way that is pleasing unto Thee. A While she was praying these things, there was found for them that which is written in Hosea: *As the morning, God is prepared*, dissolving the night of difficult things. For immediately a man was seen by them just ascending from the harbor, white of hair, monastic in appearance, brilliant of aspect, and, as one might say, altogether angelic. When the virgin of Christ saw him, she was filled with spiritual joy, and running, she seized his feet, shedding tears upon them, and asking that he should not overlook them at all, but rather attend to those who were longing for salvation, and not cease to teach, to admonish, and to lead them into the way that leads to Christ, and, to speak once for all, to be everything to us who are strangers.
VI. When the monk saw the virgin thus affected, he immediately asked who they were, and how they had wandered so into the island. But when he learned that they were Roman by race, but strangers for the sake of God and wanderers, and that for them to proceed and be seen by any of those who were here was a source of shame and altogether intolerable, "But," he said, "I wish that you would assume the same regarding me. For I too am a stranger, and altogether ignorant of this place, having only just sailed away from holy places. For after I had been there for the sake of prayer, I am now descending to my own homeland." The blessed one then asked him of what city he was, and what rank he held. For she thought him to be a bishop, as far as she could conjecture from his appearance. He, however, said, "My homeland is Caria, and the city, Mylassa. My habit is such as to show that I am a presbyter and that I preside over a small flock of the great disciple of Christ, I mean Andrew; my name, moreover (for you may perhaps wish to know this too), is Paul." When she heard the name Paul, no small astonishment seized her, B at how, when she had prayed for a teacher for herself such as Paul had appeared to Thecla, God had heard her request most quickly—or rather, even before her request—that we might say, as in the preparation of David's heart; and this was the Paul who was to be seen by her, sharing with that other not only the matter, but the name as well. Having therefore filled her eyes with tears, she offered great thanksgiving to God, and addressed her supplication to Paul, that he might become her father in spirit, and might take upon himself the entire care of her. C But he said, "While being here, I will not be able to be of further help to you, being myself a stranger and having encountered you only in passing; and besides, I cannot even stay any longer, for it is necessary, as I say, that we return to visit our own flock. But you, if you wish, follow us as we depart. For in this way, I too shall not be wanting in caring for you as much as I am able."
Ⅶ. D Since they gladly received the word, the monk inquired who they were and how they had been wandering around the island. When he learned that they were indeed Roman by birth, yet strangers for God’s sake and travelers, and that for them to go forth and be seen by any of those here was cause for shame and altogether unendurable—"But," he said, "I wish you would assume the same about me. For I too am a stranger, and utterly ignorant of this place, having just sailed away from the holy places. For having been there for the sake of prayer, I am now traveling back to my own fatherland." The blessed one asked, therefore, from what city he might be, and what station he had assumed (for she thought him to be a bishop, as far as one could infer from his appearance). He said: "My fatherland, for me, is Caria, the city Mylassa; the habit of my attire suggests that I am a presbyter and that I preside over some small flock of the great, I say, of Christ’s disciples, Andrew. My name, too (for you might wish to know this also), is Paul." When she heard the name Paul, no small terror seized her, at how God had heard her prayer for a teacher like the one who had appeared to Thecla—or rather, had heard it even before her prayer—so that, to speak with David, it was in the preparation of the heart, and this was the Paul who would appear to her, sharing with him not only the matter but also the name. Having, then, filled her eyes with tears, she offered much thanksgiving to God, and addressed her request to Paul, that he become her father in the spirit and assume the entire care of her. But he said: "While remaining here, I shall be unable to be of any further service, being myself a stranger and having encountered you only by chance while on my way; and otherwise, I cannot remain here any longer; for we must return, he says, to visit our own flock; and you, if this is your desire, will follow us as we depart; for in this way I shall not be failing in my care for you, to the extent of my ability."
unexamined. Seeing, then, that his impetuosity could not be restrained, and that the report of the matter had already reached everyone's ears, he allowed other things to be offered as divine gifts, not deeming it holy for such things to be presented to the sanctified after thoughts of this kind had entered [the minds of those present], but he himself took the book into his hands and went out. A Then, wishing to allay Eusebius's vehemence: "Do not imagine," he said, "that once the things in your hands have been read and delivered to the ears of all, you will be able to easily escape the proof of them. For we do not prevent one who can offer proof, nor do we seize by force one who cannot." But since he was pressing and urging him most vehemently that it be read immediately, he allowed it to be read. When, however, all the serious charges had been reviewed, those of the bishops who were more advanced in age decided that an examination should be made of what they deemed to be the most grievous matter—which was the sale of ordinations—saying that in this way the judgment would be easy and brief. For if this were proven true, the investigation of the others would be superfluous; for he who did not shrink from putting up for sale the grace of the Holy Spirit, they said, would hardly have spared the treasures, or gems, or properties of the church. This also seemed right to the saint. B When, therefore, the accused was questioned and denied, and those who were said to have provided the gold also denied having given it, the examination continued and extended until the day was already waning. Since the matters that had been stirred up could not be resolved otherwise than by producing witnesses in whose presence the giving and receiving had taken place—since the accuser said they existed but were not present, nor were they even in that region—the blessed one, looking to the difficulty of finding them and considering what an arduous task it would be, and how many days the production of the witnesses would take (O that apostolic and noble soul, which, on account of no slackness, omitted any of the things that were necessary!), resolved himself to travel to Asia, and to become the examiner of the matters being stirred up, in a body so worn and exhausted by so many labors, choosing to endure such great trials for the sake of ecclesiastical business. C But Antoninus, perceiving that John's arrival in Asia would not turn out well for him (for he knew that, as he was truly the culprit, so that man would be able to expose the matter clearly), persuaded those in power, by the help of one of the great men whose estates he himself managed, to hold John back from his departure, using as a pretext the tyranny of Gainas, which was still causing turmoil at that time, and for which reason his presence was necessary. And thus the blessed one was restrained in his impulse to depart; yet he did not even then desist from the investigation of the matters mentioned, but having summoned one of the twenty-two Asian bishops who were in the synod, and provided three metropolitans from his own [entourage], he sent them into Asia, as well as Eusebius and the very Antoninus whom he was accusing, to inquire publicly into the matter, and he set down in the records that whoever did not arrive at the appointed place within two months, which each of them had for the assembly, should be excommunicated. As therefore those... D
VII. When they had gladly accepted what he had said and promised to follow him, he took them and arrived in the city of Mylasa, and gave them dwellings suitable for quiet, near the temple; in which place Xene also raised an oratory to the protomartyr Stephen. Within a short time, she also established a monastery for virgins, committing it likewise to the sacred care of Paul. Throughout her whole life, however, it remained known to no one who she was, or from where, or for what reason she had withdrawn from her own people, or how she was called; but she said to everyone that she was called Xene, and that this was her proper name, and by saying so she persuaded them. And the blessed Paul, too, when those who asked him said that he had brought them from the island of Cos, was not thought to be saying anything incredible or false. Whence also their monastery was said to be that of the Coans, the name naturally following the opinion of the many and the things that were rumored. When Cyril, who had been entrusted with the bishopric of the city at that time, departed from this life, it was decided by the common vote of the city that Paul should take up the throne of Cyril; which indeed immediately came to pass, and he received ordination.
VIII. Indeed, having been declared the presiding bishop of Mylasa, he persuaded Xene also to ascend to the priestly rank, and he ordained her a deaconess. After she was entrusted with the honor of the diaconate (which she deserved, though she accepted it unwillingly), it is impossible to say to what labors she subjected her body, especially one that had previously been accustomed to every luxury and comfort. Xene lived a life truly new and strange, and as it were immaterial and incorporeal, so that even the demons themselves shuddered from afar at the austerity of her conduct and did not dare to approach her at all. She, often relaxing the intensity and harshness of her asceticism, would not eat within the space of two or three days. But when she applied herself to her struggles, and held to strictness, as was her custom, she would remain fasting for up to seven days, fighting against the laws of nature for the sake of the law of the spirit. Furthermore, even when she finally and with difficulty descended to taking food, and looked to her body because of the bond [of the soul], she abstained entirely from wine and oil, and from herbs, I say, and legumes, and everything, so to speak, that requires fire for its use; moreover, she was likewise untasting of all things that the seasons bring. She satisfied her need with bread alone, and she did not admit even this simply and without labor, but moistened it with her own tears and sprinkled it with the ashes of the censer, so that not even eating, which is a moderate consolation for those who are commonly laborious, was without effort for her, or free from hardship.
IX. This was the manner of Xene’s nourishment throughout her whole life, so that she, with the divine David, ate ashes like bread and mingled her drink with weeping. Doing these things, and thus eating the bread of sorrow, that I may again speak the words of David...
who were to judge were in the region, and those who were contending the case in court, before they came to the trial, had given to one another—the one gold, and the other an oath, and the assurance to be of good courage and that he should have no concern about the matters at hand—they planned to evade the judges by a postponement of the time. For it seemed best to the accuser to put them off as to the time, and otherwise, since the season was also capable of causing significant distress (for it was the height of summer), he said he could not produce the witnesses within forty days. Having spoken thus, he himself, making nothing of the witnesses, stole away and entered Constantinople. B But the judges, having waited forty days and another thirty, since none of those who were expected were present, but the matter was a fraud, sent letters to the bishops everywhere in Asia and declared Eusebius excommunicated. They themselves then returned to the holy man, where they again met Eusebius and had grounds to complain about what had happened. He pleaded bodily infirmity and still promised the production of the witnesses. But in the meantime (alas!), Antoninus departed this life, and thus he escaped the present tribunal, as far as he was able; but he awaits the future and incorruptible one. What happened after this? Letters were sent to the holy man, and a common petition from Asia—this from all the bishops, and that from the presbyters—beseeching him, and by oaths, as having something more for persuasion, C confirming the request, and very urgently begging him to come to them, both on behalf of those mediating for the party of Arius, and on behalf of those chosen for their greed, who were thinking of a remedy for their churches suffering so very badly. The man of God, therefore, and true shepherd, reckoning neither bodily weakness, nor the length of the journey, nor the hardship of winter (for it was the season for this), nor anything else of that sort, having a soul valiant for Christ and competitive, and superior to the necessities of the body, but considering all things small and of no account for the care of the churches, boarding a ship, he came to Apamea in three days. In that place, Paul, and Quirinus, and Palladius, the bishops, were waiting for him (for he had resolved to take these with him on the pilgrimage), with whom he completed the journey on foot and arrived at Ephesus. All the bishops, therefore, of the Lydians and Phrygians, and also of the Carians, being no fewer than seventy, and D whoever was prominent among the population of Asia, flowed together with all joy, desiring to see that face in which the grace of virtue flourished so much, and longing to hear the sweet and good stream of his tongue flowing into their souls. In addition to these, Eusebius was also present—that accuser of Antoninus—asking to be loosed from the excommunication and to be received into communion. And as the opposing bishops were saying that one ought not to receive a slanderer, he himself insisted that he would readily produce both the witnesses and those who had received ordination for gold.
B It was resolved, then, by the synod that, even though he who had taken the silver had passed from life, the matter should nevertheless be brought to examination for the sake of those who had given it. When the records already compiled were produced, the bishops who were accused stood by, and the witnesses also stood by—those to whom the secret of the illicit ordination for money had been made known. At first, indeed, they denied the charges outright, refusing the allegations. But as the witnesses refuted them, reminding them of the places and times, and enumerating the very quantity of what had been given, and describing exactly the character of the pledges, the accused were abashed by the clear truth of what was said; then, unable to bear the pangs of conscience—that inescapable judge—they confessed, adding: "We supposed such to be the custom, and that we would thereby gain exemption from the council, to which we are subject. Now, however, if it be holy that we also be among the ministers of the Church, [let it be so]; but if not, then grant us justice by recovering the gold which we have paid out." For they even said that some of it was from their wives’ property. To this the great man said: "I, for my part, will take care to exempt you from the council, making this a petition to the emperor; but it will be your concern," he said, turning to the synod, "that what the heirs of Antoninus have received from them be restored to them." C It was decreed, therefore, immediately that they should recover the gold, but withdraw from the priesthood, yet remain within the sanctuary as participants of the holy mysteries alone, so that, if this were permitted, the final evil of a custom might not take hold—that the priesthood, which we say is a gift of God, should become something purchasable for money and be peddled in the manner of the Jews. Having judged these matters canonically over several days and submitted them in writing and recorded them, they replaced them in the churches with men adorned in word and life, who gratefully followed the judgment of the great man and accepted the penalty of their deposition. And he deposed not only these, who were six in number, but also as many others whom he found to have taken possession of churches through money, in accordance with the apostolic canon. He was gentle in investigating the ordinations, extending the examination for a long time, and, like some Lydian stone 25, testing them in this way, so that those approved might not only be pure, but in their manner of life also be disinterested in money, and altogether blameless. D Having such precision, he again secured those who were being ordained, and exhorted them according to the Apostle's word, to "lay hands suddenly on no one, neither be partaker of other men's sins." Now, Antoninus having departed this life (as we have already indicated), the great man ordained to his throne—this was Ephesus—Heracleides, a Cypriot by race, who had been his own deacon. Thereafter, having purged by his word the lives of many, and many of the Novatian churches as well, and as many of these as were of the Quartodecimans,
25 See 2 Macc. xi, 3.
He, however, looking not at what was said but at what was being concealed, and realizing that she wished to strip him of his possessions, decided to take refuge with the man of God. Having done this, he made him not only a sharer in his concerns but also an advocate for the matter. For the latter, without the slightest hesitation, wrote to her everything that concerned the proposed objective and everything that was intended to hinder her design. She, moved by what was written, decided to refrain from the present course and not to cause the man trouble. B Thus, the matter having proceeded for him in this way, the blessed one could say to her, "If the empress had carried into action that which she held in her mind, you yourself would have been stripped of your possessions, and you would have laid up no grace for yourself before God." And since he did not allow these contemplated actions to reach fulfillment, what followed? Was it not that we should show that we are not ungrateful for the grace, nor that our benevolence is towards an ungrateful soul? When the saint had spoken thus, he so captured him that he immediately consecrated to the hospice of the Church his entire wealth, except for what he and his children were to live on. C But when these things came to the knowledge of Eudoxia, they deeply wounded her soul and caused her much distress. Indeed, inferring from what occurred—that even the things written before, which seemed to be out of concern for Theodoric, originated not from a sense of humanity, but rather from avarice, and from a desire to draw the money to herself—she made her intent known to the saint. Having sent one of her officials, she reproached the acceptance of the money. "It was necessary," she said, "just as we did, for you also to spare the possessions that belonged to Theodoric." For the desire for money was turning her over and severely troubling her, as she imagined that these things had turned out for another's benefit, rather than for her own. D When the blessed one heard this, he wrote to her in such a way as it was fitting for one who cares for both truth and godliness to write. Now the contents of the letter were as follows: "I think, pious child, that it is within your knowledge that if I had truly wished to possess money myself, there was nothing to hinder me (for I made use of parents who had great power and possessed much); but I willingly departed from wealth for the sake of the needy, not considering it a matter worthy of my care. How, then, could I, who with great eagerness put aside those things which I advise everyone in common to despise, now be seen as desiring them, to my own shame? Therefore, Theodoric did not supply the money to me; indeed, even had he offered it, I would not have accepted it. He lent it to Christ by providing it to the poor, doing so quite rightly and to his own advantage; for he will receive it back from Him manifold. But if your objective is to take these things away from Christ, you will cause us no loss, nor will you cause us any sorrow in this regard, but rather you will cause it to Christ, to whom they belong, and you will bring the greatest ruin upon yourself." This was the first seed of Eudoxia's hostility against him. From there, her madness against him labored to bring itself to birth little by little, while she had many others who were assisting her in her purpose. For that concerning him there was no question of danger, and of the hornet's nest [that was being stirred up] against him...
essentially a "fig-wood" help, as they say, he sent home and paid the woman the gold: and thus he was freed from the obligation.
XXXIII. A little later Eudoxia (for she was seeking the liberty to do whatever she wanted, whether things were going well or badly, and finding that there was no one to contradict her), sent to the holy man, and approaching him partly with threats and partly with flatteries, persuaded him to cease wishing to resist her, saying: "It would be proper for you to be content with ecclesiastical matters, and not to meddle at all in civil affairs, but to yield these to the emperors—just as they, in turn, hold aloof from ecclesiastical matters. Cease also from your preaching against me in the churches. For I indeed have until now regarded you as a father and, as everyone knows, have accorded you fatherly honor. But unless you are better toward us from now on, know that I will not tolerate it." Having been affected by great sadness at these words (for he saw her heart laboring with injustice and greedily conceiving iniquity, as the divine David says), the great John said to those who had been sent: "She orders me to withdraw from civil affairs. But I am so far from concerning myself with worldly or civil matters, that I am as detached from them as those who died long ago are removed from things pertaining to sustenance. But being a bishop and entrusted with the care of souls, I cannot refrain from reproving those who act lawlessly. For what else is the commandment? 'Reprove,' it says, 'rebuke, exhort.' And the divine Paul orders again that the one who sins must be reproved before all, so that the others, he says, may have fear. Yet we have not reproved her before the church by name, nor openly; so the empress’s indignation against us is in vain. But if the message, which is directed in general against those who are subject to avarice and other passions, bites the conscience of some, let them not blame us, but rather themselves." When those who had been sent heard these things and other similar matters, they committed what had been said to writing; and having returned, they reported that they had accomplished nothing, saying that they were attempting to shoot at heaven, to shave a lion, to kick against the pricks, to strike at mists, and to preach to a tomb, and other things that are said of those who do not yield. For they had seen a man greater than fear, greater than flattery, despising death itself, fearing only one thing: sin, and the grieving of God through it. Having heard these words, Eudoxia, nonetheless, kept silent about her rage against him and turned it over within herself, as before. Meanwhile, the Church was faring well and, at all times, was being built up toward piety, and the state was being watered daily by his tongue and
and now to the heavenly fatherland, the city which is thine, Jerusalem. Master, remember also all these, who were joined to me by the Spirit as sisters, and preserve them above all the snares of the malignant demon. Of these two A of my fellow-servants, O Good One, remember especially, and as in this temporary life they partook with me of exile, of labors, and of the other evils which are borne in a foreign land, and remained inseparable from me until the end, so also grant that we may be inseparable there, and may be accounted worthy to enjoy the blessed life with thee.
XIII. Having prayed thus, she asked the sisters to leave her for a little while; and this having been done, and they having gone out, the Hospita arose from her bed and approached the oratory. Then, having locked herself in and having bent her knees to the earth, she prayed intently, B while her two maidservants watched her from the outside. When she had prolonged her prayer for a very long time, they suddenly see a bright light encompassing the house; and having sensed a fragrance so sweet that it cannot be described, which could not be likened to any of the perfumes upon the earth, they immediately open the doors, and having rushed in together (O divine Providence!), they see that the blessed Xene had blissfully fallen asleep, having set forth toward Christ, for whom she had longed, at the sixth hour of the day of the Sabbath. Having gone out, therefore, and summoned the sisters with weeping and shouting, they stood around her, and all together they lamented. But God, wishing to show from above what kind of light had been hidden in the sunset of this life, honored her with a great sign after her death. For when her soul had already departed from her in the midday, the air being clear and the sun shining most brightly, there appeared in the sky, as it were, a certain crown which was marked out by stars in a circle; and in the midst of the crown was seen a cross, which itself was also formed by brilliant stars. When the miracle had thus become manifest to all, Bishop Paul, who was still staying in the village of Leuce, and having received this sight beyond expectation with his own eyes, moved by the divine Spirit, said to those who were gathered: "Lady Xene has fallen asleep, and this sign of the crown and of the cross is for her."
XIV. After the ministry of the sacred mystery had been performed by him, he departed from there with great haste; and together with him went the rest of the C people. Then, when they had entered the city, they see that the bishop was not at all wrong in his prediction, but that at that very hour Xene had truly become a stranger to worldly things, at which time the sign had appeared, and this man, inspired by the divine Spirit, had spoken concerning her. All the men and women, therefore, ran together with the whole people, with great shouting and admiration, saying: "Glory to thee, Christ, glory to thee who didst not wish such a treasure to remain hidden upon the earth. Glory to thee, Creator of all, that thou hast rendered our small and, unto this day, obscure city so illustrious, and hast granted that it could be honored with such a treasure." And thus, indeed, all of them together,
from God, was most pleasantly producing life; for, in addition to other evils, she began to disregard those things that were habitual and familiar—namely, horse races and theaters, and gatherings and speeches, which had nothing useful or necessary in them. And the dedication she once placed in these things, she turned toward running to the houses of prayer and the temples of the Lord, so that they vied with one another as to who would arrive first at the temple of the Lord and spend more time there, and receive greater benefit. A These things, being so beautifully and piously done, greatly pained envy, and because of this, it stirred up a heavy and dangerous storm against the Church; and, alas, it poured out a terrible and heavy night upon her, having made the great luminary, the sun of souls, far removed and placed him in exile. But you seek to learn how [or rather, what kind of people] and whose help in this he had. He moved others also—I mean, of the bishops and of the clergy—whose disposition was ready to receive the evil seeds of the evil one; and there were some among the officials of the royal court. Nor were the women of this lawless gang absent; but a portion [of the trouble] arose from them too for the evil one, being woman fond of finery and passions, and having breathed against him because they had been struck by his tongue. B And the report knows those whom he had as more fervent strivers than the others: Theophilus of Alexandria, I mean, and Acacius of Beroea, and Antiochus of Ptolemais, and Severianus of Gabala. In addition to these, there were two of the presbyters and five of the deacons, completing this vile conspiracy. It were not worse to disclose the reasons wherefore the war began against the Church. "Who have formed a counsel, but not by me," C (this says Isaiah, speaking in the person of the Lord) "and have made pacts, and not by my spirit"; and some also who were from the emperor's own court. Not even the women refrained themselves from this wicked gathering, but they too were a genuine part in the evil. There were certain women who delighted in the world and were prone to vices. These, because they had been wounded by his tongue, conceive and pour out vehement spirits against him. But those who were his sharper adversaries than the others were these: Theophilus of Alexandria, Acacius of Beroea, Severianus of Gabala, and Antiochus of Ptolemais. Besides these, two presbyters and five deacons broke forth together. Someone might call them a certain wicked gang of Cercops, or men of blood and fraud, so that rather something from sacred Scripture D might be said. But perhaps it would be better to show whence the war in the Church began.
XXXIV. There was a certain presbyter at Alexandria named Peter, who held the primacy among the presbytery of the church under him. Theophilus, having for some reason or other come into hatred of him (since he was, of all who have ever lived, the most ingenious at machinating and compiling slander), was eager to bring a reproach upon him, as if he had admitted to communion a woman of the Manichaean heresy, the abomination of which she had not yet cast off. As he insisted that she had also changed her opinion and had been admitted in accordance with the judgment of the very one who is now his accuser, and as he brought forward as a witness of these things Isidore of Pelusium—a man who, in life and speech, was one of those reckoned worthy of much account—by him he was led.
A the multitudes of women—moved at once by the warmth of nature and by the fact that, seeing one of their own sex so admirable, they could not contain themselves—approached the pontiff with great impetuosity: "Do not," they said, "conceal from us the glory of our city; do not bury this pearl; let us escort her together; let us carry the lamp in public. Let all see that women are not to be despised, as they are not infamous. Let them see whose king’s handmaids we are. Let the Gentiles see, let the Jews see, and let them cover their faces in shame; let them know who it is that was crucified by them, and let them lament." And thus, indeed, the women.
XV. B The bishop, having approached the bier and bowed his neck, worshipped the body with as much reverence and piety as can be expressed. Furthermore, the remaining choir of priests and the entire clergy offered the same honor to the one lying there. And so, carrying the bier with many lamps accompanying them and with sweet-smelling spices, they led it through the midst of the city. That crown of stars, and with it, of course, the cross itself, also followed while the bier was being carried; and when it stopped, it too was seen clearly to stand still, as if indicating the bier and manifesting that it was because of her that he [the cross] was there, and that it was under his guidance that it moved and stood. The report of the miracle quickly reached even those outside, and all ran together in haste to see it, so that the city was almost too narrow for the multitudes. C Having thus kept watch for that entire night (which was also the Lord's Day), they beheld many healings taking place at the same time. For anyone who was held by a chronic disease or an incurable affliction needed no many labors, nor money, nor time and delay, but it was enough merely to approach the bier and touch it; and the touch was an immediate deliverance from whatever pressed upon them.
XVI. When day had already dawned and it was the third hour, they arrived at the place which is called Sycinium, situated on the southern side of the city, where Xené D had requested that she should find burial. They buried her, according to the law of death being hidden in the ground, but according to the reason of virtue being preached everywhere. The circle and the cross were seen again doing the like things, namely entering with the bier and, when it stood, coming to a halt. But as soon as it was hidden in the earth, it too disappeared and was seen by no one anymore. Having therefore laid her there, and having, as was proper, anointed the linens that had been placed upon the relics, the bishop, that is to say, and those who were present, made the matter something to be contested for among themselves; and as if they had divided some inheritance among themselves, they believed that through them they would have deliverance from diseases and afflictions and everything else that caused suffering, and they were not disappointed in their hopes. Moreover, the place itself was full of healings, the place which was granted to bury her sacred body, a treasure that cannot be emptied or consumed. Not much time
passed, and her faithful handmaidens, or rather, the servants of God, truly pleasing to Him, departed this life and were buried at the feet of their mistress, wishing to manifest this fact more from the truth than from that which was dispensed by the laws of humility, so that through their closeness, both love and benevolence might be discerned at once, and again, through the order B of their standing, their servitude and subjection might be disclosed.
XVII. Of these, since she who died first had revealed nothing regarding their flight, and since the second was also about to die soon thereafter, the sisters, having bound her with the most fearful oaths, prevailed upon her to conceal nothing of what had happened; and she immediately related everything truthfully: whence the saint had set out, and under what distinguished fathers she had lived, and what was the reason for her wandering and her flight, namely, the irresistible love of God, for the sake of which they had endured excessive labors and immoderate affliction; and what her proper name was, namely, Eusebia, for so she was named at her divine baptism. But as for her being called Xene (the Stranger), she herself had chosen that epithet—or rather, one should say, it was a name befitting her—because she had become a stranger to the things of the world, and also in order that she might be better hidden, having loved to remain unknown.
XVIII. A few days later, the most blessed Paul also departed gloriously; he who was in truth a good shepherd, and who confirmed his own life after death through miracles, and the city of Mylassa is enriched by him, along with the others. The sacred temple of the apostle Andrew receives his body as a holy thing. And now they are the ornament of Mylassa, impregnable towers, inexhaustible treasures, and dispensers of all good things, to the glory of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
A a soul completely filled with all goodness). Writing to Sylvanus, however, he said, "It was not right, in my opinion, that the fugitives were received without my consent. Yet ignorance is pardonable. But henceforth, neither ecclesiastics nor laymen must have any fellowship with them at all." Thus, being driven to every extremity of helplessness, the monks, of absolute necessity, moved constantly from place to place, until they came to Constantinople. When they approached this good shepherd—for to whom else could they have gone?—the one who was sweet in speech and whose soul was gladdened by great mercy, they begged him to help them, for they had fallen into the hands of a wicked man and had suffered many terrible things at his hands—"And what else, we ask, but even [the loss of] life itself, at the hands of one who now begrudges us even that?" The blessed man, attending to these pleas, and seeing fifty men who were numbered together, composed in their bearing, chastened in their gaze, and unlearned in their manner of approach, while showing forth by the great wasting away of their limbs the virtue that lay hidden within, took pity on their plight. He afforded them such comfort as he could for the present, his tears, and made clear that he was suffering along with their afflictions. Then, having learned how their situation stood, he held them in honor and permitted them to remain meanwhile in the church called the Anastasia; but he gave orders that no one was to make public the cause of their presence, and he did not share communion with them, saying that it was not fitting until he had written to Theophilus about them.
C XL. When it happened that some of Theophilus’s household were then in Constantinople, he summoned them and asked if they knew these monks who had now approached him. They answered that they did know them, and that they were aware that they had suffered very grave things at the hands of Theophilus. That great man therefore wrote to him, and requested that he cease to be angry with these men, and that he receive them and admit them to his presence, as they had nothing that could cause him distress. He indeed feigned that he had listened; but his heart by no means agreed with his lips. For he summoned those peddlers to whom he had unworthily entrusted the episcopacy and priesthood, and, committing to them libels which he himself had fabricated against these men, he sent them to the emperor, falsely accusing them of heresy and sorcery—he, who possessed a conscience utterly perverted and mendacious. When it became evident to these good men that the hatred Theophilus had conceived against them could by no means be cured, they took the present necessity into counsel, and handed over to the great John writings in which were contained many of the dishonorable deeds of Theophilus. He, for his part, admonished them again not to accuse him of anything, but he wrote to the man himself, counseling him to forgive them as soon as possible, as they were now being overcome and were spurred on to speak against him by the writings they had proposed. "Whatever, therefore, seems right to you," he said, "let it be made known as soon as possible. For they cannot be persuaded to abandon their purpose." Such, then, was the content of the letters. But he was immediately seized by a madness, not against those men, but rather against him who was the provider for both.
D. S. ANANIA APOSTOLO DAMASCI ET MARTYRE
A 1. We find the martyrdom of the holy apostle Ananias in no Latin manuscripts, whether handwritten or printed; it exists among the lucubrations of Metaphrastes, translated into Latin by Gentianus Hervetus and edited by Lipomanus in Volume VI, *De Vitis sanctorum*, for October 1st, the day on which Surius also placed it in his work. Having obtained an ancient Greek manuscript copy, we have translated it into Latin from that, while comparing it with the translation of Hervetus.
2. A more varied and somewhat more extensive tradition of his martyrdom is presented in their Menologia, Menaea, Anthologion, and other ritual *Fasti*. A compendium of authors is cited thus in the Menologium of Henricus Canisius: "Commemoration of the holy apostle Ananias, one of the Seventy. He is said to be a disciple of the apostles, made by them bishop of Damascus, who, admonished by divine revelation, baptized the blessed apostle Paul. Having therefore healed many in the city of Damascus and at Eleutheropolis, and having converted them to the faith of Christ, he assisted before the governor Licinius, and having confessed Christ to be the true God, he was beaten with dry sinews, torn, and having been led outside the city, he was stoned by order of the governor, and was gifted with the crown of martyrdom." The Menaea speak somewhat more fully: "The holy apostle Ananias was a native of Damascus, the holy apostle who, by divine command, cleansed Paul with baptism; he was bishop of the same city. Therefore, having performed many miracles of healing in Damascus and having brought many to Christ at Eleutheropolis, he was beaten with ox-hide scourges by Lucian the governor; his sides were lacerated, and he was burned with torches; finally, cast out of the city, he was overwhelmed with stones; thus he finished his martyrdom and departed for the eternal tabernacles." Maximus Cytheræus and the Anthologion approved by Clement VIII have the same.
3. The Latins, on the same day on which they celebrate the conversion of St. Paul, also honor St. Ananias. The old Roman Martyrology edited by Rosweyde says: "8th of the Kalends of February. Conversion of St. Paul. At Damascus, St. Ananias, who baptized Paul himself." Bede, Usuard, Ado, Notker, and other martyrologies, both handwritten and printed, have almost the same. From all of these, both Greek and Latin, this eulogy was fashioned in the modern Roman Martyrology: "January 25th, at Damascus, the birthday of St. Ananias, who baptized the same apostle (who had dealt with the conversion of Paul). Having preached the Gospel there at Damascus, at Eleutheropolis, and elsewhere, under the judge Licinius, he was beaten with sinews and torn, and finally, being overwhelmed with stones, he completed his martyrdom."
MARTYRIUM SANCTI ET GLORIOSI APOSTOLI ANANIÆ
(It appears here in Greek for the first time from the Royal Parisian manuscript codex no. 1546, of the 13th century, which we have supplemented from another where the bookbinder's knife had erased the text. ED. PARIS.)A I. When the impious Lucian had come to the parts of the Orient in Betagauren, of Eleutheropolis, to those who...
few such), since the base man is one who, in his unbridled desire for fault-finding, would contend against everyone. He wrote immediately in this manner: “I believe you are not unaware of what was decreed by the Fathers at Nicaea, who declared that it is not fitting for a bishop to judge outside the bounds of his own diocese. But if you are ignorant of this,” he says, “learn it, and refrain from matters that concern me. For if trial is necessary, this shall be among the Egyptians, not before you, who are so far removed from us by such a great distance.” B Since the letter was written in such a harsh manner, those men, despairing of being able to obtain help from the great John in a matter so uncertain and difficult to resolve, were overcome; and, by necessity—than which, as they say, nothing is stronger—they were persuaded to draw up long petitions, not filled with falsehoods, as he had, but with true accounts against Theophilus and his calumniators, and to deliver them to the Emperor. A decision therefore went forth from him: that the matters regarding the calumniators should be entrusted to the prefects, and the investigation carried out by them; but that Theophilus—for it was fitting that the judgment of such a one, who was greater in his depravity, should be entrusted to a higher authority—should be brought even against his will, to give an account before this great man as judge.
Imperial letters were therefore sent: some immediately to the prefect of Alexandria, commanding that he send Theophilus to the royal city as quickly as possible; and some to the Bishop of Rome, who was Innocent, and furthermore to Honorius, the brother of the Emperor, exhorting them to send bishops and legates—whom they are wont to call [*topotērh-tai*], that is, representatives—so that an inquiry might be held concerning Theophilus and the monks of Nitria. When the calumniators were interrogated by the prefects, since it was impossible for a lie to prevail over the truth, they confessed that everything was the work of Theophilus, and that those were the fabrications and machinations of that Egyptian beast against the innocent. Accordingly, they were condemned to be held in prison until his own arrival. C When Theophilus saw the one who had been sent to him, who had also been commanded to bring him even against his will—because his conscience did not promise him good hope of a favorable judgment, nor could he have the assistance of truth, which he had fiercely provoked to war against himself, having attached himself so greatly to falsehood—he looked toward his treasures and his purses, which he knew to be capable of soothing and enchanting the minds of many, and by which he understood that truth is largely betrayed, and that those who value profit more than liberty are not only persuaded but even made slaves. Thus, by soothing the right hand of the prefect himself with great gifts, he was permitted to remain quite securely. For it seems to be true what is commonly said, that "no evil thing easily perishes." Furthermore, ensuring that those in power would be well-disposed toward him, he took care to procure heaped piles of Arabian spices and other things that were rare and foreign, preparing himself to set out on the journey. But the bishops of Rome, to whom it had been written that they should come, once they were ready, waited for a letter to be sent urging their departure, so that they might not arrive at an inappropriate time and spend a long period in a strange land; and since it was not sent, they remained waiting. And while these things were happening, a false rumor tickled the ears of Theophilus—which were easy and most ready to believe—that John had received those who were with Dioscorus into communion, and this kindled in him a brilliant rage. For a corrupt ear easily believes a corrupt report, as one who, by his own character, also easily judges the lives of others. D Therefore, Theophilus turned his attention toward the city of Constantine, desiring rather to resolve his own affairs than to bring reproach upon others; but his intention was to take vengeance upon those who were with Dioscorus, and to bring John down from his throne.
A had not received the madness of idols any less than they had the scepters of the empire, a most severe investigation of the Christians was made. This Lucian, therefore, sitting upon a tyrannical tribunal, and even before the deeds themselves breathing forth the fury of his spirit in words, fabricating, so to speak, evils against the Christians; and letters and edicts were sent in great number throughout the entire province, so that those who were unwilling to sacrifice to demons, and who confessed our Lord Jesus Christ to be the true God and followed his sacred rites, should not only be subjected to the most bitter punishments, and through fire, and beasts, and the sea, and all other types of tortures undergo death, but that their sacred bodies should also be deprived of burial in ancestral tombs, and be dragged forth to be fodder for dogs and wild beasts.
II. Ananias, therefore, the interpreter of heavenly mysteries B and the apostle of God, himself one of the seventy disciples of Christ (3), by a certain divine power and invisible radiance came to Damascus (4) from Antioch — where our race first began to be celebrated by the name of Christians — so that it might not be devoid of the seeds of truth, nor unfruitful in the fruits of piety.
III. Meanwhile, however, Paul, bringing forth more and more a madness against the choir of the apostles, casting intolerable threats against them, and incited by an incredible hatred toward them, asked the high priest to send letters to the synagogues that were there, so that those who had refused to abandon the religion of the Christians might be brought bound under guard to Jerusalem even against their will. But Providence, which wisely arranges all things C and is accustomed to prepare occasions even from afar when it foresees that something will turn out in such a way that some good may result from it, intervened in this matter. Paul was therefore going to Damascus: and when he was already approaching the city, he saw a heavenly light shed round about his eyes, and prostrate upon the ground he heard himself addressed with these words: "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" And, "Arising," it said, "enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do." And when he had arisen, D his eyes were opened, but he could see no man. But then, as he stood, he had no sight. But...
A recovered from her former evils, when she was again oppressed by the weight of another calamity, such that, as they say, one [trouble] poured out, while another flowed in. And the situation was thus: it was the time of the vintage. Eudoxia herself also went out from the city and was walking in a certain field of the emperor; it happened that the vineyard of the widow was situated somewhere nearby, and the empress, having taken a cluster of grapes from thence, fell to using it. And when someone said that the vineyard belonged to another, "But," said she, "it has already been added to the imperial holdings." B For such an openly most wicked custom had prevailed—doubtless having been sketched out by greed and by petty flattery—that wherever the emperor might step, and taste of the fruit, that [land] was to be added to the imperial holdings, while the owner of the field either exchanged it for another or received the value of the price. Eudoxia, attending to this custom also, and judging it as a most particular aspect of ruling to commit injustice, and being unable in any other way to demonstrate what she could do, took away the field from the widow—both desiring to grieve her (for she had learned that she had attached herself to that blessed man) and seeking a pretext to bring him down from his throne. For she knew that it would not be tolerable to him if it came to his knowledge, but that he would choose by every means to assist. What then follows upon these things, and what, therefore, is the outcome that attends the affair? He, being inflamed in his bowels by the piteous wailing of the wretched C widow, writes to the empress, entreating her for the sake of mercy, calling to memory the piety of the fathers and the fear of God, and casting into her soul the thought of the terrible tribunal. But you shall never make the crooked piece of wood straight, nor shall you render the rough hedgehog smooth, nor could you cause the crab to walk straight. For an evil custom, once it has laid hold of a soul that is easy and more warmed toward wickedness, is impressed upon it and, as it were, branded in, and it becomes obedient to no reason, but is almost indelible, so as to be able to act with a nature that is immutable. Therefore, this hard-hearted and heavy-hearted woman (for what else is an evil woman?), not only was she not moved to shame by the letter, and by the dignity of him who sent it, but she appeared even much more bitter, holding [such a disposition] in her soul (for this became clear from the reply—calling the great man insolent, and having an unbridled tongue, and not bestowing upon him the honor that is fitting, and having ignorance of the established laws, one of which she claimed was this most marvelous and most just one, which in a monstrous way makes the field that only the emperor has entered forthwith his own, even if it were foreign and entirely alien). The man of God, having encountered these things, was not blunted in his zeal, D thus having failed in his first attempt, nor did he think to act on his own behalf, nor did he make any excuses, setting time and delay in the middle (which we suffer in such matters, either yielding to sloth or shrinking before the circumstances), but having neglected everything that was able to restrain his impulse, wanting as it were with his whole foot to assist, and with nothing remaining, small or great, of those things drawing [one] to mercy, he himself approaches the empress, and having said much and moved every stone, since he saw that she was in no way yielding, but was putting forward the evil custom as something invincible, he entreated
A led by the hand, he enters Damascus. B And to Ananias the Lord said: “Go to the street which is called Straight, and having laid thy hands upon Saul of Tarsus, remove the darkness from his eyes. For this man will be to me a chosen vessel, and he will bear my name before the nations and kings and the children of Israel.” This divine Ananias therefore came, according to what was said to him by the Lord, and restored the power of sight to Saul; for there is no need here to recount these things in detail, since they are available for anyone who wishes to learn them from the Acts. And he himself is converted to piety, and his calling is changed along with his manner of life; he ascends to the third heaven, and makes a circuit of the world with the preaching of the Gospel, having developed such a love for Christ as he was previously thought to have had rage against Christians, manifesting by both these facts the robustness of his nature and the greatness of his soul.
IV. So then, when Ananias had led Paul toward the true life, and had enlightened him with a twofold light—having prepared him to behold both the light that is perceived by the eyes and that which is perceived by the mind—he was going about Bethagaura preaching the Gospel, and like a rational net, namely divine doctrine, he was drawing all those he encountered toward the knowledge of God.
V. While he was in these regions, he is apprehended by those whose task it was to hunt down Christians, and is brought to the son of darkness, the governor Lucian. He C immediately takes his seat at a public spectacle in the theater, and he conceives a great wonder at the man, seeing both the beauty that appeared upon his countenance, and the composition of his character, which was well-tempered, and his tongue, which welled over with many graces. Seeing these things, he takes refuge in a mask of kindness and feigns gentleness, hiding much savagery within; and having changed his speech to a joyful tone, he says: “Be persuaded by me, Ananias, now that I am counseling you for your own good, and consent to our gods. Deny him whom you preach, the crucified one, and do not prepare for this time of yours such a pitiable wasting away through tortures.” But he replied: “I worship the one true God, and I cling to Him, and I look to Him alone, and nothing could be sweeter to me than He, of whom I am a servant, and was D known to be the agent both for the knowledge of Paul and for the restoration of the sight of his eyes—who was previously called Saul, but by the Lord has now been renamed Paul, as he has brought an end to the surge of ignorance, and has drawn near through knowledge to the firm and only harbor, the faith of my Christ.”
VI. And the governor said: “You seem to me to be trusting in the magnitude and strength of your body, and on account of this to be lifting your brow against the punishments themselves. Whence it is that your wisdom has turned into folly for you, and your abundant prudence, as I see, signifies boastfulness.”
Upon hearing this, the teacher of truth, immediately lifting his eyes and hands to heaven, said, “Lord Jesus Christ, God of powers, never let the enemy entangle me in his nets. But may it be granted to me also to suffer for your sake, and to be adorned with your crowns, and to be joined to the choir of your disciples, that for me, as for Paul, salvation may come about.” A While he was praying in this way, the scourges immediately followed upon his naked back, and the heralds cried out, “Obey the governor, and offer sacrifice to the powerful gods.” But Ananias, while moving his lips, was sending up his prayer to God without a voice.
B VII. Thus he became superior to the torments and threats, and the executioners grew weary of inflicting the blows before he, the sufferer, grew weary of enduring them. So the disciple and martyr was released from the torments; but "the fox" (I mean the governor) turned again to flatteries. “But now at least,” he said to the disciple, “be yourself, and spare your own soul, and pity your own beauty, which is otherwise perishing. For greater punishments await you, I swear by the gods themselves.” But he, having his heart inflamed with much love for Christ, answered boldly and sharply, saying that not only would he never sacrifice to the demons, but he would also take care to convert to the faith of Christ whomever he could. Then he directed the nerves of his tongue against the governor himself, and attacked him with sharper words: “Do you not blush,” he said, “O truly miserable man, and enter the pit of shame, at one moment raging with whips, at another creeping along with flatteries, and like some tender boy or infant, coaxing us with soft words?”
C VIII. Provoked by these, the judge orders the martyr’s body to be stripped and mangled with iron claws, then to be seared with torches, so that as the body slowly dissolved, more lasting pains might flow into his heart. But the martyr treated the iron claws with contempt, as if someone else were suffering them; the fire also ceased for him, and was not believed to be fire, but it pervaded the heart of the tyrant in a certain way and incited him more to madness. And he said, “How long will you not obey the commands of the emperors, and honor the gods whom they themselves worship?” But he said, “Why do you force me to speak the same things about the same subjects again and again, like one who turns the path of speech back upon itself in a dance? D Know therefore, know and be convinced, that not only will I not be overcome by anyone at all—neither by punishments, nor by gifts, nor by flatteries, nor by threats, nor by any other thing—but I even bitterly lament for those who have already been overcome or have fallen into error of their own accord, and I weep for you more than the others, not only because you are the cause of destruction for yourself, but because you also [lead] many others, some...
A the reputation of the great man, and their desire for his presence passed into grief; thus he was surrendered as prey to wicked men. Such, indeed, is simplicity—if one should not call it levity and weakness. It is easy to build up, but it is easiest of all to tear down what has been built; and, to put it briefly, it is altogether most unreliable and easily led, a field for the wind, as they say, and a thing desired by the most villainous, when wickedness seizes power.
Eudoxia, therefore, restrained those of the bishops who had previously spoken against Theophilus from saying anything further, some by the promise of benefits, others by the threat of unwanted consequences. Theophilus, having been delivered from his accusers, desired to show to her who had previously favored him with an unjust kindness a return—or rather, a far greater—favor. Having persuaded others with gifts, others with threats, and still others by those various methods which malice knows how to devise once it has obtained power, he brought them over entirely to his own will and caused them to hang upon his every judgment. He mixed and confounded all things with such B depravity that those in power permitted him to assemble a great synod against John. Having found two deacons, one of whom was guilty of adultery and the other of murder, and who for this reason had been deposed by the great John, this "noble" man, with great authority (the holy laws notwithstanding), absolved them, and caused them to present memorials—memorials of which he himself was again the author—against the saint. These memorials were indeed full of slanders, but contained not a trace of truth; except for this one point, which they touched upon moderately—though it was not interpreted by them in the same sense—that he recommended that after the reception of the holy things, some water, or wine, or a small morsel be tasted. And what of this? It was the instruction of one who mandated caution and who rigorously guarded the things of our holy faith, so that it might not happen that any of the sanctified things should be cast out with those things which are expectorated by the communicants.
C
XLV.
When he who had provided these frivolous memorials had received them, he immediately took Acacius and Severianus, and besides them Antiochus—invincible champions of vice, one might call them—and having associated with himself more of the bishops, he went outside the city (there was a field of Rufinus, named the Oak, situated below Chalcedon), and there they met together and wove their abominable plots for the deposition of the saint. He himself, meanwhile, remaining with forty bishops, was greatly amazed at how Theophilus, being liable to such charges and having been commanded to appear and render an account, had so suddenly been able to take hold of the minds of those who were in power, so that he not only did not have to plead his own cause, but had almost become the judge of others, despite their cause never having been heard. He then exhorted them not to be faint-hearted, nor to consider the present situation as anything great, D reflecting that through many tribulations one must enter the kingdom of heaven. Furthermore, he asked that no one, for his sake, abandon his own churchA forced to choose impiety against their will. Does it not seem absurd that a craftsman should himself adore his own work, or that any man of sound mind should show reverence to the work of his own hands, or ask for good things from it? B
IX. His servant of perdition, becoming all the more embittered, since he could not prevail in arguments against the athlete, ordered him to be pelted with stones by those standing nearby outside the city. He who was about to suffer these things, in place of stones, loosed his tongue against those who were not gods, saying: "Let the gods who did not create the heaven and the earth perish." And when he had arrived at the appointed place, and was being buried under the stones, he raised his hands to heaven, saying: "O King of kings, and Lord of lords, accept as an acceptable sacrifice to me this my completion by means of stones." Immediately upon this prayer, the crown from God and the calling to the everlasting kingdom, as was to be expected, followed, with the first day of the month of October then being celebrated. C
X. But the martyric body, and truly blessed one, certain lovers of the martyrs, after the executioners had returned home, took up magnificently, and wrapped it most splendidly, and laid it to rest in his paternal inheritance in the region of the Damascenes, to the glory of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, of the one and undivided Trinity; to whom is due honor, power, and magnificence, now and unto the ages of ages. Amen. D
A And he received petitions, and drew up memoranda, all of which were contrary to the sequence of the canons. But our noble tongue gives an account of these things and those that follow, and because of this there is no need for us to speak, since it is possible to hear from it. When the defense was announced to those around Theophilus, they, not being able to endure the truth of what was said, then vented their anger against those who had been sent, and taking hold of them, beat them and tore their tunics; and besides this, they even put iron [shackles] around the neck of one, which they had happened to prepare at that time for the patriarch. Nor did they stop there, but the evil one, having disposed their hearts in this way, also cast him out as a fugitive into a place of obscurity, wearing these very irons. As for him [Chrysostom], therefore, as has been said before, while he renounced them as being clear enemies and called for a canonical synod, those who were quick to shed blood, and who condemned him—even though he was not present and was not making any defense at all—spoke against his angelic life, B resembling those who play rather than those who are in earnest, and hastening to complete in one day the malice they had long rehearsed. For falsehood is a cowardly thing and terribly prone to panic; indeed, it knows how to hasten the act, fleeing [from] the examination. Then, having considered also taking the emperor as an advocate for their vote, so as to render their scheme stronger, they sent him a letter expressed as follows: "Since John, having been accused and knowing himself to be guilty of many other grievous charges, and also that he is subject to the reason of *laesa majestas* (they called the disagreement with the empress *laesa majestas* outright), did not wish to appear before the synod, for this reason he has already been deposed according to the canon; and there remains nothing else but for your majesty to grant that he be driven against his will into exile." These things [are the works] of the good priests—who should have been slow to anger and swift to kindness, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and whose tongue, to use the divine saying, is a sharp sword. Then, when Arcadius had granted it (for he believed them as if they were priests, ignoring that those who are hidden and in their minds are not priests, but rather resemble sacrilegious men), C what happens? The entire common people is moved, and is suddenly ignited into a great sedition; and this shouts down both the emperor, and even more, exposes the malice of Theophilus. For many, even of those who had previously been hostile, changed their minds, saying that they had been deceived in vain regarding the saint, and were ashamed before the manifest and evident truth, having a truthful witness in their own conscience. Finally, when wickedness had become stronger—or rather, when the saint himself had willed it so, lest any danger be dared—just as is customary in such commotions, toward deep evening he was cast out, just as it is possible to hear again in the same letter of the golden tongue to Innocent, which says: "For why need I say much? They did not desist from doing and contriving everything, until they [drove] us out with violence and D[the power of the whole city and the Church; and toward deep ev]
CONCERNING THE HOLY COUPLE XENOPHON AND MARY AND THEIR HOLY CHILDREN ARCADIO AND JOANNES.
(Fifth Century. — Acta Sanctorum Bolland. for the 26th of January.)A Xenophon, and Mary his spouse, and their children Arcadius and Johannes, having renounced their senatorial dignity and most ample possessions, and having professed the monastic life at Jerusalem with equal fervor of spirit, are venerated by the Greeks on this day with an ecclesiastical office. For thus the Anthology, approved by Clement VIII, states: "In the same month, on the 26th day, of our holy Father Xenophon and his companions. This holy Xenophon was at Constantinople, abounding in an abundance of external wealth, but much more renowned for his internal religion toward God, who, when he had understood that his two sons, Arcadius and Johannes, who had been sent to the city of Berytus situated in Phoenicia, to obtain the discipline and knowledge of law and legal matters, had suffered shipwreck, departed from his home together with his wife to search for them, and at length found them at Jerusalem, clothed in the monastic habit: where he himself and his spouse also embraced the solitary life, and both advanced in the path of virtue to such an extent that their children also did so, that they even performed miracles. But they all persevered in the service of God, and at length departed to Him."
II. B Maximus Cythereus and the Menaea have the same, but the latter celebrate them with many additional antiphons. They are also mentioned in the Greek Menologium. From the Latins, Galesinius writes this for this day: "In Greece, of St. Xenophon the confessor. Having excellent piety toward God, and incredible kindness toward the poor, he set out for Jerusalem and embraced the foundations of monastic life: and in that way of living he so cultivated himself, that by the grace of God and through many things marvelously done at home, he most holily departed this life to the Lord." In the notes, he writes that he received these things from Greek monuments: but it is strange that he makes no mention of Mary and his children. Canisius recounts the same from Galesinius in a later edition. Molanus, in his additions to Usuard, says: "The 26th, of the holy Father Xenophon, and his company."
III. C Furthermore, the same Anthology of January has this: "In the same month, on the eighth day, of St. Xenophon and his companions, and of St. Marcianus the priest, etc." On which day Philippus Ferrarius, in his general Catalogue of saints, says: "At Constantinople, of St. Xenophon the confessor." The Menaea on March 6th record Arcadius, whether he is the son of Xenophon or another, is unknown to us; they only have this: "On the same day, of our holy Father Arcadius. "Girded in virtues are those loins which fall under understanding, "Adorned with an excellent belt, Arcadius, you run to heaven."
IV. D The Life of St. Xenophon and his companions, written by Simeon Metaphrastes, or by some other more ancient author, had been received by Rosweydus from a Greek codex of the library of the Most Christian King. Our Ortho Zylius translated it into Latin, having never before been published.
M. In what age St. Xenophon lived is clear from Nicephorus Callistus. He, in book xiv, chapter 52, when he had dealt with the great Euthymius, of whom we speak on January 29th, and of Xena, or Eusebia, of whom we speak on January 24th, and of Eudocia Augusta, and others who were illustrious in the opinion of holiness in the fifth century, adds this: "Furthermore, that most celebrated Xenophon flourished in the same times, who had previously been of the senatorial rank, no less conspicuous for the internal gifts of the mind than for external wealth. He sent his sons Arcadius and Johannes to Berytus, which is a city of Phoenicia, for the sake of learning discipline and laws. But when they had suffered shipwreck at sea, he departed with his spouse to search for them. Furthermore, when he found them all to have embraced the monastic institute at Jerusalem, he too, and his spouse with him, assumed the habit of a more tranquil life. And they all attained to such virtue that they obtained the grace from God of performing miracles. And when they had led a life acceptable to God, they at length departed to Him."
LIFE AND CONDUCT OF THE HOLY XENOPHON AND HIS HOLY CHILDREN JOHN AND ARCADIUS
CHAPTER I. Xenophon's native city, wife, and children.
I A. The admirable Xenophon was born in that city which surpasses all others in beauty, magnitude, situation, and other respects, whose founder was the first king among Christians, Constantine the Great, the most pious confessor and champion of the true faith. Whatever that city is among cities, such was Xenophon among men: first in the prime of his life, and peerless in virtue; he was of the senatorial order, and second to none in the distinction of his glory; he was also very wealthy, and, like the divine Job, flourished in these things that are deemed good, so that he could aptly say with him: "My ways flowed with butter, and the mountains flowed with milk."
II B. But insofar as he was brilliant in wealth, to that extent was he humble in spirit, and abounded in a greater wealth of virtue. For Xenophon was shown to be like Job, not only in worldly splendor, but far more in the likeness of his virtue; I will add, moreover, in his temptations, and in the consolation and resolution of those temptations—which is a sign of the great goodness of God and of those eyes of His that look with favor upon those who suffer for the sake of virtue. This divine man, therefore, did not reckon himself blessed because of his wealth or prominence, nor did the wise man make vanity his personal boast; rather,
A and many others in various places performing the office of military commanders, not blushing to have field-officers in place of deacons going before them. But when day had come, the whole city migrated outside the walls, under trees and into glens, just like sheep scattered about, celebrating the feast. Thus acted the golden tongue. Such were the fruits that the good shepherds, who had been entrusted with the care of souls, brought forth to the One who had risen, even during the feast of Easter. From this, edicts were posted everywhere, prohibiting communion with John; these had such force that they brought about the opposite, for the command having been received as if it were a conflicting one, it strengthened those who were being attacked, just as the way of God is wont to be ordered in such times. And indeed, the churches and the number of those being added to him increased daily.
Among these things, then, Pentecost having already arrived, since what was happening was not at all bearable to the devil, those whom he inspired, and who had sincere ministers, approached [the emperor]. To you, O emperor, they said, power over human affairs has been given by God, but the things of the churches have been entrusted to us. Therefore, wishing to be neither more priestly than the priests, nor more precise than the canons, yield such things to us. We said to you even before, O emperor, may the deposition of John be upon our head. Do not, therefore, sparing the one, wish to grieve all. Then, with boldness, the emperor sent a message to the patriarch: B Your accusers know, O patriarch, how your judgment stands, and the vote of deposition which they passed, they draw down upon their own heads. Therefore, entrusting to God the things concerning yourself, depart from the Church.
What is this, O most fickle of men, and most ignoble of kings? How is it that, having brought about such eagerness, calling him from Antioch, and trusting to him the Church of Christ, and having had such experience of his virtue, you have not simply cast him out of the Church, but have even condemned him to exile, having harmed the shepherd of Christ, of whom, to use the words of the great Paul, the whole world is not worthy? But you were surely deceived by Eve, the most deceitful of women, whose mind and tongue are serpentine and wicked, just as the serpent did through her, so she, through the not-good shepherds, spoke into your ears.
The great one, upon hearing these things, receiving no sadness or dejection in his heart, nor manifesting it in his countenance, said to the bishops who were with him, Come, let us now bid farewell to the angel C of the Church. Then, after the appropriate prayer, he testified much concerning the orthodox faith, and exhorted them to hold to it unchangeably, then he also forbade to them all heresies. While he was thus conversing, someone arrived announcing that the God-hated Lucius, with the army under him, was approaching, so prepared that, if he should delay his departure, he would use force and cast him out of the Church with insult. The multitude is also shaken, being unable to endure your… D [the text breaks off].
A he deemed himself worthy of blessing in the understanding and knowledge of the Lord, in fearing Him and in keeping His commandments. And for this reason he possessed even greater glory and wealth, as the divine David says, in his own house. For the latter desires that the riches of the good God—which are many, and powerful, and generative—be frequently returned to those who fear the Lord by His right hand.
III. Furthermore, there was joined to him by the law of marriage a wife B named Maria, born of illustrious parents, who was a true companion to her husband in both life and character. From her he had two sons, John and Arcadius, whom he cared for immensely, so that not only bodily goods but also a shining heritage of virtue and learning might reach them: which both preserves wealth for the owners and makes them possess it rather than be possessed by it; nor do they hold onto it stingily nor spend it thoughtlessly. For in either case there lies an equal disgrace, if it is done without reason or proper timing, either overflowing where it should not, or being narrowly and C stingily constrained, when, as Paul proclaims, one ought to sow with blessings. Therefore, Xenophon filled his children with every kind of learning, whether that which cultivates the tongue with the elegance of Greek, or that other which is according to God—philosophy—which in part adorns character, and in part elevates the soul toward a love of the Divine. And since he wished them to have knowledge of the law, he sent them to the city of Berytus (for that city was at that time most famous for men highly skilled in the laws), and he did not send them away reluctantly. In this matter D he revealed himself to be a father truly loving his children, judging it better to endure the deprivation of the sight of his children for a time than to defraud them of the perception of serious and useful matters.
CHAPTER II.
He calls for his sons, and instructs them: he is healed by divine aid.
IV. As the children were diligently laboring at these studies, their father fell into a most grave illness. Indeed, the illness threatened death, but their absence was more grievous than death, since he feared excessively that, frustrated of the most delightful sight of them and of the most desired company of his sweetest offspring, he might be snatched from this life. Therefore they were quickly summoned, and they flew here most swiftly, lifted up on the wings of longing, and shortening the length of the journey by the ardor of their minds. For they were not only loved, but they themselves loved no less, not having this entirely from nature, but also deriving grounds for affection toward one another from virtue, so that they were truly sons who loved their father, as he was a father who in truth loved his children. Having seen his children, and having cast his eyes upon their sweet faces, he immediately becomes easier, and he perceives his illness to be lighter on account of the present joy. For an excess of gladness often dissolves bodily illness, just as it does not…
deprivation. It is expedient, therefore, to hasten your departure, lest the people, defending you too zealously—which God forbid we should see—might come to blows with the soldiers, and be led on to commit some desperate act. When the great John heard these things, he stretched out his right hand to certain of the bishops (for the time did not allow him to extend it to all), and having mingled tears with the kiss of peace in his grief at being separated from his dear ones, and having then bidden farewell to the rest, he instructed them to remain there, saying that he would return after a brief interval of breathing space.
XLIX. Having said this, he enters the holy baptistery and calls for the saintly Olympias; for the woman is most illustrious, even by her name alone. And it would perhaps not be amiss to allow the discourse to linger a little so as to enjoy the good things of this woman, rather than to suffer the total loss of a narrative so very sweet and profitable to the soul. B She was endowed with lineage, riches, and the bloom of youth, and shone forth in these and other similar qualities; she was joined to a husband in marriage, yet she did not lose her virginity. For having lived with him for about twenty months, when he was taken from among men—even though she was of an age that would not have felt ashamed of a second marriage—she embraced temperance and chose to cherish it for the rest of her life; and this, even though the Emperor sought to draw her into marriage with his own relatives and would have showered her with great honors. Abandoning all those luxuries which have nothing in common with the high-born, she took delight instead in fasting and vigils and other such toils. As she had now become the mistress of her entire estate, she determined to pour it out for the care of the holy, and was counted worthy to be ordained a deaconess of the Church, owing to the superabundance of piety she possessed and her most distinguished hospitality. For she welcomed with great zeal those especially who pursued virtue, and offered them care, or at least brought it to pass [for them], and she displayed her own magnanimity even toward Theophilus; nor could she herself escape his slanderous tongue, since he was given cause by the fact that she had received those he had persecuted—I mean the men of God, Ammonius and Isidore. In all things, as I have said, she cared fervently for those who loved virtue and counted them worthy of every provision; but to this blessed man she became a companion, just as Thecla did to Paul, having hung her whole life upon his tongue. Since other deaconesses, Procula, Pentadia, and Sylvana, were also with her, she gathered them together at that time and said: "Come, daughters, give heed to me. For my affairs are perhaps already inclining toward their end, and you shall no longer see me in this present world. I ask of you this last petition: that you do not abandon D your customary devotion to the temple of God."
A suffer the bitterness of grief to admit any weakness. Having therefore embraced his children, and being entirely suffused with a sense of joy because of them, and simultaneously filled with gladness at the sight of his most beloved ones, he yet fell back into sadness through the memory of their loss and death. He was thus distracted by multiple and varied emotions; exulting on this side, but grieving and suffused with sorrow on that; now watering his cheeks with tears, now sending up thanksgiving to God, and now groaning at the thought of human nature.
V.
Thereafter he began to speak to them, wishing to further attune them to virtue, deeming it unworthy if, while intending to leave them as heirs to corruptible possessions, he did not with all care prioritize their instruction—a legacy far more precious and profitable than earthly goods—and transmit it in place of his patrimony. "My life, children," he said, "now draws towards its end; but if you have it at heart to return any gratitude to your parent (of which, given the ardor of your love for me, I cannot doubt), then grant me this one thing, which I prefer to all else: that you should continue to obey the divine will, just as you are already doing, and continue to walk behind his commandments and desires. What I am about to say, I do not say out of vanity, but out of an intense desire to urge you on. For if you should wish to use my life as an example, and by casting your eyes upon it, conform yourselves to it as to a pattern and archetype, perhaps you will have no need of many other teachers; and besides, you will have the example close at hand, and will be more likely to imitate it. For domestic teachings, expressed both in word and deed, are more suitable for instruction and more effective for persuasion than external ones. For you know B what my manner of dealing with all people has been, and how I earned not only love but veneration from everyone, born not of display or the pursuit of empty fame, but of our modesty and the kindness of our character. Never once did I insolently insult anyone; I never let my tongue utter abuse; I did not behave haughtily toward any lowly person; I did not secretly slander my neighbor; I did not become a cause of scandal to anyone; I did not loosen the reins of anger against my subordinates at all; I did not endure to hide enmity or wrath in my heart; and I set a guard upon my eyes just as I did upon my tongue. For I did not pay attention to the beauty of others, nor did I approach any woman except for your mother, and her only until she bore you, my most beloved; then we made a pact of chastity with one another. And of these things you may have sufficient imitation, if you wish: in caring for orphans, in protecting widows, in visiting those weighed down by sickness, in defending those mistreated from the hand of the powerful, in showing reverence to your mother, in rendering honor to priests, and in providing with full solicitude for monks, and especially for those who dwell in deserts, and mountains, and caves, and in the chasms of the earth. Furthermore, treat your slaves with gentleness and humanity, for the sake of Him who for our sake— C DA summoned it to the house of the Senate, which was situated at a considerable distance in the middle, sparing the intervening space, as if it were some living thing, so that no one could attribute what had happened to its proximity. And so, a work of such great magnitude and long standing, most precious in its materials and most beautiful in its appearance, was consumed in the space of three hours and reduced to nothing. Yet the fire, moving along and spreading in a circle, spared only the small house in which the multitude of sacred vessels was kept; not out of any reverence for the gold or any other material—as someone might say—but so it would not afford the sycophants an opportunity for slander and not allow them to cast suspicion of theft upon the holy man through the destruction of the treasures. What then? One would expect that the wicked, having been struck by this, as they say, like a fisherman, would come to their senses; but they, using this as a pretext for doing evil, severely punished many of the bishops and priests, and many others as well, who favored the party of John, saying that the fire had been B set by them, since they wished to do a favor for the patriarch. But let the narrative proceed to what follows and declare, point by point, how his exile was conducted.
LI. Thus, then, the great man of God and most courageous athlete of the truth was led by savage soldiers to a certain desert town of Armenia named Cucusus, which was at that time being frequently and relentlessly ravaged by the Isaurians, who carried out incursions there. And this, I believe, was done intentionally, so that, along with his other misfortunes, he might also be delivered into the hands of his most bitter enemies. But what he endured along the way, and with how many evils he wrestled, and yet did not, even so, cast aside his care for the Churches of God—whom else would we hear speaking of it more pleasantly, more openly, or more truly than himself? For these things, in one of the epistles which he wrote to his own C people, the golden tongue addresses: "For if you dwell in a prison, and are bound in chains, and are shut up with the filthy and the squalid because you did not assent to their iniquity, exult and rejoice, be crowned and lead the dances, because these things are an occasion for you of abundant rewards. For we, too, have wasted away and been consumed; we have suffered countless deaths. And these things can be better reported by those who have been with us for even a brief moment of time; with whom I could not even speak, since I was oppressed by constant fevers. Labored by these, I was compelled to travel both night and day, besieged by heat, ruined by sleeplessness, and by the lack of the necessities of life and the poverty of those who were to care for me. For D we have suffered, and are suffering, things more grievous than those who work in the mines and dwell in prisons." At last, however, with difficulty, I reached Caesarea, as one who had come from a storm into a harbor. But not even this harbor was able to remedy the evils caused by the waves, so completely had the preceding time worn us down. Yet, when I had arrived at Caesarea, I breathed again not a little, because I drank clean water, because I took bread that did not smell, and was not hard, and because I was no longer washed [by the rain]
assumed the form of a servant. A Therefore, the younger ones are to be cared for like one’s own children, and the older ones, those advanced in age, are not only to be deemed worthy of their freedom, but even then, they should not be left without your care; rather, supply their daily needs until the very end. Be faithful to your friends, benevolent to your enemies, and return evil to no one. By living in this manner, you will have the Deity propitious toward you, and you will enjoy length of days.
VI. Upon hearing these things, the sons were flooded with hot tears B and, sensing the unbearable bitterness of the imminent death of their most beloved father, they declared that his absence would be altogether unendurable to them. With their lips, their eyes, and their very bearing, they implored him not to abandon them, but rather to ask God for his continued life. For they had perceived what kind of place he held before God, a position to which his sincere probity, attested by his good works, commended him. "For in this way," they said, "you will ensure that we are seen as practitioners of your commandments." Then he, heaving a deep and heavy sigh from the depths of his soul, said, C "From the moment this illness held me bound to my bed, my prayers have looked toward nothing else; indeed, this very night God has granted the request of you both. For by a divine oracle, I know clearly by revelation that I am ordered to remain in this life." Having learned this, the sons could not contain themselves for the intensity of their joy, just as if it were not their father’s life that had been prolonged, but as if it had been decreed that they themselves should never die. But when the father had grown stronger than the sickness and had begun to enjoy perfect health—the dreams having proved to be in no way false—he again ordered his sons to journey to Berytus, so that they might put an end to their literary studies. "You, my sons," he said, "go, and have a care for this task; as for me, I shall be anxious about your marriages, and how I may, as soon as you have returned, join you to suitable wives." Having said this, he put them on board a ship and sent them away. D
CHAPTER III. The sons, returning to their studies, suffer shipwreck.
VII. And now, one must apply the mind carefully to what follows; for from here I see the most graceful part of the narrative emerging, one which simultaneously reveals the manifold providence and goodness of God, and at the same time, the wonderful dispensation of the subject before us. The voyage of the brothers was proceeding well enough for a time, and they were being carried along by a gentle wind; then, a storm suddenly fell upon the ship, and a massive and severe swell arose, and the sea began to roar in an extraordinary and terrifying way. As the waves rose dreadfully and threatened to cover the ship, the sailors hastened to lower the sails and were carried about at the mercy of the elements. But the youths (and observe, I pray, how good offspring are the fruit of a good root), having abandoned all hope in others, immediately turned their eyes to God, the only true helper, and calling Him to their protection, they reminded Him not of their own works, but of their father’s good deeds, and in this way
A Since the great man was hearing from them what kind of person he was, and of what grace he had been deemed worthy, they brought him a certain paralytic who was bedridden, and asked him to heal him. He, having asked about the duration of the ailment and their religion—when he heard that it had been for eight years, and that they worshipped the sun—said, smiling slightly, "Then the sun must heal you, if this is your God." "But he too," the man replied, "can do nothing without the God whom he possesses; for we hear that the sun also has a God whom he serves." "What then," the holy man replied in turn, "do you not worship that God, whom even the sun knows how to serve, rather than him?" "But we," he said, "do not dare; for that one is great and most fearful, and if anyone is not worthy of him and free from sin, the moment he approaches to worship, he is consumed by divine fire." Since the holy man said that these were fables and the craft of the evil one for destruction, and that the God of this sun is the God of all things both visible and invisible, and that he rejects none of those who approach him, even if he be a sinner, provided that repentance for his previous deeds enters into him, and that, "Only believe, and healing will immediately follow for you, both of soul and body," the sick man said that he would believe, and that he would no longer worship any other but the one God. B Therefore, the blessed one, having sealed his limbs, said, "Lord, who didst heal the paralytic whom they let down to thee through the roof with his bed by thy word alone, heal this man also by thy sign, O only God, unto thy glory and knowledge." And as he said these things, the one who was sick immediately rose and stood whole, having received the reward of his piety—the health of his body, or rather, having been led through bodily illness to the health of the soul, or indeed to both. This miracle caused those of this region to believe, and they approached baptism in numbers beyond counting.
Therefore, having ordained seven bishops together with priests and deacons sufficient for the multitude of those who had believed on these things, and since he found some among them who were proficient in the Greek language, he used them as his tongue and translated the divine David and the entire New Testament into the Greek language through them. And he delivered the form of the bloodless sacrifice, and instructed them also in the things of the New Testament. Then he introduced to them rules for psalmody and prayers. As he saw this newly established Church multiplying after a few days, and not only that, but also a no small increase—even in them—of the commandments of Christ, he gave thanks to God and rejoiced in spirit, laying healing hands upon those among them who were infirm, and bestowing as a gift that which is the most beautiful of all things.
C LIII. And he was occupied in these matters; but as for those bishops and priests who had shared in his communion—to speak simply, those who out of zeal for Christ hated the church of the malignant—against them all, confiscations, exiles, deaths, and varied punishments were being distributed. For it was necessary that [those who...]
A LV. After him, a certain man taken from the presbyters, by the name of Atticus, is entrusted with the helm of the Church, at the time when those in Ephesus, having seized the opportunity, made haste to unsettle and change everything as it seemed good to them. They expelled those who were rightly and, as was pleasing to God, seated on their thrones, and they appointed certain defiled and profane men to the destruction of souls, with no investigation or trial preceding the ordination; but they proceeded as if it were a trifling and common affair, so that the one who desired it, or rather the one who had paid for it—alas, for the things that took place!—arrived at the throne. At which time, those who had been justly cast out of the churches by that blessed soul and tongue, also approached these despisers and bought them back with money. These men, indeed, having shut up for four years the one who had been worthily entrusted by that man and seventy bishops with the throne of Ephesus—namely Heraclides—and having cast him out of the Church, they wickedly (O justice and the forbearance of God!) wickedly and unworthily installed in the throne of the virgin the eunuch of the tribune Victor, who was not merely half-wicked nor tolerably depraved, but openly a catamite and abominable. Who would willingly keep silent about the audacity and that great impudence of Porphyrius B regarding this matter? For he was an old man, and one who had been thoroughly trained in wickedness from his youth, and had gained nothing from the long passage of time to help him toward sobriety; rather, he had let go of none of his intemperance, but had contended to be seen as superior to his nature in the basest things. When, therefore, the great Flavian had already been taken by the choir of those who keep festival in heaven, he, having conceived a desire to play the tyrant over the Antiochene Church, seized the opportune moment when the whole city had gone out to the spectacles in Daphne, held according to some ancient custom, and having Antiochus and Severianus, and also Acacius, those enemies of the truth, helping him in his desire, he leapt upon the throne like a thief—for he was not a shepherd—and was ordained by these wretched men, who brought so much haste to the matter that not even the customary procedures could be completed because of the speed. But these ministers of the things done in the dark, as soon as they could, fled away, marking their path by the stars and committing themselves to trackless mountains. But the city, when it perceived what had been dared, all assembled in full force, holding brushwood and fire in their hands, being inflamed in their souls no less with zeal themselves, and they ran against Porphyrius (for they C knew what an unbridled life that man led), wishing to burn him up along with the bishop’s house itself. But he, having sensed the hatred directed toward him, having corrupted the military commander with money, persuades him to arm a demonic rage in opposition to the zeal of the faithful for piety. And immediately, a cruel and savage troop of soldiers was gathered against them. Then also a great persecution was stirred up against the churches, and by presenting royal decrees and edicts—for Atticus... D
1023 MONTH OF JANUARY. 1024 [you will see] the marriages of your children, and you will hear the wedding songs to be sung in their honor; whom, alas! you will not even see dead, nor will you bid them a final farewell. It is truly grievous for parents to see their children die before them; but envy has not even left you this, nor will you, old as you are, be able to commit the bodies of your children to the grave. O Master and King of all, what kind of death have you now decreed for us! If it is not your will that we escape it, at least grant that we may undergo it together. Let one storm cover both, let one sea-beast be the tomb of both.
IX. Such were the lamentations of the youths. But the ship being now completely broken up, each of them, one seizing a plank and the other another piece of wood, committed themselves to the sea, obeying the laws of necessity, but being saved in a truly marvelous way by divine nods. Thus, Tyre received them as they were carried along, the place called Malmephelan receiving John, and Tetrapyrgia receiving Arcadius; yet neither knew of the other’s safety, nor did they rejoice so much in their own as they grieved for their brother’s.
CHAPTER IV. Both separately embrace the monastic life.
X. John then began to revolve many thoughts in his mind, considering both where he had landed and how he should direct his own affairs. A good mind, drawing its origins from paternal seed, entered into him as he was meditating thus. For, he said, my father was accustomed to judge that nothing is lacking for the happiness of the solitary life. And perhaps this is the will of God, that I should rather serve Him in poverty and abasement (for these are the unerring paths leading to His service), than to pass my life amidst riches and deceptions; which is, of course, the broad way that leads to destruction. And this, I believe, is the reason why, when I implored His powerful hand, I poured out prayers in vain, and the storm was not changed into calm. For since He is good, He often knows how to neglect those who pray for the good of their souls, and to provide those who ask with what is most clearly profitable to their spirits. Therefore, I must approach a monastery and take thought for my soul, and above all please God, who, not only from the storm of the sea, but even more from the waves of this life, has snatched me and led me by an inexplicable reason into the way of salvation. Revolving these things in his mind, he gives himself to prayer, in which he asked that Arcadius might be saved, and, which was the main point, that he might be drawn into the same manner of life, which would bring salvation to both his body and his soul.
XI. He therefore betakes himself to a certain monastery in that region; and when the porter saw him, he received him kindly, gave a garment to the naked man, and with equal cheerfulness and benevolence invited him to the table: God meanwhile beautifully paving the way for John to Him. Then, after the meal, the monk began a conversation: Whence, he said, brother, have you come here? To which he, now forgetful of his lineage, and wealth, and splendor, and greatness,
trio simultaneous with the bishops Palladius and Eutelysius, who were in communion with John. For these had descended earlier, and had openly explained everything to the ears of the Romans. A
LVII. When they had already sailed past Greece, they were seized by a certain military tribune, a man of thoroughly corrupted and depraved mind. When he had handed them over to one of his men, he did not allow them to see Thessalonica, though they wished to proceed there first and hand over to Bishop Anysius the letters from the Pope. But this too was a contrivance and artifice of that most wicked of women, Eudoxia. For she, having learned of the mission of the Italian bishops and the reason why they were about to reach Constantinople, had forestalled them with these schemes, obstructing the intent of those who had sent them. Divided into two ships by the one who had received them, on the tenth day they put into a B certain place not far from the city, which was near the suburban estates of Victor. Then, when another man named Marianus had received them from there—he too acting not without intrigue and malice, but sent for this purpose by the empress—he immediately led them away and shut them up with violent intent and force in the prison of Thrace, which is called Athyras. [c] Therefore, the Romans and Bishop Cyriacus, with their own, were shut away separately, bitterly tormented, severely examined, subjected to countless evils, and had the letters demanded of them. When they said they would not give them unless they saw the emperor, being (as they were) legates, first one of the patricians was sent, then other distinguished men as well, demanding the letters; finally, a certain man named Valerius, a Cappadocian by race, beastly in his manner, desiring to make a name for himself through a most shameless and violent act, broke the thumb of one of the bishops with whom were the letters to the emperor and others, and took them away, along with the tablets, the sacred vessels, and whatever silver they had for their use. This indeed was also done with evil intent, so that when they lacked what was necessary for their use, they might be forced to do something against their will. On the following day, it being uncertain whether they were of the empress’s party or of Atticus’s, some approached and sought, by their receiving three thousand gold pieces, to communicate with Atticus and to neglect the cause of John. But when they would not suffer this—for something had also happened divinely: for to a deacon of Emilius, Paul by name, a man of mild and temperate character, the divine Paul appeared in a dream saying, "See that you walk cautiously, for the days are evil," silently signifying the fraud by which they sought to induce them with gifts and flatteries—since therefore they would not suffer it, but sought only that they might be allowed to return to those who had sent them, that Valerius, whose insane and violent deed was the breaking of the thumb, being not only bold and violent, but also D most clever at wrongdoing—it is evident, for trusting in a most rotting ship
his own writing, when he also asks the blessed one to be concerned so that the route of his relegation might not be longer, saying: "For me, to travel is more difficult than a thousand exiles." One might find letters reporting these things, and other things more numerous than these, which occurred after his relegation. But I return thither again. For when that great man was at Cucusus, feeding not a few with the nourishment of the body, and more with the bread of the soul, envy was kindled thereby and caused him again to migrate to Arabissus. For those wicked men, who were B of truly deplorable depravity, wishing, since they had not yet had their fill of harming him, that he should thus lose his life by yielding to such frequent afflictions. But although he was led away thither, he was affected by greater vexations; yet he openly showed himself, through philosophy, to be superior to any event that could happen, and drew from these things an occasion for greater virtue, and through them shone forth more brightly, just as light in a fire when more material is added to it. Thus he, being in truth unconquered, and neither overcome by affliction nor by any other of his painful trials, was himself rather a source of pain to his sycophants, being thus disposed, and the praise and fame attending him greatly stung their souls. How admirable a thing is virtue, and how worthy of being held in high regard and deemed blessed C by those who are wise! For he, indeed, although assailed by so many evils, remained unconquered and impregnable, and superior to whatever was being attempted against him. But they, in whose power it was to do these things, were miserable and fearful—and who could be more miserable than they? For they feared the poor man, the wandered, the exile, even though he was separated by so great an interval, and they worked to move him further away by many borders, so that not even his fame, reaching thither, might wound their envious souls. Thence, as they had been so commanded, he is led by those who guarded him to Pityus; this is a tiny, desolate town, situated on the right at the end of the Pontic sea, and it is the very limit of the Roman empire, adjacent to barbarian and cruel nations.
LXI
D When, therefore, he was already on the road and was being led to this final exile, being now about to depart rather to God and to rest from these great labors, a few days earlier, while he was praying at night, that great Peter and John—whom he had also seen at the beginning of the life he was to lead according to God—appeared to him again and addressed him gladly, refreshing him from his labors and most sweetly announcing his victory over the demons. Then, when they had foretold to him his welcome departure, and what good things would soon receive him, but what evil things would receive Eudoxia, his persecutrix, "Eat," they said, showing him a certain food; "when you have eaten this, you will have no need of any other, until you partake of it with us, in whom no destruction can fall." These things they told him, and he, taking it, ate, and thus they indeed departed; but he, being sufficiently refreshed, with a joyful and flourishing tongue gave thanks to Christ, who had bestowed upon him such a beautiful consolation. But who is it who brought these things to light, someone of might inquire, being of sharper wit? For it is clear that it was not he who knew how to hide his own affairs so strictly. It is obvious what the answer is,cided. What then shall I do? To my father, the life of monks had always seemed praiseworthy and worthy of being chosen, and I must not depart from my father’s judgment and prayers. A Having spoken thus, he held to the road toward Jerusalem. When he had arrived there and had traversed the holy places, and subsequently approached almost all the monasteries, while he was going about these, he happened upon one of the great elders, one who was able to provide clear signs of virtue through his gait, his bearing, and the cast of his eyes. Running to him gladly and greeting him, he said: "Pray for me, for a heavy sadness is oppressing my soul." "But do not be disheartened," says the elder, "for both your father and mother and your brother are alive; and all who were with you, caught in that terrible storm, have been saved; and the servants who were with you have remained unharmed by evil, and have been adorned with the monastic habit, just as your brother has been. God has become a listener to your prayer, and you are about to see them before you depart from this life." When the divine Arcadius heard these wonders (and this was certainly of God), he took up the rule, and held to it diligently, and performed it eagerly.
CAPUT V.
Parents learn of the shipwreck of their children and bear it with a brave spirit.
XIV. Since two years had now passed (B but one must pay close attention here, so that just as we grieved upon hearing of the sad things, we may now dissolve our gloom in joy by considering the more pleasant ones), when two years had passed, their father, knowing nothing at all of what had happened to his children, entrusted letters to one of his servants and sent him off, thirsting to know what could be the reason why he had not received letters from his beloved ones for so long a time. When the one who had been sent reached Berytus, it became known to him that his masters had not arrived at the city. Supposing, therefore, that they had moved on toward Athens, he held to that same course. Departing, he put up at a certain inn, in which he saw one of his fellow servants dressed in the manner of a monk. Approaching him, and giving and receiving recognition, he asked: "Where are the masters of both of us?" He, upon hearing this, groaned and, having filled his eyes with tears, said: "Alas, at how sad a tale you wish me to tell your ears! For our masters have perished miserably in the sea. But I alone, I think, having been saved—woe is me!—have chosen to take up the solitary life, a path of life more painful than the danger, having decided to die in this way rather than live; for I did not judge it advantageous to return to our master, their father—an evil messenger, an unlucky sight, a life hated and justly C envied, a wretched remnant of a shipwreck. Now, therefore, I am making my journey toward Jerusalem, and I am traveling to the holy places.
LIFE AND CONVERSATION OF SAINT JAMES THE MONK
PREFACE
A Many good and soul-saving benefits does the most beautiful possession of humility bring to those men who are lovers of God and who desire to live in accordance with the commandments of our Savior Christ; he who has been eager to grasp this and has brought it to perfection will never be able to fear falling in any way, nor being taken captive by passion, nor even being carried away by the pride of self-confidence. For that this brings much damage, incurable loss, and the greatest danger to those who are not cautious, it is possible to perceive from many other proofs, but especially from the history which we propose to set before us for the edification and security of those who have taken up this angelic life. For in this we shall find both a conduct of life that is pleasing to God and perfected by asceticism, and also an ultimate downfall that occurred from sloth, and the power of repentance, which is so strong before the all-benevolent God that it is able not only to snatch a man B from the very gates of Hades and the torments of Gehenna, but also to render him greater than his former virtue and, by the grace of Christ, to cause his restoration to become better than his previous state.
CHAPTER I
Saint James's asceticism and the care with which he maintained chastity.
B There was a certain hermit in the small town called Porphyrion, whose name was James. This man, having renounced the vanity of this fleeting life, dwelt in a certain cave for fifteen years. Having made such progress in virtue and asceticism, he appeared honorable and pleasing to God, so much so that he was deemed worthy of the gift [of power] against demons, and he performed many other healings in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ. Everyone, therefore, admiring the man's conduct, flocked to him; the majority of whom were of the religion of the impious Samaritans, whom, seeing them arrive to him, the man of God
A XV. Upon hearing this, he gave himself over entirely to grief, beating his breast with both hands and uttering a mournful cry; calling back to mind his masters, he gave voice to the words of a good and faithful servant: "Woe is me! My masters," he said, "what are these things that have come to pass? What is this bitter and ill-omened report I hear concerning you? What tongue shall announce your most piteous death to your father? What eyes will be able to behold his distress and that of your mother? Who could look upon the bitterness of their misery? Who could look upon the dark garments, the hot tears streaming from their eyes, the dust cast upon their heads, or their gray hair so wretchedly defiled?" Though he lamented in this way, he wished to turn aside to another place and not return to his masters, nor be for them the bearer of such an abominable message. However, as those who were present urged his return, and as he himself understood that what was done was done and could not be undone, and that he would appear to be a shirker of his master’s command—a thing hateful to God and man—and also fearing that, should he incur his master’s curse, he might foolishly bring destruction upon himself, he turned back toward his masters.
B XVI. Upon arriving at the house and entering, he sat down, pensive and sorrowful, wishing to conceal the matter as much as he could and saying nothing to anyone about what he had learned; yet the sadness of his countenance—for who would not be overcome by so great an evil?—declared the things he knew more clearly than his tongue could. Hence, talk arose among the fellow servants, whispering among themselves of sinister things which could by no means be hidden from the mistress of the house. Therefore, having summoned the one who had been sent, she asked: "How do our children fare?" He answered, "They fare well." But when she demanded the letters, he replied that they had been lost along the road. C Her heart was struck, she was filled with suspicion, and her inward parts were sorely churned. She therefore bound the servant with terrible oaths to tell the truth. He, sighing most heavily and bitterly, and being filled with tears, said: "Woe is me, my mistress, that you shall never again see your children, my masters, those lights—alas!—the beautiful ones, for they have now been swallowed by the sea and consumed." Hearing this, she suffered no weakness, nor did she act in a base or womanly way; but as though wishing to demonstrate that she was truly the mother of such children, she openly gave thanks to God; and having commanded complete silence upon the servant, she used those words of Job, with the same intent: "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; as it pleased the Lord, so hath it come to pass." D
XVII. Evening having now arrived, when the divine Xenophon returned home from the palace with his accustomed splendor and retinue, and the table had already been set (for he was accustomed only once a day, in the evening, to take food), the woman, afflicted by the news, had been struggling with the
A instructed at length from the reading of the divine Scriptures and converted to the true faith.
III. But the devil, who from the beginning had been an adversary to the human race—and especially to those who serve Christ—seeing himself being driven out to a great extent by the great virtue and perfect life of that man, set about to persecute him and to expel him from those places mentioned above. For when he had entered into a certain Samaritan, one of those who from the beginning had opposed the truth itself, he caused him to gather together all his friends, kinsmen, and servants who were attached to him, for the purpose of laying snares for the holy man, that he might be able by ensnaring him to drive him from those regions. Accordingly, when they had all gathered at the inn of their priest and had schemed much, the unanimous decision was this: to send for a shameless and unchaste woman and to give her twenty gold coins, promising to give her as many again if she could corrupt the servant of God, James, with her allurements, so that, seizing any opportunity, they might drive that man out of their region with dishonor.
B Γ'. But the devil, who from the beginning has warred against the human race, and especially against the servants of our Savior, seeing himself being driven out to a great extent by the man’s great devotion and precise way of life, attempted to expel him from the aforementioned places. For he entered into one of the Samaritans—those who from the beginning had rejected the truth—and he persuaded him to gather together all his friends and kinsmen who were attached to him, in order to lay a snare for the holy man, so that by setting a trap he might be able to drive him away from those parts. Therefore, they all gathered at the lodging of the man who served as their priest, and after much deliberation, one single decision prevailed among them all. And truly, having sent for a shameless and lewd woman, they gave her twenty gold coins, and promised to provide her with the same amount if she could trip up the servant of God, James, so that, grasping at a pretext, they might be able to drive him from their land.
