Life of St. Nilus the Younger

THE ANONYMOUS LIFE OF SAINT NILUS THE YOUNGER, ABBOT OF CRYPTA FERRATA IN THE TUSCULAN TERRITORY. PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY. (Acta Sanctorum Bolland., September, vol. VII, at the 26th day, page 279.)

^AKnowledge of locations: The Life of the Saint is written by a contemporary: some notes on its chronology. 1. Regarding the report about Nilus of Crypta Ferrata, ^B as if he had died there: I have followed the custom observed by others scrupulously, rather than my own. The saint always declined the abbatial office in such a way that he nevertheless always had many monks as subordinates and followers. He died, however, in the monastery of St. Agatha, three miles distant from Crypta Ferrata, to which his sacred relics were translated, being honored everywhere with special reverence—as is fitting for the first founder of his abbey—and were made illustrious by miracles from God. Baronius, for this 26th day of September, announces St. Nilus in the Roman Martyrology thus: "In the Tusculan territory, (the feast of) Blessed Nilus, abbot, founder of the monastery of Crypta Ferrata, a man of great sanctity." You will seek the name of this saint in vain among the classical martyrologists, since he is posterior to all of them, having been translated to the heavens only at the beginning of the eleventh century. Wion, Menardus, and Dorganius have him inserted into the sacred fasti of the Benedictines: because, even though he was not a monk of the Order of St. Benedict, but of St. Basil, "he lived for a long time," says Menardus in his Observations, "in the monastery of SS. Boniface and Alexius in Rome, which is of that order." We shall see in the course of this work how long St. Nilus spent there; let those whom it concerns meanwhile examine whether this reason is sufficient for a saint to be ascribed to any order. Ferrarius in his Catalogue of the Saints of Italy deals with St. Nilus more copiously, consolidating what he had read scattered in Baronius’s Annals under the year 976 and elsewhere. The saintly abbot attained the surname "the Younger" for the sake of distinction from another Nilus of the same name who was also a Greek, who, having cast off honors and titles during the times of Theodosius the Younger, managed the monastery in Constantinople with the highest praise. The agenda concerning his well-known learning and sanctity will come on the 12th of November, on which day he is recorded as being inscribed in the Roman Martyrology. 2. Moreover, the Tusculan territory is adjacent to Rome; indeed, it is a part of Roman Campania. There is an episcopal city there, which Italians call Frascati, and from which some more recent writers call it Frascata in Latin; it is distant twelve miles from the City, and most contend that ancient Tusculum was in the same spot, from which the neighboring field still retains its name. Proceeding from there for about one mile toward the south, where the villa of Lucullus once stood by the Crabra water, one comes upon a celebrated monastery, which owes its beginning and its splendor to our St. Nilus: it is called Grotta Ferrata by the natives, but Crypta Ferrata by the Latins. ^C Others derive the origin of the name from a cave which the monks inhabited, and which was closed with iron bars, as they contend; others derive it from the abundance of iron found in that place. Kircher, in his *Latium*, attributes the beginnings of the abbey of Crypta Ferrata to Bartholomew, a disciple of St. Nilus: Piazza follows him in his *Hierarchia Cardinalitia*. But we shall see below that this is done erroneously, and that our saint must be considered its primary author, concerning whom there is very little; and if you exclude the chronology and the examination of the monuments or the *Life*, there is almost nothing here that need be laboriously discussed. Regarding the *Lives* of St. Nilus, or rather his *Life*, almost every difficulty lies in investigating its author; for very slight errors can easily be forgiven the writer, as long as his trustworthiness and authority are proved from elsewhere. The original *Life* of St. Nilus is in Greek, and from it, unless I am mistaken, the only one of its kind, the Latin *Lives* emerged, which differ from one another in some measure according to the method of the translators. Baronius assigns it in his *Annals* to the year of Christ 976, no. 2, as composed in an ancient codex of the monastery of Crypta Ferrata by a disciple of the saint; the same is called so by Barrius in *De Antiquitate Calabriae*, book v, and finally by Ferrarius in his *Annotation*. Let us see, furthermore, whether there is truly one and the same Greek *Life* from which the diverse versions have proceeded. Latinity has not yet seen the acts of St. Nilus written in Greek by his disciple. Those who are first from ^D

^A ancient monastery codex of Grottaferrata delivered to the Latin world, was our own Federicus Metius, Bishop of Termoli, from whom I first received it, and I wove some portions of it into my own Annals on a suitable occasion, in accordance with the circumstances of the time. Surius combined this same material from Baronius and inserted it into his collection where it stands to this day. I find the version attributed to the aforementioned Jacobus Martenius, as well as to Sciommarius, a monk of the Order of St. Basil and of Grottaferrata, in the Notes to the Life of St. Bartholomew published by him in Italian; but beyond what Baronius inserted in his Annals, I find nothing else. Whence I doubt whether Metius published his version in print, and whether it was not rather prepared solely for the favor of Baronius. Be that as it may, what he supplied to us from that version will be more than enough for the present matter. Edmund Martene, in his Collection of Ancient Writers, vol. VI, col. 887, inserted the Life of St. Nilus. He translated it from the Greek, as he notes in his preliminary Observation, and Cardinal Sirlet had once found its Latin interpretation in a Vatican codex, where it had been accurately copied and transmitted to Mabillon, and even in the judgment of Adrien de Valois, it was worthy of public light and would have been published sooner, had not various other studies prevented it. The praiseworthy Sciommarius also mentions the Sirletian version, and we possess its manuscript exemplar from the Vatican Library, codex ms. under number 6151, which is the same as that from which Durandus made his transcript, which Martenius writes agrees with ours down to the smallest detail.

4. Papebrochius added that he had seen an exemplar in the monastery of Grottaferrata and had consulted the Roman codex in person, concerning which he observed something, as we shall see below. Finally, Joannes Matthæus Caryophilus, Archbishop of Iconium, at the beginning of the last century translated it into Latin, and together with the Greek text from the Grottaferrata manuscript, published the Life of St. Nilus in Roman print by Zannetti in the year 1624, which he complained had until then been hidden in darkness. The diligence of Caryophilus and his skill in both Latin and Greek left nothing to be desired regarding the aforementioned Life, except for a single lacuna in Chapter 2. This cast doubt in my mind as to whether the Sirletian version had at least proceeded from that same Grottaferrata codex, since it is omitted in the text of Caryophilus, yet fills nearly two columns in the edition of Martene. But since a general consonance elsewhere has given rise to the suspicion that perhaps after Sirlet consulted the codex, the leaf was lost either through negligence or some other chance. Be that as it may, since Caryophilus published the Greek text and his interpretation appears to be accurate, I shall publish the Life from his edition; and so that the reader might lack nothing and be able to supply the lacuna, I shall provide the passage from Sirlet's version. Regarding the biographer, Caryophilus writes thus after the beginning of the Preface to the reader: "A monk writes the Life of a monk, the disciple of the master. Who, however, that man was, is not perfectly clear. Many suspect Bartholomew, who ^B also assert that the man himself was most holy, a fellow citizen of Nilus, and the heir to his wisdom and piety." Those are his views regarding others of Bartholomew, not presenting his own, and indeed cautiously, as it behooved a prudent man, both regarding that part of the censure in which he asserts that the biographer was a contemporary of St. Nilus, and regarding the other, where he leaves the assertions about Bartholomew in doubt.

5. It would be superfluous to allege something for the confirmation of the first part, since in many places the biographer clearly proclaims himself as such. Regarding the second point, many ascribe that Life to Blessed Bartholomew, among whom are Sciommarius and Martenius; but he alone, out of those whom I have seen, gives the reason for the assertion, which I propose. "That disciple," he says, "was none other than Blessed Bartholomew, the third abbot after St. Nilus of Grottaferrata, we gather both from the Inscription, which is placed before his Life in the Vatican codex MMMMMMCLI in this manner: 'Blessed Bartholomew wrote this Life,' and from the shorter Life of the same St. Bartholomew, in which we read: 'An elaborator of hymns and describing with excessive wisdom the deeds of his preceptor and many holy men.' " These latter points indeed render it certain, after a fashion, that Blessed Bartholomew wrote the Life of his holy preceptor Nilus; but that he elaborated the same Life which we have today, does not follow from that with equal certainty. As far as the Vatican codex is concerned, very little weight would be added to the assertion even if the translator Sirlet, or whoever inscribed his version in the codex, had added words which were not read in the Greek text he translated: but Martenius and those who feel as he does do not even have that much support for their opinion; for Papebrochius, who examined the Vatican codex with his own eyes, studiously warns in a note added to our transcript that these words were added by a hand undoubtedly different from that in which the Life was written. There is no need, if I am not mistaken, to add more to give a reason why I subscribe to the opinion of the illustrious Caryophilus, nor to ascribe the Life undoubtedly to Blessed Bartholomew, which, however, I consider probable. I confess that greater authority would accrue to the Life from Blessed Bartholomew; but that which we have from a contemporary writer, who lived with St. Nilus in the same place and whose candor is proven in more than one place, is sufficient for us.

6. Now let us descend to what must be examined. St. Nilus was born at Rossano in Calabria, which used to be called Magna Graecia. It is a very large province of the Neapolitan kingdom, in the extreme ends of Italy toward the South, surrounded on all sides by the Sicilian, Ionian, and Tyrrhenian seas, except toward the North, where it has the province of Basilicata as a neighbor. Rossano, which others write as Roscianum, is distinguished by the title of a principality and an archiepiscopal see, and is distant scarcely 3 miles from the shore of the Gulf of Tarentum. It is a large and today a duly cultivated city.