IV. C Induced by these promises, that woman watched for the deep of night, approached him, and knocked on the door, asking him to let her in. When he delayed and refused for a long time to do so, she nonetheless continued to knock shamelessly, and with many prayers implored him to admit her. When he had finally opened the door and seen her, he seemed to himself to see some specter; and arming himself with the sign of the cross, he shut the door with force, returned to his cell, turned toward the rising sun, and prayed to God attentively. Not long afterward, when midnight had passed, the woman did not cease to knock at the door; nay, she even cried out with a loud voice: "Have mercy on me, O servant of God, and open for me, lest I become food for wild beasts before your cell."
Δ'. Overcome by these promises, the woman approached him at the deep of the night. D And having knocked at the door, she entreated him to receive her. As he hesitated and for a long time put it off, she stood there persistently knocking and with much entreaty begged to be let in. So, having opened it slightly and caught sight of her, he thought it was a phantom; and having signed himself with the cross, he closed the door and turned back, and standing toward the east, he sent up an earnest prayer to God. Many hours passed, and when the night had reached its midpoint, she did not desist from knocking and crying out with a loud voice: "Have mercy on me, servant of God, and open to me, lest I become food for wild beasts before your cell."
V. When that just man considered these things, and reflected on the multitude of wild beasts that were in those places, he fell into discernment, opened the door against his will, and said to her: "Whence have you come here? And whom do you seek, and to whom do you belong?" She replied and said: "I am from this monastery here, and the abbess sent me to carry blessings to this village; and as I was returning to the monastery, night overcame me in this place. I beseech you, therefore, O man of God, have pity on me and receive me, so that I may not be devoured by wild beasts."
Ε'. The just man, then, perceiving the situation and considering the multitude of wild beasts in those places, falling into discernment, opened the door against his will and said to her: "Whence have you come here," he asked, "and whom do you seek, and to whom do you belong?" She replied, saying: "I am from this hermitage here, and the abbess sent me to take blessings to this village; and as I was returning to the monastery, night overtook me in this place. I beseech you, therefore, O man of God, have pity on me and receive me, so that I may not be devoured by wild beasts."
A news, and seeking to share with her husband the grief of her soul, she wished so far as possible to make his sorrow light and moderate. Therefore she speaks to him and reminds him concerning the return of the servant. But he, giving glory to God for this, said, “Where, pray, is he?” She said, “A sickness, perhaps, holds him back from the hardship of the journey.” And he, “But let the letters be brought.” She, however, said, “We must take some bread for the present, and in the morning you shall approach the letters; and you shall hear also those things which the boy is able to tell you by word of mouth.” It was a difficult thing for the assistant to deceive the divine Xenophon with words. For he persisted in demanding the letters, saying: “For the present, let them be brought to me, desiring as I do to know how the affairs of my children stand; but tomorrow, as you said, I shall hear [the rest] through the tongue.”
B XVIII. C But she, joining in with the husband’s sagacity and being dreadfully overcome in her heart, remained nonetheless mistress of her tongue and said nothing at all, but broke forth in tears. The wonderful Xenophon, having understood this, said, “Are our children unwell?” She replied, “You touch, to use a common saying, the tips of our misfortune, and what you do not desire, you deliberately belittle; for I wish that they were ill, so that at least some hope were left to us! But now, your children, alas! have perished in the sea.” Having heard this, Xenophon simply demonstrated that calamities are the test of a noble soul. For having said, “Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever,” he turned to console his wife, who herself was behaving not foolishly or abjectly, but as became the consort of so pious a man. “Do not grieve,” he said, “for God will not permit us to be overwhelmed by such a blow, nor D will He permit my gray hairs to be so bitterly pained, since I have not, as I think, transgressed any of His commandments. We must, therefore, keep watch this night and entreat His kindness and mercies; and He will make it clear to us concerning the children, whether they are dead or whether they are among the living.” In this way, the saying of the divine Jeremiah was fulfilled in him precisely: “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and the Lord shall be his hope; and he shall be as a tree planted by the waters”; and a little later again: “In a year of drought he shall not be afraid, neither shall he cease from yielding fruit.”
CAPUT VI.
They seek their children in Jerusalem: the children recognize one another.
XIX. Praying and beseeching God, therefore, throughout the whole night, since it was already near dawn and their eyes were being overcome by sleep, they no longer looked toward their customary bedding and couch, but instead the ground served them for this. Consequently, as soon as they tasted sleep, their children were seen by both in a vision standing by Christ; and John, indeed, was wearing a costly crown of precious stones and [sitting on] a throne, and wielding a scepter; but Arcadius, too, he himself…
was wearing a crown woven from various stars and most brilliant lights, holding a cross in his right hand, and having a bed for rest and a mattress. A
K΄. Since they understood from this that their children were deemed worthy of great honor before God—having been taught this by grace—and that they were in Jerusalem, they regarded all other things as insignificant. Having taken a large amount of gold for the sake of offering alms and for the consolation of those in need, they took to the road leading to them. And when they arrived, having gone about the holy places, they employed the divine [grace] as a collaborator for the work set before them—both by prayer and by the distribution of gold—and then, having gone through the monasteries, they found their beloved nowhere, nor were they able to see their children. From this, the longing B in them was kindled more hotly, being nourished in secret by the passage of time. For what is more desirable than to behold, while still in the land of the living, children so very dear, who were so completely despaired of, and yet have been deemed worthy of such intimacy with God?
ΚΑ΄. Then they met one of the servants, who had happened to journey with their children, now clothed in monastic garb; recognizing him by his appearance, and considering him not as a slave now, but as a fellow servant—or even as someone more honorable, both on account of his vesture and the overflowing measure of his own humility—they bowed their knees and offered him veneration with reverence. But as he was burdened by the excess of this honor, the divine Xenophon replied to him: "This is not offered to you, but to your habit, and to the seal of divine intimacy which this garb has impressed."
ΚΒ΄. But when they inquired about their children, they learned nothing more than the events that had occurred at sea (for he knew absolutely nothing of how they themselves had been saved), and because of this they did not become more sluggish, nor did they dull their longing with hesitation; but rather, their inward parts being all the more inflamed with desire for their children, they engaged in the search. It seemed good to them, therefore, to travel also toward the regions of the Jordan, at once searching for their sons and offering their hand, flowing with generosity, to those in need. As they were departing, they met the wonderful old man who had tonsured Arcadius and had clothed him in the monk’s habit. Approaching him, and touching his holy feet, they begged him to count them worthy of his prayers C to God. Since the elder made himself readily available for this and had already prayed, he called them by name—O the grace of God!—adding also the matter they had in their hearts, quite insightfully and by divine inspiration. But it is necessary to set these things forth in a more simple manner, just as they were related. "What compelled the lord Xenophon," he said, "and the lady Maria to look upon Jerusalem? Nothing else, certainly, than the love of their children. Do not be anxious, therefore; for they live, your children truly live, just as God has also revealed to us. But go, and offer your prayers to God, as laborers of his vineyard. And upon returning, you shall see your children,
A for by speaking thus, he wished them salvation, and he departed, leaving their hearts flooded with great pleasure. For they were now certain that they would soon enjoy the sight of those they most desired, as such a definitive pronouncement regarding matters pertaining to them was sufficient to establish their conviction.
B XXIII. But the elder proceeded to the holy Resurrection of Christ, and sat down on the ground not far from Golgotha. And behold, John came forward to pray; and when he saw the elder, revering him and moved by the shining appearance of his virtues, he readily offered him worship, though he did not know the man, nor was he, as we shall presently state, unknown to him. For the admirable elder immediately bade him rise, and bestowing a blessing upon him, and calling him by his name with a sweet and gentle voice, he said: "Where have you been until now, Lord John? For behold, your father and mother have arrived here, seeking you. But I also know that you have come for the sake of searching for your brother." This speech, uttered by the elder by divine instinct, struck amazement into John; and since he was long held by the desire for his brother, he seized upon the words spoken at once, and said: "And where, I beseech you, Father, is my brother? Where in the world is he? Does he live at all? O most joyful voice to me! O sweet tongue! How I yearn to hear at once where I shall see my brother. Do you not notice how my heart has been inflamed, and how I have pined away and am half-dead with desire for him?" And the elder said: "Sit here by me for a little while, and soon you shall see your brother."
C XXIV. There was but a short delay when Arcadius arrived, totally bloodless and withered, making it evident that he was still alive only by his movements and voice. Such had been his care for venerable and sober abstinence. Approaching the elder, therefore, with great reverence and modesty, he said: "Behold, O Father, it is now the third year since you deigned to visit your field, while it has in the meantime brought forth many thorns and thistles. It remains, therefore, that you should devote strenuous effort to clearing it." To whom the elder replied: "Not so; the matter is not as you say. For I have inspected it daily, and I have been much concerned about it; therefore, I deem that it has not brought forth thorns or thistles, but good grapes and mature grain, in which, indeed, the King of all things delights."
XXV. Having spoken these things, the divine man did not yet reveal their brotherhood to them, especially since they by no means recognized each other, both because of the change in their attire and because of the extreme emaciation of their bodies; and because he had decided upon another way to lead them to mutual recognition. Turning therefore to John, he asked: "Whence have you come?" But he, with as much moderation and humility of soul as can scarcely be expressed, used almost the same words he had used when, recently saved from the shipwreck, he first came to the monastery: "I am," he said, "a stranger and a person of no account, in need of the mercy of God and your holy prayers." Such was the great love of modesty that resided in him. Wherefore, one might even pronounce that passage of Scripture regarding him in a better sense: "His humility has become for him as a garment, with which he is clothed." To this the elder said: "Yes; but tell me of your lineage,"
C And thus they were delivered from that drought; and they offer constant hymns, supplications, and thanks to Christ.
XXXI. But many from the people themselves, held by various diseases, together with the bishop took refuge with the servant of God, Jacob, for the sake of consolation and healing. He, having anointed them with holy oil and blessed them in the name of Christ, would heal them in such a way that they returned home praising God, who had brought healing to them through His servant. Therefore, all who inhabited the city and the neighboring region brought their sick to him, or asked that, while they themselves were absent, he should pray to God for their health: and they immediately obtained healing through divine aid; for so great a grace had been bestowed upon him that even by his word alone he would immediately put to flight unclean spirits.
XXXII. In that same year, however, in which that most bitter plague of drought was repelled, the servant of God, Jacob, summoned the most holy bishop and asked him to care for the cave—that is, the tomb—in which he had for a long time made his home, and asked of him that he be buried there when he was dead. When he had promised that he would do this, and had returned to the city, after a few days the blessed Jacob died in a good old age, having reached his seventy-fifth year. When the most religious bishop learned of this, he went to that place with the whole clergy and the honorable laymen; and when they had prepared his body with precious aromatics, praising God Himself and His glory, they deposited his venerable relics in that very monument.
XXXIII. Afterward, the holy priest of God built a sacred D house at the cave and transferred his relics there. In which place, up to this day, many are healed; and the whole city and neighboring region, celebrating his memory every year, keeps it as a great feast day, to the glory of the benign God who so honored him; whom may we also, according to custom, gloriously celebrate, blessing the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, to whom is glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.
CONCERNING THE HOLY EGYPTIAN MARTYRS CYRUS AND JOHN
(Year of Christ 280, January 31. Acta Sanctorum Bolland. for this day.)
The names of the holy martyrs Cyrus and John are highly celebrated on account of the countless benefits conferred upon sick mortals at their relics. Concerning them, Baronius writes thus in his notes to the Martyrology: "Their Acts were most well known to both Greeks and Latins; and we ourselves have them in the fifth, seventh, and tenth volumes of ancient manuscripts which were in use in some churches in Rome, where the Lives of the saints are kept written according to the order of the months. In these, therefore, we have obtained the Acts of the aforementioned martyrs, by Peter, who..."
and your country, and your upbringing, that we may give glory to God for this too." John, then, taking up the story, recounted everything from the beginning to the end, and A in the course of his narrative provided the brother with certain tokens of their kinship, his appearance also testifying and speaking out in agreement with them, even if his features were indistinct, having been dulled by his many sufferings. But when he came in his narrative to the ship and the danger, and that he had a brother,—mentioning him by name—he sighed and tears ran down his face; for Arcadius, unable to endure the tyranny of nature, arose, and falling upon the elder, "This," he said, "O Father, is my brother John, this is my dearest one, this is he who sailed with me, and endured the same shipwreck, and was saved, as I thought in my dream, and has now appeared to me even more miraculously. O divine providence! O the inscrutable judgments of God! O the Providence that surpasses every word!" And the elder said, "I also knew it, but I refrained for this reason, that you might recognize one another from your own home." And so that divine man, B or rather, they went into each other’s arms, and embracing one another, and together hailing their brother, and embracing him, and asking a prayer from the divine elder, they returned common thanksgiving to God, no less for their deliverance from the danger than for the sight and reunion of one another, and more than this, for their introduction and appropriation to God through such a manner of life and conduct. So it came about that they rejoiced exceedingly many ways, and gave thanks to God for their own and each other's salvation, for their reunion, and for their being led to such a life and to its perfection. But as for them, these things were thus.
CAPUT VII. Parents at last recognize their sons: both flourish in holiness.
C XXVI. But God and the narrative now desire to unite the parents also with the brothers. And they are united in this way. For two days had not yet passed, when they also arrived, dispensing alms with a generous hand to the holy Mount of Calvary and the life-giving tomb of Christ our God. Then, as they were departing, that divine elder met them, who had earlier assured them of the life of their children and that they would soon be seen. Approaching him, therefore, and giving the honor that was due, they demanded the fulfillment of the promise and asked to see their children. When these things were being said, the noble youths were standing behind the elder; but he restrained them, having commanded them to say nothing at all, nor even to reveal themselves to their D parents.
wills, signifying that it was by a diviner judgment and the prediction of a certain man capable of seeing the future that the priestly throne was entrusted to him). This Apollinaris, therefore, having taken hold of the episcopacy, was also rearing a certain nephew of his, rearing him most diligently and virtuously, so that just as he had him as a relative by blood, he might show him to be much more related to him in his way of life. But when he reached manhood and was blooming in the flower of his youth, he did not, like most young men, surrender and give himself over to the impulses of nature, letting go of all the reins; nor did he choose to steal shameful pleasures by secret and nightly sallies. Rather, wishing for nothing of the sort to befall him, he approached the divine high priest nobly and freely and requested a lawful marriage with a woman. That truly divine man, not even enduring to hear what he said, used many words to address him, calling to mind the disturbances of marriage and attempting to lead him away from that opinion. But when he saw him pressing strongly and not yielding even a little from his resolve, he devised a plan very skillfully, saying that he had a desire to raise a temple to the three holy children. “It is necessary for you,” he said, “to take charge of the construction for the time being; then, when the work has reached its end, that which you are eager for will also be granted to you according to your desire.” He heard this and very gladly accepted the task, cooling and refreshing the heat of his desire with good hopes. B
III. There was a place there called Dorysim, and it was in this place that it seemed good to build the sanctuary. He himself applied all his zeal to the work; and indeed, one part was immediately set aside for a home for the aged, and another for a courtyard. The courtyard held within it that very workshop which, as we have already said, they transformed into a temple, not removing it from the reality, but only from the name—nay, rather, they made it a truer workshop for the healing of any human malady whatsoever. But this was transformed in such a way that from a physician’s workshop it became a temple—a workshop of medicine that was truly free of charge, accepting no reward, a swift release from diseases, a healing that had no delay, but one that often anticipated the petitions of those who were suffering. Yet we must also add what follows, nor should ears that thirst for profitable words be deprived of a beautiful miracle, even if the addition to the narrative may seem a rather long digression from the scope of the work at hand. C
IV. For as the young man was occupied with all zeal in the building, the workshop was in a short time converted into a temple, and a hospital and a home for the aged were also constructed by him, and everything was completed in a short time. Then Apollinaris sent for a certain man who presided over a flock and was distinguished for his virtue, and having given him a letter, sent him to Babylon to the three holy children. The letter was a petition that some of those holy relics might be sent to the temple which he himself
A For they remained unknown to them, nothing of their appearance betraying them, owing to the fact that they had been withered by the excessive hardship, as we have already hastened to declare. And they were, beyond all doubt, masters not only of food but masters of their tongue to a much greater degree. For it was neither a small nor a light thing for them—having come into the sight of their parents after a most bitter longing, and desiring them so much, and being so greatly desired—to endure keeping silent, and not only to utter nothing, but not even to let a tear escape due to the intensity of their overwhelming joy; this is a kind of violence clearer and more potent than nature that overcomes all things.
B XXVII. When, therefore, the admirable youths recognized their own parents, yet themselves remained unknown to them, "Depart," says the elder to them with a gracious tongue and soul, "and make ready a good table for us; I will soon follow with my two disciples to comfort you, and I will lead you to the place where you may see your dearest children." Hearing this, they were suffused with no moderate joy, not so much because he promised them a sight of their children, but because they judged themselves worthy to be considered guests of such a man. For they were gazing not at birth or at his own splendor, but at his intimacy with God, and they thought virtue was far more precious than wealth and nobility. Therefore, when they had departed, the elder said to the youths, "Let us go and eat with your parents, since you will suffer no harm from this. For I think that, however many labors you have undergone to attain virtue, you would by no means have reached the measure of your parents. So that not harm, but rather benefit, follows from associating with such people." Having said this, he again enjoins silence upon them, and commands them to utter absolutely nothing at all that might provide a handle for recognition, leaving the actual facts to bring about the revelation.
C XXVIII. When they had gone and reclined to eat, the parents of the youths asked, saying, "How, Father, are our children doing?" And he said, "Well; for their struggle is to save their own soul." And they, by means of a prayer, implored that the word of the elder might reach its fulfillment. Then the most blessed Xenophon added, "How beautiful, Father, are these disciples of yours, and how disposed toward God; my soul rejoices over them from the depths, and I delight in casting my eyes upon them. Therefore, pray, most divine Father, that our sons may also turn out like them." And so the admirable Xenophon, in his ignorance, was praising his own, and was asking by his prayer to possess what he already had in his hands. D However, the elder, who was great in understanding, said, "Tell me, child" (looking toward Arcadius), "of what city are you? And from what parents? And what kind of upbringing have you enjoyed?" To these things the divine Arcadius said, "I, Father, have come from Byzantium; and I am the son of noble (as the truth wills it) and [...]
A of body and soul. I had a brother named John." Then he narrated in order the matters of his education, the voyage, the danger, and what sort of salvation he had obtained from God. As he went through these, their parents recognized them, and, unable to restrain the leaping, the impulse, and the burning of their hearts, they stood up immediately; and embracing their children and clasping their necks, they poured forth that boundless ecstasy of their souls, partly with kisses, partly with tears, saying, "Father, are these our children? Are these truly the dearest ones, they who caused us so much searching? Are these they?" What happened after this? There was a common glorification of God and thanksgiving. B
XXIX. Nor did the parents delay to beseech the holy man with most ardent prayers that he might adorn them also with the seal of that sacred habit, so that, if they were second to their children, they might at least appear as imitators of the same good, and not, which God forbid, be excluded from it. The elder was persuaded by their supplication (for how could he be otherwise, since the matter was plainly so pleasing to God?) and with that same right hand he tonsured their heads and initiated them; and, letting them go, he commanded that henceforth they should refrain from all communication of bodies, until each of them should pay the debt common to nature.
XXX. And such was the providence of the best God toward such good parents and children, full of admiration as well as delight. So that in them was fulfilled what was spoken by Isaiah: "I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessings upon thy children. And they shall spring up as grass in the midst of the water, and as C willow by the flowing water." These are indeed Isaiah’s words and those of the grace of God speaking through him; but they also possess a great intimacy toward them, as if spoken to them, such as this: "Thou art mine, and if thou pass through water, I am with thee"; and this: "I will make thy salvation heard, and I will protect thee under the shadow of my hand." The children, then, having bidden their parents a final farewell, followed more willingly the one who had spiritually regenerated them; and having entered the desert with him, they there attained a blessed end, having been accounted worthy, even before the end, of divine gifts, and flourishing in both prophecies and other gifts of the good Spirit.
XXXI. As for their father, he is shown to be a manifest fulfiller of the Gospel; for having sent away and sold all his own possessions, and distributed them to the poor, and thus having, with cheap and small things, D purchased for himself the whole kingdom of heaven, and having deemed all his domestics worthy of freedom, by which means he hastened to be enrolled as a son of the heavenly Father, he next joins his fellow-dweller and true partner in life—who breathed the same spirit—to holy women and virgins, thus...
A against them also followed, saying: "Regarding Cyrus, the protector of the Galileans, and John, who in his religion is like him, who have not yielded to the decrees of the emperors and have not offered sacrifices to the greatest gods, we ordain that their heads be cut off, in accordance with the law of those who rule."
XIII. When Syrianus had decreed this, they immediately accepted the execution at the hand of men, but for the immortal crown which is bestowed from heaven, they celebrated it on the thirty-first of the month of January. The pious, however, did not in any way neglect their remains, and although they succumbed to the difficulty of the time, they nevertheless, with the greatest zeal, immediately applied their hands, and piously and holily took them up, and having shrouded them, they deposited each of them honorably in the temple of the apostle Mark, except that their caskets are different; for the remains of the virgins and the mother are in one, while those of Cyrus and John are entrusted to another. In the course of time, however, when the tyranny had been dissolved for the Greeks, and Theodosius had taken up the scepter of the kingdom, and was ruling piously over the friends of piety, the Christians, these also were moved B and transferred. Now, as to how this happened, it will not be an unpleasant story for those who love God to hear.
XIV. When Theodosius, as we have said, had just recently received the kingdom, a great and grievous war was stirred up from the West. For many nations, having suddenly gathered together for the same purpose and having made treaties among themselves, threatened a grave incursion into the Roman empire. Therefore, at that time, this Theodosius, who was great among emperors, fearful, looked neither to the gathering of money, nor did he call upon any large force for an alliance, but in all things he always hung upon that hand from above. Thus, therefore, he acted at that time, and by acting, he was in no way disappointed. For having learned that in Scetis (this is a desert situated towards Egypt, and so named) a certain man was philosophizing, an Egyptian by race himself and a creator of the greatest C miracles, he wrote forthwith to Theophilus, the bishop of Alexandria, ordering him to cause that admirable man to reach Constantinople as quickly as possible. The need for his presence was also set forth in the letters. He, having received these, immediately arrived at him as he was, and having given him the letters, declared to him the request of the emperor and the need that was pressing him. Then he also does what he can himself; he, too, entreats from home, he pleads warmly, he begs, that he should neither overlook the supplications of the emperor, nor dishonor his own labors, but that he should visit the city, and avert the war being prepared against it by his prayer to God, and deliver the city from such great danger and fear, D inasmuch as it lay in his power whether the city should be saved or perish.
XV. That admirable man Senuphius (for this was the name the man was called), first of all, as was to be expected, refused.
desiring to be united forever with the one head of all, Christ. A
XXXII. Having entered upon a manner of life which was truly sublime and accessible to few, she already obtained the earnest-money, as it were, both of this greatest intimacy with God and of the happiness that awaits her thereafter; for she healed those vexed by demons and overcame many other types of infirmity through prayer. And the truly divine and most admirable of men, B Xenophon, clothing himself in a hair shirt, employing great frugality in his diet, and enduring hardship—as if exacting from himself punishment for his former luxury—withdrew to the most desolate place and there spent the remainder of his life. Having been deemed worthy of foreknowledge, mysteries, and great spiritual gifts, gray-haired in his head but youthful in his zeal, he was sent forth to those mansions above, having truly become a man of God. He dedicated his whole house to Him, and having attended to Him with all diligence together with his entire family, including both his sons, he was proclaimed blessed, becoming a most novel and difficult, yet saving, example for all who navigate the salt sea of our life and wish to be saved. If we strive not merely to admire him, but also to imitate him, we shall become partakers of the good things that await him, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom is due all glory, honor, power, greatness, and majesty, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
However, he did not look to the measure of the grace he possessed, but rather to the measure of the lowliness in which he was rich. "My goodwill toward the city," he said, "is great, and my desire that it always be saved is intense; yet my will does not always command the strength that follows from the confidence one has in God." He even asked the bishop of Alexandria himself not to think of him in such terms, nor to consider him as excelling the multitude. But since the bishop would not let him be, and the great Senuphius knew not what else to do, he gracefully deferred his departure, yet provided assistance in a way that made it even more admirable. For he stood facing the East, and lifting the superhumerale and the staff toward heaven, he said, B "Lord God, God of hosts, grant to this, my superhumerale, and to this staff, the power to accomplish as much as I myself could, were I present there." Having said this to God, he immediately gave what he held in his hands to the high priest. "Take these," he said, "and send them immediately to the emperor. Let him put the superhumerale upon his head and carry the staff in his hand. Then, when the need calls for engaging the enemy, let him march out before all the others and go forward boldly against the foe. For if I am heard by God, I believe he will become as terrible to them as I would, and will win the victory gloriously and without bloodshed."
XVI. When these things had been gladly brought to the emperor, he armed his head with the superhumerale, safer than any helmet, and armed his right hand with the staff, far more powerful than a spear. C Confident in this, he appeared more terrible to the enemy than, as they say, Hercules was with his club. As the enemy approached, he himself marched in front, leading the whole army. Because of Senuphius’ prayer to God, there was no delay, but the matter immediately attained its end. For as soon as the Barbarians saw him, they were struck with wonder, as if seeing one of the heavenly host, and they instantly looked to flight, lauding the prowess of their feet. They did not flee with any order or arrangement—as though they had not entirely forgotten their strength—but rather like men who were out of their minds and terrified, scattered in all directions. Their backs were easy for those who wished to pursue them; it was a simple target, a safe chase free from every danger. Indeed, the Barbarians, because of their disorderly flight, became the cause of slashes and wounds and even death to one another, so that the emperor D was able to carry off this victory not only without bloodshed, but even without labor. He named this day a feast, and even now, after such a long time, it is magnificently celebrated by the Alexandrians, and is called by them "Iconium." For an image of the emperor was made by them, armed in the way he was then; his head dressed with the superhumerale, and in his right hand holding the staff.
XVII. Since, however, the Gentiles had not yet fully flourished, he who presided over the Church of Alexandria destroyed the...
LIFE AND CONVERSATION OF OUR HOLY FATHER JOHN CHRYSOSTOM, ARCHBISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE
A The life of all those who have lived according to God is most beneficial to the pious, for it is not only an example and a pattern, but also an exhortation to virtue. It places a spur of good emulation and inflames the pious soul toward imitation. The life of our Father Chrysostom, however, is not only more delightful to hear than that of others, but it is also salutary and useful to imitate. For that man possessed not only a tongue beneficial to those who listen, but his life was even more beneficial to those who imitate it. Or rather, if one must speak the truth, just as he had an inimitable tongue in speaking, so too he had a life that is unattainable in acting. Nevertheless, his deeds must be recounted and imitated according to one’s ability. For even painters should not despise the most beautiful archetypes, insofar as they do not possess an easy imitation, but hope that, if they should ever eventually attain them, they will be rendered bright and distinguished; this excites the imitators to emulation. For my part, my discourse is set to tread a middle path, so as to neither go through everything he did, nor to overlook the most important things. But I shall relate those things which, when told, will greatly benefit the hearers, and which, if passed over, would cause the greatest loss, while leaving B the rest to others.
1. This then was the true man of God, and a genuine herald of repentance, next to the one of the same name; he who was golden in tongue, voice, mouth, and in all things, or rather, far more precious than gold by far; he came from Antioch—Antioch, C indeed, D when his body was translated from Comana to Constantinople in the year 438. See Baronius in the Martyrology for January 27.
The Life of Saint John Chrysostom
A He traced his lineage [to Antioch], which is situated in Coelesyria. Thus, having such a distinguished homeland, he was no less fortunate in having noble parents. For they, too, were people to be respected, second to few in the brilliance of their lives. His father was an army commander, who abounded in much wealth. The name of the father was Secundus, and that of the mother, Anthusa. At first they were Gentiles in religion, and they were held in the deep darkness of ignorance; yet, after their son had been born to them and regenerated by divine baptism, they too were illuminated by the light of the truth. Born from these, while he was still a boy in years, he possessed by no means a childish disposition. For he did neither anything unseemly, nor was he occupied with trifles or games; but the young plant, right from the start, showed itself to be exactly what it would become as it grew. Then he attained the divine baptism, while his body was still very tender and soft. For it was fitting that one whose life inclined toward Christ should not remain any longer unsealed with the mark of Christ. He who baptized him was Meletius, who presided excellently over the see of Antioch, a man far exalted above the throne of virtue. Later he also gave his parents to the divine bath. For it was not fitting that, when the son had approached the light of grace, those who were the cause of his being brought into the light should not be participants in the same brilliance. Then, being turned over to a grammarian to learn the primary disciplines, he became as fire set to fuel; nor did he have need of any goad at all, or anyone to urge him on. By nature, with skilled application, he learned a great deal in a short time. B From his childhood, therefore, he loved simplicity and was devoid of vanity, shunning all foolishness and superfluity. He followed no crowd into his amusements, nor did he accept riding on horseback for his journeys, nor any other luxurious or elegant manner—as is likely for one of that sort—even though his parents pressed him strongly, and his own relatives and pedagogue and fellow students, who acted in the same way, counted this as an insult and heaped reproaches upon him for his great frugality. But he had little need to be persuaded by their words, or to cast off the mediocrity that was dear and natural to him. So, when on one occasion his parents were conferring with him, and asking the reason why he wanted to be such an object of reproach to them by living in such a humble and plebeian manner, he—a man truly wise and invincible in speech—said, "Why, I ask you, do you wish to trouble me in vain? Am I not better," he said, "than Daniel, or those three youths, who, because of their soul’s contrition and their spirit’s humility, were unapproachable to the mouths of the lions? And they, when delivered to the furnace of fire, were so far from being harmed by it C that they almost appeared to be using the fire as a servant, and it leapt upon those standing around without doing them any harm at all; yet, indeed, [he followed] everywhere divine...
A Scripture, which is held in contempt by you, judges, to value humility everywhere, and to recommend nothing more, while reproving pride and the pursuit of honor; and to consider these things to be of a small and abject mind, rather than of a lofty and great one. Wherefore it is not without reason that I value this mediocrity more highly; for I have learned that God is delighted by these things (for the soul is accustomed to be affected simultaneously with the external habit), and that He bestows His grace upon the humble B, but resists those who have an opposite disposition. While he was saying these things, the parents-to-be were struck with astonishment. And the benefit from his words necessarily followed; so that, while they gave him a reward such as this for bringing him into the journey of life, and received simply their being from them, they recompensed this good state of theirs most generously. With difficulty, however, he was persuaded by his parents to set out with one of his attendants to the course of study. Not long after, the father departed from the present life; but the mother, having sustained a bereavement—as it were, prematurely—and leading her life in agitation over her young child, had a myriad of inconsistencies in her affairs, and many difficulties befell her every day, such as only those who have suffered such things clearly understand. Having little regard for these things, she cared for two things above all: namely, that after the death of her husband she would not be captured by the love of another (for her age was still susceptible to such snares), C and that she might so rear her son that no other mother of such a son could be shown. But when he had finished learning grammar and the circle of the sciences, and had then reached the heights of rhetoric and philosophy—the former as best taught by Libanius (whose fame in the art of discourse is not slight), and the latter having diligently heard Andragathius—what follows?
II. The desire for greater education (for he labored with a longing to attain to many good things) caused him to come to Athens, and by dwelling there among the finest of sophists and philosophers, he so enriched his mind and cultivated his tongue to such a peak that he would not easily yield to anyone as his equal. From there he became famous in a short time, not only in Athens, but throughout all of Greece, and to such a degree that even to the prefect of the city of Athens, the prospect of merely seeing him was considered a matter worthy of great effort. D When, therefore, at a certain time he was holding an assembly and was summoning those of the Athenians who held the first rank in glory and speech, a great desire seized him also to summon the saint, with much and generous courtesy, and he sent a carriage, and whatever other retinue belongs to such a thing.
with strangers; for I am a stranger and a sojourner, as all my fathers were. 6
XIII. So great was his eloquence, and so great his care for the poor A regarding philanthropy and the feeding of the indigent B and pity for those in need, that he would advocate for them—and since he had nothing of his own from home to distribute (for how could he, being himself in need of life's necessities?), he used what he alone possessed for their salvation. With the wisdom of his speech and his intelligence, he opened up to the needy the very hands, intestines, and treasuries—that is to say, the minds—of many of the wealthy, and he supplied their needs in abundance. For the man’s discourse was powerful not only to soften souls and stir them to mercy, but his very appearance and the moderation of his conduct were also effective. Frequently, indeed, the mere sight of him was sufficient to bring compunction to the souls of others. These things, then, are of such a nature, and they have arrived at the highest point of all virtue.
C XIV. Regarding his zeal for God and the intense labors he undertook for the sake of orthodoxy, there are many other testimonies. But as the present discourse now suggests, and as the sequence of the narrative henceforth leads, the most significant and most delightful thing of all is this—and it is as follows: Apollinaris, who had discoursed and meditated great wickedness, and had learned to both act and speak for the subversion of the right dogmas, having made many innovations in the true faith, like the ventriloquists and those who speak from the earth—of whom the great D Isaiah seems to have spoken well, and who uttered things from their own whim—and having compiled these into two books, entrusted them to a certain woman who was said to be a servant to his mind and to his pleasures. When Ephrem learned of this, and judged that the matter was a hunting ground appropriate for him—not a simple one, but one requiring art and wisdom—he assumed the guise of one of those who followed the same opinions as the man. He approached the keeper of the books, bringing her, on the one hand, eulogies supposedly from the desert, and on the other, artfully insinuating himself into familiarity with the woman, as one who had a fellowship with her master in both manner and doctrine. When the stage was well set for him and the drama of pretense was fully prepared, and the woman was already entirely persuaded that he was clearly a disciple of Apollinaris and of that impious chorus surrounding him, he asked the woman for the master's writings so that, as he said, he might better engage with the heretics—referring in this way to us, who follow the orthodox path. She, lured by this wise and persuasive artifice, handed the books over to him, only saying that their return should be swift.
XV. By this means the great Jacob, having supplanted profane Esau and having been entrusted with the wicked birthright of his malice, courageously attacked that accursed man, and, as the saying goes, he cleverly deceived the fox. For observe with me the wisdom of the sage, and
A But he, having cast these things aside as superfluous and useless and as a vain appendage to one’s journey, continued on his way alone, using his own feet. Wherefore, those who were all the more amazed at his moderation, and who saw in his outward appearance an image of his hidden soul—the prefect himself B first, and those who were present with him—rose to meet him as he approached, and even forcibly brought him forward, deeming him worthy of the place of honor, and publicly honoring him with speeches of praise and other distinctions. But to bear these things meekly was not something the envious could endure, nor was it destined to be bearable and painless to the eyes of the malicious. For, since they were extremely possessive of vainglory, they considered the honor shown to him to be a detraction from their own honor. As it happened, Anthemius was stung, he who was of no small reputation on account of his zeal for eloquence, but who was a Gentile in religion, and who, moreover, was profuse in language and prone to indulge in it too much. Being no less bitten by the praises given to the saint than if he himself had been treated with the utmost insult, he inveighed against him with a vehement spirit, calling that which had happened unjust and saying it was nefarious for a stranger and a newcomer to obtain the first honors: and especially, he said, one who differs from us so much in religion. C Because of which, the prefect, bearing the envy with difficulty, said, "What has occurred that is contrary to reason, if a man who is of such a family, and endowed with such doctrine and modesty, has been judged by us as worthy of honor, when, besides other things, he himself flees from honor, yet acquires honor among those who are wise and know how to judge correctly?"
Then John, too, receiving his speech calmly, said, "It was not fitting, O Anthemius, for one who claims philosophy for himself to be so overcome by the honors of men, and to pursue as a great thing, and one to be contended for with great striving, that which not only cannot profit us, but, as far as virtue is concerned, can even do the greatest harm. For what will a man truly be, just because of this, better than his own self?" But what you have said, that I am of a different religion from you—I would be ashamed if I seemed to remain silent, considering that to be a shameful thing. For I neither know your gods, nor have I ever professed that they are to be worshipped; far be it from me to be so foolish, or for my tongue to be so reckless. But one to me is God, Christ, who is known in the Father and the Spirit, who brought all things out of nothing D and now holds them together by an ineffable power, and grants us our annual fruits, and opening his hand, fills every living thing with blessing.
"But it is not Christ," said Anthemius, interrupting him, "who produces these annual fruits, but the elements of the world, which, as he says, he brings to completion at their proper seasons by the providence of the gods." But at the moment he said these things, having become possessed by an evil spirit, he was dashed against the ground just as he was, and lay there gnashing his teeth, and rolling his eyes, and foaming at the mouth. As the prefect and those present witnessed these things, amazement
how he ingeniously subverts such perversity and complexity of soul. To enter into arguments and counter-arguments, and to set loose a tongue capable of solving and overturning everything with great ease, was not entirely convenient for him, but required a long time and labor. A Since the circumstances did not permit this (for the woman was insistently demanding the books), he turned to another expedient, one possessing great speed and effectiveness. Having unfolded the books and separated every one of the leaves, and having sufficiently smeared the whole with fish-glue, he then folded one onto the other and, having held and pressed them together with his hand for a long time, so that through their mutual connection and union all became one, and neither could be torn from the other or broken apart in any way, he handed them back to the woman. She received them, not concerning herself with anything nor opening them, but, content only that they appeared to be in good condition on the outside. For some time, therefore, she held the books in her possession.
B XVI. Then Apollinaris was summoned by the orthodox; and this had been suggested by that most sharp-witted and ingenious soul of Ephrem for the sake of Christ, for he knew what he had done to those impious and execrable books. Apollinaris therefore was called, as if to debate with the noble defender of the Word. He, however, already worn out by old age and the infirmities of old age, refused to debate himself; but immediately looked toward his own books and ordered them to be brought to him. "For these," he said, "will provide me with whatever my mouth is to speak." When, therefore, he had taken one of the books, he attempted with great gravity to open it at the very beginning of the writing. But since it did not yield at all, nor could any of the leaves be torn away—but rather they held fast to themselves as if having become one body—he moved to the middle of it. When here too he was disappointed in his expectations, he left that book and took up another.
C And when that one offered him similar resistance, and was itself inseparable from itself, and completely untearable, brought into great perplexity, filled in his soul with darkness, with the vertigo of that despondency and shame, and, as though overturned by the blow, he leapt up from the assembly, being unable to restrain himself any longer. And finally, he perished miserably, harvesting the death of his own labors and books. D Such was the zeal of Ephrem for Christ, and in such a way was every virtue planted in his soul, that one might justly call it a fountain gushing forth with all kinds of streams, or a meadow flourishing with varied flowers and roses, or another heaven on earth, studded on every side with a multitude of stars. If you wish, you may even call it a paradise, like that of Eden, which you hear is always blooming, and always bright, and never withering, but always flourishing and sprouting with fruitful and incorruptible trees; only the serpent—that which is evil and envious and plots against our salvation—can in no way touch it, nor is any access open to it.
A But now my narrative concerning the saintly Ephrem draws to its close. Wherefore it is necessary to go through some of the things that took place around his death, and what is sufficient to show the abundance of the grace that was within him. For when he was about to depart on his final journey, he charged those who were present not to bury him in expensive clothing, just as the account mentioned upon receiving the request. "If anyone," he said, "being a father-lover, has prepared such a garment for us, let him give that one, which was intended for burial, to those in need." And such were the things he was enjoining upon those standing around him. But one of them—and he was one of the more prominent and fervent ones—having prepared an expensive and luxurious garment in which to clothe his body after death, felt aggrieved when he heard the command, as one who had been thwarted in his intent and purpose. And for this reason he delayed giving it to the poor, judging it better to pay them the gold that the garment was worth—ignorant, as it seems, being unaware that he would have gratified Ephrem much more by giving it to the poor, rather than by following his own will and judgment. B
XVII. For this reason, having been so affected, he immediately paid the penalty for his disobedience, seized by an evil demon, suffering a punishment for his thought alone, even if not for the deed. Wherefore, he threw himself down by the saint's bed in the presence of all, twisting his hands, rolling his eyes, foaming at the mouth, and plainly doing all the things that those who are driven by madness do; having been surrendered by divine Providence for his training, he who, in obeying his own mind, had despised the paternal command. What then? He who saw the hidden things, and who spoke through the Spirit of God, understood that the illness was the fruit of sin: "What," he said, "O man, has been done by you in a way that should not have been, which has driven you into such danger?" And he, having recovered from his madness, brings forth and confesses his iniquity, uncovers his disobedience, and convicts the weakness of his thoughts. The divine Ephrem, having taken pity on him because of his affliction and having accepted his confession, delivers him from the demon by prayer alone and the laying on of hands, commanding him to fulfill his promise just as he had instructed him. C When, therefore, the holy Ephrem had thus sealed his previous actions at the end of his life with such a great miracle, and had admonished those who were present, and had offered counsel, and offered instructions, and had sufficiently stirred them up toward the practice of virtue, he passed over to the tabernacles that are there, and the brightness which receives those who are such: in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be honor, glory, and power, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen. D
A which are altogether useful and beneficial to both parties, whereas those which are able to harm, and especially the soul, and to kindle for it a Gehenna more vehement than fire, are miserable not only for him who gives, but also for him who asks. Your promise, O emperor, is wonderful and munificent. For what does it profit me to be constituted a high priest by you, the greatest of Jove’s deputies, and to be called a father of the senate, when I am a priest of Christ, and daily offer to Him the sacrifice of praise, and now hasten to immolate my whole self as well, and to make myself conformed unto the likeness of His death?" And the emperor said: "To whom, tell me, do you hasten to immolate yourself? To Him who was crucified under Pontius Pilate?" "Indeed," says the great Ignatius, "to Him who crucified sin, and destroyed the devil, the inventor of it, and made void all his power through that cross." B Again, therefore, the emperor says: "It seems to me, Ignatius, that you are utterly devoid of a right judgment and a sound mind; for you would not have been so openly deceived by the writings of the Christians, but would surely have known how great a benefit it is to obey the imperial edicts and to offer sacrifices to the gods with everyone else." To these things the saint, again employing greater freedom of speech, said: "Even if you consume me with beasts, even if you sentence me to the cross, even if you deliver me to the sword and to fire—things that are in your power—I would never consent to offer sacrifice to demons. For I do not fear death, nor do I desire the present things which you are in the C power to provide, but I crave the things that are to come, and all my zeal is directed toward passing on to Christ, who died for me."
VI. Upon which points the senate, wishing, as it were through cleverness, to catch the martyr, said: "But what do you mean by confessing that your God also died? And how would one who underwent death, and such an accursed death, be able to profit others? But the gods are immortal, and are so called by us." The divine Ignatius, having taken occasion from this, so as to mock their gods while simultaneously opening to them the door of the mystery of the Economy, and thus to lead them by the hand to the faith D of the knowledge of God, directed his words thus: "My Lord and God, Jesus Christ, was first made man for us, and for our salvation willingly accepted the cross, death, and burial. But yet, He rose again on the third day, having laid hold of the enemy’s power, and ascended into the heavens from whence He had come, raising us up together from the fall of sin, leading us again into the paradise from which we had been wretchedly cast out, and gifting us with greater goods than those of before. That any one of those who are deemed gods among you demonstrated such a thing, no one at all could assert. For these were men, being utter evildoers and destroyers, and after they had wrought much to the injury and destruction of our life and state, and had afforded a base opinion and phantasy of gods to men who are somewhat more alien to reason, without any reason, they brought upon themselves—
and then, once the veils of this deception were drawn back and the stage removed, A they were unmasked for what they were, as those who had departed this life in disgrace, and, on account of their destruction of many, were handed over to an immortal death. Truly, Jupiter, who is for you the first and greatest of the gods, is buried in Crete; Asclepius was struck by a thunderbolt; the tomb of Venus is shown in Paphos; and Hercules was consumed by fire. For since such are they—or rather, truly, far worse—they met with the fate they deserved.
VII. When these things had been said by Ignatius, B the emperor, together with the senate, fearing that if his discourse were further prolonged, the cause of the Gentiles might be shaken and either not believed or held up to mockery, while the true religion might flourish and the cloud of error that casts darkness upon it might be removed, cast him into chains and placed him in the most secure custody. He himself, having reflected throughout the whole night upon how he might avenge himself upon him according to his deserts, and in what manner he might remove him from the present life, decided to hand him over to be devoured by wild beasts, so that the saint might perish, torn apart by them. For this way of death seemed to the emperor to be by far the most severe. When he had communicated this matter to the senate in the morning, they also praised his judgment; but they advised that this casting to the beasts should not take place in Antioch. "Lest," they said, "we thereby render Ignatius more longed-for and glorious among his own fellow citizens, C if he departs this life with a martyr's end." Wherefore, they said, it was fitting that he should be led in chains to Rome and there handed over to the beasts. "For thus, by the length of the journey, he will undergo a more severe punishment; and at the same time, being unknown to the Romans as to who he is, he will seem to have been put to death as one of the evildoers, and there will not be even the slightest memory of him among them." When this, therefore, had been approved, and the sentence had been immediately passed against him, the emperor summoned him again from custody, making this his final trial. First, indeed, he frequently tried to soothe and coax the saint with many promises of good things, then again terrified him all the more with threats. But when he saw him neither yielding to promises nor fearing threats, despairing entirely that he would ever change, he brought into effect those things which had been decreed. And having ordered that D heavier chains than the former should be put upon him, he handed him over to a military cohort and sent him to Rome, ordering that when the festive day arrived upon which the whole populace of the citizens was gathered, he should be handed over to the beasts for the common amusement of the theater, so that, according to the divine Paul, he too might become a spectacle to the world, and to angels, and to men.
VIII. The martyr, therefore, having received that final sentence, and having given thanks to God with a great cry, as was fitting, placed the chains upon himself with great pleasure and joy. And the emperor indeed...
1067 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM.
...nor did I introduce another husband into the house of your father; but I remained in the storm and the tumult, and I did not flee from the iron furnace of widowhood, aided first of all by help from above. Moreover, the sight of your face provided me with no small consolation for my troubles, and I kept an animated image of the deceased, accurately expressed in your likeness. For this reason, even when you were still an infant and had not yet learned to speak—at the time when children most delight their parents—you provided me with great comfort. And surely you could not reproach me by saying that, while we bore widowhood bravely, we diminished your paternal estate because of the necessity of widowhood; which I know happened to many who suffered the misfortune of orphanhood. For I kept all of it intact, and I did not fail to spend on what was necessary for your reputation from my own funds and from what I brought with me from home. And do not think that I say these things to reproach you; but for all these things I ask one favor of you: do not cast me into a second widowhood, nor rekindle the grief that has already been laid to rest, but await my passing. Perhaps I shall depart in a short time. For while there is hope that the young will reach a long old age, we who have grown old await nothing but death. When, therefore, you have committed me to the earth and mingled my remains with the bones of your father, then undertake long journeys and sail whatever sea you wish; then there will be no one to hinder you. But as long as I breathe, endure living with us; do not offend God by rashly and needlessly casting us into such evils, when we have done you no injury. For if you have a complaint, that I drag you into the cares of this life and force you to be concerned with my affairs, do not—revering neither the laws of nature, nor your upbringing, nor our intimacy, nor anything else—flee from me as from an enemy and a plotter. But if we do everything to provide you with great leisure for pursuing this life, let this bond at least hold you to us. For even if you say that you are loved by countless people, no one will provide you with the enjoyment of such freedom; since there is no one else who cares for your reputation as much as I do.
This is what that noble tongue relates. And as for how Basil submitted to the yoke of the diaconate, hoping that he would have him as a companion in that order, while he [John], hesitating to accept the rank, cleverly deceived him with a promise, as if he himself were also about to participate in the same—and then he avoids the ordination, overcome by his reverence for her [his mother]. Having therefore gratified his mother, and having provided for her care until the end, when she departed this life, he immediately performed the holy rites for her, and divided the entire estate of his parents, which was surplus, into three parts. First, he relieved the poverty of the needy with gold; whatever churches happened to be lacking in sacred vessels, he distributed silver to them; and whatever immovable property there was, he brought and bequeathed to the public, securing for himself a life free from business and escaping the crowd of every noisy marketplace. Then, having also released his servants from slavery and provided them with the means to live, he kept for himself the most beautiful thing of all: to have nothing, and to be released from every bond connecting him to the present world, and to possess God instead of all things, the truly blessed and inalienable possession.
A if you spare me. For I do not wish you to please men, but to please God, even as also you do please Him. For I shall never have another time so favorable for attaining to God; nor will you, if you remain silent, ever have a better work to boast of. If you are silent concerning me, I am become God’s; but if you love my flesh, I shall again have to run my race. Grant me nothing more than to be poured out as a libation to God, while the altar is still ready, so that you, forming a chorus in love, may sing to the Father in Christ Jesus, because God has deigned to bring the bishop of Syria from the East to the West, having summoned him to appear here. It is beautiful for me to set from the world unto God, that I may rise in Him. You have never envied anyone; you have taught others.
B X. I desire that those things also may be firm and stable, which you give instructions about in your teaching. Only pray that power be granted to me from God, so that I may not only be called a Christian, but may also be found and shown to be one. And then will I be seen to be faithful, when I no longer appear to the world. For nothing that appears is eternal. For the things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal. I am writing to the Churches and charging them all, that I am willingly dying for God, if you do not prevent it. I beseech you, do not show an unseasonable benevolence toward me: allow me to be food for the beasts, through which it is possible for me to attain unto God. I am God's grain, and I am ground by the teeth of the beasts, that I may be found pure bread of Christ. Rather coax the beasts, that they may become my tomb and leave nothing of my body, so that, when I have fallen asleep, I may not be burdensome. Then shall I be a true disciple of Christ, when the world shall no longer see even my body. Entreat Christ for me, that by these instruments I may be found a sacrifice. I do not command you, as Peter and Paul did. Those were Apostles, I am a condemned man: those were free, but I until this day am a slave: but if you will it, I am a freedman of Jesus Christ, and I shall rise again in Him free.
C XI. Now as I am in bonds, I am learning not to desire anything worldly or vain, from Syria even to Rome itself fighting with beasts, by land and sea, by night and day being bound to ten leopards, which is a company of soldiers, who even when treated with kindness, become worse. But in their injuries I learn the more. Would that I may benefit from the beasts prepared for me; and I pray that they may be found ready for me; which I will even coax to devour me promptly, not as they have done to some, whom they have feared and would not touch. But if they are unwilling, I will force them. Forgive me; I know what is for my benefit. Now I begin to be a disciple, that I may attain unto Jesus Christ. Let fire and the cross, let the packs of beasts, let incisions, divisions, dispersals of bones, crushing of limbs, the grinding of the whole body, and the torments of the devil let these come upon me, if only I may attain unto Jesus Christ. Nothing will profit me, neither the delights of the world, nor the kingdoms of this age. It is better for me to die in Christ Jesus, than to reign over the ends of the earth. For what does it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
IV. When, after some time, he had with difficulty accepted the order of lector, he did not merely content himself with reading the sacred books, but interpreted them with the spirit of wisdom, using great light of the Word and good evidence in his exposition. Although he was endowed with such grace and the whole population hung upon his tongue, he nevertheless found the tumults that existed in the city burdensome, and avoiding anything that tended toward ostentation, he was afflicted with sadness and was distressed at being withheld from the desire he had conceived in his mind from the beginning—which was to live under God and to be manifest to Him alone; he greatly esteemed solitude, and as if he were about to find some hidden treasure there, he hastened toward it. A With this intent, therefore, having observed a favorable time, he bade farewell to all—kinsfolk, friends, acquaintances, civic applause, and display—and even to the defense of those who were being wronged; nor did he take into account his mother’s widowhood, nor the care of his sister, who was still in the bloom of youth, having taken upon herself the yoke of virginity and as was to be expected, standing in need of much care. Nay, setting at naught the care of his very house, he left the city and all else, and with full intent fled to the quiet life.
Then, while his age was still young, even though by nature his body was poorly disposed and sickly, he gave himself over to the monasteries where life was conducted with more rigor and severity than in others. And when he had stripped off his entire garment along with the carnal mind—or, to speak more truly, having stripped off the latter first—he put on a garment woven of haircloth, further afflicting the body and, as it were, thinning out a cloud and providing freedom to the light of the mind. B He applied his greatest endeavor to reading the books of the Divine Scriptures. This he did with such diligence that he would imprint the power of what was contained therein upon his mind no less, and then, with his own hand and the labor of his fingers, would interpret them, as has been said, and would make what was difficult to grasp plain to those who were studious: providing for them— to be accepted without any labor—the understanding he himself had gathered with labor. If, therefore, to provide bread by one’s own labors is a cause of reward, how much more reason for requital is found in feeding souls in this way? In this manner, then, he interpreted the Divine Scriptures, and further adorned them with what pertained to morals: so that the former served to enlighten the mind, while the latter served for the care of character. C Or, if you prefer, he does it thus: by the one he merely illuminates the hidden wealth of the Spirit, and by the other, he clearly teaches how we may also partake of it. In this quiet, peace-loving conduct, the discourses on the priesthood were also composed by him; in which he accurately shows how great is the dignity of the priesthood, and what kind of man he who is deemed worthy of it ought to be. At that time he also wrote a discourse to a certain illustrious woman who had lately seen the night of widowhood and was burdened with great grief, gently soliciting her and showing that widowhood is no base or abject thing, but that its dignity is great and venerable, and that it is worthy of many praises—she who has kept her conscience for him who has departed, and has not, by second marriages, rendered herself dishonored or D
A brought a false accusation against her husband. Then, he also composed another book concerning virginity, demonstrating its divine beauty and unspeakable adornment. He also wrote discourses B to Stagirus, a man who was his friend and companion, but who had fallen into the possession of an evil spirit. The book takes that event as its pretext, but it traverses the whole of philosophy. It is a common lesson of thanksgiving and patience, composed with such persuasiveness and rhetorical necessities—or rather, one should say, with divine and spiritual graces—that it persuades the one who has fallen into the power of a demon to consider it a cause for the greatest benefit. Furthermore, two discourses concerning contrition were also composed by him at that time; one is inscribed to Demetrius, and the other to Stelechius. They train the lover of virtue to the extremes of precision and impart a bitter sting of contrition to souls that love God. But those, indeed, he wrote so that the lover of God might not fall, nor be taken by the crafts of the evil one; another, however, he composed for the one who had already fallen, or rather, who had been struck by the shaft of sin (Theodore was the name of the one who had fallen), so that he might not fall completely nor despair of his salvation. Stretching out the discourse to him like a kind hand of philanthropy, he raised him up even as he lay there, refusing to allow him to persist in his fall. Thus, he taught through his words, possessing much that was beneficial mixed with what was pleasant; but he brought teaching through his deeds even more, being dedicated to prayer and pursuing all virtue, intending to be an archetype for others toward it, and being so humble in his care that1 he seemed to want to hold the primacy in this in a different way, in that he did not set himself above anyone else in matters of trifling concern. He also set aside a portion C of the day for himself for the visiting of the sick, providing them with everything from his own resources, insofar as he had the power, and thus striving to recover them; and most especially, he offered them consolation through his words, in every way showing his philanthropy. What then? He granted the primacy in moderation to no one else, but as for ignorance, or temperance, or any other of the virtues—is there anyone among all people to whom he would yield the greater portion? And who is so far outside the regulations or senses as to agree with what is being said? But in this way, every virtue was accomplished by the man better than in mere imitation. These things, moreover, they account as exceptional in him: that he never swore an oath himself after he had departed from the world, nor did he impose an oath upon another, that he did not slander anyone, that he did not lie, that he did not curse anyone, that he did not speak jests D himself, nor endure another speaking them. They say that he also partook of sleep only according to the time of necessity in this manner: a cord was let down from above, tied at its ends, upon which, when he leaned his hands and his chin, he would partake of some brief and unstable—but, as it were, fleeting—slumber.
the Roman Pontiff, the see of Jerusalem was adorned with the patriarchal title and authority. But it was not for the sole memory of Cornelius, who had been converted there, that Caesarea was formerly the metropolis of Palestine; but because it was the largest city of Judea, as Josephus writes in *The Jewish War*, book III, chapter 14, at the end—or, in the Basel Greek edition of 1544, at the beginning of chapter 283. Although in the age of Ammianus Marcellinus there were other excellent cities also, such as Eleutheropolis, Neapolis, Ascalon, and Gaza.
8. The Greeks celebrate Cornelius solemnly on the 13th of September, as is evident from the Menologies and Menaea, although there is no mention of the Caesarean cathedra there. After the Menaea recount that Saint Peter, having instructed him in the catechism, conferred baptism upon him, they add: *τὴν προστασίαν τῆς Σκήσεως πόλεως ἐγχειρίζει*, "he entrusts to him the prefecture of the city of Skepsis," which aligns with the Acts as described by Metaphrastes. Raderus translates: "He entrusted to him the care and prefecture (in matters of faith) of the city; which Cornelius, having found it entirely addicted to idols, through the grace of Christ, entirely converted; and he even baptized Demetrius, the praetor of the city, in the sacred font, together with his whole house, as he believed in Christ. Cornelius finally, having finished his life in the apostolic manner, migrated to the Lord." However, the Acts assert that Scepsis was entrusted to him. It was an episcopal city in the Hellespont, like Troas and Ilium. A
III. THE LABORS, MIRACLES, AND DISCOVERY OF SAINT CORNELIUS.
9. The same Menaea do not stop at Caesarea, but report that he traveled through various places, and indeed with the apostle Saint Peter: “Endowed with the greatest celebrity of name, O Cornelius,” they say, “you traveled with the prince of the apostles and many others, everywhere performing the divine proclamation, through which we who were led to the light were rescued from the darkness of ignorance.” In another ode: “Having received the grace of the Spirit, like a certain splendid sun, you illuminated the earth, Cornelius, having driven away the mist of idol-mania.” Another: “Like a huge river you went forth, irrigating the whole face of the earth with heavenly doctrine, stifling the tares of the varied worship of gods, Cornelius.” Another: “Dead to the whole world, you announced the resurrection of Him who died for us, to all who were dead through the passions of the soul, O most blessed Cornelius.” Another: “Illumined by the Spirit, you became a light-bearing star, lighting up the ends of the earth with most splendid radiance, O sacred mystagogue Cornelius.” Many others of this kind are proclaimed about him; they call him a herald of Christ and an equal to the holy disciples, B who received the Holy Spirit as they did. Nay, they also celebrate other things which are said in the Acts to have been done by him at Scepsis. Such things as these are: “Entirely devoted to God Almighty, you did not offer worship to deaf idols, while bloodthirsty men compelled you to address the Most High, invisible God, O Cornelius; you prayed fervently, and utterly overturned the temple of abominable idols, to the intense admiration of men. Observing the commands of the Almighty, you yourself were preserved: you endured chains, and you released senseless men from the chains of superstitions, O God-inspired one.”
10. They also celebrate his sepulcher and the miracles performed at it. His house stood in Caesarea in the age of Saint Jerome, but was converted into a temple: he writes in Epistle 27, or the *Life of Saint Paula*—which we provided on January 26, chapter 2, no. 8—where he enumerates the maritime places of Palestine which Paula visited while tending toward Jerusalem: “And conversely (she marveled at) Straton’s Tower, called Caesarea by Herod, king of Judea, in honor of Caesar Augustus, in which she saw the house of Cornelius, the church of Christ.” Why not also the sepulcher? And yet this, as the Menaea hold, “like a fountain, pours out cures largely to the faithful, drives away every spirit, and illuminates the eyes of all who praise him in faith.” Also: “Always with gushing streams of cures, removing human ailments.” Then: “Exalted by virtues, in the manner of a lofty cedar, you have brought forth for us sweet-smelling fruits, namely the abundance of doctrine, the grace of miracles, and the efficacy of healings, O blessed hierarch Cornelius.” And then: “Dead in nature, but in usage inhabiting a blessed sepulcher, you make it a fountain of many miracles, O wise Cornelius, healing the sick, driving away malignant spirits in the Holy Spirit.” C
11. For a long time this sepulcher was unknown, as is handed down in the Acts; until Saint Silvanus, bishop of Troas, found it in the times of Theodosius the Younger. The Latins, as we have said, venerate him on February 11, the Greeks on September 13; perhaps one celebration is of his glorious death, the other of the discovery and translation.
12. It should not be omitted that he is called a martyr in the Menaea, or whether he was truly killed for the faith of Christ, or only that he was subjected to the questioning which is mentioned in the Acts. Thus have the Menaea in the title of the day, 13 September: “And of the holy martyr Cornelius the centurion.” And in a certain canticle: “Besprinkled with the ointment of the priesthood, you went about, performing the proclamation of salvation among the Gentiles, rooting out the thorns of error, O divine and wise one, and planting doctrine subject to no error in minds. Therefore we bless you, as a priest inspired by God, and an invincible martyr, Cornelius.” To this pertains what is held in the miracles of Saint Anastasius the Persian, on January 22, in the 10th miracle performed at Caesarea: “A certain receiver of the temple of the holy and glorious martyr Cornelius, named John.” Although in the Acts also, chapter 3, no. 12, he is called a martyr. D
A V. While he was living his life in this way, he strove mightily to remain hidden and to have no one who was aware of it. For to none of those who have done evil has it been such a concern to remain hidden. But this was difficult, since virtue is of such a nature that it is accustomed to make manifest the one who practices it, and, furthermore, God wishes to glorify His servant. And so, He reveals him also in the present time. A certain man, Syrian by race, Hesychius by name, advanced in age, and possessing an ascetic practice nearly equal in time, was himself one of those who were being trained in that holy monastery, in whose footsteps that great John desired to follow while he had not yet reached the summit of virtue. To him, as he was offering nocturnal prayers to God, there appeared something divine and stronger than human eyes could gaze upon; it is something that the tongue fears to bring into the open, and which is also, above all, terrible to hear. But one must listen with attention. For the account is mixed no less with fear than with pleasure. Two men, white in their dress, terrible in their appearance, seemed to him to descend from heaven and to approach, standing face to face with this great man B who was himself also praying at night. One of them seemed to have a codex, and the other keys, in his hands. John, struck by their appearance—so alien was it—was seized with fear and immediately cast himself down upon the earth. But they, taking hold of his hands, raised him up, released him from fear, and commanded him to be of good courage. When the great John asked who they might be—they who, being of such glory, had come to him—they said, "Do not fear, for we have come to you sent by Christ." C Then one, stretching out his hand, offered him the volume, saying, "Receive this book. For I am John, upon whose breast the Wisdom of God reclined, and which He permitted me to rest upon, fearing nothing. This will also make the Scriptures easy for you to understand, and will guide you to their knowledge." But the other, also stretching out his hand, said, "Receive these keys. Know me to be Peter, to whom these were entrusted by God; believe that even now, through me, He deems you worthy of the same grace, so that whatever you bind or loose on earth, these things shall be bound or loosed also in the heavens." D To this the blessed man, being ashamed and dismayed in spirit, and judging himself unworthy of such great grace, those divine men encouraged and filled with confidence. Then, after signing him with the figure of the cross, and having been seen to kiss him, they flew back into the heavens. Having seen these things, that distinguished man remained for a long time full of fear and astonishment, so that when the monks saw him so affected and asked what the cause was, he revealed it only with difficulty, commanding them to maintain great silence, and that these things should remain hidden to John, lest we give him an occasion for—
A II. But God did not leave him ignorant of the mystery into which Cornelius was to be initiated; or rather, He did not despise the righteousness and prayers of Cornelius. But because those who were of the circumcision differed from those who had uncircumcision, lest Peter should send back in vain those who had been sent by Cornelius, because they had uncircumcision, holding it unlawful for himself to associate with a foreigner or to approach him—since they had already set out from Caesarea and were not far from Joppa—God demonstrated to him also the virtue and the realization of Cornelius. Thus, when he had ascended to the upper part of the house, where at the sixth hour he was to offer prayers, he had need to refresh himself with food and was hungry. And while food was being prepared for Peter, he saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel, like a great linen sheet, being let down to the earth by four corners, and coming toward him. And the vessel contained beasts, all the four-footed animals of the earth, and reptiles, and the birds of the sky. And a voice from it seemed to go forth to him, saying, "Rise, Peter, kill and eat." Then when he said, "By no means, Lord," and then added also the cause, "For I have never eaten anything common or unclean," the voice answered him again, "What God has cleansed, you must not call common." And this having happened three times, the vessel was taken up again into heaven. B Now this signified the conversion of Cornelius and those who were C with him. For the hunger from which Peter suffered signified his purpose and zeal for piety; and that he hungered and desired nothing so much as the realization of the unbelievers and the imparting to them, in every instance, of the true worship of God and the preaching of the Gospel. And the four-footed animals, and the reptiles, and the birds were a sign of the multitude of those who were to be converted with Cornelius. And the vessel let down three times from heaven signified the immersion of the earth in baptism. And that they had been cleansed by God signified the righteousness and mercy of Cornelius with his whole house, and that they too had become acceptable to God.
III. Now while Peter was pondering, and unable to conjecture concerning the vision, those who had been sent by Cornelius had already arrived at the doors, and the Spirit, having fallen upon him, immediately announced their arrival, and commanded Peter to accompany them without any hesitation. And as soon as he had descended to them, they reported to him all things that Cornelius had seen and what he had heard from the angel. Therefore, on the next day, they went together to Caesarea. And when Cornelius had come to meet them and had fallen at his feet, Peter raised him up, saying, D "I myself am also a man." Then, having sown the word of piety into him and into the souls of those who had gathered, after he saw the grace of the Spirit having fallen upon them and commanding baptism, he brought them to the truth and initiated them with baptism.
A cedat. They, therefore, having heard what was said, were struck with amazement, and from this proof they concluded regarding his future life as well, that he would surely perform great and admirable things. And indeed things did happen in truth, with God glorifying that great man in his works. But for us, a few things, and those in few words, must be told from these according to our strength.
VI. A certain man of Antioch, illustrious by birth and magnificent in life, was suffering from a certain disease that caused great pain in the middle of his skull. The force of the disease was so great and so intense B that the eye was forced out of its socket by the power of the evil, a sight worthy of tears to all who beheld it. When he arrived at the monastery where the great John was living, he made many entreaties and uttered many voices to move him to pity, asking for a cure. He was indeed filled with pity—for how could he not be, being most philanthropic toward all?—yet he said that these things were the wages of wicked deeds and of unbelief in Christ. "If, therefore," he said, "you approach Him with your whole soul, and having abandoned your former pursuits, you adopt a manner of life pleasing and agreeable to Him, nothing will prevent you from obtaining the cure for what pains you." When he confessed that he believed and promised to change his life for the better, and furthermore kissed those holy hands and applied his garment to the C painful part, not only was the head relieved of the pain, but the eye, which by the force of the disease had been thrust out, was restored to its proper place, just as it had been before. This was enough, when told, to become a clear sign of the saint's faith, and to signify the great assistance of grace, which he had received from God, to reveal a glimpse of his power.
VII. The narrative wishes to add yet another instance to this, none the less deserving of silence than the former. I refer, of course, to the case of Archelaus, and the miracle he experienced. He happened to be the governor of Antioch and held the first rank in the city; but due to a certain secret affliction, a leprosy had broken out D on his forehead, which caused him great distress, as the disease brought him shame and caused him to avoid the eyes of almost everyone. Although he had made use of the physician’s art for assistance, he gained no benefit, save for being mocked by the empty hope, until it was proven to be fallacious. At last, and with difficulty, he recalled the saint to mind, and arriving before him with a more fervent spirit, he touched those holy feet, showed the disease, and begged to receive a cure for what was afflicting him. He, being most merciful, had pity on his misfortune and was moved by the suppliant's voice. He then required of him a confession that he would henceforth turn away from evil works and make amends for his previous sins. When he promised to do all these things and strove diligently for his cure, he ordered him to take some of the water, such as the brethren are accustomed to drink, and to wash in the name of Christ. When this was done, the cleansing of his
CHAPTER II. The labors of St. Cornelius, especially at Scepsis.
A IV. When the apostles had dispersed from Jerusalem after the sorrow occasioned by the death of Stephen, B Cornelius was with them. He traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch itself; and he set off again in the company of Peter and Timothy, nor was he absent from them even in Ephesus. When they learned that the city of the Scepsians was subject to the worship of idols, they consulted as to who among them should go to it, and entrusted the matter to lots. When the lot fell to Cornelius, he immediately set out for that city. The governor of the city was a certain Demetrius, a philosopher and fierce adherent of Hellenism, who breathed threats against the pious faith of the Christians. He practiced the worship of other Hellenic gods, especially Apollo and Zeus. Having learned of the arrival of Cornelius, he sent for the man at once and inquired why he had come, from where he had come, and what his profession was.
He answered: "I am a servant of the living God. I have been sent here in order to rescue you from the deepest darkness of ignorance, to lead you to the light of the truth, and to instill in your soul a pure ray of knowledge."
Demetrius, understanding not even a little of this, became gradually filled with rage, and suddenly shouted in a frenzied and savage manner: "I asked you one thing, and you answer me another! By all the gods, if you do not speak singly and with due care to the purpose, I shall not spare your old age, nor grant pardon to your years, nor shall I respect your gray hair. But speak: whom do you serve, and for what purpose have you come?"
C V. Cornelius said, "If you wish to know what my service is, I am a centurion." And he immediately unfolded and explained the aforementioned matters more clearly. "For knowing," he said, "into what great error you, your wife, and all the authority under you have fallen, I have come to release you from your deception, to guide you to the path of truth, and to reconcile you to the one living God, who created heaven and earth, by whom all things in them were brought into being, and by whose nod they are governed."
Seeing him to be quite elderly, Demetrius said to these things, "Pity for your age enters my heart. Therefore, letting go of these long-winded trifles—for I shall speak with you briefly—come and sacrifice to the gods."
When he asked, "To which gods?" the governor said, "To which others, if not to Zeus and Apollo? But if you refuse this, know well that you shall be handed over to grievous punishments and tortures, nor will any god be so powerful as to snatch you from my hands."
He replied, "My God is able not only to preserve me unscathed from evils, and to make me superior to the injuries and insults of men, but also to destroy those whom you name as gods." D
A leprosy followed, and in such a way that not even a token of the affliction remained at all. How great a joy encompassed Archelaus on this account! What great cause for thanksgiving to God did it provide him (why should I not say that which is greater and more perfect)? What great cause for healing of the soul did this bodily cure become for him! For indeed, he was so captivated by the words of the holy man, and he so hastened to demonstrate the sincerity of his promises to him, that he gave no place to delays, nor did he allow any lapse of time for the matter or for hesitations; but, immediately distributing his possessions to those in need and to the poor, he determined to count it as the lot of others to be concerned with things pertaining to this life, and to cling to the dreams and corruptible things of it. He, however, coming to the monastery where his physician was, wished to be in the number of those who were trained there, and choosing the most perfect life under that teacher, he studied until the end to please the Creator. This stirred many of those who were illustrious at Antioch to a similar emulation, and added to the number of those who are being saved. For in a similar way, dedicating their property to God for the sake of the needy, some were enrolled in the number of this holy monastery, just as also they say that that Theodore, who was one of those who were very illustrious, was; while others frequented other monasteries that were in the city. But all looked to the life of John, as to one prototype. For even if among individuals there were those who excelled others in life and order, yet of all these, he was the first instructor and teacher.
B VIII. But indeed, the discourse wishes also to remember his other miracles, and not to consign to oblivion those which are truly not worthy to be silenced. For a certain man named Eucleus, whose eye had been gouged out by an envious demon, decided to undertake the monastic life in the monastery in which this great man resided. And when he approached, and had changed his habit and life, he draws the holy man to mercy. He hears, therefore, the saint praying for him thus in words, and with great warmth of sympathy inflaming his soul: "God, O brother, will heal you, and will enlighten your eyes and your heart and your body." At the same time with this word ran the cure, and his eye was enlightened, and he was using it just like the other. The account of the miracles is simple and easy for me, as I look toward the length of the discourse, and I do not wish to pursue matters at large and at length. But there is no need for external ornamentation, and for those things that can exalt them, but their own beauty and greatness will suffice for them. Wherefore also the others must be told by me in the same manner.
C IX. A certain woman, an Antiochene citizen, Christina by name, was laboring heavily with a flow of blood for seven years already. When, therefore, she had long made use of physicians, and had recognized that they were leading her on with vain hope and useless waste of time, she is carried by beasts of burden, and with her husband following, is brought to
A this holy monastery, and cast down in the vestibule. But he, having entered to the saint and told him the reason for his arrival, is rebuked by the saint for not having done what was appropriate, and because of the ignorance of his companion. "For why," he says, "did you pass by him who is able to cure these things, and approach a man who is subject to the same sufferings, asking of him things that are not in his power? But nevertheless," he says to the wife, "if you cast off these harsh and stubborn manners and show yourself moderate and kind to your handmaids, and if you open a generous and rich hand to the poor, and if you remember prayer and cultivate continence, the healing of the body will quickly follow after the healing of the soul." The woman learns these things, and signifies that she will leave nothing of what was commanded unfulfilled. And when she heard the promise from her husband, he said, "Depart in peace; for your wife has already been cured by Christ." When he himself had gone away, and saw that it was truly so, immediately together with his wife he moved his tongue to thanksgiving to the Creator and his feet to his journey. Adding this one thing to what has been said, I shall make mention of others again at their proper time.
B C X. A lion of the greatest size, and whose strength could not be resisted, and who was most terrible to behold and most fierce to attack, was at that time moving about in the places which are around Alexandria. He was a bad neighbor to the farmers, and for travelers a grave sight and a formidable encounter. For rushing upon them with great impetus, he would kill many and at the same time send them into his belly: and he was equally destructive and harmful, and most difficult to be removed from the midst of them; and when a large and vigorous band of those who lived nearby had invaded him, he recognized that this was the cause of his own evil. For rushing most swiftly upon everyone, some indeed he moved from the place by his roar alone and turned to flight; but others he tore apart with his mouth and devoured; and others, when he had lacerated their bodies with his claws, he rendered miserable. For what else, unless they were wounded by a lion? Hence what resulted? The fields were left neglected by the farmers; but travelers would turn aside to inaccessible places, because the beast could not be withstood. But when, having been brought to the last extremity of despair, they at last remembered the man of God, a very great multitude coming to him recounted the very evils by which the lion had afflicted them, and asked of him that he should free them from this calamity. But he, having first rebuked them for their lack of faith, and having caused that the beast had seemed to them inexpugnable because of their contempt for the divine precepts, said: "By you all, indeed, is God to be appeased, by gathering together in the temple; but that which I give you (it was, in fact, a cross which was given) you must place in those places through which the lion passes: and let every fear truly be gone, but let there be perfect faith, and not much later the power of my Christ will be manifest to you also." When they had received this cross, and had done as they had been commanded, and when on the following day they had come there (O Lord and God of all, and incomprehensible creator of wondrous works), they see the D beast dead at the very base
A did not allow it. Having therefore gathered the clergy who were under him, "Children," he said, "a great treasure has been revealed to me; but come, let us take it up." When they heard this, all were ready and eager, and they followed the bishop gladly. But when they arrived at the bush, the clergy said to the bishop immediately: "A certain more divine grace hovers here, O master; and we know that many have flocked here and have been delivered from illnesses and wicked demons, and they have attributed the healing to the bush. But even if the treasure is within and under this bush, who," he said, "could cut it down and take it away, since it is impossible for it to be cut on account of its size, and besides, it is not easy to touch, being terrible to many because of the operation of the miracles?" When the bishop had prayed to God and had planted the cross in the ground B and had laid his hand upon the bush, he cut it out by its very roots. Therefore, the clergy, being strengthened, immediately applied themselves to the work; and the bush was pulled away as if it were some soft herb, and it was no longer a bush, but a coffin was immediately revealed in a short time. And the bishop still persisted, urging the digging. But when evening had already arrived, the bishop prayed, and again commanded the clergy to chant the nocturnal psalmody, and they honored the coffin throughout the whole night with hymns and lamps and incense.
XV. But when the lack of funds for building the temple gave the bishop worry and perplexity, the Saint solved this difficulty too; he appeared to a certain pious man among the wealthy, by name Eugenius, and entrusted the building of the temple to him, and described the form and magnitude of the building. In the morning, therefore, Eugenius came to the bishop, announced the vision to him, and immediately set builders over the work, having first described to them and indicated the height and length of the building, and having ordered the entrance to the altar to be made equal in width to the coffin; for it had pleased him to place the coffin inside the altar C.
XVI. After the temple was quickly completed—God and the wonder-worker doing this in the place called Trigona—the builders came (for there the bishop, Silvanus, was celebrating the festival of the blessed Apostle Andrew), and they announced to him the completion of the building and said: "It is now time for the coffin to be moved; for it will be more easily brought in thus." Immediately, therefore, the bishop, together with the pious Eugenius, took up the holy Gospel, and after prayer had been offered first, they began to sing the Trisagion together, and all together sang the same hymn with him, and they went out making a litany. Then even the coffin (O your great wonders, Master!) followed as if it were animate, with no one at all moving it, nor touching, nor handling it. And all, indeed, at first, because of their extreme astonishment, did not deign to believe even the miracle which they were witnessing; then, having been brought into an ecstasy, they cried out, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord of Sabaoth, who through your servant Cornelius [revealest] your wonders and your powD-
A of the Cross.
Thus, then, the blessed man, having lived for four years in that monastery, and having become illustrious and renowned through those things which he said and even more through those which he did, drawing others to virtue, was a sweet gratification B to all, and he brought great pleasure to the tongues and ears of those who loved both to speak and to listen equally to what was said. He, however, not only did not take pleasure in these things, but even bore them with difficulty and was burdened by them; and revolving in every way how to escape notice, he again devised a flight, intending to place himself out of the middle and become unseen. Having then secretly fled and being alone, he passed two full years dwelling thus in solitude, and appearing to God alone. He had no lamp, no bed, no table, nor anything of that sort C which might pertain to the service of the body. There was only a little bread, and that quite scant, provided by one of his neighbors; but against the cold, and the heat, and all the hardships of the air, he strove. Now since it was necessary that he, too, being a man and subject to the infirmities of nature, should be tested—what comes to pass, and how the things concerning him are managed; and with what varied occasions the wisdom of God often makes use, weaving one thing through another and managing it with great art—he receives a sense of pain in the lower abdomen, and the strength of his kidneys is dissolved, as one who had been overcome by the excessive cold. Compelled, therefore, by this necessity, or rather led by the Spirit by whom he was guided, with the result that he became a cause of salvation for many, he comes to the Church beyond his expectation; and to all men, but especially D to the great Meletius, he became the cause of great joy, and having been shown to be most pleasing to him and encouraged, he subsequently receives the ordination of deacon at his hands. In this rank, he behaved most beautifully and in a way pleasing to God for five full years, and watered the face of the Church, showering it from his golden tongue with the prayers which he spoke extemporaneously, as well as those which he composed at leisure and elaborated with greater meditation.
XI. But after this, when Meletius had come to the synod of bishops which had been gathered in Constantinople, for the purpose of deposing those who fought against the Holy Spirit and not in the Spirit of God, and of installing the theologian Gregory in the see; and had there exchanged things that are fleeting and temporal for those that are abiding: this golden one, at once withdrawing from every prominence and claiming the good of silence and quiet, returns again to his first monastery. But having again arisen from there, he returns to Antioch, not simply in this way, nor having made the transition without God, as another might, following his own reasonings, but as God moved him and called him in a way more divine and superior to reason. For as the great Flavian, who had succeeded to the throne of Meletius shortly before, was offering holy hymns to God at dawn, an angel appeared to...
to receive the grace of the Spirit. And for this reason, various diseases of the body and the entire race of demons fled at the mere name of Tryphon; in such a way, his youth—in its perfect beauty—did not struggle against his peers or against warlike men, but showed its courage against demons and diseases. But to treat of all his miracles now is not for the present time. Having made mention of one alone, and showing as from a small taste the whole, I shall turn my account to the martyrdom of this illustrious athlete.
B III. Two hundred and ninety years after the death of Augustus, Gordian assumed the scepter of the Roman Empire, a man of pagan religion, indeed, but not so harsh toward the Christians. For he did not institute a persecution against the Christians as others had done. To him was born an only daughter, distinguished in the beauty and grace of her body, and far more beautiful in the natural aptitude and intelligence of her soul—which also led her to the pursuit of literature and the acquisition of learning. Consequently, her parents struggled greatly to keep her intact and unblemished. A great desire inflamed the leading men of the city who sought her hand in marriage, and because of this, they kept her under lock and key and in the house, in complete security. But so that Tryphon might be known even to the city of the Romans, or rather, so that Christ might be glorified in him, a certain wicked demon suddenly attacked this girl, and what cruel things did he not do? He assaulted her shamelessly, tore at her unsparingly, cast her into fire and water, and in every way raged against her life. But while the demon was thus [treating her], the girl nonetheless showed her parents the lash, tearing at their very hearts and making the death—detested by all—a thing to be prayed for by them. For the affliction was coupled with shame and [was] beyond all hope of medical cure. For indeed all the doctors had given up hope, and the learned men were at a loss; no remedy was sufficient for such a great evil, until the wicked spirit itself, forced by a greater power, began to cry out. It acknowledged its own pursuer: the pursuer of that spirit, but the therapist of the girl being twisted by it. "If Tryphon does not come," it said, "I will not let the girl go; I will not depart from her, unless I see Tryphon here."
D IV. Immediately, therefore, imperial letters and messages went out across the whole world, and every place was searched; in every language Tryphon was called upon, Tryphon was summoned. And all who were upon the earth were divided into two groups: they were either searching for Tryphon or being asked about Tryphon. And when the search reached Phrygia, Tryphon was finally discovered, living near the village of Campsada, acting as a keeper and tender of geese, he who was so great. Having confessed that he himself was Tryphon, the very one being sought, he was immediately sent by those who had found him to the prefects, Pompeianus and Protestatus. They, having mounted him upon public horses, sent him off to Rome to the emperor...
A And he indeed finished the journey directly; he was then about seventeen years of age. But the evil spirit, having sensed his arrival, then vexed her grievously and raged through the girl; and often wailing, it cried out that it could no longer use her body as an abode: for he was near, it said, who would cast it out with a powerful hand. For there remain, it said, three days, and Tryphon arrives, who has received authority over us. When it had cried out thus at length, and had torn at her, it departed.
V. On the third day after the departure of the demon, the saint reached B Rome; and he was brought straightway to Gordian, a desired person; whom the emperor welcomed gladly, for he recognized him as the one who had healed his daughter, inferring from his arrival the fixed limit of three days. But that the matter might be more certain and evident, he asked that he produce the demon to be seen with their eyes, and that he might interrogate him. Therefore, for six days the holy man devoted himself to fasting and intense prayers to our Lord Jesus Christ, and as the seventh dawned, he received from above a greater and more powerful authority against demons. For when the darkness of night was dispersed, and the sun, casting its rays upon the earth, smiled brightly, the emperor was present, C and there were present all his satellites and those who obeyed his rule, all with souls raised in expectation of the novelty soon to take place. But the divine Tryphon, being full of the Holy Spirit, yet also seeing with his mind that unclean spirit as it were standing before him invisibly—for it had been summoned back even against its will, just as if being driven out even while it did not wish it—"To you I speak," he says, "in the name of Jesus Christ: appear to those present, and make your own ugliness and weakness clear and manifest to all." The word had not yet reached its end, and a dog was seen, most hideous, black in color, having eyes as if emitting fire, and with its head D bent to the ground, it appeared before all.
VI. To whom the servant of God, who had been praying, said: "Tell me, accursed one, who sent you? Who permitted you to invade this young girl? And how, being such as you are, namely dark and weak and full of every disgrace and wickedness, do you dare to disregard and vex that which was made in the image of God?" But the demon, answering, said: "I am sent by my father." It said, in fact, that its father was the author and cause of evils, who is also called Satan, and that it had been commanded by him to torment this girl. "And what power," says Tryphon again, "does the prince of malice have against the creature whom omnipotent goodness constituted and fortified with the Holy Spirit?" That dog, although it did not wish to, yet by a certain divine operation, answered truthfully to all who were listening: "We have no power over those who are pious towards God Almighty and his Christ, for whom Peter and Paul here received a glorious martyrdom. Them indeed we would flee out of reverence, were it not that it has been permitted to us to bring some light temptation upon them from without. But over those we have no strength at all, and over them we hold tyranny, who by their own
A great gods, reverencing only a certain Christ, and by that means leads many astray with his novel doctrines. Straightway, therefore, letters and edicts with vehement threats were dispatched to the magistrates of that place, that with all speed they should present to him the one who was being sought. But it was not possible for the lamp of faith, shining brightly, to remain hidden, nor for myrrh to be concealed, showing itself by its own scent. Furthermore, the man himself, having heard of the inquiry of the persecutors, does not withdraw to the deserts, nor does he flee to the dense and uncultivated mountains; but having armed himself with prayers and supplications, he appears most brightly to those who were seeking him, and is sent with joy to Aquilinus. Aquilinus had his residence at Nicaea at that time. A high tribunal having been set up for him, and all his bodyguard standing about him, as is their custom, Pompeianus, a scriniarius of the highest rank, said: "He who was sent from Apamea by the governor Fronto to your Magnificence, stands before your most holy tribunal of authority." The prefect Aquilinus said: "Let him who stands here first declare his name, his country, his station, and then his religion." The holy Tryphon said: "To me, the name from the earth is Tryphon; my country is the village of Campsada, a neighbor to B the city of Apamea; but 'fortune' with us neither exists nor is spoken of, by those of us who believe that all things come to pass by the providence of God and by His order, and that the whole is governed by His wisdom. I am free in my way of life, and I am enslaved to one God only. For Christ is my religion, Christ is my glory and the crown of my boasting."
IX. The prefect said: "I suppose that until this day you have not come to know the command of the Augustus, which orders that every man who has an intransigent spirit toward the worship of the gods be delivered to a violent death. But obey me, and depart from this deception, so that you do not subject yourself both to fire and to other torments." The holy Tryphon said: "Would that it might be granted to me to be consumed by fire and by all tortures for the sake of the name of Christ, my God." The prefect said: "Sacrifice, O Tryphon, I counsel you, to the gods; for I see your mind is perfect and steady, and I do not wish, by the gods, to see you die miserably." The holy Tryphon said: "I shall have a perfect mind, if I offer to my God a perfect confession and the good deposit—maintaining the faith in Him without denial—and offer myself as a spotless and whole sacrifice to Christ who was sacrificed for me." The prefect, again threatening him with fire and tortures, said: "I will commit your body to the fire, and I will destroy your soul with most bitter punishments." The holy Tryphon said: "You threaten me with fire that is extinguished and perishes along with the material that kindles it, the end of which is ash. But I, in return, threaten you with a fire that is unquenchable and eternal. Therefore, depart from vain things and acknowledge Him who is truly God, lest, having made trial of that fire, you repent much of your current deception." Having heard these things, Aquilinus, and being inflamed with anger, orders him to be suspended and scourged.
X. Immediately, then, upon the sentence having been delivered, the
A by the unbearable cold of winter as they were bared, and were also being trampled by the horses’ hooves, so that his flesh was scattered upon the ground. But the martyr, always looking toward the Lord, while he was warmed and refreshed in Him, did not bear the pain with difficulty, singing: “Establish my steps in your paths, that my footsteps may not be moved.” And again: “Direct my steps according to your word, and let not any iniquity have dominion over me,” and what follows thereafter. Besides these, he also let out the words of the first martyr, saying: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”
When Aquilinus had returned from the hunt late in the day, he called for the martyr, whom he had shown to be a prize B of the hunt rather than a captive of his own. “Are you now persuaded, wretched man,” he said, “to use wise reasoning even now and sacrifice to the gods, or are you still held by your former insanity?” The holy Tryphon says: “Being yourself full of irrational insanity and imprudence, you are not able to recover from the drunkenness poured out upon you by the devil, nor to acknowledge the Creator of all things. I, however, use wise reasoning, not turning away from the truth that gives salvation.” The prefect Aquilinus says: “Now let him return to the prison and be kept for another examination. Perhaps when he is alone he will admonish himself to desist from this evil persuasion.” Having said this, he set out for the neighboring regions.