Preface to the Life of St. Nilus the Younger

Preface to the Life of St. Nilus the Younger

^A In the tenth century, just as all of Calabria still obeyed the Eastern Empire, both the Greek language and rite were in use when St. Nilus was born there. Concerning his parents and his year of birth, nothing more certain is read in the Life. Gabriel Barrius, in the beginning of the fifth book of *De Antiquitate et Situ Calabriae*, writes that St. Nilus was born of noble parents, and he cites as a witness of his assertions the Blessed Bartholomew, the saint’s biographer. But either this is a common failing of writers, who strive to decorate saints with the splendor of lineage by any means, or Barrius had another Life before his eyes, although I scarcely believe this. Nothing of the sort is asserted in the Greek text or in the versions I possess. Regarding his year of birth, Sciommarius, in Note 8 to the Life of Blessed Bartholomew, designates the year of Christ 910, and correctly so, for in no. 87 of the Life, it is said that St. Nilus died at the age of 95. He died in the year of Christ 1005; therefore, if you subtract 95 years, you arrive at 910.

^B We do not have the year of his death designated in the Life, but Sciommarius gathers it from other records of good standing. Near the tower of the church of Grottaferrata, there is an inscription carved in marble: Εκοιμήθη ὁ ἅγιος Νεῖλος ἔτος ϛφιγʹ. “St. Nilus fell asleep in the year 6513.” This same year is assigned to the death of St. Nilus, according to Sciommarius, in an ancient codex which is called the [codex] of Basil Porphyrogenitus, as well as in the ancient Typicon of Blessed Bartholomew and other manuscript records. Furthermore, having learnedly corrected the errors of various writers in this method of reckoning, he demonstrates in the same place that the year 6513, marked according to the custom of the Greeks of the world, is 1005 of the common era. I omit the arguments by which he proves this indubitably, and which can be seen in his own work. Meanwhile, it is certain that, according to this epoch, the events narrated in the Life concerning the meetings with Emperor Otto III and Pope Gregory V in the case of the antipope John are correctly combined. These conflict with Gabriel Barrius, Lubinus, and others who refer the death of St. Nilus to the year 980 or some years before the end of the tenth century; for it is certain from no. 87 that the saint went to Rome for that cause during the Lenten season, and that this was in the year 998, as is clear from the records cited by Muratori in his *Annalibus* in the same place.

^C Nor do other particulars, which are circumscribed by chronological clues in the Life, flow less clearly according to the order of time. When St. Nilus bade farewell to the world, he had not yet completed his thirtieth year (no. 6); therefore, his arrival among the monks occurred in the year 940 or the following one. In Life number 26, it is said that Stephen, a youth of nearly twenty years, joined St. Nilus, which occurred in his second year in the cave of secession (no. 27). Stephen is said to have been accustomed to work, being over seventy years of age (no. 94). It is clear from the adjuncts in the same place that Stephen died in the same year in which Emperor Otto II died. The death of Otto was consigned to the year 1004; Stephen must have died around that time; the beginnings of his monastic life can be placed around the year 945. Again, in no. 95, St. Nilus left the monastery of Serperis, in which he had led a monastic life for 10 years, and two months later (no. 97) he died. Therefore he must have arrived there in 994 or the following year. At no. 86, he spent fifteen years in Valleluce, having been admitted there by Aligernus, Abbot of Monte Cassino (no. 62); by calculation, this was around the year 978, in which Aligernus was in his 29th year of the abbacy; he died, according to Mabillon, in the year 986.

^D It is narrated that after the successor of Aligernus (no. 84 and following in the same place), Nilus had to migrate to another solitary place and then to the monastery of Serperis; and thus all things are ordered and combined. Finally, the often-cited Sciommarius observes, in Note 18 to the Life of Blessed Bartholomew, that the saint was named Nicholas at baptism. The passage of Pancratius in his *Panegyric* is clear on this matter, saying: Τὴν μονὴν τῆς Κρυπτοφέῤῥης ἀπαρξαμένου τοῦ μεγάλου Νικολάου τοῦ καὶ Νείλου, “The great Nicholas, who is also called Nilus, having given the beginning to the monastery of Grottaferrata.” In note 13, he had said that in the order of St. Basil, when someone puts on the habit, it is customary for the name to be changed; and thus the name of St. Nicholas was changed to Nilus, and that of Blessed Basil to Bartholomew.

What pertains to his education and his exact adolescence is reported in the Life. Baronius, in his *Annalibus* ad year of Christ 976, no. 2, writes thus from the version of Metius, which he stated was communicated to him: “This Nilus was of Greek origin, born in the city of Rossano in Calabria, distinguished in doctrine and piety, from infancy an excellent worshiper of God, and after marriage he pursued the monastic life.” Surius and Baillet have the same things concerning the saint’s marriage at this day. I do not know whether the version of Metius was different in this regard; but if it contains things similar to those which are narrated in the Life to be published, ch. 1, no. 3 et seq., however difficult it is to render the saints suspected of grave sins, if one must pay to the truth, I cannot deny that it is at least doubtful whether that intercourse was legitimate, such that a marriage can in no way be certainly deduced therefrom. Gabriel Barrius certainly thought the opposite, while in book 5 of *De Antiquitate et Situ Calabriae* he writes concerning our St. Nilus: “From there, having already cast aside the works of the devil, he slept with a certain virgin and begot a daughter of her. But afterwards, repenting and lamenting his committed transgression, he resolved to desert the pleasures and riches of the world.”

I can, as I cannot so crudely and decisively accuse the saint of fornication; for there are some things on both sides which leave the matter ambiguous. And to be sure, the studious description of the girl, who among others not joined in marriage sought and fixed his loves, seems to provide proof of marriage. Because, obviously, she excelled all in beauty, but

obscure origin. For if it were merely a question of concubinage and illicit union, the observation regarding the obscurity of his birth would seem pointless, since such amours are not accustomed to shine with the luster of noble birth. Finally, it would clearly seem to describe there a marriage with a person of unequal status, were there not other things that protest from elsewhere. I pass over detailing here the invectives and rather harsh expressions of the biographer; for I know that simpler monks, excellent zealots for chastity, sometimes hold in aversion things similar to marriage and the licit pleasures of laymen from elsewhere; the saint’s flight alone, as described by the biographer, suffices to make the whole matter dubious to me. And indeed, if it were a legitimate marriage, it was not permitted for Saint Nilus, having left his spouse, to set out and embrace the monastic life without her consent. But that she consented, or had already departed from the living, which Baillet asserts authoritatively, though without a witness, nothing at all persuades me to believe; indeed, the contrary is rather implied. 10. Therefore, since the matter is in doubt, although I cannot deny it, my suspicion that it was not a marriage is all the greater. Now, few things remain concerning the institution founded by Saint Nilus at Grottaferrata, whose beginnings and foundation, as I already mentioned above, some set at a later date. Few, I say, because whoever reads the last three chapters of his Life more attentively will very clearly perceive that if the perfection of that most famous monastery is owed to Blessed Bartholomew, the beginning of it is certainly to be ascribed to our saint. This is testified to, moreover, in the most open words by Pancratius, cited above at number 8, and by Blessed Bartholomew himself in his *Typicon*, which Scionnarius cites in Note 18. There it is read thus on the 25th of September: *Δεῖ γινώσκειν, ὅτι ἐπειδὴ εἰς τὴν κς' ἐπιτελοῦμεν τὴν τοῦ πρωτοκτήτορος τῆς μονῆς μνήμην Πατρὸς ἡμῶν Νείλου*. "It must be known, that since on the 26th we celebrate the memory of the first founder of the monastery, our Father Nilus." And these things suffice to establish the declaration of Baronius, who first called our saint of Grottaferrata. However, from the monuments which Kircher alleges in his *Latium*, cap. 2, page 61, it seems that there is no access for women to the chapel where the bodies of Saint Nilus and Blessed Bartholomew are deposited to this day and are honored with the highest veneration.

THE LIFE AND CONVERSATION OF OUR HOLY AND GOD-BEARING FATHER NILUS

By the Saint’s disciple, perhaps Blessed Bartholomew; edited and interpreted by Joannes Matthaei Caryophylus, Archbishop of Iconium.

CHAPTER I

1. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit (for it is good to begin with God and end in God) be with all who listen assiduously, and with my own insignificance and poverty of mind, who am now about to boldly narrate the history of the Life of our holy Father Nilus the younger. For not through man, or by the suggestion and exhor-

exhortation ^A of any man, have I undertaken this work. Nor are there now, in these last times of these final ages, any such who seek out and occupy themselves with such things; on the contrary, there are many who mock, and who hear these things with displeasure, to whom neither the ancient narratives of the saints nor those recently accomplished seem worthy of faith, but who, having, so to speak, blocked up all the paths to profit in every way, set for themselves one goal in everything: to judge the truth of what is said by the measure of their own abilities; and whatever exceeds their power, they cast suspicion of falsehood upon it as being foreign to the truth. Therefore, setting the invisible Mind—I mean God and Father, and the beginningless and co-eternal Word, and the most holy and consubstantial Spirit—as the foundation and beginning of this account, let us thus begin our narrative; even if it should prove useful to no one else, it will at least afford no small benefit and gain to us who dedicate our effort to it, and who withdraw our mind even slightly from earthly things, just as the handling of aromatics brings sweetness and delight ^B to those who deal in perfumes. It is necessary, therefore, at the beginning of the discourse to speak of that city which produced this renowned Nilus for us, so that nothing of what is worth knowing may be missing for one who investigates everything concerning him.