XII
When some days had passed, he came again to Nicaea and, sitting at the tribunal, had the holy Tryphon brought C forward and said: “Has the length of time not admonished you, and persuaded you to be obedient to the emperors and to fall as a suppliant before the savior gods?” The holy martyr answered: “My God and Lord Jesus Christ, whom I serve with a pure mind, has admonished me, and has confirmed and strengthened me so that I keep my faith in Him unchangeable and immovable. The passage of time has only served to provide me with greater assurance of what I have been given; hence I recognize Him alone as the true King and God. As for your misery and the arrogance of your emperor, I despise them utterly, and I turn away from the vanity of those you worship as gods.” The judge said: “Pierce his feet with sharp nails, and scourge him and drive him through the middle of the city.” While the saint was being dragged for a long time and his blood was being shed, and his sufferings were intensified, and the harshness of the season caused him distress (for it was the height D of winter), he remained inflexible and invincible in his thought. For, seeing Christ before him and considering the blessedness that is laid up for the saints, he endured the tortures, even the more dense ones of snow, just as if they were a light sprinkling of rain, reckoning them as light for the sake of the river of delight that he desired.XIII
Since Aquilinus was thus greatly astonished at this, “How long, O Tryphon,” he said, “will you not feel these torments? How long will the sharpness of the pain not reach you?” The holyA beatus Tryphon, having stripped off his garment and surrendered that venerable and beautiful body to the executioners with a prompt and eager mind, was suspended upon the wood; then, with his hands bound behind him, he was scourged in his flesh with noble courage. And while he was being thus flayed for three hours, and was quietly enduring the blows, as though another were suffering them, the prefect Aquilinus, exhorting him not as one would a man of such fortitude, but as an unmanly and ignoble person, said: "Repent, Tryphon, of this untimely madness, and confess that you will sacrifice to the gods; for there is no one who, having gainsaid the command of the king, has not paid for it with a bitter and violent end of his life." The holy Tryphon said: "And I say to you, that no one who has denied the heavenly King, Christ, shall fall from eternal life; rather, he shall be condemned to unquenchable fire." B To these things the prefect replied: "The heavenly King," he said, "is none other than the great Zeus, the son of Cronus and Rhea, who is indeed the father of both men and gods; and those who do not obey him cannot live; to him you also ought to be persuaded, that you may be deemed worthy of a most pleasant life." The holy Tryphon said: "May those who believe him to be a god, and all who trust in him, become like your god Zeus; whom they say was a wizard and a wicked man, having left behind no type of evil unperformed or unattempted; and after his death, those who pursued deeds of shame similar to his, erecting golden and silver statues to him, have proclaimed him a god, bringing forward this deification as a kind of apology for their own licentiousness—a stratagem used by the fully audacious. The same manner is observed also concerning the others of your falsely named gods. C Thus, therefore, you also, following from of old an erroneous tradition, wish to pay homage to lifeless matter and wood, neglecting the living God, who fixed the heavens, established the earth upon the waters, poured out the air, and, having fashioned the whole nature of existing things, established man as Lord over it. Having compassion, then, on this creature, who was led and enticed by the wicked devil and estranged by wicked deeds from the God who made him—since the evil was incurable through many things that had happened before—the Word of God, out of great philanthropy for His creation, was well pleased to become man, and to take upon Himself a form similar to ours, and in it to endure the cross and death, and D thus, by being humbled, to put the proud one to shame. Being crucified, then, and buried, and then rising from the dead and being assumed into the heavens, He now sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high, until all creation acknowledges Him; and thus, having come from heaven with divine power and glory, He will render to each the requitals for both deeds and intentions. This is the God of gods, the King of kings, and the Judge of both the living and the dead; but the gods considered such by you are names only, devoid of works, or the inventions of wicked demons, devised solely for the destruction of those who worship them." XI. These things being said by the martyr, Aquilinus, being in a supreme rage, orders the saint to be taken down from the wood, and to follow behind him in bonds to the hunt. It was, therefore, possible to see the most bitter torture being inflicted upon the martyr; for the soles of his feet were being torn apart 42
Tryphon answered: “How long will you not understand the power of Him who dwells within me? How long will you not cease tempting the Holy Spirit of God? Have you not yet perceived that the power of Christ is invincible?” Then, filled with rage, the impious judge commanded that the holy one’s arms be bound and that he be struck with rods, and then that torches of fire be applied to his sides. B When these torments were being inflicted upon him with great violence, a certain divine splendor suddenly shone upon him from heaven, illuminating and surrounding him, and offering him a crown that was most beautiful, adorned with gems, which greatly astonished those who were standing around to torture the holy one (for they had thought that he was suffering torture), when they saw this great miracle that far surpassed nature; and it caused them to fall to the ground in amazement. But the martyr of Christ, having experienced that the defense had come from above, filled with confidence and exultation, confessed to God, saying: “O Lord Master, I thank Thee that Thou hast not left me in the hands of my enemies, but hast overshadowed my head in the day of battle, and hast given me the protection of salvation, and Thy right hand hath upheld me. And now, O Lord, I beseech Thee, stand by me until the end, strengthening and helping me, and deign that I may fight the good fight of this confession perfectly and without stumbling, so that I may be deemed worthy of the crown of righteousness together with all who have loved Thy holy name, for Thou alone art glorified unto the ages. Amen.” C XIV. Again, therefore, that accursed judge, being pushed by the demon speaking within him, went to the athlete, attempting to entice him with flatteries, and said, “Sacrifice, O Tryphon, to the great Zeus, and worship the image of Caesar, and I will dismiss you, having honored you with the greatest honors and gifts.” The holy Tryphon, smiling, said: “If I have openly despised that very Augustus of yours, and have rejected his commands as being alien to reason, shall I worship his inanimate image, fashioned by human art and colors? Far be it. As for Zeus and your other so-called gods, who are falsely called gods, ask those among you who pride themselves on wisdom, who, in trying to conceal the shameful things from the myths told about them, appear to those who are wise to be struggling to escape them; they call Zeus the ether, Juno the air, Ceres the earth, and Neptune the sea, and they have named Apollo the sun and Diana the moon—and they seem to me to interpret Mercury allegorically as reason, Mars as anger, and Venus as desire. D And thus, by constituting as images every single part of the world, and even the very habits of the soul, and by insanely abandoning the Creator of all things, while worshipping the created thing more than the Creator, you not only fall away from the right judgment and are carried headlong to the ruin of your soul, but you also strive to drag us along, so that we may be participators in the same pit and destruction. But you shall not attain your deceitful prey, nor will you persuade those who have truly hoped in the only strong and living God to turn away from a right mind and attend to vain images.” Aquilinus, hearing these words, was astonished; and, being filled with very great
OF SAINT AGATHA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR
IN CATANIA, SICILY (Year of Christ 251, February 5 — Acta SS. Bolland. Febr. Vol. I, p. 595.)A Catania, a city of Sicily, situated on the Ionian Sea and at the roots of the terrifying Mt. Aetna, was founded by the Greeks and inhabited by them for a long time, then by the Campanians; but eventually it was enlarged as a colony of Roman citizens, as Pliny testifies in Book III, chapter 8, and [it was] more populous even than Messana itself in the age of the geographer Strabo, that is, in the times of Augustus and Tiberius, and still today it is counted among the three most famous cities of the whole island, alongside Panormus and Messana. And it indeed displays many noble monuments of antiquity; yet none is more glorious than the virgin and martyr Agatha: whom both the Greek Menologium and the Menaea rightly call *Katánēs tò kaúchēma*, “the glory of Catania”; Rocchus Pirrus in *Sicilia sacra*, Vol. II, Notit. Eccl. Catanen., no. 3, calls her “the honor and immortal ornament of all Sicily,” and Maurice the Bishop, in his history of her Translation, calls her “the pledge and lovable patronage of all Sicily.”
“Her divinity,” as Thomas Fazellus speaks in *De reb. Siculis*, decade 1, book III, cap. 1, “as the guardian of the city of Catania, is worshipped most religiously by a very great gathering of men and women from all over Sicily on the Nones of February.” Nor is her birthday celebrated on that day only in Catania; but, as Radulphus de Rivo, Dean of Tongeren in Belgium, wrote 250 years ago, “everywhere outside Sicily, the [feast of] Agatha, Virgin and Martyr, is [a feast of] nine lessons.” Her name is inscribed in the most ancient Martyrologies for that day. B Such is the name. Such is the most ancient Roman [Martyrology], which we have often cited under the name of St. Jerome: “In Sicily, in the city of Catania, the nativity of Agatha the Virgin.” Another [text] edited by our own Heribert Rosweyde agrees: “St. Agatha, virgin, at the city of the Catanians;” and the Richenau [Martyrology], or *Augia Dives*, [says]: “In Sicily, in the city of Catania, the passion of St. Agatha the Virgin.”
Usuardus [is] more extensive: “In Sicily, in the city of the Catanians, the birthday of St. Agatha, virgin and martyr, who after slaps and imprisonment, after the rack and tortures, after the cutting off of her breasts, after rolling on potsherds and coals, was finally consummated in martyrdom under the judge Quintianus.” Ado, Bishop of Vienne, has these things in his Martyrology, which are also read in various manuscripts, even those titled under the name of Bede: “In Sicily, in the city of the Catanians, the passion of St. Agatha the Virgin under Emperor Decius, [and] the proconsul Quintianus, who after slaps and imprisonment, after the rack and tortures, [and] after the cutting off of her breasts—but [granted] healing by the Lord—after rolling on potsherds and coals, was finally consummated in prison.” C These things which Ado and Usuardus [record], most other Martyrologies, even more recent ones, also express; some more briefly, others more diffusely. Wandelbert of Prüm, who lived 800 years ago, sings this about her:
Sicania, to the Nones, subjects the peoples to Agathe, Her virtue celebrated with the noble grace of a Virgin.
The Greek Menologium and the Anthologium record the same on this day. D
be shown all honor and glory, and we may bring you before the consul. Saint Agatha, having taken up the shield from above—weapons not earthly, but fashioned on high—nobly armed herself against the tyrant. Now, as the executioners were urging her to come so that she might be presented to the tyrant, she entered her house and, lifting her eyes to heaven, said: “Master Lord, Jesus Christ, you know my disposition; you know my resolve; yourself be my leader against the tyrant. For he is already prostrate and trampled underfoot by me. And now, Master Lord, for the sake of your perfect and most high name, in which I have lived a reverent life, I pray you, hasten and conquer the devil, receiving my tears.”
D 4. Having prayed thus, she departed from Panormus, like a wall firm and surrounded by an entrenchment, and she walked eagerly with the executioners. As she communed in her mind with the beauty of virtue, she said: “First, I struggled for the sake of chastity, and I have conquered and trampled upon the arch-evil devil, who sows pleasures among the race of men, through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. But, O wicked and enemy of the truth, do you not see my stadium which is immortal, in which both the just and the angels rejoice? I have as a spectator the immortal Son of God, Lord Jesus Christ, surrounded by ten thousand ranks of angels.” And saying these things in her mind, she wept.
5. While she was walking, the shoelace binding her sandal became loose, and she rested her foot upon a stone and tied it. And turning to look behind, she saw no one of the citizens and womenfolk who had escorted her following, but they had left her and departed. Saint Agatha, being greatly saddened, prayed, saying: “Master Lord Almighty, for the sake of those who distrusted your servant who is about to come forward for your name, show a great wonder.” And immediately a fruitless olive tree sprang up, marking the judgments of the people of Panormus.
D 6. Now when she had entered Catana, the governor ordered her to be delivered to a matron named Aphrodisia, who had young daughters, in order that they might lead her astray through the ways and words of flattery and change her mind, and that, being persuaded, she might sacrifice to the idols. And they sought indeed to…
A allure her with promises of great honors at one time, and at another to threaten her with punishments, hoping to draw the holy virgin to idolatry. But as they endeavored by these deceitful enticements to steal away her reason and sense, the noble martyr of Christ, Agatha, answered them thus: "My understanding is founded upon the rock, such that it can never be separated from the love of Christ. Your words have vanished like the winds; your conversation B is rain; your threats are rivers. They have indeed dashed against our house, but they have by no means been able to shake it, founded as it is upon the rock, which is Christ." While she was saying these things, she did not cease to inundate her own breast with a flood of tears. For even as the deer pants for the fountains of waters, so did her soul yearn C to come to the stadium of the contest, hastening to endure every kind of torture with great desire for the sake of the faith in Christ.
VII. Aphrodisia, therefore, seeing the unconquered and immovable mind of holy Agatha, came to Quintianus and said: "It is easier to soften stones or turn iron into lead. For I and my daughters have D labored incessantly day and night doing nothing else, sometimes admonishing, and sometimes even applying threats. I have brought before her eyes pearls, notable ornaments, costly garments, gold, houses, suburban estates, and slaves; but she holds all these things as if they were mud under her feet and considers them as nothing." Then Quintianus, being angered, ordered her to be brought into the secretariat, and sitting upon the tribunal, he addresses her thus: "From what stock are you?" Holy Agatha said: "I am not only of a noble and most illustrious stock, but I also possess a lineage teeming with wealth." Quintianus said: "If you happen to be noble and most illustrious, why do you put on the face of a slave in your morals?" Agatha said: "Because I am a slave of Christ, you have correctly said; for this reason I also show myself to be a slave." Quintianus said: "In truth you are free; how then do you affirm yourself to be a slave?" Agatha said: "Our nobility and glory lie in this, that the servitude of Christ is proclaimed." Quintianus said: "What then? Do we not have freedom, we who despise the servitude of Christ?" Agatha said: "You have come to such servitude and captivity that you have become not only slaves of sin, but also worshippers of abominable and senseless idols, attributing to stones and wood the honor that is due to God."
VIII. Quintianus said: "If you utter any mad blasphemies, it is possible for punishment to be taken A from you. But before you fall into my torture chambers, declare for what cause you despise the worship of the gods." Agatha said: "Do not say gods, but demons, whose effigies in bronze... [original-script column: see facsimile]
A you are leading astray with your miserable reasoning? Renounce Christ, and begin to worship the gods, lest, deprived of your life and your youth, you bring upon yourself an untimely death." Agatha said: "Renounce your gods, who are stones and wood, and approach the Creator of all, the true God, who fashioned you, lest you fall into eternal punishments and interminable torments." Enraged, Quintianus B ordered her to be suspended and scourged. When this was occurring, Quintianus said to her: "Change your mind, Agatha, that your life may be spared." Agatha said: "Your torments bring me immense delight. Not otherwise does one exult in joy who has received glad tidings, or who beholds someone he desires, or who has discovered treasures. Thus I am delighted by these temporal afflictions of yours, which you threaten to inflict upon me. For it is not possible for grain to be safely preserved in the granary, unless it has first been stripped of the chaff. Likewise, my soul cannot be admitted into paradise, before my body has been lacerated in every way by your executioners."
XI. Excandescent, Quintianus first ordered her breast to be tortured, and then, after it had been long and cruelly tortured, to be amputated. But Saint Agatha said: "Impious, cruel, and sacrilegious tyrant, did you not blush to inflict such things upon a woman, and to cut off that breast which you yourself sucked from your mother's breast? Nevertheless, although you have cut off my external breast, I have another breast in my soul, which you will never be able to cut off: for it has been consecrated to Christ my God from my infancy." Angered, Quintianus ordered her to be thrust into a C prison, and forbade any physician from being admitted to her, and that neither bread nor water should be given to her.
XII. When she had been recluded in prison, about the middle of the night, the apostle Peter appeared to her in the form of an old man, preceded by a boy carrying a lamp; he himself had many medicines in his hand, and, saying that he was a physician, he addressed her with these words: "The impious tyrant has brought many and atrocious torments upon you; but he has accomplished nothing, for he has rather withered away at the sight of your constancy: therefore he ordered your breast to be tortured and then cut off. His soul indeed is destined to remain in pain and torment forever. But because I was present at that hour when you were suffering these things, and I observed and saw that it is possible for your breast to be healed, for this reason I have come." Saint Agatha D replied to him: "I have never at all applied any medicine to my body; and now I would deem it shameful to break a most excellent custom which I have firmly kept from my earliest childhood." The old man replied: "And I am a Christian, and I am confident that I can heal you; for this reason I have come to you. Only do not be ashamed, and do not fear me." The Saint replied saying: "But how is it possible, when you are an old man and advanced in years, and I am a maiden, and my body has been ravaged, that these wounds should cause my mind to be spurred? Nevertheless, it is more fitting to be modest, and not to expose my wounds indecorously. Wherefore I thank you, venerable Father, that you have deigned to come hither,
1085 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM.
[He urged them] to attempt [it], affirming that he would not willingly surrender himself to those sent to take him away. With difficulty, therefore, he thus restrained their great impulse. For they did not entirely free themselves from their anxieties, but kept watch by turns, fearing lest some betrayal concerning him might occur. These things were made known to the Emperor by letter, and those who had been sent confirmed that the resistance of the Antiochenes had not abated in the least. Consequently, the love for John was kindled more intensely in the Emperor himself and in the citizens. For it is customary for that which is easily captured to be neglected, while that which provides delay and labor for itself pricks the desire. Having therefore considered how he might attain what he desired without any danger befalling the matter, he wrote secretly to the Count of Antioch. And he, having summoned John outside the city as if to communicate with him regarding necessary matters, placed him upon mules, even though he was struggling strongly, and thus, having eluded the city, he sent him away, having entrusted him to those who had been sent.
1086 ...having sent away those who were the leaders of the city, he asked the people not to stir up anything new, nor to undertake matters too sharply and inconsiderately, affirming that he would not of his own accord surrender himself to those who had been sent. When he had spoken thus, he with difficulty repressed their great impulse. Nor did they free themselves entirely from care, but they kept watch by turns, lest any betrayal should happen to him. These things were signified to the Emperor by letter, and those who had been sent affirmed that the Antiochenes were not relaxing their constancy at all. Therefore, love for John was more vehemently kindled in him and in the citizens. For it is customary for that which is easily taken to be neglected; but that which brings some delay and postponement provokes desire. When, therefore, he had considered within himself how he might be able to attain what he desired, and that the matter would not come into any danger, he wrote through secret channels to the Count of Antioch. But he, when he had summoned John outside the city, as if he were about to communicate with him concerning certain necessary matters, placed him, though he was very reluctant and resistant, upon the mules he had prepared, and thus, with no one at all noticing, he sent him away, having handed him over to those who had been sent.
...would become [the bishop] of the royal city, he was honored with this first honor upon his entry by the will of the Emperor. Everything that was illustrious, not only of the Church but also of those in authority, having come forward six miles from the city, received him kindly with brilliant meetings and honors. Thus he also instilled an ardent desire in those from whom he departed, and the pain of the loss was unspeakable for them, and he instilled great pleasure in those to whom he came, which seemed to them a divine windfall and an incomprehensible gain. Both were of the manifold wisdom of God and of His kindness, which surpasses all mind and speech, so that He might show his virtue, how it is beloved and sought after by all, and might establish him as a provider of reward for both. For both were known to be well-disposed toward the good: the former by losing him with grief, the latter by receiving him with joy. And when he had entered, and a small space of time had passed, the day of the ordination was at hand; the bishops of the province were present, and Theophilus of Alexandria was also present, who was the first of the others to hasten to the completion of the rite for the blessed one. February had reached the twenty-sixth day, and it was possible to conjecture that since the choir of the saints was rejoicing at that time, and not even the angels were absent from this divine feast, the angel on earth was being perfected with the priestly chrism, and the transparent and super-brilliant star was being established at the height of the Church, illuminating the souls of men with a more graceful light; he who also had a life consistent with his speech, and speech befitting the purity of such a life. To whom persuading was as easy as speaking simply was to no one else; whose voice was gentle... [Theophilus, Bishop of Alexandria, mentions that he designated Chrysostom as bishop not willingly, but under compulsion, from Socrates, Book VI, ch. 2, Sozom. Book VIII, ch. 2, Baronius, Vol. V, Annals, year 397.]
15. When, therefore, that true man of God was near...
XVI. When, therefore, that true man of God, after that whole journey had been completed, was already near the royal city, he was affected by this first honor upon his entry by the will of the Emperor: whatever was clear and illustrious, not only in the Church but also among the magistrates, having progressed six miles outside the city, with laughing eyes and a joyful countenance signifying the joy of the soul, they met him, and affected him with the most splendid honors. Thus he also instilled an ardent desire in those from whom he departed, that desirable and most worthy soul; and to those to whom he came, he brought the greatest pleasure. Both were of the manifold wisdom and kindness of God, which surpasses all intelligence and speech, so that He might show his virtue, and how lovable he is, and might cause him to procure a reward for both. For it was known that both were held by an honest love: the former because they dismissed him with sorrow, the latter because they received him with joy. When, indeed, he had entered, and a small space of time had intervened, the day of consecration was at hand: and when the bishops of the province were present, and Theophilus of Alexandria (9) was also present, who was the first of the others to hasten, that he might be present at the consecration of the blessed John: and it was indeed the twenty-sixth day of February, and it was permitted to conjecture that, since the choir of the saints was rejoicing together, not even the angels were absent from this divine feast, he who was an angel on earth was consecrated with the sacred chrism, and was placed in the high place of the Church, who was truly a most lucid star, and was illuminating the souls of men with a more pleasant light: who also had a life consistent with his prayer, and a prayer which befitted such purity of life: to whom to persuade was no less... [is consecrated to his own province. Theophilus, Bishop of Alexandria, mentions that he designated Chrysostom as bishop not willingly, but under compulsion, from Socrates, Book VI, ch. 2, Sozom. Book VIII, ch. 2, Baronius, Vol. V, Annals, year 397.]
15. When, therefore, that true man of God, after that whole... (9) In the year 398, with the metropolitan bishops standing by,
and his friend named Falconius, by whose advice he did those wicked things. A Nor was this all, but the entire city of Catania was shaken violently by the force of the earthquake, so that all the citizens ran together to the praetorium, and greatly terrified the governor.
XVI. Then Quintianus, first of all terrified by the earthquake, and secondly disturbed by the uprising of the people, ordered Saint Agatha to be led back to prison. Having entered the jail, she raised her hands to heaven and said: "I give thanks to you, O Lord, that you have counted me worthy to contend for your holy name, and, having taken from me the desire for the present life, you have also granted endurance to my body. Hear me, B O Lord and Master, and deem your handmaid worthy to leave this world and to attain your abundant mercy." Having finished her prayer, she rendered up her spirit immediately.
XVII. When the people heard this, they ran with the greatest eagerness to the prison and placed the relics of the magnanimous martyr in a secure place. Now, a certain youth, leading with him one hundred boys most splendidly adorned, and being unknown to all the inhabitants of the city of Catania, came to the place where the holy relics were laid; he brought a marble tablet and placed it there, inscribing these words: "A holy mind, a spontaneous honor to God, and the deliverance of the fatherland." Having C placed this tablet inside by the head of the holy one and having sealed the casket, he departed, and was nowhere seen in the city again; whence the suspicion arose that he was an angel of the martyr.
XVIII. But Quintianus, when he had learned that the holy martyr had departed this life, betook himself to seize her possessions; having therefore taken his whole cohort, he was hastening toward Panormus. But scarcely had he begun his journey, when, by the just judgment of God, he perished in a certain river not far from Catania, named Psemithus. For as he wished to cross it, and had entered the ferry with his horses, two of them began to rage and attack him; one indeed fell upon him with its mouth and was suffocating him, while the other did not cease striking him D with its hooves until it cast him into the river Psemithus, and although many searched for his body, it could never be found.
XIX. These things having thus come to pass, the honor and veneration of the holy martyr Agatha grew, and no one dared to cause trouble to any of her kin. But that the report, which had already grown strong, that it was an angel who had placed the tablet in her tomb might be rendered certain and incontrovertible, when the year had turned, around the day of her martyrdom
A the mountain of Etna vomited forth fire, and like a roaring river it descended, dissolving stones like wax from the top of the mountain, so that it seemed the fire would seize and utterly consume the entire city of the Catanensians. B Those who lived around and near the mountain, even though they were Gentiles, ran to the temple of the martyr, and taking the veil that was wrapped around the urn, they placed it opposite the fire, and indeed, by the providence of God, the divine fire was suddenly checked and repressed. Now this miracle came to pass on the fifth of February, on which very day Agatha finished her contest, on which day we also, with festive celebration, glorify our Lord Jesus Christ, that by the prayers of that holy martyr we may obtain forgiveness of sins and the great mercy, now and always, and for the ages of ages. Amen. C
OF SAINT PARTHENIUS, BISHOP OF LAMPSACUS IN THE HELLESPONT
(4th Century, February 7th. — Acta Sanctorum Bolland. for this day.)
1. "The Hellespont," as Pliny writes (bk. IV, ch. 11), "divides Europe from Asia by seven stadia, and it has four mutually opposite cities: in Europe, Callipolis and Sestos; and in Asia, Lampsacus and Abydos." And Lampsacus indeed (for that which is Lampsacum in Pliny, bk. V, ch. 32, the Greeks call so, and Ptolemy, bk. V, ch. 2, and Socrates, bk. IV, ch. 4; Stephanus, Strabo bk. XIII). "Lampsacus therefore," as Strabo says, "borders on the sea, a city memorable for the excellence of its harbor and other things: previously called Pityusa because it had a quantity of pine trees," says Stephanus, "because there are very many pine trees there." Now it is situated in the narrow Hellespont, as Socrates maintains.
2. Constantine the Great ruling, Saint Parthenius, bishop of Lampsacus, distinguished himself by his sanctity and miracles: whose feast day on February 7th was noted by Molanus in his additions to Usuard, and by Ferrarius in his general catalogue of the Saints. The Menologium published by Henry Canisius briefly mentions him: "Commemoration of Saint Parthenius, bishop of Lampsacus." A longer encomium exists in the Anthologion and the Menaea: and in these indeed the Office for this day begins thus: "Glory of the Hellespont, luminary of Lampsacus, bringer of light by the splendors of your wondrous works, great Parthenius, you call us all to your memory to perform a spiritual solemnity, to celebrate Christ the Savior."
3. Crispinus, his disciple (as is believed), described in a simple and candid style his life, certainly a fellow-citizen and contemporary of Lampsacus, as he himself indicates in ch. 2, n. 16, with these words: "A certain man named Maximinus, from the city of Byza in Thrace, who was a disciple of one of those who are among us as deacons, named Psertas." Metaphrastes interpolated the narration of Crispinus in many places. Gentianus Hervetus translated this Life from the Greek, Aloysius Lipomanus edited it, and Laurentius Surius [printed it] from him.
4. Crispinus indicates the age of Saint Parthenius when he relates that he traveled to Constantine the Great. And Nicephorus Callistus (bk. VIII, ch. 42) says: "Like these," he says (that is, like Spyridon and Nicholas), "was also Parthenius, bishop of one of the cities in the Hellespont, famous for the splendor of his life, for his humanity, and for great prodigies, so that having received power from God, he raised the dead, commanded demons, and stood forth as a prompt and free healer of every kind of sickness." Baronius treats him in Vol. III, for the year 337, number 38 and following, and believes that he also attended the Council of Nicaea. D
A raised up its construction. For as many strangers were sailing both to and fro, it was not possible for them to pass by without having first seen him; and having been deemed worthy of a blessing from him, they would depart, carrying it away as a provision for many good things.
Now, a certain man came to him who, unknown to others, harbored within him the spirit of an unclean demon. This man, having seen the holy man, greeted him. But Parthenius, the man of God, recognizing the demon that dwelt in him, did not return his greeting. Then the demon, troubled, said to the holy man, “Since I had a desire to see you, I greeted you; but you did not greet me in return.” The holy man said to him, “What then? Behold, you have seen me.” The demon says, “Yes, and I saw you and recognized you.” The holy man says, “If you have in truth seen and recognized me, come out from the creature of God.” The demon said, “Is this the whole matter, that you should drive me out? I beg you, after so much time, do not cast me out.” The blessed one says to him, “How long is the time since you began to dwell in him?” The demon said, “From childhood, and I was not known to anyone except now by you; but you are casting me out—where do you permit me to go?” The holy man said, “I give you a place to which you may go.” The demon said, “Will you absolutely tell me to go into the swine?” The holy man said to him, “Not so, but I give you a man; enter into him and dwell there; but now, come out from this one.” The demon said, “Are you doing this in truth, or is it only until you drive me out?” The holy man said, “To me indeed the man is ready, in whom you must dwell; but come out in haste.” B The demon, persuaded by the agreements of the holy man, demanded that the promise be brought to effect. Then the holy man, opening his own mouth, said to the demon, “Behold, I am the man; enter and dwell in me.” But the demon, as if seared by fire at the word, cried out saying, “Woe to me! You are driving me out after such a long time from another’s vessel, and what evil might I not suffer from you? And how shall I enter into the house of God? There is no truth to be heard from you Christians.” Then the demon, having gone out from the man, went away into desert and inaccessible places; and the man became healthy by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ.
V. Now when the work of the building of the holy church of God was completed, the man of God set his heart on placing the altar, upon which it was necessary for the spiritual and bloodless sacrifice to be offered to the Lord. And having found in a certain place dedicated to idols a stone that was suitable and precious, which ought to be fitted for the aforementioned work of the altar, he caused it to be beautifully fashioned by the craftsmen; and after its completion, he gave orders for it to be brought into the church. Therefore, the craftsmen, having placed the stone upon a wagon and yoked the oxen, were leading it into the city. But the devil, who is envious and a rival of the Christians, not bearing the fire of the divine zeal of the holy man, C D
to God for him; and immediately the demon departed from him, and he was cleansed. His parents took him [home] A healthy, and went away glorifying God.
VII. Alexandria, a certain woman from Aribis, which is [near] Abydos, having a draconic spirit, hissing and killing many, was brought to the servant of God, Parthenius. When he had rebuked the spirit, she was healed, and he sent her back to her own people. Also, the daughter of a certain Abydenian, a virgin who was being tormented by an unclean spirit in the mountains, was seized by her parents and brought to the just man; and when he had laid his hands upon her B and prayed, he healed her. They also brought to the servant of God, Parthenius, a certain soldier named Axanus, who had all the parts of his body paralyzed. He, watering him with water and praying, sent him home walking, healthy. Another, a Syrian by race, named Alaban, who through the energy of the evil spirit dwelling within him—having been pulled from the table of the catechumens of the holy church which the holy man had built—had become stiff and dead; the servant of God arriving at the corpse, through prayer, made him live again, and drove the demon away from him. Eutropus, also, a man from Pareos, brought his own wife, who had an unclean spirit, to the holy man and asked him much to pray for her, that she might be healed from the demon that was troubling her. The holy man, yielding to the request, C took her, and breathing into her eyes and praying over her head, while glorifying God, sent her to his house with her. They brought to him also a certain Acacius, from an estate called Kelion, who was being crushed by an unclean spirit, and by the power of the Lord he cast out the demon and dismissed him healthy. A certain woman named Eucheria, the wife of the magistrianus Agapius of Heraclea, having been harmed by sorcery and having her internal organs being eaten away, was brought to the holy man; and when he had prayed over her for three days and given her drink from the oil of the saints, he sent her back to her home, healthy.
VIII. A certain Maximianus, from the city of Byza in Thrace, who was a disciple of one of those who are deacons among us, named Psertas—this Maximianus had fallen into a disease of intestinal cramping and had been given up by all. When his parents D learned of this, they came from Byza to Lampsacus to bury him. And taking him up with his cot, led by faith, they carried him into the holy church and placed him in the entrance of the bishop, through which the servant of God was about to pass. When the holy man came and saw him lying on the cot, breathless, and his parents lamenting, and all those present weeping, he himself also wept; and, bending his knees, he prayed to God for him, and by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, he restored his spirit to him, and the dead man sat up and began to speak. Giving...
music, and shows that they sin far A more grievously than those who openly practice what is shameful; since they, for their part, act wantonly on their own and corrupt their own soul; but these people, who move in the clergy, corrupt the entire body of the Church, striking, as the Apostle says, at their conscience and proving themselves a common monument to intemperance. But even apart from these things, whosoever shall read that discourse as he ought, will know clearly what harm they themselves incur from this cohabitation of the *syneisaktoi*. Next, he inveighs more heavily against the unjust love of having more, and those who lay a heavy hand upon the property of others, and pour it into, as it is said, insatiable jars; clearly exercising greater care for those who commit injustice than for those who suffer it: since for the latter the harm pertains to one of the things that perish, but for those who do the injustice, it concerns the soul that is to be punished immortally. B Next he impugns the life of the prodigal, I mean those who around their tables, their buildings, in such luxury and in such delicacies glory, and, as the saying goes, smear themselves with honey. Now he accuses pride; now he pursues vain glory; he now dismisses slander as something worthy of being vituperated. He removes idle talk from the midst as much as he is able. He forbids perjury so thoroughly that he dismisses not only the act of swearing, even if done truthfully, without reproach, but he has even spoken many and excellent discourses against it, so artfully constructed that they were mingled with both truth and persuasiveness, and he labored to remove it, as something that is a manifest insult to God and a contamination of the name that is fearful and venerable to all.
C XIX. For as some excellent and most diligent husbandman, who wishes to sow discourses concerning virtue, has determined that it is necessary first to cut out the roots of vice and the seeds of the wicked one, and thereafter, with the earth thus smoothed and made gentle—which is the human soul—to deposit the plants of virtue and philosophy. After these things, therefore, he pours forth his discourses concerning almsgiving, like some timely showers, upon the souls of men, and tills their benevolence to such a degree that, among many, he rendered their right hand, which was previously parsimonious and ungenerous—not to mention avid and grabbing for the possessions of others—ready and eager to succor the poor. D And some he made munificent and glad to share their own, pouring it out, as they say, from a fuller into a emptier vessel with both hands; but others he made to prefer having nothing, and when they had magnificently and piously divided all their riches among the poor, to choose the monastic and solitary life. From which it has come about for them to possess all things in another way, having become enriched with God in place of all things, on whom they have suspended the hopes of their life, and to whom alone they have known to look, from whom to attend to wealth, and
he would invite the nets and permit those present to make the customary catch of fish. Then, slackening the nets with great joy, by the power of the Lord and the prayer of the holy man, they all obtained such a quantity of good things in the catch that they made up for the deficit of the time that had passed. And when the holy man was sitting at the trading post of Katapteleia, and the fishing was taking place and the net was being dragged, a very large tuna, leaping out of the net, threw itself at the feet of the holy man. When he had signed it with the cross and prayed, he ordered it to be cut up and distributed to the brothers to the glory of God.
B XI. At one time they brought to the blessed Parthenius a man from Heraclea named Callistus, whose feet had been loosened by a diabolical operation. Having prayed and healed him by the power of the Lord, he sent him back to his own house walking on his own feet, rejoicing and glorifying God. And again, they brought to the man of God another man named Lesbus, from the island which is called Oa, who was entirely ulcerated from his feet to his head, differing in no way from a leper; he, anointing him with oil and praying for three whole days, sent him home healthy. Therefore, I have indicated to your charity, as I was able, a portion of the great and many miracles which were wrought by our holy Father Parthenius by the grace of God, not as one making a speech about the Father and his beauty in order to adorn him, because it is said: "The Lord will destroy all those who speak lies," but because the things themselves bear witness, even those which happened after his passing. Hence also, when he was still alive, having been summoned by a certain man, he went to the metropolis of Bithynia, Heraclea of Thrace, and meeting the archbishop who was there, named Hypatianus, who had been reduced almost to the last extremity, he asked the cause of his illness. When the blessed Parthenius knew through divine revelation that he was being chastised on account of greed, as one who usurped the goods of the poor and deprived them, he went to him again in the morning to visit him, and says to him: "Arise, great lord. For you do not labor under an infirmity of the body, but you are being chastised by a disease of the soul; put this aside, and you will become healthy again." The sick man answered and said: "I myself also know that I am a sinner, and for this reason I am being chastised; but pray for me, I beg you, that I may be relieved of my iniquities." The holy man says to him: "If anyone has sinned against a man, perhaps prayer for him will be heard; but your malady reaches unto God. Therefore, restore to God what belongs to the poor, and you will be healthy in soul and body." Then, coming to himself, he said: "In truth, Father, I have sinned against the Lord: but the Lord is righteous." And immediately having called for his steward, he ordered to be brought into the midst whatever gold had been collected from the poor. And when enough gold had been brought, the bishop asked the holy man to distribute it to the poor. But he did not endure it, saying: "Since God gives you strength, you yourself restore to them what is their own." C Then, having sat on a litter, he went to the martyrium of the holy martyr Glyceria, and having gathered all the needy of the city, he distributed to all without hesitation. D And the philanthropic God, who did not overlook the two mites of the penurious widow, and the rich intention of the widow...
A to all material things, they have renounced. And he so praised humility and moderation, and displayed such excellence in them, that no other virtue could compare with them, but rather that it was the mother and guardian of all the rest; and indeed, that without it, none of them could save anything with certainty, nor safely, but rather that they would be a vain and empty labor. And he so honored temperance and virginity, or rather so urged them on toward these, as to show them to be almost greater and more sublime than human nature could attain, and to transcend the law itself—being more a matter of ambition than of commandment. And who has loved or praised the most royal of virtues, Charity, more than he, so that one might be in doubt whether his praises for her or his love for her were greater? For who is so much a stone by nature, and unmoved in heart, as to say, or rather, who is so untamed, that upon hearing the words spoken on her behalf, he does not become gentle and joyful in soul, and warmed with friendship toward his neighbor, considering his own soul to be a facsimile of the soul of Paul? B And if, indeed, Paul prayed that he might be cut off from these good things for himself—and it was manifest that he preferred this rather than for those from Israel who were unbelievers to be outside the portion of Christ—and his heart was set on fire by the scandals of others, yet he himself was no less inflamed in his innermost parts with affection for his neighbor, and was set ablaze for the salvation of the faithful, if one is to believe the man himself, speaking thus in the moral of the forty-fourth homily on the Acts: "I would wish, if it were possible, to show you with your very own eyes the love which I have for you. For C nothing is more pathetic to me than you, not even this light itself. For thousands of times I have prayed," and so forth.
If it were permitted, I would convert your souls. For your salvation is more pleasant to me than that light itself. For what do the solar rays profit me, when the mental anguish which is received on your account diffuses great darkness upon my eyes? For light is good then, when it appears in joy. For it seems that trouble also affects the soul that is afflicted with sorrow. But that I do not lie, far be it indeed that I should ever make the attempt. But if it should ever happen that one of you sins, come to me while I am sleeping: if I am not like the paralytic, if I am not like those who have departed from themselves, and to say with the prophet: "And the light of my eyes, even this is not with me." And if anyone were not to judge me to be beyond measure ambitious and desirous of praise, you would see me daily shedding fountains of tears; of these, however, my house and solitude are witnesses to me. Believe me, I have indeed cast away the hope of my own salvation; but while I weep for yours, I never have the leisure to weep for my own evils. To such a degree are you everything to me. If I perceive that you grow in virtue, I do not sense my own evils for the joy of it. If I see that you do not progress, because of the distress of mind I again forget my own: just as I indeed am joyful at your good things, even if I have innumerable evils; but I am sad because of your evils, even if I have innumerable things done rightly. For what hope is there for us if you do not progress? And what sadness, if you act rightly? I seem to be lifted on high when I hear something good about you. Fulfill my joy: let it be permitted for you to attain salvation, but for me, on your account, to render an account: for you to be given salvation, but for me to be accused because I have not fulfilled my task. For I do not care that you should be saved through me, but only that you be saved, by whatever means. This alone I have brought into my vow, that I desire your progress, that I love you, that I embrace you, that you are everything to me: both father, and mother, and brothers, and children; and if it were permitted to break our heart, and to show you all, you would see that inside, in great breadth, are also women and children and husbands. For of such a kind is the virtue of charity, and it makes the soul broader even than the heaven itself.
A And he did not do this only in the Queen of Cities, nor did he exercise only these people in virtue, but it extended over all the earth, and the care of all the churches concerned him, and the ends of the earth were the limit of his concern. For to him, tables and festivities, the acquiring of lands, the fullness of purses, and whatever else is eagerly sought by the masses, were of no concern; but this was his concern, which could not be extinguished, and the gnawing of bones and the gadfly delivered into his heart, and the inextinguishable flame, by which night and day his soul was consumed—this was the ceaseless war of his against our enemy; and that, by his words to us and by his frequent exhortations, he might restrain the enemy's snares and prevent his assaults, and so far as it concerned him, he would not allow any of those called, neither those of that time nor those afterward, to fall out from the lot of the elect and to be of the left-hand portion. Because of these things he had discourses perpetually and taught, and that eloquent and melodic tongue never ceased enchanting our souls. B Because of this we have those beautiful Sirens of words, that sea of innumerable goods, those most lavish banquets of souls, which can in no way be consumed, the bread of angels, the tables of the whole world. And if those who have taken upon themselves the care of sensible food, which can suffice for the needy and poor for a long time—which they are accustomed to call "gerontocomia" (homes for the aged)—themselves exist as having done a work worthy of praise, and are esteemed as such by others, then he, who perpetually provided this long-lasting and permanent nourishment—I mean most sweet orations—so that when he was no longer among the living, but had been translated upwards, he might still fill the souls of the thirsty and loosen the inevitable bonds, and liberate souls captive from the hand of the tyrant, and bring great profit to those who were being saved: who indeed provided these things abundantly and liberally, and extended this gift to all time—what language could attain that which might weave a worthy panegyric for him? Or rather, what and how many languages? But for such a soul and tongue, not even the world itself is worthy, to speak with the divine Apostle. 17 C But that his concern was not for those alone who lived in Constantinople, but almost for all whom the sun looks upon, you can understand from this: when he had learned that Phoenicia was still given over to idols and demons and wicked temples, having the royal hand as his helper, and taking another great hand—those whom he had persuaded to spend their means on what was necessary—he went, and razed those abominable temples to the ground; and in their place he raised up holy shrines, and sent in monks who breathed in a certain way a fervent zeal, and who held to the faith most excellently and accurately. D Moreover, when he heard that the Celts were caught in the snares of Arianism, he countered their wickedness in this way: he took presbyters and deacons, and those who read the divine books, who possessed a similar and related language, but were of sound faith, and taking them, as though a sort of, as they say, magnet, [he sent them...]
A he brought them over to the sound faith in an elegant and skillful manner. When he learned of another race of Scythians, those who dwell along the banks of the Danube, thirsting for the stream of piety but lacking one to give them the drink, he made these facts known to Leontius, the bishop of Ancyra. And since he was a man rich in those suitable for such a task, having taken such men from there and having sent them to the aforementioned Scythians, he led them toward the truth. Furthermore, regarding the heresy of Marcion, when he learned that it was creeping into some of the villages of the East and corrupting many, he did not bear it with patience, nor did he drag out the correction with delays and over time, but immediately, using both the power of the emperor and his own authority, and at the same time stirring up the neighboring bishops with letters regarding this, as if it were some pestilential disease that could do no small harm, he caused it to be far removed from the Church. But how he had, according to Paul, the care of all the Churches B has already been sufficiently shown.
XXI. It is necessary also to remember other things in which he was occupied while his tongue was silent, and what works he undertook. Having examined the expenses of the Church and finding that very many were being spent not where they ought, he put a stop to this expense as an irrational sort of waste, and redirected it toward a truly pious and humane purpose. Having built infirmaries for strangers, the man who drew near to God caused the necessities to flow there as well, appointing over them presbyters who were very pious and unmarried, as well as the most proven physicians for the care of the sick. C Another of his works and cares, and by no means a minor one, was the order of widows. Seeing that they were not arranged in an orderly fashion, but were conducting themselves incorrectly, he divided them well, and with no less piety he arranged and administered that which pertained to them. For as many of them as were young in years, and therefore easily swayed toward pleasures, he commanded to use a second marriage, having deemed the lower state in safety better than the higher without fear. To those, however, who were more serious in life, and as many of the others as were more advanced in age and were not less than sixty years old, to them he recommended devoting themselves to fasts and prayers, and to abstain from baths and drinking parties, and from luxury in clothing. Nor did he leave even this unadorned and lacking in reasonable administration—I mean the meetings of men and women for the holy synaxis—but even there he divided them well, and commanded that as many as possible of the men should visit at night, while for the women, that they D should remain at home at night, but by day attend with much zeal. Doing such things, and busying himself with such works and cares, he hastened according to
sacrifice, as though he would not fall from the hope of the Christians, I command that he be delivered to the punishment of beheading."
VI. When, therefore, he had gone forth, having received the sentence of martyrdom, and was hastening toward the heavenly crown, Saint Nicephorus, having heard of it, ran to meet him, and cast himself at his feet, saying: "Martyr of Christ, forgive me, for I have sinned against thee." B But he answered him not a word, for his heart had been blinded by the evil demon. Saint Nicephorus again anticipated him by another way and met him before he had left the city, and besought him, saying: "I beseech thee, martyr of Christ, grant me forgiveness and pardon for what I, as a human, have sinned against thee. Behold, now the crown is given to thee by the Lord, whom thou hast not denied, but hast confessed His holy name before many witnesses." But he, being hard and implacable, having his heart blinded by hatred, neither granted him pardon nor wished to answer him a word, to such an extent that the executioners themselves said to Saint Nicephorus: "Never did we see so foolish a man. He is going to the punishment of beheading, and dost thou seek pardon from him who is even now to die?" Saint Nicephorus said: "Ye know not what I seek from the confessor of Christ; but God knows."
VII. And when he had come to the place where Sapricius was to be executed, Saint Nicephorus said to him again: "I beseech thee, martyr of Christ, forgive me if I have sinned in any way, as a human." For it is written: "Ask, and it shall be given to you." C But while he was saying these things and those similar to them, the savage and hard friend did not hear; nor was the harshest companion moved, nor was the inflexible soul softened. For he did not hear that which is said: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbour as thyself" (Matth. xxii, 37); but he closed the ears of his heart and body, like the deaf and dumb asp, which will not hear the voice of the enchanter. Therefore, He who is the truthful Lord also said: "If ye do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you your trespasses" (Matth. vi, 15): "and with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again" (Matth. vii, 2).
VIII. When the Lord saw that he was moved by no mercy for his neighbour, D He justly deprived him of His most heavenly kingdom; and he indeed alienated himself from heavenly grace and from the eternal goods of God, because of the remembrance of the injury received from his brother, and especially because he had been of a cruel, savage, and irreconcilable spirit toward his kinsman and old friend. Then the executioners say to Sapricius: "Bend thy knees, that thy head may be severed from thee." But Sapricius says to them: "Wherefore?" The executioners say to him: "Because thou didst refuse to sacrifice to the gods, but didst despise the edict of the emperor for the sake of a man who is called Christ." When the wretched Sapricius had heard these things, he answered the executioners, speaking this wretched and miserable voice: "Do not wish to strike me; for I will do what the emperors have commanded, and I sacrifice to the gods." Thus
A Paul to be without offense to all. And just as that man provided the Gospel without charge, so did he himself make no use of anything belonging to the Church, as far as it pertained to the bishops; for how could he, when he was already barely taking in food for himself? And as for banquets and friendly gatherings, he disregarded them entirely, and judged them to be worldly vanities, to such a degree that he could not endure to dine with anyone. Why so? For it is not improper to offer an excuse, since to many this appeared harsh and unfriendly, and even close to censure. First, because having been accustomed from his youth to fasting, and having made it his constant companion and friend, as it were, and having strictly abstained from wine and everything else that is pleasant to the belly to such an extent that he lived on nothing more than barley-gruel, and appeared to be superior to the flesh and almost incorporeal and ungracious, and as one not even trusted to be alive — what does it come to? By destroying his stomach with this harsh regimen, which had nothing cheerful or humane about it, he was ill-suited to receive any unusual or solid sustenance; and for this reason he looked with distaste at all that is charming to the palate, and it only served to irritate his appetite. This, then, was one reason why he did not cherish dining with others. B Second, having judged for himself that if he were to be persuaded to share a common table with some of those who stood out by their friendship or their rank, he would have a necessity to do the same for others. For how could he remain impartial and unoffending toward them? And thus, the practice spreading to many others would not only become burdensome and annoying to him, being a man who was already deeply occupied with such distractions, but it would also provide a hindrance to the necessary things, such as those to which he was accustomed to devote his time—I mean prayer, attention, and the teaching of virtuous things. His dedication to these was such that he frequently neglected even that small amount of food, not because he had time to give to banquets and such unprofitable and superfluous things, over which there was nothing for him to say other than the Apostolic saying: “It is not right for us, having forsaken the word of God, to serve tables.” Moreover, even if it had seemed good to him to do this, there would necessarily have been one of two outcomes: either, having abandoned his customary food, he would have been compelled to partake of richer fare, and that which the occasion provided to his fellow-diners (which was not only not beneficial to him, but C entirely impossible for his stomach, which, as I said, was already destroyed and in a bad state), or, by avoiding this and clinging to his own light food, he would have been deemed by those dining with him to be unseasonable and oppressive, and the whole affair would have been judged a matter of vanity and vainglory. His most serious work, then, and as they say, even superior to his other tasks, was constant prayer and attention and the praises of God. Yet he did not neglect the common assemblies, and those which had an appointed time, such as the nocturnal, the early morning, and the evening doxologies, but even reached the point of rising before the others in the night, and D first opening the doors of the temple, he...
[that he does not sacrifice to your gods. One of the executioners ran and reported to the governor, saying: "While Sapricius indeed promises to sacrifice to the gods, there is another man there who wishes to die for him who is called Christ, crying out and saying with boldness: 'I am a Christian, and I do not sacrifice to your gods, nor do I obey the edicts of your emperors.'"]
B XII. After the governor heard these things, he passed sentence upon him, saying: "If he does not sacrifice to the immortal gods, as the emperors have commanded, I order him to die by the sword; but let Sapricius go free." Then, taking St. Nicephorus, they beheaded him, as the governor had commanded, on the ninth day of the month of February: and thus the holy martyr of Christ, Nicephorus, was consummated in Christ; and he ascended into the heavens, crowned through faith in Christ and charity and humility. For because he was inclined toward charity and humility, for this reason he was adorned with the crown of martyrdom and was deemed worthy to be numbered among the martyrs, for the praise and glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
CONCERNING ST. AUXENTIUS, PRESBYTER, ARCHIMANDRITE IN BITHYNIA
(Circa the year 470, February 14. — Acta SS. Bolland. for this day.)1. The Eastern region received and reared Auxentius; the court of Theodosius the Younger at Constantinople looked upon him as a man among the soldiers, adorned with virtue and terrible to demons to the point of wonder; finally, Bithynia had him as its wonder-working archimandrite, and after many labors endured in various places, he transmitted him to heaven, where he might thereafter be experienced as a patron. What is told of him in Sozomen, *Hist. eccl.* book 7, chap. 21, indicates his lineage and military service. For, upon the report of the discovery and translation of the head of St. John the Baptist, which took place under Theodosius the Great, it is said that "Vincentius, a presbyter of the Persian nation, when persecution afflicted the Christians in Persia during the time of the Emperor Constantius, fled with his cousin Addas and came to the Romans: and he himself was accepted into the clergy and reached the dignity of the presbyterate. Addas, however, having taken a wife, profited the Church greatly, and left behind a son, Auxentius, a man distinguished for his faith toward God, his readiness toward his friends, of upright life, a lover of letters, and endowed with the learning of all kinds of writings, both pagan and ecclesiastical, with agreeable manners, although he was intimate with the emperor and courtiers and had conducted himself splendidly in military expeditions: but mention is frequently made of him both among the most approved monks and among the learned men who experienced his virtue." This is Sozomen, who dedicated his history to Theodosius the Younger, which he asserts at the end of his dedication that he had brought down to his 22nd consulship, that is, the year 439: and he necessarily finished it before his death, or the year 450, when St. Auxentius had already withdrawn from Constantinople into Bithynia. Concerning his intimacy with St. Marcianus and other learned men, it is dealt with below in the account of this Life, no. 2, where the author, using the same style of speech as Sozomen, calls his associates also "earnest men."
2. The Acts of St. Auxentius were written by a contemporary author, who indicates his own age, when he testifies that he received certain things from his disciple, whom we said had succeeded him both in his manner of life and in his cave, no. 58. "For this man," he says, "this man who instructed us concerning him, was a barbarian in tongue, coming from Moesia, but in mind he was most venerable, as one who persevered with the blessed Auxentius.... and after the
A sought the prizes of John. For the noble one was not only keen of understanding regarding the things of Scripture which are not clear to the many, and in accurately conjecturing the mind of the speaker—and this is truly that "knowledge of the sayings of the wise and their riddles" mentioned by Solomon—but he was also most eloquent and capable of interpreting the intelligible in an accessible way, bringing it to light, and making what was manifest to him also clear to the blind, excelling all men of every age. He had a great yearning for all the wise and blessed men—I mean the prophets and apostles and all to whom the Word was brought forward by the Spirit—and he was constantly occupied with their books and delighted in their words (for, as they say, "like takes delight in like").
He clung to Paul the herald and was joined to him by certain unspeakable longings, and he lived with his words. And he is clearly seen in many places B of his discourses to be mindful of him, and he made this a sweet food and a consolation for the flame that was in him. Whence, even as those who are sharp and burning lovers confess that they are overcome by him and cannot easily be parted from him, so too when the impulse of his speech arrived at the memory of him, it was as if he were bound by certain chains, and he loved to dwell on it for a long time and could not easily depart. So great and unspeakable was his yearning for Paul, such that one might appropriately say that for John, Paul was what Christ was to Paul—or rather, that even to John, Paul was Christ. Since for that reason the yearnings for Paul were so great because of Christ.
C XXII. When this great John read his Epistles, and put great study into their suitable meditation, and desired, as much as it was possible, to know what manner of spirit Paul had, a desire possessed him to explain their understanding and to see to it that one might reach their depth, which was not yet correctly known by many. Therefore, after setting out upon the task and interpreting them word for word, he was somehow hesitant and delaying within himself; and this arose entirely from his loving him so intensely and desiring to please him absolutely. That, however, about which he was in doubt was whether his labor was pleasing to Paul, or if he were correctly attaining the mind of him whom he loved, or if he were casting far from the truth and the mark. While he was turning these things over in his mind and was in doubt, and was beseeching God most earnestly to reveal to him the thing in doubt, the solution did not long delay. And the resolution was clear, having nothing difficult to learn or ambiguous, and the manner of it was of a kind to be marveled at. For it is truly D worthy of God and His wisdom. But one must listen, for it has something varied and admirable. A certain man, who had held a magistracy...
1381 VITA S. AUXENTII 1382 the aforementioned. "Do not be vexed," he says, "at the gifts of God. For we asked for water, but if the Master has provided wine instead, let us give thanks and not be indignant; for indeed, at the marriage, when wine had failed, water was through his own grace transformed into wine. In this way, the one, since self-mastery was present to them, unintentionally displayed his perfection, whereas the other willingly trampled upon the pride of vainglory."
IV. Again, a certain one of the notable men who were following along, claiming himself to be poor, became a nuisance to the blessed Auxentius, asking for a body-covering of his, for the sake of a blessing and to mitigate his poverty. And he says to him, "Pray, that the Lord may send, and you shall receive"; for there were no surplus garments for him, because he had given away everything that came to him to the poor. But he, seizing upon the promise as if it were a promissory note, kept making demand without ceasing; whence, being harassed for a long time, on one evening when he was again reminded by him, he said, "Come, brother, to a suitable place so that you may receive your request and release me from such a predicament." And when he was in a private place, he took off the tunic that he was wearing and gave it to him, and passed the time in his mantle alone. And when after the hymn-singing both were departing, the aforementioned simple man perceived the act and says to him, "Is your whole life and this charity such, Lord Auxentius, that when you lack a tunic, you do not trust in us?" But he says with a smile to both of them, "From the one who, in your presence, very often contrived deviously yet impudently, I have at last been released. But I ask that we go to the Lord John the monk who is in the Clubon, that we may see the glory of God."
V. When, therefore, an appointment had been made, after one day they arrive at him and see him who had taken the tunic standing there gloomy. And after the completion of the prayer, the blessed John says as if to his friends and intimates, "Pray, brothers, for this beggar, for someone has taken the poor rags he had and run off." But the blessed Auxentius with a cheerful countenance began to bless him who had done this; and the righteous man says to him as Balac to Balaam, "I have called you to curse, and you bless him?" B But the blessed Auxentius, answering, says to the supposed beggar, "Return your prayers to the Lord, brother; how many tunics did you have?" And he answered with wailing, "Seven, plus the one you provided to me." The blessed one says to him, "Since therefore you had seven and were not content, but, having caused me such great harassment, you took the one that I had, stop grieving. For this [theft] has caused those others to flee away as well." Having thus gently rebuked him and accepted a meal with those who were with him, he went away.
VI. On one of the days, walking in the palace, he sees someone being held and dragged off by soldiers. Praying therefore, he says as usual, "You who deliver the poor from the hand of those who are stronger than he, come even now to help." C And having said these things, he caused the man to be released.
blinded, and prostrating herself, she said: "Have mercy on me, servant of the most high God." The blessed man, speaking to those who had gathered, said: "I am indeed a man, a sinner and subject to the same infirmities as you. But if you believe that He who healed the man blind from birth does not overlook this woman who beseeches Him, let us pray sincerely for her salvation." As soon as all had prayed, he touched her eyes, saying: "Jesus Christ, the true light, heals you." And immediately she recovered her sight, and having distributed many gifts to the poor residing in that place, the saint sent her away rejoicing and glorifying God. This was the beginning of his miracles on the mount of Oxea.
XIII. A great multitude of those vexed by unclean spirits kept arriving, partly from the local inhabitants and partly from foreigners, B of whom the majority, by his prayers, approaching faithfully and performing penance worthily, were cured. Not enduring that those who sat by on the mountain, and those who were exhausted by long-distance travel, should be left without provision—while he himself required none of the things that were brought—he ordered that loaves be brought at the sixth hour, and that they be given to them all.
XIV. When he had been there for ten years and had performed many struggles—not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, and against the princes of the darkness of this world, as says the Apostle, [Ephes. vi, 12] against the spiritual hosts of wickedness—having been victorious by faith and patience, a certain most faithful man among those who had once been his associates, being accustomed to approach him and receiving great benefit from him, said to another from the same fourth schola: "I wish to go to the Lord Auxentius tomorrow; come you also, and let us enjoy much benefit." C But he, alienated from him by a certain diabolical instinct, not only was not persuaded to go, but even began to insult and mock him, calling him a deceiver and an impostor, and one who provided rewards to those who pretended to be demon-possessed, in amounts of three or six obols, so that they might appear to be unmasked, to the deception of the many. But the other, although astonished at these things and having shown great zeal, after he had rebuked him and done him good, dealt with him more mildly, so that he persuaded the unbeliever to go with him, and carried him along with him. But as soon as they arrived at his place according to custom at the third hour, he received those who were present. For it was not permitted for him to be disturbed indiscriminately, unless at the usual time: in which he would first exhort those who were present to glorification; then, thus exhorting and blessing each one with the word of grace, he would send them away. D Concerning which glorification, and the praises formulated by him, we shall speak later. He stood with a gracious countenance toward the one who approached him with faith and spoke what was beneficial; but with the other, who was an unbeliever, he did not speak even briefly. Wherefore, after he was sent away, he railed against him even more.
that pertains to the life of this world and is pursued with great effort—wealth, that is, and splendor, and other material things—and from the royal city itself he separated, and set out for the desert parts of Bithynia. And when he had ascended from the side of the mountain called Oxea, which is distant about ten miles from Chalcedon, he stood upon a rock, lifting up his holy hands, glorifying God and saying, "You, O Lord, have settled me alone in hope." [X] When he had been for about a month on the side of the mountain upon the rock, some boys came up there groaning and weeping, because, as they were herding sheep, they had lost them. And when they beheld the just man, they were greatly terrified, thinking him to be a wild beast, and fled; for he was clad in a garment woven of hair and skins, imitating the life of John the Forerunner and Baptist. But the blessed Auxentius called to them and said, "Do not fear, children; I am a man like you. But what do you seek?" The boys said, "We have lost our flocks, and for this reason we are afflicted." The servant of Christ, moved with compassion, prayed for many hours; and when he had blessed the boys, he said to them, "Go to the left side of the mountain, and you shall find your flocks." The boys answered and said to him, "Three times we have traveled around this inaccessible mountain, and we could not find them; and how shall they be found now?" But the holy man said to them, "Go, as I told you, in the name of the Lord to the left side of the mountain, and you shall find them." Going, they found them at once; and when they came home, they reported to their parents, "Having lost our flocks and having gone around the mountain of Oxea three times without finding them, we saw a man in a garment of hair, and being seized with great fear, we fled. But he called us to him and prayed, and when he had learned the reason why we were lamenting, he directed us that, by going to the left side of the mountain, we should find the sheep. We did so, and immediately found them." [XI] When the parents of those children heard these things, they gathered the men from the surrounding farms and went to him in supplication, and they found the blessed man alone standing upon the rock and praying to God. And all with one voice entreated him that he should ascend to the summit of the mountain and pray for them. The saint, being persuaded by their entreaties, commanded them to build a small cell, and an enclosure outside the cell, in which he was also enclosed, glad at heart, and chanting and saying, "I have become like a sparrow solitary upon the house-top." Therefore, by ascending frequently, they enjoyed his prayers. For through a small window he would bless them and, counseling them on matters pertaining to salvation, would send them away rejoicing. [XII] Therefore, as the grace of God welled up in him and his fame spread everywhere, a certain countess came to him from Nicomedia, suddenly
and sent the cross that was upon the staff in his hands through one of those who were persevering with him, caused the girl's vexation to cease and taught all who had come together that one ought not to lack faith in the wonders of God which are brought about by Him in every generation through those whom it seems good to Him. For the patriarchs and all the prophets, and similarly also the apostles, were humans, and being moved by divine grace, in accordance with the divine Apostle, quenched the power of fire, stopped the mouths of lions, and did all the things that are written thereafter. Moreover, the very voice of the Lord, which urges us to believe, says thus: "All things whatsoever you pray and ask for, believe that you shall receive, and they shall be yours." Since God, therefore, provides when He wills and through whom He wills, we ought not to be incredulous. When, therefore, he had ordered the girl to remain for one week with her parents, armed with prayer and fasting, and had restored her to health, he sent them away in peace, bidding them to go frequently to the most holy Church. B
CHAPTER III. Lepers, a paralytic, and women possessed by spirits are healed.
XVIII. Some days after, there came to him two men suffering from elephantiasis, who were seeking healing from God through him. The saint, however, says to them: "What is your sin, that such a plague has fallen upon you?" They, however, hearing this, fell at his feet, saying: "Have mercy on us, O servant of Christ, and pray that we may be healed." The blessed one, responding, says to them: "This has happened to you, brothers, because you have sworn frequently. But for the future, you must desist from provoking the Lord your God to anger." Having said these things, and having exhorted everyone to pray, he himself also, having bent his holy knees for several hours and having shed many streams of tears, rising, took the oil of the saints and anointed them from head to feet, saying: "Jesus Christ heals you; for I am a sinful man." Immediately they were healed and returned home with joy, praising and glorifying God, and reporting to all: "We have seen a man such as there has not been in ancient generations. For he told us all our sins, and when he had wept much to God for us, he healed us by anointing us with holy oil." C
XIX. Again, two women came to him from Phrygia; one of whom had her hip struck by an unclean spirit, but the other had a legion of demons, which indeed began to cry out from the distance of a stone's throw from the mountain and say: "What have I to do with you, Auxentius, for you have chastised me and dragged me from Phrygia? Do you not know that I am a legion? But you know that in turn a legion of angels surrounds you by night and by day, who indeed receive your prayers, which burn us, and offer them to the Most High, by which we are also punished. Behold, even after thirty years, you separate me from the creation
of this woman. Saying these things and more, she reached the immediate vicinity of the cell in which the blessed one was enclosed, and the spirit tore her before the window and struck her dumb. And A the saint, having looked out and seen her, commanded one of those standing by to give her a hand and raise her up; for she lay on the ground as if dead. Having risen, she, together with the other woman, began to entreat the holy man, weeping bitterly and falling at his knees, that he might prevail upon God to heal them. And he says to them: "From where have you come here, and who told you about me, that I am able to heal you?" The one who had the injured hip said: "By revelation, master, I came here." But the one who had the legion said to him: "I do not know how I came; therefore have pity on me, who have been vexed by the legion for thirty years." The blessed one, having had compassion on them and having prayed earnestly to God with tears, healed them. And they, because of their extraordinary gratitude, remained upon the mountain of Oxea, on which the blessed one was dwelling, not returning to their homes.
XX. Another paralytic was also brought to him, lying upon a wagon. His parents fell upon their faces, B beseeching the blessed Auxentius with great weeping, so that he might take pity on them and heal him, saying that this had happened to their son on account of their many sins. But the holy Auxentius said to them: "And do you believe that through me, lowly and abject as I am, God is able to heal him?" And they said: "Yes, angel of God, you were sent for our salvation; we believe that all things are possible with God." And he said: "According to your faith, let it be done for you." And having taken oil of the saints, and having anointed his whole body with his own hands, and having restored him to health, he handed him over to his parents, who went away rejoicing to their house, praising and glorifying C God for the great things He did through His servant for their only-begotten son.
XXI. A few days later, a certain woman from Claudiopolis, the daughter of a citizen, came to him, having a demon in the form of a serpent, such that she would only hiss and was unable to speak except like a dog, because Satan had laid her waste. When the servant of God, Auxentius, saw her, he wept bitterly, saying: "Woe is me, how has the human race been reduced to slavery by the alien one? For she has not suffered this on account of her own sins, but because of the great cruelty and malice of the adversary toward men." And having closed the window D of the cell, for three days he did not meet with anyone, but was entreating God that He might trample the tyranny of the dragon. And while he was praying inside, the dragon began to speak, roaring within the woman and saying: "O you who from the womb that bore you have been hostile to me, Auxentius, why did you not burn your mother, but were born for my destruction? For the streams of your tears burn me, and your prayer,
in not yielding to them, yet not with a fully settled mind, without the impulse from above. For when they had brought craftsmen to unfasten the cell in which he was, and had remained there the whole day, they could accomplish nothing. In the morning, however, he says to them, "Tell me, brothers and fathers, in what matter do I believe wrongly? And then, thus, by the providence of God, the cell shall be opened." They replied, "Since the most pious Emperor Marcian has gathered the God-loving bishops from everywhere for the useful consideration of the dogmas of the most holy Church, you do not wish to come. For you know the confusion that presently prevails: some holding to the view of Nestorius and contriving a schism, because they would remove the title 'Theotokos' from the chaste and venerable Virgin and Mother of the Lord; while others maintain the dogmas of Eutyches, or rather of Apollinaris, and do not confess that the Lord Jesus Christ fully took on flesh from the seed of David, but fabulously assert that he took on humanity only in appearance."
[ΚΔ'] XXIV. When the blessed Auxentius heard these things, he said, "I confess that the Word took on flesh perfectly from her who knew no wedlock; and I worship him as this same one, being the only-begotten Son, who exists with the unbeginning Father according to his divinity, but who appeared in the last days from her according to his humanity. For to confess the Son of God as a mere man, as some babble, is impious." Having said these things, and seeing them persist, he raised his hands toward heaven and, having caused an earnest prayer to be made, he surrendered himself. But when they—being insolent—attempted to take apart the cell again and were unable to accomplish it at all, the blessed one, having signed the cell and said for the third time, "Blessed is the Lord," commanded the craftsmen in a gentle voice; and thus, according to his will, they removed the planks that were fixed with nails to his window and thrust him out.
[ΚΕ'] XXV. Now they stood by with the beasts and a wagon so that, should he wish, he might board it and descend. And indeed, as he declined to be placed upon a beast, they spread out a cloth in the wagon and laid the blessed one down. For he was weak and dejected in his whole body from his ascetic discipline, and especially from the pains, such that a discharge with worms was coming out. Among whom a certain one named Theophilus, running up with the heat of faith, as he saw that the nail of the great toe of his right foot had fallen off, he took it away. But the saint, feeling pain, said to him, "I too am a man subject to the same passions; do not cause me trouble." And when, with great tumult, those who had been sent commanded the oxen to move the wagon, those who were sent achieved nothing; for as the beasts remained long unmoved, they attempted to beat them cruelly and to wound their hide with goads. The blessed one, therefore, taking this ill and having encouraged them to desist, having signed the beasts with the cross which he usually held in his hands, and having quietly commanded them, he made the journey.
[ΚϚ'] XXVI. Along the way, he encountered farmers who were lamenting and weeping because of their beasts, that...
A saying: "Have mercy on me, O servant of the most high God, for I am vexed by an evil demon." The blessed one, laying his hand upon his head and having prayed, did not permit the spirit to speak, but interceded for his departure through the grace of God. The evil demon, having gone out, lay hidden close to the road under a thorn bush, so that as the youth returned, he might enter into him again. When, therefore, the oxen were released and they were about to move the wagon, the blessed one, knowing in the Holy Spirit, said to the youth: "I say to you, young man, see that you do not go by the left road, by which you came; for there the wicked one lies hidden under the thorns, waiting for you; but go by the right, giving thanks to God and saying: 'Glory to the Father, glory to the Son, glory to the Holy Spirit, who spoke through his prophets.'" B
CAPUT V.
What Saint Auxentius did and endured in the monasteries at the Ruffinianae and in Phelio.
XXXI. When they had now arrived at the martyrium of Saint Thalelaeus, the poor who were following him from Mount Oxea were weeping and lamenting together and embracing his holy footprints. But the disciple of Christ, Auxentius, seeing the unbearable mourning of their hearts, said to them: "Go, my children, and dwell for a time upon the mountain; for I am with you. For even if they lead my body away, yet my spirit is among you, and I will never abandon you." The soldiers, indeed, were annoyed at these things, but the poor returned to the mountain, just as the servant of Christ had told them.
XXXII. When he had arrived in the wagon at the monastery which was in Phelio, suddenly a certain young man named Isidorus began to be vexed by a demon and to shout: "Woe to you, Auxentius, who have not given me the power C to take vengeance on the impious enemies of the gods who receive you, to my destruction and that of my own! For your passage has sanctified all things and has put to flight many of us." But the blessed one said to him: "Be silent and be muzzled, you who rejoice in evils, O demon, in the name of Jesus Christ." They therefore brought the holy man down from the wagon and led him into the church of Saint John. He stood and prayed for some hours, because he was unable to bend his knee on account of the weals that were on his feet. When he had fulfilled his prayers, they led him into an inner chamber, having closed the doors on all sides. As he was praying within, Isidorus, who was vexed by the demon, was healed outside.
XXXIII. But a certain woman, the wife of Maximianus the charioteer, thinking that the blessed Auxentius was on Mount Oxea, came D bringing on beasts of burden oil, wine, bread, cheese, legumes, tow, and wax. She was indeed greatly grieved when she did not find the holy man there; but she distributed everything to the poor who were persevering in that place. For indeed her young maid, who was vexed by an unclean demon, had obtained a cure from him, and to the blessed man she was extremely
A they were suffering, just as humans do, harassed by unclean spirits. The blessed one, therefore, taking pity on them, commanded everyone to remain in prayer, and sighing from the depths of his heart, and supplicating God, he cured them.
XXVII. A woman whose hair was disheveled soon met him on the way, and she brought to him a child of about three years, who was possessed by a demon. The just man, seeing him, began to stretch forth his hands and shed tears, and to say to those who were present: "Do not suppose, O foolish ones, whose hearts are immersed in darkness B, that this infant has sinned and is being harassed by an unclean spirit; but this happened for our sake and for our conversion; for the face of the infant was almost turned backward." Then the blessed Auxentius, having prayed and rebuked the unclean spirit, breathing upon the face of the child, healed him. For the foul and detestable demon having gone out, his face was restored as it was before. And when his mother had received him healed, she went home rejoicing and giving thanks to God.
XXVIII. Again, on the way, a certain girl, the niece of Dorotheus the Count, was coming from a journey in a litter, being vexed by a cruel demon. After a short distance, the unclean spirit threw her from the litter to the ground. When she had risen, with her garment torn, she ran to the carriage in which the blessed one was, barking and shouting: "What have you to do with me, Auxentius? Why do you burn me? Why do you persecute me? Would that the womb that bore you had miscarried, to our destruction! C For behold, for fourteen years I have hidden in this creature, and you study to separate me from her." The servant of Christ, the athlete Auxentius, seeing her nakedness as she was being vexed by the demon, was moved with great anger, and did not permit her to speak; but having rebuked the unclean spirit, crying out with a loud voice, he said: "Go out, unclean spirit, from this creature, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary." And so the demon, gnashing and wailing, went out immediately from the girl, not having even been permitted at all to prattle through the creature.
XXIX. The soldiers, with the clergy and monks who were following him from the mountain, when they saw the signs which the Savior was performing through him, were astonished, and doubted more than they believed, saying to him: "You do these things to deceive our eyes, you impostor of Christ." D But he, smiling, says to them: "I am not an impostor of Christ, but a servant of God, believing in the holy and indivisible Trinity, and confessing as Theotokos the holy and incorrupt Virgin."
XXX. When he had reached the estate which is called Sycides, a certain youth named Gregory, from the village of the Lyddians, having an unclean spirit, approached the blessed one at the same property, falling down before him and
A And since the child, having been commanded by the saint to tell no one what he had seen, was nevertheless compelled to speak, he was seized by a fever and died one day later.
XXXVI. When these things had come to pass, the blessed one was brought by monks, clerics, and other illustrious men to the Ruffinianas, near the Holy Apostles, to the monastery of the blessed Hypatius, where he was instructed to observe silence. B The monks who were there, together with their superior—a man in all things virtuous and deemed worthy of the grace of God, as being a disciple of Christ—received him with great joy. From that hour, they did not close the doors of the monastery, due to the multitude of those who were streaming in, partly from the local region and partly from the most blessed Constantinople. They received everyone kindly with a prompt and eager spirit, accepting very many offerings, and making great provision for their food, so that that monastery became like the tabernacle of Abraham; for they received almost everyone, whether worthy or unworthy, as if they were angels of God. Having enclosed the blessed Auxentius in a high dining hall, they begged him to pray for the salvation of the world and of themselves, performing every service for him and for those who flocked to him with alacrity, for the sake of the reward promised by God for every good work.
XXXVII. For many who had unclean spirits, and those who were lunatics, and the infirm and paralytics, would sit there and, seeking healing from God through his servant Auxentius, they were all cured. C When a certain countess heard about the blessed Auxentius, she hastened to come and pay him homage. She came therefore from Chalcedon, conveyed by a carriage, and upon drawing near to the Holy Apostles, she alighted from the carriage and came on foot into the monastery. But as she was about to ascend to where the blessed one was, she tore her garment, cast aside her ornaments, and began to cry out: "What have I to do with you, Auxentius, you worm-eaten one? I was hidden beautifully in her bowels, and behold, you have driven me out after twenty years. I entered into her when she was twelve years old, and no one has known of me until this time, D and you are separating me from her against my will." But our standard-bearer and great Father Auxentius, having rebuked the wicked and unclean spirit and commanded him to be silent and not to break forth from the creature, prayed as a suppliant to God that He might show His mercy upon her. When he had given her some of the oil of the saints and had commanded her to fast for forty days, Christ released her in health, having healed her through his prayer. She bestowed many gifts upon the poor and upon the monastery of Saint Hypatius.
CHAPTER VI. The Colloquy of St. Auxentius with the Emperor Marcian. A Profession of the Orthodox Faith.
XXXVIII. After this, the pious emperor, having sent a dromon from the Hebdomon because the royal procession was there, summoned the blessed Auxentius to him; and when
1113 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM.
...having given [the order] to sing at the early hour, he thus obscured the empty babblings of the heretics. What was the result? Envy was kindled in the heretics, and savage anger, from which came strife, and from strife, fighting, and in addition to these, blows, and finally, deaths on both sides; so that even one of the empress’s eunuchs, Bryson by name, who was siding with the chanters, was struck on the forehead with a stone; which, having reached the ears of the emperor, became the cause for the heretics to cease performing hymns in public. But there is nothing like discussing these antiphonal songs, and who indeed initiated their discovery. For they say that Ignatius the God-bearer and martyr first handed this down to the Antiochenes, having received it from a more divine vision, and having seen angels chanting to one another and in this way offering the hymn to the adorable Trinity.
XXVII. And this, too, of the things recorded about John is by no means worthy of being overlooked. For it is said, and sung by the mouths of many, that as often as he would offer up the divine bread while performing the sacred rites, becoming entirely inspired by God, he would see by certain symbols the holy Spirit of God descending upon the gifts set forth. Once, however, when one of the ministers standing by him cast his eye upon a certain woman among those peering down from above and looked at her with curiosity, the vision of the Spirit was thus driven away; but he [John] was not unaware, but immediately removed the minister from his station, while he himself did not miss the customary vision; then, taking thought also for the future, he permitted the upper galleries to be partitioned off with veils.
XXVIII. And how would it be just to overlook this, which is one of the things said about him, but which is sufficient to grant grace to a God-loving soul and to inflame it toward the hymn of the Creator? It is as follows: There was a certain man at that time who himself held the same views as Macedonius the heretic, and he had a wife who held the same opinion as he did. The great John, having approached him skillfully, made him a catch of his own tongue and added him to the Church of the faithful. Then he [the husband] in turn tried to persuade his wife. But the woman, being a woman, and attending more to falsehoods than to the truth, said that she agreed with her husband and pretended to hold the beliefs of the orthodox, but she did not have a heart that spoke in harmony with what was apparent. She therefore takes a portion of bread from one of the Pneumatomachi, and having secretly entrusted this to her maidservant, she approaches the sanctuary of the faithful with her husband, pretending to partake of the holy things.
he saw that his whole body was exhausted from his discipline, showing him great respect, he said to him: "I know that you are a servant of God, lord Auxentius, and you ought to consent to the holy and ecumenical synod, so that you do not become a cause of offense to those who are unwilling to accept it." A The saint, answering, said to the emperor: "Who am I, a dead dog, that your power orders me to be numbered among the holy pastors, when I do not refuse to be shepherded and am in need of instruction?" The emperor, after having spoken much with him, said: "Consider what is expedient, and do not cause us distress. For we also have not assembled the council for anything beyond what is necessary, but as it beseems us, for the union of the most holy Church, and not for its destruction." When the emperor had said this, and had asked for his prayers, he dismissed him.
XXXIX. When the blessed Auxentius had come to the monastery of Saint Hypatius in the Ruffinianae (8*), and saw that a great multitude had flocked there to him, B he began to counsel all to abstain from the theaters, as they are causes of uncleanness, adulteries, false witness, perjury, and blasphemy, and of everything that is forbidden and displeasing to God; but to believe sincerely in the holy and consubstantial Trinity, and to confess that our Lord Jesus Christ took flesh from the Holy Spirit and Mary, the ever-virgin and Theotokos, and to be assiduous in the most holy churches in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. And some from the multitude who had approached, suffering from fever and shivering, were rendered healthy after being vouchsafed the touch of his hand. C It was also made known to him that a certain newly-wed maiden was present, who, having been seized by an unclean spirit in the bridal chamber, was tearing at herself and biting her own flesh. And when the saint had ordered her to be brought up, he said with tears: "O your evil phalanx, which always lies in wait for the human race! Be muzzled, evil spirit, and depart from the creature of God without disturbance and without any injury." And as the maiden fell into a deep sleep as if at a hymn, the demon was cast out; and having risen, she went away again healthy to her house, rejoicing and giving glory to God.
XL. When the emperor had sent again and summoned him, he asked whether he would agree D with the holy synod and communicate with the holy Church. The blessed man said: "How can I communicate, if it does not confess the ever-virgin to be Theotokos?" And the emperor said to him: "If, therefore, you see the things rightly confirmed and established by the synod for the destruction of the remaining heresies, will you also agree?" The blessed man answered: "If this holy synod has undertaken nothing that tends toward the overturning of the council of the three hundred and eighteen Fathers who were at Nicaea, but has declared the perfect economy of the taking of flesh by our Savior Christ, and the utterance regarding the Virgin Theotokos
A did not take away. Again, I commune and consent, giving thanks to God and to your piety." When the emperor heard these things, he kissed his venerable and holy head, and then ordered that he come with the greatest honor into the great and most holy church of God. A great crowd of the people followed him. The emperor, having informed the archbishop of Constantinople of the things said by him, ordered that everything defined by the holy synod be read to him.
XLI. And indeed, having perused the acts with careful consideration, and being persuaded that the things which the holy synod had confirmed as blasphemous regarding the babblings of Nestorius and the manifest madness of Eutyches had been decreed by the good pleasure of God for the harm of the many—inasmuch as that [synod] was arrayed against those who denied the essence of the only-begotten Son of God B and this one against those who invalidate his economy, saying that the Son of God, who is God from God, coeternal and of the same essence and co-beginningless with the Father, in the last days was united to our nature and became incarnate, without change, without confusion, without division. For because some, having gone out of their minds, dared to corrupt the economy of the Savior for us, imagining the incarnation to be a phantasm; and some monstrously asserted that the Lord had brought down a heavenly body; and others defined a commixture and confusion of the two natures, and others babbled that the Divine had suffered a change; and the rest refused to call the Virgin the Theotokos—the holy Fathers in this great and ecumenical synod, overthrowing the heresies of all those mentioned above, not from their own syllogisms, but from the divine Scriptures and the divinely-inspired teachers who had been before, sealing the great mystery of piety, confirmed that the one and only-begotten Son of God, according to the faith of the three hundred and eighteen holy Fathers, is unassailable in his own nature. For Arians disturb this, just as that synod in Nicaea was held, and the later one in the imperial city against the Macedonians—the synod of the one hundred and fifty—which had secured itself with scriptural testimonies C against those battling the Holy Spirit; they confirmed it, and henceforth against those who invalidate the economy of our Savior Jesus Christ, as those who babble that he was incarnate in appearance and not in truth, and that the one born of the holy Virgin and Theotokos Mary was a mere man—against them they applied themselves, both from the testimony of the divine Scriptures and from the synodal [letters] of the most blessed Cyril of Alexandria, and of Leo the most holy archbishop of Rome, and of all those in agreement with them, as many as are in accordance with the confession of the apostle Peter, according to that, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God D"—they justly raised a certain lofty column against those who were evilly minded, for the confirmation of the right and true dogmata.
One of the Rufinianae, by the name of Scopem, asked those who were gathering to bring him there. And so, fulfilling his desire in the previous manner, they led him with the brothers who were from the monastery in which he had been living, with psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs. Having made a wooden cage, like a bird flying on high, they enclosed him within it, leaving only a single window for the meeting of those who were approaching, according to the former custom. Having prayed over them and kissed each one, he dismissed everyone, and was left again like a sparrow alone upon the housetop, giving thanks to God for his accustomed quiet and glorification.
44. We consider it not out of place, but rather useful, to recount in detail the temptations that befell him here from the unclean and evil spirits. For one night, while he was praying, demons came upon him in an infinite multitude, presenting themselves in various appearances, making a racket, roaring, and threatening him, yet they were not able to disturb his mind. Consequently, having struck him with blows, they thought that they would drive him through the window with great force, making a tumult and disturbing themselves much more than him, crying out with indistinct voices: “What do you have to do with our deserts? Depart from our things.” But the blessed Auxentius, bearing it bravely, tracing the sign of the saving Cross against them, rendered them feebler. When it was morning, as it pleased God, from the often-mentioned market of the Rufinianae and the monastery that was there, many monks and layfolk came to be blessed and to enjoy his most beautiful contention. When, because of the excessive affliction of the unclean spirits, he with difficulty finally opened the window to them and used words of consolation with them, they asked the cause of such weakness. When he said that it was not bodily affliction, but diabolical operation, those present, upon learning this, kept silent and, requesting that the contention be removed, departed. They came more frequently to visit him, especially those from the monastery. We, however, in order that our discourse might not grow to excess, have declined to recount the remaining temptations which happened to him on the former mountain and on this one. For having changed himself into an angel of light, as the Apostle says, the evil one thought he would deceive him, but the blessed one could not be easily caught; rather, he resisted beautifully, being well-versed in the teaching of the divine Scriptures.
45. Hence he was also very gentle and kind to those who gathered to him from famous Constantinople and the rest of the people of that place, and accommodating for their consolation, as much as anyone else, with the virtue of his words calling everyone, and his reputation drawing to him even those who were far away. Therefore, as was his custom, he dismissed those who came in the morning after the third hour, and those who came later, after the sixth. He did not allow those who were gathered to sit in idleness, but rather in the
A οὐκ ἔστι τῆς οἰκείας ἡμῖν ἐκφύσεως κατ' εἰκόνα χάριτος σωζομένου, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸ ἔσχατον τῆς ἁμαρτίας μεταμορφωθείσης, ὡς καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἡμᾶς τὴν ἀξίαν τῆς κατ᾿ εἰκόνα ἀφθαρσίας ἀπολέσθαι, πάσῃ σπουδῇ ὀφείλομεν ἀπὸ τῶν νεκρῶν ἔργων πάλιν ἐπὶ τὰ τῆς ζωῆς διὰ μετανοίας ἀναδραμεῖν πρὸς τὸ τὴν οἰκείαν φύσιν ἀπολαβεῖν τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ μεγαλοδωρεᾶς. Ἐὰν οὖν ἐκκαθάρωμεν ἀφ᾽ ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιγινόμενον ἀπὸ κακίας ῥύπον καὶ τὸ ἐπικεκαλυμμένον ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ κάλλος διαφωτίσωμεν, τότε ἐντὸς ἡμῶν γίνεται ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ· καὶ γὰρ ὁ Κύριος εἶπεν, ὅτι, Ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐντὸς ὑμῶν ἐστιν.