2. I know that everyone knows Rossano, not only because it presides over the borders of Calabria and is both a very great and secure city, but also because, when the whole province had been devastated and all the cities had been brought under the power of the Saracen mob, it alone has, up to this day, escaped their ruin. This, however, did not happen by human wisdom or help, but by the power and protection of the Lady ^C our Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary, who especially overshadows that place. For it is said that when the impious Agarenes often attacked by night, wishing to seize the fortress, and as soon as they approached the walls and even set up ladders, she appeared to them from above in the likeness of a woman clothed in purple, holding torches in her hands, with which she cast them down and drove them from the wall. And those who were fugitives from among them openly confessed this. From there, then, our holy Father Nilus arose, and there he passed the first years of his bodily life, given as a gift by God to his parents; for after one sister, he, a male child, was received by them as they had wished and was offered to God by them, and was liberally dedicated to the house of ^D the Mother of God.

^A Having been blessed with a sound nature, and sharpness of mind, and elegance of intellect, he surpassed all his contemporaries in discernment, in his answers, and in the constant reading of the Scriptures, and not least in his inquiries made to his teachers; so that they were amazed, wondering whence so young a child could search the Scriptures and ask such things. For he always loved the Lives of the holy Fathers from his youth—I mean Antony, and Sabas, and Hilarion, and the others recorded in the same Catholic Church—and he would always go through them with great longing and understanding. ^B Whence it also came to him to be a hater of evil, and to turn away from spending time in the houses of the ruling classes, and to hate and loathe all curiosity, and to despise what are called phylacteries, and the so-called exorcisms; and this, even though he was not lacking in books concerning such matters, due to his sharpness and his eagerness in all things.

3. Therefore, not long after his parents had departed this life, and he was being brought up by his sister and piously instructed—for she too was very God-loving, even if she had entered into the yoke of marriage—once he reached the flower of youth, there was no one who was eager to place the bridle of instruction upon the young man and, by continuous teaching, to guide him toward better things: not one of the bishops, not of the priests, not of the abbots or the monks; for it was rare in those times in that place to see the monastic habit, I will not say that it was even considered loathsome. ^C The devil, therefore, contemplating what gain was to arise from him, and how grave an adversary he would be to him—for he is keen at conjecturing the future from past events—began to provoke the unmarried maidens...

Notes by Joannes Clei

^A of excellent character. Therefore, he was not able to avoid their manifold snares, but just like a deer transfixed through the liver, he was captured by one of them—a woman who surpassed all others in grace and beauty of form, yet who was of humble and common extraction. He was therefore joined to her, and the first child born to them was a female. ^B But the all-foreseeing providence of God, which knows all things before they come to pass, having foreseen the great benefit that would accrue to mankind through him, and that many would become heirs of the kingdom of heaven through him, did not allow him to wallow in the mire of this life. First, it planted in his heart the unceasing memory of death and the eternal torment of future punishments. Then, it permitted him to be ceaselessly afflicted with great terror and intense fever, so that he might daily see before his eyes the predatory reaper, death.

4. On one of the days, having told no one and not having confided this mystery to any man, he went to certain people who owed him a considerable sum, saying to them, "I have found a most beautiful vineyard, and I have need to purchase it." Having received from them whatever they had available, and leaving the rest, he departed from that place, being heavily oppressed by the disease. Accompanying him was a monk named Gregory, who became the guide of the road leading to the monastery. ^C When he reached a certain river and entered it in order to cross, he then recognized the help of God leading him and drawing him toward the outcome He Himself desired. For when the disease—like a heavy burden—was cast off his shoulders in the middle of the river, he was relieved and finished the rest of the journey with alacrity, singing joyfully: "I have run the way of thy commandments, O Lord, when thou didst enlarge my heart" (Ps. CXVIII, 32). And having reached the monasteries near the church of Mercurius, ^D and having seen those heavenly and admirable men—I mean the great John (6) and the very cele-

Notes of Joannis Clei

Metii, and from there, if I am not mistaken, it is asserted that the saint was joined in marriage. The matter is indeed ambiguous; yet the flight which follows, with its attendant circumstances, makes the contrary seem more probable to me: the history would be contradicted by the previous events and the opinion of the superior concerning not admitting the saint into the monastery, which could seem to fall into that account of his flight, unless the monks who did not obey them were again depicted as so excessively imprudent.

I could not find the monastery named after S. Mercurius mentioned distinctly. Marafotus, in his *Chronicle of Calabria*, book 1, chapter 55, relates that the monastery of S. Mercurius was formerly named after S. Faustinus, and that it is situated not far from the castle of Palma, on the shore of the Tyrrhenian Sea, between Reggio and Nicotera. But almost all the things he writes there are confused, and it is credible that those monasteries were destroyed and leveled by the Saracens who broke in during the tenth and eleventh centuries. Agresta, in the *Life of S. Basil*, part 5, chapter 5, places the greater monastery of S. Mercurius near the land of Parmensis or Palmensis, which in all likelihood is the same as that designated by Marafotus.

(6) That these three men were inscribed in the sacred records together does not seem to be asserted with enough certainty; nor is it sufficiently certain whether they lived together in the same monastery or were abbots there. Ughellus, in the ninth volume of the new edition, col. 174, has all three inscribed in the catalog of the saints of the Order of Saint Basil, though in reverse order. Octavius Cajetanus, in his catalog prefixed to the work on the Sicilian saints, inscribes two monks of the Order of Saint Basil, assigning the fifth of February to one and the twenty-fourth to the other. Henschenius deals with the last one, who is surnamed Theristes, at the aforementioned day, and there can be no discussion of him here, if the deeds are of any value, which are certainly written by a biographer who was not much later. Regarding the first, whom Cajetanus calls the younger ascetic and includes likewise in the work on the Sicilian saints, the Bollandists have spoken on the said day in the *Praetermissi*.

^A Having beheld those heavenly and wonderful men—I mean John the Great, the renowned Fantinus, Zachary the angel-like, and all the rest—who were excelling most divinely in action and in word, he was struck with amazement at their sight and their humble attire, and became full of tears, and was vehemently inflamed with divine zeal. ^B And they, too, having observed an ancient wisdom in a youthful body, the steadfastness of his character, and his becoming habit, and having admired the sweetness of his reading and the sharpness of his mind, knew with a prophetic eye that the grace of the Spirit was to be multiplied in him, and that many would become, through him, heirs of the kingdom of heaven. And they enriched him with blessings and strengthened him with their prayers.

It was not long before terrifying letters full of threats, sent by the one who held sway over the entire province, were brought to the monasteries, decreeing that if any clerk dared to lay hands upon such a man, his own hand would be cut off and his monastery confiscated. ^C The heads of the monasteries, terrified by these things, took counsel and decided to send him into another realm, that there he might be clothed in the holy habit and they might keep themselves safe from the indignation of those in power.

5. Observe then at that time the struggle between the angel and the devil: the one, that he might deliver this man from this tumultuous and dark life, and having led him forth to the land of promise—which is the life of those who labor for the Lord—might dedicate him to God and make him another Moses; the latter, moving every machine and turning every stone, that he might hinder such a good, though it was proven impossible. For all the kingdoms of the earth could not be gathered together to avail to hold back the Nile from its own course. The man of God therefore contemplates getting to the monastery called that of Saint Nazarius, and there fulfilling the work of his desire. Which, when he who resists all good things perceived, he anticipates the...

Notes of John Cleius

...the 24th of March, where, from the vague announcement of the *Menaea*, a brief eulogy is woven.

(9) That the prefect forbade it is mentioned; the reason perhaps may have been what S. Nilus had understood, his flight from an unwilling spouse, which, unless his wife had died by this time or had consented, I do not believe he could have very prudently aided those elders, the monks. See what is said at note 4.

(10) It is uncertain how far the jurisdiction of the prefect extended, outside whose province this monastery was; but it was surely hemmed in by narrow limits, if S. Nilus was merely sent from the monastery of S. Mercurius, which was not far from the castle of Palma, to the monastery of S. Nazarius, which today is called S. Filareti. The praised Agresta relates this and adds that that monastery of S. Filareti is only one mile distant from the town of Seminara, and that our saint received the monastic habit there. Seminara is barely five miles distant from the Palian territory. I do not know, however, whether those going to Seminara from Palma can have the sea on the left and woods on the right. ^D Yet thus, a little later, is S. Nilus described.

^A His adversary went before him, placing difficult snares along the way, wishing to retard the righteous man in his course by any means possible. Therefore, while he was making his journey, speaking to God with psalms and hymns and prayers poured out from the depths of his heart, and while he was near to the shore, already being gladdened by the sight of the sea, behold, a barbarian leapt out from the brush and, just as the viper once did to Paul, seized the holy man by the hand, and at the same time they walked along farther. They had not gone far when, behold, a multitude of Saracens ^B lay stretched out on the right under a grove—black Ethiopians, with wild-looking eyes, savage faces, and altogether resembling demons. On the left, however, were large ships hauled up, awaiting a favorable wind, as is fitting, for a convenient voyage. When the blessed Nilus suddenly saw these, and contemplated that terrible and unusual sight and that strange manner of dress, he was not moved in his mind, nor was his countenance changed in any way, nor did he suffer any stupor. But with his hand slowly moved to his breast, he armed himself with the sign of the cross and boldly and manfully answered the questions put to him. For while all the others were held by divine Providence as if by a bridle and were, so to speak, paralyzed with stupor in that place, he alone spoke with the one who had seized him, being questioned in detail as to who he was, whence he came, and whither he was going.