B Ν΄. Τοῦτο δὲ λέγων ἐνδείκνυται, ὅτι τὸ ἀγαθὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐ κεχώρισται τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶν, οὐδὲ πόρρω που τῶν ζητεῖν αὐτὸν προαιρουμένων ἀπόκειται, ἀλλ' ἐν ἑκάστῳ ἐστὶν ἀγνοούμενον μὲν καὶ διαλανθάνον, ὅτ' ἂν ὑπὸ τῶν μεριμνῶν τοῦ βίου συμπνίγηται, εὑρισκόμενόν τε καὶ γινωσκόμενον, ὅτ' ἂν εἰς ἐκεῖνο καὶ μόνον τὴν διάνοιαν ἡμῶν ἐπιστρέψωμεν. Τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ ἐν τῇ ζητήσει ἀπολωμένης δραχμῆς ἐν τοῖς Εὐαγγελίοις ὁ Κύριος ἡμῖν ὑποτίθεται. Εἰ γὰρ ἅψαντες τὸν λύχνον τῆς διανοίας ἡμῶν ζητήσωμεν τὴν κεκρυμμένην καὶ ἀπολωμένην δραχμήν, εὑρήσομεν πάντως ὑπὸ τὴν κόπρον. Κόπρον δὲ χρὴ νοεῖν τὴν τῆς σαρκὸς ῥυπαρίαν, ἧς ἀποστρωθείσης καὶ διακαθαρισθείσης διὰ τῆς ἐπιμελείας τοῦ βίου, ἔκδηλον τὸ ζητούμενον γενήσεται· καὶ εὑροῦσα ἡ ψυχὴ ἡ κατὰ στέρησιν τοῦ καλοῦ χήρα, ὅπερ ἀπώλεσεν, χαίρει χαρὰν ἀνεκλάλητον καὶ εἰς κοινωνίαν τῆς τοιαύτης εὐφροσύνης συγκαλεῖται τὰς γείτονας, τὰς οἰκείας δυνάμεις, διὰ τῶν αἰσθήσεων, Συγχάρητέ μοι, λέγουσα, ὅτι εὗρον τὴν δραχμὴν ἣν ἀπώλεσα· ταῦτ᾽ ἔστι τὸ κατ' εἰκόνα Θεοῦ, ὅπερ δι᾽ ἁμαρτίας ἀπώλεσε, διὰ δὲ μετανοίας ἀπέλαβον. Εἰ οὖν αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ ἐπίνοια τῆς τοῦ ζητουμένου εὑρέσεως, ἡ τῆς θείας εἰκόνος ἀποκατάστασις, τῆς νῦν ἐν τῷ τῆς σαρκὸς ῥύπῳ κεκαλυμμένης, ἐκεῖνο σπουδάσωμεν γενέσθαι, ὃ ἦν κατὰ τὴν πρώτην αὐτοῦ ζωὴν ὁ πρωτόπλαστος, γυμνὸς μὲν τῆς τῶν νεκρῶν δερμάτων περιβολῆς, ἀνακεκαλυμμένῳ δὲ προσώπῳ καὶ εὐπαῤῥησιάστῳ τὴν δόξαν Κυρίου κατοπτριζόμενος. Δι᾿ ἧς τοίνυν μεθοδείας ἔξω τοῦ παραδείσου γεγόναμεν τῷ προπάτορι συνεκβληθέντες, διὰ τῆς ἐναντίας συγκαταθέσεως ἔξεστιν ἡμῖν πάλιν ἐπανελθεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρχαίαν μακαριότητα. Τότε μὲν γὰρ ἡδονὴ δι' ἀπάτης εἰσγενομένη τῆς ἐκπτώσεως ἤρξατο· νυνὶ δὲ καθαρότης βίου διὰ τῆς τῶν ἐντολῶν τοῦ Χριστοῦ διδασκαλίας καὶ ἀγαθῶν ἔργων ἐπιμελείας ἀποκαθίστησιν ἐκεῖ πάλιν ἡμᾶς. C Ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ παράδεισος ζώντων ἐστὶ καὶ καθαρὸν οἰκητήριον, ἡμεῖς δὲ σάρκινοι καὶ θνητοὶ καὶ ἐῤῥυπωμένοι ἁμαρτίαις ἐσμὲν, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τῇ χώρα τούτων γενέσθαι τοὺς τῇ δυναστείᾳ τοῦ θανάτου κρατουμένους, ἀναγκαῖόν ἐστιν, τρόπον τινὰ καὶ ἐπίνοιαν ἐξευρεῖν, ὅπως ἂν ἔξω τῆς ἐξουσίας ταύτης γενόμενοι κτησώμεθα πολιτείαν, τὴν τοῦ θανάτου μὴ φοβουμένην δυναστείαν, ἵνα καὶ τῶν αἰωνίων ἀγαθῶν ἀπολαύσωμεν ἐν Χριστῷ.
1119 JANUARY. 1120
plotting new things, until he fell into the Roman army along with other seditious men; and thus that evil man perished evilly. But the affairs of Gainas happened in this way; and we have said these few things out of many, which will have been sufficient to signify his perversity and the virtue of that great man.
XXX. But similarly, no one can explain in detail the concern he had for the ecclesiastical canons and the zeal he had for them. Yet, we shall attempt to show this too in a few words, as far as it is possible, just as one might show the whole water of a spring through small streams. For when twenty-two Asian bishops were sitting in council with this great pontiff at the city of Constantine the Great (Year 400), suddenly, on one of the Sabbaths, a certain bishop of Valentinopolis named Eusebius, approaching him out of hatred, handed libels to the Synod. These were against Antoninus, who was then administering the Ephesian see. Then he also bound the great high priest of Christ with a most solemn oath not to treat what had been given lightly or in passing, but to bring it to examination as soon as possible. The entire accusation was comprised in seven chapters. It was as follows: That he had converted sacred precious vessels, and made their material into vessels named after himself and his son. That he had again taken marble from the entrance of the baptistery and, with a bold hand, placed it in his own bath. That he had placed columns, which had been stored inside the temple for a long time, in his own dining room. That he was still keeping his own son, who was guilty of murder, in the diaconate, fearing neither divine nor human laws, and maintaining him there with his excessive authority. He said that he had sold lands consecrated to the Church by Basilina, the mother of the abominable Emperor Julian, and had usurped the price for himself. That having previously separated from his wife of his own accord, he had again cohabited with her and become a father of children by her. To all these evils was added this crowning point: that he used as a law and dogma the selling of episcopal ordinations for gold, so that those who offered more money became the greater ones (alas!). To these things, the man of God said, as you might say, quite mildly and tranquilly: "Brother Eusebius, proofs are not easy for accusations made out of grief. We must, therefore, cease from accusing Antoninus in writing, since we are able to cure the causes of the grief more easily." But as he used sharper words and most impudently asserted that he was moved by no passion, but was accusing everything for the sake of truth, the blessed John gave place to anger, thinking that the pretext for the accusation was enmity; and having asked Paul, the bishop of Heraclea (for he seemed to be on friendly terms with Antoninus), to act as an envoy for peace between both parties, he rose and entered the temple. For the time of the mystery was calling. But these things did not please Eusebius in the least, nor did he cease from his enmity; but he was carried vehemently against Antoninus, and was full of unrestrained impulse and force. It is uncertain, however, how he had been moved against him, and by what passion his soul had been irritated. Therefore, approaching, he offered another book to the great John, having the same meaning as the former, and again bound him with fearful oaths, even linking the salvation of the emperors to it, not to overlook it.
A breathe his last. When those who pastured their flocks in the surrounding villages came to visit—they having gone there and, because they could not get an answer to his customary prayers despite calling out many times, forcibly opened the window of the cell—they saw him lying prostrate and speechless. Thinking he was dead, they ran back down and reported it to his kin, who then went up and found him almost half-dead, unable to speak at all, or only barely breathing. Seeing his body wounded, they quickly brought a cart, placed him upon it, and took him to the blessed Auxentius.
Auxentius, looking out from his window at the ninth hour and seeing him, said in a clearer voice: "Brother Basil." When he let out a second call and he did not respond, he cried out with strength the third time: "I say to you, brother Basil." When he quickly sat up, he said to him: "Arise, receive authority against the tempter, and no longer fear the wicked and unclean demons." He then commanded him to rise, to receive the venerable Body and life-giving Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and immediately to return to his place. Having gone and, in such a manner, not being tempted any longer, he exercised himself bravely for three years and departed this life in peace.
C LIII. After his arrival, the blessed one said to the monks and laymen who were present and to all the rest: "Beloved brothers, the demons, envying mankind, are constantly contriving to be an impediment to us in good works, and especially in temperance and continence, humility and beneficence, prayer and silence, gentleness and patience, peace and tolerance, and love for one's neighbor, than which there is nothing greater. For to those who wish to be temperate, they suggest certain varied and discordant images and bodily titillations; likewise, to those who are continent, the appetites of the belly; to those who wish to have humble thoughts of themselves, vainglory; to those who intend to do good, a preoccupation with the care of their own kin instead; to those who pray and practice silence, varied distractions and a multitude of old affairs; to those who exercise themselves in patience and forbearance, they oppose despondency, cowardice, and all their own wickedness; to peace and forbearance, they oppose rancor, by which, after hatred toward one's neighbor, the love that is in Christ is destroyed; and, one might say in summary, they attempt to overturn all the fruits of the Holy Spirit which the Apostle enumerated D by means of contrary things. But those who are fortified by the grace of our Savior Jesus Christ remain immovable. Wherefore, it is no wonder [that we are not swayed], even when they cut us to pieces with blows. For when they are unable to disrupt us through thoughts and other bodily passions, then they approach of themselves, terrifying the ascetics."
A LIV. Those who have been repulsed many times by the sign of the cross lament their defeat and depart wailing. Let us, therefore, not yield, and they will be put to flight; let us resist, and they will be cast down; let us call upon the Lord, and their every counsel will be scattered. For the life of every Christian who chooses to walk according to the commandments of our Savior is a stadium, a contest, and a martyrdom; most especially for the one who is distinguished in the monastic life, as the Apostle also says: "For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness." He instructs us, saying: "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil," and he himself teaches us to acquire the breastplate of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, so that through such invisible and invincible armor we may draw up in battle array against invisible thoughts, and through these against the enemies, as he says: "Casting down reasonings and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ," who always conquers the diabolical audacity in our weakness, and does not permit us to be tempted beyond what we are able, but provides the way of escape through patience, so that we may be able to bear it. For without His help we are weak and infirm, and easier to catch than almost any birds or cattle; but being deemed worthy of His aid, we who are weak become strong, the abject become glorious, the earthly become heavenly, and the mortal become immortal through the multitude of His mercies, and we are made heirs of the eternal kingdom.
Chapter IX. Divine worship prescribed by St. Auxentius to others. Death of St. Simeon Stylites, and other revelations. The monastery of nuns begun.
C LV. When those who heard him sincerely had thus received sufficient benefit, they departed rejoicing, giving thanks to the Lord of all and our Savior Jesus Christ. Moreover, the blessed man used to instruct them that they should abstain from work every week not only on the Lord's Day, but also on Friday, if possible, especially those who had an abundance of daily bread: the former in fasting and prayer, on account of the Savior’s passion; the latter in feasting and the participation of the sacraments, on account of His resurrection. Wherefore, if it ever happened that he, or his successor (of whom we shall speak in his proper place), had workmen, they would command them to rest on these two days: on Friday providing them with both expenses and wages, but on the Lord's Day providing only the expenses. And as the day of the Sabbath dawned, the Father would command his household, together with those who happened to be present, to keep vigil during the entire night. D LVI. When, therefore, according to custom, during a certain nocturnal vigil, he was inside praying while the others remained outside,
A The litigants, being in the region, before appearing at the tribunal, had given one another—the one gold, the other an oath, to be persuaded to take courage and that he should have no care for the matters at hand, having considered how to put off the judges by a postponement of the time. For it seemed best to the accuser to put them off as regards time, especially since the season was also enough to cause annoyance (for it was the height of summer), and he said he was unable to produce the witnesses within forty days. Having spoken thus, he himself, holding the matter of the witnesses as of no account, secretly entered Constantinople. The judges, having waited for the forty days and another thirty besides, since none of those expected were present, but the affair was a fraud, wrote to the bishops throughout all of Asia and excommunicated Eusebius; but they themselves returned to the holy one, where they also came upon Eusebius and had something to complain of regarding what had taken place. He, alleging bodily infirmity, promised the production of the witnesses even yet. But in the meantime (alas!) Antoninus departs this life, and thus he flees the present tribunal, as far as he was able; but he awaits the future and incorruptible one, which cannot be circumvented. What followed after these things? Letters are sent to the holy one, and a common petition from Asia—this from all the bishops, and that from the presbyters—beseeching him, and by oaths B as having something more for the sake of credibility, tempering the request, and very strongly imploring him to come to them, partly by those acting as ambassadors for the party of Arius, and partly by those who were chosen to seek a remedy for the churches in their midst which were suffering most grievously.
The man of God, therefore, and true shepherd, reckoning as nothing bodily infirmity, length of journey, or the hardship of winter (for it was the season for such), or any other such thing at all, but having a soul violent for Christ, and contentious, and superior to the necessities of the body, but holding all things small and of no account for the care of the churches, boarding a ship, in three days he arrives at Apamea. Where indeed Paul and Quirinus and Palladius C the bishops were awaiting him (for he had determined to take them as companions on the journey), with whom he also completed the journey on foot and arrived at Ephesus. All the bishops, then, of the Lydians and Phrygians, and furthermore of the Carians, consisting of no fewer than seventy, and whoever of the people of Asia were notable, flowed together with all joy, desiring to see that sight which bloomed with the grace of virtue, and desiring to hear the pleasant and beautiful stream flowing from his tongue into their souls. In Addition to these, Eusebius was also present, that accuser of Antoninus, seeking to be loosed from the excommunication and to be received into communion. And as the opposing bishops were saying that one ought not to receive a calumniator, he maintained that he was ready to produce both the witnesses and those who had received their ordination for gold.
A Of this betrothal, there is no pleasure of carnal experience, but rather a firmness of all virtue, beneficence, and concord, together with that which is obtained through fasting, vigils, and fortitude of soul.
LXIII. There is need, therefore, of greater watchfulness, because for those who are troubled by passion in the world, the remedy is ready at hand through lawful consent; but for virgins and those who live in continence, if they are inclined toward pleasures, the shipwreck is grave and the fall is heavy. For the struggle of temperance is great, since its crown is also great. But by as much as the labor is greater, by so much, and much more, is the reward. If, therefore, you do not surrender it to torpor and vanity, pleasure will labor in vain, besieging the doors of your members. B For let it hear from you: "That which is pleasant in sin is most fleeting, but the gravity of the punishment is eternal. Depart from us; for we have been betrothed to a heavenly spouse, Christ, that we might present ourselves as pure virgins." Establish, therefore, your reckonings as guardians of this treasure, always carrying the commandments of Christ in your senses, and primarily the sanctification of virginity and temperance, lest perchance the thieves of these should ascend through the windows and enter easily, having persuaded the mind like a gatekeeper, and having opened the way of virginity, they might secretly steal away your temperance and make your virginity more miserable than any widowhood. For this sin is also grievous and heavy for those who commit it, because it is not an equal crime to tear a tunic and to tear a royal purple robe, to break the image of an emperor and that of a private citizen. C For virgins are images of God, having Him written in their thoughts, and to dare any transgression against them is a deed of tyrannical madness; and for this reason, to do harm to a virgin is more wicked than to do so to one who fornicates. For the lewdness toward the one who is set over [a household] and one who is joined to Christ is not equal; for neither is the theft of a silver vessel equal to that of a priestly one. But the virgin represents a priestly vessel and a purple robe, which it is permitted to no one to wear except the Lord and King of all.
LXIV. But if even lawful marriage causes you trouble, hear of its calamities and the sentences pronounced against Eve, from which you have been liberated and set free through virginity: to endure the false suspicions and accusations of an adulterous husband who has the power to forbid the things that are expedient for you; to forbid your association, to pursue you with jealousy; to reproach the one who has brought forth [a child]: "Why is the fetus that you brought forth a female and not a male?" And if it is a male, "Why is he not handsome?" A greater care remains: he is not yet weaned, and there is a great contention regarding his upbringing. D If he has grown, [there is fear] lest he fall ill, and if he should fall ill, lest he die; if he does not die, the labor regarding him as one who is alive is greater: lest he fail to receive education, lest he turn out evil, lest he be subverted by some, lest he be dragged into the company of the wicked, lest he be mutilated by wild beasts, lest, while he makes progress, he be called into envy and sedition. Whence will those things be supplied that are
B It was therefore deemed best by the synod that, even though he who had accepted the money had passed from this life, the matter should still be investigated for the sake of those who had given it. Once the records already compiled were produced, the accused bishops stood forth, and the witnesses also stood forth—those to whom the secret of the unlawful ordination for money had become known. At first, there was a categorical denial from the accused, who rejected what was put before them; but when the witnesses brought forward their proof, reminding them of the places and the times, enumerating the exact amount of what had been given, and reporting precisely the nature of the security pledged, those accused, being confounded by the manifest truth of what was being said, and then unable to bear the pangs of an inescapable judge—their own conscience—confessed, adding, "We thought such was the custom, and that we might thereby obtain release from the city council to which we were subject. But now, if it is holy for us to remain ministers of the Church, do so; if not, at least grant that we may recover the gold we paid out." Some of them even said that the money had come from property belonging to their wives. C To these, the great man said, "I shall indeed endeavor to free you from the city council, having made this request to the Emperor; but as for you," he said, turning to the synod, "it will be your concern that the money given to the heirs of Antoninus be recovered for them." It was therefore promptly decreed that they should recover their gold, but that they must relinquish their priesthood, though they were permitted to enter inside the sanctuary to partake of the holy mysteries alone, so that if this permission were granted, the practice of such a wicked custom might not take root—that the priesthood, which we declare to be a gift of God, should become something to be bought with money and, in the Jewish fashion, peddled as merchandise. Having judged these matters canonically over several days and having committed the findings to the records, they replaced them in the churches with men adorned in word and life, and who had thankfully adhered to the judgment of the great one and underwent the penalty of deposition. Not only these, who were six in number, but also six others whom he found to have taken possession of the churches through money, he deposed in accordance with the apostolic canon. He was kindly, yet he examined ordinations with precision, extending the investigation for a long time, and, like Lydian stone, he tested each one, so that those approved might not only be pure but also, in their manner, indifferent to money and altogether blameless. D Being thus precise, he cautioned those being ordained, and exhorted them according to the Apostle's word, to "lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins." Antoninus having departed this life (as we have already indicated), the great man ordained to his throne (this was Ephesus) Heraclides, a Cypriot by birth, who had been his own deacon. Then, having cleansed the lives of many by his discourse, he also closed many of the churches of the Novatians, and of these, as many of those who were"
necessary? From where will they procure the marriage settlements? From where will they find enough for their decorum and ornament? From where will they feed their servants? From where will they provide for their propriety? From where will they maintain their servants and the rest of the troublesome distractions, not to mention the pains of childbirth and the necessities of nature? Indeed, as the divine Apostle says, the unmarried woman cares for the things of the Lord, having been freed from all these things, but adorned only with incorruption, of which the provider and author and perfecter is Jesus, who is also able to keep you in patience and increase you in good hope. A Keep yourselves, therefore, in the calling in which you were called, that you may present yourselves as chaste virgins to Christ, that you may also be deemed worthy of eternal goods, by the grace of Him who called you into His own kingdom and glory.
LXV. Now when the blessed one had ceased from his exhortation, and had prayed well, he commended them to Christ, commanding all to come on the following day to the synaxis, sanctifying the things round about with hymns. When therefore he had come to the monastery that was being built, having offered intense prayers with the multitude that followed him, he went up onto the mountain: where, after having been ill for three days, he died after ten more days. B
LXVI. A multitude of devout men from the clergy and from the monasteries round about, together with those who were lovers of virtue from the laity, gathered and performed his funeral rites on the fourteenth day of the month of February. And while some desired, and especially those from the monastery of the most blessed Hypatius, in which he had spent time when he descended for the synod, to deposit his precious relics in the Church of the Holy Apostles, while others [desired to deposit them] in the church of Saint Zacharias, which is situated some miles away in an estate called Theatrum, those who had been gathered by him, with much lamentation, besought those who were present that the Father not be separated from his children. C Then, by the good pleasure of God for the salvation of those who were there, they deposited him in the oratory built by him, which had been set in order as a monastery, whose tomb, through the manifold philanthropy of Christ, performs healings even to this day.
LXVII. Now our holy Father, priest, and archimandrite, and great among ascetics, Auxentius, was perfected in the reign of the Christ-loving Zeno, on the fourteenth of the month of February. He was indeed deposited in the aforementioned oratory, to the glory of our God, who works gifts in His saints. For to Him is due glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always and unto the ages of the ages. Amen. D
well as those called Tessareskaidecatitæ, he persuaded them to recede from their former opinion and pass over to the orthodox faith; and having done many other things most apostolic, and worthy of his mind and tongue, that golden man returned to the queen of cities, and was, as before, nourishing them with the heavenly food of his orations and taking care of his accustomed works. These, however, were the care of widows, the defense of orphans, the assistance of those who were neglected and easily exposed to injuries; and, what was the greatest of all, the leading of lives to virtue and the care of souls, to which that extraordinary tongue, not as if sending forth words like small drops of dew, but pouring forth whole fountains aptly and abundantly, incited the people.
B XXXI. But in truth, while the Church was behaving so beautifully and living in great tranquility, a grave and wild tempest falling upon it stirred up great waves. For since that man of God and most skillful physician of the soul's passions, while he was eager to heal many other things with great care, was especially and vehemently attacking the most malignant and most illiberal of all, and the cause of almost all other vices, namely avarice, they who were slaves to this vice did not bear it with an even mind, every one of them thinking that the wound was his own and his alone, even if he [Chrysostom] was not lashing any person privately, but was bringing C forth the rebuke commonly and obscurely. But the first of others, and the first of those who were held by his love of gain, was Eudoxia (you all know by report who the empress is, and how very closely that woman was a slave to the love of avarice), although he was not aiming at her by name, nor at specific individuals, but was bringing forward his rebukes commonly and in such a way that they were not personally directed. Yet it is a terrible thing, by all means, to strike the conscience; where even if no one else is provoking it, each one of us is not able to escape its internal scourges. She, therefore, being so miserably and grievously affected, supposed that those general and impartial rebukes were meant for her alone and for no one else. D And a certain incident occurred which provided her with material to take revenge upon him who was rebuking. There was a certain man in Constantinople of the rank of patrician, by the name of Theodoricus, possessing a great deal of wealth. Eudoxia, seeing this wealth with eyes that were not good, and coveting it utterly to make it her own, was seeking a way by which it might be possible for her to accomplish what she was planning. Since she was in doubt (for that man gave no handle), what does she do? She forms the intention of confiscating his goods, but because she was eager not to do this openly, she signifies it to him who possessed them. She says to him, "The public treasury is in need of money for many reasons that have just arisen," and she demands a loan.
A nuptials, this wise woman, being capable of repelling that ardent suitor, sent word to him: Do not, she said, prepare yourself for the wedding, knowing that you will not be able to take me as your wife in any other way unless you first receive the office of prefect from the Emperor. By saying this, she clearly showed that she had such an objective: that if he should not obey, or perhaps even were unable to do so, this would provide her with no weak occasion for warding off the marriage to Eleusius. But if she found him compliant and capable of achieving this task, she might then have a second thing to command him; if he should obey and do that, he would win both her and himself, but if he did not obey and recoiled, he would first lose himself, and then his marriage to her as well. And that her purpose was such, the narrative will soon reveal. For he, since he was captured by his great love for her, having moved every stone and purchased the magistracy with much money, sent word to the maiden, signaling that he had emerged as a more distinguished suitor to her, and was now demanding the wedding. But she (for she necessarily revealed what she was turning over in her mind) said: Tell those who were sent by Eleusius that these things are well and good; however, unless you worship my God, and confess the Lord whom I serve to be your own as well, seek another to live with you; for this is the sole foundation B of Juliana, and let him who does not hold the same opinion as I, go to another. They reported this; he was moved to anger, and having summoned her father, he recounted everything and added threats to his words.
III. But when he heard these things, he, being also devoted to the false religion of the Gentiles, and being wrought up with at least as much fury as the suitor himself, and having learned of the matter not only beyond his hope but even beyond his opinion, was consumed with pain as a father, yet was angered because of the new religion. And immediately, when he had arrived home, at first he said nothing harsh or bitter to the maiden, fearing that he might thereby provoke her all the more to constancy; but rather he spoke pleasantly and paternally: Tell me, he said, my dearest daughter, oh light of my eyes, for what reason do you find the wedding disagreeable and reject the prefect? But she, as if struck in the ears by a goad, said: Cease, father; for I swear by my hope, my Lord Christ, that if he is not first of my opinion, he will C not be a participant in my marriage. For what else would this be, than to be entirely joined in body, but enemies in our souls? An intolerable anger fell upon the father; and, Are you mad, he said, and do you love torments? Did I say torments? By the greatest gods, Apollo and Diana, I shall throw your body to the wild beasts and dogs to be devoured. But the martyr said: Why do you delay? Let the dogs come, let the wild beasts come, and even many deaths, if it be possible, instead of one. For I shall rejoice, dying often for Christ and receiving many rewards. Again that crafty man, in various ways beset the noble virgin, abandoning his terror and harshness, and returned to his first method, as both paternal longing and religion from thence kept him in a state of distraction D
A And he, not looking to the speech, but to the pretext, and understanding that she wishes to strip him of his possessions, knew to take refuge with the man of God. And having done this, he made him not only a sharer of his cares, but also a physician of the matter; for he wrote to her without any delay whatsoever, both touching upon the proposed goal, and containing those things which were preventing her from such an intention; and that she might be shamed by what was written, and desist for the present, and not be a burden to the man. Thus, then, as the matter proceeded smoothly for him, the blessed one said to him: "If the empress hath brought to pass what she had in mind, thou art stripped of thy possessions, and thou hast stored up no gratitude with God." And since he did not allow these things being meditated upon to come to pass, what was the logical consequence but to appear to us as not having been unfeeling of the grace, nor of a soul ungrateful for the kindness? Thus having spoken, the saint so softened him, that he immediately consecrated all his wealth, except for that from which he and his children were to live, to the hostel of the Church. B But when these things came to the knowledge of Eudoxia, they deeply wounded her soul and caused her much distress. Indeed, having inferred from what was present, as also from what was written before, that it was not a discourse of philanthropy that moved Theodoric to the appearance of concern, but rather avarice, and the desire to draw the money to himself. She makes known to the saint the things of her purpose, having sent one of those in authority, and she reproaches the reception of the money: "For it was necessary," she said, "to spare the things belonging to Theodoric just as we do." For the desire for money was turning her and strongly agitating her, having supposed that these things came to another rather than to herself. And when the blessed one heard this, he wrote toward her as it was fitting for one to write who cares for both truth and godliness. And the things written were as follows: "I think, pious child, that it is within thy knowledge that, if I indeed had wished to have money myself, there was nothing to prevent it (for I used the counsel of those who were both very powerful and possessed much); but I willingly departed from wealth for those in need, not considering it a matter worthy of concern. How then, having set it aside with much eagerness, and being one who advises all in common to despise such things, could I now appear to be a coveter of the things I am ashamed of? C Therefore, Theodoric did not provide money to me; but not even if he had offered it, would I have taken it. But he lent these things to Christ by providing them to the poor, that man doing well and profitably for himself. For he will receive them back many times over from there. But if thy goal is to take these things away from Christ, thou wilt cause us no loss, nor wilt thou grieve us in this regard, but rather Christ, to whom they have indeed come, and thou wilt harm thyself most greatly." D This was the first seed of Eudoxia's hostility against him. From thence she travailed little by little against him in madness, having many others also to assist her in her purpose. That there was no word of danger for that man, and that she stirred up a hornet's nest against...
1131 MONTH OF JANUARY. 1132
...those who would be offended, and for whom to overlook something was to provoke God to anger and to fall from His favor, it is now time to teach; or rather, how the impulses against him proceeded to action from those who hated reproofs, and who chose to be sick. He had many others who fanned the flames of his anger. That he took no account of the danger, and of provoking hornets against himself, and of moving those who were about to harm him, in matters where to neglect anything was to provoke God to anger and to fall from His favor, it is now time to teach; or rather, how anger erupted against him from those who were difficult, as those who willingly, as the saying goes, scratch themselves.
XXXII. A certain widow, by the name of Callitrope, living in the city of Alexandria, is slandered to Paulacius, the commander of the army, who at that time was administering the Augustal prefecture of Alexandria, and who was possessed by a great love of money, as being one who had surplus wealth and was terribly rich; and for this reason, the unfortunate woman is immediately demanded to pay five hundred gold pieces; which she gives to him, who was thirsting for them, not as one who could easily provide them, but as one who was being struck with great fear, having given all her property as a pledge, and having borrowed from those who had the means to lend. When two years had passed, and he had reached the end of his term of office and was residing in the royal city, and an account of his administration was being demanded of him, the woman, having found the time to be her ally, follows closely on his heels and approaches the emperor, crying out against the one who had done the injury and reporting the wicked extortion. When the case had been entrusted to the praetorian prefect, and the emperor had ordered that what had been unjustly taken away be returned to the woman, he—whether his judgment was favoring the person [of the accused] more, as the divine Scripture says, or whether his hand was acting ungenerously—treated the widow badly, and showed himself to be not her defender, but rather her adversary as a judge. The woman, therefore, having despaired of help from that quarter, approaches the empress: a woman approaching a woman, thinking that she who had suffered evil would not lack mercy from one who had the power to help. Eudoxia, therefore, having found this as an opportunity for hunting, and having scented the fat, as the saying goes, immediately summons the one who had done the injury. Then, having stated the widow’s case as a pretext, and having convicted him of injustice, she fines him one hundred pounds of gold; but having given only thirty-six coins to Callitrope, she ordered her to be content. This woman, avaricious and ungenerous, living for gold, seeing gold, breathing gold, imagining gold night and day, in whose hands was iniquity, as the blessed David says, and whose right hand was full of injustice. What then of that miserable widow, and truly most calamitous, who had suffered such things from her from whom she ought not to have, as she had hoped for defense instead? She, therefore, having cast away all hope, uses one refuge, running to the common protector of widows. To whom, having reported the facts of the matter, and what she was suffering from the lenders, and how she was in danger of being completely worn down by interest—saying these things and shedding tears, which have great power to persuade, she calls to mercy him who was most ready toward her, and who was no less... [The text ends abruptly here.]
and for these hundred and thirty women, they appeared no less than the men, insofar as piety is concerned. A
XIII.
Furthermore, the prefect, still boiling with fury, orders Juliana to be cast into a cauldron boiling with a great fire. But divine grace acted as a bath of labors for the martyr, not one that would dissolve and melt her limbs; but for those who were serving around it, it acted as another Chaldean furnace. For the cauldron suddenly burst, and having poured out round about as if by some machine, it miraculously destroyed those who were standing by, justly punishing them and showing the foolish ones by experience what He is toward them, and how He appeared in the martyr. When the executioners had thus been consumed, the prefect did not bear what had happened, nor did he consider the calamity at all bearable. But what grieved him critically was that he could not prevail over even one maiden. A token of his dejection was that he tore his clothes, and in his great grief he uttered many words against his own gods. As he was inflicting these tortures and achieved nothing, but rather saw the martyr’s resolve increasing in this way, he decreed death by the sword against her. BXIV.
The tempter also approaches again—Satan, who had approached the martyr at the beginning, having suffered much more than he had acted, and standing from afar (for he still feared, and remembered the blows)—he was secretly rejoicing at her death and inciting the executioners toward the slaughter. But when the noble virgin looked sharply and intensely at him, he cried out, "Woe is me, for perhaps she wishes to seize me with her hands again," and he vanished. And he, having thus confessed his fear in the presence of many witnesses, fled. But the glorious victress Juliana, as if being led not to death but rather to a release from death and labors, went forth with a graceful countenance, joyful in her eyes, and portraying the internal pleasure of her soul. She conversed much with those who were accompanying her, persuading them that there is nothing more precious than the present good things, nor stronger than the love for Christ among the painful ones. She said these things, and by her deeds she sealed what she had said. For when she was at the very place where she was required to receive her consummation, she first stretched herself out in prayer; then she bowed her neck for the slaughter, preserving the same joy of soul and showing no signs of sadness at all, and thus her head, the bearer of victory, was severed. CXV.
A certain woman named Sophia, by some chance passing through Nicomedia at that time and journeying toward the great city of Rome, took that sacred relic with her, and having brought it home, she erected a temple for the martyr worthy of her contests. Not long after, the wretched Eleusius also enjoyed the punishment due to him. For while he was sailing on the sea, some fierce winds caught him, and having brought a grievous tempest upon him, the ship itself, along with D1133 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. 1134
[Greek text omitted]
He was prompt to defend those who had suffered injury, which Eudoxia was intent on committing. Wherefore it was not possible for him to delay: but he immediately summoned the one who had done the injury, and with a strong and generous spirit reproached and refuted his injustice, and demanded the gold from him—not as Eudoxia was doing, curing her own malady while ignoring the wound of another, but defending the woman with a free mind that hates evil. When he brought up the penalty of one hundred pounds with which the empress had fined him, and thus sought a subterfuge to avoid rendering an account, the blessed one said: "That exaction was for public offenses. But you shall not escape from here unless you first count out five hundred to the woman." When this came to the ears of Eudoxia, she immediately sent to that great man, ordering him to release the one who was being held, as if he had already sufficiently defended himself. But he said, "I will not release him, because it is not just before the eyes of the one who has been wronged, and this woman—alas!—is a stranger and a widow. For whom does God care as much as for these? But if you command me to release him, then you yourself pay the debt to the woman, from what you took in excess under the pretext of her case." These things the great man said. But when she had sent once and twice and accomplished nothing, and he valued offending men less than offending God, and she knew that she was dealing with a man who did not yield to the times, nor was he terrified by the threats of small-minded men, but with a noble disposition of soul stood against sin even unto death, and feared doing evil more than suffering it—since she had learned to attack such a man, she became full of anger (for it seemed to her least of all bearable that she, who ruled over many, should appear inferior to one). And because a woman is such a thing—light, easily moved, and precisely a plaything of empty glory, and especially when power carries her away like some Bacchic frenzy—she ordered two of the centurions with the force under them to arrive as quickly as possible at the temple and enter, and by force to take away the one who was being held. But they, having gone, as they were already at the doors and about to push themselves inside, saw an angel of God with a sword drawn, terribly barring the entrance. Seeing this fearful sight, and struck with great fear, they decided to do nothing more, but returned immediately to the one who had sent them and recounted the prodigy they had seen. She, upon hearing it, shuddered and let go of her impulse. For that which quickly swells and puffs up through the ease of the mind, quickly again, like empty bubbles, collapses. Then, after a little while, she returned to her previous purpose; and having sent a certain man named Frumentius to him, she ordered him to accomplish the matter through persuasion rather than force. But the great man, not at all persuaded by his flatteries, said: "I am not contentious, nor do I wish to oppose the empress simply for the sake of being quarrelsome beyond measure. It is not so; but at once I am defending a wronged woman, a widow stripped of all protection, and at the same time I am working for the salvation of the empress's soul." The saint having given such an answer, and having shown no sign of yielding in his stance, since the one who had committed the injustice knew that all things in her hopes were impractical and useless, and it was...
Christian, but the spiritual forces of wickedness, the assistance of Christ shows His own people to be stronger against the devil. And that which has been said is sufficiently proven from the endurance of the noble martyrs Leo and Paregorius; for when the blessed Paregorius had already been brought to completion in his endurance in the Lord and had found the kingdom of heaven as the rest from his many toils, the blessed martyr of Christ, Leo, deemed the contest of him who had been perfected to be blessed; he himself, however, was held by grief, because he had not attained the same contest, though the path was set before them both as a common one. B
II. In those days, it happened that the proconsul Lollianus, having been appointed by the emperors, arrived at their region, although the administration at that time was held by the procurator of the city, which was Patara. Now the most-defiled procurator, while celebrating the feast of Serapis and convening a council of the impious, was plotting against the Christians and forcing everyone to participate in the madness of idolatry. And while many were running together and being held back by human fear, the blessed Leo was distressed, not even bearing to hear the audacity of the lawless. Reasoning with himself, he went out to the place where the relic of the blessed martyr Paregorius lay. And having arrived at that place, where those worthy of it were celebrating the impious festival, each of those who saw him—judging from his stature, from the expression of his face, from his clothing, and from the fact that he did not join in the evils being performed by them—presumed him to be a Christian and truly worthy of reverence. For all things were measured in him; and indeed, he had lived an ascetic life, having applied himself to it from his youth, in continence, purity, and temperance. His clothing was woven of hair, and in deed itself he was clearly imitating the apostolic life, and had become a zealot of the holy John the Forerunner and Baptist. C
III. Having, therefore, arrived at the place set before him and having offered the customary prayers, he went home; and having entered inside and prayed according to his habit, and having partaken of bread, he remained by himself, meditating on nothing other than the noble achievements of the pious Paregorius. And while he was in these thoughts, he was overcome for a little while by sleep, so that he might behold the glory of the things that were to befall him. For just as the patriarch Joseph saw the things that were to be brought upon him by God, so too did the blessed Leo see, through the Holy Spirit, the outcome of the things that were to follow for him. D He seemed, therefore, to see that, while a violent storm was raging and torrents were flowing with great force, he and Paregorius were standing in the middle of the torrent; and although the flow was very dangerous, he seemed to cast himself and hasten toward the blessed martyr Paregorius, who was beginning his journey toward martyrdom. Consequently, after he had seen the vision, he awoke; and weighing the outcome within himself, he conjectured the things that were to happen. He proclaimed himself blessed,
B in that he had spent even a little while with the blessed Paregorius.
IV. Thereafter, he approached him as if he were a most faithful companion in the struggle, but he went through the middle of the forum and through that which was called the Trichaum. Approaching the place, he sees lamps and tapers burning around the shrine. He felt pity for those who had kindled them, as for men who had been deceived. Yet, deeming their transgression to be most absurd, when he came near, he crushed the lamps with his own hands and trampled the tapers under his feet, saying to them: "If you think your gods have power, let them defend themselves." Now the agents of iniquity, having gathered a crowd of impious men, were clamoring against St. Leo, saying that he was turning away the goodwill which fortune had bestowed upon the city. And as the tumult increased, and the rumor of what had happened spread throughout the whole city, it reached the ears of the governor who was then administering the republic. Using his own iniquity, he ordered soldiers to watch for his return and to take the man into custody. St. Leo, for his part, was returning, meditating by himself upon what was to come and lifting the eyes of his mind toward God. The soldiers, having drawn near and laid hold of him, C brought him to the governor, as he offered no resistance nor caused any commotion. But he—like some savage beast, bloodthirsty and full of fury—was moved against the martyr, thinking that if he allowed such an act, he might become the cause of boldness for Christians in the destruction of the idols of the Hellenes.
V. After the governor saw the blessed Leo nearby, he immediately cast in his teeth the audacity he had shown against the lamps, saying: "You seem to me, old man, either to be ignorant of the power of the heavenly gods, since you overturn their religion, or to be insane, as one who acts contrary to what seems good to our most divine emperors, whom we rightly call second saviors and benefactors." To this the most holy Leo said: "You have spoken of many heavenly gods. But the truth is not so, O governor; for there is one God of things heavenly and earthly, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, who has no need to be worshipped in such a way by men. For a contrite spirit and a soul that has accustomed itself to think humbly of itself are in high esteem before God. But the lamps and tapers which are kindled around the images are vain and empty, since they cannot even come to sensation, being stone, bronze, and wood, fashioned by the art of men. If, however, O governor, you understood Him who is truly God, you would not have honored this matter, which is devoid of all sensation, with the honor of incense. Cease, therefore, to labor in vain in these things and glorify the God over all, and His only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world and the Creator of our souls." To this the governor said: "You have not made a defense at present to the crimes which are charged against you, but have spoken of other things instead of them. For being accused concerning the gods, D
A The procurator said then, "These things that have been done to you are small compared to the punishments to come. Be persuaded, therefore, by me, and offer the customary sacrifices to the gods." Saint Leo said, "What I said before, I shall not refuse to say again: I neither know these gods, nor will I dare to sacrifice to them, knowing the most useful precepts of the holy Scriptures. For the gods who did not make the heaven and the earth, let them perish from the face of the earth (Jer. x, 11)."
B VIII. To this the procurator said, "Say only this: 'Great are the gods,' and you shall be released. For I spare you, considering your gray hair and the other state of your body." Saint Leo said, "This I myself might also say: that they are indeed great and capable of destroying the souls that believe in them." Then, enraged, the procurator said, "I order that you be dragged over the rocks as one who is mad, and that you die in such a way." The blessed Leo said, "Any manner of death is pleasant to me for the sake of the heavenly kingdom; for I call that life and salvation, which, after I depart from here, grants me the dwelling with the saints." The procurator said, "Be persuaded by the edict, and say that the gods are saviors, or know that you are going to die at once." Saint Leo said, "You seem to me, O judge, to be very weak, continually threatening me with words but achieving nothing beyond your words." When the crowd had become seditious over these things, the procurator, being disturbed, ordered the saint to be seized by the feet and dragged into the torrent, there to give the final punishment.
C IX. Immediately, therefore, the procurator having pronounced the sentence, the servants of sin and ministers of darkness dragged the blessed Leo down the torrent inhumanly and cruelly. When his goal was fulfilled, he lifted his eyes to God and began to say, "I thank you, Father of Christ, who for a long time did not separate me and your servant Paregorius, but hastened to gift me the occasion to follow him. I rejoice, therefore, at the things that have come to pass, that in place of my former sins I am receiving a sufficient provision, the martyrdom, and that I commend my spirit into the hands of your angels, to be kept free for eternity from the judgment of the wicked. Therefore, regarding what is done to me, be merciful to those who dare this, and grant them to acknowledge you, the God of all; for you are truly the One who does not wish for the death of the sinner, but for his repentance. You who have also granted to our suffering a painless endurance, in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom to the Father be glory and power unto the ages. Amen."
D X. When, with great eagerness and a loud cry, he had sent forth the "Amen," with thanksgiving he surrendered his spirit to the
ORDER OF CONTENTS. ORDER OF THE CONTENTS CONTAINED IN THIS VOLUME
SYMEON METAPHRASTES LOGOTHETA. PRÆFATIO EDITORUM. 9 Diatriba Leonis Allatii de scriptis Symeonis Metaphrastæ. 20 Indices in Diatribam. 147 Dissertatio de auctoritate et testimonio Metaphrastæ, sermone Gallico exarata. 158 Michaelis Pselli encomium in Metaphrastem. 183 Officium Metaphrastæ a Psello compositum. 199
OPERUM PARS PRIMA. OPERA ASCETICA ET PÆRENETICA. 210 Planctus B. Mariæ corpus Christi amplexantis. 210 Sermones de moribus XXIV. (Hic tantum memorantur utpote jam inter Opera S. Basilii Magni editi). 219 Precationes variæ. 219 Iambi trimetri. 226
OPERUM PARS SECUNDA. OPERA HISTORICA, ETC. 227 Epistolæ. 227 Epistola I. Niceta Smyrnensi metropolitæ. 227 II. Eidem. 227 III. Laodiceno. 230 IV. Eidem. 231 V. Eidem. 231 VII. Constantino Romano. 234 VIII. Laodicensi. 234 IX. Eidem. 234 Epitome Canonum. 235 Annales a regno Leonis Armeni usque ad Nicephorum Phocam. (Memorantur tantum utpote editi inter scriptores post Theophanem, tom. CIX). 291
OPERUM PARS TERTIA. COMPLECTENS VITAS SANCTORUM. 294 MONITUM EDITORUM. 294 Catalogus Vitarum Metaphrastæ a Martino Hanckio digestus. 294 Catalogus earumdem Vitarum a Daniele de Nessel ordinatus. 300
MENSIS JANUARIUS. 306 Die 1. Vita et conversatio sanctæ Euphrosynes Alexandrinæ. 306 Die 3. Vita beatæ Apollinaris virginis. 322 Die 5. Vita sancti Symeonis Stylitæ. 329 Die 7. Vita et martyrium S. Luciani. 393 Die 9. Vita et martyrium S. Polyeucti. 418 Die 10. Vita et conversatio S. Marciani presbyteri. 430 Die 11. Vita S. Theodosii cœnobiarchæ vitatis. 455 Die 13. Vita SS. martyrum Hermyli et Stratonici. 554 Die 15. Vita et conversatio S. Joannis Calybitæ. 567 Die 20. Vita Euthymii hegumeni in eremo sanctæ civitatis. 583 Die 22. Vita S. Vincentii martyris. 735 Die 22. Vita S. Timothei apostoli. 757 Die 23. Vita S. Anastasii Persæ. 774 Die 23. Vita S. Clementis Ancyrani et sociorum. 811 Die 23. Vita S. Joannis Eleemosynarii. 894 Die 24. Vita S. Babylæ martyris. 966 Die 25. Vita et conversatio sanctæ Eusebiæ. 982 Die 25. Vita S. Ananiæ apostoli. 1008 Die 26. Vita S. Xenophontis et filiorum ejus Joannis et Arcadii. 1011 Die 27. Vita S. Joannis Chrysostomi. 1046 Die 28. Vita S. Jacobi monachi. 1212 Die 31. Vita SS. Cyri et Joannis. 1231
MENSIS FEBRUARIUS. Die 1. Vita et res gestæ S. Ephrem Syri. 1254 Die 1. Vita S. Ignatii Deiferi. 1270 Die 2. Vita S. Cornelii centurionis. 1287 Die 2. Vita S. Tryphonis. 1311 Die 5. Vita S. Agathæ virginis et martyris. 1330 Die 7. Vita et conversatio S. Parthenii episcopi. 1346 Die 9. Vita S. Nicephori martyris. 1366 Die 14. Vita S. Auxentii. 1375 Die 16. Vita sanctæ Julianæ. 1438 Die 18. Vita SS. Leonis et Paregorii. 1451
FINIS TOMI CENTESIMI DECIMI QUARTI.
1141 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM 1142
his son: whom he said he had given to the sister of Theophilus, as a reward for the calumny purchased against him. When Isidore had heard these things, he kept silent, leaving everything to God alone: as one who had learned to hide praises, but not vituperations. The young man, however, thinking that the matter would thus be more to his advantage, approached the divine temple and fled to the altar. But when Theophilus was thus brought into greater doubt, he abdicated—alas!—Isidore, for a slight and trivial calumny, and barred him from the church. Then he, having considered this a gain, and having succeeded according to his own opinion, giving no delay to the matter, it came into his mind to set out for the mountain of Nitria, where he had previously spent a beautiful life of asceticism in his youth. There, therefore, he was again at leisure, communing with God alone. But not even thus was he permitted to be outside the reach of the dart, nor was he to avoid the snares of Theophilus, or rather of the common enemy of all, who had brought these evils upon Isidore, envying his virtue: and he was the cause of Theophilus offending God, attacking Him through those things which were being carried out. For at that time a dispute had been stirred up in the monasteries that were in Egypt. But the narrative wishes to explain the matter to us from the beginning.
XXXV. The dispute was between those who said that the Divine is a body, and clothed in the figure and face and form of a man—as many as were of the simpler or more ignorant sort—and those who posited it as entirely incorporeal and stripped of every likeness and form of men; and this was held by those who were more learned and of sharper intellect. Theophilus, therefore, being of this latter party, openly excommunicated those who said that the Divine was of human form. When the more irrational of the monks in Egypt learned of this, they conspired against Theophilus, and were intending to destroy him as someone blasphemous and not holding sound doctrine. But he, approaching the matter that was at hand through a clever device, said: "I see you," he said, "as the face of God." When they heard this, they ceased from their disorderly and murderous impulse; but they said to him: "If you truly think the same as we do, one thing remains for you to do: to deliver to anathema the books of Origen, through which he attempts to overturn the fact that the Divine is a body and has a face like a man." To this Theophilus said: "What, then, prevents me from doing this, who hold Origen in such great hatred?" Having said these things and made this promise, he calmed the anger of the monks. Thus he was always wavering, and inclining to both sides, and adapting himself to the times; when it was necessary for him, being a bishop and entrusted with the souls of the people, to distinguish well and to rightly divide the word of truth, and to dissolve the sedition by teaching both parties in a fatherly way, and not by craftily persuading them—to say that the Divine in itself is incorporeal and without form, but that the only-begotten Word of God took on a body and face and form of man, and after the death for us rose again in the same figure of human flesh, and thus also into the heavens...
what he desires, if it were not directed by God. Then understanding held him, saying: "Now therefore, my child, listen to me, and incline your ears to my words, so that your thoughts may guard good paths, and your mind may wish for what is pleasing to God." Reflecting on these and such-like things, and being urged by them to flee from the world, he departed from his father and mother and his homeland, and arrived in Alexandria. Having spent no small amount of time there, and having learned the fear of God and virtue from the most esteemed men there, he thus moved on to the ascetic life. There was also a holy elder there by the name of Cassian, to whom the man of God, Theodosius, came as to a spiritual father, and there he accomplished the things pertaining to perfection. Having spent a sufficient amount of time there, he saw the seeds of virtue, which had been hidden in his soul, sprout as if in fertile soil, and he progressed so much in his achievements that Cassian thought highly of him and proposed him to many as an example to be imitated. Anticipating, however, that one of the residents might recognize him, he left by night and departed for those places in Palestine. Having venerated many holy places of our Lord Jesus Christ there as well, he came to a monastery lying on the mountain of the desert. In it, he lived as a monk for as long as God ordained. At that time, many of the impious Arian heretics were troubling the Church and pressing hard upon the orthodox, and he was compelled to leave that monastery and go to another. Coming to the regions of Antioch, he persevered there also for no small time with zeal, and later returned to his own homeland. Finding there a place suitable for silence, he resolved to devote himself to God there. But it was difficult for him to contemplate this and carry it into action, as many flocked to him from every side. He therefore stripped for the struggles, carrying his cross and ascending to the peak of the virtues; and adding year to year with fasting, vigil, prayer, and other practices, like some divine farmer, he sowed the labors of his soul with his own hands. Many of the God-loving gathered to him there, and they multiplied so greatly that it was called the great monastery of Theodosius.
XXXVII. Concerning Alexius
There was a certain Alexius, who was of noble birth and burdened with wealth, having his residence in Rome. His father was a man named Euphemianus, who also adorned his own servants in a worthy manner—this by abstaining from luxurious hair, by not cohabiting with a wife, by living in piety, and by cleansing himself with frequent fasts. They desired, having had children, to increase even further; and this came to pass according to their prayer, with the birth of Alexius. When he had learned every kind of literature, he became known to the Emperor of the Romans, and a noble bride was betrothed to him, a maiden most beautiful and lovable. The two greeted one another in the bridal chamber, and Alexius, before touching the bride, spoke spiritual words to her. He gave her his ring and a golden belt, instructing her to keep them. After this he fled, and having embarked on a ship, he sailed to Laodicea; and from there he arrived at Edessa, a city eager to see the image of the Savior not made by hands. Having sat down there, he spent his time in the society of the poor, offering his merciful hand to the needy, taking only such food as could sustain the body, and despising glory and honor.
Many announced to his father the parents who were mourning for him; and Euphemianus sent many servants to search for him, who, having arrived at Edessa, saw him but did not recognize him. But he, having recognized them, asked them for alms as a stranger, and received it. When the servants returned empty-handed, his mother, Aglais, having sat in the house where he himself sat, prayed to God for his return. After having remained in Edessa for seventeen years, he was recognized by a revelation from God to the sacristan of the church there. Glorified by the people, he fled again; and having embarked on a ship as if departing for Tarsus, he was otherwise led by divine providence to Rome. When Euphemianus met him, he asked him for a place where he might dwell; and the father, mercifully granting him this, he lived in his father’s house, unknown to all, for seventeen years, enduring much affliction from the servants.
When his end drew near, he asked for paper and a pen, and he wrote his whole life, noting the things concerning the ring and the belt which he had handed to the bride. After his death, when the Emperor Honorius and Bishop Innocent entered the house of Euphemianus, they found him dead, adorned brilliantly, holding the paper, which they wished to take but could not, until Euphemianus took it and read it, and recognized that it was his son. When the women, the mother and the bride, heard this, they ran, and the whole place was filled with mourning. When the body was set out in the forum, a multitude of healings was performed for those touching him. The emperor and the bishop, having carried the body, laid it in a temple; then, having placed it in a silver casket and having offered many incenses, they deposited him in the church for the honor and glory of Christ, to whom is due all glory, honor, and power, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
1147 JANUARY. 1148
...searching for Ammonius, I say, along with others whom not even Momus could have reproached, and who were brothers in every respect. But since he could not find them at all (for they had hidden themselves in a well), not having attained his goal, the man of small and abject spirit immediately turned to the material; and as if displaying an excessive abundance of madness, he poured his wrath upon it, consigning their houses and all their furniture (there were also some books of the studious ones) to the fire all at once.
XXXIX. Another crime happened to be committed by this wicked prelate, which is entirely consistent with him and not unworthy of him; it is, however, worthy of not a few tears. For an infant who happened to be there, and certain sacred symbols of the sacraments, these too were consumed by the fire. When he had barely ceased from his anger, the pontiff returned to Alexandria with such victories and, alas, trophies against the monks! They, having finally obtained safety and being freed from fear, came out of the well naked, girded only with linen cloths to cover their shame; and they wandered through Alexandria as fugitives—a miserable sight to those who saw them, even though they were splendidly clothed in virtue and beautifully adorned by it. When the Alexandrians recognized them, being immediately filled with zeal and anger, as those people are hot-tempered and difficult to restrain in their impulses, they took lamps in their hands and, surrounding Theophilus wherever they thought he was, some began to set fires, while others began to plunder his possessions.
But when they were about to proceed to the sacred vessels, the governor, fearing the danger, approached, wishing to soothe them with mild words and to restrain their impulse. They, however, were even more enraged and filled everything with shouting and noise, tracking Theophilus like hunting dogs and desiring to lay a vengeful hand upon him. The governor was indeed advised by fear to hand him over, because of the great incursion of those who were seeking him. But he, having trusted his safety only to his feet, buried himself in a certain secret place, suddenly appearing as a coward, he who had been of such great audacity, and like a mouse tasting pitch. Then, when the governor had taken the monks and clothed them in garments (for thus he was striving to soothe the people, as we have said, and to repress their impulses), he showed them to the crowd. But when he accomplished nothing, fearing that he himself might become a trophy of their wrath and pay the penalty for the fury against Theophilus, he approached and swore that Theophilus had not made known to him the reason why he was seeking those men. For he said to them that the monks were corrupt in their religion, and that they were not only doing this, but were also trying to draw others to the same. "If I had known," he said, "what he had in mind, I would not only not have provided soldiers, but I would not even have allowed that man himself to go out." Having said this, he finally persuaded them to withdraw.
Later, however, Theophilus, having satisfied the governor himself and everyone of note in the city with gifts to the point of satiety (for his right hand was heavy with wealth, as their financial affairs had been brought into great straits), was restored to his own throne—would that it had not been done! And while others of these holy men were scattered elsewhere, those around Dioscorus and many others of the more studious ones, I mean monks and priests, having followed him, approached Silvanus, the bishop of Jerusalem. Yet not even in this way did the troubler cease to harass them.
Without spirit, he says, as it gives in a certain way, [it is] burdensome. Beyond this, there may be the wisdom of the soul, while a life without understanding is, when it happens, harmful. Great, then, is prudence, for it benefits from without; but the virtue of the soul is far greater: the former is for life, the latter for eternal salvation. For these reasons, the blessed Constantine, seeking a prudent and perfect education, was trained to the height of external philosophy; but when he learned to despise this, he moved on to the higher things. And having practiced all the virtues, heeding God alone, and considering all things worthless except for the knowledge of God, he ascended to the height of virtue. He was always good and gentle and moderate in all things. Toward wealth, he was exceedingly indifferent. When he received the authority, he possessed only the things necessary for the body, and he treated external things as indifferent; his philanthropy and beneficence reached out to all, while he held parsimony only for himself. Giving alms abundantly to all, yet restrained in common expenditures, he always honored the authorities and respected the rulers. Injuring no one and helping the injured, he was a fine zealot for justice. And being virtuous, he showed off nothing. Bearing sorrows bravely, rejoicing in goods, and bearing burdens without pain, he was not puffed up by the goods of life, but humbled by the goodness of God; being grave, he adorned his soul with good things.
[M]. He was also courageous in his manner, in all things persistent and active. His mind held external wisdom perfectly, but it looked upward toward the spiritual. For he also foreknew many things that were to come. And this was divine, which was found in him. He was also humble in soul, and what he seemed to be, that he was; for he sought nothing outside of himself. Watchful in serious deeds, and hardly permitting[for himself] bodily sleep, having his soul always awake and living, he attempted to see God in every place and deed.
[MA]. These, then, are the things of Constantine. You wonder at him, O reader, as a great man and a philosopher. And I myself also admire that, thus philosophizing, he was ignorant of nothing human; but [rather] he knew himself, and God even more. When he drew near to the end, he was said to say to those present: "I had prayed for a long time to be baptized in the Jordan River; but God willed otherwise. But I hope that God will be well-pleased in this way also." Having said this, and having received holy baptism, rejoicing and being called blessed by all, he departed to God.
[MB]. Thus, then, did the blessed one release his soul. And the sight was beautiful and pleasant to all; for such a man, as soon as he gave up his soul, appeared such that it seemed not that he had died, but that he had fallen into a deep sleep. And the final years of his life were three. He died in the year four hundred and eighty-eight, on the eleventh of May, having completed thirty-seven years.
[MG]. In his final years, he did not entirely withdraw from royal concerns, but in all things that tended toward virtue and piety, he progressed more, always looking toward the contemplation of divine things and nourishing his soul from there. He died having missed three years of his sixtieth; for his age at that time was fifty-seven years. And his body happens to be buried in his own city.
[MD]. His many and wonderful virtues have been left behind. For in Belgrade, he himself built a fortress for the safety of the land. In the city of the Danube, he constructed a temple to the Theotokos, the greatest and most beautiful. And he himself did these things. His son, Stephen, succeeding him in the kingdom, finished and decorated this temple. And he left behind many other monuments to God. His tomb lies some twenty-four stadia from Belgrade, where there is a beautiful temple dedicated to the Theotokos, which the people call Esphigmeni. There his venerable relics perform miracles continuously. This is what is to be studied, this is to be emulated; to this end the Christian must be led. God gave these examples of virtue and piety to us, so that we might emulate them.
and not to bind him again, nor altogether to require—once it was clear that there was a turning of the soul—that a brother should suffer the bonds. Then, when the great Nicholas had entered the prison to him, the prisoner, trembling with fear, said: "If you are indeed Nicholas, the bishop of Myra, we know that you are dead; how then were you able to enter?" When he replied that he was alive and not dead, the prisoner said: "If you live, then go and bring me out of this prison." Nicholas then said to him: "Promise me that you will never again cast any other person into such wrongs." He promised. And not long afterwards, having been released by the governor, he came out. From that time on, they departed from the camp, having found peace, all returning in peace to their own places.
These are the things reported concerning the great Nicholas in the later years of his life. In the interval, all the things that he did for those in need, like a fountain that is always flowing, no one ever sufficiently recounted according to their worth. Every year of his life testifies to this, during which no beggar ever departed from his door, nor stranger left unhosted, nor hungry one unfed, nor grieving person uncomforted, nor one falsely accused left without vindication.
The hour of the common dissolution of all men reached him. Having been ill for a few days, and having marked himself for the last time with the divine communion, he entrusted this blessed and holy soul unto God, with great peace. There was then, at the time he departed, a great multitude gathered, chanting and singing his praises. Angels also joined in his chanting, not only providing an addition to the manner of those chanting, but also producing an ineffable and wondrous fragrance; which indeed imparted a spiritual perception to all.
Having been buried in the episcopal see, in accordance with the holy nature of his own foundation, in which he fulfills many signs and wonders, he bestows solutions to all kinds of diseases, and the expulsion of demons, and he assists those in need in ten thousand other ways. In addition to these things, the memory of the saint is always celebrated brilliantly by the common body of Christians throughout the entire world.
Indeed, his God-minded way of life made it clear that the grace of the Holy Spirit dwelled within him. Furthermore, as long as the hierarch was in this life, he performed as many signs as he could while hiding them; but now, having moved there, he calls upon the grace of God even more for those who ask of him. For such is his boldness before God that he causes the current wonders to exceed by far the ancient ones, and he causes the one calling upon him to obtain his request immediately.
The same life itself also demonstrates these words—I mean his holy words, which he sent forth when he was there before the end; for his soul has left behind an ineffable fragrance in his coffin, which even now continues for the mystical benefit of all who approach the saint with faith and longing.
This grace, the wonder-working power of the saint, the fountain of benefactions, in accordance with that ancient proverb which is life-giving, which is the manifestation of the care and protection toward those who have believed—this is the subject of the present discourse. Which, in the same way, refers the glory to the Ruler of our souls, Christ our true God, to whom, both now and always, and unto the ages of ages, be glory and power. Amen.
A discerning man, and great in the depth of his judgment; brave against enemies, but gentle toward those under him; terrible in speech, but more formidable in action; worthy of reigning, and a friend to the one who reigns; temperate, diligent, just; educated in every way in complete virtue. B When the pious Theophilus looked upon him thus disposed, he decided that it was necessary to entrust the administration of all things to him, but not before testing the man by trial; for he knew that many seem to be gentle, but when they are in power they are found to be quite different. From this he concocted a plan, and saying that he wished to bathe in the imperial baths, as was his custom to visit them, they brought Sabas in and left him there. There happened to be there also one of the imperial eunuchs, a young man who seemed impulsive and bold. C This man attempted to say something contrary to Sabas, and tried to provoke him to anger. But he, gently and quietly, as if he had heard nothing, answered, and having endured all the impudence of the eunuch, escaped in silence. Seeing these things, the emperor, who appeared to be hidden, marveled at the man's meekness and the beauty of his soul; and he gladly entrusted the rule of all things to him, although he did not yet know what had been prepared. D For when the emperor entered with him according to custom, he assigned to him the responsibility for everything, saying that this was a great matter and one from which much good would result. When Theophilus asked how he would be able to suffice for such great things, the emperor replied that he must also call upon God and assist him as much as he was able. Having taken up the care of imperial affairs in this way, and showing every diligence regarding them, he in no way forgot those things pertaining to God; indeed, he cared for these more than for public affairs. Straightaway, therefore, it appeared to all how much piety he possessed; and he demonstrated his virtue not only in such matters, but also in public administrations. For when he saw in the palace many living dissolute lives, and many who were unjust and malicious, he cast them out and drove them away, and brought in those who were temperate and just, and set them over affairs.
not merely curing him with words but with deeds, as was fitting, relieving his indigence. For as much grain as was sufficient, he gave her from the church’s hospice. As for the rest, the time was awaited when he might intercede for her before the emperor. But such are the assaults of envy and the iniquitous and heavy accidents of life! For when she had not yet recovered from her former evils, she was again oppressed by the weight of another calamity, so that—as they say—one was pouring out while another was flowing in. Now it happened thus: it was the time of the vintage. Eudoxia herself, having also gone out of the city, was walking in one of the imperial estates: situated, as it happened, not far from the widow’s vineyard. When the empress had taken a cluster from the widow’s vine, she made use of it. And when someone said B that the vineyard was another’s, "But even it," she said, "is already registered among the imperial estates." For such an utterly wicked custom had prevailed—prompted, it is to be supposed, by greed and the sycophancy of base men—that wherever an emperor might set foot and taste the fruit of a field, that field was also immediately registered among the imperial estates, and the owner of the field either had to exchange it for another or receive its fair value. Eudoxia, having also focused on this custom and judging it to be a peculiar prerogative of rule to commit injury, and—as she was unable to reveal her power in any other way—she took away the widow's field, both desiring to grieve her (for she had learned that she had fled to that blessed man for refuge) and seeking a pretext to depose him from his throne. She knew, indeed, that it would not be tolerable to him, should it come to his knowledge, but that he would choose to help in every way. What, then, followed upon this, and what outcome attended the matter? He, inflamed in his innermost being by the C wretched widow who was wailing piteously, wrote to the empress, entreating her for the sake of mercy, calling to memory the piety of the fathers and the fear of God, and casting into her soul the apprehension of the terrible tribunal. But you will never make bent wood straight, nor will you make the rough hedgehog smooth, nor will you prepare the crab to walk straight. For an evil habit, once it has seized a soul that is easy-going and prone to wickedness, is imprinted upon it and, as it were, cauterized into it, and becomes obedient to no reason, but is almost indelible, as if it were a property capable of becoming immutable. She, therefore, being hard and stony-hearted (and what else is a wicked woman?), not only was not shamed by the letter, nor by the dignity of him who sent it, but appeared very bitter, nursing the poison in her soul (for this became clear from her reply), calling the great John an insolent man of unbridled tongue, one who did not offer her the honor that was proper, and one who was ignorant of the existing laws—of which she claimed this D one was the only admirable and most just one: that which, in a portentous way, by the simple act of setting foot upon a field, immediately makes another’s property the emperor's own. When the man of God encountered these things, he was not blunted in his zeal; nor, having failed in the first trial, did he think of doing his own business, nor did he make any excuses, setting time and delay in the middle (which we do in such cases, either yielding to sloth or standing in awe of the times); but, neglecting everything that had the power to restrain his impulse, as if wishing to help with his whole being and leaving no stone, great or small, unturned that might draw her to mercy, he himself approached the empress, and having said much and moved every stone, since he saw her in no way yielding, but rather putting forward this wicked custom as something invincible, he begged
A of more drastic remedies. "Restore, then," he said, "to the woman what is her own. For why have you hastened to make yourself like the wife of Ahab?" When Eudoxia heard these things, she was inflamed with great anger, and breathed fire; and as one half-mad and deranged, she could not contain herself at all; but she cried out and filled the house with shouting, saying, "I will avenge myself, and I will not long endure to be treated with ignominy as an infamous woman. And to the widow, not only shall the vineyard not be restored, but not even any price at all shall be paid for it." Thus, the great John, having returned from the palace, commanded the temple porters that if Eudoxia approached, they should immediately bolt the doors against her and on no account allow her entry. B
XLII. Little time passed, and the feast day arrived on which the wood of the divine cross is raised on high. The whole populace, therefore, of every race and every age, flocked to the church, with none being absent. For the festival was not their only motive for coming, but, much more, the hearing of John’s tongue. For he had instilled into everyone such a desire for his words that, while he was preaching, the listeners were often possessed by God, and hung, in a sense, from his tongue, their souls and bodies lifted up together; C and they would watch his lips moving, not as one who speaks, but as one emitting some drinkable, nectar-like, and clear truth. For this reason, it was a concern to all that no one should be absent from the hearing, and that the very words, not being heard just once, should not be neglected, but that with all diligence they should take them down through shorthand scribes and store them away like treasure. Since, therefore, things were thus, D and the empress came with all her great retinue and royal pomp, the porters stood at the doors and did what they had been commanded to do. Eudoxia, bearing this most grievously, confounded heaven and earth, and shouted loudly, and called the assembled people to witness the insult. Then, even as the doors were being pushed with violence, one of those standing by, wishing to show some more audacious deed, drew his sword and aimed it at the sacred gate. But the divine justice was present, not following slowly, but pursuing him at his heels. For at the same moment that he had raised the sword, his rash right hand immediately withered and appeared lifeless, so that Eudoxia herself, and all who were around her, were filled with terrible fear upon seeing it. For what had been commanded by the great man was not done for no reason, nor did it contain anything human, but it existed according to divine zeal, brought about to the glory of God; and the cause was that the sacred things should not be despised, nor baptism thus lie open to the unworthy. For how else could you call her worthy, who by money and plunder—
A rage, and was so drawn to the goods of others, that she would yield neither to words, nor to exhortations, nor to reproofs, so as to desist from wrongdoing? And it was not merely that she did not improve, but she even rose up against those who wished to correct her, acting just like madmen, who often turn not only heavy hands but also savage teeth against the physicians and those who look after them. Thus, therefore, Eudoxia, having been excluded from the sacred vestibules, and being able to do nothing more, nor even to avenge herself—nay, not even able to become better—turned back. But he who had received the discipline in his hand, not being so dull of wit, it seems, nor similarly afflicted with an incurable malice like her, but having become sensible as soon as he received the blow, and showing the nobility latent in his soul, he approaches the great John, and in the sight of all confesses that he has sinned, and shows great repentance. He, looking upon him with benevolent eyes, and holding the present repentance as more acceptable than the impudence for which he had been angry before—as one who was more prompt to confer human kindness than to punish justly—commands him to wash his hand, which had committed the injury, at the temple's laver, wishing to imitate Christ even in miracles. And when this was done, he immediately had it sound and robust, and glorifying God in the confession of His grace.
XLIII. Epiphanius at Constantinople.
XLIII. Not long after, Epiphanius, yielding to the not-so-honorable promptings of Theophilus, C sails up from Cyprus, bringing with him the books which he had written against Origen. When he had descended from the ship and arrived at the church of the Forerunner (27), which is seven miles distant from the city to the west, he celebrated the holy synaxis; and having performed, as he ought not, the ordination of a deacon, he enters the city (28). Then, giving thanks to Theophilus, he declines to be received in hospitality by the blessed man, as though it were a wicked thing; but having been received in hospitality in a certain private dwelling not quite honestly, he called thither the strangers who were staying in the city, and read to them his books against Origen. Some of them, for his sake and by his urging, were persuaded to lend their support, while others refused to do so. Now the man of God, John, being in no way angry at Epiphanius for not having refrained from ordination within the boundaries of the Church under him, asked only this: that D he should stay with him, as was fitting, in company with the other bishops. But he replied that he would not even pray with him unless he first expelled the followers of Dioscorus from the city and gave his assent by subscription to the books which he had written against Origen. To these things the Patriarch said, "It is not fitting for us to do or say anything rashly before we have examined it accurately." Eudoxia, when she first understood that this disagreement existed between them, and having as it were seized hold of this opportunity, immediately sent for Epiphanius
A, and said, "Do you see, O father, how all the Roman scepters are enslaved to my authority? Since this John is most especially hateful to me, for he is extremely arrogant toward me and heaps the ultimate insults upon us, and it is said that he also maintains some opinion that is discordant with the Church, I grant you authority over all the churches, and I ask that you assemble a synod against him and remove him from his throne, as is just." She was saying these things to him, and the visible signs of her anger were plain upon her face; it was clear that she was nursing some terrible and unstoppable hostility toward the wise man, and she would not have extinguished her anger before bringing what she had in mind to completion.
Upon hearing these things, the admirable Epiphanius said gently B, "O daughter, listen to what we have to say. If John stands accused of some heresy and does not appear when summoned, or if he cannot cleanse himself of this or amend his ignorance through repentance, then he is unworthy of the priesthood in my eyes, and let what has been ordered be done by you as quickly as possible. But if he is to be rejected from the Church merely because he spoke ill of you, you will not have Epiphanius as one who agrees with you. For it is especially the duty of royalty not to harbor grudges for such things, but to show themselves to be gracious and mild, especially since you yourselves have another King in the heavens, from whom, because we sin as mortals, we need to receive loving-kindness on account of his goodness toward all those of the same race."
Eudoxia, having heard these words which were contrary to her desire, and being stung by the excess of her grief, uttered something foolish and reckless C: "Unless John is condemned to exile," she said, "I myself shall command that the temples of the idols be opened, and I shall see to it that these become objects of worship for the people now." In what way did Herodias have more wickedness, who hastened the death of a namesake, except that the passions were different—the one suffering from the excess of wantonness, the other from the excess of avarice? But both, desiring to avoid being rebuked, thirsted for the disposal of both men. The divine Epiphanius, however, at the absurdity of what was said, replied, "I am innocent of such a judgment," and immediately departed D.
A false rumor spread from this into everyone's ears, that Epiphanius himself had even joined Eudoxia in the deposition of the patriarch. But it was God who hid the truth from the great man after hearing it, perhaps through a more divine providence, so that in another way He might show that each was prophesying about the other: either that John knew that what was being rumored was not sound, but willingly agreed with the opinion of the many so that, having taken a pretext from this, he could foretell the future to Epiphanius. Therefore, the patriarch wrote a letter to Epiphanius regarding these things. The writing was simple and habitual: "Brother Epiphanius, I have heard that you have agreed to my exile; know, however, that you will no longer see your own throne." Upon this, the holy Epiphanius replied again in simple words, which I also shall use: "Athlete John, continue to struggle and be victorious. But you yourself shall not live to see the place of your exile." Thus the words of both are shown to be truthful. For Epiphanius sailed back to Cyprus, and the news of the deposition of the patriarch reached even the great John.
And he taught that those who sing the hymns purely in the church of the Lord are as angels ministering to God. The disciples of the holy man, therefore, constantly attending to these things, walked in good order; and keeping his rules precisely, they hastened toward perfection. They also kept this rule ordained by him: that no woman was ever to have entrance into a cell, nor was anyone to enter under a roof with one. Whether it be mother, or sister, or any relation whatsoever. And if some necessity, due to illness or another need, required a meeting with a woman, this was to take place before the door of the cenobium, with witnesses clearly present, and in no way alone. Such were the disciples of the blessed one, that those who beheld them were struck with wonder at their manner of life.
XLIV. The discourse, now intending to relate history, must step back a little. There was a certain nobleman in Constantinople, Arcadius by name, related to Eugenius, the grandson of the Emperor Marcian. He, having despised worldly glory and having attained to our great father Theodosius through the [monastic] guides, turned to this blessed life. And as he dwelt in the monastery of the great Theodosius, and was deemed worthy of some spiritual instruction and conversation from him, he became perfect little by little; but later, departing from the monastery and withdrawing to the desert, he spent many days in asceticism. There, the devil's apostle of evil met with him, and out of jealousy of the divine teachings, led him into a certain error. Hearing of this, the divine Theodosius went out quickly to him and, with his own words, delivered him from that error and brought him back to the right path. He, having returned once more to the monastery of the great Theodosius, spent his time there until the end. For thus, I believe, it is profitable for those who are still in need of perfection to be under such fathers.
A Walking on the road to meet Silvanus the bishop, he [Philip] fell at his feet; Silvanus received the man gladly and begged him to strengthen him with words against those who contradicted him. Philip then countered the heresy as best he could, with the truth of the doctrines and the testimonies of the divine Scripture. Having made Silvanus a partner in these struggles—"for," he said, "one must endure nothing fearfully for the sake of piety"—they both set off for the prefect. He, seeing them and marveling at the orderly manner of their entry, was at first favorably disposed toward them; but then, hearing what they had to say, he did not offer them an ordinary exchange of honor. But what did he do? He turned back against the accusers what they wanted to be against them, and from there he sent the accusation on to the king. The king was Licinius, who is recorded as having been the enemy of Constantine. He held Asia under his authority, and the number of saints in it was greatest. He commanded, therefore, that the accusers be judged by those they accused, and that the saints be released. By this, the accusers were taught a lesson, the proclamation of God was admired, and many of the unbelievers were converted to it. Then, at some point, the king, persuaded by a wicked man that Christianity was being despised contrary to his own will, commanded that Silvanus be banished to Thassos. He obeyed gladly and took Philip with him; and from there, having brought with him only bread, he sailed to the island. The souls there loved the presence of the man and readily received his teaching. Seeing the Christian faith growing there too, and many coming to it, the worker of impiety and servant of darkness was terribly enraged; and not bearing the increase of the light, he commanded again that Silvanus be led off to Emesa. Then, taking up the same matters there, and increasing even more in his preaching, he caused greater annoyance to the impious; hence he stood in bonds before the ruler. Questioned by him as to who he was and what he was doing, he said what [he] was thought to be: a Christian. At this, the ruler pronounced a bitter judgment, commanding him to be scourged with tortures against him. They, therefore, received the appeal of such a thing, reveling mercilessly in his flesh; but he, unshaken, endured the punishments, counting the hope in him as his every consolation.
B When these things had ceased, the holy Silvanus said to the ruler: "These things your gods have distributed to us, which we have now endured; but for us our patience is sweet, and since we prevail by the grace of God, you teach us whose victory this is." At this the ruler was amazed, and was at a loss what to do with the man. He decided to send him back to the king. When Licinius encountered him, and saw the wounds on his body—how many and how large they were—he too marveled at his endurance. Then he commanded the Christians to be driven out of his dominion, and he ordered his soldiers not to allow them to sacrifice to God. Consequently, according to the king's will, many of the Christians perished, for they could not bear to be without sacrifice; and the holy Silvanus himself was beheaded by the command of the king, and thus received the crown of martyrdom. Philip, who had been his companion on his travels, when he became a witness of the holy man's death, gave himself up to the persecutors and confessed that he was a Christian. He too, therefore, sharing in the same death, received the equal crown.
JANUARY.
...those who love Him. Then he asked that no one, for his sake, should wish to abandon his own church: "But if you wish to gratify me," he said, "remember us in your prayers." When he saw them overcome with tears, and the Church, if I may so say, lamenting even more, he comforted them in a fatherly way, and tapping the palm of his left hand with his index finger (for he was accustomed to do this when lost in thought), "Enough," he said, "of lamentations. Why do you wish to break my heart? But see that you do not abandon the churches; for this, as I said to you before, is what I want from you, if nothing else." When someone said, "But it is necessary for us, remaining in the churches, to communicate with these conspirators and to give our hands to the same subscriptions," the blessed one immediately replied: "I permit you to communicate, for the sake of not causing a schism in the Church, but do not subscribe at all. For I am conscious of nothing in myself worthy of deposition."
While they were discussing these things, some arrived bringing letters from Theophilus, the inscription of which was: "The holy synod gathered at the Oak to John," simply and dishonorably calling him so. For those infamous and execrable men, filled with ten thousand canons, seemed to have passed a sentence of deposition against him even before the examination of one who is blameless and pure. And what was the force of the accusations? "We have received libels against you full of many charges. It is necessary, therefore, for you to appear to render an account for them." To these things, the disciple of Christ, emulating His gentleness, sent three of the bishops along with two presbyters, as he himself says in his letter to Innocent: "We have sent to him," he says, "the bishop of Pessinus, Demetrius, the bishop of Apamea, Eulysius, and the bishop of Appiaria, Lupicinus; and the presbyters Germanus and Severus, answering with the moderation becoming to us, and saying that we do not refuse judgment, but [we do refuse] an open enemy and manifest foe. For how could he who had not yet received the libels, and who had acted in such a way from the beginning, and had severed himself from the communion and prayer of the Church, and was inciting accusers, and removing the clergy, and desolating the churches, be a just man to ascend the judge's throne, which in no way pertains to him? For it was not consistent that one who had come from Egypt should judge those who were in Thrace, and one who was himself liable to charges and an enemy and a foe. But nevertheless, revering none of these things, but hastening to fulfill what he had determined, when we had signified that we were ready, even with a hundred or a thousand bishops present, to clear away the charges and show ourselves pure, as indeed we are, he did not endure it, but while we were absent and calling for a synod and seeking judgment and not fleeing a hearing, he received manifest hatred and accusers, and those who were sent by me... [he treated as] excommunicated... and did not even deem him worthy of the title of bishop.
1169 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. 1170
...he released them, and from those very persons who had not yet cleared themselves of the charges, he accepted petitions and drew up memoranda, all of which was contrary to the sequence of the canons. But that eloquent tongue recounts these things and what follows, and for this reason there is no need for us to speak, since it is possible to hear from her. When the defense was announced to those around Theophilus, they, not bearing the truth of what was said, then poured out their anger against those who had been sent, and seizing them, they beat them and tore their tunics; and they even encircled the neck of one with the irons that they had happened to prepare at that time for the patriarch. Furthermore, the evil one having disposed their hearts in this way, they sent him into exile to an obscure and hidden place, wearing these very irons. Therefore, as has been said before, while he refused them as being manifest enemies and called for a canonical synod, those who were swift to shed blood condemned him, even though he was not present and was not making any defense at all, having spoken against the angelic life with some very rotten things, acting more like they were playing than being serious, and hastening to complete in one day the malice that had been meditated upon for a long time. For a lie is something cowardly and terribly timid; indeed, it knows how to hasten the action, fleeing from being tested. Then, having considered taking the emperor as an advocate for their vote, so as to make what they were striving for stronger, they sent him a letter that read as follows: "Since John, having been accused and being conscious of many other grievous things against himself, and also because he is subject to the charge of treason (by treason they meant outright the disagreement with the empress), did not wish to appear before the synod, for these reasons he has already been deposed according to the canon; and nothing remains but for your power to order that he be driven into exile even against his will." These are the things of the good priests, who ought to have been slow to anger and swift to kindness, whose teeth are weapons and arrows, and whose tongue, to speak according to the divine oracle, is a sharp sword. Then, when Arcadius had given his order (for he had trusted them as priests, not knowing that in their hidden thoughts they were not like priests, but rather like sacrilegious men), what happens? The entire populace is moved, and is suddenly ignited into a great sedition; and this cries out against the emperor, and this also exposes the malice of Theophilus all the more. For many of those who had previously held hostile views changed their minds, saying that the saint had been slandered in vain, having their conscience as an unerring witness, and being shamed by the manifest and clear truth. Finally, the wickedness having become stronger, or rather the saint having willed this so that no danger might be dared, as is customary in such seditions, he is cast out toward deep evening, just as it is possible to hear in the same letter to Innocent from the golden tongue, which says: "For what need is there to say much? He did not desist from doing and contriving everything, until he drove us out with force..."
it caused complete despondency in his soul, as he found everything for the most part difficult and forbidding. He showed, however, that the vigor of his soul was great, and that his diligence extended to everything. Since he could see no improvement from any quarter, he turned to the clergy themselves and drew near to those who were adorned in both word and deed, especially those who knew how to guide and heal the souls of the infirm, and who were able to admonish, encourage, and bring them back to what is fitting. And as he did not obtain any great benefit even from this, he finally took refuge in the monastic life itself, thinking that he could find salvation there and be able to live more securely for the future. And so, he associated more closely with these men and received greater benefit from them. For, observing their entire manner of living with the greatest precision, he imitated it as best he could, wondering at and emulating their humility, their gentleness, and their contrition of heart. Afterwards, by attaching himself to the most approved among them, making his confession of soul, and listening to their admonitions, he was completely restored by them and became much improved. But having embarked on this life, he first considered that, since his spouse was also free and both wished for a separation, he ought not to neglect her, but rather to bring her to a similar life. Therefore, he encouraged her quite often toward this, and finally persuaded her to take up the same yoke. And after a sufficient amount of time had passed for them in such a life, as seemed best to both, each was released separately, to attend henceforth to God alone, in Whom he also passes away.
(E). Theophanes the Confessor was born in Constantinople, of noble and God-loving parents. Being young in age, he entered into marriage, and having been joined in wedlock, he lived, as is the custom, blamelessly, though not for long. For, having become enamored of the monastic life and thinking that he would be saved through it, he separated from his wife—she choosing the same for herself—and having gone away to a desert place, he chose the monastic life. Having exhorted many of those dwelling in the islands of the Great Sea, he gathered them in the manner of a cenobium; he concerned himself with their salvation, becoming the president over them. When much time had passed, at that time when the impious iconoclast Leo the Armenian stirred up the storm of the Church and persecuted the holy ones, this celebrated man did not yield; but if anything that was accepted by the Church was being corrupted, he fiercely resisted and defended it. Then, having been seized in this way, he was interrogated and severely reprimanded, and was forcibly exiled to the island of Samothrace. There he eventually died, having received, as they relate, seven years of exile; and his relic, having been translated to his own monastery, lies there, performing and working wonders. He was, as can be seen, good in soul, pleasant, gentle, and agreeable to all. He also wrote a Chronography, beginning from Diocletian up to his own time, useful to those who encounter it; he is commemorated on the 12th of the month of March.
Furthermore, if you desire that which is perfect within the soul, it requires only the presence of the opportunity for such assistance; it confirms such things just as the perfect nourisher, offering the heavenly banquet to those faithful ones who are approaching the completion of their goal. For the truth leads them to perfect understanding. For this reason, we must speak these things in such a way that they establish the precision of what is said and lead to compunction. Let us contemplate the hearers there, where piety has placed them into an eternal inheritance, in which the flow of the clouds waters those who are thirsty among the saints. It is not superfluous for the good to be perfected there, but the Word leads them thither. Many there fell into the abyss of chaos, not having been deemed worthy of the heavenly calling. And bread nourished those on the mountain, while the Word nourished those in the soul. That light appeared to the perfect, to whom no shadow impedes the vision of the Divine. For the Divine sun always shines upon the righteous, and its ray gives life to the elect through the ages. Truly, he is the fosterling of piety for whom He reigns and judges according to divine goodness, in which he completes the most excellent way of life. This is promised to the saints, that the soul of the righteous is in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them. In the eyes of the foolish they appeared to die, and their departure was counted as an affliction. Their journey from us is a destruction, but they are in peace. And as they were tested before men, their hope is full of immortality. Having been instructed a little, they shall be greatly benefited, because God tested them and found them worthy of Himself. As gold in a furnace He refined them, and as a whole burnt offering of sacrifice He accepted them.
We have said this again, that righteous souls must be prepared for every good thing. For if we thus possess our souls, they are ready for all divine things, just as fire is kindled for the wood placed upon it. For just as wood cast into the fire is consumed, so too the soul, turning its intellect toward God, is consumed by divine love. Yet no one who has fallen into the abyss through wickedness could ascend, unless the hand of God helped him. This we contemplate in the saints, that they suffered many things, but were deemed worthy of many things. For their calling is not from present things, but from future ones. For there rested those who practiced virtue, those who sought help from God, and those who possessed patience. To these, perfect glory is promised, and eternal delight, and the feast of the good things that are everlasting. Consider these things, therefore, O friend, as a moral instruction, so that you might not approach life despondently, but with good hope. For he who is full of hope easily bears sorrows and is not overtaken by evils. For thus good hope sustains the soul and lifts it upward; and it nourishes love toward the Divine, and slackens the severity of human sufferings. This has been spoken by us briefly, so that no one might forget these words, even if they were placed beyond the praises of those who spoke them.
1175 JANUARY. 1176
[He] had often exhorted [them] to cease, but since he could not make them stop, he unleashed his tongue against those who ordered these things to be done. Eudoxia, therefore, drawing to herself what was being said and thinking that everything was being referred to her, was wounded by the heavier dart of anger; she was intolerable and could not be restrained, attempting to overturn the universe and desiring to accomplish nothing else but to take revenge on the one who seemed to have insulted her (36).
Immediately, therefore, a synod was convened again (37), and imperial letters were sent out, summoning other bishops and those who had been the previous accusers. But since there was no honorable pretext for them to stir up the matters for which he had already been accused, the malice was not, however, without seed, as they were eager to learn from another what was difficult to know for themselves. What, then, did they consider, and where were they carried? They decided to write to the one who was most wise in such matters and most clever at doing evil, and to be taught by him the discovery of what was lacking. They write, therefore, to Theophilus, either to come as quickly as possible or to suggest to them a way by which they might be able to contend against the great truth of John.
He, however, being conscious of how he had fled previously, declined to come, as it was not advantageous to him; but he sent three of his bishops, having given them a canon for the accusation (38), which the Arians had previously proposed against the firm bulwark of the Church, Athanasius, which says: If any bishop or presbyter, having been deposed justly or even unjustly, returns to the Church of his own accord without a synod, to such a one no place of defense shall be given any longer.
Thus, then, he who was equaled by no one in wickedness, the pestle of the Church, the Libyan beast, the Proteus from Egypt, thus instructed those sent by him to speak, wishing for nothing else than that his own vote should prevail, and that no place should be given to the blessed man to cast off the slanders that had been leveled against him. But he [John] said that he had neither been judged, nor heard the accusation, nor had he received any opportunity at all for a defense; but that he had been expelled by the Emperor, and brought back by him again, even though he was unwilling. Furthermore, he knew that this canon had been composed by the Arians, and that it was not valid, having been overturned by the Council of Sardica (39).
Then, when ten men from the party of John entered to the Emperor along with Acacius and Antiochus, Severian and Quirinus, and the former affirmed that the aforementioned canon should be maintained, as if it had been composed by the orthodox, while the latter said that it was of a heretical mind and had been maliciously invented by them—for which reason Athanasius, having been often unjustly driven from the Church, then, finding an opportunity, had re-entered it—and that John had not been deposed previously, but [was treated] thus by the world...
(36) Baronius [notes] a more just cause for the commotion of John against Eudoxia, namely that her image was not only venerated in Constantinople but was also carried around through the provinces like that of the Heathens. See the aforementioned Baronius at the year 404.
(37) In the year 404. A synod is again convened against the man of God. See Nicephorus, book XIII, c. 17; Socrates, book VI, c. 16; Sozomen, book VIII, cap. 20, 21; Baronius at the year 404.
(38) This was a canon of the Council of Antioch in Encaeniis, celebrated by the Arians, as Baronius notes.
(39) Council of Sardica, c. 3.
All were being persecuted. And indeed, having returned to Antioch, where they dwelt, they delivered the disciples of Christ, whom they were frequenting most at that time, to the magistrates; while those of Dadi remained within likewise, and were doing wrong among themselves. As is the nature of the evils that are wont to be in such characters, they were suffering terrible things from one another, and were inflicting terrible things upon the Christians. For Dadi paid the fixed penalty of death, but the others were subjected to methods of punishment more grievous than to end by a simple death. Whence the blessed Gobdelas, being a king, or rather to speak more correctly, a king’s son, who, excelling in both lineage and dignity, honored the faith of Christ all the more, in as much as he appeared great according to the world; to whom the end of Dadi appeared by no means burdensome, as he was himself one who had died for the sake of that for which he struggled while alive. And straightway, having been led before the magistrates, and not having been persuaded by the things spoken by them, he was beheaded by the sword, and received a crown with Christ. The holy Gobdelas was perfected on the 28th day of October.