6. ^C When he had truthfully declared his homeland, his lineage, and the purpose of his journey, the barbarian, admiring him for the bloom of his youth—for he had not yet filled the span of thirty years—and for the fineness of his garments—for he still wore worldly attire—as well as for the prudence in his answers, said to him: "It does not befit you, being so young, to waste away now in monastic labors. But rather, toward old age, when you can do no evil, then you should have descended into this struggle, if indeed you were at all resolved upon it." The prudent man said: "No, the good God does not wish us to be virtuous against our will. Nor can an old man please God, just as a sickly son-in-law cannot please you, or a slothful soldier his king. I, too, wish to serve God now in the time of my youth, so that when I have grown old, I may attain glory from Him." ^D When that unbelieving Agarene heard these things, having clearly revered the virtue of the man—or rather, his heart having been changed by the providence of God from above—he released him, showing him the way, having done or said nothing harsh or hostile to him. But, as they say, he even prayed for him and encouraged him with many words that were sufficient to incite him to virtue. Once they had departed from one another, and divine Providence had shown defense and protection for its servant in the midst of the furnace of fire, and in the midst of lions—or rather, one should say, serpents and scorpions—and had kept him unharmed and safe from all the power of the enemy, so that he might himself recognize the weakness of nature and that human strength is nothing, it withdrew itself a little, and by its own power as it were…

abandoned him. Then, indeed, then fear and trembling fell upon him, and the cowardice of death seized him. For, reflecting on the multitude of traps into which he had fallen, he could not even direct his feet toward the road, but shaking entirely and all over, he kept looking back frequently, expecting in his treachery—as is their custom—to be struck down by them with a sword at any moment. But the Saracen, when he saw that he had neither bread, nor a wallet, nor any wine for refreshment, having taken some biscuits—and very clean ones at that—began to run after him, calling him "brother," and shouting for him to wait for his arrival.

7. ^B This cast the young man into greater fear and alarm, as was natural, since he suspected that his true plight was being scrutinized; therefore, he did nothing but commend his soul into the hands of Christ the Lord. When the Saracen saw him trembling exceedingly, and his face pale as if he were dead, he began to rebuke him severely and reproach him for his cowardice. "For we," he said, "are grieved for you, because we have nothing worthy of your honor, while you think of us things that are not fitting. Receive these small things, which God has provided, and go your way in peace." The man of God, therefore, accepted the loaves as if sent to him by God, and being astonished at such great care and solicitude of God for him, he did not even wish to lift his eyes to heaven; but as if ashamed to look up to God, with his face bowed down to the earth with great humility, he uttered with tears the words of David: "What shall I render unto the Lord ^C for all His benefits that He has rendered unto me? For You, O Lord, did take me from my mother’s womb; and You have not shut me up into the hands of the enemy." After this, beating his breast and his sides, he was in a way rebuking his own soul, and saying: "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His recompenses." Having covered the rest of the journey in these thoughts, and now being near to the monastery mentioned above, the enemy of the pious met him in the form of a horseman and said to him: "Where are you going, cleric? Are you going to put on the monastic habit in this monastery? And why have you been so miserably led astray? Truly, it would have been better for you to have sat at home and saved your soul, rather than to enter into the midst of these wild beasts." ^D And he began to slander the monks, heaping countless insults upon their name, calling them lovers of money, vainglorious, and gluttonous; and saying that the cauldron of their kitchen would hold him, myself, and this horse standing in the middle of it. When the holy man was about to reply to him and to say: "But who are you, who inquire and reproach the servants of God? For the laborer is worthy of his food," he, like an adder with stopped ears, departed from him in a rapid course.

and to say: Who art thou that judgest and blamest ^A those who serve God? For the laborer is worthy of his food. He, having stopped his ears, departed from him. But the holy man, having sealed himself with the sign of the cross, and having earnestly besought God to protect him from condemning any monk whatsoever, entered gladly into that holy monastery.

CAPUT II.

Admitted into the coenobium and having scarcely obtained the habit, he is designated superior of another monastery, but he solicitously flees from that and other dignities, studying abstinence and humility. He is distinguished by a prophetic spirit. He withdraws to a solitary cell.

8. And when the venerable man had saluted the hegumen and all the brothers, and had besought them to pray for him ^B to the Lord, he was received by them as a beloved son and brother. And when they saw him very weary from the journey, they received him kindly with fish and wine and the other refreshments of the brothers, as was customary for them. But he, ^C disregarding most of these as unsuited for beginners, and especially for those flourishing in the bloom of youth and desiring to take upon themselves the yoke of Christ, satisfied the body's need with bread and water only, holding himself unworthy, for the love of Christ and their participation, of even those things. Then he makes the hegumen acquainted with his affairs, and recounts everything, and explains his intention, why he had come there, asking that the monastic habit be given to him on the condition that he should not stay in that monastery for more than forty days, but that with his good leave and blessing it might be permitted for him to return to the holy Fathers, to whom he was attached in the beginning, and by whom he had been anointed with spiritual admonitions and instructions. ^D But the abbot, as soon as he had consecrated him, wanted to appoint him hegumen of another monastery of his. When he heard such a word, it seemed so burdensome and improper to him, that he even gave his right hand to God from that hour, that if anyone should wish to appoint him to a patriarchate, he would never accept any office whatever; but it sufficed for him to please God in the order of monks, and not to think more highly than one ought to think, discarding sobriety. Nay, he even fixed other limits for himself, by which, as if they were more comprehensive and principal summaries of virtues, all other things full of praise and honesty might follow him, bound as if by the links of a chain. And these are they: that he should keep his body chaste and pure, as an offering and a gift brought to Christ; and that he should abstain from the love of money, the root of all evils, even to a single obol; and that he should not cast out any monk or hegumen from his own monastery to provide a dwelling for himself.

9. For these reasons, of those things settled and determined by himself for himself in his assumption of the angelic habit, he suffered many and very great temptations; for where there is greater resistance, there is always conflict, according to that: “In this way, in which

I was walking, they have hidden a snare for me.” ^A But he, seized by madness, replies and says: “Go away, monk; my days are ten years. Within eight years I shall fulfill the desires of my soul and subject those who are hostile to me as I wish; for the final two years I shall do penance, and God will receive me like the harlot and the thief.” Then Abba Nilus, inspired by the Holy Spirit, answers him and says: “Pay attention to yourself, wretched man; for you hope to live ten years and satisfy the desires of your soul, yet these amount to only ten days. Do not, therefore, go astray, deceiving yourself with dreams and divinations.” Having spoken these things to him with boldness, and returned to the monastery, he announced to the hegumen the imminent perishing of the ^B wretched man. And that insolent man, immediately seized by a cold and hot fever, lay for nine days afflicted by most severe pains:

Notes of John Cleicus

(12) Which are wanting here, we supply from Sirlet: “...being fortified by divine [grace], and striving with his own alacrity, he kept these things immovable until the very last breath of his life. Since, therefore, he remained for forty days in the monastery of the holy and great martyr Nazarius, where he also put on the holy habit, during all these days he neither tasted bread nor wine, nor anything else of those which are prepared by fire; but he lived content with the fruits of trees and olives. This, however, was very tiring for him, a man suddenly moved from a life of luxury to this austere form of living. For neither did sloth lighten the weight of his abstinence, nor did he spend time in much sleep: but he would spend the whole day in beautiful writing, that he might leave a monument of his hands to the monastery, nor be condemned for eating bread in idleness. ^C But he would spend the night in prayer, psalms, and kneeling, having proposed to himself three struggles, fortified by the Trinity, with a double continence, bodily labor and affliction, completed with vigils. But let no one think that the beginnings of such struggles were missing, but the endings were accomplished less happily: for just as the beginning was approved, so also the end was acceptable to God. But this will be manifest by the help of the grace of God and [by] prayer proceeding forward. One day, a certain one of his old acquaintances came to him, who, when he had praised the good spirit which he displayed toward God while he lived in the world, and again in the monastic conversation; and when he lauded that blessed one, because he chose the good part, which will not be taken away from him. But he said: “If it is good, O brother, what you praise, why do you not emulate it?” “Because,” he said, “there does not exist for me a cloak, and a tunic made of wool.” ^D Straightway the holy man rising, having taken off the cloak which he was wearing, gives it to him, creating excuses for the one feigning importunities, and as soon as possible loosening his belt, he strove to strip himself, so that he might also give him his tunic: “Take it,” he says, “brother, just now, that you may not be deprived of the good part, but for me, a wretched servant of his, the Lord will provide.” When he had perceived the magnanimity of the man, and his untarnished charity and fervent zeal, he did not permit him to be stripped entirely, blushing to see him naked: but taking only the cloak and putting it on himself, “I believe,” he says, “in our Lord Jesus Christ, and I hope in your holy prayers, that on account of the memory of this cloak I shall myself strive to please God, having suddenly entered the struggle for the salvation of my soul.” With these things said, he departed astonished and admiring the virtue of the man. But blessed Nilus, when he had requested the skin of a single animal from the cellarer of the monastery, crafting this with his hands, and adorning it with various blessings, he placed it upon his shoulders, reflecting within himself on him who said, “They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins.” But this one purpose was his, to receive the apostolic life and prophetic zeal into the promptness of his mind, and looking constantly at them, from them he formed his inner and outer man: he kept his head uncovered; according to the precept of the Apostle, he was clothed in one tunic for all time, following the evangelical saying, and walking with bare feet, because in this way such feet were approved by the prophet with admiration. Although the infirmity and weakness of extreme old age removed him from such labors and afflictions, nevertheless not even death itself scared him away from the virtues of the mind, so that he might hold the first rank in them, nor did the oblivion of future time erase his memory, since according to the Apostle these three remain: faith, hope, and charity.

But in the meantime, let us return to those things which we have begun. There was a certain petty king, whom they call a count in those regions, harsh and excessively inhumane, having no regard at all for his own salvation: but using tyranny and arrogance, he subjected to servitude the innocent soul of someone who pertained to that monastery where the blessed Nilus was staying. Therefore, one day when that tyrant had rushed into the monastery to satisfy his own belly, for it was not for the sake of the utility of his soul; when he was about to depart, the prefect dared to say nothing about that matter, fearing his arrogance and impudence: he summoned the blessed Nilus, in whom an admirable freedom of speech resided, and exhorted him that, having attacked that terrible prince, he might obtain the liberation of the soul which he had unjustly occupied. He, as if ordered by God, and armed with undoubted faith, approached that reckless man, and using both works and words, and spiritual admonitions, just as he had heard from the prefect, admonishing him about the proposed affair, for the sake of which he had come. But he, excessively contradicting, and refusing the petition—because he would obey neither if an angel descended from heaven, nor any human being, so as to snatch such a soul—the blessed Nilus injected the goad of death, considering that the memory of death is fitting to make even a stony soul...