XLVI. On the 29th of the same month, the commemoration of the holy Anastasius, David, and Theodosius of Scetis.
Being three, whose common and like-minded life taught those of similar character, three likewise were perfected, having engaged in the same struggles and having completed the same course. Of whom the first was Anastasius the abbot, the second David the presbyter, and the third Theodosius the deacon. Having come to a certain village of Scythia called Herminia, in the second year of the reign of Decius, they were detained by him who had been entrusted with the rule over such a place. And since they were tortured by him with many torments, and remained in the holy and God-beloved spirit, choosing the good for the sake of Christ, they were delivered to the sword and came to their rest.
XLVII. On the 30th of the same month, the commemoration of the holy Zenobius and Zenobia.
Zenobius and Zenobia were siblings to one another, both in blood and in spiritual kinship. They were detained under the Emperor Diocletian, upon accusers of the common sort having denounced them to the rulers. They were led before the tribunals holding each other by the hands, so as to be present to one another even there, and not to be separated, since no one was separated from them in life. Being asked if they were Christians, they confessed boldly; whence they were also led through many punishments, by the scourging of their bodies and other evils. Zenobius himself was beheaded in the manner of others, but Zenobia was first thrown into boiling water; then, since she appeared preserved, she laid down her life by the sword. And both are martyrs of Christ, perfected at Aegae in Cilicia on the 30th of October.
XLVIII. On the 31st of the same month, the commemoration of the holy Apostles Stachys, Ampliatus, Urban, Narcissus, Apelles, and Aristobulus.
These venerable and wonderful men, whom the divine Apostle Paul, both in his Epistle to the Romans and elsewhere, has deemed worthy of being called his own beloved and elect—how could anyone worthily recount them in a brief discourse? Except that they were all disciples of Christ, and prominent among the disciples, and they followed Paul, and traveling to various parts of the world, they preached Christ. And Stachys, being one of them, became Bishop of Byzantium; the others, having the piety of their race, became partakers of his zeal and life. And all, having been perfected in peace, are remembered on the same day.
A It has been said (for Jocus Constantinus wrote this): “If a king is in need of such men, they should not be driven away; for God is our Master, and we ourselves are servants.” Romanus said: “If he is king, he is not the one who happens to be king of a place, but the Maker and Master of all.” Having said this, he brought them near, and having received a blessing from them, he was immediately freed from that grievous affliction. Then, having fulfilled the laws of marriage divinely bestowed according to the laws of God, and having lived many years in a virtuous polity, and having fulfilled all things pertaining to Christianity, he departed from this life, exchanging the good for things that are better.
After his holy death, a multitude of priests and monks of the Christians from the whole earth were present, and they lamented his departure; and the whole city groaned for him, saying: “Woe to us; for we are being deprived of such a master and good father.” The pious Romanus, with the whole city, brought out his holy relic, having honored it with psalms and hymns, and buried it in that monastery which he himself had built.
Many marvelous powers were also shown after his death, and many who were infirm were healed by his tomb; with these indeed Christ honors those who have served Him sincerely, and makes them partakers of His glory; to whom be glory and power unto the ages of ages. Amen.
B (45) Now we come thus to this discourse, in that we are able, having considered it, to write his biography and provide profit for the souls of those who see it, to which I say I have learned from our Father Chrysostom.
Who they were, therefore, and from whence they sprang, and what they accomplished in life, and what manner of perfect path they appeared to have held toward the heavens, will be declared in order. They were certain men in the days of the pious Emperor Constantine, living in the island of Sicily, three men, pious and lovers of God; of them, Alpheus and Philadelphus were named, and the third in age was Cyprian. These, having trodden the paths of many [who had gone before in] martyrdom, achieved a favorable martyrdom; whose excellent standard of life, and their life wondrous in virtue, and all their other ways, and finally their martyrdom, it is now worthy to set forth to you. From their God-loving and pious exercise and well-pleasing life, there came forth, upon the arrival of the impious persecution under the Emperor Licinius, a holy martyrdom along with many others. And one Tertullus by name, an enemy and sophist, reported them to the ruler of the place, according to the gospel saying. And being seized by him, they were brought to the procedure of torture. The ruler asked them in what city they resided; and Alpheus answered: “Our city is above, the heavenly Jerusalem, in which Christ reigns unto the ages.” The ruler asked them, saying: “For what reason do you despise the gods?” Philadelphus answered: “We are not so foolish as to worship stones and wood, and to sacrifice to idols made by hands; but we worship God who made the heaven and the earth.” Cyprian also answered in full a second time: “We are Christians, and we worship the Maker of all.” The ruler commanded them to sacrifice to idols, but they refused to do so. Then the ruler commanded that they be scraped with iron claws across their bodies and that their sides be cut; C which happened. But the saints, giving thanks to God, endured the torture.
1181 LIFE OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. 1182
[The text begins in the middle of a sentence describing the persecution of John Chrysostom’s followers.]
...those who were constructing these things, and in many places acting as army commanders, who were not ashamed to have camp-leaders instead of deacons leading them. When day came, the whole city migrated outside the walls, as if the city had been captured by force; thus, everything was in tumult, disturbance, and groaning. And these things were done against the will of the pious emperor, with the bishops preparing these things by night, and in many places exercising the office of a military commander, who were not ashamed to have camp-leaders preceding them instead of deacons. But when it was day, the whole city migrated outside the walls, under trees and groves, like scattered sheep, celebrating the feast. But such was that golden tongue. And such were the fruits that the good shepherds, and those entrusted with the care of souls, offered to the Risen One during the feast of Easter. Hence, edicts were posted everywhere, prohibiting communion with John; these had such force that they took on the opposite command, and by this, they strengthened those who were being attacked all the more, just as the way of God is managed in such times. For both the churches and the number of those added to him increased every day.
In these circumstances, therefore, with Pentecost already arrived, since what was happening was not at all bearable to the devil, those whom he inspired and who were his genuine servants approached [the emperor] and said: "To you, O Emperor, authority over human affairs has been given by God, but the affairs of the churches have been entrusted to us. Therefore, not wishing to be holier than the priests nor more precise than the canons, leave such things to us. We told you before, O Emperor, that the deposition of John should be upon our own heads. Do not, therefore, by sparing one man, wish to grieve everyone." Then the emperor, having sent with boldness, makes known to the patriarch: "Your accusers, O John, draw the judgment of your deposition, whatever it may be, upon their own heads. Therefore, entrusting your affairs to God, depart from the Church." What is this, O most changeable of men, and most ignoble of emperors in ruling? How is it that you, who brought such zeal in recalling him from Antioch, and entrusting to him the Church of Christ, and of whose virtue you had such great experience—him you have not simply cast out of the Church, but have even condemned to exile, harming the flock of Christ, a man of whom, to speak with the great Paul, the whole world was not worthy? But you were also completely deceived by Eve, the most treacherous, I say, of women, serpentine and wicked in mind and tongue, just as the serpent through her, so she through the not-good shepherds spoke into your ears.
The great man, having heard these things, receiving no gloom or sadness in his heart, nor showing it in his countenance, said to the bishops around him, "Come, let us now bid farewell to the angel of the Church." Then, after the appropriate prayer, he testifies much concerning the orthodox faith and exhorts them to hold to it unchangeably; then he also forbids all heresies to them. As he was speaking, someone approaches, announcing that the God-hated Lucius is approaching with the army under him, prepared in such a way that, if he delayed his departure, he would use force and cast him out of the Church with insult. And the multitude is shaken, being unable to endure your...
JANUARY. 1184
[The text begins mid-sentence in the Latin column, corresponding to the Greek:] ...deprivation. It is therefore expedient to accelerate the departure, lest the people, defending you too much—which God forbid we should see—come to blows with the soldiers, and be led to do something too rash and dangerous. When the great John heard these things, having extended his right hand to some of the bishops (for the time did not allow him to extend it to all), and having mingled miserable tears with a kiss, because he was being separated from his familiars, and having then bidden the rest farewell, he instructed them to remain there until he had gone away a little and returned.
XLIX. Having said this, he enters the sacred baptistery and calls for the holy Olympias; she is a woman entirely illustrious, if only by her name. But it would perhaps not be worse to permit a little discourse, and to delight in her virtues, rather than to suffer the total loss of so sweet and soul-profiting a narrative. She, shining brilliantly in lineage, wealth, beauty of body, and other such things, was joined in marriage to a man, yet did not lose her virginity. But having lived with him for about twenty months, when he departed from among men—although she was not of an age to be ashamed of a second marriage—she embraced temperance and chose to cherish it throughout her life. And this, even though the emperor was drawing her into marriage with his own relatives and was bestowing great honors upon her; she, having left behind all those delights, as things that had nothing in common with noble souls, took pleasure rather in fastings, vigils, and other laborious things. When she had already become mistress of all her property, she decided to empty it out for the care of the holy ones, and was deemed worthy to become a deaconess of the whole Church, because of the great abundance of piety she possessed and her most evident hospitality. For she hospitably received those who were pursuing virtue with great ambition, and provided care for them. She also showed her magnanimity to Theophilus many times, even though she herself could not entirely escape the abusive nature of his tongue, having given him a pretext by receiving those who had been persecuted by him—I mean those around Ammonius and Isidore, men beloved of God. Therefore, as I said, she warmly cared for all men who were lovers of virtue, and deemed them worthy of all providence; but she also became a familiar to this blessed man, just as Thecla was to Paul, having attached herself to his tongue for her whole life. Since other deaconesses were also with her—Procla, Pentadia, and Silvana—having called them together at that time, he said, "Come, daughters, pay attention to me. For perhaps my affairs are already inclining toward the end, and you will no longer see me in the present world. I ask this last request of you: that you in no way diminish your customary attendance upon the temple of God..."
For he not only cared for the salvation of souls—that is, for the things of the Spirit, in which he confessedly had no need to labor within himself—but he also kept watch over the salvation of bodies, so that the sick were healed by him, and not one of those who asked for healing went away empty-handed. While things were in this state, and many were coming to the holy man for the healing of soul and body, it happened that one of his neighbors, Eulogius by name, who had a leper in his house and had taken him in out of pity, came to him. He had been feeding him and serving him for many years. But the leper was extremely difficult, and greatly accused Eulogius, complaining that he was not providing sufficiently for his needs. Eulogius bore this bravely and persisted in caring for him. After much time had passed, however, Eulogius gave up on the matter, came to the holy John, and begged him to permit him to forsake the leper, saying he was unable to endure the man’s harshness. A But the holy man rebuked him, saying: "What are you doing, Eulogius? For God has seen you succeeding, and having received this leper, He has made him a partner in your salvation and in your ascetic effort. Do you now wish to abandon him? Know, therefore, that if you do this, you will lose as much as you have gained over so many years." Having heard these words, Eulogius was changed for the better, and having persevered with the leper until the end, he received the reward of divine philanthropy. Such was the great John, who was called the Almsgiver, having performed as many miracles as we have enumerated, and even more. He passed away there in Amathous of Cyprus, where it had been revealed to him that he was to die. For the place where he was to die was revealed to him in a vision; and so it happened, that having been perfected in peace, he departed to the Lord.
On the 20th of the same month, the Life and Conduct of our Holy Father Euthymius the Great
Euthymius the Great, born in the land of Armenia, was the son of noble and God-loving parents. His father was Paul, and his mother was Dionysia, who had been childless for many years. B Having prayed to God, they received a voice telling them that the son who would be born to them would be the cause of joy [euthymia] for many; from which he was also named Euthymius. When he was born, and was being raised by his parents in the discipline of godliness, he reached the age of three, at which time his father, Paul, passed away. His mother, Dionysia, entrusted the child to Otrius, the bishop of Melitene, who was the brother of the deceased Paul, and she withdrew to a monastery, where she spent the remainder of her life. That bishop, in whatever leisure he had, educated him and implanted the love of Christ in his soul. And once he went off, desiring to visit a man in the desert, a hermit named Acacius, who had certain disciples practicing asceticism in the caves of the desert. Having witnessed their life there, he fell so much in love with their way of life that he quickly stripped off the world and the pleasure that held him fast. Having become twenty-one years of age, he went to the holy Acacius and cast himself into the asceticism of the holy men there. C And having spent three years there, he went up to Jerusalem to venerate the holy places. And having venerated the holy tomb, and having settled into a monastery, he was made known to the great Theoctistus, who was then there and was living in stillness with him, being there in a position of authority. Having conversed with him and recognized him to be a lover of God, he remained with him in the desert. While both were living there in asceticism, it happened that on the feast days they would go up to Jerusalem. And once, as they were traveling the road to Jerusalem, behold, four Saracen youths, having a man who was chronically ill and suffering severely, brought him to the holy man, begging him to heal him. The holy man, having had pity on them, prayed for the sick man, and he was immediately made whole. This miracle, having struck the Saracens with amazement, drew them to a love for the holy man's faith and holiness; and those four Saracen youths believed in Christ, and for this reason were deemed worthy of holy baptism.
and summoned to the house of the senate, which was situated a long distance away. The event was truly most admirable, in that the flame, as if it were a living thing, spared the things that lay in between and leaped over them, so that no one could attribute what had happened to proximity; and such a great and long-standing work, most precious in its materials and most beautiful in its grace, was burned up in the space of three hours and reduced to nothing. Yet the fire, creeping along and consuming in a circle, once again spared only the small house in which A the multitude of sacred vessels was kept; and this not out of reverence for the gold or the other precious material, as one might say, but so that it might not provide the sycophants with an opportunity for slander, and might not smear the holy man with the suspicion of theft through the loss of the treasures. What then? One would expect that from this the wicked would, as they say, like a struck fisherman, come to their senses; but they, taking from this a greater opportunity for doing evil, proceeded to pursue what they were accustomed to, and they severely punished many of the bishops and priests, and many others as well who favored the party of John, saying that the fire had been set by them, while they wished to do a favor for the patriarch. But let the narrative pursue what follows, and declare in detail how the exile took place.
LI. Thus, therefore, the great man of God and most courageous athlete of the truth B was led by savage soldiers into a certain deserted little town of Armenia named Cucusus (45), which was then being ravaged and raided frequently by the Isaurians. And this was done, I believe, deliberately, so that along with other evils, he would also be delivered into the hands of his most bitter enemies. But what he suffered on the way, and with how many evils he contended, and yet did not even so cast off his care for the Churches of God—whom else would we hear speaking more pleasantly, or more clearly, or more truly than him? For these things, indeed, in a letter which he writes to his own, the golden tongue treats: "For if you dwell in prison, and are bound with chains, and are shut up with the filthy and the squalid because you do not assent to their iniquity, exult and rejoice, be crowned and lead dances, because these are for you an occasion of abundant rewards. For we too have been wasted and consumed: we have suffered deaths numbering many. C But these things those can report better who have been with us for even a brief moment of time; with whom I could not even speak, since I was oppressed by constant fevers. While suffering these, I was compelled to travel both night and day, and besieged by the heat, and ruined by sleeplessness, and by the lack of necessities, and by the poverty of those who would care for me. For we have suffered and are suffering things D more grievous than those who work the mines and inhabit the prisons. Yet at long last I arrived at Caesarea, like one who had come from a storm into a harbor. But not even this harbor was able to revive the evils of the waves, so completely had the previous time worn us down. Yet, when I had arrived at Caesarea, I breathed again not a little, because I drank pure water, because I consumed bread that was not foul-smelling, nor hard, because I was no longer washed
A in the fragments of jars, but found a bath of some sort, because I have been permitted for the time being to be attached to a bed. I could say more than this, but in order not to cause too much grief, I stop here, adding this one thing: do not cease to reproach those who love us. For since we have so many who love us, and who are clothed with such power, we do not even obtain those things which the condemned obtain, so as to be sentenced to a milder and closer place; but although our body has given out, and the fear of the Isaurians besieges everything, we have not attained this small and lowly favor. Glory be to God for this too; for we do not cease to praise Him for all things. May His name be blessed forever. For you know clearly that everything is full of trouble and disturbance, and it is necessary to pray not only on behalf of the city of Constantine, B but on behalf of the entire world. Seeing that the evil which began from there, as has been said, is ravaging the Churches everywhere on earth. Having therefore spent seventy days on the road, at long last we arrived at Cucusus, the most desolate place in the whole world; whence it is possible for your excellence to calculate how many and how great are the evils we have suffered, struggling with unbearable fevers and besieged by Isaurian fear. And I do not say these things wishing to ask anyone to remove us from here (for we have finished the most difficult part, the hardship of the journey), but I ask you for the sake of the favor of writing to us continuously, and caring for the Churches. And again he says thus: "Since we also have been spending the third year in exile, in famine, pestilence, wars, continuous sieges, unspeakable solitude, daily death, and by Isaurian swords, not casually does he exhort and comfort us with the lasting and constant state of C your affection, and the uprightness of your confidence; whence, even if we have been cast out from the ground and the walls of the city, we have not removed from the city properly so-called. For if you are the city, and we are always with you and in you, it is clear that even dwelling here we inhabit that city. For we dwell in your souls, and wherever we may be, we depart bearing all of you, our intense lovers, in our mind."
The letter also written to the presbyter Constantine by him shows his zeal on behalf of the Churches, and is as follows:
On the fourth of the month of Panemus, being about to set out from Nicaea, I send these letters to your piety, exhorting you to that which I have never ceased to exhort you, even if the storm which currently prevails is more severe, and the waves are stirred up to be greater: do not cease to fulfill your own duties, in administering what you have undertaken from the beginning—I mean the destruction of Hellenism, the building up of the Churches, and the care of souls. Let not the difficulty of affairs make you indifferent. For neither does a helmsman, seeing the sea raging and rising up, withdraw from the rudder; but Dthen each of these will use his art to the utmost and with alacrity of mind. Let not what is happening make you sluggish. For we shall not have to give an account for the evils that others do to us, but we shall even receive a reward. But if we do not bring forth what we ought from ourselves, but are idle and sluggish, the tumult of affairs will not be a defense for us in this. For Paul also, when he dwelt in prison and was bound to the wood 42, did what was his own; and Jonas, who was carried in the belly of the sea monster 43; and the three youths who were spending time in the furnace 44; and none of these did these various prisons make more sluggish. B Therefore, reflecting on these things, my master, do not cease to take care of the Churches of Phoenicia and Arabia, and those in the East, knowing that you will receive a greater reward, inasmuch as you contribute your own part although there are so many obstacles. Furthermore, do not be negligent in writing to us, but write to us most frequently. For as we have now learned, we have been ordered to go no longer to Sebastia, but to Cucusus, a place from which it will be easier for you to send letters to us. Write therefore to us how many churches were built during the year, and what holy men have moved to Phoenicia, and whether any greater progress has been made. For when I had found a certain monk shut up outside Nicaea, I persuaded him to come to your piety and to go off into Phoenicia. You will wish to inform me, therefore, whether he has arrived. Concerning the estate of Salamis, which is situated in Cyprus—and which was being besieged by the heresy of the Marcionists—I had conferred with those whom I ought, and had rendered the whole matter effective: but I was driven out first. If, therefore, you know that my master, Bishop Cyriacus, is staying in Constantinople, write to him concerning this matter: and he will be able to accomplish the whole thing. Exhort all, and especially those who have confidence toward God, to contend with many and intense prayers, C that this shipwreck of the world may cease. For intolerable evils have invaded Asia, and other cities and churches as well; which, so that I may not seem troublesome by recounting each thing, I will say only this: that there is need of many and intense prayers. But indeed, we must return to where we set out from.
LII. And thus indeed, as we have said, when he was being led to Cucusus, which is a small town of the wilderness, Adelphius, who was bishop of Arabissus, receives him 46, not by chance, but commanded by a certain divine vision to receive him. But neither was this outside of divine providence, that that great man was sentenced to exile there. For since after those [events], because of the impiety and ignorance that people were entirely laboring under—whereas they worshipped statues, and trees, and groves through absolute ignorance; and those who were endowed with a little more wisdom worshipped the sun D
A It seemed good to God, in the course of time, to send rest to His holy nation whenever they loved His laws, and pledged themselves to be obedient to divine purposes, and turned away from the delusion of those who were termed gods, yet were not; and yet, at other times, they were again entangled in contrary sins and fell under the yoke of their enemies. Seeing this, the great man of God, Elijah, perceiving that those who were laborers for the truth were in great straits, while those who professed the falsely-named religion were prospering and enjoying ease, and having kindled in himself a noble zeal for God, he stands before the king and says, "As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I have stood this day, there shall be these years neither dew nor rain, except by the word of my mouth." Then he is immediately dismissed and is sent by God to the brook of Chorath, which is opposite the Jordan, where the ravens brought him bread and meat, and the brook gave him to drink. The Lord, wishing from this to teach him that He is the Master of all creation and rules it however He wills, sets over it the unreasoning nature to serve His own rational servants. For then the ravens brought food; and the word of the Lord came to him, saying, "Go to Zarephath of Sidon, and you shall stay there; behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you." B Coming to the woman, he asked for a little water to drink and a piece of bread to eat. She said, "As the Lord your God lives, if I have a loaf, it is only as much as a handful of flour in the jar and a little oil in the cruse; and behold, I am gathering two sticks, and I will go in and make it for myself and my children, and we will eat and die." Elijah said to her, "Take heart, go in and do according to your word; but make me a small loaf from it first, and bring it out to me, and you shall make for yourself and your children afterwards. For thus says the Lord: The jar of flour shall not empty, and the cruse of oil shall not be diminished, until the day the Lord gives rain upon the earth."
And it came to pass after this that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill; and his illness was very severe, until no breath was left in him. And she said to Elijah, "What have I to do with you, O man of God? You came to me to bring to mind my iniquities and to kill my son." And Elijah said, "Give me your son." C He took him from her bosom, and brought him up to the upper room where he himself was dwelling, and laid him upon his own bed. And Elijah cried out and said, "O Lord my God, have You also afflicted this widow to kill her son?" He breathed upon the child three times, and called upon the Lord and said, "O Lord my God, let the soul of this child return to him." And it came to pass as he said, and the child cried out. And Elijah brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother; and Elijah said, "Behold, your son lives." And the woman said to Elijah, "Behold, now I know that you are a man of God, and the word of the Lord in your mouth is true."
And it came to pass after many days, in the third year, the word of the Lord came to Elijah, saying, "Go and I will reveal myself to Ahab, and I will give rain upon the face of the earth." And Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. And the famine was hard in Samaria. And Ahab called Obadiah his steward; and Obadiah was one who feared the Lord greatly. D And it came to pass when Jezebel was cutting off the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah took a hundred men, prophets, and hid them in a cave by fifty men, and sustained them with bread and water. And Ahab said to Obadiah, "Come, let us go through the land, to every spring of water and to all the brooks, if perhaps we may find grass and keep alive the horses and mules, and not be left without beasts." They divided the road among themselves to pass through it; Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself. And Obadiah was alone on the road, and behold, Elijah came to meet him; and Obadiah hastened and fell upon his face, and said, "Is it you, my lord Elijah?" And he said to him, "It is I; go, say to your lord: Behold, Elijah." And Obadiah said, "What have I sinned, that you deliver your servant into the hands of Ahab, to kill me?"
1195 MONTH OF JANUARY. 1196
[They] were undergoing the confiscation of their goods, banishments, deaths, and various torments. For it was necessary here too, when the good shepherd had come, in imitation of the First, into the hands of the impious, that the sheep should be scattered, and that they should also share with their teacher in his tribulations. It was possible, therefore, to see some filling the prisons nearby, while others were condemned to inhabit lands and islands far away, having first been worn down by many and grievous torments.
What happened on the journey was another tragedy and a plain Iliad of woes. For since they had fallen into the hands of cruel and wicked men who led them, they were spared nothing at all, nor was any clemency or kindness shown to them; nor were they treated as men entrusted to men, but rather as if they were wild beasts or savage and murderous demons. And for this reason they were led bitterly and mercilessly—some being thus strained during the journey, others being thrown onto naked and unsaddled mules, no differently than if they were inanimate burdens.
But who could describe the extent of their insolence? Who could describe the reproaches, the mockery, the sneering, the laughter—things which touch the soul far more sharply than blows and scourges, and make bitter death more desirable to those who suffer? And so that they might make the shame of those men their own delight, the abominable and depraved wretches did not lead them into houses of prayer or any other such dwellings in the inns, but shut them up in brothels and houses of prostitution. Yet these noble men considered all these things small, and preferred to endure anything at all rather than fall away from the portion and communion of John. And as many as were able to escape the hands of the persecutors, these too became no less their own tormentors, condemning themselves to the wilderness and to uninhabited and certain inaccessible extremities, choosing to live with wild beasts rather than to live with men, who were far more savage than the beasts.
LIV. Not many days passed, and the Church is entrusted to Arsatius, and he is ordained Patriarch of Constantinople. Alas! After whom, and who! What kind of man, what kind of aged tree, as one might say, succeeds him, thanks to the great blindness of those in power! A man who had lived more than eighty years, more fit for a coffin than a throne: delirious and shaken in his mind, most unrefined in speech, most foolish in conceiving anything that was necessary, and most slothful in action, not much different from inanimate things, worthy of a bed and a corner. Since he was useless in himself, and then also received the hostility of the people toward him because of their love for John, he was clearly hated and shunned by all. Having lived on the throne for fourteen months, and having been, by the very dullness of his nature and his sloth and a kind of torpor, as good as dead before his natural end—and having accomplished, as one might say, not a single work of a living man in the meantime—he departed and was gone.
If you wish to know of him, regarding any esteemed individual of all the Galatians, on the matter of the Cybelean, according to the belief that even in the more desolate places of Cybele, they considered the sites to be holier. For this reason, he showed such a manner of life when he dwelled among men. He would crown himself with certain branches, and leaning on a staff for his hand, he walked with bare feet; he rejoiced in having all kinds of people gather at once, and he taught them all the philosophical principles through which the soul is naturally saved. Eventually, he ceased from his discourse with the masses, having dedicated himself to the irrational beasts and preferring to dwell in the desolate places. Having strengthened the path of his soul toward the better, he died, having made it his practice to keep his Galatia from home while having withdrawn to the philosophers who were with him. He also congratulated the others on his words and similar practices. Cybele, from whom he heard, sought most of all to be known, but she wanted to learn the teachings concerning the soul and the path toward the Divine. Polybius, being simple in his manner, died at an age that was somewhere in the middle, with many praises from both the Galatians and the others who knew his life. When he died, this miracle was accomplished: for after some time had passed, the wise man asked the neighbors of his tomb that he be moved to them and buried among them, saying that he himself would not rest before this should happen. And there he lies, being marveled at and honored by those whom he had called to himself.
There is also another such story carried about him. A certain Callinicus, having reached him and having heard his words sufficiently, promised to live according to philosophy; but while apparently departing at once, he was killed by some robbers. When the Galatian learned of this, he said to those present: "Do not marvel; for he had been trained in how one must live, and having lived well, he was deemed better by those who rule over life and was transferred to them." And these things, to that extent.
Regarding the last of his disciples, whom they called Aelius, such a thing is said. He would often hear him discoursing, and he would exhort everyone to praise philosophical practices; but Aelius, for the most part, was unworthy of the hearing. And once, when he was saying certain contradictory things, the Galatian said: "Cease; for you are lying, and I shall no longer be with you." This he was accustomed to say to the base. Then, not much later, Aelius came to him and begged to obtain forgiveness; but he said, "If you repent, I receive you; but if you turn back for a little while, it is not enough for me." When Aelius was at a loss as to how he should confirm it, the Galatian exhorted him to swear an oath; and he did so. He therefore received him back and showed him to be better in his habits. The aforementioned Callinicus, being a young man and well-disposed, loved the Galatian so much that he would never even contradict his words; and to him, embracing philosophy, he would help and counsel. But to Aelius he would say: "Do you see the manner in which Callinicus pays heed to philosophical words? But you do not so; rather, you fall short of the better, and you injure both yourself and others."
Unexpectedly falling into things ordained for us, let us bring them to completion. The governor having given the order, the elders who held the icon and the three children were ferried [to be cast] headlong into the river, while the others were cast into prison. So the governor came to the place where the man of God had fallen asleep, and seeing the traces of his wondrous asceticism, he was pierced with compunction and wept for a long time. At the same time, a vision appeared to him in a dream, saying: "Release those bound in prison, for not only did they show no malice, but they are deemed good by God." Waking from sleep, he immediately summoned them. And inquiring if they were the ones carrying the icon, they said, "We are the ones, and our teachers; but you drowned them in the river." The governor himself wept, and [then] saw the elders in the prison—the ones he had ordered to be thrown into the river—alive and safe. All those present marveled and glorified God. The governor asked the holy ones how they had escaped death. They said that a woman, brilliant in her whole body, appeared, holding the holy ones in her arms, and saved them from the deep. Struck with compunction by this, the governor was at a loss as to what he should do. Then one of the Christians met him, saying, "Such is Christianity. Those who believe in it do not die, but pass into eternal life." So the governor believed and was baptized, he and his whole house. And thus the Church of God, being at peace, grew and multiplied.
LVI. The Martyr Theodota in Nicaea of Bithynia
believed in God in the third year of the reign of Diocletian. Being a Christian and pious, she remained steadfast in the churches of the city, fasting and keeping vigil. Since many denounced her to the governor, being brought before him, she answered that she was a Christian. The governor then ordered her to be beaten with clubs, and afterwards to be cast into a furnace of fire. From there, immediately, an angel of the Lord saved her [so that she was] unharmed by the impending flame. The governor, seeing the paradoxical miracle, was astonished. And not wishing to occupy himself with wonder, he condemned her to be thrown to the beasts. But when the beasts came upon her, they became gentle toward her; they played like lambs of a familiar shepherd, resting at her feet. While the beasts were still standing by, suddenly an angel of the Lord, appearing in the form of a young man, stood by the holy one, saying, "Take courage, daughter, for I am with you." At this, all the beasts fled. Then the governor ordered her to be cut down with a sword; and thus the holy martyr Theodota reached her end.accusing him of this in the presence of Germanus. Departing from there, John became bishop of the church of Cyzicus, and sought to help the Orthodox cause more than anything else. Therefore, he once went to the Emperor Tiberius and persuaded him to appoint Eutychius as Patriarch of Constantinople. Upon taking charge of the Church, Eutychius condemned the iconoclasts in a synod, upheld the veneration of icons, and commanded that those who defended them be praised and honored. This seemed full of joy for all Christians, especially for the hierarchs of Thessalonica, who had suffered many terrible things before this for opposing the iconoclasts regarding the veneration of icons. Thus, having completed many struggles for piety, having driven out the heretics, and having assisted the Orthodox, John’s end came upon him. Seized by a bodily illness and perceiving his departure, he spoke to those present about virtue and piety, and gave up his soul. It was then possible to see how much honor this blessed man received; for as all grieved for him, his funeral was conducted with great splendor. Such was John, and with such an end he concluded his life.
That he also received the grace of wonder-working from God, the following makes clear. There was a woman in Cyzicus seized by a terrible illness, finding every medical attempt useless. She approached the tomb of John and with reverence besought the saint to help her. And she did not fail in her petition, for immediately she became healthy. Such were the saint’s accomplishments, such his miracles, and such the grace which God bestowed upon him. O Christ our God, granting us his intercession, keep us above all temptations and deem us worthy of Your kingdom; for to You is due all glory, honor, and worship, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always, and to the ages of ages. Amen.
He drew him to himself, rendered him worthy of the Patriarchate of the Church, and promised to instruct him throughout his entire life in every pious deed. Having held him for a long time, and having fashioned many into virtue, John finally ended his life, having left us numerous precepts of virtue and numerous hopes for the Orthodox in Christ.
JANUARY.
[He] ordered [them] to be small. They came very close to falling into danger, and it was with difficulty that they managed to reach Lampsacus. Having changed ships there, they reached Rome in four months. They told Innocent what had happened, not knowing whether anything had befallen those around Cyriacus and Palladius; nor were they able to learn anything about John. All these things escaped the notice of the dull-witted Arcadius, as it was later possible to learn. But let the narrative return again to where it left off, and let it recount the remaining events concerning the great man.
[Latin text omitted as per instructions]
LVIII. That admirable John, therefore, when he had arrived at Cucusus and was living in the house of Adelphius (as we have already said—for we left him there), fed many poor people with earthly bread (for a most severe famine had at that time attacked that place), but many more with the nourishment that welled up from his tongue, which knows how to strengthen the heart and illuminate the mind. He also delivered many discourses on many necessary matters (for what could stop a tongue that flowed like rivers from the things that happen which are harsh and troublesome?). He also delivered many on patience, and on the fact that one ought not only not to be slothful, but also not to be offended by the troubles that one happens to suffer. Many divine letters were also written by him to the holy Olympias, in which he frequently says that there is only one thing that is terrible, namely sin; and he recounts the troubles that occurred on the journey, and, wishing to revive her as she was grieving over his deprivation, he makes it so that one should not despair, for it may be that he will meet her again. Furthermore, he writes how, when the journey was being made with difficulty in the height of summer, a violent fever attacked him, as well as stomach ailments, and the one who was far worse than these, the wicked Galatian, I mean, who was entrusted with leading that just man. Moreover, he writes how, when they arrived at a certain inn, all the painful things met them again: the solitude of those who were taking care of them, the lack of necessary things (for I am using those same golden words), the fact that no doctor was present, the fear of an incursion by the Isaurians, and the hope that they were about to fall into their hands at any moment. And what of the monks who were raging against him beyond all the ferocity of wild beasts, threatening to burn him alive in the house itself? And how, when he was badly affected by the fever and very weary from the journey, those who were leading him away not only had no mercy on him, but also prevented others who wished to show him comfort, threatening them with the most extreme and most terrible things. And in addition to these, what kind of road he traveled, namely steep, stony, and difficult, and this when he could walk only with great difficulty, as his body was very much worn out—all of which I know from his letters.
They used this order, and believed in the laws of the one God; they also had an ancient oracle that salvation would indeed come from this land to all men. While affairs were in such a state, John, the son of Zacharias, was in the desert, and was unknown to the many. But God sends a voice to him, commanding him to enter the city and preach a baptism of repentance. He entered and fulfilled the command; he baptized those coming to him in the river Jordan. At this time our Savior also arrived and accepted being baptized by him, not needing cleansing himself, but sanctifying us through his approach. And to him who entered the Jordan, the heavens were opened; the Holy Spirit descended upon him in the form of a dove; and a voice from the heavens was heard saying: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." After this, John was seized by Herod, because he recounted his lawlessness, saying: "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife"; and our Lord was proclaiming the kingdom of God. In these days, Zacharias his father died, having prophesied that his name must be completed as John. Christ once asked him: "What went you out into the desert to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what went you out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Behold, such are in the houses of kings. But what went you out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written: Behold, I send my angel before your face, who shall prepare your way before you. Amen, I say to you, there has not been raised among those born of women a greater than John the Baptist."
Herod the tetrarch killed him, at the request of the girl, the daughter of Herodias, who, having pleased him in the dance of his birthday, asked for his head on a platter. And she obtained this immediately. Great sorrow then came to the disciples of the Baptist; for they came, took the body, and buried it. Such is the life of Saint John, and such is the departure. Let us rejoice that we had such a forerunner, that we had such a herald, that we had such an intercessor, knowing that he does not cease to intercede for us to God. But Saint John obtained such honor upon earth, and was deemed worthy of such glory from God; let us imitate him, and be zealots and lovers of his virtue.
Synaxarion
On the same day, the memory of Saint John the Baptist, his Synaxis.Verses: Beheaded in the sword, he who beheaded the creation, Received, once beheaded, a crown of splendor from God.
On the same day, Saint Theodotus the bishop is perfected by the sword.
Verses: Theodotus, having his neck cut by the sword, Runs to heaven rejoicing, having been cut by the sword.
On the same day, Saint Anastasia is perfected by the sword.
Verses: Anastasia has her neck cut, Being cut she found resurrection brightly.
On the same day, the memory of our holy father Mark, who practiced asceticism in the desert.
Verses: Having mortified the desire of the flesh, Mark, You have enjoyed immortality of life by grace.
On the same day, the memory of the holy martyr Theoprepes.
Verses: Being Theoprepes [God-befitting], and your life of God-befitting, You live in a God-befitting manner with the angels, O Theoprepes.
On the same day, the holy martyr Romanus is perfected in peace.
Verses: Romanus, bearing peace in his trial, Lives now in eternal peace with God.
On the same day, the holy abbot David is perfected in peace.
Verses: David the great shepherd of the rational flock, Delights to stand in the upper tabernacles of Christ.
On the same day, the holy Dometianus, bishop of Melitene, is perfected in peace.
Verses: The head shepherd of the city of Melitene, Greatest Dometianus, who does not praise you?
On the same day, the memory of the holy martyr Christopher.
Verses: Christopher, imitating the passion of Christ, Having been slaughtered in suffering, now delights in the grace of Christ.
On the same day, the memory of Saint Paul, bishop of Corinth.
Verses: Paul, the great shepherd of the city of Corinth, Shone, pastoring the people in righteousness.
In the guise of an elder, if manifest to the recipient, then also in the guise of a youth, you are evident, having received these things from him, and having advocated for other matters, and having had pity, he accepted such things from simple ones. To which he was also deceived, having raised him. He, then, instead of perfect fish, wronged him even more, and having gone away, he has made his own things entirely his own [or: those of himself]. Furthermore, he gave to the needy those of his wife, which we received. Having fallen, then, the divine one, not having where to lay his head, retreated to the poor, and joined himself to such people as one of them. What, then, were those who were accused by the judge to suffer? Teach me, if you can. If indeed there was a law for some to be driven out of the city and to be kept from their own property for performing an unlawful idol-outrage. But the divine one did not think so, unless other just things were manifest to the impious. Those, then, having been driven out from there, were cast out with shame, and were dishonored entirely and on all sides. But if you are troubled by any of the things mentioned, we will provide all the unchangeable and most straightforward proofs.
The elder said, if manifest to the Count, that he was the second bishop in this sanctuary, and if this to a province is manifest. It has come to pass. Gregory, reporting these things, whence he permitted me to travel, requested that we also be the cause of the inquiry. But with the Romans having been mentioned as having been brought in all things to those who seem to rule over them, one ought to yield, not to resist. Just as, then, an oppressive authority, serving from existing resources, to have given others five and twenty times to be established entirely in their midst. Nevertheless, in some way, those of the authority did not cease suffering this until their end, or of this time, but for the future they ceased and were ruling themselves alone. Yes, if you command them to end, to me indeed this is manifest. From there, then, it seems well to me that such ones are forced into the royal city. These things I say there and I affirm. But you yourself, who are able to know most truly, said.
From there, then, whether one ought to take this or rather that to have fallen in there technically. If indeed there was a law for some to be driven out of the city for performing an unlawful idol-outrage. The many of the council fear the same things and almost the same things. But the same fortune will overtake all. For how [could] those who are present with the impious or have followed the written [laws], sinning against these? But if you will do both of these things, [it is] already [done], but with a reputation of seeming to think well. Who, then, would still consider such written [men] as judges over themselves, who, concerning those things in which they themselves sinned, introduce others and judge? Since they do not provide a chance opinion, as long as it should be for them to do something, yet others, being wronged by those in power out of them, or even they themselves being wronged again. We will ask for justice from those who are nourished by this injustice. But since, if we were soberly fleeing there [and] not having them as judges themselves, from here it is necessary to interpose our own persons.
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He set out upon that truly beautiful and apostolic journey to see Christ, to be with Christ, and to rejoice forever in the beauty of Christ. Blessed was he in his departure and translation, but it was a source of great pain to those who had known him, and to whom he had provided at least a taste of his own honey and sweetness. The day of his translation, however, was that of the life-giving Cross—which we are accustomed to call the Exaltation, naming it from the event itself—which is celebrated, as everyone knows, on the fourteenth of September (56). For it was fitting that he who had attached himself to none of the things present, but had crucified himself entirely to the world, and had placed his boast in nothing else but the cross of Christ, should, on that very day of the feast of the Cross, lay aside the dust he possessed from the lower world, and, carrying away no mark of it, become purely a citizen of the heavenly commonwealth.
LXI. Then, indeed, there appeared a most manifest proof of the longing for the saint. For when his death reached the ears of many, and the common loss was spread everywhere, a multitude beyond counting, an incredible multitude of men and women who were piously practicing the faith, flowed together from Syria itself and Cilicia, from Pontus, I say, and Armenia, to venerate the blessed body. And when it had escaped the hands of those who, as if he were still alive, were taking hold of him, embracing him, and clinging to him with joy, contending not to let him go, it was laid to rest near the martyr Basiliscus, to the glory of God, for whose glory he himself always did everything.
(56) In the year 407.
OF SAINT JAMES, EREMITE IN PALESTINE.
(January 28. — Acta Sanctorum Bolland. for this day.)1. Several eremites, illustrious for their holiness, lived in Syria, who were called James. One of them was he of whom Theodoret writes in chapter 25 of his *Philotheos*, or Book IX of the *Lives of the Fathers*, who lived enclosed in a hut "near the village of Duzan in Syria," and through a small opening gave replies, never using fire nor the light of a lamp. He was still alive and over ninety years old when Theodoret wrote that book in the fifth century.
2. Another James is mentioned by the same Theodoret in chapter 21, to whom he himself gives the name "the Great," Theodorus Lector in Book I of his *Collectanea* calls "the Syrian," Evagrius in Book II, chapter 9, calls "the Syrian," and Rosweydus calls "the Hypaethrius," because he lived in the open air. Baronius makes mention of him in Volume V, year of Christ 404, no. 108, and year 414, no. 15, and in Volume VI, year 458, no. 15, where he rightly corrects Nicephorus, who confused him with James of Nisibis. The Nisibene is honored on July 15, and James the Great, or the Syrian, on November 26, although the locations already cited by us from the Annals of Baronius are written in the margin in the latest edition of the Roman Martyrology at the annotations for August 6, on which day another James, an Eremite "in Amida of Mesopotamia by the Tigris river," is honored, who is much younger than those two; seeing that he was still living after Amida was captured by the king of the Persians. Amida was indeed captured, according to Marcellinus in his *Chronicle*, under the "Consuls Avienus the Younger and Probus" (for whom others write 'Raffus') in the year of Christ 502, regarding which Baronius at no. 40 treats of this St. James from Book I of Procopius' *On the Persian War*.
3. Philippus Ferrarius, in the *Topography of the Roman Martyrology*, under the heading 'Palestine,' writes that this "James the Eremite, who is placed at August 6, appears to be the same person as he who is honored on this January 28." In this he is undoubtedly mistaken, and indeed severely so. For the former, according to Procopius, lived "in a village one day's journey from Amida, enclosed within a small space by interlocked gratings"; the latter lived "near the town of Porphyreon," and "in a certain cave for fifteen years" from about the twentieth year of his age.
4. Moreover, according to Stephanus in his book *On Cities*, Porphyreon is a city of Phoenicia, quite ancient; which Polybius mentions in Book V, when dealing with the war of Antiochus the Great. It was episcopal under the metropolitan of Caesarea in Palestine, as is held in Book II of Miraeus' *Notitia of Bishoprics*, where however it is written 'Porphyron,' and it is called 'Caiphas' in William of Tyre's Book IX of the *Holy War*, ch. 14, and Book X, ch. 6 and 10, and elsewhere; Adrichomius in his work on the tribe of Issachar, ch. 17, as well as Quaresmius and others, follow Tyre; yet they are mistaken when they write that it was built by the high priest Caiaphas: perhaps it was restored by him. They report that it was situated near the sea, at the roots of Mount Carmel, on the northern side.
5. Of the inhabitants of the city of Porphyreon, "when he saw that he was being honored," as it is said at no. 10, "he fled and went forty miles away and lived for thirty years on the bank of a river." This river we judge to be the Kishon, which flows from the Sea of Galilee, or Tiberias, into the Mediterranean Sea; near which, at some leagues' distance, Mount Hermon, or Hermonium, lies adjacent; near whose rocks he seems to have lived in a cave, from which, when he had committed that shameful sin, he departed, and spent ten years in another cave, or old tomb, in the same region. But if someone should contend that this river is the Jordan, we would not insist pugnaciously, if he could bring forward a probable argument, and could show that the Jordan flows nowhere more than 40 miles from Porphyreon.
6. Soon after the death of James, because of the frequency of his miracles, a sacred building was constructed, into which his remains were translated, and his memory celebrated every year with a solemn festival. The Life of St. James seems to have been written by an ancient author, not long after his death, as these words suggest: "When the most religious bishop learned of his passing, he approached that place with the whole clergy and the pious laity, and when they had anointed him with precious aromatics, celebrating God Himself and His glory, they deposited his venerable remains in that very monument. Afterward, the holy priest of God built a sacred building at the cave, and translated his remains there. In which place, up to this very day, many are healed, and the whole city and the neighboring region observe a great festival each year, celebrating his memory," etc. Which final statements regarding the age of Metaphrastes (who inserted this Life into his own work on the deeds of the saints, perhaps having revised it and, as is the custom, interpolated it) seem difficult to accept, since the Saracens held everything far and wide in the age of Metaphrastes. Furthermore, that Life was translated into Latin by Gentianus Hervetus and published by Lipomanus and Surius: an abridged version was edited by Georgius Carnefeltius in Book II of *On the Lives of the Eremites*, no. 7.
LIFE AND CONVERSATION OF THE HOLY MONK JAMES
PREFACE.
A I. Many good and soul-benefiting graces are the cause for those who love God and desire to live according to the commandments of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the most excellent possession of humility. He who struggles to grasp this and succeeds in it does not fall under the passion of arrogance, nor does he, puffed up in this life, have need of pride. For that this brings much damage and incurable danger to most of those who do not attend, can be seen from many other proofs, and certainly from the stories hereafter to be set forth by us, concerning one who, in the economy and safety of the angelic orders, undertook an angelic life. For in this we shall find one who had adopted the life of an ascetic having succeeded, and a falling away having subsequently occurred, and the power of repentance to be so strong before the philanthropic God, that it not only snatches man from the very gates and the torments of hell, but makes him greater than his former virtue, and by the grace of Christ, becomes worthy of restoration.
CAPUT I.
B II. There was a certain man from a town called Porphyrion, whose name was James. This man, having cast aside the vanity of the worldly life, dwelt in a cave for fifteen years. And upon this man, having progressed in virtue and asceticism, there was also bestowed and given a gift against demons, and he performed many healings in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ. Therefore, all who wondered at his manner of life ran to him, and the majority of the impious Samaritans abandoned their religion, as though having come to him from God.
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As that divine man noticed those coming to him, by instructing them at length from the reading of the divine Scriptures, he converted them to the true faith.
III. But the devil, who from the very beginning began to oppose the human race, and especially those who serve Christ, when he saw himself being put to flight by that man’s great virtue and perfect life, undertook to persecute him and to expel him from the places I mentioned above. For having entered into one of the Samaritans, from the number of those who from the beginning opposed the truth itself, he caused him to gather together all his friends, kinsmen, and servants who were associated with him, in order to lay a snare for that holy man, so that, having ensnared him, he might be able to drive him from those regions. Therefore, when all had gathered at the lodging of their priest, and had devised many things, the opinion of all was this: that they should summon a shameless and dishonest woman, to whom they would give twenty gold coins, and promise to give her as many more, if she could corrupt the servant of God, James, with her enticements, so that, seizing some pretext, they might be able to drive that man from their region with disgrace.
III. But the devil, who from the beginning wars against the race of men, and especially against the servants of our Savior, seeing himself being greatly thwarted by the man’s great devotion and precise way of life, undertook to drive him from the aforementioned places. For having entered into one of the Samaritans, who from of old and from the beginning turned away from the truth, he persuaded him to gather all the friends and kinsmen who attended to him for the purpose of ensnaring the holy man, so that he might be able to trap him and drive him from those parts. Having therefore gathered together at the lodging of the priest among them, and having devised many things, finally one opinion prevailed among them all. And indeed, having summoned a shameless and lewd woman, they gave her twenty gold coins, and promised to provide her with as many more, if she could trip up the servant of God, James, so that, having seized a pretext, they might be able to drive him from their country.
IV. Induced by these promises, that woman, waiting for the deep of night, approached him, and knocking at the door, asked him to let her in. When he delayed, and for a long time refused to do so, she nevertheless continued to knock at the door shamelessly, and with many prayers besought him to admit her. When, therefore, he opened the door and saw her, he seemed to see some specter; and arming himself with the sign of the cross, he slammed the door and returned; and standing toward the east, he sent up an earnest prayer to God. But when a long time had passed, and the night had already reached its middle course, that woman did not cease to knock at the door; indeed, she even said with a loud voice: "Have mercy on me, servant of God, and open to me, lest I become food for wild beasts before your cell."
IV. Overcome by these promises, the woman goes to him when the night was already deep; and having knocked at the door, she begged to be received. But as he was delaying, and putting it off for a long time, she persisted in knocking, and with much supplication begged to be received. And indeed, having opened it slightly and seen her, he thought it was a phantom; and having signed himself, he slammed the door and returned; and standing toward the east, he sent up an earnest prayer to God. But when a long time had passed, and the night had already reached its middle course, she did not cease from knocking and crying out with a loud voice: "Have mercy on me, servant of God, and open to me, lest I become food for wild beasts before your cell."
V. When that just man considered these things, and noticed the multitude of wild beasts that were in those places, falling into discernment, he opened it unwillingly, and said to her: "Whence have you come here? Whom do you seek? And whose are you?" But the woman, answering, said: "I am from this nearby monastery, and the abbess sent me to bring blessings to this village; and while I was returning and going to the monastery, night overtook me in this place. I beseech you, therefore, man of God, have pity on me and receive me, lest I be devoured by wild beasts."
V. The righteous man, therefore, having considered and reflected upon the multitude of wild beasts in those places, falling into discernment, opened it unwillingly, and says to her: "Whence have you come here, and whom do you seek, and whose are you?" But she, answering, said: "I am from this hermitage, and the abbess sent me to bring blessings to this village; and while I was returning and going to the monastery, night overtook me in this place. I beseech you, therefore, man of God, have pity on me and receive me, lest I be devoured by wild beasts."
(2) This can be taken in a double way; either that she says she brought a blessing to the monastery, that is, alms. Cyril uses a similar phrase in the Life of St. Sabas, as we said above on January 20th regarding the life of St. Euthymius, in the Prolegomena. But where was that blessing? Or it can be understood that she says she brought a blessing there, or eulogies, that is, loaves or other things, either blessed by priests at the appointed prayers of the Church, or which came from the hands of holy virgins, yet accustomed to be kindly received and even to have power against diseases: or certainly, as a testimony only of benevolence, some early or rarer fruits, or something similar, which those virgin nuns were accustomed to send, knowing it to be acceptable to secular, pious people. Thus on January 26th in the Life of St. Bathildis, chapter 3, number 12: "that they might always visit the king and queen and nobles with due honor with eulogies, etc."
1217 LIFE OF ST. JAMES THE MONACH. [so that I] may become prey. Moved by these words, he brought her in; and having set before her bread, salt, and water, he entered the upper cell himself and locked himself in, leaving the woman in the outer cell. III. She seemed to rest for a little while; but after this she began to cry out, and lamenting, she threw herself against the door, and with wailing called upon the saint. And indeed, looking out through the window and seeing her constrained and as if in great pain, he was in a quandary as to what he should say to her or what he should do for her. She said to him: "I beg you, look upon me and sign me, for I am seized by a pain in my heart." Hearing this, he went out, and having lit a great fire, he sat her down near it, and binding his left hand to the fire, with his right hand he anointed her with the oil of the saints, warming her through the heat of his hands, signing her continuously upon her breast. She, carried away by her own shamelessness and wishing to ensnare him and lead him into improper desire, said to him: "I beg you, anoint my heart for a long time, so that the pain that constrains me may cease." The saint, according to his inherent simplicity, yielding to her, performed what was for her healing; but at the same time, knowing the arts of the evil one, and fearing lest from his great compassion for her he might bring upon himself an immortal infirmity, he persevered for two or three hours, holding his left hand to the fire so unsparingly, until the joints of the fingers of his hand were burned and fell off. He did this, warring against the devilish machinations, so that through the unbearable pain arising from the fire, no wicked thought might enter into his heart.
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VII. She, seeing this paradox, and coming to herself (for she saw the hand of the saint almost entirely consumed by the fire), weeping bitterly and groaning terribly, fell at the feet of the saint, and beating her own breast with her hands, she cried out: "Woe to me, the wretched and darkened one! Woe to me, for I am food for the eternal fire! Woe to me, for I am a vessel of the devil!" The saint, having come to himself at these words, said to her: "Rise, woman." And with much force he raised her from the ground, and having performed an extended prayer, he said to her: "What is the matter with you? Tell me." She, having with difficulty come to herself, explained to him in detail how the matter stood, revealing to him the plot meditated against the saint by the lawless Samaritans, or rather by the devil. And indeed, the servant of God groaned greatly, and having given thanks to God with much glory and tears, he instructed her, and having given her blessings, he sent her to the most holy Bishop Alexander. She, having reached the church, confessed each of the things that had happened, first to God, and then to the most holy man; who himself also, having instructed her greatly, and seeing her intensely penitent for the evils she had committed, [immortalized/instructed...]
[LATIN COLUMN] MENSIS JANUARIUS. talitatis lavacrum ei dedit, et mulierem quidem A ipsam ad virginum monasterium misit; omnem vero populum religiosum, et Christi amatorem clerum cum congregasset, ex urbe et regione illa omnes Samaritas expulit, ac postea Dei servum Jacobum adiit, eumque ut bonus pater multum confirmavit. Ita vero et mulier supradicta per pœnitentiam Christo seipsam obtulit, ut et chara Deo esset, et adversus dæmones gratiam acciperet.
CAPUT II.
Donum curationum. Secessus longinquior.
VIII. Facto autem intervallo quodam temporis, filia cujusdam viri, qui principem locum in senatu obtinebat, impuro spiritu agitata, nominatim sanctum illum virum invocabat. Cum igitur ejus parentes ad Dei servum eam duxissent, ipsum rogabant, ut puellæ juventutem misericordia prosequeretur, et impurum spiritum ab ipsa expelleret. Cumque sanctus vir pro ea Deum precatus esset, et manus super illam imposuisset, statim divina ope dæmonem expulit, et puellam curavit. Ejus igitur parentes cum et Deo et ipsi gratias egissent, trecentos aureos nummos ei miserunt, quos non solum justus ille vir accipere ausus non est, sed ne videre quidem eos passus fuit; dicens, eisque persuadens, non decere divinarum rerum mercaturam facere, sed pauperibus illos potius dare. Ego enim, inquit, eos non accipio; nam in solitudine degens istis non indigeo. Itaque gratias Deo agentes homines illos in eorum domos remisit.
IX. Aliquando vero cum adolescens quidam a dæmone tentatus fuisset, utroque pede dissolutus fuit: quem ejus consanguinei bajulantes, ad sanctum virum tulerunt, eum rogantes, ut pro ipso Deum precaretur. Ille autem cum tres dies jejunasset, et divinis precibus operam dedisset, paralyticum hominem sanum restituit, cui et benedixit, jussitque propriis pedibus in suam domum reverti. Multi alii ad eumdem veniebant, qui cum diversis morbis laborarent, omnes divina ope per ipsius preces curati, ad suas domos revertebantur.
X. Cum autem ille Dei servus se ab omnibus multum honorari videret; et casum, qui ex honore ipso multis evenire solet, valde metueret, locum illum reliquit, et fugiens abiit procul ab urbe illa quadraginta milliaribus: cumque apud petras, quæ sunt ad ripam fluvii speluncam magnam invenisset, triginta annos illic habitavit, in precibus et hymnis totos dies ac noctes insumendo. Nutrimenta vero ipsa multo tempore ex herbis, quæ prope fluvium nascebantur, sibi conficiebat: postea parvum quemdam hortum ad ripam fluminis eleganter construxit, atque in eo aliquot horis dei opus faciens ex eo ipso cibum sibi comparabat. D
A It is the case, however, that such and so great a man, having been deemed worthy of such grace, might perhaps have been permitted by falling to undergo a trial, and that one of the most grievous. For the enemy and adversary of Christians, that ancient serpent, having by divine permission stirred up envy against mortals, entered into the daughter of a certain rich man, and began to cry out and call upon the holy man by name, so that the parents of the girl were compelled to beseech him, and to search out the man of God everywhere, neither leaving any monastery, nor indeed any desert place unexplored. When they could not find him anywhere, they learned that the recluse was in that particular place. And so the father, taking his servants and commanding them to sit, hastened to the place designated, that the holy man might come. And seeing him, he fell at his feet, saying: "Have mercy on my daughter, for she is cruelly tormented by an impure spirit." For she has now been twenty days without taste of food or drink, but cries out, lacerating herself and invoking your name.
B XII. Then the holy man prayed for her; and after he had finished his prayer, he breathed upon the impure demon and said to him: "In the name of the Lord and of Christ, depart from her." And at the pronouncing of the name of Christ, he departed immediately, leaving her free that night. The parents, however, remained, fearing lest the impure demon might again return, and they besought him to remain for two days, until she was completely delivered from the demon. And so, having left her, they returned to their own home.
C XIII. It is necessary, therefore, as we said in the introduction, for the security and edification of those who pursue this angelic way of life, not only to collect the good deeds and relate the accomplishments of the perfect, and to contemplate those things which are useful for man, but also [to consider] the malice of that enemy of God and His servants. But just as we have enumerated the greatest and true virtues of the man, so it is necessary to describe also the storm brought against him, and the fall he suffered therefrom, saying hereafter, as you have learned, after those—
MONTH OF JANUARY.
1223 which were published by him after his perfect repentance and noble confession. For the more noble the exercise and life he had previously led, the greater was his subsequent fall. But the more grievous his fall was, the greater also was his subsequent amendment.
XIV. For that most wicked and impious enemy of the servants of God, when he saw the girl who had been healed left there alone with him, and having seized upon a handle, as it were, against the righteous man, sent into him a spirit of lust. This spirit attacked him so vehemently that he—who at the beginning of his exercise, at the time when the snares of the impious Samaritans had been prepared through the woman we mentioned above, had resisted with a noble and brave spirit, choosing to suffer the loss of his left hand to overcome the devil through whom the woman had been incited against him—was, I say, stirred by the goad of lust, and forgot the fear of God, the healing so freely granted to him, his exercise of such long duration, and so many labors; and although he had reached a great old age, he was nevertheless overcome and succumbed to the demon; and having gone out to the place that was before the cell, he defiled the girl herself and stained himself with the mire of impiety.
XV. From there, as if some beginning had been given to the demon, he is compelled to add a second evil to the first. For that corrupting serpent, fearing the amendment which is provided through repentance to those who sincerely seek it, prepares the man—whom he considered his captive—to commit a wickedness greater than the former. For having sown thoughts of cowardice, he suggested to him that he should murder the girl he had corrupted. Overcome also in this, he committed the murder.
XVI. But the true author of evils, the devil, was not content even with that crime, but added another, so that he would not only fail to commit the remains of the murdered girl to burial, but would also cast them into the waters of the river without any mercy. Such is the fruit of pride and arrogance. For had that monk not subjected himself to such a sin, the wicked enemy, pouring out all his force and the surge of the winds as if upon some small vessel, would by no means have disgraced that old man, by whom he had been defeated while he was still young; whom he later defeated himself, because he perceived him to be too exalted.
CHAPTER IV. The movement of despair.
XVII. But yet the excellent benevolence of Christ, the bestower of the highest goods upon men, who wills that all men be saved rather than perish, stretched out His hand to him who had fallen and was lying on the ground, and healed the wounds of his own making—that is, of that man—which were incurable and foul, with the remedies of repentance, and adorned him with the same and even greater graces after his repentance. We have been compelled to bring these things forward so that, just as we praised God upon learning of his former life, and fell into sadness upon hearing how he had fallen, so upon learning of his sincere repentance, we might not trust in ourselves, but place our hope in the most benign God, from whom all graces proceed, who gives patience to us who stand, so that we may stand perfectly; and sustains those who fall through sloth with His own hand—that is, He offers us aid, and embraces the penitent according to His love for the human race.
XVIII. For he who committed so many and such great evils, each one of which made him liable to Gehenna...
A to the people, revealing the abundance of his great generosity, he imparted it to those for the instruction of a godly life, distributing richly, as the divine Paul said, in simplicity. Now, however, Satan, ravaging the soul of the virtuous man by way and method, artfully led to him a certain woman, excelling in beauty, who, having once gazed upon the venerable and age-appropriate countenance of James, was inflamed with desire for him. And indeed, while hiding the burning inside herself, as if unable to bear it, she was inflamed more than was necessary. Finally, her burning and immeasurable passion broke forth to the front, and approaching the blessed man with shamelessness, she first assailed him with flattering words, and, as he was not persuaded, by deeds and touch she attempted to lure him into this. But the godly James, having seen the madness of the woman and fearing the wave of passion flowing over him, lest he be baptized by it, coming to himself, says joyfully: "How shall I do this evil thing before the Lord?" Then, wishing to escape quickly from the snares of that woman, he extends his hand, and having drawn out and held one of his own fingers, having brought it a little to the lamp, he shines upon the same finger with fire, this almost saying by his actions: "If I do not bear this, how shall I withstand the greater fire of Gehenna?" But if anyone mocks and ridicules this deed, let him know to whom we are fittingly reporting. For to the great Moses, God ignited the feet and hand to demonstrate the worth toward the proclamation of the people. And to Isaiah, an ember of the holy altar, having touched his mouth, purified both his lips and his mind and prepared him for prophecy.
XIX. From James who served as bishop in Jerusalem, I speak of the brother of the Lord, the discourse shall turn for us to James the Persian, whom the Church honors and reveres on this day. B This man was in the time of the reign of Yazdegerd the King of the Persians, and of our own Arcadius, having entered into life from Christian parents, and living his life with a faithful spouse who also thought the things of Christ. He was, in fact, held in both honor and rank by the Persian king. But when the terrible temptation of his ancestral faith came upon him, appearing agreeable to those in power in Persia, and wishing to abandon the honor but not lose such rank, he yielded and accepted, and was pleased to serve the Persians. If, therefore, the disease of this prattling was implanted inside, or if it pleased him otherwise, having preferred the lie, it is not a small disease, but a great infirmity suffered, as those wounded in their souls. His spouse and wife, having recognized the fall of her husband, wrote a letter of grief to him.
XX. The letter having arrived to him, and the words in it having cast into his mind what indeed like arrows struck into his heart, coming to himself he cried out: "What have I done, wretch? Why have I strayed from the straight path? What good judgment of God given to me have I received in vain? Then how shall I meet the eyes of my fellow servants?" Having provoked himself with these words, and having flowed into many tears, he left the life in honors and abandoned human things for his own sake, and having moved from the land of the Persians to the Roman territory, having been seen there by the servants of Christ, he held fast to the Church eagerly, having confessed his own fall to the priest, he spent his life in repentance, and gave himself entirely to this. C When the Persian King Yazdegerd heard of the removal of James from himself to the Romans, he wrote to Arcadius that he should be extradited to him. But Arcadius, having suffered no indignity, returned him to him. And King Yazdegerd, showing his psychological and national savagery by torture and lawlessness, made it his goal to cut the holy body of the athlete of piety limb by limb until his end.
XXI. Therefore, having started from the feet, he first attempted his fingers. And the first having been cut off, he asks the martyr to deny Christ, and promises that he will cease the struggle. But he brings such an answer: "The harvester rejoices when, having taken hold of the sickle, he has cut the useless tares and carries the ear, which is also stored in the granary. So I, too, rejoice, destroying the carnal and corruptible gain, earning." And another having been cut off, he again advised him to deny, and the martyr said: "Remove the smell of the mire from me; cut off another branch." In like manner, the third being cut, the holy man said: "Three branches of the Christ-named tree have been cut; yet the tree remains stable and has many branches." The fourth having been cut off, he says: "Hasten, executioner; four have been cut, the other hand is beginning; I rejoice at such labors, knowing D that the reward from God draws near to me." The fifth being cut, he said: "Five branches were just now cut, even as the wise virgins; with whom may you, O Lord, count me." The sixth finger being cut, he said: "Glory to you, my Christ, because following the six days of creation, in which you created all things, by the cutting of six fingers I, too, am brought to you, Lord." The seventh being cut, he said: "Blessed are you, Lord, because being cut at the seventh finger, I have sealed the promise of the seventh day." The eighth being cut, he said: "The number of the eighth circumcision, O my God, I have completed in the eighth finger."
Being by nature, so to speak, susceptible to praise, and at the same time equipped with good habits, he therefore pressed forward toward virtue in both word and deed, abstaining from every pleasure and applying himself to every virtue. He reached such a state of self-sufficiency that he did not even concern himself with necessities, but dedicated his whole self to God and to a life of virtue. Divine grace, working with him, led him to the heights of virtue; he was prepared for every piety and omitted none of the good deeds. When he had blossomed perfectly in everything, he went up to the mountain, and there, leading his life in quietude, he was entirely with God. Many of those wishing to be saved fled to him, seeking a guide for salvation; receiving them kindly, the blessed man nurtured them with the words of salvation and led them back to the way of God. He himself, as if dwelling within his body as in a tent, was entirely with the things of heaven; his flesh lingered on earth, but his soul soared toward the things above.
Shining forth in this way with good works, he led many who were wandering back to the straight path; and his fame spread so far that his virtue escaped none of those in authority. Whence the king, having heard of the matter, sent and summoned him; and he, considering the king’s command as a call from God, immediately presented himself before the king. Having arrived there, he received much favor from the king, because he showed himself, both by words and by deeds, worthy of the call of God. Those who were wandering back to the straight path; and his fame spread so far that his virtue escaped none of those in authority. Whence the king, having heard of the matter, sent and summoned him; and he, considering the king’s command as a call from God, immediately presented himself before the king. Having arrived there, he received much favor from the king, because he showed himself, both by words and by deeds, worthy of the call of God.
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and, dispelling the present drought, might send rain upon their land.
XXVIII. He, answering them nothing at all, beat his breast, and not daring to lift his eyes to heaven, said only this: "Be propitious, O Christ, to my many impieties." But the bishop, although he persisted in supplications and exhortations, received no response from him; and having left him, those who had come with him returned lamenting. And when they had come to the church, there again, weeping and suppliant, they sought deliverance from their evils from the benevolent God. But when for many days they lamented and fasted, imploring God to be willing to help them, it was again revealed to the same bishop, and a clear voice was heard, which said thus: "Go to my servant Jacob, whom I have already revealed to you, and persuade him to be willing to pray to me concerning these matters; for by his praying, you shall be freed from those evils which hang over the region."
XXIX. Therefore, the holy priest of God returned with all the clergy and the people to bring supplications to the man of God. Then he, unwillingly—to speak briefly—and moved by many supplications, and persuaded by that holy bishop that he had been sent to him by divine revelation, lifted his eyes to heaven and held attentive prayers for a long time. And while the prayers were still in his mouth, the good and merciful God, who abundantly and easily bestows all things upon those who fear Him, fulfilling in deed that saying of the divine Scriptures: "While you are yet speaking, I will say, Behold, I am here," sent much rain upon the earth.
XXX. Admiring this in the greatest measure, they sang a hymn of thanksgiving to the merciful God and His magnificence, and returned; and celebrating the divine glory, they proclaimed His servants blessed, who, through the exercise of virtue, were made worthy of such and so great honor and grace. Therefore, helped by that greatest benefit from the benevolent God, and freed from that divine plague which was repelled through the servant of God, Jacob, to this very day they celebrate the memory of that day every year, on which they were freed from that arid drought: and they offer hymns, supplications, and constant thanks to Christ.
XXXI. Many, however, held by diverse diseases from the people themselves, together with the bishop, fled for the sake of consolation and healing to the servant of God, Jacob; whom he, having anointed with holy oil and blessed in the name of Christ, healed in such a way that, having returned home, they praised the glory of God, who had brought healing to them through His servant. Therefore, all who inhabited the city and the neighboring region brought their sick to him, or asked that, in their absence, he himself might pray to God for their health: and immediately they obtained healing by divine aid; for such grace was bestowed upon him that even by his word alone he would immediately put to flight impure spirits.
XXXII. In that same year, however, in which that most bitter plague of drought was repelled, the servant of God, Jacob, summoned the most holy bishop and asked him to take care of the cave, that is, the sepulcher, in which he had long had his dwelling, and asked him that he might be buried there when dead. When he had promised that he would do this, and had returned to the city, after a few days the blessed Jacob died in a good old age, being in his seventy-fifth year. When the most religious bishop learned this, he went to that place with all the clergy and upright laymen; and when they had embalmed him with precious aromatics, celebrating God Himself and His glory, they deposited his venerable relics in that very monument.
XXXIII. Afterward, the holy priest of God built a sacred temple at the cave and transferred his relics there. In which place, to this very day, many are healed, and the whole city and the neighboring region, celebrating his memory every year, keep a great feast day, to the glory of the benevolent God, who so honored him: whom let us also celebrate in the customary manner and gloriously, blessing the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, to whom is glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.
CONCERNING THE HOLY EGYPTIAN MARTYRS CYRUS AND JOHN. (Year of Christ 280, January 31st. Acta Sanctorum Bolland. for this day.) The names of SS. Cyrus and John are most famous on account of the countless benefits bestowed upon sick mortals at their relics. Concerning these, Baronius writes thus in his notes to the Martyrology: "Their Acts were most well-known to both Greeks and Latins; we also have them in the fifth, seventh, and tenth volumes of ancient manuscript codices, which were in use by some churches in Rome, where the Lives of the saints are written according to the order of the months. In these, therefore, we have found the Acts of the aforementioned martyrs, authored by Peter..."
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...the same, who transcribed them at the request of Gregory, son of the consul John; we found the same again in the manuscript codex of St. Mary ad Martyres: in all of which it is expressly stated that these suffered at Alexandria, during the time of the persecution of the Emperor Diocletian, and that at that time also three holy virgins suffered martyrdom: Theodora, Theotista (Lipoman. vol. V), and Eudoxia with her mother Athanasia. All the same things are found in Metaphrastes (Surius vol. I), in which the time of the martyrdom is missing; however, they have certain added miracles which we did not find in the aforementioned Latin codices. Sophronius, Bishop of Jerusalem, had a famous oration (a) concerning these same martyrs, which is cited in the Second Council of Nicaea, act 4, and by St. John Damascene, Oration III "On Images."
(a) We have provided this very lengthy oration in the third part of our volume LXXXVII, col. 3773, from the edition of Cardinal Angelo Mai. The Bollandist Fathers present the Life of SS. Cyrus and John, translated into Latin by Otho Zylius "from an old Greek codex," which they ascribe to "an uncertain, but ancient author"; we use the Latin version of Surius alongside the Greek text, which we place here, transcribed for the first time from the Royal Parisian codex.
EDIT. PATR.
LIFE AND MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY AND WONDER-WORKING ABBOTS CYRUS AND JOHN.
I. That Cyrus, the bright star of the martyrs, was also from the most illustrious city of Alexandria, which is situated in Egypt: which, according to report, the Macedonian built and gave his own name. Cyrus was faithful in religion from his parents, praiseworthy in life, and a physician by profession: his workshop is known to all to this very day, but with its name changed, so that it is now called the temple of God and the shrine of the Holy Three Children: at the same time, it has in a way also changed its operation, or rather, it has been rendered more divine, and instead of that former liberation from diseases, which the medical art, and labors, and the medicines of the art provided, it now abounds with miracles of every kind, which occur of their own accord. But how it received this change, the discourse, taken from above, will declare.
II. Apollinaris, not that vehement enemy of the truth and of right doctrines, who also poured great disgrace upon the see of Laodicea: but rather that ardent lover of the truth, and defender of the former doctrines, as much more excellent than that one in glory and character as there was agreement in the same name, to whom, when the Alexandrian see had been entrusted by the judgment of God (as the true report that is spread about it holds)...
…and to the Lydian, greatly, when they had been divided into three forces and three commanders, having in themselves good men and soldiers, whom Leonidas received as they marched against him. And so that, if even these did not believe—knowing that the matter was difficult and would not be easy for just anyone—he went to the Alexandrians and the Jews there. And many Gentiles living there also believed, so that through the word of God, the number of Christians there was multiplied in many ways. While traveling again to Hierapolis, he was met by a certain Cypriot from that city, who said: This man, having become arrogant, not from a noble family, but from powerful and illustrious parents, was an elegant young man, and educated in external studies. It happened at this time that, having gone to magicians, he was being energized by demons, and having received their energy from there, he returned delivered to Cyprus, and from there to Hierapolis. For he made his dwelling in this city. Here, therefore, he finds Cyril, and listened to him discoursing about Christ; and he said, "What in the world is this man saying?" When others said that he persuades men to believe in Christ and to abandon the error of the idols, he said, "If we do not question him, what shall we say?" And so, having walked into the crowd, he said, "Tell me, fellow." Having invited him to enter into discourse, the man not only spoke the words he had prepared, but the divine Cyril also astonished him. For all his understanding and knowledge was immediately seen to be empty of words. In this, the power of the demon working within him was revealed; and when Cyril said to him, "Depart, man," the demon went out of the man; and having found release from the bond, he fell at the feet of Cyril and was deemed worthy of baptism.
The demon, having fled from there, dwelt in another, and Cyril also delivered this one. Having fled from there, it entered a third; and this one was likewise set free. After these things, the demon, constantly haunting Cyril, threatened and denounced him. Finally, the wicked one, having nowhere to dwell, withdrew, having been relieved of his activity in that region. A truly admirable man, worthy of all praise. For just as he had zealously pursued virtue from the beginning, he held fast to it until the end, and had it as his assistant throughout his whole life. When, therefore, he was dying, being seventy years old, God showed such grace upon him. For when he was already seen to be dead, a multitude of angels was seen meeting the soul of the holy man and escorting it. The sound of them was heard as sweet to those present, and the brightness of the sight was seen, beyond all expectation. Thus, the blessed Cyril, having departed, moved on to eternal life.
1. Since his piety took such a beginning, he spent as much time as possible with him; and he passed the greatest part of his time there, so that he might profit as much as possible from the man's company and teaching. But when he departed this life, taking up the zeal that had been his, he pressed on again toward a more perfect way of life. And having given himself over to those who lived in asceticism, he did not cease in his zeal until his death.
2. From that time on, he associated with many of the monks, and sharing with those who had progressed in virtue, he strove not to be surpassed by the zeal of any of them. Toward the end, he sought out those living in higher asceticism, and following in their footsteps, he walked a straight path toward the life above.
3. So great was his diligence and his longing for the better that he left no one ahead of him in asceticism. For by pursuing fasting, vigil, sleeping on the ground, humility, and all other forms of virtuous achievement, he provided himself as a model and pattern of the life according to God for all.
4. He did not, however, merely ornament himself with the virtues that were his, but he did not allow others to be negligent either. For having severed many from the world and turned them toward the monastic life, he took them as brothers to himself in the ascetic life. And all these, being guided by him, walked the excellent path.
5. With such a path being successfully pursued, and those led by him being perfected, the multitude of those who had assembled grew, and the grace of God upon him grew as well. To speak simply, he shone so brightly in every virtue that all admired him; and like a light shining in darkness, so he appeared to all.
1237 LIFE OF SS. CYRUS AND JOHN. 1238
[He] arrived at Alexandria. For which reason, who could ever show either the pleasure and joy of the patriarch, or again the festive celebration and assembly of the multitude? It is worth hearing with what wisdom he carried out his promise to his nephew. For when on the following day he had gathered all the clergy who were under him, he deposited that hand, and with it the letter which was held by it, in a sacred and brilliant manner; and having performed other things in the temple with great zeal, and having consecrated this according to the laws of the Christians, he then brought his nephew, and having ordained him a priest, he betrothed the Church to him instead of another wife, saying to him: "Behold, your wife; but take care of her, as is fitting." This statement so affected the young man, and so touched his soul and changed his desire, that he was thereafter seized with a greater love for virginity than he had previously had for marriage. But enough of these things.
VII. We must again make mention of Cyrus and of those things pertaining to Cyrus, whom we have proposed as the subject of the present discourse. This man, therefore, having become most distinguished in the medical art, was no less most useful to men in his life, healing bodies by his art and souls by his manner of life; or rather, persuading them through his art to care mostly for their manner of life, and teaching that a disease of the soul is far more grievous than that of the body, inasmuch as the former is often the cause of the latter, with the Lord of all and Physician striving through bodily disease that we might put away the vice of the soul, which is indeed the most dangerous and difficult to cure of all diseases. For when Cyrus entered to the sick, he did not mention Galen and Hippocrates and those like them at all (for he held these in second place), but drawing from our own source, and chanting to them many of the prophetic and apostolic, and even patristic sayings, and then also adding the things of grace, he prepared them to be healthy not only in body but also in soul; and to those asking for small things he gave both those, and granted them things much greater than these (which are the knowledge of God, the cleansing of vice, and the salvation of the soul), making many of the pious even more steadfast toward the truth, and delivering many of the unbelievers from the error of the Greeks. This [error] was then great and had taken hold of many, or even the majority, while Diocletian held the scepter, who was not more distinguished by his diadem than by his excess of superstition. For in this [the latter] you will find many to whom you might compare him, but in that [the former] very few indeed.
VIII. But since it was neither possible for these things to escape the notice of the evil one, nor easy to endure them if they did not escape notice (for vice is a thing difficult to restrain and impudent), they were made known to the ruler of the city, who also used great fury against the Christians; and he orders Cyrus, once captured, to be brought immediately. But he, having learned of the command, departs from the city and arrives in the Arabia that is near Egypt. But let no one condemn the man for weakness or smallness of soul. For not toward...
A Since they were established in positions of authority, granting power in all things to Christians, and had then proclaimed themselves to be idolaters, logical argument could not persuade them to [enter] the list of those enlisted for Christ. The chief commander, therefore, began to inspect them in turn; some of them he sent off into prison as captives, others he delivered to death, and a third group he punished again. Now, in this flock was that divine man Emilianus, elegant and excelling others in virtue, he being a descendant of those from the Doberi. But he, as it appeared, having moved a stone from its base, sat upon it and smashed the altars of the idol, ending by setting fire to the temple. This had happened by day, in the sight of many, though as Chrysostom thinks, the night of Theophilus had orchestrated it. For it remained so unknown to all who had done this, that when Tychicus, who was the ruler of the city, was searching for who it was that had perpetrated this, and all others were unable to point out the actor, he alone said that he himself, the master of the deed, had been its author. For whether it pleased him to be praised, he knew this path to be fitting for the good, or whether this was the will of God, who had sent the angel, as Chrysostom says, with whom he destroyed the idols—at the time when he himself was doing this, he wanted himself to be known through him to all.
B His soul holds firm against chains and blows and all kinds of other dangerous tortures, and he is brought before the governor; and there, the laughter he meets at his words and threats is as if one were hammering cold iron. Therefore, fire is brought in; and a certain Emilianus falls into it; but that which was cold to God, yet saving, even extinguished the flame. One can see a clearer miracle: for when Tychicus had thrown four of the wretches before the governor into the pyre, they themselves were consumed by the flame, but Emilianus alone was saved. Which provided an unbelievable spectacle at that time, as it is said, at the moment this occurred; it appeared differently [than] those of the three children, as he was suspended out of the fire, being within it and carried up and down, chanting psalms and glorifying God. C And these things filled the many Gentiles who were watching with a subsequent sense of dread; for the punishment and retribution of this spectacle went away with them, as Chrysostom says; that is, because fear had struck those Gentiles who were locked within the city, and they were hastening toward their own homes, as if being pursued. But the martyr, having risen from the pyre as if from a cool spring, leaves thence and escapes out, hidden to all, fulfilling thanks to God. This came to him at that time which the shedding of blood also portended; for when the one who had engineered this pious anarchy was unknown, and he was revealed secretly, Tychicus handed him over to the executioners and ordered them to cut off his head with a sword. Having been led immediately to the place of death in the city, he prayed first; then, bowing his head, he gave it readily to the sword-bearers; and he was immediately brought to perfection and finished this struggle beloved of God.
Men characterized by virtue in every respect were brought to him by the then-ruler within a year or two, men of sweetest character, tractable, gentle, easy-going, and affectionate, for he was in no way prone to irritation. Since such grace was manifest in him, it should be known that he also possessed philanthropy toward the poor, compassion for the sorrowful, justice for those treated unfairly, and benevolence and help for all those in need. Thus, there was almost no generation that did not taste of his benefaction. He was among the most religious, known for his reverence in the Church, and those who knew him praised him in all things.
Consequently, being deemed worthy of praise and testimony because of his personal conduct, he lived in wisdom and reverence, and he accomplished religious exercise with quietude and self-restraint, looking only to the Divine and disregarding the philosophic life of the world. He undertook all this the more easily to be disposed toward godliness and the Divine, offering prayers and supplications by night and by day, mortifying the body with fasting, humbling the soul by prostration upon the earth, and reaching for the satisfaction of God through these practices. Thus, he partook of the holy rite not on certain fixed days, but always, as his soul attained to a cleansed communion.
Having extended this virtue further, he turned toward the opposite, considering as naught the things on earth and claiming for himself instead the life in the heavens. Thus he immediately found the path of a life according to virtue, adorning his soul with purity and being winged by the hope of the blessings to come. In addition to the aforementioned goods, he continued as a steward of souls, turning many away from error, while also giving abundant food to the poor, and he was most sweet to all.
For when these men were in communion with one another, since those who live in the Lord must be led into communion, he was deemed worthy of divine visions; for he heard an invisible and divine voice announcing to him his departure from this life. And he prepared himself then for the journey which was to lead him to the angels and to Christ, having readied himself through prayers. The Lord visited him with illness; but he remained thankful amid his pains, knowing that God disciplines the one whom He loves and scourges every son whom He receives. Therefore, he passed from life with thanksgiving, having obtained the blessed joy, of which we too might be deemed worthy, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be the glory and the power unto the ages of ages. Amen.
[T] Wash your hands, and wash your feet; for there is the holy place of compunction; there stand the angels of God, crying out and saying: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Sabaoth; there God comforts those who are afflicted; there the soul is healed; there the weary and heavy-laden find rest; there the hungry and thirsty are filled; there the captive is freed; there the sinner is saved; there the defiled is cleansed.
JANUARY.
...but also the gods themselves, against whom you foolishly dare such things, what gratitude they show toward those who insult them, even if they are mild and benign.
XI. To these things Cyrus and John said: We, O governor, are accustomed to say little about many things. Know, therefore, that we will neither accept dishonorable honors, nor will we betray Christianity, whatever may happen. When Syrianus had heard these things, and was moved by vehement anger of heart, and had sharpened his teeth like a boar, he said: It was fitting for you, at least in this, to use the kindness of the judge, that by repenting of what you had previously determined, if there were any wisdom at all, you might have avoided the threats. But since, as I see, the whole thing is pride and arrogance and empty boasting, there will be no need for long words anymore, but we shall now come to the experience itself. For thus you will both obtain the rewards you desire, and you will be persuaded, even against your will, to do what the emperor has commanded. When he had said these things, and had brought the virgins into the sight of the martyrs, so that they might see what was happening, he brought every kind of torture upon the athletes; he beat them with whips, crushed them with clubs, burned them with torches; and when he had moistened the burned limbs with vinegar and salt, he then ordered them to be wiped with haircloths, and he anointed their feet with boiling pitch. In short, there was nothing he did not do of those things that could in any way punish the body: at once avenging himself for their constancy, and contriving to weaken the spirit of the virgins.
XII. But since it seemed that he was punishing those who were watching rather than the martyrs (for the former suffered from the mere sight, because of the excessive torments; but to the latter, all things were pleasant, because of the hope of reward), he released them from the torments, but ordered the virgins to be tortured together with their mother. But after he had made the attempt, he was affected with greater shame, as one who could not even overcome women (for they were seen to have allowed the martyrs of Christ to excel only in sex, but to be no less masculine in soul than they themselves were, and to have imitated them to the letter); after the impious judge saw these things, he condemns them to death, and pronounces that the heads of those worthy of life be amputated, just as it also happened. And when the hands of the executioners had taken the virgins together with their mother, they delivered them to the death that is brought by the sword, showing nothing womanly or cowardly in the slaughter, but returning what they had received, and becoming for them an example of fortitude, whom they themselves had previously received as a beautiful archetype for greatness of soul. The judge again called Cyrus and John to the struggle: what did the impious man not do, wishing to bring them over to his own opinion? He used long speech: pretending to care for them; he threatened the most severe things to those unwilling to be persuaded; he offered gifts, he subjected them to torments, he brought upon them greater things, not only punishments, but also gifts; as one who supposed that the former had been despised because of an extraordinary virtue of greatness of soul, or a distinguished and magnificent desire. When he had done everything and achieved nothing, the verdict...
A always among them in a certain cycle; it was a hunting, a destruction, such that Satan was seized with headache, and the demons were driven out and bound, and the infirm walked toward healing, even if at first they were schooled not to perform works of wonders. Thus, then, the order of the saints among the elders accomplished these things.
Chapter 19
The chorus of the young, always irrationally entangled in the zeal of the nourishment provided by the aged, was acted upon in this way: for the momentum of zeal pushed them outside the limits of what was proper, while the teaching of the older ones brought them back inside into moderation; and the disorderly impulse of the young received the necessary pedagogy from the elders, while the coldness of the elders received the warmth from the young. From this, as those on both sides were blended into one, the ultimate perfection was pursued.Chapter 20
Do you wish to learn from the life of Chrysostom what is the fruit to be reaped from such things? Observe then how God worked marvels, observe how the Divine benefited him. Besides this, even toward the ways and virtues of each of the saints, there is something great-minded to behold, which is demonstrated by their works. For having heard the Gospel, that it is necessary to preach good news to the poor, to set the captives free, to make the blind see, to send away the afflicted in release B, Zoticus did exactly this, selecting the lepers and the infirm held in dishonor from the streets, and having brought them into the emperor's residence, he built an infirmary and healed the sick. Sampson, having built a hostel, furnished it full of the necessities. The holy Cosmas and Damian, having received from God the gifts of healings, expended them upon all abundantly, having no concern for human reward. Gerasimus, having gone into the wilderness, there built up his disciples to live in a manner pleasing to God. Theodore of Sykeon, while still a young child being prepared by his mother for wealth and luxury, secretly abandoning himself to the ascetics who lived near by, was schooled by them in asceticism and disciplined himself.Chapter 21
Do you likewise wish to learn when divine and when human philosophy treats of virtue? Hear then: whenever divine philosophy reaps the soul, then—whether without the body or with the body—if the soul busies itself with this school, then it is the intellect that is seen in action, bringing to the soul the perfection toward the peak of virtue. But whenever it is human philosophy, then the practice is exercised in the body and with the body, and the disposition is thus: for if the body be forced, the soul from that cause is enfeebled and defeated, and thus perfection is not brought about equally. If therefore the work of the body is the intellect of the soul, one C who is being introduced will find such a thing exceedingly subtle and coming only with difficulty into thought. In this work, violent forcing of the body is not right; for it is too intense and breaks it down. In the saints, in almost every instance, you see such a thing: that they exercised authority over the body by reason and by having placed it in toil, and not least kept it in watchfulness. It was necessary on these points for those to whom this matters to observe what power produces the perfection of virtue; that they might not say this, that it is necessary only for the body to suffer hardship while the care of the soul is neglected, but that they might know that it is necessary for both to share in the asceticism and the hardship toward God, soul and body. But if the body indeed luxuries while the soul is dishonored, this is the altered perfection, by which no one attains to this virtue.and provided for it, and his generals wandered about the streets as if they had no commander. But there were others, if I may say so, who, because they had perhaps—as one might plainly see—conceived of the worthy deed of salvation as something granted to them, and having considered the blessing, accounted it a much better thing to be added to the good for those who understand. The man himself was at once a source of shame and of spiritual virtue; you would blame him for the arguments he used, by which he was introduced, yet he indeed accused even the ancient nobility in the eyes of those who behold his solemnity and natural grace.
XVI. As the grace of God, sufficient and manifest in virtue, showed forth the work of the most mighty Laurence—who truly did all things—he strove to bring to a head, if it is permissible to say so, the laborers under him, being finished with good forms, and he had those called helpers who were equal to the plains of the sea, even if they had not been previously trained in discourse in the smoky deserts; for it was seen that as he honored all good things there, he thought it his duty to ask for and seek these in others, and for those who wished to observe them by agreement, and we deemed it necessary to discern these ourselves, having seen them in many places. But we prefer rather to accept that which the athlete of Christ, while seeking martyrdom, had as a promise from Him who cares for him.