^A instantly restrained, he lay until the ninth day, suffering incurably. On the tenth, when a conspiracy was formed against him by the inhabitants of the village, and all were deliberating to put him to death, he himself—having learned of this from the maenad who was serving his lust—seized a sword, emboldened by audacity, and merely by appearing, scattered them all. But being overcome more intensely by fear and cowardice, and wishing to find salvation in flight, he became entangled in his own chariot, fell, and departed from life. And thus, by those whom he had often wronged, his head was severed and he was delivered to the dogs for food. And the prophecy of the holy man was fulfilled for him, that it would be neither before nor after, but on the tenth day. After these days had passed, the holy Father Nilus returned, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, to the holy Fathers at Mercurio. For it is natural for like to delight in like; and seeing him adorned ^B both in life and zeal and habit and conduct with an apostolic manner, and a most modest humility shining upon his forehead along with reserve, they rejoiced and were glad and gave glory to God on his account.

10. He himself revered and stood in awe of them all as angels of the Lord, but especially he possessed a bond and supreme love and affection for the venerable Father Fantinus. And he, in turn, showed the same warmth, or even more, toward him; manifesting in themselves the supreme and indivisible union of souls like that of Peter and John, or Basil and Gregory. For when they frequently sat together and read the Scriptures, all the brethren would gather around them, entreating to hear a word of benefit from their mouths. And hearing the words of grace ^C proceeding from the mouth of our holy Father Nilus, and observing also the grace gleaming upon the holy Father Fantinus, they esteemed them to be nothing else than Peter and Paul, whose lives they were also emulating. Some of the brethren, therefore, went to pay their respects to the great Father John, and began to praise the blessed Nilus, as one sent by God to those places for the sake of benefit; adding also this, that he neither partakes of bread nor wine, pursuing a most exalted asceticism. The Father therefore ordered them to send him. And this having been done, and he having been received with joy, the great Father John orders ^D a cup of wine to be given to him, wishing to test whether his practice was according to God.

^A Having taken the cup, the holy Father Nilus, after asking for a blessing, drank it off at once without delay, neither fearing the sudden harm of the wine nor preferring his own judgment over the Father's discernment; rather, he prioritized the cutting off of his own will—whether reasonable or otherwise—as the greatest ground for salvation. Then that great man, having marveled to himself at the man's wisdom and the unfeigned nature of his obedience before all (for he had tested him in other matters as well, or rather, he had taught him just as a father teaches a genuine son), said to those present: "Did the Fathers not say that the monk Nilus does not taste wine? Men see one thing, and say another."

11. ^B Immediately arising, he bowed low, saying: "Forgive me, venerable Father, for I have never done anything good before God. Yet abstinence, Father, as you yourself know better, is useful to all in all things: to the elders, that they may be an example and model to the young; and to us young men and beginners, so that we may not add more fuel to the flame, or render the beast more wild and unmanageable. However, to attain the most holy blessing of your venerable hand, whether through a drink of wine or a piece of bread, is worthy of patriarchal grace and equal in value to that same gift." Hearing this, the great John smiled, and rejoicing in spirit, he heaped many more blessings upon him and enriched him by praying good things for him. Furthermore, he admonished him to hold to a middle course in the more austere way of life, ^C lest, should he be weighed down by sickness or old age, he might then seek things not becoming to the monastic habit. At that time, he wished for him to remain with him, captivated by the most sweet manner in which he read, and by the sagacious explanation of the meanings and the exposition of the divine Scriptures. For the great John was constantly occupied with the writings of Saint Gregory the Theologian, so that from his much reading of them, he was known to all as another theologian. One day, when the holy Father Nilus was reading from that same book, and the elder desired to clarify a certain dogma of the teacher, the interpretation given by the elder did not please the monk Nilus, as he thought the elder had not grasped the teacher's goal with precision. ^D And when he wished to point out the same line of thought more clearly in another passage of the same book, and to explain the correctness of the dogma as it was, he was severely rebuked by the great Father, on the grounds that it was not fitting for him as a young man and a beginner, still defiled by the mud of worldly life, to be so curious in investigating such things. But upon hearing this, he was not in the least disturbed, nor was his will changed in any way regarding observing and loving the elder as he had before, but he accepted his rebukes just as a thirsty man receives a full vessel of water. For he held the old man to be a second John the Baptist. Indeed, he would often venerate the spot where his feet had stood in the church, just as he did the inner sanctuary of the holy altar.

^A 12. As evening came on and he had gone off quietly to his own cell, a thought entered his mind which troubled and vexed him greatly: had that great Father truly rebuked him because he had interpreted the theologian's words incorrectly, and because he had held a heretical view himself? Or, he wondered, did he merely wish to humble his arrogance and great conceit? As he was reflecting on these things, he drifted off into a light sleep. In the meantime, he who observes the lapses of all just men in their holy steps, wanting to trip them up or set a snare, and wishing to sift this just man, appeared to him in his sleep in the form of two great elders, saying: "We are Peter and Paul; and because we saw you struggling with divine dogmas, we have come to instruct you and teach you all the truth." They then set forth a certain passage, as much as the framing of the Lord's Prayer ^B encompassed, and departed. He, collecting himself—for he was not truly asleep—was meanwhile congratulating himself on the vision that had appeared at an opportune moment, and he had the utterance on his lips, though he did not examine what was meant by it, and this lasted through the entire duration of his nocturnal prayers until the break of day. But at daybreak, in total calmness of mind, when he was about to investigate the hidden power of the sentence that had been set before him, he discovered that what was thought to be honey was bitterer than wormwood, and that the hidden theology was clearly a most wicked heresy. Then that keen-minded man, quick to discern the pure from the counterfeit, having learned the immense deceit of the spiritual enemies and that ^C unspeakable craftiness, ran to the cross of the Savior, threw himself onto the ground, and with a contrite and humble heart asked for the wiping away from his heart of that wicked and profane writing; and he obtained this immediately. For when he had risen from that place, he was never again, from that hour, able to speak or even recall to mind anything at all that looked in any way toward that wicked discourse. He then approached the great worker of a holier life and related everything to him, using a deep inclination.

13. The elder, with a smiling face, took him by the hand and said: ^D "Act manfully, my son, act manfully, and let your heart be strengthened, and endure the temptations of the demons, so that, having turned, you yourself may also strengthen the souls of many in your generation, having been shown as a light and salt in the world to those who are wandering. For I know the sharpness of mind and the grace of speech that God has granted you, and I know that you rightly defend the intent of the holy doctor. But fearing that through the passion of conceit you might fall into a precipice—a thing that often happens to those like you who are blessed with swiftness of intellect—I chose rather to be gladdened by your being saddened by me, as the Apostle teaches 11, than for the Holy Spirit to be saddened on account of you, should you, inflated by puffed-up opinion and pride, fall. Having said these and many other things to him, and having prayed that he might receive every good thing, with a blessing...

he dismissed him in peace.

Our holy Father Nilus, making greater progress day by day toward the higher grades of virtues by which man approaches the likeness of God, also loved solitude, the mother of all virtues, intending to gain greater riches from it and an immense heap of wisdom. And having referred this to the holy Fathers, since he did nothing without consulting them, with the approval of their prudence and the help of their prayers, that which had been discussed was ratified. There is a cave not far from the monasteries, situated ^A on the height of a crag, having within it also a small oratory dedicated to Michael the archangel, very suitable for those who are studious of solitude. Into this, that man, renowned for fortitude, having taken up the zeal of Elijah and the endurance of Elisha, and the patience of all the saints, ascended to take up his dwelling with the greatest joy and alacrity. Living the solitary life in it, and waiting for God—or rather, standing before Him and beholding the invisible as visible—he manfully endured many and very great struggles, striving to compare to his own the virtues and merits of all the holy and righteous men of old in the endurance of labors, which no one could express in words or commit to writing, because they were performed in secret and were known only to Him who sees secret things: unless one were to conjecture them from the outcome and the paternal reward. “For your Father,” He says, “who sees in secret, will reward you in the manifest. And again: “Whoever shall glorify me, I will glorify.” ^B

14. For who has been so glorified and honored in this generation as this blessed man? Not only by Christian kings and princes, patriarchs and high priests, both our own and foreign, but also by infidel tyrants—by the dynasts of the Saracens, I mean. They indeed held even his mere name in honor, because they could not see him in person. All these are most certain proofs of his burning love toward God, and of that humble-mindedness by which men are exalted, and of his many fasts and vigils and profound prostrations and countless modes of afflicting the body, as well as the burning temptations and the assaults of spiritual and sensible things and physical illnesses, which the wicked spirits vehemently inflicted upon him because he was about to ascend to that height from which they were cast out. But since of the many things excellently performed by him it is necessary to mention a few, as many as his truthful tongue narrated to us who, though unworthy, were loved by him from the heart, for the sake of inciting our eagerness ^C toward better things in accordance with the [traditions] of the athletes or warriors...

come, let us bring into the middle, for those who wish to reap benefit from every thing, not that which displays the greatness of mighty miracles or prodigies, at which the unlearned and the faithless are struck with astonishment, but the measureless labors and toils, of which I know the Apostle boasted. For even these things will seem incredible to those who are inexperienced, but to those who have had some experience, they will stir up zeal and add fuel to memory.