These were the first fruits of the aforementioned sufferings; and yet, the divine power that held them was revealed, and it was always seen as bright to the pious; for no one could easily speak of the intention which the true benefactor under him had at that time. Given that at the beginning he regaled the bishops, every form—should one see something by diligent search—would find such coming forth from the light. For this was the young man among his own, to whom the elders of the sanctuary, having a good account toward those in authority, deemed that all things must be directed by the absolute decrees of the high priest.
Maxentius, thinking it necessary to be superior to Alexander, and mindful of the guard of the Maximian army, was intent on directing the end of such a matter, and on cutting off those who were required to take down those things by legal statute, who wished to speak because they were convinced of their salvation, and every kind of law before him who had just devised to care for such a thing there, having prayed to accomplish this.
Eusebius, acting as legate of Alexandria, being the master, accomplished this, and rejoicing in this salvation of his, he directed the archdeacons to speak zealously of the servant of Christ who would suffer athletically, those things that Maxentius had to understand, not permitted to them through the labors of Photius there. But he demonstrated this piety for which Philip said to marvel at his words, of those things spoken in boldness to the rulers by the tyrant, for the sake of testimony. In all these things, he ended the life of the manifest evildoer, who took the end of this life in peace.
A He utterly destroyed the objects of worship, and adorned the city with sacred buildings and votive offerings, and with structures and images; he constructed a temple in Canopus of extraordinary size and beauty, for the apostles, situated no more than twelve stades from the city. The place was distinguished and esteemed by the Greeks, and held in no small honor. It is possible to judge this from the very road leading to it, which is paved throughout with stone slabs and well-fitted stones, and decorated with a multitude of suburbs and baths; it is said that even to our own times there were four. Furthermore, it also possesses a market and other places in a worthy manner. For those who came down to these things, the village called Manuthe—for so the region was named—was a dwelling-place of demons and a theater of evil spirits. Theophilus, B this bishop of the Alexandrians, wishing to clear the place of demons—a place more convenient for him—and to place there the types of Christ’s evangelists and apostles as safeguards, did not manage to bring his intent to completion. For death coming in between, the inevitable debt for men, snatched him from the life of the present. Then, however, also to Cyril, who succeeded him in the throne, there was no small concern to rid the place of the influence of the demons.
C XVIII. When he had often entreated God, an angel appeared to him in a vision and said, "Commit the relics of Cyrus and the evangelist Mark to this village; for these will completely deliver it from the harm of the demons." As for John, whom he had mentioned, Cyril indeed accepted the suggestion sufficiently; and it was plain to everyone simply that it was necessary for Cyrus to prevail in power and to demonstrate all the rest against the demons. Just as their manner of life was common to them, so too their calling was simple and distinct. From then on, D the martyr relics of these were transferred to Manuthe on the twenty-eighth day of June, brilliantly and with priestly solemnity; and even now the place is a flight of demons, and for men living there and worshipping God, it is a way to attain those saints, by the graces of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom belongs all glory, honor, and adoration, with the unoriginate and life-giving Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
MONTH OF FEBRUARY.
LIFE OF SAINT EPHREM THE SYRIAN. (February 1st.) [Works of St. Ephrem, ed. Assemani, Vol. III, Rome 1732, folio.]
NOTICE. The Life of Ephrem, which is ascribed to Symeon Metaphrastes and begins with the words "Ephrem ille admirabilis" (Ephrem that admirable one), is taken from Nyssenus. Gentianus Hervetus translated it from Greek into Latin; it exists in Latin in Lipomanus and Surius under February 4th and in the Latin editions of Ephrem; in Greek, it is in the Oxford edition, page 433. Allatius, in his book *On the Writings of the Symeons*, recognizes the work as the genius of Metaphrastes; as do Hancælus (Part 1, *On Byzantine Writers*, chap. 24), Cave (to the year of Christ 901), and Fabricius (*Bibliotheca Graeca*, book VI, page 524). Indeed, in manuscript codices, it bears the explicit name of Symeon Metaphrastes, or the Logothete. See Vat. cod. 453, page 336; Vat. cod. 818, page 306; Vat. cod. 1608, page 46; Palat. cod. 308, page 148; Clement. cod. 51, page 1; and Coislin. cod. 507, no. 14.
But the Greek copies do not agree regarding the beginning of his Life: for some have it thus: "Ephrem that admirable one was born in the land of the Syrians, in the city of Edessa, of Christian parents. Having chosen virtue from infancy." Thus Hervetus reads and translates, and Lipomanus, Surius, and Vossius have it from him; and thus begins Vatican codex 818, page 376. However, all the other volumes which I have reviewed from the Vatican library, as well as the English ones from which the Oxford edition was prepared, have nothing about Edessa, but begin absolutely in this manner: "Ephrem that admirable one was born in the land of the Syrians. Having chosen virtue from infancy," which words are expanded slightly differently in Clement. cod. 51, page 1. And this latter version is consistent with Nyssenus, Metaphrastes, and Sozomen, by whom Ephrem is said to have had as his fatherland not Edessa, but Nisibis or another place around it.
Hervetus, and those who published him in print—Lipomanus, Surius, and others—having read at the beginning of the Life edited by Metaphrastes that Ephrem was born in the city of Edessa, either did not understand the following words of Metaphrastes in which the contrary is asserted, or judged that they should be changed. For Metaphrastes, following Nyssenus, has it thus: "And while he dwelt in solitude, and changed from place to place for the sake of the edification and benefit of souls, as he was moved by the divine Spirit, he left at one time his *enengkamenēn* (the land that bore him) by divine command, this other Abraham, and reached the city of the Edessenes." Which they translate as: "Who, while he dwelt in solitude, and changed from place to place for the sake of the edification and benefit of souls, and was thus admonished by the divine Spirit, left at one time his solitude by a more divine command, and with fervent desire came into his fatherland, Edessa."
But Metaphrastes writes, following Nyssenus, that Ephrem did not leave his solitude and come into his fatherland, Edessa; but that, having abandoned his fatherland, he migrated to the city of the Edessenes: *apodēmesas pote tēn enengkamenēn, kai tēn Edessenōn polin katalambanei*, "he left at one time his fatherland, and went into the city of the Edessenes": and thus the fatherland of Ephrem, which he left, was one thing, and the city of Edessa, to which he migrated, was another. Nyssenus confirms our version: "Thence, having been commanded to leave his fatherland, as that divine Abraham was, he sought the city of the Edessenes." See Vossius, Vol. I, page 5, penultimate line. By these words, every doubt which Bollandus and others raise regarding the fatherland of Ephrem is removed.
LIFE AND CONDUCT OF OUR HOLY FATHER EPHREM THE SYRIAN
A I. The admirable Ephrem was from the land of the Syrians, but from infancy he chose virtue, taking care to flee the harmful and worthless company of those his own age. He was constantly devoted rather to the sacred books of the Scriptures; and that study, and that contemplation, were a source of sweetest delight for Ephrem, such that he himself sang in harmony with the Prophet, saying: "How sweet are Thy words to my throat! To my mouth more than honey." (Ps. CXVIII, 103)
B II. From this source, all virtue accompanied him, as did his diligence in labors; for not a thing failed of being accomplished by him with precision: not fasting, not vigils, not continence, not kindness, not gentleness, not detachment, nor the wealth C of good things, among which was humility. And he was not without the gift of teaching, but rather he was always conversing with us, admonishing, exhorting, counseling, and discoursing. For we are stirred not only to behold the word of faith, but also to the acquisition of virtue.
D III. Moreover, the study of Ephrem’s life was filled with prayer to God and a longing for love for one’s neighbor, so much so that he himself, when departing this life, said this (for it is necessary to use his own words): "In all my life I have never reviled the Lord, nor has a foolish word proceeded from my lips. In all my life I have insulted no one, nor have I contended at all with any of the faithful." And the tears of his eyes flowed incessantly, like [page-break omitted] fountains, so that the eternal flow of his tears did not fail, or rather, the tears themselves refreshed him. Along with the tears, there accompanied him sighs, manifesting the fire glowing within, which anyone reading his writings will more clearly discern. For he will find him everywhere concerned with the judgment and per-
In another way, they might have suffered shipwreck, and by casting anchor, they might have been brought to safety most quickly. Both of these men, in some measure, had killed a brother and had grieved their father. Then the Prophet Elijah, being terrible to those who fall into sin, was at that time fully prepared to proceed severely against them, but the heavenly Goodness, which turns all who sin to itself, preferred to bring them to repentance rather than to exact from them the punishment they deserved. When an angel descended, he said to him, "I am Ephraim, the servant of Jacob; but you are Elijah. Entering this cave, you will find what you need." And he found there a letter written, saying these things, "I, your angel, who have been appointed as your guardian, announce to you what God has planned concerning you. For the horn of the kingdom of Israel, when it was broken by human counsel in the time of Jezebel, will again be recalled by the right hand of God. Why it is that such dejection comes upon you, this I wish to tell you, and how God urges you to live still, and not to hasten to death. Together with these, God will also preserve for you the seven thousand who never bowed their knee to Baal; therefore, go out and seek Elisha."
This holy father of ours, Ephraim, became one of the teachers of the holy Church and was placed in the order of the highest glory. To describe his life accurately is not easy, since even the Theologian Gregory himself, having been his instructor, became even more at a loss in the eulogy of his tongue. For what can one say that would be sufficient to the worth of the man's virtue? For on the one hand, there is a mode of life that is solemn and learned, demonstrating the meekness and humility and poverty of his soul; on the other hand, his tongue is praised, which theologized with the Holy Spirit. But such things should not drive us to such despair as to pass over everything in silence, but as we are able, we shall recount the things concerning him.
This great Ephraim, therefore, originates from Nisibis, from parents who were pious and God-loving; but his father was a priest of the temple of the idols there. While he was yet young, he was deemed worthy of a divine vision. For he thought he saw a vine sprouting from his tongue, which overshadowed the whole world, and the fruits, being many and abundant, drew all the birds of the sky; and the more the birds ate, the more the fruit increased. This revealed the abundance of divine words by which the souls of many were fed, and henceforth the miracle always grew greater.
Then, when he had been educated in the divine words, he became a beloved disciple of James, the bishop of Nisibis, by whom he was also instructed in every virtue. There was a time when Sapor, the king of the Persians, was laying siege to Nisibis. Then James the bishop, standing on the wall, prayed against the enemies; and immediately, at the words of his prayer, a swarm of wasps and mosquitoes fell upon the enemies, and the elephants fled, as did the horses and the soldiers, so that the victory was won over them. When James had died, Ephraim withdrew into the desert by himself, and there occupied himself with ascetic labors. Having arrived from there in Edessa, he found there certain heretical writings spread about; then he wrote in reply to them, having composed musical hymns with melodies and rhythms that were easy and pleasant to hear; and he delivered these to the virgins to sing, so as to cast out the heretical weed and to confirm the divine teachings for all.
1257 • LIFE OF ST. EPHREM THE SYRIAN.
[The text] becomes an instrument for vice through her, just as it did before through the serpent, and it attacks the righteous man. When the divine Ephrem was cooking some food, she opened the window, which was located in the courtyard, and peered in shamelessly, and in this very way, like a harlot. Then, looking impudently at the holy man, she said, "Bless me, abba." He, with the demeanor and tone of voice that befitted him, said, "May the Lord bless you." She, however, with a fervent and indecent laugh, said, "But what is missing from your food?" And he said, "Three stones and a little mud, so that this window might be blocked up." She, not yielding at all in her impudence, said, "Because we addressed you first, has this made you arrogant? I want to sleep with you," she said. "Did you not immediately refuse me at the very first?" To these satanic words, he, much more so, did not lack spiritual words, and such as he needed to say and she needed to hear. "For if you wish," he said, "for us both to sleep together, wherever I tell you, there we shall lie down together." When she snatched at the word and asked for the place where this should happen, he said, "I will not meet you in any other place than in the middle of the city." And she said, "But will we not be affected by shame and clear disgrace from the men who see us, if we lie there in the middle?" The woman who wished to capture the impassible and impregnable soul was caught, not being able to know even this, which Solomon says, that the eyes of the Lord Most High are ten thousand times brighter than the sun, looking upon all the ways of men.
3. VII. Immediately, therefore, the noble man, having grasped the word as if it were a handle, retorted: "If, then, you judged the eyes of men to be sufficient to shame a soul and draw it away from an evil deed, shall we not much more revere and fear the eyes of God, which see all things, both those done in secret and those done in the open, and shall we not abstain from an evil thing, since He awakens within us our conscience as a constant accuser, and reserves for us from there torments that have no end?" These things were sufficient, not simply to persuade the harlot to abstain from her base desire for him, but also to make her repent of her former evils, and to instill in her a change of her whole life and mind. Immediately, therefore, she approached, fell to the ground, touched his sacred feet, and asked for forgiveness for her most irrational desire and unchaste inclination; and so that, having brought forth genuine repentance, she might not stray from the path leading to salvation, she asked to take him as her guide and teacher. And he (for how could Ephrem, being who he was, not be ready to serve such requests and to admonish what was necessary?) instructed her excellently not to walk again, as the divine Jeremiah says, after the imaginations of her own evil heart, nor to despise [the need] to repeat her ways, and...
A ...to enter the monastery, as he alone was a lover of beauty and seemed to be by far the best of them. From there, some departed for the holy city, while he took up residence with Arsenius in Ephesus.
VIII. Arsenius showed much care for the young man, observing the natural graces of his character and how he had been betrothed to a divine marriage but had been prevented from being led into it by his parents. Nor did he stop there, but he sent him on to those trained in instruction and rhetoric, so that he might derive from them, too, some acquired goodness. He would get trained there, and, having learned from them, he would depart. Through long acquaintance and great diligence, he attained, in time, all wisdom, going through the discourses of philosophers and the theories of rhetoricians. Then, indeed, he confirmed his study of divine scripture and practiced both the divine practical and contemplative philosophy.
IX. It was during these times that, as the teachers there discussed matters with him, many of the listeners were present among whom was a certain sophist who laid claim to knowledge through a certain handbook. When he saw the talent and eloquence of the young man, he envied him and began to dispute with him. The young man merely laughed at him, and did not enter into a debate, considering it a long and tedious affair if one were to deceive many people through vain glory and deceit.
X. Arsenius, however, as he seemed to be more advanced in age and now also somewhere near the end of his life, advised and charged the young man to make no concern for the world, nor to succumb to marriage; but to have escaped the yearnings of beings, and to choose the life according to God; for he himself was already reaching his end toward the better life. Having said these things, he died. And he was deemed worthy of appropriate funeral rites; but the young man took up residence in the metropolis of Antioch.
XI. And first, he marveled at the magnificence of the city. Then he persisted in his ancestral custom and, staying near the divine temple, offered breaking of bread and prayers to God, hastening to pray to Him for whatever he felt he wished; and he adopted the habits of the virgin, continually contemplating his image and hers. Then he departed for the city of the Tarsians, and stayed there with the leader himself and with the others who were shining in virtue, and he now longed for his soul to be touched by the divine fire.
XII. Returning again to Antioch, he appeared before Bishop Leontius, and examining his state of mind and disposition, saw that it had now changed toward the better. He showed him also the letter which he brought from there, and asked for a teacher with whom he could go to be held by more contemplative asceticism. And he, being holy and all-seeing, seeing the young man to be inspired and God-bearing, immediately introduced to him Dorotheus, a man who in truth had been seen as the image of great virtue, and ordered him to be the guardian of the young man.
A ...in such a manner, and he saw so much that he who approached him was, as it were, before all of the doctrines among them [the pagans], established by word as the herald of the laws; for a divine man was a most pure standard and criterion of such things, not permitting those who were easily led astray to commit lawlessness, but going through the sins of each person at the tribunal of conscience. There are two honors for divine men: one bestowed upon the living, and the other upon those who have finished their lives. For to those who are living, the debt of honor due to them is paid, while for those who have died, the gift of remembrance is not neglected.
B III. But to say that there is some need to incline! He chose to share the praises with all those who excel in virtue, admiring that sight as one who is eager, a soul and body being pure, so highly esteemed by nature for good struggles. But now it is for us, however we may happen upon it, to speak about him who initiated this noble embassy of the Ephesian; for he was from a brilliant lineage, wonderfully educated, and honored with such wealth as no one would choose to oppose. And having obtained honors from the emperor, and having become known to emperors, the divine mind drew him to itself, and away from heavier affairs.
IV. Being chosen, then, for the bishopric, it happened unexpectedly both to him and to all others alike, by the honor of the Ephesians. For he was modest in manner and not wishing to be burdened with great dignities. But since it was not possible to obtain opposition to the matter, he took the yoke without passion and accepted the decree of the votes. Immediately he showed himself to be such a bishop, as if his life had long ago been hurried along according to the regulations of the faith, considering only this: how he might benefit everyone in every way. Bringing the sinful to repentance, and urging those who were diligent even more; applying the medicines of the soul to those who were weak in virtue, and always finding and adjusting something more for those who were better.
V. While he was in these circumstances, the disease of the Arians arose, which was very great and vexing to those who directed the Church. In this situation, therefore, Basil of Ephesus fought against the opponents with his word, and amazed those who saw his life according to God. Many, at any rate, in this matter he caused an addition to piety, not only by exhorting with word, but also by teaching with the example of his own life.
VI. There was also in him a divine indwelling gift, that of the operation of miracles. For as he was resting one day, a certain handsome youth appeared to him, providing by the brightness of his form a divine impression, having brought forty martyrs with him, and having spoken such things to him: "Give back to us the deposit." But he, being perplexed by the meaning of the word, returned to himself from his sleep, and realized that the vision was divine.
VII. Not long after, one of the notables of the city, already an elder in age, came to him and said: "I have something, Master, a deposit which I received from someone who is dead; since it was revealed to you by the will of God, receive it, I ask you, and tell me where it lies." This was unmarked silver, containing forty pounds in weight. Having received these, the blessed Basil distributed them to the poor and sent up thanksgiving to the Lord, who also deemed him worthy of the present gift.
VIII. Another miracle was such: a woman of the city of the Ephesians, possessed by an unclean spirit, came to him, carried by her relatives, and begging to obtain healing from him. As soon as he saw her, having prayed to God for her deliverance and having laid his hand upon her, he immediately freed her from the demon. Having been the cause of such good things for her, he himself obtained the proper praise from everyone.
IX. To such an extent, then, did the virtue of the man progress, and having been deemed worthy of such gifts, he brought to an end the life here that was fitting for him. For as death was already drawing near, many of the faithful ran to him, honoring the man and weeping for their loss. At that end of his life, strengthening those present with the word of doctrine, he departed this life holily and God-beloved, becoming a subject of sacred memory to all who celebrate him.
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you have done it to me. For I have determined, God willing, to dwell with strangers; for I am a stranger and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.
XIII. He had such great regard for kindness, for the feeding of the poor, and for compassion toward the needy, and he so maintained their protection, that since he had nothing of his own to share (for how could he have anything, when he himself was in need of the necessities of life?), he used what little he had for their salvation. And by the wisdom and intelligence of his tongue, he opened to the needy the hands, the hearts, and—I might say—the storehouses of many of the wealthy, providing for them abundantly through these means. For not only was the man’s speech able to soften souls and move them to mercy, but his very appearance and the gentleness and moderation of his character were also effective. Often, even his mere glance was sufficient to bring the souls of others to compunction. And these things are of such a nature, and have thus arrived at the highest peak of all virtue.
XIV. There are many other proofs of his zeal for God and of the labors he undertook for the sake of orthodoxy. But what the discourse now suggests to be said, and to what the sequence of the narrative leads, is the greatest and most delightful of all. It is as follows: Apollinaris, who had spoken and meditated much in the height of his pride, and who had learned both to do and to say everything for the perversion of the right dogmas, had innovated much concerning the true faith, according to the ventriloquists and those who utter voices from the earth, as it seems rightly to the great Isaiah concerning these things, and having spoken from his own will, and having composed these things in two books, he entrusts them to a certain woman who was said to serve his mind and his pleasures. When Ephrem learned this, and considered that the matter was a suitable prey—not a simple one, but one requiring art and wisdom—he assumes the persona of one of those who held his views and approaches the keeper of the books, bringing her, on the one hand, eulogies supposedly from the desert, and on the other, skillfully insinuating himself into the woman’s familiarity, as one who had a connection with her in both character and the teacher’s ways. When the scene and the drama of the deception were going well for him, and the woman was already completely persuaded that he was clearly a disciple of Apollinaris and of the choir of impiety surrounding him, he asks the woman for the teacher’s writings, so that he might, as he said, easily engage with the heretics (thus calling us, who follow the orthodox portion). She, lured by this wise and plausible art, hands the books to him, saying only that their return to her must be swift.
XV. The great Jacob, having thus tripped up the profane Esau by this method, and having been entrusted with the wicked birthright of his malice, attacks the execrable man with a great and brave spirit, and, as the saying goes, he cleverly outwits the fox. For behold the ingenuity of the wise man, and
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...how he might cleverly outwit such perversity and variety of soul. To come to a debate and to offer counter-arguments, and to unleash a tongue against them, which could very easily solve and overturn everything, was not very easy for him, but required much time and labor. Since the occasion did not allow for this at the time (for the woman was pressing hard, demanding the books), he turned to another device, which possessed both great speed and effectiveness. For having opened the books and separated each of the leaves, he smeared the whole thing sufficiently with fish glue, then folded one onto the other, and held and pressed them with his hand for a long time, so that everything became one through their mutual relationship and connection, and neither could be torn from the other, or broken off in any way, and he returned them to the woman. She received them, not examining them at all, nor opening them, content only with the fact that they looked fine on the outside. Thus, she kept the books with her for some time.
Apollinaris. This was a suggestion of the divine Ephrem, and of that soul which was resourceful and most sharp for the sake of Christ; for he knew what he had done to those impious and detestable books. Apollinaris is therefore called, as if to debate with the noble defender of the Word. But he, already weary with old age and the evils of old age, refused to debate himself; but he immediately looked toward his own books and ordered them to be brought to him. "For these," he said, "will serve me as a mouth for the discourse." Indeed, having taken one of the books, he tried to open it, somewhere near the very beginnings of the writing, with great confidence. But when it did not yield at all, nor could any of the leaves be torn apart, but rather held to itself as if it had become one body, he moved to the middle of it. But when he was disappointed in his hopes there too, leaving that book, he took up the other. And when that one also behaved in the same way, and was indivisible from itself, and completely impossible to tear apart, he fell into great perplexity, his soul filled with darkness, from the dizziness of that despondency and shame, and as if overturned by the misfortune, he leaped up from the assembly, being unable to contain himself at all; and finally, he perished miserably, reaping death as the fruit of his own labors and books. Such was the zeal of Ephrem for Christ, and so was every virtue planted in his soul, that one might justly call it a fountain gushing with all kinds of streams, or a meadow blooming with various flowers and roses, or even another heaven on earth, variegated on all sides by the multitude of stars; or if you wish, you hear of a paradise, like that of Eden, flourishing and always bright, and never withering; but always blooming with fruitful and incorruptible plants, except that the serpent alone is entirely untouchable and inaccessible to the evil one who plots against our salvation.
15. Then he is called by the orthodox Apollinaris.
But now my narration regarding Ephrem is drawing toward its end. Therefore, it is necessary to go through some of the things concerning his passing, and those things which might sufficiently manifest the abundance of grace that resided within him. For when he was about to make his final departure, and was handing down his last instructions to those who were present, he would allow nothing to be placed upon him in the way of expensive clothing; but if anyone, he said, were a lover of the poor, acting with such providence for him, he should set aside that garment for burial to be given to those in need. And such were the things he enjoined upon those standing around. But if any of those present had wished to clothe him, out of display or a desire for honor, in expensive attire, he would say that this person was settling accounts for the flesh even after death; and he considered only those who were worthy of it to be deserving of the effort, and not to set aside his own doctrines and intention. And for this reason, he gave a standing excuse for time, [saying] that it was better that whatever money the garment would have cost should instead be left for the adorning of the poor. Ignorance, it seems, was recognized, as he found that this was much more pleasing to Ephrem—being to some a bait, but for himself, he was walking according to his own will and good principles.
A XVII. Therefore, having been thus disposed, in consequence of his disobedience he immediately suffered the punishment, seized by an evil demon; and it was for his thoughts alone, if not for his actions, that he was brought to task. Wherefore, in the midst of all who were watching, he threw himself upon the bed of the holy man, convulsing his hands, rolling his eyes, spewing foam from his mouth, and doing all the other things that such people are wont to behave in their state of violent madness; and he was delivered to this divine providence for his discipline, rather than for the punishment of a patristic command. What then? The one who was sick with malice, yet speaking through the divine Spirit, perceived the passion and laid it bare, having been brought low; and he said, "What have you done to yourself, O man, and why have you cast yourself into such extreme agony?" And he, having acknowledged his wickedness, confessed his lawlessness, uncovered his disobedience, and exposed the weakness of his thoughts. The divine Ephrem, having healed him of his affliction and accepted his confession, and having procured the deliverance from the demon by prayer alone and by the laying on of hands, restored his health to him, having enjoined the commandment upon him. This holy Ephrem, then, at the end of his life, having displayed such a miracle, and thereafter having given exhortations, and counseled, and provided words fit and sufficient for virtue, departed unto the promises beyond, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory, honor, and power, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY HIEROMARTYR IGNATIUS THE THEOPHORUS
A 1. When Trajan had taken up the scepter of the Roman empire, Ignatius, who was both in name and in reality Theophorus (the God-bearer), was bishop of the Church of the Antiochenes. For Euodius had succeeded the great Peter, and Ignatius had succeeded Euodius, becoming a zealot of the latter’s way of life and virtue. But it is right to speak of the Theophorus: that when he was an infant, Christ was still among us on earth, and having looked upon the multitude, and having said of children [that one must] humble himself as this child, who shall not be [received] into the kingdom of heaven, and whoever receives one such child in my name receives me—[Christ] was indicating beforehand that one day Ignatius would excel, showing the stature and clearly manifesting that apostolic teaching of his.
B 2. This divine Ignatius, therefore, having become a disciple of John the Evangelist together with Polycarp, the leader of the church in Smyrna, manifested in himself every form of virtue, and especially the love that befits a priest; for he was fervent therein, and he labored [as] a priest in common for all the apostles. Having taken up the Church and established the beginning and the zenith of piety, and having demonstrated all apostolic zeal and teaching, and having already become a perfect deacon of the mysteries of Christ, he later becomes a martyr, delivered to the beasts for His sake, even as the discourse taking up [the subject] from a little bit earlier shall declare.
C 3. For Trajan the Roman emperor, after his victory against the Scythians and not satisfied with just that [much] prosperity, but wishing to extend this further and to bring many other Roman [territories] under his rule, and [to subject] other nations—it seemed best and advantageous to him to wage war against the Christians.
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to benefit the commonwealth: and thus also to worship his own gods, and to induce them to bring aid against enemies. He therefore brings a grave and difficult persecution against the pious faith, and proposes edicts throughout the whole earth that obeyed his rule, so that all might either be partakers with him in impiety, or, if they still remained Christians, be subjected to various punishments and bitter deaths. It happened that Trajan was then staying at Antioch, as one who was about to undertake an expedition against the Persians and was preparing for war there. Here, therefore, it is signified to him concerning the divine Ignatius, that he held the Christian religion and persuaded men to honor Christ as God, and this even though he had been condemned to the cross and death by Pilate, as his acts teach; and he lays down a law concerning the preservation of virginity, and concerning the despising of riches and delights, and other things that are pleasant in life; and, what is most grave of all, that it is not right to think that there are gods, and that he pays no regard to the emperors.
IV. After Trajan heard these things, having immediately summoned the holy man, while the senate was also present with him: Are you, he said, the one who is called Theophorus, who mocks our commands, and overturns all Antioch, and leads all after Christ, who is preached by you, and do not deem the gods worthy even of the name? But the divine Ignatius said, I am he. He then asked, And what does that "Theophorus" mean? To which the martyr replied: He who carries Christ in his soul. The emperor then said: Do you, therefore, carry Christ within yourself? Certainly, he said. For it is written: "I will dwell in them and walk among them." But what of us? Do we not seem to you to remember the gods assiduously, and to always carry them in our soul, and to induce them to bring aid against enemies, and to do all things through them that are according to our mind? But the divine Ignatius, answering, said: Woe is me, that you call the idols of the nations gods, O king. For there is one true God, who is the creator of heaven and earth and sea, and of all things that are in them. There is one Christ Jesus, the only-begotten Son of God, of whose kingdom there shall be no end. If you, O king, were to acknowledge Him, this purple itself, and the diadem, and the royal throne would be firmer and more stable.
V. The emperor said, Let us dismiss these many things. But you, if you wish, O Ignatius, to do a thing most pleasing to my power, and henceforth to be reckoned in the number of my friends, having changed this mind, sacrifice with us to the gods; and immediately (let them all know it) I will appoint you high priest of the great Jupiter, and I will name you father of the senate. To these things the Theophorus replied: To show gratitude, O king, is indeed beautiful for all, but especially for kings, inasmuch as they themselves are able to return greater favors in turn; but those [favors] which...
The necessities of life, and going about, he visited the prisons, helping those detained there, feeding the powerless, and providing food for the needy. And when Leo, the emperor of the Arians, was troubling the dogmas of the Nicenians, this man too, being bound in chains along with other bishops, was exiled to Thrace; but later he was restored to his own flocks. Then, when that [emperor] had died and Gratian, the pious one, had received the kingdom, Ambrose sailed into the harbor of peace, and [ministered] beautifully to those being shepherded, and [instructed] this [emperor] as well with his word. But when Gratian had passed away and Valentinian the younger was left as emperor, still a child in age, his mother Justina, being an Arian, attempted a more daring intrusion, wishing one church to be ceded to the Arians. But the noble Ambrose, in no way yielding to this desire, stirred up the ecclesiastical multitude toward courage, offering himself as a shield. "It is impossible," he said, "to hand over a temple of God to the enemies of God; for I would sooner surrender my soul than do this." And so, prevailing in this decision and undauntedly guarding the divine rule of religion, he afterwards catechized and baptized Theodosius the Great among emperors in the faith of Christ, and instructed him in the Word; so that he [Theodosius] was deemed worthy to speak of this Ambrose in the finest terms of praise. From there, therefore, the same Ambrose later expelled Theodosius from the Church for the slaughter of the Thessalonians, and having called him to repentance and received his fitting confession, he restored him to the fellowship of the faithful. Having achieved such and so many things in his life, and having adorned the Church with many wonderful writings, he ended his life through a final illness, and he perceived the hour of death pressing upon him; it was Great Friday. And he had his eyes closed, and for a long time he kept his hands stretched out, and while occupied in prayer, he was found to have expired. It appeared to some of the holy men that they saw the Lord himself standing by Ambrose, looking upon him with a joyful countenance. His memory is celebrated on the seventh of December.
of December, if we could not relate the whole of it in time, along with the spectator and the ambassadors. And now, that we have the cause of the martyrdom of Saint Peter, the urgency is upon us to recount it all for ourselves. By our salvation, of which the saint made himself a partaker, to be filled with joy is not impossible for us, since we desire the salvation of our own souls. But the Emperor Marcian, in no way distrusting those whom he had sent to reconnoiter, believed the accusers of Saint Peter precisely, and in these names commanded him to be brought before him.
[VII.] After the Emperor had spoken, and asked there to whom he had borne witness, the grandees said that he held this Saint Euthymius to be of little account, and yet altogether most excellent. He immediately orders him to be cast into prison, in which, bound, he waited to see what the Emperor would decide to do to him. But a certain one of the grandees, Ardaburius by name, being a scout of the occasion, and by this means having achieved his own wickedness, went up suddenly to the saint in the prison, wishing to persuade him by deceit that, if he would not share in this heresy, he would not be acceptable to the Emperor. But the saint showed himself strong and brave with these words, saying: "Shall I ever share in this heresy? God forbid. If I should have to endure one hundred deaths instead of one, I would rather suffer them than be separated from the orthodox faith."
[VIII.] After this, on the next day, having been brought before the Emperor, he stood there where the council of the lords was. The Emperor said to him, "Why did you do this? Tell me." And he said, "What is this you are saying, O Emperor?" The Emperor said, "To the holy Euthymius you went, and there you bore witness to him." The saint said, "Yes, O Emperor, I went to him, and there I bore witness to him, and I visit there always." The Emperor said to him, "Was this, then, proper for you to do? Was this a thing due to be done?" The saint said, "It was due to do this, O Emperor, and it was proper, for the sake of the good. For such is the reward of the pious and those beloved by God: to honor them and to bear witness to them in the cities and villages of the saints. But if anyone would wish to convict this man, that he is worthy to be testified against, let him show us, O holy Emperor, some charge against him worthy of accusation, and then we shall be persuaded." The Emperor said: "This alone is enough for us, that you went to Euthymius; for he disturbed the law of the Church." The saint said, "He did not disturb it, O Emperor; but the opposing heresy is what disturbs ecclesiastical matters."
1277 LIFE OF ST. IGNATIUS THE DEIFORM.
The Deiform Ignatius, having first prayed for the Church and commended his flock to God with tears, followed the soldiers as a prisoner. Then, not delaying, not weeping, and not showing any sign of suffering anything grievous, but having arrived at Seleucia with cheerful feet, he was put onto a ship by the soldiers and with them arrived at Smyrna. Here he greeted Polycarp, the divine apostle, whom we have mentioned above as having been a fellow-student of Ignatius and having presided over the Church in Smyrna. He greeted him, therefore, glorying and magnificently delighting in his bonds. For what could be a greater ornament to him than to be seen suffering for the sake of the Master who had so loved him? Then, having rendered the appropriate greetings to the rest of the bishops, presbyters, and deacons, since many were running together from the Churches of Asia and the cities to see that sight and to enjoy the beautiful stream that flowed from his tongue, he himself, exhorting them as was fitting, asked everyone to pray for him, so that through the beasts he might more quickly be released to the one he desired and appear before His divine countenance. Seeing them, however, in a very distressed state and, as it were, hanging upon his soul, and considering his separation and death an unbearable loss, and fearing for the believers in Rome, lest they too, being similarly affected, might not endure to see him delivered to the beasts, but might cast opposing hands against those entrusted with the delivery and close the door of martyrdom that had been opened to him, he decided to write to them, so that they too might pray for him, that the course of his struggle might not be hindered, but that through the beasts, as has been said, he might more quickly be released to the beloved Master. It is also worth mentioning that letter itself, which reads as follows word for word:
IX. "Ignatius, who is also called Deiform, to the Church of the holy God which is at Antioch, which has obtained mercy in the majesty of the Father Most High and of Jesus Christ His only Son, the Church beloved and enlightened in the will of Him who willed all things which are according to the love of Jesus Christ our God, which also presides in the place of the region of the Romans: which I also greet in the name of Jesus Christ, united in flesh and spirit to every commandment of His, filled with the grace of God to rejoice in Christ Jesus our God. Since, having prayed to God, I have obtained the sight of your faces worthy of being seen, bound in Christ Jesus, I hope to greet you, if it be the will of God that I be deemed worthy to be so until the end. For my prayer is well-ordered, if I obtain the grace to receive my lot without hindrance. For I fear your love, lest it do me an injury. For it is easy for you to do what you wish."
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what you wish; but it is difficult for me to attain to God, if you spare me. For I do not want you to please men, but to please God, just as you do please Him. For I shall never have another opportunity to attain to God, nor will you. If you remain silent on my behalf, I shall become God’s; but if you love my flesh, I shall again be a runner. But grant me nothing more than to be poured out as a sacrifice to God, while the altar is still prepared, so that you, forming a chorus in love, may sing to the Father in Christ Jesus, that God has deigned to bring the bishop of Syria, having summoned him from the East to be found in the West. It is beautiful to set from the world to God, so that I may rise in Him. You have never envied anyone; you have taught others.
X. But I want those things which you enjoin in your teaching to be firm and stable. Only ask for me that strength be given to me from God, so that I may not only be called a Christian, but also be found to be one, and be able to be called so. And then I shall appear to be faithful, when I do not appear to the world. For nothing that appears is eternal. For the things which are seen are for a time, but the things which are not seen are eternal. I write to the Churches and command all, that I die willingly for God, if you do not prevent it. I beseech you, do not be an unseasonable kindness to me: allow me to be food for the beasts, through which it is possible to attain to God. I am God’s wheat, and I am ground by the teeth of the beasts, so that I may be found pure bread of Christ. Rather, coax the beasts, so that they may become my tomb and leave nothing of my body, so that I may not, when I have fallen asleep, be a burden. Then I shall be a true disciple of Christ, when the world will not even see my body. Supplicate Christ for me, that through these instruments I may be found a pure sacrifice. I do not command you as Peter and Paul did. They were Apostles, I am a condemned man; they were free, but I am even until this day a slave. But if I wish, I am a freedman of Jesus Christ, and I shall rise in Him free.
XI. Now I am learning, being in bonds, to desire nothing worldly or vain, fighting with beasts from Syria even to Rome itself, by land and sea, by night and day, bound to ten leopards, which is a military cohort, who even when they are treated with kindness become worse. But in their injuries I am more of a disciple. Would that I might enjoy the beasts prepared for me, and I pray that they may be found ready for me; which I will even coax to devour me quickly, not as they have feared to touch some. And if they are unwilling, I will force them. Forgive me; I know what is for my benefit. Now I begin to be a disciple, that I may attain to Jesus Christ. Let fire and cross, the onslaughts of beasts, dissections, divisions, amputation of limbs, the crushing of my whole body, and the torments of the devil come upon me, provided only that I attain to Jesus Christ. Nothing of the delights of the world will profit me, nor the kingdoms of this age. It is better for me to die in Christ Jesus than to reign to the ends of the earth. For what does it profit a man if he gain the whole world...
of the earth. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and suffers the loss of his soul? I seek Him who died for us.
XII. Forgive me, brothers, do not hinder me from living, nor desire that I should die. Suffer me to receive the pure light; for when I have arrived there, I shall be a man of God. Permit me to be an imitator of the passion of Christ. If any one has Him within himself, let him understand what I desire and sympathize with me, knowing the things that constrain me. The prince of this world wishes to carry me off and to corrupt my sentiment toward God. Let no one of you who are present, therefore, give him aid; rather be on my side, that is, on the side of God. Do not speak of Jesus Christ, yet desire the world. Let not envy dwell within you; nor, even if I were present and were to beseech you, be persuaded by me; but believe rather these things which I now write to you. For from the things which I write to you, I [beseech you] to die. My love has been crucified, and there is not in me a fire of love for worldly matter, but rather living water speaking in me, saying within me, "Come to the Father." I have no delight in the food of corruption nor in the pleasures of this life. I desire the bread of God, the heavenly bread, the bread of life, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ the Son of God, who was born in the latter times of the seed of David and Abraham; and for drink I desire His blood, which is incorruptible love and eternal life. I no longer wish to live according to human ways, and this shall be, if you desire it. Desire it, therefore, that you also may be desired. Through these few lines I request you; believe me. Jesus Christ will manifest these things to you, the mouth that cannot lie, by which the Father has spoken the truth. Pray for me, that I may attain. I have not written to you according to the flesh, but according to the mind of God. B
XIII. If I suffer, remember in your prayers the Church in Syria, which instead of me has God for its shepherd. Jesus Christ alone shall visit it, and your love. My spirit salutes you, and the love of the Churches which received me in the name of Jesus Christ, not as one passing through. And indeed, those also that did not belong to my path according to the flesh, they brought me on from city to city. I write these things to you from Smyrna, by the hand of the Ephesians who are worthy to be deemed happy. There is also with me, along with many others, Crocus, a name much desired by me, who came with me from Syria to the glory of God. I have written these things to you on the ninth day before the Kalends of September. Farewell to the end, beloved, in the patience of Jesus Christ. Amen. C
XIV. But these were the things of the epistle. He himself, shortly after, was led away from Smyrna by the soldiers; and having arrived at Troas and Neapolis, he passed on foot through Philippi and Macedonia, visiting the churches that were along the way and teaching in them, exhorting, conversing with the simpler of the brethren, confirming [them], and causing everyone to be watchful and sober. And when he had passed through Epirus and sailed across the Adriatic and the Tyrrhenian seas, he D arrived at Puteoli. Having been received in hospitality at once
with the soldiers among the faithful who were there, and when he had also bidden them farewell in the Lord, he reaches Rome and is presented before the prefect of the city. A When he had seen Theophorus and received the imperial letters, and the appointed day had arrived—the day of a festival famous among the Romans—he led him into the middle of the theater, just as that wicked decree of the emperor commanded.
XV. B Therefore, with the entire city seated in the theater, with burning spirit and eyes already avid for the spectacle, inasmuch as rumor had everywhere heralded that the bishop of Syria was to fight with wild beasts that day, he turned to the people with a noble and unyielding spirit, glorying as one who took pleasure in that ignominy which was perceived to be endured for the sake of Christ, and he said: "Men of Rome, and spectators of this present contest, these things are not happening to me because I am paying the penalty for some crime or wicked action, but so that I may attain to God, for whom I yearn and whom I desire insatiably. C For I am His wheat and I am ground by the teeth of the beasts, that I may be found His pure bread." He said these things, and the lions, once released, immediately tore him asunder and devoured him, sparing only the harder of his bones, so that his prayer was fulfilled in deed, that the beasts might become his sepulcher and nothing of his body should remain: inasmuch as God held the prayers and love of His servant in higher regard, even to the end, than to bring it about that he should not be touched by the lions, so that He might bestow glory upon His own name.
XVI. D When these things had happened and reached their end, those among the faithful at Rome to whom the divine Ignatius had written while he was still alive, after the theater had been dismissed, gathered together and, having taken up the bones with desiring hands and wrapped them reverently, they deposited them in a notable place outside the City, on the twentieth day of the month of December. These were later transported to Antioch, the fatherland of the martyr; and the cities in between reaped a double blessing, both before, when the martyr was being led in chains from Antioch to Rome, and now, when he was being brought back from there with his glorious trophies, as bees swarming around a honeycomb.
XVII. It is said, indeed, that after his martyr’s consummation, while the faithful who were at Rome were mourning his loss and receiving no consolation at all for their grief, and were occupied with burial hymns and night vigils, he himself appeared to them in a dream, and as if embracing and folding them in his arms—those, that is, who had made themselves worthy of his company beforehand—he made their mourning steady and more gentle, and extinguished the wildness of their sorrow. Others, again, said they saw him streaming with sweat, as one who had just recovered from the labors of his struggle, and praying for the salvation of the city and of all the faithful.
1285 LIFE OF ST. IGNATIUS THE GOD-BEARER. XVIII. Such, then, was the end of the God-bearer, such were his struggles, and such were his fervent loves for Christ. Irenaeus, the Bishop of Lyons, a man worthy of note, also bears witness, keeping the memory of the God-bearer in great remembrance. [Added: For indeed Polycarp], who presided over the Church in Smyrna, and who used to frequent the company of John the evangelist and theologian, and who greeted him when he was being led as a prisoner from Antioch to Rome, as we have already learned, writes something like this in his own letters: "I exhort you, brothers, to be obedient and to practice all patience, which you saw with your own eyes not only in the blessed Ignatius, Rufus, and Zosimus, but also in many others from among you, and in Paul himself and the others who believed with him, because all these did not run in vain, nor did they labor in vain, but in faith and righteousness which is in Christ Jesus. Therefore, they are even now in the place owed to them by the Lord, with whom they also suffered; for they did not love the present age, but Christ, who died for us and rose again." Thus, then, was the divine Ignatius situated in their holy souls; and having desired to make the bellies of wild beasts his tomb, he dwells all the more in the souls of God-loving men.
1286 XVIII. Such indeed was the exit of the God-bearer: these are the struggles: these are his conspicuous loves for Christ. And Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, a man of great account, bears witness, who frequently mentions the God-bearer. Furthermore, Polycarp, who presided over the Smyrnean Church, who used to frequent the company of John the evangelist and theologian; and when he was being led as a captive to Rome from Antioch, he greeted him, as we have said, writing these things somewhere in his epistles: "I exhort you, brothers, to obey, and to exercise all tolerance, which you saw with your eyes, not only in the blessed Ignatius, Rufus, and Zosimus, but also in many others from among you, and in Paul himself, and in those who believed with him: because they all did not run in vain, nor did they labor in vain, but in faith and justice, which is in Christ Jesus. Wherefore they are also in the place which is owed to them by the Lord, with whom they suffered. For they did not love the present age, but Christ, who died for us and rose again." Thus, therefore, was the divine Ignatius situated in their holy souls: and although he had desired to make the bellies of beasts his sepulcher, he dwells rather in the souls of pious men.
XIX. But the Emperor Trajan, having later learned about this God-bearer Ignatius, how bravely he had finished the martyr’s contest and how, according to his own sentence, he had become food for wild beasts, and having heard many things also about the Christians in the provinces—that they did nothing against the laws, and performed no impious act, but rose at dawn and worshipped Christ as the Son of God, and practiced all temperance in the consumption of both food and drink, and touched nothing of those things which the law forbids—having heard these things, he is said to have been moved to repentance for what had already occurred and to have issued such a decree that the race of Christians should indeed be sought out and made known everywhere, but that when found they should not be put to death, nor, on the other hand, should they be entrusted with magistracies or the administration of public affairs. Thus, not only the life of Ignatius, but now also his death became the cause of many good things, a boast of the faith in Christ, an increase of piety, an exhortation to those who labor according to God, and a contempt for life before its time, and a temperance from harmful things, and a care for the purity of life, by the grace and philanthropy of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father and the holy and life-giving Spirit be glory, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
XIX. But the Emperor Trajan, when he had later learned about this God-bearer Ignatius, and how bravely he had performed this contest of martyrdom, and that, as he himself had passed sentence, he had been devoured by beasts, and had also heard many things about the Christians who were in the region, that they did nothing contrary to the laws, nor did they perform any impious act; but that they rose at dawn, and worshipped Christ as the Son of God, and exercised all abstinence in taking food and drink, and touched nothing of those things which the law forbids; when he, I say, had heard these things, he was led to repentance for those things which had been done, and it is said that he proposed such a decree, that the race of Christians should be sought out and be known to all; but that when found they should not be killed; but neither should they hold magistracies, nor undertake any administration of the republic. Thus, not only the life of Ignatius, but now also his death was the procurer of many good things, a glory of the faith which is in Christ, an increase of piety, an exhortation to those who are in the labors of God, and a contempt for that life which is for a time, and a continentia from those things which are harmful, and a study of the purity of life: by the grace and benignity of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father and the holy and vivifying Spirit be glory now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
ON SAINT CORNELIUS THE CENTURION
BISHOP OF CAESAREA AND SCEPSIS
(Century 1, February 2nd. — Acta Sanctorum Bolland. February vol. I, p. 279)§ I. The homeland of St. Cornelius. 1. The city of Caesarea in Palestine, formerly Stratonis Turris (Strato's Tower), according to Pliny (book V, ch. 13), was built up by Herod A "in honor of the prince Octavian," as Ammianus Marcellinus has it (book XIV), from which it also derived its name: later it was called "Colonia Flavia, established by command of the Emperor Vespasian," says Pliny. It retained the name of Caesarea for its descendants, however: in Ptolemy (Table 4 Astae), it is called Καισάρεια Στράτωνος, Caesarea Stratonis. It is ennobled by the trophies of many martyrs, the erudition of its bishops, and especially by the fact that the entry of the Gentiles into the Church was first opened there, with Cornelius the centurion being initiated by baptism through the prince of the apostles.
2. As St. Luke writes in Acts 10, he was a "centurion of the cohort that is called the Italian [cohort]." From these words, Baronius concludes in his *Annals* (vol. I, year of Christ 41, n. 2) that he was Roman by birth, and his soldiers Italians; and indeed of the sixth legion, referred to as the Iron or Ferrata (Ironclad) legion: for Dio Cassius writes in book LV that the στρατόπεδον τὸ Σιδηροῦν, the Iron legion, was stationed in Judea from the times of Augustus. Tacitus narrates more of its deeds in Syria and Armenia B (but after the conversion of Cornelius). It still exists. But book LV of that author says: "There were two sixth [legions], one in lower Britain, the Victrix; the other in Judea, notable by the name Ferrata. And with some words inserted between, 'Nero called the first one the Italian, wintering in lower Mysia... Trajan the second, the Egyptian, the third, the Germanic; to which M. Antoninus gave his own name: likewise the second in Norica, the third in Rhaetia, which they also call the Italicae.'" Does it not seem strange to Dio that a legion called the Italian shone among the rest? Or had the one sent to Judea by Augustus not yet been formed? And if it was the Italica, which was the legion keeping watch over Judea, what need was there to call one of its cohorts the Italian cohort? But Bivarius confuses the cohort with the legion; he writes: "In Judea, the same cohort was the only Roman one.... For only the sixth cohort, which is the Italica, and the Ferrata, were serving in Palestine, as Dio testifies." We have already brought forward the words of Dio. Does Bivarius think that because of such an honorable name, this cohort had laid bloody hands on Christ, and would he want this glory claimed for its own Gentiles? If at Matt. XXVII it is said "the whole cohort" was gathered, then all of Cornelius's soldiers were also summoned to Caesarea, if there were only one cohort in Judea. C However, I will not deny that the sixth legion saw service in Hispania, but that it was distinct from this Ferrata.
3. Bivarius offers another argument, taken from St. Jerome. In Epistle 28 to Lucinius Baeticus, among other things, he writes: "Truly now the Lord's word is fulfilled in you: 'Many shall come from the East and the West, and shall sit in the bosom of Abraham.' Cornelius, the centurion of the Italian cohort, was even then prefiguring your faith, Lucy. For when the Apostle Paul writes that he intended to set out for Hispania, I hope that, passing by, I may see you and be sent by you thither." He approves by these fruits, what sort of man he was—a Spaniard—and Jerome, referring to the Apostle's desire to visit Hispania, makes mention of Cornelius, as if the firstfruits of the Spanish race were consecrated to the Gentiles! But since it can be answered that in Cornelius, the door was opened to the Gentiles, even to the Spaniards, that they might be of the faith, and thus that he refers to his conversion while writing to a Spaniard; we (as with Ruderico Caro, D
as noted in the place already cited by Dexter, let us speak) do not wish to bring prejudice to the truth. And concerning the fatherland of St. Cornelius, we state only this: "It is not clear." For the arguments which Joannes Tamaius de Salazar collected in his *Martyrologium Hispanum* are almost the same as those of Bivarius; if St. Luke had called the cohort "Italian," no doubt would have remained that he was from the Italian city in Spain; but he calls it "Italic." The same Tamaius adds that there is in Spain a noble house of del Castillo, which boasts of being descended from this holy centurion.
B § II. The Episcopate of St. Cornelius.
4. Whatever, therefore, his birthplace, he was certainly a citizen of heaven, and from a centurion of the age became a soldier of Christ—nay, indeed, the first-rank centurion of a new legion under Him. For the Martyrologies testify that he was ordained bishop of Caesarea. Thus Usuardus on this day says: "At Caesarea, the most blessed Cornelius the Centurion, whom Blessed Peter baptized. He died at the aforementioned city, having been raised to episcopal dignity." The common Beda has the same, as do Ado, most manuscripts, and more recent writers with some changes of words. The Roman Martyrology indicates that he was consecrated bishop by St. Peter himself. Notkerus concludes his long eulogy thus: "Who Cornelius, having left the military service, died at the aforementioned city, raised to the dignity of bishop." Petrus de Natalibus, in book iii, chapter 73, after narrating his conversion, adds: "Then Cornelius, renouncing military service, is made a disciple of the apostles, and is ordained by them bishop of Caesarea. Having faithfully completed the work of preaching in the same city, he was conspicuous for holiness and migrated to Christ; and having been buried there, he rested on the fourth day before the Nones of February."
5. From these things, it can be refuted what is narrated in book x of the *Recognitions* of Clement, where, when Simon Magus was accusing St. Peter in his absence at Antioch and disturbing the Church, "Cornelius the centurion, sent by Caesar to the governor of Caesarea for public business, arrived; and having been informed of what was happening, he saw to it that a rumor was spread: that Caesar in the city of Rome and throughout the provinces had ordered magicians to be sought out and put to death, and that he had come to capture that magus, and had been sent for this purpose by Caesar." This ruse turned out successfully, and Simon, terrified by this fame, fled from there. Whether, however, Cornelius immediately upon being baptized renounced his military service, or whether he waited for a suitable opportunity for that matter, is obscure. In the *Apostolic Constitutions* of the same Clement, book vii, chapter 47, it is said: "Zacchaeus, who had previously been a publican, was the first bishop of Caesarea in Palestine; Cornelius succeeded him, and after him again the third bishop, Theophilus." But, as we have said elsewhere, what is reported in that chapter does not seem to rest sufficiently on truth to be believed as written by Clement, unless we confess it to have been interpolated by someone. And indeed, St. Theophilus, bishop of Caesarea, flourished under the emperor Severus, as we relate on March 5th from the book of St. Jerome, *De illustribus Ecclesiae scriptoribus*. So that he did not succeed Cornelius, except after a long interval, nor could there be mention of him by St. Clement, who died in the year of Trajan.
6. The Acts of St. Cornelius (which Baronius confesses that Symeon Metaphrastes described from older documents; we provide them here—edited by Aloysius Lipomanus, then by Surius—having been collated with a Greek manuscript of the library of the most Christian King) do not, I say, mention the episcopate of Caesarea. They only report that he remained for some time as a companion of St. Peter, was sent by him to the city of Scepsus, and, having suffered many hardships and being famous for many miracles, stood forth as the author of the faith for the prince Demetrios and almost the entire people. Indeed, in that oration in which the same Metaphrastes—or whoever else is the author in Lipomanus and Surius on the 29th of June—embraces the struggles, labors, and travels of St. Peter, it is said that Peter, after being led out of the prison into which Herod had cast him by an angel, C had "come to Caesarea Stratonis," where he had previously baptized Cornelius, "and from those who followed him, the presbyters, he had ordained a bishop there." Then, some years later, after visiting many cities, he came to "Ilium, a city of the Hellespont, and in that place had appointed Cornelius the centurion as bishop."
7. Perhaps from there he was recalled to Caesarea, when Zacchaeus, or whoever else was the bishop of that city, was dying. Baronius writes in his *Notes on the Martyrology*: "The see of Caesarea deserved to be exalted with a singular privilege, for the reason that from the conversion of Cornelius (God inspiring it) the door of the faith was opened there for the first time to the Gentiles, so that it might become the metropolis of Palestine, and not Jerusalem." Caesarea was indeed once the metropolis of Palestine, and Jerusalem was subject to it, as is clear from canon 7 of the Nicene Council, which holds as follows: "Since custom and ancient tradition have prevailed so that the bishop of Aelia is honored, let him have the succession of honor, with the dignity proper to the metropolis being saved." Theodorus Balsamon, in his scholia on this and the preceding canon, correctly warns that the city called Aelia is Jerusalem, because it had been rebuilt by Aelius Hadrianus. But he errs foully when he writes that it is decreed in that canon that the rights of the metropolis of Caesarea are to be preserved, even if Aelia were detached from it and its patriarch honored, on account of the life-giving passion of Christ. St. Jerome, who was closer to those times, understood the Nicene canon better. In his letter 61 to Pammachius against the errors of John of Jerusalem, chapter 15, he writes as follows: "You who seek ecclesiastical rules, and use the canons of the Nicene Council, and endeavor to usurp alien clergy and those dwelling with their own bishops, answer me: What does Palestine pertain to the bishop of Alexandria? If I am not mistaken, it is decreed there that the metropolis of Palestine is Caesarea." Nay, even Pope St. Leo I, in epistle 62 to Maximus, bishop of Antioch, given in the year of Christ 453, in the consulate of Opilio, reproves Juvenal, bishop of Jerusalem, "aspiring to obtain the primacy of Palestine, and confirming his insolent daring through counterfeit writings." D Afterward, however, by the consent...
1291 MONTH OF FEBRUARY. 1292
With the Roman pontiff, the patriarchal title, and authority, the Jerusalem see was adorned. But it was not for the memory of Cornelius alone that it was converted there; previously, the metropolis of Palestine was Caesarea. It was because it was the greatest city of Judea, as Josephus writes in *The Jewish War*, Book III, chapter 14, at the end (though in the Basel Greek edition of 1544, at the beginning of chapter 283): although in the age of Ammianus Marcellinus there were also other excellent cities, such as Eleutheropolis, Neapolis, Ascalon, and Gaza.
10. They also celebrate his sepulcher and the miracles performed at it. His house existed in Caesarea in the age of St. Jerome, but it was converted into a temple; his sepulcher, however, is not mentioned.
Men after reporting that St. Peter, having instructed him in catechesis, imparted baptism to him, add: "He entrusts to him the prefecture of the city of Scepsis," which agrees with the Acts described by Metaphrastes. Raderus translates: "He entrusted to him (Caesarea) the care and prefecture of the city (in matters of faith): which Cornelius, having found it entirely addicted to idols, converted entirely through the grace of Christ, and thus he washed in the sacred font the city’s own praetor, Demetrius, with his whole house, who believed in Christ. Cornelius finally, having completed his life in the apostolic manner, departed to the Lord." But the Acts assert that Scepsis was entrusted to him. It was an episcopal city in the Hellespont, like Troas and Ilium.
11. That sepulcher was unknown for a long time, as is handed down in the Acts; until St. Silvanus, bishop of Troas, found it in the times of Theodosius the Younger. The Latins, as we have said, venerate him on February 11, the Greeks on September 13; perhaps one celebration is of his glorious death, the other of the finding and translation.
12. Nor should it be omitted that he is called a martyr in the Menaia, whether he was truly killed for the faith of Christ, or only subjected to the questioning which is mentioned in the Acts. Thus the Menaia have in the title of the day of September 13: "And of the holy martyr Cornelius the centurion." And in a certain canticle: "Anointed with the ointment of the priesthood, you ran about, making the proclamation of salvation among the nations, rooting out the thorns of error, wise in divine things, and inserting into minds a doctrine subject to no error. Therefore we bless you as a pontiff inspired by God, and an invincible martyr, Cornelius." This is relevant to what is held in the miracles of St. Anastasius the Persian on January 22, regarding a miracle performed at Caesarea: "A certain receiver of the temple of the holy and glorious martyr Cornelius, by the name of John." Although in the Acts, chapter 3, number 12, he is also called a martyr.
8. The Greeks solemnly venerate Cornelius on September 13, as is evident from the Menaion and the Menaia, where he writes in epistle 27, or in the *Life of Paula*, which we gave on January 26, chapter 2, number 8, where he enumerates the maritime places of Palestine which Paula visited while heading to Jerusalem: "And conversely (she marveled at) Straton’s Tower, named Caesarea by Herod, king of Judea, in honor of Caesar Augustus, in which she saw the house of Cornelius, the church of Christ." Why not also the sepulcher? And yet this, as the Menaia have it, "like a fountain pours forth healings abundantly to the faithful, drives away evil spirits, and illuminates the eyes of all who praise him in faith." Likewise: "Always with gushing springs of healings, cleansing human sicknesses." Then: "You were exalted by virtues, in the manner of a lofty cedar, and you brought forth for us sweet-smelling fruits, namely the bestowal of doctrine, the grace of miracles, the efficacy of healings, O blessed hierarch Cornelius." And then: "Dead in nature, but in truth inhabiting a blessed sepulcher, you make it a fountain of many miracles, O wise Cornelius, healing the sick, driving away malignant spirits in the Holy Spirit."
III. The labors, miracles, and finding of St. Cornelius.
They hand down that he traversed various places, and indeed with the Apostle St. Peter: "You were deemed worthy of the greatest celebrity of name, Cornelius, and with the prince of the apostles and many others, you ran about, everywhere performing the divine proclamation, through which we also were led to the light and rescued from the darkness of ignorance." In another ode: "Having received the grace of the Spirit, like a certain splendid sun, you illuminated the earth, Cornelius, having dispelled the fog of idol-mania." Another: "Like a huge river you went forth, irrigating the whole face of the earth with heavenly doctrine, suffocating the weeds of the manifold worship of gods, Cornelius." Another: "Dead to the world, you announced the resurrection of Him who died for us to all who were dead through the passions of the soul, most blessed Cornelius." Another: "Illuminated by the Spirit, you were made a light-bearing star, illuminating the ends of the earth with most splendid brightness, O hieromyst Cornelius." Many others of this kind proclaim him; they call him the herald of Christ, and the equal of the holy disciples, who received the Holy Spirit just as they did. Indeed, they also celebrate other things which are said in the Acts to have been done by him at Scepsis. These are of this kind: "Entirely devoted to God Almighty, you did not exhibit worship to deaf idols, when bloodthirsty men were compelling you, O Cornelius, you invoked the Most High invisible God fervently, and you overturned the temple of abominable idols from the foundation, to the vehement admiration of men. Keeping the commandments of the Almighty, you yourself were also kept: you endured chains, and you released foolish men from the chains of superstitions, O theosoph."
THE MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY AND GLORIOUS MARTYR CORNELIUS THE CENTURION
CAPITULUM I. The conversion and baptism of St. Cornelius.
A After the saving advent of the Word upon the earth, the voluntary cross and the death taken up by Him for our sake, and the return into the heavens whence He had come down to rebuild, according to the prophets, the tabernacle of David which had fallen, Cornelius, a centurion of the Italian cohort, was one of those who sought Him and did things pleasing to Him, and he was abundant in good works, even if this pious man had not yet been deemed worthy of the grace of this divine one, nor of the calling to Him. He was a pious man, and he himself and his whole house feared God; both distributing what he had to those in need, and praying to God incessantly. To him, while he was residing in Caesarea, as the divine Luke narrates most clearly concerning him, an angel came near the ninth hour of the day and said, "Cornelius, your prayers and your alms have ascended for a memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa and summon Simon who is called Peter; he, when he has come, will speak to you words of life." B Having commanded these things, he no longer appeared. Cornelius, however, having immediately called two of his household servants and a pious soldier from among those who constantly attended him, disclosed to them what he had seen and sent them to Joppa; for the angel had said that Peter was staying there, and had revealed that he was to be found lodging with a certain Simon the tanner. Now Peter, who was traversing both every land and sea in preaching and declaring the truth everywhere (for he was truly set as a light to the nations and for the salvation of many), having come to the saints who dwelt in Lydda, and having raised a certain Aeneas, who had lain paralyzed for eight years, passed on to Joppa, and having accomplished the great miracle regarding Tabitha, who was called Dorcas, he was lodging there with the tanner.
B Nor did God leave even this man ignorant of the mystery into which Cornelius was to be initiated; or rather, He did not despise the righteousness and prayers of Cornelius. But since those who were of the circumcision held themselves apart from those who possessed uncircumcision, lest Peter, because he thought it was unlawful to associate with a foreigner or to approach him, should again send away in vain those who had been sent by Cornelius as being uncircumcised, God revealed to him both the virtue and the recognition of Cornelius as they—having departed from Caesarea—were not far from Joppe. Therefore, when he had gone up to the upper part of the house, that he might offer prayers at the sixth hour, he had need of food and was very hungry. And while a meal was being prepared for Peter, he saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel, as it were a great sheet, B being let down to the earth by four corners, and it came to him. The vessel contained beasts, both all the four-footed animals of the earth and the reptiles, as well as the birds of the sky. And a voice was seen to go forth to him, saying: "Rise, Peter, kill and eat." Then, when he had said, "By no means, Lord," and when he had subsequently added the reason: "For I have never eaten anything common or unclean," the voice answered him again: "What God has cleansed, do not call common." And this having happened three times, the vessel was taken back into heaven. This, then, signified the conversion of Cornelius and those with him. For the hunger from which Peter was suffering signified his disposition and zeal regarding piety; and that he was hungering and desiring nothing so much as the recognition of the gentiles, and to impart to them in every instance piety and the preaching of the Gospel. The four-footed animals, and the reptiles, and the birds were a sign of the multitude of those who were about to be converted with Cornelius; and that the vessel was let down from heaven three times hinted at the threefold immersion in baptism; and that they had been cleansed by God indicated the righteousness of Cornelius and his mercy along with his whole house, and that they, too, had turned out to be acceptable to God.
C III. Now as Peter was thinking, and was not able to conjecture the vision, nor had any means of interpreting it, those who had been sent by Cornelius had already arrived at the doors. And immediately the Spirit, having descended, signifies the arrival of those men, and bids Peter meet them without any hesitation. And when he had gone down to them, they report to him everything that Cornelius had seen and what he had heard from the angel. And on the following day they arrive at Caesarea. And when Cornelius had gone out to meet him and had fallen at his feet, Peter raises him up, saying: "I myself also am a man." Then, when he had sown in him the word of piety—and in the souls of those who had gathered—after he saw the grace of the Spirit hovering over them and demanding baptism, he leads them to the truth and initiates them with baptism.
CHAPTER II. The Labors of St. Cornelius, especially in Scepsis.
IV. A When the apostles were dispersed from Jerusalem after the affliction that occurred due to Stephen’s death, Cornelius was present with them, and he came as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch itself; and again he set out with Peter and Timothy, and he was not absent from them even while they were in Ephesus. When they learned that the city of the Scepsians was subject to the worship of idols, they deliberated as to who might go there, and they committed the matter to lots. When the lot fell to Cornelius, he B immediately set out for the city. Its governor was a certain Demetrius, a philosopher and expert in Hellenic lore, who breathed fierce hostility against the pious faith of the Christians and honored the other gods of the Greeks, especially Apollo and Zeus. Learning of the arrival of Cornelius, he immediately summoned the man and questioned him as to why he had come, where he was from, and what his profession was. But he replied, "I am a servant of the living God. I have been sent here in order to lift you C from the deepest darkness of ignorance, to bring you into the light of truth, and to release an unadulterated ray of knowledge into your soul." Demetrius, understanding not even a little of these words, was gradually filled with rage, and suddenly he burned with a maniacal and savage fury: "I asked you one thing, but you answer me another. By all the gods, unless you answer me directly and promptly, I will not spare your old age, I will not grant pardon for your years, and I will show no respect for your gray hair. D Come, tell me: in whose service are you a soldier, and for what purpose have you come?"
V. Cornelius said, "If you wish to learn what my service is, I am a centurion." And he immediately unfolded and explained what he had said before more clearly. "For since I learned," he said, "that you, your wife, and your entire government under you have fallen into a great delusion, I have come to deliver you from this deception, to lead you to the path of truth, and to reconcile you to the only living God, who made heaven and earth, by whom all things in them were produced, and by whose will they are governed." Watching Demetrius, who was already advanced in years, Cornelius said, "And pity for your age enters my heart! Therefore, dismiss these long-winded vanities—for I will speak briefly with you—come and sacrifice to the gods." When he asked, "To which gods?" the governor said, "To which others, except Zeus and Apollo? But if you refuse even this, know that you shall be handed over to grievous A punishments and tortures; and no god will be so powerful against them as to snatch you from my hands." But he said, "My God is able not only to preserve me unharmed from evils, and to make me superior to the insults and injuries of men, but even to destroy those whom you call gods,
1299 MONTH OF FEBRUARY. 1300
[He] will destroy and shatter their idols, and reduce them to ash and dust; and he will strip you of the vain hope you have conceived regarding them, and bring you to himself through knowledge. Demetrius said, "Since you answer me reasonably, if you do not offer sacrifice to the gods, harsh punishments and torments will await you; and will you still not believe me?" Then the brave Cornelius, once again acting bravely, said, "Listen, O judge, as I speak correctly: I would never sacrifice to demons and to deaf and inanimate idols; for it is written, 'Let the gods who did not make the heaven and the earth perish,' and again, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.' I have therefore come so that God may grant you also repentance unto the knowledge of the truth, and that you may recover your senses from the snare of the devil to his will. But if it seems good to you, show me those whom you call gods." Having heard this, he [Demetrius] rejoiced greatly with those who were with him, and they were filled with good hopes, the foolish ones thinking that they were about to see Cornelius sacrifice. And the temple of Zeus was opened for them more quickly, as they thought Cornelius would enter inside and sacrifice to the god. When the man had entered the temple, everyone flocked there with haste, not only Demetrius and those who were around him, but also his wife Evanthia and his son Demetrius—for he was also called by this name. Cornelius, having bent his knee toward the east with his heart, said, "O God, who shakes the earth and moves mountains into the heart of the seas, who in the time of your servant Daniel destroyed Bel, and slew the dragon, and muzzled the lions so that you might save your own servant, do you also now destroy these idols, these cast and carved things, and grant your knowledge to your people, and let them know that your arm is with power and that you are the boast of our strength."
VI. When Cornelius had answered these things, Demetrius said, "I have already sworn by all the gods that unless you answer moderately, and unless you offer sacrifice to the gods, grave punishments and torments will follow; and do you still not believe me?" Again, therefore, the noble Cornelius said: "Listen to me as I speak correctly, O judge. I would never sacrifice to demons and to deaf and inanimate idols. For it is written: 'Let the gods who did not make heaven and earth perish.' And again: 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.' I have therefore come so that God may grant you also repentance unto the knowledge of the truth, and that you may recover your senses from the snare of the devil to his will. But if it seems good to you, show me those whom you call gods." When he had heard this, he rejoiced greatly with those who were with him, and they were filled with good hopes, the foolish ones thinking that they were about to see Cornelius sacrifice. Therefore, the temple of Zeus was soon opened to them, as they thought Cornelius was about to sacrifice to the god immediately. When, therefore, Cornelius had come to that temple, everyone flocked there quickly, not only Demetrius and those who were accompanying him, but also his wife Evanthia and his son Demetrius: for he was also called by this name. When, therefore, he had bent his knee toward the east, Cornelius said from his heart: "O God, who disturbs the earth, and transfers mountains into the heart of the sea; who in the time of your servant Daniel destroyed Bel, and took away the dragon, and obstructed the mouths of the lions, so that you might save your servant; do you also now destroy these idols, both the cast and the sculpted; and grant your knowledge to your people, and let them know that your arm is with power. You are the boast of our strength."
VII. Having prayed these things, he goes out of the temple; and Demetrius also goes out with him, and whatever other multitude of the Gentiles had gathered. Evanthia, however, and the son Demetrius were still remaining inside. Suddenly, God shakes the city with a very great earthquake. The temple is immediately brought down, and it shatters the idols and grinds them into dust and powder, and it catches the son Demetrius and the mother Evanthia inside. When the father Demetrius had seen the destruction of the temple, and not yet having learned that his wife and son had been left inside, the divine Cornelius is led to the judgment seat, being compelled to state the cause of the destruction. He enters cheerfully, speaking quietly to Jesus who was strengthening him, and thinking more highly of this paradoxical miracle than of the throne of Demetrius and that lofty and high tribunal. And anticipating the interrogation, he said, "Where now, Demetrius, are your great gods?" But he immediately said, "By what magic arts, wretch, did you destroy the temple?"
and broke the statues? But know, all you gods, that I will subject you to the most grievous punishments. And immediately he was considering what to do, that he might inflict the most bitter torment upon him. But when evening had already fallen, he ordered the holy man, having been bound by his hands and feet, to be suspended at the prison, and thus to continue hanging throughout the whole night. He said these things, and the prison at once held the holy man. A
CAPUT III. Conversion of the Scepsæans. Death of St. Cornelius.
VIII. Immediately one of the household, Telephon by name, arrived with haste, saying: “Master, my mistress and your only-begotten son have perished, when the temple was shaken by an earthquake.” Demetrius, as soon as he heard this, tore his garments and was seized by great grief. Meanwhile, he ordered those under him to remove the debris with all speed, saying: “Until you find the bones of my good and faithful wife and of my own sweetest only-begotten child, and bring them into my hands.” He said these things to them, and at the same time tears flowed with his voice, and he groaned most grievously and lamented, and he accused those gods of his, that he had been kept alive until this moment to hear such bitter news. When the leading men in the city had sat down with him, and some of them were lamenting with him, while others were seeking to console him and, as far as possible, were hastening to show B some relief to his suffering—since the death devised for them by Cornelius had already been prepared, and the tomb had been completed wherein his wife with the child was to be buried—a certain high priest of the Greek gods, Barbatos by name, who was entrusted with the cleaning of the temple, came in haste to the servants of Demetrius (for he was not permitted to approach him on account of his mourning), reporting that a voice had been heard from the heap of debris from Evanthia and the child; and that the voice signified these things: “Great is the God of the Christians, who snatched us from this danger through His servant Cornelius, and did not abandon us to complete destruction. Make haste, therefore, you too, Demetrius, and bring out this holy man from the prison, and worship him along with all who are in our house C and those who are near to us; and entreat him that, coming into this place, he may save us and lead us out from these ruins and from the abyss, that we may not perish utterly: for we see great miracles of God here, and we seem to hear angels crying out: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men.’”
IX. When the servants heard these things, they ran immediately with Barbatos the high priest to Demetrius, and reported everything to him with haste. But he, having learned that his wife and child were still alive, had a heart full of joy and agitation at once. And coming at a run to the prison, he found the divine Cornelius walking, holding a book in his hand and by this means praying to God. For an angel, having stood over him, had loosed him from his bonds, and with mul- D
- A tinual protection, and grant them a share in thy kingdom. And as he spoke these things, he gave up his spirit to God, being sixty years of age, on the day of the seventeenth of February, in the consulate of Decius and Gratus.
CONCERNING THE GREAT CLEMENT
B The Galileans, and all who were of the same mind, having risen up against them, refused to leave any of their property, and—being as it were thunderstruck—dared to speak against the king; whom he, as was reasonable, punished. When therefore the great Clement saw this, and that there was no peace or rest for the Christians, he departed once more from Rome and arrived at the great Peter’s side in Caesarea of Palestine.
There he met with many disciples of the Lord, as was natural—I speak of Thomas and the other Apostles, if it happened that any were present. He was taught by Peter about the resurrection of Christ, and the rising from the dead, and all the wonders which the Lord performed: such as restoring sight to the blind, walking to the lame, cleansing to the lepers, and life to the dead. And as many other C extraordinary things as were the workings of divine power. In addition to these things, he learned from him the events concerning Simon the Magician, how this man, opposing himself to Peter the Great, explicitly claimed to be a god; and how, having deceived many with the sophistry of magic, he departed to Rome and there ensnared many by his deceit, and compelled the very people themselves to proclaim that he was a god. Inflamed by these things, Clement longed for Peter all the more, and as his servant he eagerly dwelt with him, being accounted worthy of the apostolic table and teaching.
CONCERNING DIONYSIUS THE AREOPAGITE
The great Dionysius the Areopagite—and he is great in truth, and this title is the symbol of his greatness—was one of the areopagites and nobles of Athens, D and famous in philosophy. He, having beheld the eclipse of the moon during the Savior’s passion, said to those present: "Either the Creator of the universe is suffering, or the whole is coming to disorder." And he said to erect an altar to the "Unknown God" in that very spot of his contemplation. Afterwards, having gone to Heliopolis and having met Hierotheus, he was instructed by him in divine things. Then, having passed from there to Jerusalem, he met with the Apostles, and having been initiated into the faith by Paul, he was declared the first bishop of Athens. Then, having been sent by Paul himself from Athens to the West, he went to the whole of Gaul and brought many there to Christ, and finally was perfected by martyrdom in Paris. Rusticus and Eleutherius were with him.
After this, as time went on and the Church increased, other leaders of Rome were declared after the Apostle Peter: Linus, Anencletus, Clement, Evaristus, Alexander, Xystus, and their successors down to Sylvester. But I shall omit these; I shall fix my discourse upon the saints who flourished in their times. Polycarp, then, the disciple of John the Theologian, whom he himself appointed bishop of the Church in Smyrna—a man admirable both in character and in life—displayed such obedience to the Word of God that many were compelled by his preaching to run the race of the Lord; and he was perfected by martyrdom.
Ignatius the God-bearer, the overseer of Antioch, was someone fiery of soul and burning in Christ; who, having contended with the beasts in the days of Trajan, was deemed worthy of perfect martyrdom. He was one of those children whom Christ, having taken, carried in his arms, saying, "Unless you turn and become as children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven." If you say such a thing, what prevents you from being called a child of the Lord?
Quadratus, another apostle, who made an apology to the king Hadrian, flourished in these times. Likewise also Aristides the philosopher wrote another apology, and presented it to the same king. And yet he was not a believer.
1305 THE LIFE OF ST. CORNELIUS THE CENTURION. 1306
and upon your servants from heaven, and take them up from your holy height, and strengthen them by your confession and your name, so that they may unceasingly glorify your all-holy name, now and unto the ages. And when all had immediately shouted "Amen," he joyfully surrendered his spirit to Him who was calling him.
XII. And Demetrius indeed, with Evanthia and their son and all the gathered Christians, and with the presbyter Eunomius, having wept as was fitting for the departure of their teacher, and then having lit candles and sung the hymns that are customary at a departure, and having performed whatever Christians do by law, they laid him in the new coffin at the very site of the overturned temple of Zeus, which had previously been prepared by Demetrius for his spouse. And the earth immediately brought forth a very large bramble bush and covered the coffin in a circle, so that no one thereafter knew that there was a coffin inside, except only those who had served with Demetrius at the burial. Those who visited the bramble bush daily sang sacred chants and filled the air above it with incense and sweet fragrance; and miracles indeed flowed from there for a long time, so that it seemed to many who did not know that the disciple was lying inside that the bramble bush even now signified something divine, just as had happened previously in the time of Moses.
CHAPTER IV. The finding of St. Cornelius.
XIII. Not long after, Demetrius also departed, and many of those who had been perfected by the divine baptism of Cornelius themselves also left this life, while others traveled to other regions. Then, to a certain Silvanus, a man who embraced virtue and was a lover of God, who was bishop of the Troad, when he once came to the city of the Scepsians, the divine man Cornelius appeared in a dream and said, "I have dwelt here for a long time, and no one has visited me, except only those who were baptized by me." As the bishop was reflecting during the day and could not interpret the dream, the saint came to him again the following night and said, "I am Cornelius the centurion; and I have a house near the temple of Zeus in the bramble bush. But you, build another oratory near the place of Demetrius, the servant of God; the place is called the Pandocheion, where many of the bodies of the holy brothers who have already been perfected are laid."
XIV. In the morning, therefore, the bishop, because the Pandocheion had been dug up on all sides with many graves, considered building the temple elsewhere; but the saint did not...
A He slackened. Having therefore gathered the clergy who were with him, "A great treasure, my children," he said, "has been revealed to me; but come, let us take it up." When they heard this, they all hurried with eager and ready minds, and followed the bishop gladly. But when they reached the bramble-bush itself, the members of the clergy immediately said to the bishop, "Some divine grace hovers here, O master; and we know that many have flocked here and have been delivered from both diseases and evil spirits, and have attributed their healing to the briar." But he said, "Even if the treasure is within this, and underneath the briar, who could cut it down and take it up? It is impossible for it to be cut down on account of its size, and otherwise it is not easy to touch, being fearful to many due to the operation of miracles." The bishop therefore prayed to God, and having planted his cross in the ground and laid his hand upon the briar, he cut it away at the very roots. Having thus been strengthened, the clergy immediately took to the work themselves, and the briar was pulled up like some soft herb; it was no longer a briar, but the casket was immediately revealed in a short time. The bishop pressed hard, still hastening the excavation. When evening had already come on, the bishop prayed and once more ordered the clergy to chant the nightly psalmody, and they honored the casket with hymns throughout the whole night, and with lamps and incense.
XV. B But when the scarcity of funds for building the temple also gave the bishop cause for worry and perplexity, the Saint resolved this difficulty too; he appeared to a certain pious man among the wealthy, by the name of Eugenius, and gave him charge of the building of the temple and described to him the form and magnitude of the building. In the morning, therefore, Eugenius came to the bishop, reported the vision to him, and immediately set builders to the task, having first portrayed for them and indicated the height and the length of the building, and having ordered that the entrance of the sanctuary be equal in width to the casket; for it had been decided by him that the casket should be placed inside the sanctuary.
XVI. When the temple was quickly completed—God and the wonder-worker having brought this to pass in the place called Trigoni, for it was there that Bishop Silvanus was celebrating the festival of the blessed Apostle Andrew—the builders signified unto him the end of the building, and said, "It is now time, master, for the casket to be moved, for it could thus be brought in more easily." Immediately, therefore, the bishop, having taken up the holy Gospel together with the pious Eugenius, and having first made a prayer, they began to sing the Trisagion; and all together sang the same hymn with him, and they went out making processions. Then the casket (O how great are your wondrous works, O Master!) followed as if it were a living thing, while not one person moved it, nor touched it at all, nor even laid a hand upon it. And all, through great astonishment, at first did not even deem it possible to believe in the miracle they were seeing. Then, beside themselves, they cried, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord of Sabaoth," he who through your servant Cornelius [has displayed] your wonders and powers...
Hence it came about that those of the Gentiles who remained believed.
XVII. And the procession advanced again toward the temple, and the casket followed. But when they arrived at the temple, they stood on this side and that, watching where the casket would proceed and where it would stay. Having come through the midst of them and through the side door which was on the right, it stood near the altar, and although every method was applied to transfer it into the interior of the altar, it remains immovable to this day, a treasury of wonders that does not fail, from which is gathered great spiritual profit and grace.
XVIII. But when Silvanus the bishop had departed this life, Athanasius was entrusted with the episcopacy of the Troadenses, and Philostorgius with that of the Scepsians. And when that pious Eugenius also ended his life, Philostorgius urged a certain painter to paint the entire temple and to zealously depict the likeness of Cornelius within it, and to adorn it as accurately as possible, so that he might be painted as an old man, and in every way as he really was. Encratius (for this was the name of the painter) therefore begged the saint to reveal his own form to him, so that he might depict it successfully and with accuracy; and at the same time he was annoyed at the bishop's command and uttered certain uncomplimentary words against the saint, being perplexed from every side and very sad, both because he was ignorant of his form and because he could not attain the features of his face. When at some point he fell from the scaffolding upon which he had climbed, he lay breathless, and worms were crawling out through his mouth. Others, again, were entering in. And these B appeared to be the fruits of those blasphemous words which the painter had uttered in his grief. But the saint himself said, "O Cornelius, it is indeed you, who formerly granted to Demetrius, who was breathing fiercely against you, his wife and son; for this reason you did not endure that torment should be prolonged further for this painter." For having appeared to him on the following day and having taken him by his right hand, he made him rise as if he were sleeping. And he achieved these two very great things: for he corrected his intemperate tongue and healed the pain and depression he had received because he did not know how to paint him—not by [appearing in] a figure, image, or likeness, but by truly meeting with him and showing him what his form was like. Moreover, the painter himself was seen to be healthy and safe again, and entirely delivered from the worms, and he set himself to his art again. Hence he painted him just as he had seen him, casting much truth into the painting along with his art, [relying] on the prayers of the saint himself and the grace and philanthropy of our Lord. D [index: entries preserved]
MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY AND GREAT MARTYR TRYPHON
I. A When our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ, after his theandric manifestation to men, and his three-day resurrection from the dead, and his ascension to the Father with glory, had poured out the Holy Spirit upon his disciples and apostles and had filled them with knowledge, the whole earth received from his fullness, and all men, partaking of the gift that streamed from them, were delivered from the darkness of ignorance and attached themselves to the true light of the knowledge of God. For just as lightning, the apostles, swift and transparent, ran through the ends of the earth; and having divided among themselves the various parts of the world, and distributed to themselves every nation, country, and city, they cast into them the spark of truth, which, gradually fanned by those who were ready, grew into a bright and lofty torch.
II. B Thus faith, having received its beginning, advanced to such manifest power. After the apostles, the divine martyrs appeared as the causes of piety, who, having received the seed of light from them, and then being handed over to tempters like violent winds, were not only not extinguished by the injuries inflicted upon them, but were shown to be even more brilliant by them; flourishing like vines under the pruning shears, they made other sufferings occasions of joy, so that their only labor was to avoid not laboring and suffering evil when they were not suffering for Christ. Among these, the blessed Tryphon is recognized, a name derived from unblemished divine delight, a truly blessed plant of the Church, which the earth first brought forth in Phrygia, in the village of Kampsada, neighboring the city of Apamea. Born a pious child of pious parents, from his earliest age he was worthy...
1313 LIFE OF ST. TRYPHON. He was [full of] God, so that he immediately obtained a rich measure of the energy of the Spirit. And for this reason, various diseases of the body and the entire race of demons fled at the mere name of Tryphon; his youth was so beautiful, not contending against those of his own age, nor against men of war, but showing courage against demons and diseases. But to discuss all his miracles at this present time is not possible. Having mentioned but one, and having shown the whole from a small taste, I shall turn the narrative to the martyrdom of that man.
1314 Born of pious parents, from his earliest age he seemed so pleasing to God that he was judged worthy to administer the operations of the Spirit. Wherefore, various diseases indeed fled from bodies; but the entire nature of demons, hostile to men, whipped by the name of Tryphon alone, or rather scorched by the power of the Spirit that was in him, was indeed put to flight from men and driven into the innermost recesses of the desert. And to recount all the miracles which were performed by him is not of the present time. But when I have made mention of one in the present, through which the power of the grace that was in him might be evident, I shall betake myself to the martyrdom of the illustrious athlete.
III. In the year 225, after the death of Augustus, Gordian receives the scepters of the Roman Empire, a man indeed of Gentile religion, but not so harsh toward the Christians. For he did not, like the others, stir up persecution against the Christians. To him is born an only daughter, distinguished in the grace and beauty of her body, but much more beautiful in the natural talent and intelligence of her soul, and she did not yield to any in the knowledge of letters. Wherefore the parents strove greatly to preserve her whole and unharmed. The first men of the city, who sought her hand, were consumed by great emulation; but she, shut up in fortified places, was guarded diligently and safely. But so that Tryphon might be known to the city of the Romans, or rather that Christ might be glorified in him, a wicked demon suddenly attacking this maiden, shamelessly vexed her, incessantly tore her, threw her into water and fire, and in every way raged against her life. And all the wise men were in doubt, and the physicians remained completely astonished, seeing the affliction to be miserable, but not being able to bring her any help at all. The father was anxious in spirit, finding no remedy anywhere for the affliction; he was sad, he bore it with difficulty, he pined away, until the evil spirit himself, compelled by a greater power, invoked his own expeller: he called upon his own smiter, but the healer of the maiden who was being tormented by him. Unless, he said, Tryphon arrives, I will not cease to terrify the girl: I will not depart from her unless I see that Tryphon has arrived.
IV. Immediately, therefore, imperial letters and messages went out through the whole world, and every place was searched, and through every tongue Tryphon was sought, Tryphon was called; and all who were upon the earth were divided into these two [groups]: either to seek Tryphon or to be asked about Tryphon. And since the search reached even to Phrygia, Tryphon is already made manifest, and he is found dwelling at the village of Campsada, a caretaker and shepherd of geese, such a great man as he was. Having confessed himself to be Tryphon, the very one who was sought, he is immediately sent by those who found him to the prefects, Pompeianus and Protestatus. They, having placed him upon public horses, sent him to Rome to the emperor.
[... ] they had imposed upon them, they sent him to Rome to the emperor. A And he indeed finished the journey directly: the girl was at that time nearly in her seventeenth year. But the malignant spirit, having sensed his arrival, was then violently vexing her, and was boiling over through the girl; and he was often crying out with wails that he could no longer use her body as a dwelling, for he who would cast him out with a powerful hand was close at hand. "For three days remain," he said, "and Tryphon approaches, who has received power over us." When he had cried out much in this way, and had torn her, he departed.
V. On the third day after the departure of the demon, the saint indeed arrives at Rome; he is immediately brought to Gordian, a desirable thing, whom the emperor received gladly, nor did he fail to recognize him as the one who had healed his own daughter, inferring from his arrival the term of three days which had been preordained. B But so that the matter might be more certain and evident, he asked that he produce the demon to be seen by the eyes, and that he question him. And so, the holy man, having dedicated six days to fasting and intense prayer to our Lord Jesus Christ, on the dawning of the seventh, already receives from above greater and stronger power against the demons. For when the darkness of night was dissolving, and the sun, having cast its rays, was smiling brightly upon the earth, the emperor was present, and all his guards and subjects were present, all of them with souls raised in suspense at the strangeness of what was about to happen. The divine Tryphon, being full of the Holy Spirit, while also beholding with unseen eyes the unclean spirit as if standing before him—for he had brought him back even against his will, just as he forces out even one not willing—said, "I say to you, in the name of Jesus Christ, appear to those who are present, and make your shame, and your weakness, plain and manifest to all." The word did not yet have an end, and a dog was seen, C very ugly, black in color, having eyes emitting like fire, and its head fixed upon the ground, appearing before everyone.
VI. The servant of God, who had been praying, said to it, "Tell me, accursed one, who sent you? Who permitted you to invade this young girl? And how, being such as you are, namely dark and weak and full of every disgrace and shame, do you dare to hold in contempt and vex that which was made in the image of God?" But the demon, answering, said, "I am sent by my father." He said indeed that his father was the author and cause of evils, who is also called Satan, and that by him he had been commanded to torment this girl. And Tryphon says again, "What power, tell me, does the prince of malice have against the creation of God?" And that dog, although by nature being a lover of lies, is forced, even if he did not want to, to truth, and although he wished to hide it and keep it as secret, he confessed these things even against his will before all: "To us," he said, "there is not any power against those who are pious in your almighty God and his Son, the Christ, whom Peter and Paul D clearly preached here, but we flee, cowering before them, unless we should be encouraged to bring some trial from outside upon them. Against those, however, who have abandoned their own life, we have power. Wherefore, so that piety may be well wrought and remain unshaken, the men of God willingly endure all things, and nothing shall be for them before virtue. This is the third thing following upon those mentioned: patience takes its beginning from there for the temptations, and the solidity of endurance springs up. The fourth thing, to those struggling for piety, this great gift from God is given: they strike back at the enemy's conspiracy, and they overcome him. Fifth, that of such struggles they receive as their reward the crown of the kingdom of the heavens, and the entrance to God, just as the Lord promised to the faithful: 'Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.'
In these was the life of the saints; in these, the path of holiness; in these, the rewards of virtue. Let no one, therefore, be alienated from such good things; let no one, through neglect, despise his own salvation; let no one despair at the labors of the saints, but, driving out sluggishness with eagerness and being winged by the hope of future goods, let him hasten to live and die according to the saints, so that he may also reign with them for ages of ages. Amen.
A choice turn away their souls from the works agreeable to us, which are primarily: idolatry, blasphemy, adultery, sorcery, murders, envy, and pride; for by these and similar things, men willfully alienate themselves from God and are bound to us." While he was saying these things, both the emperor and those present were seized with amazement and dread, and many of the unbelievers immediately believed in Christ, while for the faithful, a confirmation regarding the faith came yet again through the testimony of the enemy; the wicked demon, however, having been rebuked, vanished from sight.
VII. B Caesar, having wondered at the man's power against demons, treated him with the honors that were due and with many gifts. For even if his worship was different, yet virtue is equally venerable to all. Afterward, he sent him home with fitting care. However, as for all the things that were gifted to him by the emperor, his hands distributed them to the poor along the way; and having arrived home, he held to the customary works of faith, leading those who were astray toward the truth, and giving himself over to the care of those who were suffering. When Gordian had died, the imperial scepter passed to Philip the Pious; and when he too was soon killed in war against the Troglodytes, Decius was proclaimed emperor after him—a cruel man, shameless in soul, delighting entirely in blood, slaughters, and C tortures, glowing with a frenzy regarding idols, and stirred up with a terrible rage against all Christians. He considered the taking up of arms against enemies—I mean arrows and spears and swords—to be a small task and one requiring little care, but preparing wheels and catapults and iron claws and every other kind of torture against the pious, this he considered to be a great thing and one that would procure for him great renown. The war against the Christians was then terrible, and a great darkness held the inhabited world. For this reason, it was possible to see the threshing floor of God being cleansed like wheat, and those who had accepted the pious faith, but whose thoughts were weak and chaff-like, being winnowed away by the violence of the temptations, as if by the force of some winds, to be kept for the eternal fire; but as many as laid claim to the D truth with the straightness of their intent and the firmness of their soul, these having shown themselves superior to the temptations and having kept their confession until the end, were stored up as the purest wheat into the heavenly granaries.
VIII. With these things being thus accomplished and the persecution pressing very fiercely, Tryphon is brought before the prefect of the East (whose name was Aquilinus), a man who was an Apamean by race, not ignoble in his mind, not easy in his character, not unlearned in discourse, a physician by trade, who uses much contempt toward the revered and mocks both
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[He] announces God, and in that way many are deceived by the magnificence of his words. Immediately, therefore, he sent letters and edicts with vehement threats to the magistrates of that place, that they should bring the one who was sought to him with the greatest speed. But it could not be that the brilliant lamp of faith, shining in a sordid place, should remain hidden. When, therefore, he had heard that he was being sought by the persecutors, he did not retreat into the wilderness, nor did he go into the dense and uncultivated mountains; but having armed himself with prayers and supplications in Christ, he approached those who were seeking him with a cheerful spirit, and he was immediately sent by the soldiers of the cohort to Aquilinus, who was then acting in Nicaea, with great joy and prompt eagerness of mind. When, therefore, a high tribunal had been immediately erected for him, and the satellites had surrounded him honestly and decorously, Pompeianus, a registrar of the highest order, said: "He who was sent from Apamea by Fronto the legate to your magnificence is present at the most pure tribunal of your authority." Aquilinus the prefect said: "Let him who is present first state his name, his country, his fortune, and then his religion." Saint Tryphon said: "My name is Tryphon; my country is the village of Campsades, neighboring the city of Apamea; but as for fortune, among us it neither exists nor is it spoken of, for we believe that all things come to pass by the providence of God and by the series and ineffable order of His wisdom; we do not establish that the birth of man depends upon a fortuitous concurrence of stars or upon chance, which happens beyond reason. I am, however, free in my character and in the education of my life, serving one Christ alone. For Christ is my religion; Christ is my glory and the crown of my boasting."
IX. The prefect said: "I suppose that up to this day you have not yet known the command of the Augustus, who ordered that any man who boasts in this name and is stubborn toward the worship of the gods should be handed over to a violent death; and I remove you from such deception, lest you be handed over to the fire." Saint Tryphon said: "Would that it were permitted to me to be consumed by fire and by all torments for the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and God." The prefect said: "O Tryphon, I persuade you to sacrifice to the gods. For I see that, beyond the age of your body, you also show a perfect sense of mind, and I do not wish you, by the gods, to die badly." Saint Tryphon said: "I shall have a perfect sense of mind if I offer a perfect confession to my God, and if I preserve the beautiful deposit, namely faith in Him, without denying it, and if I offer myself as a blameless and whole sacrifice to Christ, who was sacrificed for me." The prefect said: "I shall hand your body over to the fire, and I shall consume your soul with the most bitter tortures." Saint Tryphon said: "You threaten me with fire that is extinguished and is destroyed together with the matter that ignites it, the end of which is ash. But I threaten you with that which cannot be extinguished and is eternal. Depart, I say, from vain things, and acknowledge Him who is truly God, lest, if by chance you make trial of that fire, you repent of your evils." When Aquilinus had heard these things, and had been stirred to anger, he ordered him to be suspended and scourged.
X. As soon, therefore, as the sentence had been pronounced,
A the garment, and the blessed man, having stripped it off, and with it all the [other] reasonings of human nature, and having delivered that beautiful body to the executioners, he is suspended on the wood; then, having his hands bound behind him, he was struck in his flesh with great courage. And during three hours, as he was thus being scourged and quietly enduring the blows as if another were suffering, the eparch Aquilinus, as if exhorting not a man of such endurance, but a coward and a base person, said, “Repent, Tryphon, of this untimely madness, and confess that you will sacrifice to the gods; for there is no one who, having spoken against the king’s command, will not miserably and violently lose his life.” The holy Tryphon said, “And I tell you, that no one who has denied the heavenly King Christ shall fall away from eternal life, but instead he will be condemned to the unquenchable fire.”
B To these things the eparch replied, “The heavenly King,” he said, “is none other than the great Zeus, the son of Cronus and Rhea, who is also the father of men and gods, whom it is impossible for the disobedient to live, to whom you too ought to be persuaded, that you may be deemed worthy of a most pleasant life.” Holy Tryphon said, “May those who believe him to be a god, and all those who trust in him, become like Zeus, your god; whom indeed they say was a man and a charlatan who had been born, leaving no form of wickedness unpracticed and unattempted. And after his death, those who pursued deeds of shame similar to his, erecting golden and silver statues for him, proclaimed him a god, the all-daring ones putting forward this deification as a defense, as it were, of their own licentiousness. The same manner is seen also in the case of the others whom you falsely call gods; by this path, at least, you too, following from of old the deceitful tradition, wish to pay homage to lifeless matter and wood, neglecting the living God, who fixed the heavens, established the earth upon the waters, poured out the air, and having fashioned the whole nature of existing things, set man as lord over it. Him, being led and lured by the wicked demon and distanced from the God who made him by evil works, the Word of God, having had pity—since evil was incorrigible as many had become so before—consented, for the sake of his great love for humanity, to become man and to take on a form like us, and in it to endure both the cross and death, and thus, having been humbled, to shame the arrogant. Having been crucified, therefore, and buried, then having risen from the dead and been taken up to the heavens, he now sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high, until the whole creation recognizes him, and thus, having come from heaven with divine power and glory, he will render to each the rewards for both their deeds and their purpose. This is the God of gods, the King of kings, and the Judge of both the living and the dead; but the gods among you, who are so-called, are names only, destitute of deeds or inventions of wicked demons, devised solely for the destruction of those who worship them.”
C [XI.] As these things were being said by the martyr, Aquilinus, enraged to the extreme, orders the holy man to be taken down from the wood, but to follow him bound, as he was going out to the hunt. It was possible, therefore, to see the most bitter torture being inflicted upon the martyr. For the soles of his feet were being torn, exposed bare to the winter air, and besides being neglected of their culture and led to ruin, but as Tryphon, with the science of great virtue, worked this and was nourished, apportioning the places, and not only uttering words concerning piety, but also demonstrating his own piety in works. For that Tryphon was from the village of Kampsa, situated not far from Apamea in Phrygia; whence also his father happened to be from Phrygia. There he spent most of his time in agriculture, and there he also tended the geese, stretching his mind toward God in very many things, and providing countless rivers of salvation to those in need. And once, a young woman possessed by a demon even came to the East, being the daughter of Gordian the King; and as the demon was speaking through her mouth, he said that only Tryphon is able to cast him out. Having been sought out, therefore, and brought to the palace, he also cast out the demon there by prayer, having first punished himself with a three-day fast. And the demon having appeared in the form of a dog, he inquired of the martyr who he was and whence. And upon his saying that he was Beelzebub, the holy man ceased to ask again. And having received much money from the king, he distributed it all. But in the time of Decius the tyrant, the things of the persecution were renewed, and Aquilinus, having been sent as governor in Asia, brought this great one before the tribunal. When he also ordered him, after beating him, to be led by night as if to Nicaea, punishing him with cold and hunger, and having tightened his feet with iron chains, he then drove nails into his feet, inverted, and ordered him to run. But the hostile one was not able to bend the adamant with the torments, but in the end ordered his head to be cut off. And the holy man, knowing this, delivered his soul to God before the sword, considering this sufficient for himself, that he should undergo no violence from the sword, but willingly deliver his spirit to God. And his assembly is celebrated in the church of the holy Apostles in the Orphanage.
On the same day, memory of the holy hieromartyr Agathangelus.
Agathangelus was a disciple of Clement the holy pope of Rome, whom Clement once found in a field farming, being a youth of good natural ability and sound in soul, and fit for much virtue. Having been taught more there, and having received the illumination of baptism, he resides in Alexandria, evangelizing those there. But he was arrested by the idolaters, and having been subjected to all the punishments, he ends his life in peace, having attained the glory of martyrdom during the times of Diocletian.
On the same day, memory of our father among the saints, Nicephorus, Patriarch of Constantinople.
This divine and holy man, Nicephorus, springing from Constantinople, was of the race of the aristocrats, [son] of the father Theodorus, who, being himself a secretary to the king, having come down in the reign of Constantine Copronymus, suffered terrible things for the sake of the piety of the icons. And Nicephorus, happening to be twenty years old, fulfilled the service of the secretary, living in piety and in the fear of God. Then, having departed from this honor and holding to the philosophy according to God, he practiced the monastic life. Then he had become patriarch of Constantinople, having conducted himself in a way pleasing to God and worthy of his holy office. But under Leo the Armenian, the iconoclast king, he endured much for the sake of the piety of the icons, and having been exiled to Proconnesus, he dies there in a way pleasing to God.
A His feet were being torn apart, exposed naked to the winter season, and they were also being trampled by the horses’ hooves, so that the flesh was thus flowing down onto the ground. But always looking toward the Lord and receiving consolation from Him, he untroubledly sang, saying, "Order my steps, O Lord, in thy paths, that my footsteps may not slide," and again: "Direct my steps according to thy word, and let no iniquity have dominion over me," and what follows thereafter. Beyond these things, he also uttered the words of the first martyr, saying: "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." B When Aquilinus returned late from hunting, having called for the martyr—whom he thought to show more as a prize of his own hunt, and one by far more precious—he said: "But are you persuaded, even now, you wretch, to use a sensible judgment and sacrifice to the gods, or are you still held by your former madness?" Saint Tryphon says: "Being yourself full of irrational madness and folly, you are not able to come to your senses at all and recognize the God of all; but I use a sensible judgment, not departing from the truth which gives salvation." Aquilinus said nothing to this, for he was ashamed of the love of truth and the precise freedom of the words; but turning to those standing by, he said: "Let the noble man be dragged to the prison and guarded for another trial, lest, being alone, he might reproach himself for his vain resistance and learn better." Having said this, he goes out to the neighboring cities.
C XII. And when some days had passed, he came again to Nicaea and, sitting on the tribunal, caused Saint Tryphon to be brought, and said: "Has not the length of time, O stubborn and unreasonably obstinate man, admonished you and persuaded you to obey the emperors and bow as a suppliant to the savior gods?" The holy martyr answered: "My God and Lord Jesus Christ, whom I serve with a pure mind, has admonished me and confirmed [me], and He Himself has strengthened [me] to keep my confession towards Him unchangeable and immovable. He has made the passage of time serve to provide me with a greater confirmation of the things given; wherefore I acknowledge Him alone as both true King and God. D I utterly despise your wretchedness and the vanity of your emperor, and as for the gods worshiped by you, I am so far from honoring them that I consider even mocking them to be a part of piety, and a true badge of a man who possesses a mind." Unable to endure the boldness of his words, the enemy of the truth sought to conquer—not by words, which he could not gainsay—but rather by punishing [him] senselessly. Therefore, nails were driven into his feet and he was beaten and dragged through the middle of the city. Though he was dragged in this way for a long time, and his blood was staining the ground, and furthermore the bitter cold of the season was intensifying the pains, he remained unyielding and unconquerable, considering the snowflakes of his torments as a drizzle of dew, because of the torrent of delight longed for by him.
XIII. And when such a great amazement at the elder possessed Aquilinus, he said: "How long, O Tryphon, will you not feel the torments? How long will the bitterness of the pains not touch you?"
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[The Greek text begins mid-sentence] ...the bitterness of the torments? But the saint, as if turning back from the common path, said: "How long will you yourself not understand the power of Him who dwells within me? How long will you not cease to tempt the Holy Spirit of God? Have you not yet perceived that the power of Christ is invincible?" Wrath takes hold of the judge at these words, and he orders the saint to be bound by the arms and beaten with rods; then, to have torches of fire applied to his sides. Therefore, when these torments were being inflicted upon him with great severity, a divine manifestation suddenly shone down from heaven, illuminating him and appearing like a most beautiful crown, blooming with gems and graces, which it offered to him. This struck with great amazement those who were standing around to torment the saint, and caused them to fall to the ground. But the martyr of Christ, filled with both courage and exultation by the divine grace that appeared to him, confessed to God, saying: "Lord Master, I thank You, because You did not leave me in the hands of my enemies, but You overshadowed my head in the day of battle, and You gave me a shield of salvation, and Your right hand upheld me. And now, Lord, I beseech You, stand by me until the end, strengthening and upholding me, and deem me worthy to fight the good fight of this confession perfectly and without stumbling, so that I may also be deemed worthy of the crown of righteousness with all those who have loved Your holy name, for You alone are glorified unto the ages. Amen."
XIV. Again, therefore, that defiled judge, urged on by the demon speaking within him, went around the athlete, trying to entice him with flatteries, and said: "Sacrifice, Tryphon, to the great Zeus, and worship the image of Caesar, and I will deem you worthy of the greatest honors and many gifts, and send you away." At which the saint, having come to smile, said: "If I have openly despised that very Augustus of yours, and have treated his commands as a matter for mockery and scorn, shall I be persuaded to worship his lifeless image? You would be very persuasive, and I someone easily deceived and ready. But concerning Zeus and your other falsely-named gods, ask those among you who pride themselves on wisdom, who, trying to cover up the shame of mythology, have named Zeus as the ether, Hera as the air, Demeter as the earth, Poseidon as the sea, Apollo as the sun, and Artemis as the moon; and it is of them also to allegorize Hermes as reason, Ares as wrath, and Aphrodite as base desire. You are truly wretched in these reasonings and wicked in your malice, you who have not only turned yourselves toward destruction, abandoning the true God, but also set yourselves with zeal to make us share in this path with you—those whom Isaiah the Great, having anticipated many ages ago, rightly lamented, saying: 'Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put light for darkness, and darkness for light; who call the bitter sweet, and the sweet bitter.'"
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bitterness, he ordered him to be struck again, and to be beaten with scourges through every indignity, saying: Let the arrogance of his soul be consumed. But while he was being struck and beaten with scourges through every indignity, his stability remained the same. And the more the strength of his body was diminished by the intolerable blows, the more the confirmed constancy of his heart displayed a more brilliant function.
XV. When the prefect saw that he was attempting things that could not be done, he passed sentence thus: Tryphon of Apamea, who has resisted the command of the emperor and has not wished to sacrifice to the gods, after many inflicted torments, let him pay the penalty by the sword. Immediately, therefore, the soldiers, having led him out of the city, brought him to the place where they wished to amputate that venerable and most dear-to-God head. But the holy martyr, standing toward the east, lifted up his voice and prayed thus: Lord God of gods, King of kings, Holy of holies, I give thanks to you that you have deemed me worthy to complete this contest without reproach; and now I ask you, let not the wicked and insidious hand of the enemy touch me, nor drag me into the abyss of destruction, but through the holy angels of your magnificent glory, receiving my soul in peace, lead it into your beloved tabernacles and into your desirable and immaculate inheritance. And to all who shall remember your servant, and shall wish to offer sacrifices to you for my sake, attend from your venerable habitation, from your holy heaven, sending back to them copious and incorruptible benefits: for you alone are good, and the bestower of good things, unto the ages of ages. Amen.
XVI. When the athlete had prayed these things and had worshipped God, before he was struck by the sword, he delivered up his soul. But the brothers who had gathered at Nicaea, having prepared the venerable relics of the holy martyr for burial with clean linens and various aromatics, wished indeed to store them away so that they might be the guardians of their city. But the Saint, appearing in a dream, ordered them to transfer them to his own village, namely Campsada, which they also did. Thus the blessed Tryphon, consecrated to God from his tenderest years, having led many to the faith of Christ, and having healed many diseases of men, and having endured very many kinds of torments and punishments for the truth after these things, was crowned with the crown of incorruption: to the glory of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
CONCERNING SAINT AGATHA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR
IN CATANIA IN SICILY (Year of Christ 251, February 5 — Acta SS. Bolland. Feb. vol. I, p. 595.)Catania is a city of Sicily, situated on the Ionian Sea, at the roots of the horrifying mount Etna. It was founded by the Greeks and inhabited by them for a long time, then by the Campanians, but was eventually enlarged into a colony of Roman citizens, as Pliny testifies in Book III, chapter 8; the same is true for Messana, as Strabo the geographer notes in the age of Augustus, namely the times of Tiberius. It is numbered among the most celebrated cities of the entire island, indeed more populous even than the three cities of Palermo and Messana. Yet it boasts many decorations, the monuments of antiquity; but it has no ornament more brilliant than the virgin and martyr Agatha. On account of this, the Greek Menologium and the most holy Bishop Maurice in his *History of the Translations* rightly call her the "pride of Catania" (Κατάνης τὸ καύχημα), and "the pledge and beloved protection of all Sicily." A
"Her divinity" (her divine presence), as Thomas Fazellus speaks in *De rebus Siculis* (Decade I, Book III, chapter 1), "as the guardian of the city of Catania," is celebrated with the greatest gathering of men and women from all of Sicily on the Nones of February. Nor is her birthday celebrated only by Catania on that day, but, as Radulphus de Rivo, dean of Tongeren in Belgium, wrote 250 years ago in his *General Ecclesiastical Calendar*, it is commemorated "everywhere in Sicily as the birthday of Saint Agatha, Virgin and Martyr, in the ninth lection." B It is ascribed to the most ancient martyrologies on that day. And so it is named. The most ancient Roman martyrology, which is frequently cited under the name of Saint Jerome, says: "In Sicily, in the city of Catania, the birthday of Saint Agatha the Virgin." Another source matches this, published by our own Heribert Rosweyde: "The passion of Saint Agatha, Virgin, at the city of Catania"; and the Richenovense or *Divitis Augiae*: "In Sicily, in the city of Catania, the passion of Saint Agatha, Virgin."
Usuardus writes more fully: "In Sicily, at the city of the Catanians, the birthday of Saint Agatha, Virgin and Martyr, who, after slaps and prison, after the rack and tortures, after the cutting off of her breasts, after being rolled on potsherds and coals, was finally brought to perfection under the judge Quintianus." Ado of Vienne has this in his *Martyrology*, as do various manuscripts, assigned even to the name of Bede: "In Sicily, at the city of the Catanians, the passion of Saint Agatha, Virgin, under the Emperor Decius, proconsul Quintianus: who, after slaps and prison, after the rack and tortures, after the cutting off of her breasts, yet after healing from the Lord, after being rolled on potsherds and coals, was finally brought to perfection in prison." C Whatever Ado and Usuardus express, others express the same, even more recent martyrologies; some are abridged, others more diffuse. Wandelbert of Prüm, who lived 1000 years ago, sings of her thus:
*The Nones of Agatha subjects the peoples of Sicily to herself,* *The virtue of the Virgin celebrated with distinguished splendor.*
The Menologium of the Greeks and the Anthologium report the same thing on this day. D
THE CONTEST OF THE HOLY AND TRIUMPHANT MARTYR OF CHRIST, AGATHA THE VIRGIN
A I. When Decius was Caesar, and Quintianus was governing the island of Sicily, which belongs to the prefecture of Italy, an edict was issued that whoever practiced the pious worship of the true God should be delivered up to a bitter death. The holy and noble-minded Agatha, being a native of the city of Palermo and appearing to be of a distinguished and brilliant family, having heard of this ungodly decree that had been noised abroad, held her country, lineage, glory, and all that pertains to temporary life in contempt and armed herself for the contests concerning Christ.
II. But Quintianus the governor, having heard about the holy and victorious Agatha—how she was fair and most comely and surpassed all the young women of her age—sought after how he might seize the virgin of God, and day by day, he troubled his own dark mind, and he ceased not until he should be able to bring the sting of his lust to effect. Therefore, he ordered that the maiden of Christ, who was illustrious and of noble birth, be arrested under the pretext that she was a Christian, and brought before him. Her character and manner of speech were so arrayed with distinction that she could easily, by the sheer excess of her beauty, subdue the minds of those who beheld her. But Quintianus, being depraved and perverse, when he saw the beauty of the virgin, was immediately taken with love, and at the same time, coveting her fortune, he betrayed the perturbation of his mind by his very countenance.
C III. Therefore, in these ways, as we have said, Quintianus, driven to frenzy, commanded his soldiers to seize the holy Agatha. They, having gone out from Catana, speak to her: "A decree has been issued against you by the Caesar and the governor, because you neither sacrifice to the gods whom the Augustus worships, nor do you venerate them according to the ancestral customs. But even now, be persuaded to sacrifice to the gods, that you may be with us.
1333 LIFE OF SAINT AGATHA THE VIRGIN. "But therefore, put aside sacrificing to them, so that we may bring you before the consul with all honor and glory." But Saint Agatha, having taken the shield from above—weapons not worldly, but prepared from above—bravely armed herself against the tyrant. And as the executioners were urging her to come to stand before the tyrant, she entered into her house and, lifting her eyes to heaven, said: "Master Lord, Jesus Christ, you know my disposition; you know my eagerness; do you yourself act as commander for me against the tyrant, for he is already dead and trampled underfoot by me. And now, Master Lord, for the sake of your perfect and most exalted name, in which I have lived a holy life, I beg you, hasten and conquer the devil, receiving my tears." IV. Having prayed thus, she went out from Panormus, like a wall unshaken and fortified on all sides, and walked eagerly with the executioners. And communing in her mind with the beauty of virtue, she said: "First, I have struggled for temperance, and I have conquered and trampled upon the author of evil, the devil, who sowed pleasures into the race of men, through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. But, O wicked one and enemy of the truth, do you not see my contest, which is immortal? In which both the righteous and the angels rejoice. I have as a spectator the immortal Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, surrounded by ten thousand ranks of angels." And saying these things in her mind, she wept. V. As she was walking, the strap of her sandal came undone, and having placed her foot upon a stone, she tied it; and turning back, she saw no one of the citizens and women who had been escorting her following her, but they had left her and departed. But Saint Agatha, being greatly grieved, prayed, saying: "Master Lord Almighty, for the sake of those who have disbelieved in your handmaid who is about to come for your name, show a great miracle." And immediately an unfruitful olive tree sprang up, marking the opinions of the Panormitans.
1334 [Latin text omitted as per instructions]
CHAPTER II. The constancy of Saint Agatha, tempted by flatteries and torments.
VI. Upon her entering into Catana, the governor ordered her to be handed over to a mistress of the house named Aphrodisia, who had young daughters, so that they might lead her astray through the flattery of their ways and words, and change her mind, and persuade her to sacrifice to the idols, and at times with great generosity...
A hoping to entice the holy Agatha with allurements into idolatry. But as they were contriving to despoil her reasoning with these deceptive enticements, the noble martyr of Christ, Agatha, answered and said: "My mind is founded upon a rock, and it can never be separated from the love of Christ. Your words have vanished like the wind; your discourses are rain, your threats are rivers. They have indeed lashed against our house, but they could not shake it at all, for it is founded upon the rock, which is Christ." And as she was saying these things, she did not cease to let a flood of tears pour down upon her breast. B For even as the deer pants for fountains of water, so did her soul desire to come to the arena of combat, hastening with great desire to bear every kind of torture for the sake of faith in Christ.
VII. Therefore, Aphrodisia, seeing that the mind of the holy Agatha was unconquerable and unshakable, approached Quintianus and said: "It is easier to soften stones or to turn iron into lead. For I and my daughters have done nothing else, day and night, without ceasing, now admonishing her, now bringing to bear threats. I have set before her eyes pearls, distinguished ornaments, costly garments, gold, houses, suburban estates, and slaves; yet she holds all these things as the dirt she treads beneath her feet, and considers them as nothing at all." Then Quintianus, in a rage, ordered her to be taken to the secretarium, and sitting before the tribunal, he addressed her: "From what lineage do you spring?" The holy Agatha said: "I am not only of a noble and illustrious lineage, but I also possess a kinship abounding in great wealth." Quintianus said: "If you are noble and illustrious, why are you cloaked in the manner of a slave?" Agatha said: "Indeed, you have spoken truly; for I am a handmaiden of Christ, and for this reason, I acknowledge myself as a slave." Quintianus said: "You are truly free; how then do you maintain that you are a slave?" Agatha said: "Our nobility and glory lie in that wherein the servitude of Christ is proclaimed." Quintianus said: "What then? Do we not possess freedom, we who despise the servitude of Christ?" Agatha said: "You have fallen into such servitude and captivity that you have become not only slaves of sin, but also worshippers of loathsome and senseless idols, attributing to stones and woods the honor that is owed to God." C
VIII. Quintianus said: "If you utter any insane blasphemies, you will be able to face punishment. But before you fall into my torture chambers, explain for what reason you despise the religion of the gods." Agatha said: "Do not say 'gods,' but 'demons,' whose likenesses in bronze and gold you gild, D while you see already the bright one pressing on, and brothers set against brothers; you are brothers of Christ, holy ones of a God-loving serenity. It is fitting to lie in the simplicity of Elisha, where it is fitting to make men humane and just; but you do so. Bringing forward these enemies, since you will embrace—or rather, you will make war. The harm is great. But do you think this to be good, to say before us: 'This says the Lord,' or do you not speak thus? Or are there false prophets among you, as is the custom? One might sooner assume that you harm rather than benefit those who hear you. I say that these are ignorant, whom you say worship the idols. For the Scripture does not command the worshipping of idols, but the fleeing from them; but if anyone worships, he is guilty, and this he has not learned from us. But not even you yourselves believe in what you say; for these are symbols, names attributed to fabricated gods; and the new gods were not in the beginning. Being men, as many myths testify, they were mythologized as gods for many reasons. But if you indeed do not believe these things to be true, why do you accuse us?
of being changed, whose marble and plaster faces you gild? A Quintianus said: "Choose a good counsel for yourself, and being persuaded, sacrifice; but if not, you shall undergo various tortures with the convicted, and you shall bring insult upon the dignity of your lineage, and in the end, being persuaded, you will sacrifice to the omnipotent gods."
Agatha said: "Let it be as your goddess Venus is your wife, and you become as Jupiter your god." Quintianus, having heard these things, ordered her to be beaten with rods, saying: "Do not bring insult to the magistrate with an arrogant mouth." Agatha said: "To the gods whom you said are yours, do you not wish to be a companion and counted among their number?" Quintianus said: "It is manifest that you desire many tortures, given that you incite me through your insults to proceed to this." Agatha said: "I marvel at you, being a prudent man, that you have arrived at such folly that you do not wish to be like your gods and be a partaker of their life. If then they are your gods and you worship them, behold I have prayed for you: how then do you say that I bring insult upon you, so that your life might be as theirs is? But if you reject their lot, then you also, with me, call them loathsome."
B IX. Quintianus said: "What arrogant words do you speak? Either sacrifice to the gods, or I shall deliver you to various tortures." Agatha said: "If you bring beasts upon me, having heard the name of Christ, they will become tame; and if you bring fire, angels from the heavens will provide me with dew; and if you bring lashes and scourges, I have the Spirit of truth who will deliver me from your hands." Then Quintianus, shaking his head, ordered her to be taken away into a dark prison, saying: "Reflecting within yourself, Agatha, repent so that you might be able to escape my tortures." Agatha said: "Repent yourself, so that you might be able to escape the eternal punishment." Enraged then, Quintianus ordered her to be dragged into the prison. And holy Agatha entered the prison with great joy, and as if into festivity, rejoicing, she commended her struggle with prayers to the Lord.
C X. On the following day, the impious Quintianus ordered her to stand before his tribunal, saying: "Have you reflected upon your safety?" Holy Agatha said: "My safety is Christ." Quintianus said: D "Unhappy one, whom [...]" [The Latin text continues: "to the tribunal ordered her to stand and thus addresses: Have you thought of your safety? St. Agatha answered: My safety is Christ. Quintianus said: Infelix, whom..."]
1339 FEBRUARY. 1340
he said: "How long, O wretched one, will you drag out your miserable reasoning? Renounce Christ and begin to worship the gods, and take thought for your life and your age, lest, deprived of them, you suffer an untimely death." Agatha said: "Renounce your own gods, who are stones and wood, and approach the Creator of all things, the true God who fashioned you, lest you fall into eternal punishments and unending torments." Quintianus, inflamed with fury, ordered her to be suspended and torn with iron claws. While she was enduring this, Quintianus said to her: "Change your mind, Agatha, so that your life may be spared." Agatha said: "Your torments bring me great delight. I rejoice no differently than one who has received good news and sees the one he desires, or one who has found treasure. Thus I delight in these temporary torments of yours, which you threaten to inflict upon me. For grain cannot be safely stored in a granary unless it is first stripped of its chaff. Likewise, my soul cannot be admitted into paradise unless my body has been mangled in every way by your executioners."
XI. Quintianus, becoming enraged, ordered her breast to be tortured first, and then, after it had been tortured for a long time and inhumanly, he ordered it to be cut off. But Saint Agatha said: "O impious, cruel, and sacrilegious tyrant, were you not ashamed to perform such things upon a woman, and to cut off the breast from which you yourself suckled at your mother's breast? Nevertheless, although you have cut off my exterior breast, I have another breast in my soul, which you will never be able to excise; for it has been consecrated to Christ my God from my infancy." Quintianus, angered, ordered her to be thrust into prison, and forbade any physician to be admitted to her, nor was bread or water to be given to her.
XII. When she had been shut up in prison, about midnight, the apostle Peter appeared to her in the form of an old man, preceded by a boy carrying a lamp; he himself had many medicines in his hand, and saying that he was a physician, he addressed her with these words: "The impious tyrant has indeed inflicted many and atrocious torments upon you; but he has achieved nothing, for he has rather withered away at the sight of your constancy; and for that reason, he ordered your breast to be tortured and then cut off. But his own soul is destined to remain in pain and torment forever. However, since I was present at that hour when you suffered these things, and having considered it, I saw that it is possible for your breast to be healed, for that reason I have come." Saint Agatha replied to him: "I have never applied medicine to my body; and now I would consider it shameful to break the excellent custom which I have steadfastly maintained from my earliest childhood." The old man replied: "I too am a Christian, and I am confident that you can be healed by me, and therefore I have come to you. Only do not be ashamed, and do not fear me." The Saint replied, saying: "How indeed can it be that, while you are worn with age, and I am a young girl whose body has been consumed by tortures, these very wounds should provoke my mind? Yet I ought to be more ashamed to uncover the wounds themselves indecorously. Wherefore I give you thanks, venerable Father, that you have deigned to come here."
And who is this Christ? Agatha said: He is the King of kings; even if you were to suffer ten thousand torments for Him, you would still be a debtor to His mercy. A Then, the tyrant, becoming enraged, ordered her to be stretched upon the rack and whipped. While she was being tortured, Agatha said: These things are not punishments to me, but as rain to the earth, for the grain is not able to be gathered into the barn unless it is first trampled upon.
When she had been cast back into prison, a man of venerable appearance appeared to her, holding a vessel of medicine. The jailers, seeing him, fled in terror, thinking he was a physician. He approached the virgin and said: Even though the tyrant has mangled your body with cruel whips, I have come to heal B you. Agatha said: I have never allowed any earthly physician to touch my body. The man said: I am a Christian. Agatha replied: Why then do you seek to act like a physician, when you know that I disdain such care? The old man said: I am an apostle of Christ, and He has sent me to you. Receive your healing. Agatha said: If you are an apostle of Christ, heal my breast. He replied: I am an apostle C of the Lord, wherefore I have come to heal your wounds; see that you were healed, and, having taken up the care and remedy for my body, I received it; I thank you, honorable Father, that you have deemed it worthy to come for this bodily care and healing; but know that no medicine prepared by men shall be applied to my body. The ambassador replied to her: Why do you not allow me to heal you? Saint Agatha said: I have my Lord, Jesus Christ, who by His nod heals all things; and by His word He raises up those who are broken. He himself, if He wills, can save even me, His unworthy handmaid. Then the ambassador smiled and said to her: He Himself sent me; for I am His apostle; see yourself, how you are healed. And having said these things, he vanished from her sight.
D XIII. Then, the holy Agatha, praying, said: I thank You, Lord Jesus Christ, that You have remembered me and sent to me Your apostle, who has strengthened me and restored my limbs. When she had finished her prayer, looking at her own body, she found her wounds healed and her breast restored. All that night a light surrounded the prison, so that from the brilliance the guards fled, leaving the prison doors open. Those who were prisoners there, seeing what had happened, said to Saint Agatha: Behold, the doors are open, and there is no one guarding; go out and flee. But Saint Agatha answered them: Far be it from me that I should be deprived of the crown of my struggles, and cast the jailers into danger. For having as my helper my Lord and God Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, unto the end I shall remain in the confession of Him who has healed and comforted me.
CAPUT IV.
The final struggle of Saint Agatha, her death, and the tyrant. Catana saved by her aid.XIV. Post a fourth day, Quintianus ordered her to be brought into the tribunal, and says to her: How long will you persist in opposing the decrees of the emperors? Either sacrifice to the gods, or I shall punish you with more terrible tortures. The holy virgin said: All your words are vain, and your deeds are lawless and those of kings, which pollute even the air itself. Therefore, O miserable and senseless man, tell me, who wishes to invoke as helpers stones and wood, in which there is no sensation? See, where you yourself cut off A part of the breast, another has sprouted in its place, by the power of my Lord Jesus Christ. Quintianus, having become enraged, said: Do you again name the Christ, whom I do not even wish to hear? Agatha said: I will not cease to call upon Him with my lips and to celebrate Him with my heart.
XV. Quintianus said: Now I shall know if Christ saves you. He ordered sharp potsherds to be spread, and coals of fire to be thrown, and for her to be cast among the coals. While these things were being done, suddenly that place was shaken, and a portion collapsed onto the floor and struck the tyrant's counselor, by name Silvanus, and his friend, named Falconius, by whose counsel he was doing…
A his lawless deeds. And not only this, but the entire city of Catania was shaken vehemently by the force of the earthquake, so that all the citizens ran together to the praetorium, and greatly terrified the governor.
XVI. Then Quintianus, trembling first at the earthquake, and second, disturbed by the uprising of the people, ordered the holy Agatha to be taken back to the prison. And as she entered the prison, stretching out her hands to heaven, she said: "I thank you, O Lord, that you have counted me worthy to struggle for your name, having taken from me the desire of the present life, and having also granted endurance to my body. Yourself, Master Lord, hear me and count your servant worthy to leave this world and attain your rich mercy." Having finished her prayer, she immediately gave up her spirit.
XVII. When the people heard this, they ran with all eagerness to the prison and placed the relics of the courageous martyr in a secure place. And a certain youth, leading with him one hundred boys, dressed most beautifully, and likewise unknown to all who dwelt in the city of the Catanian people, coming to the place where her holy relics lay, brought a marble slab and placed it there, inscribing it thus: "A holy mind, a spontaneous honor to God, and the deliverance of the fatherland." And having placed it inside at the head of the holy one, and having sealed the casket, he departed, so that he was seen no more in the city; whence arose the suspicion that he was an angel of the martyr.
XVIII. But Quintianus, when he heard that the holy martyr had departed this life, set out to seize her possessions: therefore, taking his whole cohort, he hastened to Palermo. B But having scarcely begun his journey, by the just judgment of God, in a certain river not far from Catania, named Psemithus, he perished. For as he wished to cross it, and had entered the ferry with his horses, two of them began to rage and attack him; and the one, running against his face, choked him, while the other ceased not to strike with its hooves until it had cast him into the river Psemithus; and although many sought his body, it could never be found until this day.
XIX. These things having been done in this way, the honor and reverence of the holy martyr Agatha grew, and no one dared to do harm to any of her kin. But that it might be certain and unshakable—the report which had now spread that it was an angel who had placed the slab in her tomb—as the year was fulfilled, on the day of her...
A completion, and Mount Etna vomited forth fire. Like a roaring river, it descended with great violence, melting the stones like wax from the summit of the mountain in order to burn and destroy the whole city of the Catanians. Those dwelling round about and near the mountain, although they were Greeks, ran to the temple of the martyr, and, taking off the veil that surrounded it, they stood with the chest facing the fire; and with that, by the providence of God, the divine fire stood still immediately and at once. This miracle occurred on the fifth day of February, the day on which she finished her contest, on which day also, celebrating, we glorify our Lord Jesus Christ, our God, that through her intercessions we may receive remission of sins and the great mercy, now and always, and for the ages of ages. Amen. B
OF SAINT PARTHENIUS, BISHOP OF LAMPSACUS IN THE HELLESPONT
(4th Century, February 7th. Acta Sanctorum Bolland. for this day.)1. "The Hellespont," as Pliny writes (Bk. IV, ch. 11), "separating Europe from Asia by seven stadia, contains four cities opposite each other: in Europe, Callipolis and Sestos, and in Asia, Lampsacus and Abydos." And Lampsacus indeed (for this is what the Greeks call the place that exists in Pliny, Bk. V, ch. 32; Ptolemy, Bk. V, ch. 2; Socrates, Bk. IV, ch. 4; Stephanus; Strabo, Bk. XIII). "Lampsacus, therefore," as Strabo says, "borders on the sea, a city memorable for the excellence of its harbor and other things: previously called Pityusa because of its abundance of pines, as Stephanus says, 'because there are many pines there.' It is, however, situated in the narrow part of the Hellespont, as Socrates has it."
2. It was Saint Parthenius, bishop, who illustrated it with holiness and miracles during the reign of Constantine the Great: whose festival is noted as being celebrated on the 7th of February by Molanus in his additions to Usuard, and by Ferrarius in his general catalog of the Saints. The Menologium published by Henricus Canisius speaks of him briefly: "Commemoration of Saint Parthenius, bishop of Lampsacus." A more lengthy encomium of him exists in the Anthologium and the Menaea: and in these indeed the Office of this day begins thus: "Glory of the Hellespont, light of Lampsacus, lantern with the splendors of wonderful works, great Parthenius, calls us all by his memory to perform a spiritual solemnity, to celebrate Christ the Savior."
3. Crispinus, his disciple (as is believed), described his life in a simple and candid style, certainly a citizen of Lampsacus and a contemporary, as he himself indicates in ch. 2, n. 16, with these words: "A certain man named Maximus, from the city of Byza in Thrace, who was a disciple of one of those who are among us as deacons, named Pserta." Metaphrastes interpolated Crispinus’s narrative in many places. Gentianus Hervetus translated this Life from the Greek; Aloysius Lipomanus published it, and Laurentius Surius published it after him.
4. Crispinus indicates the time of Saint Parthenius when he mentions that he journeyed to Byzantium to Constantius the Great. And Nicephorus Callistus (Bk. VIII, ch. 42) says: "Besides these," he says (that is, Spiridion and Nicholas), "there was also Parthenius, a bishop of a certain city in the Hellespont, famous for the splendor of his life, his humanity, and his great prodigies, so much so that, having received power from God, he raised the dead, commanded demons, and stood forth as a prompt and free curator of every kind of illness." Baronius treats of him in Vol. III, for the year 337, number 38 and following, and judges that he also took part in the Council of Nicaea.
1347 MONTH OF JANUARY. 1348
LIFE AND CONDUCT OF OUR HOLY FATHER PARTHENIUS, WHO BECAME BISHOP OF LAMPSACUS
(Now edited in Greek for the first time from the Royal Parisian Manuscript 1452, 10th century. EDIT. PATR.)
I. Moved by desire and love, I, the sinner Crispinus, have endeavored to write down the admirable and glorious life and the upbringing from childhood of our holy Father Parthenius, who was bishop of Lampsacus. For it is full of benefit for the soul, and is able to show to those who read it what things God provides to those who love Him. This blessed and renowned Parthenius had a father named Christodulus, by rank a deacon of the holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of God which was in Melito, unskilled in letters, but most excellent in his memory of the Holy Scriptures. Growing in age, he would go to the nearby lake, and there he would fish, and he would supply the trade of fish for the use of those in need. For from his earliest age, having been deemed worthy of the grace of God, he hid himself. But from the time of eighteen years, beginning to perform signs, he would expel demons from men by the invocation of His name. When, however, good report about him was celebrated by the speech of many, the bishop of the city of Melito, by name Philetus, having heard about Saint Parthenius, summoned him and, having praised him much, even against his will ordained him presbyter and visitor of the holy Church of the city of Melito. Furthermore, the grace of healings also worked with him in all the sick, and he performed many admirable signs in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
II. Among other things, it happened once that he met a man whose eye had been gouged out by a bull, which he was carrying in his hand and lamenting. When the holy man had taken it and placed it in its own place, moistening it with water, in three days he restored it to health. A certain woman, who had a cancer growing on the shameful parts of her body, begged the holy man to receive a cure for the affliction.
(1) Melitopolis is mentioned. It seems to be near the place where, as Pliny writes (V, 32), the Rhyndacus rises in Lake Artynia, although it is called Milatopolis.
A and having made upon her forehead the sign of Christ, he healed her immediately; the disease fell from her like a kind of cancer, and dropped to the ground. All those present, having witnessed this stupendous miracle, gave praise to the wonder-working God. As the blessed man was going on his way to visit a certain sick person, suddenly a dog of immense size and murderous intent, having broken the chain that bound it, leaped out from the house of one of the great men and went toward him, and stood upright over his body. The holy man, having breathed upon it and made the sign of the cross of Christ, immediately withered it, and threw it dead from his shoulders onto the ground.
B III. Having heard these things and matters similar to these, the most holy bishop of the metropolis of the Cyzicenians at that time, by name Ascholius, sent for this holy Parthenius, and promoted him to the dignity of the episcopacy, and bestowed a very great gift upon the city of Lampsacus. Now the man of God, Parthenius, having arrived at the city dedicated to him, Lampsacus, and finding it given over to the worship of idols, was grievously troubled. Yet he did not cease, according to the Apostle, to admonish, to exhort, to rebuke, to show them the way of truth and the vanity of the idols, and working miracles in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and healing their sick, he thus drew them little by little to the knowledge of Christ. And seeing them progress in the faith and despise the idols, he desired to pull down the temples of the vain gods and to build a church in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. C But hesitating, he reasoned that since the emperor is Christian and pious, it is right that the demolition of the idol temples should be done with his consent. Having deliberated these things, the servant of Christ, having departed from the city of Lampsacus, arrived at the imperial city. By coincidence, it happened the next day that the pious emperor Constantine descended in a carriage to visit the fields of grain; and the holy man approaching, set forth his request. And the truly Christ-loving emperor received his request kindly, and was very glad; and he ordered him to proceed to the palace, until he should return from the fields of grain. And having arrived, he gladly received the holy man, and embraced him, and asked him to pray for him. D With all speed he ordered a decree to be made for the sake of the demolition of the idol temples, and having confirmed this with his divine letters, he gave them to the blessed man, and provided him with sufficient gold for the completion of the holy Church of God, and having embraced him, he sent him away in peace.
IV. Having returned to his own city, Lampsacus, the blessed man proceeded with the demolition of the temples, and having designed a most beautiful house of God, he himself stood over the work with great zeal,
A for he did not permit foreigners who were sailing in and out of the city to pass by without first seeing him; and being deemed worthy of a blessing from him, they would depart carrying it with them as a provision for all good things. B Now, there came to him a man who secretly possessed a spirit of an unclean demon. Having had this for a long time, he was unaware of it. So this man, when he saw the saint, greeted him. But Parthenius, the man of God, recognizing the demon that was dwelling within him, did not return the greeting. The demon, confounded, said to the holy man: "Since I had a desire to see you, I greeted you; but you did not return my greeting." The holy man said to him: "Why then is this? Behold, you have seen me." The demon says: "Yes, I both saw you and recognized you." The saint says: "If in truth you have seen and recognized me, come out from the creation of God." The demon said: "Is this the whole point, that you should drive me out? I beg of you, after such a long time, do not cast me out." The blessed one says to him: "You have had time enough from when you first dwelt in him." The demon said: "From my childhood, and I have not been known until now by you: but since you are casting me out, where do you permit me to go?" The holy man said: "I will give you a place to which you may depart." The demon said: "You will certainly tell me to go into the swine." The saint said to him: "I will not, but I give you a humble man; do you enter and dwell there. Now, however, come out of this one." The demon said: "Do you do this in truth, or only for as long as it takes to cast me out?" The holy man said: "I speak to you in truth; I have a man prepared for you, in whom you must dwell: only come out quickly." C The demon, persuaded by the holy man's terms, asked that the promise be brought to effect. Then the holy man, opening his mouth, said to the demon: "Behold, I am the man: enter and dwell in me." But the demon, as if seared by fire at that word, cried out, saying: "Woe is me! You are driving me out after all this time, when I am in another's vessel, and what evil have I suffered at your hands? How can I enter into a house of God? It is not possible to hear the truth from you Christians." Then the demon, having departed from the man, went into desert and inaccessible places; and the man became whole by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, (2) and he gave constant praise and glory to God and to his holy servant Parthenius.
D When the work of building the holy church of Christ was perfected, the man of God applied himself with zeal to the setting up of the table upon which it was fitting that the spiritual and unbloody sacrifice be offered to the Lord. And having found in a certain place, once dedicated to idols, a precious stone that was suitable to be fitted and worked by artisans for the sought-after task of the table, he caused it to be beautifully crafted and adapted. When the work was finished, he ordered it to be brought to the church. So when the artisans had placed the stone upon the wagon and yoked the oxen, they were leading it into the city. But the devil, envious and jealous of good works, not bearing the fire of the divine zeal of the saint,
1353 LIFE OF ST. PARTHENIUS. 1354
[The holy man], unable to bear the fire of zeal for God, disturbed the oxen, which suddenly, with an irresistible impulse, threw to the ground the man who was driving them, named Eutychianus. The wagon, catching him, broke all the structure of his internal organs through the movement of the wheel, and thus he expired. When the servant of God, Parthenius, learned what had happened, he said: "This is clearly the work of Satanic malice. You shall not hinder the work of God in this, O devil." And immediately taking with him the pious men who were with him, he ran to the place, and standing near the corpse, he bowed his holy knees and prayed intensely to God with tears, saying: "You, Master God, the Lord of life and death, are not ignorant of the reason why the author of evil, the enemy, has plotted death against your creature. But, O most benevolent One, show now also that his attempt is in vain, and make your servant Eutychianus a partaker of life, showing your invincible power to those who believe in you. For you are the only God, and to you belongs glory forever. Amen."
When the just man had sent up these prayers to God, the spirit of the dead man returned to his body, and he who had been dead began to speak in the sight of all the people: "Glory to you, Jesus Christ, who raises the dead." And having immediately risen and become as healthy as he was before, he took the oxen and pulled the wagon as far as the house of the holy church.
VI. Then all who saw this miracle, which was beyond expectation, brought from everywhere the sick and those troubled by evil spirits; and by the power of the Lord, they were all healed. Every medical art in the days of this holy man was weak, because every kind of disease was healed freely in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Among these, he healed in three full days the daughter of Dionysius, the praepositus of the imperial household, a virgin named Daphne, who was severely tormented by a demon. He also healed another, the daughter of a certain Mamalius, a prince of the city of Smyrna, named Agalmatia, who was vexed by an unclean spirit, foaming and withering away. Zoele, by name, who had come from the Persians and was miserably crushed by a divining demon, he freed in no long time by the grace of the Lord. Again, another young man from the Huns, the son of a presbyter, named Nicon, who was being severely tormented by an evil spirit—his parents brought him and threw him at the feet of the saint, begging him to have mercy on the youth of the wretched one and to free him from the unclean demon. The holy man said to them: "He is not worthy to be healed. For the thorn of the spirit was given to him for correction, because he is a parricide. For you, having been often despised by him in the bitterness of your soul, asked God that he be corrected. Leave him be, for it is profitable for him." But they, being parents and overcome by their bowels of compassion, cried out with tears, begging him to pray to God for him, so that he might be redeemed from the demon. The blessed one, having compassion on the uncontrollable tears of the parents, intensely...
A of the shedding of his parents' tears, he prayed intensely to God for him; and the demon immediately departed from him, and the man was cleansed. And his parents received him whole, and went home praising and glorifying God.
VII. A certain woman from Aribis, near Abydus, possessed by a serpentine spirit that hissed and killed many, was brought to the servant of God, Parthenius. B Having rebuked the spirit, he healed her and sent her away to her own people. Also, the parents of a certain virgin from Abydus, the daughter of Synodius, who was being cruelly driven in the mountains by an unclean spirit, seized her and brought her to the righteous man; and he, having laid his hands upon her and prayed, healed her. Moreover, they brought to the servant of God, Parthenius, a certain soldier named Axanus, who had all his limbs paralyzed. He wetted him with water and prayed, and sent him home to his house walking. Again, another man, a Syrian by race, named Alanus, who was suffering C from the operation of a wicked demon dwelling within him—having been pulled from the table of the catechumens of the holy church which the holy man had built, and having been hung up and dragged and rendered as one dead—the servant of God arrived at the corpse, and by his prayer he also brought him to life and drove the demon from him. A certain Eutropus from Pareus brought his wife to the saint, for she had an unclean spirit, and he entreated him much that he might pray for her, that she might be healed of the demon that was afflicting her. The holy man, yielding to his entreaty, took hold of her, and having breathed into her eyes, and prayed over her head D while glorifying God, he sent her away to her own house with him. A certain Acacia from the estate called Chelali, who was being crushed by an unclean spirit, was brought to him, and by the power of the Lord he cast out the demon and released her healthy. A certain woman named Eucheria, the wife of Agapius the Magistrianus of Heraclea, having been afflicted by sorcery and having her insides eaten away, was brought to the saint; and when he had prayed for her for three days and had given her of the oil of the saints, he sent her home healthy.
VIII. A certain Maximianus from the city of Byza in Thrace, who was a student of one of our deacons named Psertas, fell into a sickness of intestinal colic A, and was given up for dead by all. When his parents learned of this, they came from Byza to Lampsacus to bury him. And having taken him together with his little bed, led by faith, they brought him into the holy church, and placed him at the entrance of the bishop, through which the servant of God was about to pass. When the holy man Parthenius came and saw him lying on the bed breathless, and his parents lamenting, and all who were present weeping, he also wept; and having bent his knees, he prayed to God for him, and by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, he restored his spirit to him, and the dead man sat up and began to speak.
He lifted him up by the hand and restored him to his parents, so that the whole city glorified God for what had occurred. A certain deaconess, named Theophila, from the village of Asermos in Chersonesus, and with her, Rufina, a young girl from the same village, who had been rendered paralytic by an unclean spirit, were brought to the holy man; and after he had sprinkled them with water and prayed over them for a few days, he sent them away to their own homes healthy by the power of the Lord. A certain presbyter named Hilary, from Sansadia, had an only son named Thalassius, who had been bereft of his senses by an evil spirit and was brought to the holy man; he, too, after praying over him for seven full days, restored him to his natural state, and having given thanks to the Lord together with his father, he sent him away. He also healed a poor widow named Calliope, and another girl with her named Cyriaca—both of whom were afflicted by an unclean spirit—having brought them before him and cured them through prayer to God; and having given them what was necessary for their sustenance, he sent them away in peace. B
IX. Furthermore, beyond these and other wonders that cannot be described, it happened at that time that the imperial dye-works for purple was obstructed by an unclean spirit that had fallen upon it, preventing the usual dyeing from being completed—nay, even clearly showing himself as an unclean daemon to the dyers and not allowing the imperial work to be finished—in such a way that the servants and the dyers were enduring great danger and loss because of this. Upon learning this, the holy man readily arrived at the place of the dye-works and, calling the unclean daemon who was at work there, rebuked him in the terrible and holy name of God, and made him disappear from all his activity, though he cried out to the hearing of all that he was being driven by fire into the Gehenna of fire. When the holy man gave the order, the dyers filled the cauldrons, and in his presence they lowered the wool, which from that time received the necessary dye without hindrance for all time thereafter; and thus those who administered the state and all the dyers were delivered from the imperial danger.
X. Hear another great miracle that was performed by our holy Father Parthenius. In the season of the tuna fishery, when the fish were visible to the fishermen as if they were already in their hands, yet when the nets were cast they achieved nothing but merely endured the labor. This impediment was caused by a diabolical breeze; it did not occur at only one or two ports, but along the entire coastline as far as Abydos. And all being gathered together at the same place, they begged the righteous man to pray to God for them. While he was praying with fasting and weeping, God revealed the satanic activity to him. Having risen, he did not hesitate to go to each port as far as Abydos, and blessing water and casting salt into it, calling upon God C...
A and allowed him, while he was present, to make the customary catch of fish. Then, letting down their nets with great joy, by the power of the Lord and the prayer of the holy man, they all obtained such a great amount in the catch that they made up for the deficiency of the past time. While the holy man was sitting at the emporium of Cataptelea, and the fishing was taking place, and the net was being dragged, a huge tuna leaped from the net and threw itself at the feet of the holy man; having signed it and prayed over it, he ordered it to be cut up and distributed to the brothers to the glory of God.
XI. Once, they brought to the blessed Parthenius a man from Heraclea named Callistus, whose feet had been loosened by diabolical activity. Having prayed over him B by the power of the Lord, he sent him back to his own house walking on his own feet. They also brought to the man of God another man, named Lesbus, from the island called Oa, who was ulcerated from his feet to his head, in no way differing from a leper. He anointed him with oil and prayed for three whole days, and sent him home healthy. I have made known to your charity in part, as much as I was able, from the many and great miracles done by him through the grace of Christ—not as one who makes a speech to praise the Father in order to adorn him, because "the Lord will destroy all who speak lies" (Ps. CXVII, 20), but because the events themselves bear witness, even those that happened after his passing. And so it was that, while he was still alive, when someone had summoned him, he went to the metropolis of Thrace, Heraclea; and meeting the archbishop who was there, named Hypatianus, who had been reduced to the final extremity, he asked the cause of the sickness. C When the blessed Parthenius knew through divine revelation that he was being chastised for avarice—as one who usurped the property of the poor and deprived them—he went again at dawn to visit him and said to him: "Rise, great lord. For you do not have a bodily infirmity, but you are being chastised by a soul-sickness; put this aside, and you will be healthy again." The man answered him: "I also know that I am a sinner, and for this reason I am being chastised; but pray for me that I may be relieved of my iniquities." The holy man said to him: "If one sins against a man, perhaps prayer for him will be heard; but your case concerns God. Therefore, restore what belongs to the poor to God, and you will be healthy in soul and body." Then, coming to himself, he said: "In truth, Father, I have sinned against the Lord; but the Lord is righteous." And having called his steward, he ordered all the gold that had been collected from the poor to be brought into the middle, and much gold was brought. The bishop begged the holy man to distribute it to the poor; but he D did not agree, saying, "Since God gives you strength, restore to them yourself what is theirs." Then, having sat on a carriage, he went to the martyry of the holy martyr Glyceria, and gathering all the needy of the city, he distributed it to all without stint. And the merciful God, who did not overlook the two mites of the poor widow, and the rich intention of the widow... [index: entries preserved on following pages of source]
1361 LIFE OF ST. PARTHENIUS. 1362
[He] accepted the repentance of the prophet Elijah, and did not turn away from the tears of the sinful harlot, and justified the sighing of the publican; He himself also, having accepted the repentance of the aforementioned archbishop, granted him perfect health in three days.
XII. The servant of God, Parthenius, went about every day to the houses of prayer in the city, performing the customary prayers. Entering into the martyrdom [shrine] called Achilas, he found there a certain man lying [who was] completely withered. Having asked for oil and prayed, and having bent his knees, he besought God for him with tears. And having risen from prayer, he softened him gently and little by little with the oil; immediately and at that very hour he made him rise up whole, and sent him away to his own home on his own feet. When this paradoxical miracle had occurred in the city of Heraclea, all who had infirmities ran to the man of God, and by the power of Christ they all returned whole. Hypatianus, the archdeacon of the city of Heraclea at that time, was also with him when these miracles were happening. Seeing this, he fell at the feet of the holy man, beseeching him with tears, because in his estate much had been sown, but because of the drought everything had withered; "But come to the place and pray to God, so that He may grant rain to the land, that the whole countryside may be saved." The holy man went readily to the place proposed; and having arrived at the place, and seeing everything withered, he bent his knees and stretched his hands to the heavens, and with tears besought God to send down rain upon the land for the production of fruit. And the lover of mankind, God, who always does the will of those who fear Him, while the prayer was still in the mouth of the saint, the heaven was covered by clouds and rain descended and satisfied the whole land. When they had entered into the field, he asked for a dwelling in which he might perform his prayers. And the archdeacon, the master of the field, led him into one of the small chambers, and he spent the night there in prayers. And in the morning, having called the archdeacon, he said to him: "Take heed to yourself; for you are not ignorant of how the bishop was chastised because of avarice; for God showed me in this night that you will become bishop not many days hence. See, therefore, that you make provision for the poor; for this pleases God above all things."
XIII. The archdeacon therefore besought him to go into the estate and pray for the fields and the vines; in which, having entered into one very large field that had nothing, he said to him: "Why did you not sow it, being so very large?" And the syndic having become...
[continued from previous page...] A he weeping, said: "It is sown, my master; but my sins and the drought, as you see, have withered it." The saint says to him: "How many modii of grain did God grant you from this land?" He said: "A thousand, my master." The saint then said to him: "Do not be sad, brother. All things are possible to him who believes. Nevertheless, I tell you through me, a sinner, that at harvest time, if you harvest the fruit of this land alone, you will find, as you have said, the thousand modii, because it is easy in the sight of God to do this." He led him also to a newly planted vineyard; it was entirely withered and eaten by worms on account of the drought. The place was large enough to hold eighty modii of seed; and having cast salt, he sprinkled the whole B vineyard and said to the archdeacon: "Be of good courage, for God is giving you from this place a sufficient blessing according to what is pleasing to Him." And when they had entered the city, he went up to the bishop to take leave of him and set sail. He came out to meet him, and embraced him. When they had sat down, the saint said to the bishop: "I bring you good news, O great lord, that after not many days you will depart from the body and dwell with the Lord. For behold, He has called you, and you will leave behind a good successor, as God has revealed to me, your archdeacon, the lord Hypatianus." The bishop said: "The will of the Lord be done." And having kissed one another with a holy kiss, thus the C saint set sail from Heraclea and reached his own city, Lampsacus.
XIV. And it came to pass not many days later that the bishop of Heraclea was seized by a disease and rested in Christ. In his stead, the lord Hypatianus, the archdeacon, became bishop, as the servant of God, Parthenius, had said. When it was summer, the bishop Hypatianus went out to his field to gather the fruits of the earth and to thresh the produce of the land that had been withered, and he found the thousand modii full of wheat, according to the word of the servant of God, Parthenius. Likewise, also in the time of the vintage, from the plantation of the withered vines God granted a great quantity of wine. Having experienced the outcome of what the saint had predicted, he took the tithes of D both the fruits, namely both the dry and the liquid, and putting them on a boat, he led them to Lampsacus to offer them as a gift to the saint. But he refused to receive them, saying to the lord bishop Hypatianus: "Giving thanks to the Lord for everything, distribute them to the brethren." And having kissed one another, the bishop returned to the city of Heraclea and distributed the wheat and the wine to the brethren according to the command of the man of God. The bishop Hypatianus, therefore, did not cease until the end of his life to recount to all the great things of God, which He did through His servant Parthenius.
XV. When then the servant of God and venerable man Parthenius had shone in this pious and angelic life upon the earth and had turned many from the idols to the living, true God, and was, as it were, seized by illness, having been called by God, he rested in peace.
[The Greek text following now appears to pertain to a different narrative, shifting to a new subject...]
"But though he was in a state of comfort, what need is there to speak of the friendship he had with Septimius? Not only did he have access without fear, but the master of the house himself called him his own. This led other officials to envy, and they countered his kindnesses, seeking an accusation against him. Having found the cause in the faith of Christ, they brought him before the governor, shouting that he was a Christian and did not sacrifice to the gods. The governor held discourse with him, and many times called upon him to sacrifice; but since the blessed man bravely prevented this, he proceeded to punishment.
XV. And indeed, he devised such a torture for him that none of those who arrived at him could bear it. For there was a river flowing there, which at one time flowed strongly, but then dried up, and being full of shells and rough stones, was called Lampadia; he dragged him there naked and forced him to walk on it with his feet. And he gladly endured this punishment, walking along the whole course of the river. There the marvelous Anatolius, moved by pity, supported him; and the persecutors, learning of this, arrested him too. Thus the glorious Decoratus was involved in their struggles.
XVI. There, indeed, the judge, showing himself a great governor, threatened Anatolius as well. But he scorned that threat, seeking only to receive the crown of martyrdom. Then he ordered them to bind the two with stones and throw them into the sea. And since there was no argument against this from them, suddenly an angel of God came to the prison, and loosened the bonds, and opened the prison, and said to them: "Go out." Then a certain man named Eustathius stood by, saying he was a guard and ordered them to come to him; and when they came, he was catechized by them and came to the faith.
XVII. The governor, learning of the event, likewise combined this man with the rest; and he ordered all of them to be handed over to the sea at once. And the angels of God having led them out by night, they were taken again. The judge was in great rage, seeing them escaping his hands. Finally, he cut off the heads of all with a sword; and thus they received the consummation of martyrdom, receiving the unfading crowns from Christ, the author of the contest.
A The bishop mentioned above, Hypatianus, having heard of the translation of the renowned man in Christ, leaving everything he had in hand, departed from the city of Heraclea; and by a favorable wind, with God commanding it, he reached Lampsacus that very night. Likewise, both the archbishop of Cyzicus and the bishop of the city of Melitos, in which he was also born, and Eustathius of Parium, and the others from the cities roundabout, arrived; and thus with psalms and hymns they laid him to rest near the church in the oratory which he himself had built. The servant of God, Parthenius, passed away in the Roman month of February on the 7th, but according to the Asians on the 15th, having left behind for us no small amount of teaching through his perfect and unwavering faith in God; for even after his passing, he does not cease to perform miracles through his intercession toward God, expelling demons and healing every illness and infirmity by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father be glory and worship, and to the all-holy Spirit, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
CONCERNING SAINT NICEPHORUS THE MARTYR AT ANTIOCH IN SYRIA
(Circa the year 258, February 9th. Acta SS. Bolland. for this day.)1. Among the cruel persecutions brought upon Christians by Roman emperors in the first centuries, the eighth is considered to be that of Valerian, with his son Gallienus reigning, in the fourth year of the empire, 257 A.D., in which more illustrious martyrs fell—in Rome, the holy pontiffs Stephen and Sixtus, and the archdeacon Laurence; in Carthage, Saint Cyprian; and in the East, Saint Nicephorus, of whom we treat here, and others elsewhere.
2. We have obtained two accounts of this martyr from a Greek manuscript of the King of France, of very great age and written long before the time of the Metaphrast; the former are by an uncertain author, which the Metaphrast edited with some interpolations, and which, having been translated into Latin by Gentianus Hervetus, Lipomanus and Surius published. We provide the same, but that which is missing in the Greek manuscript, or appears as a later addition, we distinguish with a different font, and for the most part explain in the notes. The title of these in Greek is: "The Contest of the holy and great martyr Nicephorus, and against the memory of injuries."
3. The Greeks celebrate 9 February with an ecclesiastical office for Saint Nicephorus the martyr, as their Menologies, Horologia, and Anthologia indicate. In the Menology of Cardinal Sirleti, edited by Canisius, these things are read: "Saint Nicephorus the martyr, who suffered martyrdom under the emperors Valerian and Gallienus." From several encomia which exist in the Menaea, we provide this one, by the monk John, excerpted from the Vespers: "You have manifestly shown to all, O invincible Nicephorus, that he who does not love his neighbor cannot love the Lord either. Wherefore, because you embraced with sincere love Sapricius, your fellow servant, you were eagerly assumed into divine love, and you gave your soul for the faith and confession of Christ. But unhappy Sapricius, because he harbored irreconcilable hatred against you, he even denied Christ God."
1367 MONTH OF FEBRUARY. THE MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY GREAT MARTYR NICEPHORUS AND AGAINST THE REMEMBRANCE OF WRONGS 1368 THE CONTEST OF THE HOLY AND GREAT MARTYR NICEPHORUS AND AGAINST THE REMEMBRANCE OF WRONGS. (Greek from the Royal Manuscript of Paris, no. 1453, 10th century, now published for the first time. EDIT. PATR.)
CHAPTER I. The most hostile hatred of St. Nicephorus and Sapricius from their highest friendship.
I. At that time there was a certain presbyter in great Antioch of Syria, by the name of Sapricius. There was also another man, who was called Nicephorus: he was a layman by rank, and a very genuine friend of the same presbyter. Both loved each other so mutually that they were thought to be genuine brothers, born from one womb; so much so that their mutual love was excellent. But when they had lived for a long time in this affection, the enemy of the human race, who is hostile to what is good and honest and most wicked, envying them, brought about such dissension between them that they did not even wish to meet each other in the street, because of the demonic hatred which they had conceived against one another.
II. But when they had been in this state for a sufficiently long time, Nicephorus, coming to himself and recognizing that the hatred was diabolical, asked certain friends to go to the presbyter Sapricius and ask him on behalf of Nicephorus to forgive him his fault and to receive him, as he was led to repentance, for the sake of the Lord. But he did not wish to forgive him. He then sent other friends again to be reconciled to him. But the presbyter Sapricius did not even endure to listen to them as they asked. Therefore, Nicephorus again asked certain other friends and sent them to him, so that he might deign to grant him forgiveness for his offense: so that, in accordance with the divine utterance, "in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may stand." But he, being hard-hearted and implacable, and having forgotten our Lord Jesus Christ, who says: "Forgive, and it shall be forgiven you," and again: "If you offer your gift at the altar, and remember that you have something against..."
[...]"forgive your trespasses" — and although all were asking and entreating him, he did not forgive his brother.
III. Now the most godly and faithful Nicephorus, seeing that Sapricius had despised the common friends who, asking for forgiveness on his behalf, had not obtained it, ran himself to the house of Sapricius and threw himself at his feet, saying: "Forgive me, Father, for the Lord's sake." But not even then did he wish to be reconciled to him as a friend to a friend, especially when he was being entreated, and when he was actually obligated—even without being entreated—to accept him at the first request, as a Christian and a priest, and one who had professed to serve the Lord. B
CHAPTER II. Sapricius, refusing to cast off his hatred, falls from martyrdom.
IV. Now as these things were being done, suddenly a persecution and great affliction arose in the city of Antioch, where both dwelt. Sapricius was seized and delivered to the governor; and as he stood before him, the governor said: "What is your name?" Sapricius said: "I am called Sapricius." The governor said: "Of what lineage are you?" Sapricius said: "I am a Christian." The governor said: "A cleric or a layman?" And Sapricius said: "I hold the rank of presbyter." C The governor said: "Our Augusti and masters of this region and of the Roman borders, Valerian and Gallus, have commanded that those who call themselves Christians must sacrifice to the immortal and eternal gods. But if anyone, despising this, rejects it, let him know that he shall be bent by varied punishments of tortures, and thus be condemned to a most grievous death." But Sapricius, standing there, said to the governor: "We Christians have Christ as our King, because He is the true God and Creator of heaven and earth and sea and all things in them; but all the gods of the gentiles are demons. Let them therefore perish from the face of all the earth, those who can help no one, nor hurt or hinder anyone, being works of the hands of men." D
V. Then the governor, being angered, ordered him to be cast into the cochlea and to be tortured severely and bitterly. Sapricius said to the governor: "Over my flesh you have authority to exercise your cruelty, but over my soul you have no authority, unless the Lord Jesus Christ, who created it, wills it." And having been tortured for a long time, he endured the tortures. But the judge, seeing that he did not persuade him, gave the sentence against him, saying: "The presbyter Sapricius, who treats with contempt the imperial edicts and has become disobedient to the immortal gods, not wishing to..."
A When he had thus gone forth, having received the sentence of martyrdom and hastening toward the heavenly crown, Saint Nicephorus, hearing of this, came running to meet him, and casting himself at his feet, he said, "Martyr of Christ, forgive me, for I have sinned against you." But he answered him not a word. Saint Nicephorus again anticipated him by another road and met him before he had left the city, and he besought him, saying, "I entreat you, martyr of Christ, grant me forgiveness and pardon for what I have done against you as a man. Behold, now the crown is given to you by the Lord, whom you have not denied, but have confessed His holy name before many witnesses." But he, having a hardened heart, neither granted him forgiveness nor wished to answer him a word, so much so that the executioners themselves said to Nicephorus, "We have never seen such a foolish man. He is going to capital punishment, and you ask for forgiveness from a man who is about to die?" Saint Nicephorus said, "You do not know what I am asking of this confessor of Christ; but God knows."
B
VII.
And when he had reached the place where Sapricius was to be put to death, Saint Nicephorus again said to him, "I beseech you, martyr of Christ, forgive me if I have sinned in any way, as a man. For it is written, 'Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.' But as he said these things and such like, the cruel and harsh friend did not listen, nor was the most rigid companion softened; for he closed his ears as a deaf and dumb asp, which will not hear the voice of the charmer. Therefore the truthful Lord also said, 'If you do not forgive, it shall not be forgiven you.'C
VIII.
When the Lord saw that he was not touched by any pity for his neighbor, nor did he have compassion, but rather an irreconcilable hatred, He deprived him of His most heavenly kingdom; indeed, he alienated himself from the heavenly grace and from the eternal goods of God, on account of the recollection of the injury he had received from a brother, and especially because he had been of a cruel, savage, and irreconcilable spirit toward a kinsman and old friend. Then the executioners said to Sapricius, "Bend your knees, that your head may be cut off." But Sapricius said to them, "Why?" The executioners said to him, "Because you did not wish to sacrifice to the gods, but despised the edict of the emperor for the sake of the man who is called Christ." When the miserable Sapricius heard these things, he answered the executioners, saying this miserable and wretched word: "Do not strike me. For I will do what the emperors have commanded, and I will sacrifice to the gods." Nicephorus entreated Sapricius even as he was being handed over to the torturers, addressing him thousands of times and saying, "Have mercy on me, O saint of God, forgive me, the sinner." But he took no notice of the one entreating, as if he were non-existent, but went forward in silence. And Nicephorus again said, "My brother Sapricius, remember that ancient and long-standing friendship which we offered to one another; forgive me, and be reconciled to me." But he, as if he were unable to hear, did not turn back.But He who had given the crown of martyrdom to Sapricius saw his soul tottering on account of that cruel and implacable hatred; and He did not allow him to attain those crowns, so that He might crown another in his place. For when Sapricius approached the place where he was to be beheaded, he changed his mind and said to the soldiers, "Do not kill me; for I obey you and I will sacrifice to the gods." Then Nicephorus, when he heard these things, cried out and said, "Do not do this, brother, nor deny our Lord Jesus Christ for the sake of a little hour of pain, lest you lose the great reward of your martyrdom." But Sapricius, as one bearing a soul weighed down by thoughts of hatred, was not persuaded by his friend who was speaking, but remained in his denial. Then Nicephorus said to the soldiers, "I too am a Christian, and I believe in Christ whom this man has denied; take me in his stead and behead me." They, having heard these things, brought him to the governor. The governor questioned him, and finding him to be a Christian and not at all willing to deny Him, ordered his head to be cut off. And thus Saint Nicephorus received the crown of the contest from Christ our God, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
1373 LIFE OF ST. NICEPHORUS. 1374
Thus did resentment blind him, and withdraw the grace of God from him. For he who, through such torments, did not deny our Lord Jesus Christ, when he had come to the end of his life, and was about to receive the prize and the crown of glory and hope, denied eternal life, and became an apostate.
CHAPTER III. The Martyrdom of St. Nicephorus.
IX. Having heard these things, the holy Nicephorus besought Sapricius with tears, saying: "Do not, O brother, do not seek to transgress and deny our Lord Jesus Christ. Do not at all, I beg you, depart from Him; do not lose the heavenly crown which you have acquired through many torments and afflictions." But he would not listen to him at all, but hastened to go to the ruin and darkness of the final death, and to the fire that cannot be extinguished. He who lost such great glory in the moment of a single hour by the stroke of the sword was truly a miserable man, blinded by resentment.
X. For he did not listen to our Lord in the Gospel crying out and saying: "If you offer your gift at the altar, and go, first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift." And again, to Peter, the chief of the apostles, who asked: "How many times, if my brother sins against me, shall I forgive him? Up to seven times?" The Lord answered him: "I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven." But that miserable man did not wish to forgive his brother even once, especially when he was asking for pardon and begging much. And the Lord indeed commanded that one should forgive everyone from the heart, and, having left the divine gift at the altar, to run to reconciliation. But he did not grant a word of forgiveness to the one who was repenting, even with the tips of his lips, nor did he endure to grant remission to the one who was begging; but he closed his bowels of compassion against his brother. For this reason, the gates of the kingdom of heaven were closed to him, and the grace of the divine and life-giving Spirit departed from him, and he lost the glorious crown of martyrdom. Therefore, beloved brothers, let us also be secure, and let us guard ourselves greatly against this diabolical activity, and let us forgive all things to all men, so that forgiveness may also be granted to us by the Master Christ, according to the words, "Forgive us our debts;" for He who promised is faithful.
XI. But the blessed Nicephorus, as he saw that Sapricius had transgressed, said to the executioners: "I am a Christian, and I believe in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, whom this man has denied. Strike me, therefore." But they did not dare to strike him without the command of the governor. Yet all marveled that he had thus delivered himself to die. For he was saying that he was a Christian and not...
1375 MONTH OF FEBRUARY. 1376
I do not sacrifice to your gods. But one of the executioners, running to the governor, reported to him, saying: Sapricius indeed promises that he will sacrifice to the gods; but there is another man there who wishes to die for that one who is called Christ, crying out and saying freely: I am a Christian, and I do not sacrifice to your gods, nor do I obey the edicts of your emperors.
XII. After the governor heard these things, he passed sentence upon him, saying: If he does not sacrifice to the immortal gods, as the emperors have commanded, I order him to die by the sword; but let Sapricius go. Then, taking Saint Nicephorus, they beheaded him, as the governor had ordered, on the ninth day of the month of February (11): and thus the holy martyr of Christ, Nicephorus, was perfected in Christ; and he ascended into the heavens crowned, through faith in Christ, and charity and humility. For because he was inclined toward charity and humility, he was therefore adorned with the crown of martyrdom, and was deemed worthy to be numbered among the martyrs, to the praise and glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ (12), to whom be glory and power (13) now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
CONCERNING SAINT AUXENTIUS THE PRESBYTER, ARCHIMANDRITE IN BITHYNIA. (Circa the year 470, February 14th. — Acta SS. Bolland. for this day.)
1. The Eastern region received and educated Auxentius, a man admired among the soldiers in Constantinople, adorned with virtue, and a terror to demons to the point of miracle; finally, Bithynia had him as an archimandrite and wonder-worker, and after many labors endured in various places, he transmitted him to heaven, where he might thereafter be experienced as a patron. What is narrated about him in Sozomen, Book of Ecclesiastical History, chapter 21, indicates his lineage and military service. For, having related the finding and translation of the head of St. John the Baptist, which took place under Theodosius the Great, he says: "Vincentius the presbyter, a Persian by nation, when a persecution afflicted the Christians in Persia during the time of the Emperor Constantius, fled with his cousin Addas and came to the Romans: and he himself was indeed received into the clergy, and attained to the dignity of the presbyterate. Addas, however, having taken a wife, was of great benefit to the Church, and left behind a son, Auxentius, a man distinguished for his faith toward God, for his readiness toward his friends, of upright life, a lover of letters, and endowed with learning of every kind, both of pagan and ecclesiastical writers, of agreeable manners, although he was familiar with the emperor and the courtiers, and had conducted himself splendidly in military expeditions: but there is frequent mention of him both among all the most approved monks and among studious men who have experienced his virtue." These are the words of Sozomen, who inscribed his history to Theodosius the Younger, which, toward the end of the dedication, he asserts he brought to his twenty-second consulship, that is, the year 439: and he necessarily finished it before his death, or the year 450, when St. Auxentius had already withdrawn from Constantinople to Bithynia. His familiarity with St. Marcian and other studious men is discussed below in number 2 of this Life, where the author, using the same manner of speaking as Sozomen, calls his companions also "studious men."
2. The Acts of St. Auxentius, written by an author contemporary with the judge, who indicates his own age while [he writes] of Sergius, his disciple, whom we have said succeeded him both in his manner of life and in the cave, testifies in number 58 that he received some things from him. "For this man," he says, "this man who instructed us concerning him, was indeed a barbarian in tongue, hailing from Mysia, but in mind most holy, as one who was a constant attendant upon the blessed Auxentius... and after the..."
(11) The day of death is missing in both manuscripts. (12) Ms.: "to the praise of the glory, magnificence and grace of the Lord and God." (13) Ms.: "glory, power and honor."
the passing of the blessed one, along with his character and what followed after. A
LIFE AND CONVERSATION AND EXERCISE OF THE MOST HOLY AND MOST BLESSED AUXENTIUS
A For those who wish to have pious reason as the guide of this present life, it is not unreasonable for us—who, on account of our sloth and lack of learning, are far removed from the more ancient Fathers who were distinguished in deeds and words and who, in various compositions, recorded the labors of the saints called into the intelligible vineyard at dawn, at the third hour, and likewise at the sixth and ninth hours, for the edification of the body of the Church—to write truly the lives of those righteous men who struggled in the same vineyard at the B eleventh hour, for the benefit of the faithful who read and listen; so that they (the readers) may follow steadily the path of the patriarchs, and prophets, and apostles, and martyrs, and the just, emulating their virtues and being supported by their prayers. For "whatever was written in former days," according to the inspired Paul, "was written for our instruction." Trusting, therefore, in Him who said, "Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it," we turn to the narrative proposed.
II. In the times of Theodosius the Younger, in the thirty-fifth year of his reign, a certain man named Auxentius A was advanced, being enrolled in the number of the fourth schola of the most valiant and Christ-loving scholarians; he was of Eastern origin, but leading in piety and all Christian learning, carrying the strength of body and fortitude in his very appearance, and bearing in his mind modesty of character and most virtuous disposition, possessing sound dogma in the apostolic faith, and having the greatest zeal in the general vigils of nocturnal assemblies. Since, however, the earlier deeds of his life are hidden from us, let us begin our discourse from this subject. This man had an uncle in Byzantium enrolled in the military, an optio of the Numerus. Seeking him, he had come up from Syria, and finding that he had already departed, he served as a scholarian. Being distinguished in the army, he frequented those renowned for asceticism and virtue, especially a certain monk named John, stationed near the Hebdomon in the Clubos, in whose footsteps the soldier of Christ walked. B Now, he also walked in the footsteps of a certain man named Setas, a person in every respect honorable, and of Marcian, who at that time was a layman of the religion of the Novatians, but not long after was united to the Catholic faith and entrusted with the stewardship of the most holy Great Church of Constantinople; and of Anthimus, that great and admirable man then serving as a decanus in the order of the divine palace, later becoming a deacon, and subsequently also a presbyter, who even after the passing of those previously mentioned, adorned and brightened with joy in hymns and songs, through choirs of men and women, the same vigils which the blessed Auxentius had founded. Both of them, for the most part, used to gather together at the same time in the Holy Irene, which is situated by the sea, lying on the ground, watching, pouring forth fountains of tears, and persevering in fastings and prayers.
III. Therefore, when one day he had come with them to one of the congregations, before the doxology began, as he was troubled by thirst during the night, they asked for a cool drink from one of the ministers. C He, running into the diaconicon, said to the oeconomos that the lord Auxentius, with the other good men, was asking for a drink. Being ordered to mix wine of the blessing in a vessel, he brought it to him. But when the magnanimous Auxentius received it, applying it to his mouth, he satisfied the natural necessity of thirst; and thus he handed the remainder to the aforementioned God-beloved Marcian, who had asked for it. He, having applied it to his lips and perceiving it to be wine, being indignant that such a drink had been brought to them contrary to custom, voiced his complaint to his neighbor: "It is wine, O brother." But Auxentius, recalling it to him, said: D "Do not be vexed," he said, "at the gifts of God."
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the aforementioned; "Do not be distressed," he says, "at the gifts of God. For we asked for water, but if the Master provided wine in its place, let us give thanks and not be indignant; for indeed, at the wedding, when the wine ran out, the water was changed into wine by His grace." Thus, the one unwillingly demonstrated the perfection of the abstinence that was present in him, while the other willingly trampled upon the pride of vainglory.
IV. Again, one of the pious men who followed him, declaring himself to be poor, became a nuisance to the blessed Auxentius, requesting a garment from his own body for the sake of a blessing and out of poverty. And so he says to him: "Pray that the Lord may send, and you shall receive"; for he did not have garments in abundance, because he gave everything that came to him to the poor. But the man, seizing upon the promise as if it were a promissory note, made his demand incessantly. Wherefore, being greatly troubled, when he was reminded by him again one evening, he said: "Come, brother, to a convenient place, and you shall receive your request, and relieve me of such a situation." When he arrived at a secluded place, he took off the tunic he was wearing and gave it to him, and continued on in his cloak alone. After the hymnody, as both were departing, the aforementioned simple-minded man perceived the action and said to him: "Is your whole life and this charity of yours such, Lord Auxentius, that when you are lacking a tunic, you do not trust in us?" Smiling, he said to both of them: "I have barely been freed from the one who was frequently and impudently plotting against me in your presence. But I ask that we go to the Lord John, the monk in the Clubon, to see the glory of God."
V. Thus, an appointment having been made, after one day they arrive at his place and see the one who had taken the tunic standing there looking gloomy. And after the completion of the prayer, the blessed John says, as if to his own acquaintances and friends: "Pray, brothers, for this poor man, because someone has taken the meager rags he possessed and run away." The blessed Auxentius began with a cheerful face to bless the one who had done this; and the righteous man says to him, as Balak said to Balaam: "I have called you to curse, and you bless?" The blessed Auxentius, answering, says to the supposed poor man: "Give your prayers to the Lord, brother; how many tunics did you have?" He answered with lamentation: "Seven, besides the one you provided for me." The blessed one says to him: "Since, therefore, having seven you were not content, but took the one I had after causing me so much trouble, this has caused those others to flee as well." Having thus mildly rebuked him, and having partaken of a meal with those who were with him, he departed.
VI. One day, while walking in the palace, he sees someone being held and dragged by soldiers. Praying, therefore, he says as was his custom: "You who deliver the poor from the hand of those stronger than him, come now also to provide help." Having said these things, he caused the man to be released.
A VII. As he was passing through Baltopolium, he saw certain laborers lamenting and saying: "The time of idleness has come upon us; let us close our workshops." Having heard this, the soldier of Christ, feeling compassion for them, stopped the next day at that workshop, having changed his appearance after the manner of Serapion, and said to them: "What wage will you give me, if I stand in your workshop?" They replied: "Are you mocking us, young man? How can we give you a wage, being poor as we are?" He answered and said to them: "I will labor with you, receiving three obols a day." Gladly they accepted him; and when he had been there for three days, that workshop grew and flourished exceedingly. Having received his nine obols, he departed from them, and gave them to the poor. The workmen were grieved that the wonder-worker had left them. For the three days he spent there, he tasted neither bread nor wine nor anything else: so that those who were there marveled, and said to him: "Why do you not eat and drink with us?" And he said to them: "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.'" They kept silent, no longer daring to trouble him, but they proclaimed to all the abundance and prosperity which had come to pass through his prayers in their workshop, glorifying God. B
VIII. Again, some days later, as he was coming into the palace, a certain pregnant woman, with hair disheveled, met him, crying out: "O the violence suffered from Auxentius, who consumes demons! Twenty years I have been hidden in this creature, and his passing has led me away from her claws. For so he passed through me like a sword and tore me asunder; and behold, I am separated from this creature after the space of twenty years." But the servant of Christ, Auxentius, spurring on his horse so as not to be recognized by the people, hastened to pass by, hiding the grace that was within him. The unclean spirit, however, followed him, saying: "Why do you draw me out? I am going." Many crowds gathered around him, so that the blessed man groaned and wept, wishing to pray for her healing. This having been done, and she being cleansed immediately, with the fetus unharmed (for she was pregnant), all were C amazed and marveled, glorifying God who gave such power to his servants against unclean spirits.
CHAPTER II
The dwelling of St. Auxentius near Mount Oxia: the blind enlightened, the possessed delivered.