CHAPTER III.

^B 15. That flesh-clad angel subjected his soul and spirit to the law of the Spirit, not allowing his mind at all to think of things below and creeping upon the ground, but to investigate the law of God and with his whole heart to seek to fulfill His commandments. He subjected his flesh to the spirit, having laid down very many laws for it and having strictly enslaved it so that it might be ready and compliant to the nod of its master. For he taught it to take necessary food either every second, third, or fifth day, and always in such scarcity as might chance to arise, and not in the least to hasten toward the desire for pleasant things; to abstain from wine and any food cooked by fire. He scourged it with vigils, psalmody, all-night standing, and frequent genuflections. ^C But because the cunning of the demon is not absent even in these good works, suggesting to the inexperienced that they exceed the measure, he applied a measure in all things, so that if he should fall short in any of the things established for him, the deficiency might be attributed to sluggishness and to himself, so that he, as a debtor, might exact the customary practice; but if his thought suggested anything in excess, it might be recognized as the work of the demon and the snare avoided. Wherefore, from early light until the third hour, he diligently wrote by hand, using a small and dense script, so as to fill a quire every day; in this way fulfilling the commandment which orders us to work.

Graced with the Spirit like the Apostles, he stood at the Cross of the Lord until the sixth hour with Mary and John, reciting the Psalter and performing a thousand genuflections, thus fulfilling in this also the commandment which advises us to pray without ceasing. From the sixth until the ninth hour, he sat reading and investigating the law of the Lord and the writings of the teachers. ^D For this is what the divine Apostle writes: "Give attendance," he says, "to reading" (1 Tim. iv, 13). Having completed the ninth hour, and sending up the evening hymn as incense to God, he would go out walking and beautifying himself, and refreshing slightly his senses, wearied by the length of the day, bearing on his lips the words of the Apostle: "For the invisible things of God from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made" (Rom. i, 20), and that, "perceiving the Creator from the creatures."

^A He would also reiterate many sayings and homilies of the Theologian and other teachers, constantly exercising his mind with them so that it did not wander at any time, while simultaneously sharpening his natural faculties through study. When the sun had set, he would go to his table; his table was a very large stone, with a small earthenware dish placed upon it, and he would take his food with thanksgiving. His food was either plain bread and a measured amount of water, or else merely boiled vegetables. During the season of fruits, he would be content with those alone. The brave man often strove to live on bean-pods plucked from trees, and on myrtle berries, and arbutus fruit, and the like. But since the mistress, the flesh, resisted—truly becoming like a wineskin in the frost—he would return again to the use of bread. What need is there to say much? He practiced as many ways of life as he had read were familiar to each of the ancient Fathers individually. He did not, in fact, fast for forty full days, fearing the envy that comes with human praise and breaking the dangerous horn of pride; instead, he spent twenty days three times over; during which period he took food only twice, after he had learned from the practical history of Theodoret that there once existed a woman who loved God who had accomplished this. Wherefore, when he tested the matter by experience, he found that the things written were true. For one year, less one month, he did not partake of any drink whatsoever, eating only dry bread daily after sunset, thereby gaining for himself two benefits of great importance: namely, that he might bring support to the virtue of temperance—one of the four—for he strove especially to rid his body of even its natural discharge, a task for which most of the saints have contended, and the abstinence from water contributes greatly to such things, as one of the saints said (18); and further, that he might restrain the vanity of the mind, which is prone to doubt and lacks faith in the stories that are read ^B concerning the marvelous and magnificent deeds of the holy Fathers. For we all surely know the story of him who labored in the service of the oven for three years without drink, and who was perfected in this.

^{C D} 17. Because he considered this, he was deterred from his undertaking, lest excessive dryness of the lungs should cause him some great danger. For thirst no longer troubled him, as he himself affirmed, but only up to the eighth day; diligently he would recite and observe that saying: "My soul has cleaved to the pavement; quicken me according to Thy word" (Ps. CXVIII, 25); and then indeed that one: "Thou hast revived my spirit and I have lived, being comforted" (Ps. CXVIII, 25). That which is said confirms our assertion: "Thirst cures thirst, but hunger does not repress hunger." He finished the holy quadragesima...

^A partaking of nothing else but the antidoron, and this only because the daily bread is requested for every day. Yet, he often finished even these days without drink. Every day, therefore, was spent by him in the struggle of an inviolable rule, and the night similarly passed through the same things inviolably. In one hour he paid the debt of sleep—for otherwise he had nothing with which he could consume digestion—and the whole remainder of the night was spent in the completion of the psalter, the measure of five hundred genuflections, and the recitation of the midnight and morning hymns. For he often contended with his own mind, and said: "Those who live the common life in monasteries are occupied with daily labors, fasting every day, while at night they keep vigil, being occupied with psalms and reading, chanting so many things, bestowing very many alms, and practicing hospitality. But for us who sit in this life that appears solitary, if righteousness and godly desire do not abound, our hope is vain and our manner of life is incongruous." ^B His garment was a sack of goat hair, one for each year, and another for the next. His belt was a rope that was not untied except once a year. For this reason, he endured a multitude of lice, being disgusted by them or—if not—annoyed by their presence. There was a bush in front of the cave, where a multitude of ants resided, into which the holy man would throw his sack so that it might be purged of those worms—for that is what it is fitting to call them, having become harsher with time, as if paying a penalty to the ants for the annoyances brought upon the Saint. ^C 18. He had no bed, nor a small chair, nor a chest or box, nor a purse, or a bag, nor even an inkstand for one so busy with writing; but having applied wax to wood, by means of it he beautifully transcribed the multitude of such books. These things have been recounted by me, being small to him but to others very great, not that any addition might be made to him through them, but so that we might know how far he succeeded in those virtues whose duties he undertook to practice—perfect, I say, abstinence from possessions, continence, vigils, and prayer, through which one becomes an image and likeness of God. ^D But his gushing of warm tears, and his bitter sighs, and the beatings of his breast, and the striking of his forehead upon the ground—who could conceive or recount these according to their dignity? And the reproaches, and insults, and abuses, and humiliations which he brought upon himself in all things, guarding against himself as an enemy? And the schemes, and wars, and assaults of the demons, those through thoughts and visible apparitions, and even the bodily pains from grievous illnesses—hardly could even he who suffered them be able to recount them in sequence. He was often warred against

^A severely by them to abandon tranquility and depart to the monasteries, so that those wicked ones might call him a fugitive and a coward. When, therefore, he was being importuned by them, of necessity—for they made him seem as though he were puffed up by the violence of his thoughts, so that the cave could not contain him—he would take up his hair garment, which was intended for the following year, and place it on a piece of wood, for he did not even have a staff on his shoulder. And, descending to the middle of the way where a high tree stood, he would pretend that it was the blessed Fantinus or some other one of the holy Fathers. Then, having made an act of repentance to the tree, he would stand as if being questioned by the Father and answering for the cause of his departure; and again, he would be reproached and mocked by him and the brothers, saying: "Look there, the hesychast for you." By these means and by contradictory reasonings, putting to flight the hostile foes, he would return to the cave as if to a prison, enduring patiently and saying to himself: "It is better for me to die, than that anyone should empty my boast." ^B

19. Often, while he was praying and chanting, his thoughts would suggest: "Look into the sanctuary; perhaps you will see an angel, or a flame of fire, or the Holy Spirit, as many others have seen." But he, closing his eyes, would weary himself with such a multitude of prostrations and tears that his sweat would run down like water to the ground. The evil one also cast into him most burning heat of lust; but he, rolling himself in thorns and rough nettles, extinguished the pleasure with pain. Once, when he was sitting after a vigil and relaxing himself a little from his labor, two demons stood by him, holding another between them; and, as if opening his sides, they disemboweled him and threw all his inner parts upon the ground. Seeing this, he arose trembling, and from nausea vomited up most bitter bile, after which he rendered himself more fortified for the future. Once, when he had gone to Rome for the sake of prayer and to search for certain books, he saw in the church of the Apostle Peter an Alemannian woman passing by, ^C outstanding in the height of her stature. This image the wicked spirits impressed upon the mind of the holy man, whether he were chanting, or reading, or writing, or doing anything else. As this battle intensified, and he was able to think of absolutely nothing with which to repel the enemies, he fled to God, declaring to Him his own weakness. Therefore, he prostrated himself before the holy altar with a contrite and humble heart and said to the Savior: "Lord, Thou knowest that I am weak; have mercy on me and relieve me, oppressed by the war of the impure demons, for I have already despaired of my life." Having said these things, lying upon the ground and fallen into a light sleep, he saw standing before him the precious cross, and hanging upon it our living Lord, and between them hung a veil, white and most ^D fine. Then he, with great fear

crying out, says to Him: "Have mercy on me, Lord, and bless your servant." Then the Savior, having shaken a nail from His right hand, blessed him three times with the sign of the cross, and the divine vision vanished, and with it all the battle and the flux of nature; and what many fasts, extreme thirst, and vigils could not achieve, humility and the acknowledgment of one's own weakness accomplished. ^B

20. The holy man was therefore living a quiet life, full of spiritual joy. Meanwhile, a certain brother came to him, asking that he might be accepted as a companion, if by chance he might attain salvation through his efforts. Having at last with difficulty obtained his desire, he says to the holy man: "Father, I have three coins; what do you command me to do with them?" He says, "Go and give them to the poor; and taking up your Psalter, follow the precepts of the Savior." And he immediately obeyed. Not much time passed in their life together before he learned from the holy Father the difficult, yet beautiful and fitting, art of calligraphy. But abhorring the very harsh regimen of life and the labors of the solitary life, which were relaxed by no remission, he began to make excuses for his sins and to seek occasions for contention, by which he might provoke the Father to anger. He, however, ever revolving the commandments of God in his mind, as if they had been spoken to him alone, and remembering that he who says to his brother, "Raca" (Matt. v, 22), shall be guilty of the hell of fire, never used a harsh word against him. Then, in a calm and gentle spirit, he addressed him thus: "Most honorable brother, God has called us here in peace, and in charity, and in a spirit of meekness; for is it to bitterness, and anger, and bile? But if I, a humble man, am so burdensome to you and have become intolerable to your eyes, go in peace, wherever you wish, and do not be a nuisance to me, a sinner; for I know that you cannot, or rather, that you do not even wish to, repel the spirit that casts upon you the torches of wanting to dominate and to perform the priesthood. Go then, and satisfy your desire, and you will find a suitable lodging." But that brother, more fiercely incited by the evil demon because he saw his secret thoughts being rebuked, replied in anger: "Give me back those three coins, and I will go at once: for what compelled me to give them to the poor, if not your command, which I wished to obey?" And immediately the Father said to him: "Write for me, brother, on a piece of paper, that I am to receive the reward for them in the kingdom of heaven, and place it upon the altar, and I will soon pay you the three coins."