IX. After these things were done, the soldier of Christ, Auxentius, not wishing to be praised by men but to be celebrated by the praises of the angels, and seeing in the Spirit the heresy of the vain doctrine—I mean that of Nestorius and Eutyches—that was about to arise in the most holy Church, abandoned his earthly military service and the emperor's court, and with great joy accomplished that which he had long desired. For by all
Bperiencing a victory over all passions and conquering by strength, living a godly life at a farm outside the royal city called Paul’s. When the impious emperors said they would make the Church a desert, she then associated with those holy hidden men and women and dwelt in the desert for seventeen years; after which she took her two sons again from the desert and came to the royal city; from there she went to Bithynia and to Mount Olympus and stood by the monks; there, even, being perfected in the Lord, she departed. Her most holy body is in the city of Prusa in Bithynia and in the Baptistery. It is found in Thessaloniki that her remains are there, and her perfection is acknowledged to have been there. She built a monastery there, having placed in it a most venerable and austere rule; in which, having lived venerably and holily, she received a sanctified end. We have found the end of the blessed one recounted by certain others. ¶ The monastery is found to have been established there as well. May the God of all be glorified in His saints. Amen.
XX. On the same day, Life of our father among the saints, Samuel, Archbishop of Caesarea of Cappadocia, the Myrepsus.
This great Samuel was not born of obscure or nameless parents. For he had a father of most noble birth and a mother of the same standing. He was diligent and took great care of the boy’s upbringing and education. What was the fruit of this care? There were very many youths in the city, ambitious and eager for wealth and worldly glory, practicing the labors of letters for no other reason; but Samuel, the lover of virtue, was apart from everything they desired, being occupied rather with their opposites. For material and fleeting things, being valued as nothing, were ranked against the divine; and he held the transient phantasms of glory in no esteem, but directed himself solely toward the acquisition of divine virtue. The youth, therefore, appeared admirable to almost everyone; and he was praised above his peers for his intelligence and virtue; which the clergy of the Church there immediately welcomed, and they established him in the priestly order as in a succession. Having become among the clergy, the praiseworthy man showed that he was doing something else that was venerable, in that he did not benefit his own soul so much by ministering to the crowds, as he elucidated the knowledge of God by the light of his own words and deeds. If anyone needed comfort, the great Samuel did not abandon them; if anyone had a need for the necessary salvation, he did not hold back; if anyone who was led astray had a need, he did not fail to act. Fulfilling all these things perfectly and sufficiently, he aimed for other much greater, higher, and more perfect advances of virtue, considering it right nowhere to stand still. He did not judge it wise to be satisfied with what had been achieved, but always straining toward what lay ahead according to the divine Apostle, he made no cessation for himself in his zeal for perfection.
FEBRUARY. 1388
[She fell] suddenly blind; and falling, she said: Have mercy on me, servant of the most high God. But the blessed man, to those who had gathered, said: I am indeed a sinful man and subject to the same passions as you. But if you believe that He who healed the man blind from birth does not despise this woman also who asks of Him, let us pray sincerely for her salvation. And when all had prayed, touching her eyes, he said: Jesus Christ, the true light, heals you. And when she had immediately recovered her sight, and had distributed much to the poor who were sitting in that place, the saint dismissed her, rejoicing and glorifying God. This was the beginning of his miracles on Mount Oxia.
XIII. A great multitude of those who were vexed by unclean spirits kept coming, partly from the local inhabitants, and partly from foreigners; of whom very many, through his prayers, approaching faithfully and worthily performing penance, were healed. Not enduring that those who were sitting on the mountain and those who were afflicted by the labor of a long journey should be left without care, although he himself needed none of the things that had been offered, he ordered bread to be brought at the sixth hour and given to them all.
XIV. When he had spent about ten years there, and had performed many struggles, not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, and against the rulers of the darkness of this world, as the Apostle says, against spiritual wickedness; and having conquered through faith and patience, a certain most faithful man from among those who had once been his acquaintances, since he was accustomed to go to him and receive great benefit from him, said to another from the same fourth school: I wish to go to the Lord Auxentius on the following day. Come you also, and enjoy much benefit. But the other, being alienated from him by a diabolical instinct, not only was not persuaded to go, but also began to assail him with insults and to mock him, calling him a deceiver and an impostor, and saying that he provided wages to those who pretended to be possessed by demons, giving them three or six obols so that, for the deception of the many, they might appear to be rebuked. But when the other was astonished at these things, and had applied greater zeal, after he had rebuked and helped him, he dealt with him moderately, so that he took the unbeliever with him, and brought him up with him. But when they reached him according to custom at the third hour, he received those who were present. For it was not permitted to trouble him indiscriminately, except at the accustomed time, in which he first exhorted those present to glorification; and then, thus exhorting each one with the word of grace and blessing them, he dismissed them. We shall speak later of this glorification and the praises formulated by him. Therefore, with a joyful countenance, he spoke to him who came to him with faith the things that were profitable; but he did not speak even a little to the other, who was an unbeliever. Wherefore, after being dismissed, he insulted him again.
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...not even a word. Wherefore, after he was dismissed, the unbeliever again pursued the blessed Auxentius with many curses, as one who did everything for the sake of glory and not for the sake of virtue.
XV. When they were descending to Hemerus to set sail (this is a trading port of Chalcedon), the unbeliever’s son met them with his tunic torn, wailing and lamenting. When his master asked the cause, he did not immediately explain what had happened, as he was delaying out of fear and grief, saying only this: "A bad thing has happened to us, master." His master, answering him more sharply, said: "Tell me what it is; have I been robbed? Have I suffered a fire?" The boy says: "Not so; but your daughter at home is being grievously vexed by a demon, so that we are unable to overcome it." Then, having come to his senses, he began to strike his face and tear his hair and cry out with a loud voice: "Woe to my unbelief!" But as he was lacerating himself for a long time and lamenting intolerably, the faithful companion who was with him said to him, as the Savior said to Jairus: "Do not fear, only believe, and the girl shall be saved." Having corrected his unbelief with perfect faith because of this occasion, and crying out, "I believe, help my unbelief," they crossed over together and came to the house. And when they saw the calamity, and the girl who was being intolerably vexed and calling upon the blessed Auxentius, they all cried out with wailing and lamentations. Then the other said to the father of the girl: "Come now, immediately and at once, in whatever way we can, let us bind her and take her to the holy man, since he is able to entreat God for her healing."
XVI. When they had done this and were approaching the man, she began to grow wild and to bark, and as if being dragged, to run with greater speed. Having arrived opposite the window of the cell of the blessed one, she stood there being terribly tormented, while those who were following lamented the calamity. When she had been vexed for a long time, our Father among the saints opened the window, and looking gravely at the girl, said: "For three folles or for six folles?" Those who were present, having heard this voice spoken by the holy man for the second time, threw themselves with the father of the girl to the ground, crying: "Have mercy, servant of the most high God, and forgive; for the Lord and Savior of all, Christ, foresees through you both the things said and done from afar, as one who dwells in you, his servant." The blessed one, therefore, having tempered his gravity with gentleness, calling everyone near, said to her father: "If I provide the other wages, as you said, from three and six folles, how much have I given to your daughter?" He, weeping vehemently again, casting himself upon the ground, begged for forgiveness.
XVII. The blessed Auxentius, therefore, having prayed and...
…
A and sent the cross that was upon the staff in his hands through one of those who were persevering with him, he caused the girl’s vexation to cease, and he taught all who had gathered that one must not be faithless regarding the miracles of God which are performed by Him in every generation through those whom He deems fit. For indeed the patriarchs and all the prophets, and similarly also the apostles, were men moved by divine grace according to the divine Apostle, ⌜they quenched the power of fire, stopped the mouths of lions,⌟ and fulfilled all the things written thereafter; and the very voice of the Lord himself, urging us to believe, says thus: ⌜All things whatsoever you ask when praying, believe that you receive them, and it shall be for you.⌟ Since God therefore provides whenever He wills and through whom He wills, we must not be incredulous. Having therefore commanded the girl to remain with her parents for a week, armed with prayer and fasting, and having restored her to health, he dismissed them in peace, having urged them to attend the most holy Church frequently.
CHAPTER III.
A leper, a paralytic, and those possessed by spirits are healed.
XVIII. Some days later, two men suffering from elephantiasis ascended to him, seeking from God, through him, healing. But the saint says to them: "What is your sin, that such a plague has fallen upon you?" They, having heard these things, fell to his feet, saying: "Have mercy on us, servant of Christ, and pray that we may be healed." The blessed one then answering B says to them: "This has happened to you, brothers, because you have sworn frequently. But henceforth you ought to cease provoking the Lord your God to anger." Having said these things, and having exhorted everyone to prayer, he himself also, having bent his holy knees for several hours and having poured out many streams of tears, rising, took the oil of the saints and anointed them from head to foot, saying: "May Jesus Christ heal you; for I am a sinful man." Immediately they were healed, and they returned home with joy, praising and glorifying God and reporting to everyone: "We have seen a man such as was not even in ancient generations. For he told us all our sins, and having wept much for us to God, he healed us, having anointed us with holy oil."
XIX. Again, two women came to him from Phrygia; of whom one had a hip struck by an unclean spirit, while the other had a legion of demons, which also, from three stone-throws from the mountain, began to cry out and say: "What have I to do with you, Auxentius, that you have dragged me, punishing me, from Phrygia? Do you not know that I am a legion? C But I know that a legion of angels surrounds you by night and by day, who receive your prayers, which burn us, and offer them to the Most High, through which we are even punished. Behold, for thirty years you separate me from the creation... D
A of this creature. Having said this and more, she arrived very close to the cell in which the blessed one was enclosed, and the spirit tore her before the small window and struck her dumb. But he, having looked down and seen her, ordered one of those standing by to give her a hand and raise her up; for she was lying on the ground as if dead. When she had risen, she began to beseech the holy man, along with the other woman, both weeping bitterly and falling at his knees, so that he might prevail upon God to heal them. He said to them: "Whence have you come here, and who told you about me, that I am able to heal you?" The one who had the injured hip said: "By way of a revelation, master, I came here." But she who had the legion said to him: "I myself do not know how I came. But have pity on me, who am storm-tossed for thirty years by a legion." And having felt compassion for them and prayed earnestly to God with tears, he healed them. And they, because of their overwhelming gratitude, remained on the mountain of Oxia, where the blessed one was standing, not returning to their own homes.
XX. A certain other paralytic was brought to him, lying on a cart. His parents fell on their faces, beseeching the blessed Auxentius with great weeping, so that he might have mercy on them and heal him, saying that because of our many sins this happened to our child. The holy Auxentius said to them: "And do you believe that through me, humble and abject as I am, the Lord can heal him?" They said: "Yes, angel of God, you were sent for our salvation; we believe that all things are possible with God." He said: "According to your faith let it be done to you." And having taken the oil of the saints, and having anointed his whole body with his own hands, and having restored him to health, he gave him back to his parents, who went away rejoicing to their house, praising and glorifying B God for the great things he did through his servant for their only-begotten son.
XXI. A few days later, a certain woman from Claudiopolis, the daughter of a citizen, having a demon of serpent-form, came to him, hissing only and unable to speak except like a dog, because Satan had laid her waste. When the servant of God saw her, he wept bitterly, saying: "How has the race of men been reduced to bondage by the alien? For she has not suffered this because of her sins, but because of the great cruelty and malevolence of the adversarial enemy against men." And having closed the small window of the cell, for three days he did not meet anyone, but was beseeching God that He might trample the tyranny of the dragon. While he was praying within, the dragon began to speak, growling in the woman and saying: "From the womb that bore you, against me, Auxentius, why did you not stifle her who bore you, but were born for my destruction? For the rivers of your tears burn me, and your prayer...
JANUARY. 1396 burn, and your prayers like the bow’s arrow have torn my insides. You cannot separate me from this creature. I am very much in love with her hair and her age, and I will not depart from her. The air was immediately constricted, and there occurred thunder, lightning, and a very great rain. The dragon, having torn the woman and stopped her mouth, threw her upon the ground and departed from her. When the blessed man had opened the small window after three days, he saw her lying as if dead; and when he had ordered those who were standing by to raise her up and lay her down alone, having exhorted everyone to prayer and having lifted his holy hands for many hours, he cried out with everyone: Glory to you, O Lord, glory to you, O Lord, glory to you, O Lord. The woman lay speechless, giving no answer to man. After the prayer, he ordered her to be brought before him; and when he had given her some of the oil of the saints to drink, she immediately spoke; and having risen, she walked, not separated from the mountain until her old age, but attending to prayers and to the blessed man, and giving thanks to God who healed her.
CHAPTER IV. 22. Ten years or so after this, the most faithful emperor having died, and the Christ-loving Marcian having reigned, there was great confusion concerning the dogma of the true faith, as we also began to say above, when the blessed Auxentius was about to depart from the affairs of this life. For a certain Eutyches, a presbyter and archimandrite of one of the monasteries of the royal city, was attempting to renew the ravings of Apollinarius, which had long ago been abolished by the bishops of holy memory, most dear to God, Basil and Gregory, and those like them. Since some were following his dogma, and others were thinking the same things as Nestorius, so that the dogmas of the Catholic faith were in danger and he saw the Church in great confusion, the emperor decreed that the most God-beloved bishops of almost the entire world should meet in Chalcedon, a small city of Bithynia.
St. Auxentius is summoned to the Council of Chalcedon. Miracles on the way. 23. When all the bishops had therefore gathered, so that they were six hundred and thirty in number, the emperor and the bishops also ordered the blessed Auxentius to convene. But when our great and divine Father Auxentius resisted and did not wish to descend, saying that it is not for monks to teach, but rather to be taught, and that this is fitting only for those who are honored with the pontificate, the emperor Marcian sent some of the monks and clerics who were round about, together with soldiers, to learn his affairs, and ordered that if he did not wish to come with them voluntarily, they should bring him against his will. When they had arrived, they urged him greatly but did not persuade him at all, so that they turned to attacking him with insults, and saying that he did not think rightly; whence they even attempted to force him out by violence. But he...
A
He spoke to them, but they were yet of a mind lacking the help from above. For having brought workmen to release the cage in which he was, they remained the whole day and could accomplish nothing. Then in the morning he says to them: "Tell me, in what do I believe amiss? And then, thus, by the providence of God, the cage shall be opened." They said to him: "Because the most pious Emperor Marcian has gathered the God-loving bishops from everywhere to consider the dogmas of the most holy Church, and you do not wish to come. For you know the confusion that presently prevails: some hold the views of Nestorius and devise a schism because they remove the term 'Theotokos' from the holy and venerable Virgin and Mother of the Lord; while others maintain the dogmas of Eutyches, or rather of Apollinaris, and proclaim that the Lord did not perfectly take flesh from the seed of David, but fabulously assert that he took on humanity only in appearance." B
XXIV. Having heard these things, the blessed man said: "I confess that the Word became perfectly incarnate from the Virgin who knew no man, and I worship Him as being the Only-begotten Son, who exists with the Father without beginning regarding his divinity, but appeared in the last times from her according to his humanity. For to confess the Son of God as a mere man, as some babble, is impious." Having said these things, and seeing their firm insistence, he lifted his hands to heaven and, having caused an extended prayer to be made, gave himself up. But when they became bold and tried to break down the cage again, and were unable to do so at all, the blessed man, having signed the cage and said for the third time, "Blessed be the Lord," spoke in a gentle voice to the workmen; and thus, according to his will, they removed the planks that were fastened with nails to his window and thrust him out. C
XXV. They brought animals and a carriage, so that he might get on it if he wished to descend. And so, when he was invited, they placed the blessed man on an animal, having helped him into the carriage. For he was weak in his whole body and afflicted by his asceticism, and especially by the sores, so that even sanies and worms were coming out; among whom, a certain man named Theophilus, running up with fervor of faith, when he saw the nail of the great toe of his right foot fall off, took it. The holy man, feeling pain, said to him: "Brother, I also am a human being, subject to the same affections as you; do not cause me distress." But when, with great tumult, those who had been sent commanded the oxen to move the carriage, and accomplished nothing—the animals remaining immovable for a long time—they began to beat them cruelly and to wound their hides with goads. The blessed man, bearing it with difficulty, commanded them to cease, and having signed the animals with the cross, which as was his custom he held in his hands, and having quietly commanded them, he made them continue the journey. D
XXVI. And on the way he encounters farmers wailing and weeping over their beasts, because
they were suffering, just like humans, from being harassed by A unclean spirits. The blessed one, therefore, taking pity, when he had bidden them all to stand for prayer, heaved a groan from the depths of his heart and prayed to God, and healed them.
XXVII. A certain woman with disheveled hair soon encounters him on the way, bringing to him an infant of about three years, who was possessed by a demon. The just man, having seen it, began to stretch forth his hands and pour forth tears, and to say to those present: "Do not suppose, O foolish ones, who are submerged in your hearts, that this boy has sinned and is harassed by an unclean spirit, but this has happened to us on account of our own conversion"; for the face of the infant was almost turned backward. B When the blessed Auxentius had prayed, and had rebuked the unclean spirit, breathing into the face of the infant, he healed him. For the malignant one having departed and the demon being driven out, his face was restored as it was before. And when the mother had received him back in health, she returned home happy, giving thanks to God.
XXVIII. Again, on the way, a certain girl, a daughter of Dorotheus the Count, arriving from a journey, comes in a litter, harassed by a savage demon. The unclean spirit, from a short distance, dashed her to the ground from the litter. When she had risen, having torn her garment, she ran to the carriage in which was the blessed one, barking and shouting: "What have you to do with me, Auxentius? Why do you burn me? Why do you pursue me? Would that the womb that bore me had caused an abortion for our destruction." Behold, for fourteen years C I have been concealed in this creature, and you strive to separate me from her. When the servant of Christ, the athlete Auxentius, saw her nakedness, as she was harassed by the demon, he was greatly moved with anger, and did not permit her to speak; but having rebuked the unclean spirit, crying out with a loud voice, he said: "Depart, unclean spirit, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary." The demon, therefore, groaning and wailing, immediately went out from the girl, not even being permitted at all to prattle through the creature.
XXIX. But the soldiers with the clerics and monks who were following him from the mountain, when they saw the signs which the Savior was performing through him, were astonished, and they doubted all the more than before, saying to him: "These things are a deception of the eyes, O deceiver of Christ." But the holy man, smiling, says to them: "I am no deceiver of Christ, but a servant of God, believing in the holy and indivisible Trinity, and confessing the Theotokos the holy and incorruptible Virgin."
XXX. When he had finally arrived at the farm which is called D Sycides, a certain youth, by name Gregory, from the village of Lyddorum, having an unclean spirit, approached the blessed one and approached that same property, falling before him and (6) note: It seems that Lydia of Asia Minor is meant, which lies between Lydia and Bithynia is Phrygia. It is that Lydda of the province of Palestine, of which we address the Life of St. George on April 28th.
1401 LIFE OF ST. AUXENTIUS. 1402 saying: "Have mercy on me, servant of the most high God, for I am vexed by an evil demon." The blessed man, having placed his hand upon his head and prayed, did not permit the spirit to speak, but through the grace of God, he interceded for it to depart. The evil demon, having gone out, hid himself under a thorn bush near the road, so that when the young man returned, he might enter into him again. After the oxen were released and were about to move the wagon, the blessed man, knowing in the Holy Spirit, said to the young man: "I say to you, young man, do not go by the left road by which you came; for there the evil one is hidden under the thorns, waiting for you; but go by the right, giving thanks to God and saying: 'Glory to the Father, glory to the Son, glory to the Holy Spirit, who spoke through His prophets.'"
CHAPTER V. What St. Auxentius did and endured in the monasteries at the Ruffinianae and in Phelio.
XXXI. When they had arrived at the martyrium of Saint Thalelaeus, the poor who were following him from the mountain of Oxea, weeping and lamenting, were taking their leave, kissing his holy footprints. The disciple of Christ, seeing the unbearable grief of their hearts, said to them: "Go, children, and sit for a while on the mountain; for I am with you. For even if they lead my body away, my spirit is among you, and I will not abandon you." The soldiers were indignant at this, but they [the poor] returned, just as the servant of Christ had told them.
XXXII. When he had arrived by wagon at the monastery in Phelio, suddenly a young man named Isidorus began to be possessed by a demon and to cry out: "Woe to you, Auxentius, who did not give me the power to avenge myself against the God-fighters who despise you, for my destruction and that of my own; for your passing through has sanctified everything and put to flight most of those of our kind." The blessed man said to him: "Be silent and be muzzled, you demon who rejoices in evil, in the name of Jesus Christ." They then took the holy man down from the wagon and brought him into the church of Saint John. Standing, he prayed for several hours, because he could not bend his knees due to the welts on his feet. When he had finished his prayer, they brought him into a ground-floor room, closing it on all sides; and while he was praying inside, Isidorus, who was vexed by the demon, was healed outside.
XXXIII. But a certain woman, the wife of Maximianus the charioteer, thinking that the blessed man was on the mountain of Oxea, came bringing animals loaded with oil, wine, bread, cheese, legumes, tow, and wax. She was indeed greatly saddened not to have found the holy man there; but she distributed everything to the poor who were persevering in that place. For her young girl, who was vexed by a demon, had been deemed worthy of healing and was very devoted to the blessed man; and having marveled that, by force, almost...
A was brought from the mountain into the monastery which is in Phelion, where he lived sequestered, there came to him one meditating on the scriptural saying which is spoken in the all-virtuous Wisdom of Solomon, and fulfilled in the life of our holy Father Auxentius: “Let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he is difficult [(sic: perhaps "useless")] to us and opposes our works.” For having judged him as a malefactor, they shut him up, not allowing anyone to meet with him; whence that most faithful woman, not being able to see the blessed one or speak with him, went away to her house weeping, and reporting everything to her husband.
B XXXIV. Constantine, the commander of the army, and Artabius, the count, who were accustomed to come to the holy man, arrived where he was, desiring to see him and to enjoy his customary benefit. They, having met him and been blessed by him, asked him not to give a pretext to the heterodox, but to test all things by the hope in God, and to hold fast to what is good, for the union and concord of the most holy and catholic Church. The saint said to them, “Let the will of God be done as in heaven, so on earth.” They further asked the blessed one to accept some gold pieces which were brought by them for that purpose. But he did not consent, saying to them: “These are given to the poor and my brothers in the Lord who are on the mountain of Oxea. For I have everything, and I abound through the grace of Christ.” Truly, those who were in the monastery were greatly affected with annoyance by this affair; but those lovers of Christ fulfilled what had been commanded them. Many others also, having heard that the blessed one had been brought down from the mountain and was staying there, came to the same place.
XXXV. When the monks of the monastery had approached him, testing him as to why he did not eat, they asked him. And he said to them: “Since you seek a proof of Christ who speaks in me, who is not weak, but powerful in us,” it is written: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds through the mouth of God.” One day, therefore, having opened the house, they placed in it a basket of beets, a basket of dates, and a basket of various fruits, all by measure, and C as if requesting him to partake of them. Having lit a lamp and permitted a servant to stay with him, they locked him in for one week. After this, having opened it, they found the lamp unconsumed and burning; but they asked the servant what he had done and how he was fed. He said to them: “I saw a multitude glorifying with him, and even a dove entering and feeding him; but as for the worms that were falling from his feet, D I collected them and placed them back onto the ulcers. (Note: The Greek text continues here with the conclusion of the story of the prodigal son, which belongs to a different liturgical lectionary section improperly merged in the source layout, and which is effectively a separate editorial block index.)
But because the boy, having been commanded by the saint to tell no one what he had seen, was compelled to speak, he was seized by a fever and died after one day.
A XXXVI. When these things had come to pass, the blessed one was conducted by the monks and clergy and certain other illustrious men to the Rufinianae, near the Holy Apostles, to the monastery of the blessed Hypatius, where he was enjoined to keep silence. The monks who were there, together with their abbot—a man in all things virtuous and deemed worthy of the grace of God, as being a disciple of Christ—received him with great joy; and from that hour they did not close the door of the monastery because of the multitude of those who flowed in, some from that region, and others from the most blessed Constantinople. They received all with kindness and readiness, taking many offerings; they also made great preparation regarding his sustenance, so that that monastery became like the tabernacle of Abraham, for they welcomed almost everyone, whether worthy or unworthy, as angels of God. Having enclosed the blessed one in a high chamber, they begged him to pray for the salvation of the world and of themselves, rendering every service to him and to those who ran to him without hesitation, on account of the reward for every good work promised by God.
B XXXVII. For many who possessed unclean spirits, and those who were lunatics, and the infirm and paralytics, would sit there and, seeking the healing from God through his servant Auxentius, were cured. A certain countess, having heard about the blessed one, hastened to go and pay him homage. She arrived from Chalcedon in a litter, and when she drew near to the Holy Apostles she descended from the litter, and came on foot into the monastery. And as she was about to ascend to where the blessed one was, having rent her garments and cast aside her ornaments, she began to shout: "What is there between me and you, Auxentius, you consumer of worms? I was well hidden in her bowels, and behold, you have brought me out after twenty years." For she had been twelve years old when I entered her, and no one knew me to this very day, and you separate me from her against my will. The standard-bearer and great father of ours, Auxentius, having rebuked the malignant and unclean spirit, and ordered it to be silent and not to break forth from the creature, besought God to show His mercy toward her. Having therefore given her some of the oil of the saints and having ordered her to fast for forty days, Christ released her in health, having healed her through his prayer. She gave much to the poor and to the monastery of Saint Hypatius. C
CHAPTER VI.
The Colloquy of S. Auxentius with the Emperor Marcian. The Profession of the Orthodox Faith.
XXXVIII. After this, then, the most pious emperor, having sent a dromon from the Hebdomon because the procensus was there, summoned the blessed one to him; and when...
he saw him utterly worn out in his whole body from his asceticism, showing great reverence toward him, he says: I know that you are a servant of God, Lord Auxentius, and you ought to consent to the holy and ecumenical synod, so that you do not become a cause of scandal A to those who are unwilling to accept it. The former, answering, says to him: Who am I, a dead dog, that your majesty commands that I be numbered with the shepherds, I who do not refuse to be shepherded and am in need of instruction? But the emperor, after speaking at great length with him, said: Consider what is expedient, and do not cause us grief; for we also have held the synod not against what is right, but according to what is fitting for the union, and not for the destruction, of the most holy Church. Having said these things and asked for his prayer, he dismissed him.
XXXIX. B Therefore, the blessed one having come into the monastery of Saint Hypatius in the Ruffinianae (8*), and having seen that a great multitude had run together to him there, he began to exhort all to abstain from the theaters as being causes of lawlessness, adulteries, false testimonies, perjuries, and blasphemies, and of all things which are forbidden and do not please God; and he urged them to believe sincerely in the holy and consubstantial Trinity, and to confess our Lord Jesus Christ as having been incarnate of the Holy Spirit and of Mary the Virgin and Theotokos, and to attend the most holy churches with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Certain ones from the multitude who had approached, being feverish C and shivering, having been deemed worthy of the touch of his hand, were made whole. It was reported to him that a certain newly-married girl, seized by an unclean spirit in the bridal chamber, was present, throwing herself about and devouring herself. Having ordered her to come up, he said with tears: O your evil phalanx that always plots against the human race! Be muzzled, you evil spirit, and depart from the creature of God, quietly and without injury. As if the girl had been relaxed into slumber, the demon was cast out; having risen, she went away again healthy to her house.
XL. D As the emperor again sent and summoned him, he asked him if he would consent to the holy synod and communicate with the holy Church. The blessed one said: How can I communicate when the Ever-Virgin is not confessed to be Theotokos? And the emperor said to him: If, then, you examine what has been well ordained by the synod and confirmed for the destruction of the remaining heresies, will you also agree? The blessed one answered: Provided that it has not reached out to overthrow the creed of the three hundred and eighteen Fathers who were at Nicaea, but has declared the perfect economy of our Savior Christ, and the utterance regarding the Virgin Theotokos...
1409 LIFE OF ST. AUXENTIUS 1410
[I] do not take it back; I communicate and assent again, giving thanks to God and to your piety. When the Emperor heard these things, he kissed his honorable head and ordered that he be brought with greater honor into the great and most holy church. A great multitude of people followed him. The Emperor, having informed the Archbishop of Constantinople of what had been said by him, ordered that all the things defined by the holy synod be read aloud to him.
XLI. And indeed, having read the proceedings with careful consideration, and having been persuaded that it was by the good pleasure of God that the holy synod confirmed as blasphemous the things dogmatized by the nonsense of Nestorius and the manifest madness of Eutyches to the detriment of many—inasmuch as the former was arrayed against those who deny the essence of the only-begotten Son of God, and the latter against those who reject His economy, [teaching] that the Son of God, being God from God, co-eternal, consubstantial, and co-eternal with the Father, was incarnate in the last days, united to our nature, immutably, inconfusedly, and indivisibly. For since some, with deranged minds, dared to corrupt the economy of the Savior which was for our sake, imagining the incarnation to be a phantasm, while others monstrously claimed that the Lord brought down a heavenly body; and others babbled that the two natures suffered a commixture and confusion, and others that the Divine suffered change, while the rest refused to call the Virgin the Theotokos—the holy Fathers in this great and ecumenical synod, overturning the heresies of all those previously mentioned, not from their own syllogisms, but from the divine Scriptures and the inspired teachers of every generation, sealing the great mystery of piety, confirmed the one and only-begotten Son of God, according to the faith of the three hundred and eighteen holy Fathers, to be unassailable according to His own nature. For this is what the Arians undermine, just as that synod in Nicaea came to be, and they ratified the later synod of the one hundred and fifty [Fathers] in the imperial city against the Macedonians, as one fortified by scriptural testimonies against those who fought against the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, against those who reject the economy of our Savior Jesus Christ, babbling that He was incarnate in appearance and not in truth, and that He who was born of the holy Virgin and Theotokos Mary was a mere man—against them they labored, both from the testimony of the divine Scriptures and from the synodical [letters] of the most blessed Cyril of Alexandria, and of Leo, the most holy Archbishop of Rome, and of all those like them, as things that accord with the confession of the Apostle Peter, according to the [verse], "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God," rightly erecting a high column against those who hold evil opinions, for the confirmation of the orthodox dogmas.
[Σ'] If anyone were to pray that his heart might be directed toward God, and that his sons might be placed, apart from those things which they were destined to desire there, he knew this also; but nevertheless, the passion of a parent for his children prevails over his intention. For the deprivation of children clearly stings even the pious. But for those who possess the hope of the good things to come, the very presence of one's children and the ability to journey together with them is a certain great enjoyment of the things hoped for. At any rate, their father was more gentle than a stentorian voice, and he would not judge anything improper in those tears; rather, he places this in the category of what is noble and fitting by nature. For even the Lord of all showed tears that belong to nature over the dead Lazarus. If, however, doing this does not hinder one, provided that none of the things commanded are transgressed, then to restrain by reason and faith the impulse to lament when it has been brought upon one concerning one's children, and to show a nature more robust in its well-being, this is what is glorious and worthy of greatness of soul.
[Τ'] Since things were thus for them, the mother set out for Antioch with the children, while the husband turned back. And what followed from this? The woman contemplated going by the direct route to Jerusalem so as to kiss the holy places, and she waited in the ship for her companions. Just then, in the harbor, she happened to encounter one of her own kin and learned of the divine vision which the husband had seen at the time of the mother’s illness. She therefore turned from that road and caught up with her husband, though she found that she (the mother-in-law) had already died.
[Υ'] But not even in these things did the demon cease from his same impulse. For just as he saw that he was defeated in the former instance, so now he turned to the contrary, and used a more terrible power. Thus, the mother who had given birth to the saints, having disembarked from the ship with her children and crossing a certain river that was not large, there ended her life, being baptized by the current itself. And the stream immediately snatched away the children, leaving the mother alone to face starvation. For the demon is truly pitiless and alien to human nature; he wounded her soul with this calamity, depriving her of both—the children at the same time as the enjoyment that should have accompanied them.
A of the Ruffinians, named Scopas, asked those who were gathering to bring him, and thus, fulfilling his desire in the previous manner, together with the brothers from the monastery in which he had been staying, they led him up with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. And having made a cage out of wood, they shut him in like a bird dwelling on high, leaving only a window for the meeting of those who arrived according to the previous custom; and having prayed for them and kissed each one, he dismissed them all, being settled like a sparrow dwelling alone upon the housetop, giving thanks to the Lord through his habitual quiet and doxology.
B XLIV. We consider it unnecessary, and indeed more useful, to narrate in detail the temptations that occurred to him there from the unclean and malicious spirits. For one night, as he was praying, demons stood by in infinite numbers, manifesting themselves in various forms, clattering, roaring, and threatening, yet they were not able to disturb his mind. Therefore, having struck him with blows, they thought to thrust him out through the window with great violence, making a clamor and disturbing themselves C more than they did him, shouting with indistinct voices, "What have you to do with the deserts? Depart from our regions." But the blessed man, bearing it bravely, having traced the sign of the saving cross against them, showed them to be weaker. And indeed, morning having come by the good pleasure of God, from the aforementioned frequently mentioned emporium of the Ruffinians and the monastery that was there, many monks and laymen arrived to receive a blessing and to enjoy his most excellent company. And when, because of the excessive D affliction of the unclean spirits, he had with difficulty finally opened the window to them, and had used consolatory words with them, they asked the reason for such great weakness. And when he said that it was not bodily suffering, but a diabolical operation, those who were present, knowing this, kept silent, and having asked for a blessing, they descended. They came more frequently to visit him, especially those from the monastery. We therefore, in order not to lengthen our discourse beyond measure, have declined to narrate the remaining temptations that occurred to him on the previous mountain and in this one; for the wicked one, having changed himself into an angel of light, as the Apostle says, thought to deceive him, but the blessed man was not easily caught, being much more experienced through the teaching of the divine Scriptures.
XLV. Whence also to those who converged from the great and famous Constantinople and the rest of the locals, he was gentle and consoling, as if anyone else, with his virtuous words calling all to himself, and his reputation attracting even those who were far away. Therefore, according to his custom, he dismissed those who came in the morning after the third hour, and those who came later, after the sixth; and he did not allow those who had gathered to wait in idleness, but rather in the
FEBRUARY.
who had approached: but they were inside with him, while he was reading or praying. For a multitude gathered to him without intermission, especially from Rufinianae and the other emporia, on account of his benefits, which they were accustomed to enjoy through the healing of those who were sick and suffering. For many, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, while he himself was there, were healed of demonic possession: and daily, so to speak, they were healed.
XLVI. Having composed certain verses from two or three sayings, very pleasant and useful, with a simpler and less curious rite, he caused them all to sing. For when the first had been said many times in succession, again also by the command of the blessed one they would begin another: and then after the second, the third, and the rest in order. It will be reasonable also to insert their sayings into the narrative, for the benefit of those who read. These are indeed: Beggar and poor, we praise thee, Lord. Glory to the Father, glory to the Son, glory to the Holy Spirit, who spoke through the prophets. With him, armies in the heavens send up a hymn, and we also, who are on earth, [send up] the glorification: Holy, holy, holy Lord. Heaven and earth are full of thy glory. And then: Creator of all, thou didst speak, and we were born; thou didst command, and we were created; thou didst set a decree, and it shall not pass away. Savior, we give thee thanks. And again: Lord of hosts, thou didst suffer; thou didst rise, thou wast seen and didst ascend; thou art coming to judge the world, have mercy and save us. And again: With an afflicted soul we fall before thee, and we beseech thee, Savior of the world. For thou art the God of those who repent. And again: Thou who sittest upon the Cherubim and hast opened the heavens, have mercy and save us. Then: Rejoice, righteous ones, in the Lord, interceding for us. Glory to thee, Christ, God of the saints.
XLVII. And the multitude of those who were present, as well the rich as the poor, and as well men as women, and servants and free, sang these things rhythmically from the canticle, which was alien to vainglory and defined by the blessed one: some of them until the third hour, and they were dismissed in spiritual exultation: others, however, persevered until the sixth hour. He himself, for the rest, would call out to them by himself the hymn of the three children, Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, who are in the prophet Daniel: Bless, all works of the Lord, the Lord, with all responding, Praise and superexalt him unto the ages. But after he had completed the hymnody, according to the grace of the Word present in him, he would console those who were present, saying thus:
XLVIII. Since we consume our bodies the whole time on account of wealth, in the stratagems and businesses of things that pertain to this life, we ought also to allot some portion to glorifications on account of spiritual things, so that the Lord Jesus Christ may both direct our works and govern our life. It is necessary, therefore, for our hardened mind...
A exercise of virtue. For he was so blinded that he neither accepted nor understood the teaching of the divine Scriptures, having failed to introduce as his guide pious reasoning and, first and foremost, the fear of God, which is perfected through more frequent supplication and prayer, so that, having abandoned earthly and corruptible things, he might look toward heavenly and incorruptible things. For one who is clear-sighted in his soul and disciplined in his mind does not yield the examination of what is seen only to the bodily eyes, but much more to the eyes of the soul, gazing intensely into the understanding of invisible things; contemplating, on the one hand, the substance of what is understood and believed without error, and fleeing, on the other hand, the misguided and wretched pursuits of life, and training his senses precisely for the discernment of good and evil. For men having departed B from the zeal and diligence concerning what is truly good, have slipped away into a desire for bodies and the inanimate matter of wealth through avarice, and have set all their zeal upon the throat and the belly, whence our ancient fall occurred. If, then, departing from these things, we may make our souls take flight toward more divine things, let us enjoy that magnificence which is exalted high above the heavens, promised to all the elect, and we shall suffer no evil from the affection of the body, but shall be made worthy of eternal goods. For God made us with free choice, not enslaved to any external necessity, but freely choosing by our own will what is pleasing to us.
XLIX.
For this calamity, which now takes hold of the human race, we have drawn upon ourselves by being carried away by deceit, not one that came from God, for God did not make death, nor does He delight in the destruction of the living, but we men become, in a way, the creators of evil. For just as the light of the sun is commonly proposed to C all who possess the power of sight, yet any person, if he wishes, by closing his eye, can be separated from the gift of light (not because the sun has produced darkness in him, but because he who has turned away has himself willfully drawn darkness upon himself), just as if someone building a house for himself were to leave no opening for the light to enter within, he renders the house lightless; so too, we, possessing the good and honorable by nature as a matter of choice, invent things that are against nature, willfully creating the experience of evil by turning away from the good by our own preference. For evil, when considered according to its own substance outside of a choice, does not exist in the nature of things. For every creature of God is good, and all things that God made are very good. But since, in the manner already spoken of, our sinning was devised in life, and consecutively from a small cause the greatest evil was poured into us, so that that divine beauty of the soul, which was made in imitation of the prototype, just as iron is blackened by the rust of evil, [is defiled] in the soul, so that he would take no concern for any human affairs, and especially for the well-being and health of the body and the care of other things.Whence, having departed to the desert, he had all his zeal in the exercise toward God; and by fasts, prayers, and vigils, he achieved the height of true philosophy. Many, seeing such an exercise of his, had him as a guide and teacher; and to many, the blessed one seemed to be a most perfect monk, though the man himself never claimed this. He bore fruit, therefore, for those God-loving men who lived in tents, showing them the path of the virtues and the practice of the deeds corresponding to them. Having spent many years in the desert, he said to his disciples: "That you do well to be in the desert and are conducting yourselves worthily of such an ascetic life is certain; I, however, am not satisfied here alone, but am hastening toward something more." Having said this and encouraged his disciples toward a pious way of life, he set out for the city of Antioch, seeking places soaked with water and swampy, where he might share a life with wild beasts. Having found such a place near the city, he settled in it, which offered him great hardship, both by its freezing cold during the winter months and by the rays of the sun in summer. Living there, he entered among the pigs, eating only what the pigs ate. This he did for four years.
But when many, noticing this, admired his asceticism, he fled from them as if seeking the glory of men rather than of God. Therefore he withdrew again to the desert, near the Euphrates river, and practiced the same kind of asceticism. He wore iron chains around his body, which he never laid aside. Having once fallen into the disease of arthritis from such hardship, he did not accept treatment unless he was worthy enough to have God command it.
Setting out from there to Edessa, and eating the mire that fell under the priesthood there, he became a beggar. This he did for a period of three years. Then, when the people began to glorify him because of this manner of life, he withdrew to Amida in Mesopotamia, again doing the same. Thence he arrived at the city of Antioch, where he was seen being honored by the bishop and all the people. Consequently, he would come to the house of the martyr, the holy Leontius, staying with him; whether by night or by day, he spent his time there. Where he departed, no one knew; for many supposed that he had perished. Upon his death, the place was made known by an angel to those at the martyr's shrine: that he had died there. Coming there, they saw him resting, lying upon the ground, dead. There he had a psalm, which begins: "I will bless the Lord at all times," which they found also written on his lips. And all attended his funeral, and many healings were performed at his tomb. This holy man died on the third day of the month of August.
A It is not the case that our innate nature, which is saved according to the image of grace, has been transformed to the ultimate degree of sin; rather, because we have lost the dignity of the incorruption that is according to the image, we must with all zeal return from dead works back to the works of life through repentance, in order to recover our own nature as the great gift of God. If, therefore, we cleanse from ourselves the filth that arises from wickedness and illuminate the beauty hidden within the soul, then the kingdom of God becomes within us; for the Lord also said: "The kingdom of God is within you."
B By saying this, He shows that the good of God is not separated from our nature, nor does it lie far away from those who choose to seek Him, but it exists in each one, yet it is unknown and hidden when it is stifled by the anxieties of life, and it is found and known when we turn our understanding toward that alone. For the Lord also sets this before us in the Gospels as an illustration in the search for the lost drachma. For if, having lit the lamp of our understanding, we seek the hidden and lost drachma, we shall surely find it beneath the dung. By "dung," we must understand the filth of the flesh, which when cast aside and cleansed through the diligent care of our life, that which is sought will become manifest. And the soul, having been widowed by the deprivation of the good—that which it lost—rejoices with an inexpressible joy and calls together to the fellowship of such gladness its neighbors—that is, its own faculties—through the senses, saying: "Rejoice with me, for I have found the drachma which I lost." This is the reality of the image of God, which it lost through sin, but recovered through repentance. If, therefore, this is the understanding of the one who seeks—namely, the restoration of the divine image, which is now hidden in the filth of the flesh—let us strive to become what the first-formed man was in his first life: naked indeed of the covering of dead skins, but with face unveiled and with boldness beholding the glory of the Lord. By whatever strategy, therefore, we have come outside of paradise, having been cast out together with our first forefather, it is possible for us, through a contrary surrender of our will, to return again to the ancient blessedness. For then, indeed, pleasure entering through deception began the fall; but now the purity of life through the teaching of Christ’s commandments and the diligent care of good works restores us thither again. But since paradise belongs to the living and is a pure dwelling-place, and we are carnal and mortal and defiled by sins, and it is not possible for those who are held by the power of death to be in that place, it is necessary to discover some way and method by which, having come outside of this power, we might acquire a citizenry that does not fear the power of death, so that we may also enjoy eternal goods in Christ.
1421 LIFE OF ST. AUXENTIUS. CHAPTER VII. 1422
B The dwelling of St. Auxentius on Mount Siopia. The assaults of the demons overcome. The manner of praying. Exhortation.
LI. When the blessed Auxentius said these things and more than these to the multitude of those who had gathered, not only men but also women, the greater number, wounded by divine love, wished to renounce worldly and evil things and their vanity, and through him to approach the Lord Christ. But he rather admonished them to correct their lives and to manage the property they possessed; and not to seek the good and honest for the present, only to falter later and return like a dog to its own vomit—that is, to the weak and beggarly elements of this world—but to approach this achievement with great precision and no ordinary consideration, as one who is about to die and is simultaneously casting off every bodily pleasure. Then, the loaves having been distributed according to custom, as on the previous mountain, he dismissed everyone. But some of them, armed with a more steadfast resolve, persevered there, content with the blessing that was supplied there daily. For if anyone, intending to offer something, brought it, the blessed one would accept nothing except oil and wax; he ordered, however, that this be given again to the mancipes (40), who provided the supply. For very many of those who were suffering from some diseases and who were in need remained there, having their sustenance from the charity of those who arrived. He endured significant annoyance and much labor, especially from those possessed by demons, so that he healed some of them—not all, but those who were worthy—through his prayers. And that he had no concern for money, let both the reader and the hearer know with truth, for after his passing, when the baker was owed more than one hundred numismata, upon the reminder of his successor and disciple, of whom we shall speak in his place, a certain God-loving and pious man paid these debts.
CHAPTER VIII. The anchoritic garment given by St. Auxentius: likewise his admonitions. Various assaults of the demons, and the remedies.
LII. Others, emulating this divine life of his, became a crowd, desiring to be instructed by him and consecrated in his habit. When, therefore, he gave a tunic woven of hair or a skin garment from those he wore, he would pray, saying: "Go, brother, where the Lord leads you." Among those who persevered there, a certain man named Basil sought this. Since the Blessed one was generous and very loving toward the brethren, having prayed for him and given him the sheepskin he had been wearing, he dismissed him. He, having gone further away to about twenty miles, built a cell for himself on a certain hill and dwelt there. And indeed, after a considerable time, the demons arrived and attacked him to such a degree that they almost caused him to [abandon his post].
(40) To the baker. Among the Romans, those who were occupied with the making of bread are called mancipes. And Suidas, "Artopleion, the mangapeion, in which the loaves are made," the place in which the loaves are made.
1423 FEBRUARY.
...had almost caused him to expire. When those who pastured their flocks in the surrounding areas, having come from the places nearby, had gone away, and not having obtained his customary prayer after calling out many times, they opened the window of the cell by force. They saw him speechless and lying face down; and thinking he was dead, they ran back and reported it to their own people. When they had ascended, they found him almost half-dead, and not at all able to speak, but only breathing a little. When they saw his body wounded, they quickly brought a wagon, placed him upon it, and led him to the blessed Auxentius. When he had looked down from the little window at the ninth hour and seen him, he said in a clearer voice: "Brother Basil." When he had called him a second time and he did not respond, at the third time he cried out with strength: "I say to you, Brother Basil." When he had quickly sat up, he said to him: "Arise, take authority against the tempter, no longer fearing the wicked and unclean demons." He ordered him, therefore, to arise and partake of the precious body and life-giving blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and immediately to return again to the same place. When he had gone away and in such a manner was no longer tempted, and had exercised himself bravely for three years, he departed from this life in peace.
LIII. But after his arrival, the blessed one said to the monks and laymen who were present, and to all the rest: "The demons, envying mankind, beloved brothers, are always contriving to be an obstacle to us in good works, and especially in temperance and continence, humility and beneficence, prayer and silence, patience and long-suffering, peace and tolerance, and love for one's neighbor, than which there is nothing greater. For they set before those who wish to be temperate certain diverse and incongruous images and bodily titillations; likewise, to those who are continent, the cravings of the belly; and to those who wish to be humble, vainglory; to those who intend to do good, the care of their own affairs instead; to those who pray and keep silence, various distractions and a multitude of old business; and to those who exercise themselves in patience and long-suffering, they oppose despondency and cowardice and all their own wickedness; and to peace and tolerance, they oppose resentment, through which, after hatred for one's neighbor, one destroys the love that is in Christ, and, to speak briefly, they attempt to overturn all the fruits of the Holy Spirit, which the Apostle enumerated, by means of their opposites. But those who are fortified by the grace of our Savior Jesus Christ remain unshaken. Wherefore it is not to be wondered at when they even cut us to pieces with blows. For when they are unable to disturb us through thoughts and the remaining bodily passions, then they approach in person, terrifying the ascetics."
A LIV. Those who are most often beaten back by the sign of the cross lament their defeat and go away howling. Let us, therefore, not give in, and they will be put to shame; let us stand against them, and they are cast down; let us call upon the Lord, and all their counsel is brought to nothing. For the life of every Christian who chooses to walk according to the commandments of our Savior is a stadium, a contest, and a martyrdom, especially for him who is intent on the solitary life. As the Apostle says, "Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." And he instructs us, saying: "Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil," and he teaches us ourselves to possess "the breastplate of faith," and "the helmet of salvation," and "the sword of the Spirit," so that by such invisible and unconquerable weapons we may be arrayed against invisible thoughts, and through them against the enemies, as it is written: "We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ," who always conquers the devilish audacity in our weakness, and does not allow us to be tempted beyond our strength, but provides the way out through patience, so that we might be able to endure it. For without His help we are weak and powerless, and easier to capture than almost any bird or beast; but when we are deemed worthy of His aid, we who were weak become strong, we who were despised become glorious, we who were earthly become heavenly, we who were mortal are rendered immortal through the multitude of His mercies, and we become heirs of the eternal kingdom.
CHAPTER IX.
Divine worship prescribed by S. Auxentius to others. The death of S. Symeon the Stylite, and other revelations. The founding of a monastery for women.
C LV. When those who heard him sincerely had received sufficient benefit, they went down rejoicing, giving thanks to the Lord of all and our Lord Jesus Christ. The blessed man also proclaimed this, that they should set aside time not only on Sunday, but also on Friday each week, if possible—especially those who have an abundance of daily food—the former in fasting and prayer because of the Savior’s passion, and the latter in feasting and the participation of the mysteries because of His resurrection. Therefore, whenever it happened that he, or his successor—of whom we shall speak in his proper place—had laborers for the sake of building, he ordered them to set aside these two days, providing on Friday both the expenses and their wages, and on Sunday the expenses only. And as the day of the Sabbath dawned, the Father used to command his familiars to keep vigil all night with those who were found there.
LVI. Accordingly, as was the custom, during one of these all-night vigils, while he himself was praying inside and the rest remained outside—
a gathering of those remaining awake, the blessed man opened the little window and, having said "Blessed be the Lord God" for the third time, sighed heavily, and bowing his head, he said: "The luminary in the East, O children, Symeon our father, has fallen asleep." A And since those who were occupied with the psalmody did not notice what had been said, the blessed man wept for a long time; but when they ceased, he said again: "Our father in the saints, the pillar and ground of the truth, Symeon, has rested, and his blameless and pure soul has not deigned to pass by without greeting me, the useless one, defiled as I am." Having heard these things and being struck with great terror, they dared not answer but remained silent, marking the hour and the night in which these things were said. B And when, after a few days, the report of this reached the most pious Emperor Leo at the beginning of his reign, and it became known to all, those who had heard it made diligent search and found that the statement of the holy man was unerring, which by divine grace he had predicted through revelation at the falling asleep of the holy Symeon. Greatly astonished, therefore, and glorifying God, they were taught even by this that all things are possible with God.
LVII. That these things were not said by us from mere conjecture, but with the greatest accuracy—concerning which we have learned from one of his attendants—let no one doubt. For he who instructed us in this matter, although he was a barbarian in language, being a native of Mysia, was most honorable in mind; he was one who, persevering with the blessed Auxentius, did not partake of wine, nor oil, nor cooked food, C nor fruit, nor finally anything else, but, apart from bread and water and seeds that were not cooked—and these not to satiety—he neither ate nor drank anything, but for almost every night he remained in prayer, while during the day he spent his time making small and very elegant crosses from husks with his hands, and those who ascended would receive them as a grace of blessing. He himself signified these things to us with his own mouth, he who also, after the blessed man fell asleep, succeeded him in his manner of life as well as in his place.
LVIII. Again, therefore, as many were gathered, and were singing the hymn according to the aforementioned customary rule, when the most blessed Auxentius had opened the window and, as he was wont, had finished the prayer, one of those present answering, said: "I beseech thee, Master, bless and pray, because when I expected to receive one sheep for a month's wages, having lost it, I am deprived of the month's wages." For he was accustomed to bring offerings to the blessed man. D To this, the blessed man, smiling, replied: "Do you say this to me, as if I were accustomed to divine or possessed flocks?" And he said: "Not so, I do not worship you, but that you may pray and it may be found." Then, after a short silence, the blessed man called upon a certain Alypius with a clear voice, as was his custom. When two of the same name were found, he said: "To you, I say, who stand on the left. I know that you did not steal it, but found the sheep; go, therefore, and return it." For this man who had lost it offered six obols for the expenses of those of you who gather. And when he had done as he was ordered, having received the sheep, he gave thanks to the Lord who provides.
1429 LIFE OF ST. AUXENTIUS. 1430
LIX. And on one of the days, a multitude of both country folk and citizens having gathered, and the blessed one discoursing on things pertaining to salvation, a rustic who had arrived greeted him, saying: "Good day to you, my master." And when he smiled with dignity—for he was truly charming—and said, "A good time to you," those present smiled among themselves. But he said to them: "It is a scriptural saying, brothers: 'Do not answer a fool according to his folly.' If he had said, 'Bless me,' would he not have heard, 'May the Lord bless you,' as is our custom? For He is the one who receives honor unto Himself through His own servants, and renders to each the reward of his recompense by His grace. Since, however, he bestowed a 'good day' upon me, he received in return a 'good time.'" Having corrected them in this way, not only the one who had offended, but all the rest as well, he went inside and was silent again.
LX. And with the grace of our Savior Jesus Christ working with him, many who were possessed by demons ran to him—some willingly, embracing healing through him, and others unwillingly, led by others. These he would irrigate with the oil of the holy relics, and commanding them to fast especially on the fourth day and the Preparation (Friday), he would dismiss them, healing them with intense prayer and sincere faith. Among these, some were caught by him pretending to be possessed by demons for the sake of shameful gain; these the blessed one rebuked more sharply, saying to them: "If you were not worthy of the gift of the Holy Spirit, you would have been mastered by an incurable demon."
LXI. A certain woman named Eleuthera, brilliant in lineage, and more brilliant still as having been a chamberlain to the most pious Pulcheria, used to come customarily with everyone and reap the benefit of his prayers. She, having been wounded in her soul by divine love, possessed relics of saints and deposited them with the blessed one. Then she attempted to entreat him, through his instruction in the monastic life, to tear her away from material things. When he delayed in various ways and said that she could please God in the secular life through good conduct and beneficence, she did not cease from troubling him to obtain this. But when he perceived with his discerning eye her unwavering constancy and irreproachable compunction, by the good pleasure of God who wills all to be saved, the holy man consented. And from a certain place situated in the level suburb, by the name of Cyreta, he permitted her to persevere there for the time being, occupying herself with the meditation of the divine Scriptures. While she was thus delighting in the Lord and gladly bearing every bodily labor by the grace supplied by God the Father, the wife of another, a certain Pentepitropos, named Kosmia, having been left behind, asked him to be stationed with her.
A of her corruption. But when, through many exhortations, he could not persuade her to be reconciled to her husband, although her relatives also threatened her and accomplished nothing, the blessed man, paying heed to her unyielding longing toward God, permitted her to live with the previous one. And even the wife of a certain keeper of wild beasts, having left everything behind and begging for her own salvation, asked the holy man not to cast her away. When he had sufficiently instructed her to become a temple of God—as her subsequent life demonstrated—he ordered her to be admitted. Not long after, he gave them a habit truly suited for asceticism, dressing them in tunics woven from hair and large mantles, so that anyone who even caught sight of such sorrow was moved to reverence (for such a habit had not yet appeared in these parts).
CHAPTER X.
The monastery of nuns established. Exhortation on the virtue of chastity. The death and burial of St. Auxentius.
BLXII. From that time on, others also began to approach this way of life; some were brought by noble parents to preserve their virginity, while others, having left the theaters and the stage and renounced the devil, were joined to Christ with much weeping and laborious lamentation; so that in a short time more than seventy were gathered, and the blessed man ordered an oratory to be built for them. Without any interruption on Preparation Day (Friday) and on the Lord's Day, he would summon them, and delivering discourses on virginity and purity, he exhorted them, admonishing and persuading them to grant complete oblivion to the pleasures of this life, since the goods contained in the promises are more delightful and incomparable, and not to be dragged down by the pleasures of the flesh. For even if the Creator granted us nature for marriage, He has again deemed us worthy of a better institution, that we might prefer the better thing to the good. For alongside the natural marriage, in which it is situated, "Increase and multiply and fill the earth," 34 is set the state of widowhood and the release from children; and in place of the conversion to a man with intolerable servitude, we choose a mystical and marvelous marriage, one that is not subject to widowhood, being united to an immortal bridegroom, fair in beauty beyond the sons of men. Wherefore it is not fitting to look toward any other of those on earth who are beautiful, since there is no beauty more beautiful than that of the Son of God. And if riches and distinguished ornament come from a husband, what is wealthier than He who is the Lord of heaven and earth and provides breath and life? And if the bridegroom is born of a noble lineage, what is more glorious and magnificent than the King of angels? And if the husband is wise and circumspect, what is wiser than the Maker of all things, whose union brings unutterable joy to those who are betrothed to Him, but inescapable punishment to those who desert Him? Of this
union, there is no pleasure of carnal experience, but [the enjoyment] of all virtue, beneficence, and concord, together with that fortitude which is acquired through fasting, vigils, and strength of soul.
[LXIII] There is need of greater sobriety, because for those in the world who are harassed by passion, the remedy is ready through lawful consent; but for virgins and those who are continent, if they are inclined toward pleasures, the shipwreck is grave and the fall is heavy. For great is the struggle of temperance, since its crown also is great. But by how much greater is the toil, by so much greater and by far more is the reward. If, therefore, you do not betray [yourselves] to sloth and futility, pleasure lurking in your members will labor in vain, besieging [them]. For hear from you that, while the sweetness of sin is indeed most brief, the severity of the punishment is eternal. "Depart from us: for we have betrothed ourselves to a heavenly bridegroom, Christ, [to keep] ourselves as pure virgins." Establish, therefore, your reason as the guardian of this treasure, always bringing into your senses the commandments of Christ for the sanctification of virginity and temperance, lest perchance those thieves of these [virtues] climb up through the windows of the eyes, and—having easily entered through the hearing, after they have persuaded the mind like a gatekeeper and thrown open the things of virginity—secretly plunder your temperance, and make virginity more wretched than any widowhood. For this sin also is grievous, and heavy to those who commit it, because it is not an equal crime to tear a tunic and a royal purple, to tear the image of a king and that of a private citizen. For virgins are images of God, having Him inscribed in their thoughts; to dare to admit anything into these is an attempt of tyrannical madness. And for this reason, the corruption of one who preserves her virginity is more foul than that of one who commits fornication. For the unchastity of her who is set over [the household] and of her who has been joined to Christ is not equal; for neither is the theft of a silver vessel and a priestly [vessel] equal. But the virgin is a priestly vessel and a purple [robe] which it is not permitted for another to wear except the Lord and King of all.
[LXIV] But if lawful marriage also troubles you, hear of its calamities and the sentences pronounced against Eve, from which you have been liberated and released through virginity: to endure the accusations of a fornication-prone husband who has the power to forbid things that are convenient for you; to be forbidden from conversation; to be pursued with jealousy; to be chided by her who has given birth: "Why is the child you have borne not male, but female?" And if it is male, "Why is he not handsome?" And if he is handsome, the concern is greater: he has not yet been weaned from milk, and the struggle regarding his upbringing is great. If he grows, [there is the struggle] that he might not fall ill; if he falls ill, that he might not die. If he does not die, as with a living child, the labor is greater: that he might not fail in his education, that he might not turn out badly, that he might not be led astray by others, that he might not be dragged down with the worthless, that he might not be brutalized by wild beasts, that he might not be slandered in his progress. Whence [could you] supply the things needed for his care?
1435 MONTH OF FEBRUARY 1436
are necessary? From where will they provide what pertains to contracting a marriage? From where will they provide what is sufficient for its grace and adornment? From where will they feed their servants? The same reasoning applies to the rest of the cares and anxieties that distract them here and there: not to mention the pains of childbirth and the necessities of nature. Truly, according to the divine Apostle, the unmarried woman cares for the things of the Lord, being freed from all these things, and adorned only with incorruption, of which Jesus is the provider, the author, and the finisher, who is also able to guard you in patience and increase you in good hope. Guard yourselves, therefore, in the calling in which you were called, so that you may present yourselves as pure virgins to Christ, so that you may also be deemed worthy of eternal goods, by the grace of Him who called you into His own kingdom and glory.
LXV. But after he ceased from his exhortation, having prayed well, he commended them to Christ, ordering everyone to come to the synaxis on the following day, sanctifying the surrounding areas with hymns. After he had come to the monastery that was being built, having poured out intense prayers with the multitude that followed him, he ascended the mountain: where, after having been ill for three days, he died after another ten.
LXVI. A multitude of pious men from the clergy and from the monasteries round about, together with those who were lovers of virtue from among the worldly, gathered and performed his funeral rites on the fourteenth day of the month of February. And while some wished—especially those from the monastery of the most blessed Hypatius, in which he had stayed when he had come down for the synod—to deposit his precious relics in the temple of the Holy Apostles, others wished for the temple of St. Zacharias, which is situated some miles away in an estate called Theatrum. Those who had been gathered by him begged those who were present with many tears that the Father should not be separated from his children. Then, by the will of God, for the salvation of those who were there, they deposited him in the oratory founded by him, in the manner of a monastery, whose monument, through the manifold kindness of Christ, performs healings even to this day.
LXVII. Our holy father, presbyter, and archimandrite, and great among ascetics, Auxentius, was perfected in the reign of the Christ-loving Leo (12), on the fourteenth day of the month of February. And he was deposited in the aforementioned oratory to the glory of Christ our God, who is glorified in His saints. For to Him is due glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
(12) The translator [notes]: Zeno, who succeeded Leo.
1437 LIFE OF ST. JULIANA. MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY MARTYR JULIANA WHO SUFFERED IN NICOMEDIA. 1438 MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY MARTYR JULIANA WHO SUFFERED IN NICOMEDIA. (In Latin in Surius under the date of February 16; in Greek it is provided to us by the manuscript codex of the Royal Library of Paris, no. 921. EDIT. PATR.)
I. Nicomedia, I say, the most beautiful of cities, was so full of idols when the impious Maximian began his reign and resided there. From there, therefore, a certain man originated, Eleusius by name, who was one of the senate and a friend to the ruler, and a friend to the demons. He betrothed a maiden, brilliant in beauty, illustrious in lineage, praiseworthy and virtuous in character, who laid claim to temperance no less than any other and knew it to be her own ornament; and, what is the greatest and most perfect thing of all, she possessed great piety toward Christ, although she did not have good opportunities for this from her parents. For her father was equally a friend to the Gentiles and an implacable enemy to the Christians, and her mother was on the border between paganism and piety, if not indeed favoring one more than the other. But not so the most venerable Juliana—for this was the maiden's name—but seeing the heaven, the air, the sea, and fire, she sought the One who had created them, and through them, she learned very prudently what He might be like, having the wise Paul as her teacher. For his invisible things, he says, are clearly seen from the creation of the world, being understood by the things that are made. For this reason, she said, "There is one God, and Him one must worship." Juliana would never call others gods, nor would she render honor and reverence to them as gods. She said these things and performed deeds in harmony with her words. She abstained from other cares, and divided her own life into these three things: prayer, the temples of God, and the reading of the divine Scriptures, and thus she spent all the time between her betrothal.
II. But when Eleusius urged and hastened the marriage...
(1) As the Latin Martyrologies have it, which is the true day of her translation, as the Roman Martyrology has it. The Greeks celebrate her birthday in the Menologion on December 21. See the notes of Baronius on the Martyrology.
A this, the wise maiden, being able to repel that ardent lover, sent him away, saying: "Do not prepare yourself for marriage, knowing that you will not otherwise take me unless you first receive the office of prefect from the Emperor." By saying this, she made it clear that she had such a purpose, that if he did not persuade her—or perhaps even if he could not—she had an irresistible excuse to cast off the marriage to Eleusius; but if he found a way to be persuaded and was able to do this, she had a second command to give, by obeying which and doing it, he would win both her and himself. But if he did not obey and hesitated, he would first forfeit himself, and then would also lose that marriage. That this was her purpose, the narrative will show immediately. For he, since he was captured by his great love for her, after having moved every stone and having bought the office with much gold, sends to the maiden, signaling that he had become a bridegroom more illustrious for her, and was now demanding the B marriage. But she (for she necessarily revealed what she was pondering) says to those sent by Eleusius: "Say to him that these things are otherwise; but if you will not worship my God and confess that the Master whom I serve is also your Master, seek another to live with you. For these are the only dowry of Juliana, and whoever does not think the same as I do, let him go to another." They reported this; but he was enraged, and having summoned her father, he told him everything, and added threats to his words.
III. But when her father, who was himself also addicted to the false religion of the heathens, heard this, he was moved by no less fury than he; and having learned of the matter, which was not only beyond his hope but even beyond his expectation, he was indeed afflicted with grief as a father, but was angry on account of the innovation regarding the cult. And having immediately reached his house, he first said nothing harsh or bitter to the virgin, fearing C lest he might thereby incite her all the more to constancy; but rather, cheerfully and paternally he said: "Tell me, my dearest daughter, and light of my eyes, for what reason do you dislike the marriage and reject the prefect?" But she, as if struck by a certain goad in her hearing, said, "Cease, father; for I swear by my hope, my Master Christ, if he does not first share in my faith, he will not be a partner in my marriage. For what else would this be, than for those who are joined together in body, to be enemies in their souls?" An unbearable anger took hold of the father, and he said, "Are you mad? And do you desire tortures? Tortures, I said! By the greatest gods, Apollo and Artemis, I will cast your body to the beasts and dogs for food." But the martyr said: "Why do you delay? Let the dogs come, let the beasts come, and even many deaths, if it be possible, instead of one. For I shall rejoice to die D many times for Christ and to receive many rewards." Again that crafty man, in various ways surrounding the noble virgin, abandons that fearful and harsh manner, and returns to his first method, pulling at him equally by paternal longing and from there by religion.
what might appear to be an accusation against a temperate and God-loving young man, is by its very nature spoken to his praise. For he was so composed in his soul that he was like none of his peers in the disorderliness of their lives; rather, he behaved as if he were an old man while still young. He turned away from all the silliness and foolish pastimes of the others, while he himself was always turned toward the exercise and study of divine things. And if he ever thought of the pleasures of the body, he would immediately repel them by the turning of his mind toward God. For he was so precisely the master of himself and the lord of the passions of the flesh, that he was never distressed even in dreams by any interference of the adversary. Therefore, he surpassed his contemporaries in his discipline and emulated the elders in the gravity of his life. Among his peers, there was no envy toward him, but admiration and emulation; among the elders, there was love and astonishment at him. For the former saw themselves surpassed in virtue by such a young man, while the latter rejoiced to see ancient piety marveled at in a youthful body. This boy was also a source of joy and exultation for his parents, as he clearly showed that he would be beloved of God and distinguished in his life. At any rate, from his earliest age he had some visible manifestation of the divine grace that overshadowed him. For his face appeared bright and cheerful to those who saw it every day, and his soul likewise shone forth with purity and love toward God. Whence it was that all naturally honored and loved him, awaiting but this one thing to see: where and how such great virtue in a boy would eventually lead.
1443 MONTH OF FEBRUARY. 1444
VI. When the prefect heard these things, and had added fire to fire—the fire of his anger to the fire of his lust—he appeared to be all fire, and was seized by madness. For such is love when it has been held in contempt. And because of this, he inflicted a grievous torture upon that noble virgin. It was of this kind: she was stretched out by four thongs, with dry sinews and green withes, and was beaten for a long time by many men. But when those who were beating her grew weary—and for her, the punishment was rather a confirmation of the words she had spoken, as she showed nothing at all womanly or ignoble—Eleusius ordered the executioners to stop. "But these things, Juliana," he said, "are the beginnings and preludes of torments. You, however, judging from these about the others as well, approach and sacrifice to the great Artemis. If not, after you have suffered, you will know that you have not taken good counsel regarding your own affairs." But she, feeling pained that he still thought he could persuade her, said, "Do what you wish, you utter fool and madman, for you will find me more ready to suffer than you are ready to act." Having said this, she paid the penalty of her sharper words with a most bitter punishment, being suspended by the hair of her head; and she hung for a great part of the day, so that by the violence of the tension, the skin was torn from her head, her face was terribly distorted, and her eyebrows were pulled up above her forehead. The prefect, therefore, even after the punishment, again brought forward words of love, as he hoped and persuaded himself that he might expect what he greatly desired.
VII. But when he had said many things and seemed to be singing to the wind, and saying nothing to her heart, but only pouring into her ears, the impious man was again afflicted with greater annoyance, and consequently, greater torments were applied to the noble martyr. For he ordered red-hot iron plates to be placed upon her armpits and sides; then, that her hands be bound to her sides, and another iron instrument be thrust through the middle of her thighs, and thus bound, or rather pierced through, she was led away to prison. But she, having endured even this painful torture and having been led away to the guard, lying upon the ground, cried out, "O Lord my God, Almighty, who art invincible in power, who art strong in works, take away from me these afflictions, and deliver me from the pains that surround me, as Thou didst Daniel from the lions, as the three children, and Thecla from the fire and the beasts. My father and my mother have forsaken me, but Thou, O Lord, do not depart from me; but as Thou didst once save Israel fleeing through the sea, and didst cover their enemies with the sea, so now also save me. And crush him who wages war against me, O invincible King, and through him, the adversary and the one who tries to trip us up, Satan."
VIII. While the prayer was still on her lips, there approached her he who does not fall under sight, the enemy and foe of all, pretending to be an angel of God, saying, "Grievous, O Juliana, are the things the ruler has against you, very grievous and..."
[bonds and blows] was already shaken—is now utterly constrained.
Behold, for someone is bringing you good tidings of great joy. Jesus Christ the Savior is born today; he lies placed in a manger for my sake. This is the sign for you: you will find him wrapped in swaddling clothes. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men." The shepherds came, and they found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. And seeing him, they made known concerning the word which had been spoken to them about this child. And all who heard it marveled at those things which were spoken by the shepherds unto them. But Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they heard and saw, just as it had been spoken unto them.
If anyone thinks one ought to be astonished also at these things, that the angels appeared to the shepherds, it is more reasonable to marvel that they did not appear to Herod, but rather the star guided him to Christ. Someone might perhaps say that the shepherds were simple in their disposition and upright in their understanding, and for this reason the angel went to them; but Herod was crafty, complex, and deceitful, and for this reason the angel fled from him. But it is evident that the shepherds had nothing better than the Magi, for they too had no record of a good soul, being heathens. But that the angel did not come to Herod, but the star did, this was of divine economy. For if an angel had appeared to him, what need was there for the star also? But now, since the angel came to the shepherds and the star to the Magi, it demonstrates that all creation was proclaiming the birth of the Master. For angels came, and a star came, and a star guided the Magi. And shepherds worshipped, and Magi worshipped. What ought one to reckon from this? That the Magi, as the first of the Gentiles, must come to the worship of Christ; and the shepherds, as bearing a type of Israel, must obey the evangelical voice more quickly and more readily.
14. On the Circumcision of our Lord Jesus Christ
The Lord our Jesus Christ having been born in the flesh, as many good things as there were, have almost all been spoken; it remains to speak also concerning his circumcision in the flesh. Why on earth was he circumcised, who had no sin? Because this had to happen according to the Law: "On the eighth day you shall circumcise him"; for such was the command of the Law. And the Law had to be fulfilled. For he did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it. And if this is the case, it is clear that he also had to be circumcised according to the Law. And there is another reason for the Savior’s circumcision. Since the majority of the heretics, who were unwilling to confess that he had taken flesh, said that he had walked upon the earth in phantom form and had appeared to men in phantom form, not in truth; for this reason [they claimed] he was subject to sufferings in phantom form. For this reason also Christ accepted the circumcision, so that from this location, too, the truth of his incarnation might be manifested. For he would not have accepted the circumcision if he had not truly taken flesh. And there is a third reason. Since it was necessary to redeem those who were under the Law, it was necessary for him to become under the Law, so that he might redeem those who were under the Law. He became under the Law, as Paul says, by his birth; and as is clear from the Law, by his circumcision. And the fourth reason is that he had to be the seed of Abraham.
Having been appointed to carry out a private mission to bring them his head, so that when the emperor had read what was written, he might learn that such a person had been beheaded; this seemed to him the ultimate point of sorrow. But what was to happen, or what was to be? Nicephorus, in his intoxication, unaware of such a plot, was completely overcome by a deep sleep. But they, initiating the attempt around the first watch of the night, entered the palace. Thereafter, as the palace was suddenly filled with confusion and noise, the emperor awoke and leapt from his bed. Whither, then, should he flee? He pondered, and it seemed good to him to take refuge inside the temple of the Theotokos of the Pharos; having seized the cross and the icon of Christ, he hastened to the church. But would he arrive in time? It is uncertain, had not God truly permitted it; for those who had rushed in found him there, and immediately, having snatched the cross he was holding, they threw him to the ground. When he saw this, falling to the floor, he kissed their feet and begged only for his life, promising to cede the empire for this sake. But they drew their swords against him, and hewn from there, they severed his head. This head, sent to Leo upon a spear, and sent by him throughout the whole city, served as proof of the deed for everyone. Not long afterward, his body too, dragged to the shore, was abandoned to be torn apart; a little later, the emperor’s own household gathered it, and reattaching the head, buried him in Chrysopolis in Asia. Leo immediately reigned, having ignited the flame of empire on that very night, praying from the thanksgiving and philanthropy of the Pharisee toward God; and this, as it is said, came to pass.
On the 24th of the same month of December, the memory is celebrated of the holy ten Fasters, whose life is as follows:
These Fasters lived a God-loving life, and observing God-lovingly the love of those who love God, they were dead to the world and all worldly things, but they lived to God, choosing to live for God and possessing their life through Him. Dwelling by the Jordan river, they practiced every virtue: humility, self-control, fasting, prayer, vigil, brotherly love, poverty, kindness, and gentleness of character.
During the reign of the emperor Valentinian, many Saracens came into that desert, plotting against the saints. Seeing them, the saints did not flee, nor turn back in fear, but praying and blessing, they stood against the enemies with quietness and confidence. For faith was their wall, prayer was their weapon, love was the breastplate of the spirit, and hope was the helmet of salvation. Being ready to die for Christ the God, they accepted the swords of the barbarians, blessing God and saying that they did not rejoice in any save Him. The philanthropist God accepted this endurance of theirs as an acceptable sacrifice, and made them citizens of the Jerusalem above; by whose intercessions may we too be deemed worthy of salvation, and may we be shown mercy on the day of judgment.
On the same day, the 24th, the memory of our holy father Nicholas of Bounena; whose life is as follows:
This Nicholas, being from Italy and having descended from a noble line, came to the East while young, and desiring the God-loving life practiced there, he became a monk beside a certain river. Having learned that in those places there was a certain wondrous saint, he went to him, and became his disciple; and he instructed him in divine things...
1449
[13.] The prefect, still seething with anger, orders Juliana to be thrown into a cauldron boiling with much fire. But divine grace showed it to the martyr not as a bath for the melting and dissolution of her limbs, but rather as a bath for her labors; yet to those who were ministering around it, it was another Chaldean furnace. For suddenly the cauldron burst, and as if by some machine, it poured out in a circle, destroying the bystanders in a paradoxical way, justly punishing them and showing the foolish ones by experience what kind of power was in her, and how it appeared in the martyr. When the executioners had been consumed in this way, the prefect did not bear what had happened, nor did he consider the calamity at all tolerable. What grieved him most was that he was not able to prevail over even one girl. As a sign of his despondency, he tore his clothing, and out of deep grief, he uttered many words against his own gods. Therefore, as he was inflicting tortures and achieving nothing, seeing the constancy of the martyr growing all the more, he pronounced the sentence of death by the sword against her.
[14.] The tempter, Satan, who had approached the martyr from the beginning, approached again—having suffered far more than he had inflicted, and standing from afar (for he was still afraid and remembered the blows)—and he rejoiced, as it were, at her death and urged the executioners toward the slaughter. But when the noble virgin looked sharply and glared at him, he cried out, "Woe is me, perhaps she wants to seize me with her hands again," and he vanished. And he, having thus confessed his fear while many witnesses were present, fled; but the glorious victor Juliana, as if she were being led not to death but rather to the release from death and the cessation of labors, went with a graceful countenance, bright in her eyes, and depicting the inner pleasure of her soul; she conversed much with those walking with her, persuading them that nothing among present goods is more precious, nor among painful things more powerful, than love for Christ. She said these things and sealed what was said with her deeds; for when she arrived at the very place where she was to receive her consummation, first she raised herself in prayer; then she inclined her neck for the slaughter, preserving the same joy of soul and showing nothing at all dejected, and thus her victorious head was cut off.
[15.] A certain woman named Sophia, by some chance passing through Nicomedia at that time and traveling to the great city of Rome, took those sacred relics with her, and carrying them home, she erected a temple for the martyr worthy of her struggles. Not long after, the wretched Eleusius also enjoyed the punishment due to him; for as he was sailing on the sea, some wild winds seized him and surrounded him with a harsh storm, and the ship...
and they were delivered to the sea together. While all the others were submerged, he, so that he might partake of a greater calamity, was saved from the sea, but was cast out into a certain desert place, and the wretched man became a meal for wild beasts.
XVI. Such was the course of the martyrdom of Juliana, and such is the end that followed her for Christ; she who was betrothed to Eleusius around the ninth year of her age, but was wedded to Christ and united to Him through martyrdom, when she was eighteen years old. Now, at that time, Maximianus was reigning over the impious, but our God and King, the Lord Jesus Christ, reigns over us believers—He who is always God and King—to whom be glory and power, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
THE MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY LEO AND PAREGORIUS, WHO SUFFERED MARTYRDOM IN PATARA OF LYCIA ON THE DAY BEFORE THE KALENDS OF JULY
I. A Various indeed are the machinations of the devil against the servants of God; but more various and greater is the succor provided by the Only-Begotten God to His own ministers. For the former does not set flesh and blood against those who are by nature...
incorporeal; Christ’s help, however, shows His own people to be stronger than the devil. A This is sufficiently confirmed by the patience of the noble martyrs Leo and Paregorius. For since the blessed Paregorius had already been perfected by patience in the Lord and had found the kingdom of heaven, the rest from many labors, the blessed martyr of Christ, Leo, deemed the struggle of him who had been perfected to be blessed; yet he himself was possessed by grief that he had not attained the same struggles, although the common way was set before them both.
B II. In those days it happened that the proconsul Lollianus, having been appointed by the emperors, came to them, as the government at that time rested with the procurator of the city who was in Patara. The all-polluted procurator, while celebrating a festival of Serapis and assembling an ungodly council, deliberated against the Christians and compelled everyone toward the madness of idolatry. As many were running together and being held by human fear, the blessed Leo was troubled, not even bearing to hear the audacity of the lawless. C Reasoning with himself, he went out to the place where the relic of the blessed martyr Paregorius lay. Arriving at that place where those worthy of it were celebrating the unholy festival, each of those who saw him—from his age, from the composure of his face, from his clothing, and from his not participating in the evils performed by them—presumed him to be a Christian and truly worthy of reverence; for everything about him was measured. Indeed, he was ascetic in his life, having applied himself to this from youth, in continence, in purity, and in temperance; his garment was woven of hair, D truly imitating the apostolic life in the works themselves and becoming a zealot of the holy John the Forerunner and Baptist.
A III. Having therefore arrived at the place proposed to him and offered the customary prayers, he returned to the house, and having gone inside and prayed according to custom, and having partaken of bread, he remained by himself, meditating on nothing other than the noble achievements of the God-fearing Paregorius. While he was in these thoughts, he was carried off into a light sleep, so that he might behold the glory of the things that were to happen to him. For just as the patriarch Joseph saw the things that were to be brought upon him by God, so too did the blessed Leo behold through the Holy Spirit the outcome of the things that were to follow B for him. For he seemed to see, as if it were a violent winter and torrents were flowing with great force, that Paregorius and himself were standing in the middle of the torrent; and even though the current was extremely dangerous, he seemed to cast himself and run toward the blessed martyr Paregorius, who was traveling the road toward martyrdom. Having therefore seen the vision, he arose, and making a conjecture about the events with himself, he guessed the things that were to happen. He proclaimed himself blessed...
A And comparing the outcome to himself, he did not imagine it as falling outside of what would follow, but he blessed himself, because he had spent a short time with the blessed Paregorius.
IV. B From there, then, he came as if to a most faithful fellow-combatant, no longer secretly, but through the middle of the marketplace and through that which was called the Trichaum. Proceeding, therefore, he sees lamps and tapers burning around the idol-temple, and he felt pity for those who had kindled them as people who were deceived; but considering their lawlessness to be most absurd, as he drew near, he smashed the lamps with his own hands and trampled the tapers with his feet, saying to them, "If you think your gods have power, let them defend themselves." The action of the blessed Leo was the path to the martyrdom that followed for him; having prayed, therefore, to the Lord, he kept to the path set before him. But the initiates of lawlessness, having gathered a company of the impious, raised a cry against the holy Leo, as one who was turning away the favor that fortune had offered to the city. And as the uproar increased and echoed through the whole city, the event came also to the ears of the procurator who was then governing the state, and utilizing his own lawlessness, he orders soldiers to watch for his return and to seize the man. He, for his part, was returning, C considering by himself what was to follow, lifting the eyes of his mind toward God. But the soldiers, having reached him and laid hold of him, brought him to the procurator, as he neither resisted nor made a tumult. But he, like some bloodthirsty beast, full of fury, moved against the martyr, thinking that if he should suffer the act, he might become the cause of boldness for the Christians toward the destruction of the Hellenes' idols.
V. D But after he saw that the blessed Leo was near, he immediately attacked the boldness he had shown concerning the lamps, saying: "To me you seem, old man, either to be ignorant of the power of the heavenly gods, since you are overturning their rites, or to be mad, as one who acts contrary to what seems good to our most divine emperors, whom we call second saviors and gods, who act in the best way." To these things the most holy Leo said: "You spoke of many heavenly gods yourself; but the truth, O procurator, is not so; for there is one God of the heavenly and earthly, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, not needing such service from men; for a broken spirit is acceptable to God, and a soul accustomed to think humbly, but lamps and tapers around idols are vain, since they cannot even come to perception, as stone, and bronze, and wood, which are fashioned by the art of men. But if you understood, O procurator, the one who is truly God, you would not have offered to this matter, which is devoid of sense, the honor of incense. Cease, therefore, in such foolish works and glorify the God over all and his only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world and Creator of our souls." To these things the procurator said: "You have not answered for the present to the charges brought against you, but have spoken other things instead of others; for being accused concerning the gods,
1457 LIFE OF SS. LEO AND PAREGORIUS. You teach about Christianity willingly; thanks be to the gods, who did not allow you to escape notice when you dared such things. Therefore, either acknowledge the gods and fulfill the sacred rites to them, obeying the opinion of those present, or pay the penalty for what you have dared.
1458 When you are accused of these things, you teach about Christianity with a ready and eager spirit. But thanks be to the gods, who did not allow you to escape notice when you dared these things. Therefore, either acknowledge the gods and fulfill their sacred rites, obeying the opinion of those who are present, or pay the penalty for the things you have dared to admit.
III. To these things the martyr said: It would have been pleasant to me that not even one or two should have slipped from the heavenly knowledge, let alone such a multitude. But since I see many acting with unholy madness, do not think that I am one of them, being a Christian. For I, having the apostolic precepts within, will use these for obedience. But if you demand punishment for these things, do not delay; for I will not guard myself against the torture which is considered by you to be the most severe, but I am ready to endure all things, so that no place may be given to the devil against us. But if not all think the same as we do, they will live only this life. For the future life is acquired through such afflictions; for thus the Scripture says, that the way leading to eternal life is narrow and afflicted. The procurator said: If you yourself confess that the way which is among you is narrow and afflicted, pass over to ours, which is broad and better. The holy Leo said: I did not say it was so narrow as not to contain those who walk it; for many have stepped onto this most beautiful way. But it is called narrow, which is entered upon with affliction, distress, necessity, and persecution for the sake of justice by those who approach it. But to those who choose these things, faith is most broad, leading them into its own virtues. But why do you not declare that the way which is called narrow among us is most broad for salvation, having learned that from the faith of one forefather, Abraham, an innumerable multitude is justified in faith, resting in his bosom; and that the way which is broad among you is narrow according to unbelief, and this is true? For virtues, while being diverse and broad, are established as narrow and inaccessible to the ignorant.
VII. As the holy Leo was discussing these things and more, and was strongly maintaining the argument concerning Christianity, the multitude of the godless Jews and Greeks cried out, asking not to allow him to speak whatever he wishes. The procurator, therefore, says to the things said by the multitude: I now grant him freedom of speech and promise common friendship if he obeys the gods. The saint says: If you have forgotten my words, procurator, you do well to ask again; but if you remember, know that it is not possible to agree to worship gods who are not gods by nature. Being moved to anger by these words, he orders the venerable body of the martyr to be scourged. And when the multitude of blows was beyond number or the endurance of a human body, the most noble athlete of Christ was not affected by any of the things being done, not even uttering the slightest groan; for he had...
A For he was turning all his mind and longing toward the Lord. Then the procurator said: "These things that have happened to you are small in comparison to the tortures that are to come; submit yourself, therefore, to me and offer the customary sacrifices to the gods." The holy Leo said: "What I have said before, I will not refuse to say again many times: I neither know these gods, nor will I dare to sacrifice to them, knowing the most useful commands of the holy Scriptures. For the gods, who did not make heaven and earth, let them perish from the face of the earth (Jer. x, 11)." B VIII. To this the procurator said: "Say only this: 'The gods are great,' and you shall be released from your tortures; for I spare you, having regard for your gray hair and the other condition of your body." To this the holy Leo said: "This I myself would also say, that they are truly great and powerful in destroying the souls that believe in them." Then the procurator, stung with anger, said: "I order you to be dragged over the stones as one who has gone mad, and thus to die." And the blessed Leo said: "Every manner of death is pleasant to me because of the heavenly kingdom; for I call this life and salvation, which, after I have departed from here, will grant me to dwell with the holy martyrs." The procurator said: "Obey the command and say that the gods are saviors, or know that you shall die instantly." The holy Leo said: "You seem to me to be very weak, continually threatening me with empty words, but accomplishing nothing beyond words." When the crowd had stirred up a sedition over this, the procurator, greatly troubled, ordered that the saint be seized by his feet and dragged to the torrent, there to be given his final punishment. C IX. When the procurator had thus pronounced the verdict, immediately the servants of sin and ministers of darkness dragged the blessed Leo to the torrent inhumanly and cruelly. Then, knowing that his desire was fulfilled, lifting his eyes to God, he began to say: "Lord Jesus Christ, I give you thanks now and forever, because you have not long kept me separated from your servant Paregorius, but have given me a speedy opportunity to follow him. I rejoice, therefore, in what has happened, since for my former sins I receive martyrdom as a sufficient provision, and because into the hands of your angels I deliver my spirit, to be preserved forever, free from the judgment of the wicked. And for these things that are happening to me, be propitious to those who have dared to do them; but grant them to recognize you as the God of all: since you do not wish anyone to perish, but for all to be saved and to come to repentance. Moreover, to anyone who invokes my name, grant, O Lord, their sins to be forgiven, and place them where they may see the light of your countenance, since you are the only God who is patient and of great mercy, and to you is due glory forever and ever. Amen." X. After he had pronounced the "Amen" with a firm voice, he at length gave up his spirit to the Lord with a grateful heart.
THE LIFE OF SAINTS LEO AND PAREGORIUS
A He committed to the Lord. But the ministers of iniquity, carrying the relics of the saint up onto a certain high rock, cast them down into the gorge. Yet the body, as it was carried down, was in no place shattered, but was borne down so gently that it seemed to have received only a few slight grazes from the roughness of the terrain. Thus the most noble Leo, having in this way conquered the devil, was deemed worthy of the crowns he so richly deserved. And because it was just that the greatness of what had occurred should be preserved for its own glory, and the memory of these graces be kept as a testimony to what had come to pass, the place is preserved to this very day. For where the body of the saint was carried down, being previously a certain craggy and impassable place, such that from its mere appearance it threatened danger, it has since become safe and secure. For often both men and women, and even other beasts, having lost their way, have fallen down that same precipice, and felt not the slightest pain; nay, the greatest vehicles, even with the beasts pulling them, have been carried down, and have remained free from any danger whatsoever, and the place has been allotted this grace. B The most pious of the brethren, having taken up the body of the most holy martyr with haste, marveled at how his face was radiant, as if it seemed to be smiling, and his whole body was ruddy, as if gently dusted from the struggle. Therefore, having washed it with water and laid it out with care, they departed giving thanks and glorifying God, who had granted such noble endurance to the blessed one, praying to be counted worthy of the same portion and dwelling, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, to whom be glory and power unto the ages of ages. Amen.