21. He, wishing to see how he could possibly fulfill what he promised, having no means to do so, wrote with his own hand what was requested, and placed the paper upon the altar. The Father, having accepted this, went down to the monastery of the castellum, and having borrowed three coins from there, he gave them to the brother with love. He accepted them and departed, and satisfying his own will

^A he departed, and performed in his own way all that the Father had foretold to him, and after a little time he died. But our holy Father Nilus, having returned to his cave and sat down in great patience and endurance, within a few days wrote out three Psalters (for it is said that he spent four days on each one); for it is said that by fulfilling each of the three in four days, he was released from the debt which he had incurred on account of the commandment of Christ. The enemy of the righteous, therefore, seeing that he was conquered and laid low by the righteous man in every assault, transferred the struggle from the inner man to the outer man, and began to strike him with terrible pains and bodily infirmities, so that he might even hinder him from his daily service and the prayer that runs to heaven and is hostile to him. What, then, does he devise against him? Covering his vocal organs with a most terrible and unbearable swelling, he caused him to lie completely voiceless and unable to consume his customary food; but even in this, the hostile enemy was much more put to shame and defeated. For the more he hindered the tongue that was accustomed to psalms and hymns, the more he lifted his mind on high to God, and enjoyed, without any wandering of the mind, God-pleasing and magnificent contemplations. But so that he might not perish from hunger and fail entirely, he would soften dry bread with water and crumble it, and use this as his diet.

CAPUT IV

22. Not long thereafter, the most holy Fantinus came to visit him; for there was frequent interaction between them, as they were to one another like two luminaries, frequently illuminating each other; and great Fantinus, through many entreaties, having persuaded holy Nilus to accept the weekly bread, received in return from him the grace [of a gift] from the labor of his hands. Seeing him, therefore, in such straits, and having pleaded much, he finally brought him to his own monastery with all diligence, and moreover poured out prayers to God with his whole soul for his health. But the most patient Nilus, as he could taste nothing except water, and that with violence and pain, for many days, had this thought: "If there were some small piece of fish present, I might eat, and the way to eating would be opened to me." Having wrestled, therefore, for eight days—or even before that—without revealing the matter to anyone, and especially seeing daily one of the brothers passing before him going to fish and returning again with fish, after much struggle and combat of such a thought, behold, there comes to him a layman, bearing a basket full of fried and roasted fish, exhorting and begging him to taste of them, saying: "For since I heard of your sick state in the evening, I departed, in order to fish in his holy name, and with the help of...

he said: "From your prayers, the hunting was favorable, and it is right, Father, that you should partake of it." Then the blessed Nilus dismissed the man, having blessed him and returned great thanks for the labor undertaken; but within his own mind he reasoned thus: "These things were not prepared by God, nor by an angel, for I am not of the number of those who fear Him such that He would do my will. Rather, this work is of the devil, since he perceived that I had been enslaved by such desire. For it is written: 'You shall not covet.' The Lord lives, none of these shall enter my mouth." ^A There happened to be present there at that time a monk who had come from the upper regions, who was very dear to him because he was musical and possessed a very beautiful voice. Having called this man, the holy one gave the basket to him just as it was, saying to him: "Take this gift which Christ has sent you." He took it and departed. God, therefore, seeing the supreme patience and constancy of the man, brought him aid and delivered him from the pains and from that most grievous disease, for the abscess within his neck burst, and much pus was discharged through his mouth. Thus, having obtained a little relief, he went up again into the cave, intent upon his customary way of life, and embracing solitude as a mother. But the devil did not cease gnashing his teeth against him and striving—if the providence of God should permit him—to snatch away the life of the righteous man.

23

^A and in no way he accepted this, knowing the devilish pain to be incurable by human hand. The time having passed, and the memorial of the holy Apostles having arrived, Fantinus and Nilus, their imitators, came together into the monastery to celebrate the feast and to console one another, as genuine children of the apostles. As they were performing the vigil with hymns, and the brothers were rejoicing in the teaching of the saints and the exposition of the Scriptures, the great Fantinus urged the holy Nilus to rise and read the encomium for the Apostles written by John of Damascus, which is adorned with iambic and metrical verses. The blessed Nilus, knowing never to disobey, although he was almost withered away, rose with all joy and eagerness; and as soon as he began the reading, that bitter illness gradually flowed off from his body. And when he perceived, beyond his expectation, that he had received help, he told nothing to anyone at all until the morning prayers were finished. And then, falling down to do penance before the righteous Fantinus, he gave thanks to him, as though it were through him that he had been delivered from such an affliction. He, in turn, attributed the miracle to the other’s obedience and the overshadowing of the apostles; thus both displayed humility, referring the glory to God, the author of miracles.

^B 24. Now the multi-faceted and unsearchable providence of God toward all, though I know not for what purpose it acted thus in its own servant, permitted him to carry about even until old age some small traces of that illness, reminding him of His help and protection toward him. In all these things, having shown himself more than a conqueror through God, by whom he was beloved, he—the emulator of all the saints and observer of the commands of Christ—was arming himself for another struggle and contest of the devil. For it was necessary that he be perfected in all things, and thus clearly to be shown as a victor wearing the crown. At that time, an ecstasy fell upon the blessed Fantinus, or to speak truly, a transformation of the right hand of the Most High. And just as we hear of Jeremiah ^C having had his hair and beard shaven and wandering around Jerusalem filling all things with lamentation, and providing the foolish with the suspicion that he was deranged, in the same manner it happened also to this blessed man, who was likewise most excellent in the gift of prophecy. For whether he was prophesying the perceptible destruction of this land, which we see with our eyes, and the most wretched incursion of the Hagarenes, or the general failure of virtue and the decline and vulgarization of the monasteries toward vice—which is indeed more likely—he likewise went about, lamenting the churches and the monasteries, ^D saying that

^A and the books, he said that they had been filled with asses and beasts of burden and were defiled; as for those burned with fire, he said that they had come to pass and perished; and as for the others, that they had been wetted and rendered useless, ^B and thus we had nothing left to read. When he saw a brother of his monastery, he would mourn him as dead, saying: "I, my child, have killed you." These things and the like he would say and do, neither enduring to remain under a roof nor tasting food, but wandering through the deserts, he sustained himself on wild herbs. These things brought the illustrious Nilus ^C to the greatest grief and sorrow; and he himself almost night and day would mourn the loss of his excellent companion and fellow-worker. For when he frequently followed him as he withdrew, and urged him to return and find rest in the monastery, he would not listen, saying: "Those who are in the monastery are not my brothers, for they would have wept with me; but they, on the contrary, think that I am beside myself and acting like a madman."

25. "Know, therefore, most beloved Father, that I am going to cross over to the upper region, and there I shall be perfected, and to my monastery I shall never return." The blessed man, then, just as he had predicted, so also accomplished it, having reached the place where God had predetermined from before all ages that he should be perfected. But our holy Father Nilus, having returned to the cave, was passing in patience through that narrow and ^D constricted gate, the path found by few. There come, therefore, to him the Fathers of the monastery of Saint Fantinus, beseeching him to take on the labor and to appoint for them as abbot whomever his holiness might choose; for they were afraid even to name that man himself, knowing who he was. Yielding to their entreaty, he went with them into the monastery, and having entered the church with them, he went in to pray. And when all had followed him, after the prayer was finished, the brother of the most blessed Fantinus according to the flesh, Lucas by name, running up and grasping the feet of the holy man, adjured him with most dreadful oaths and impositions by the Holy Trinity and the holy Fathers to allow himself to be their shepherd and abbot. What, then, was that man, so sagacious and sharp of mind, to do? Prevailing over the hands of the one who was holding him, and in the same manner grasping his feet, he bound him with the very same ropes he had used on himself, so as to release himself from his own impositions and to have done to him that which he was plotting by guile against the Father. For he too, even if not highly skilled in the divine Scriptures, was nevertheless capable and prudent in administration, and in the holiness of his life was in no way inferior to his brother. Therefore, the blessed man, having arranged everything according to what was pleasing to God, and having encouraged and strengthened both the abbot and the brothers with divine admonitions, departed from this temptation as well, giving glory to and blessing God.

Joannes Clei notes.

(24) The most illustrious Caryophilus observes that these things were perhaps a prefiguration of the schism of the East.

Chapter 4

^A 26. But now it is time, God favoring us, to return to the narrative concerning the blessed Stephen (25), whom the great Father used as a companion in zeal, a partner in struggle, and a fellow soldier, so that the tree might be recognized not only from its holy root, but also might be a source of wonder for its holy fruits and branches. I trust, moreover, in God that such a memory will not be fruitless for us. For if we are not able to become zealots of his most excellent deeds, yet to remember them with faith and love will, as we are taught, cause for us the forgiveness of many sins. This man, then, Stephen, who is counted among the saints, while still a young man of about twenty years—though a rustic, born of humble parents, and left an orphan by his father, together with his mother and one sister—was adorned with such simplicity and innocence of soul that if any one were to call him a second patriarch Jacob, or that most simple Paul of Abbot Antony, he would not be using a far-fetched comparison. ^B Having been captivated, therefore, by the love of the monastic profession, and, according to the Gospel, preferring Christ before his sister, his mother, and himself, he was led by God to go to the place where the blessed Father Nilus was dwelling. And having sat down beside him, having said nothing, at the setting of the sun the Father said to him, "What are you seeking, brother?" And he said, "I wish to become a monk." And the great Father said to him, "If you wish to become a monk, I will show you monasteries; go to them, for you cannot live here, since there is nothing for you to eat, and you will die of hunger." The other replied, "I know the monasteries, and I know them, but they do not please me; this place pleases me." Being asked if he had anyone, he replied according to the truth—for he was being urged to go away to provide for his mother and sister—but he said, "I am not going anywhere; for not I, but God, has fed and feeds them."

^C 27. Since the Father could not drive him away, he gave him the half of the bread he had to eat, while the Father himself remained without food until the next day. For since it was the sixth day, his rationed food had already been consumed. This furthermore happened in the second year of the blessed Father Nilus's retreat into the cave (27). Seeing then that the Father was by nature simple and slow—which was contrary to his own sharp intelligence—he bore it with difficulty and was distressed by his sluggishness; yet he said nothing harsh to him, mindful of the precepts of the Gospel: he warned and instructed him only ^D gently and mildly, desiring to make him clever and quick, as he himself was.

Joannis Clei notæ. (25) That he is decorated with the title of Blessed and Saint, I do not find inscribed in the sacred Fasti. Cajetan in his second Index, or that of those who flourished in piety and holiness but do not yet have cultus approved by the Church, inserts him, and fixes his memory on the 27th of December, regarding whose cultus further inquiry might be made. (26) Sirletus translates: "Being asked again if he has anything, which seems to refer to goods of fortune." Caryophilus is better, as is abundantly clear from what follows. For it seems that when questioned about his parents or relatives, he replied: "This place pleases me," and perhaps it fell out of the Greek text. (27) The deeds of Stephen are circumscribed, and I have deduced a certain chronology. Cf. Preliminary Comment, no. 6 and following.

^A For he did not yet know clearly that what is by nature cannot be changed. When, therefore, he failed of his mark, and three years had passed, the Father said to himself: "If this were my brother, or son, or nephew, would I not have used reproaches and scoldings for his correction? Let us try this type of discipline upon him, lest the brother remain uncorrected." Then he began to speak to him harshly, and to sting him with insults; often he even struck him with his hand. For wishing to teach him the customary prayers and the psalter, he had no choice but to treat him with blows. But he bore everything heavily and with joy, not fearing the harsh asceticism and the unceasing vigils, being equaled in all respects to the great man, and not fleeing from the insults and the vexations from the Father. Wherefore he was also guarded by God, remaining untempted by the devil’s craftiness. For being often asked by the holy man by what thoughts he was troubled, he replied that he had no thought at all, but was only much oppressed by drowsiness, and was distressed by this. Then the Father made for him a stool having one leg, and said to him: "You indeed have two feet, and the stool has one; behold, three feet; and sitting thus, do not neglect your study." Accepting this command, he sat nowhere from then on but on that stool, whether he was studying, or in church, or taking food; but being overcome by sleep, and falling to the ground, he would sometimes bruise his arm, and sometimes his face.

^C 28. Again, coming to boil the legumes, and placing more than the vessel could hold, it suddenly burst from the force. So on one of the days, gathering all the fragments, he showed them to the Father, confessing his fault. And he said to him: "And what is the profit that you confess to me alone? Go to the monasteries and show them, that they may know what kind of solitaries we are, breakers of pots." So taking the fragments, he went off to the most holy Fantinus, and explained the matter to him. But he, following the mind of the God-minded and like-minded man, gathered all the fragments, and tied them with a cord, and hung them about his neck, and ordered him to stand thus while the brethren were dining. ^D Afterward he sent him back to the holy man in the cave, corrected for the future. Once, when blessed Stephen was going through the fields, he found what are called asparagus; and gathering them and cooking them, he set them out at the hour of the meal. When the Father had tasted them and felt a little pleasure beyond custom, he asked his companion if he also felt the same pleasure. Upon his affirming it, he himself ordered him to throw them outside: "For," he said, "the devil has seasoned the food, which is bitter by nature, and made it sweet." So continent were the blessed men, and with continuous force they subdued their nature. After these things, blessed Nilus thought to take counsel concerning the weak part of blessed Stephen as well. He sends him, therefore, with added letters to the venerable Theodora (that is, the woman enriched with divine gifts, as her name signifies), a most blessed virgin at that time living a monastic life.

^A in what is called the Arinarium, and presiding over a few virgins; she was a holy and most prudent and wise old woman, who from her early youth had practiced the rigors of the monastic life. I do not know if Rossanum ever produced another like her. She, loving the holy Father as a genuine son from his early youth, was persuaded to receive the mother and sister of the blessed Stephen into the monastery. There, having genuinely served the Lord and having greatly pleased Him, they ended their lives in peace. ^B Always, during the time of their lives, at the appropriate season in the summer, the blessed Stephen would depart for that monastery, and when the harvest there was finished, he would return to the monasteries and work together with the brothers in every task, struggling in a double conflict: one of self-control, and the other of the daily labor.

29. When the impious Agarenes had overrun the entire Calabrian region for a year and had plundered everything, and were intending to invade the Mercurian parts as well—thinking to leave no monastery unravaged, nor to grant any monk mercy or quarter—the report of their coming preceded them, and all were fleeing to any nearby strongholds. At that time, the blessed Stephen, having been found in the cenobium of the great Fantinus, went up with the brothers to the neighboring stronghold, being unable to return to the cave due to the urgency of ^C the report. But the holy Father, having seen from a higher place above the cave the dust and the approaching multitude of the Saracens, decided to hide himself from their treachery, lest he appear to be tempting the power of God. Taking with him the earthenware jar of water, he went to a certain hidden place where he lived without fear. On that night, walking around that mountain and carrying David according to his custom—or rather, the King of David—he heard a sound as of a horse approaching and circling him, yet unable to draw closer. At first, thinking it was some man, he said nothing, wishing to finish the psalm. But when he saw that he was neither going away nor drawing nearer, he said to him, "Who are you?" And at that very word ^D he heard that the earthenware jar of water had been smashed by him, and the creature vanished. The blessed Father, recognizing the worker by his deeds, began to chant again and say: "They surrounded me and encompassed me, my enemies, and in the name of the Lord I warded them off." He began again to blame himself and said to his mind, "Because of the arrival of this creature here, my own mind has become the cause of it, for while we have God in our mouth, we do not have Him in our soul." Furthermore, it was his familiar saying that nothing so excites demons against a monk as a wandering mind.

^A in prayer, and the failure to pay attention to the words issuing from his mouth.

30. Then, therefore, our holy Father Nilus, having reached the cave when daylight came, discovered that the Saracens had arrived there and had made off with his hair-shirt ^B, filling it instead with wild pears they had found there. He went down to the monastery, and seeing everything ravaged and desolate, he concluded that the blessed Stephen had been taken captive by the Saracens, whether in the cave or at the monastery. He began to grieve intensely and to say to himself, "Alas, miserable Nilus, Brother Stephen, your servant, is gone; for he was surely waiting for us here or in the cave, and was captured. It is surely just that we should go and serve alongside him." As he said this, he wept, dreading the shamelessness and impurity of the pagans, yet constrained by the commandment of Christ to lay down his life for his friend ^C. Turning these thoughts over in his mind, he went out and sat down in the middle of the public road, awaiting the passing of the Saracens. Not long after, behold, about ten horsemen approached, wearing the clothing, arms, and head-bands, and having the entire appearance of Saracens. Seeing them, the blessed Father immediately rose, and sealing himself with the sign of the precious cross, he stood waiting for them. But they, recognizing him from afar, dismounted from their horses and came to him on foot, and kissed his feet. When they removed the head-bands from their faces, the Father recognized them as being citizens from the fort, who had dressed this way to protect the place.

31. Having learned from them that all the brothers were safe, including the blessed Stephen, he returned to the cave, giving thanks to God. After the Saracens had departed, the blessed Stephen also came, and they resumed their former manner of life. While he was once at the monastery for the harvest, he had learned from a certain old man, who was weaving baskets, how to weave a rope. He therefore made a small basket and brought it to the cave, thinking that he would do a favor for the Father. But the latter said to him, "Come, brother Stephen, let us also fulfill a command. Since you made it without being instructed and without counsel, let us give it to the fire to be burned; for this is what the great Basil commands." And with the word, he arose, lit a fire, and cast in the basket. But seeing that he bore the matter heavily and not with thanksgiving, but with a resistant mind, he permitted the basket to be completely burned, and thus delivered him from his attachment to it. ^D One day, therefore, the old man who had taught Stephen the art of weaving came, asking the Father to permit him to go with him to gather herbs. He went at his bidding. The old man, having his Psalter with him, had forgotten it somewhere and lost it. He came therefore to the holy Father, and began to be distressed about his Psalter. The Father, seeing him in deep sorrow, pi-

moved by compassion, and began to rebuke ^A B. Stephanus, saying: "Truly you are senseless and foolish. Why did you not ask for the Psalter? You are at fault; it is right, therefore, that the old man should take yours." And he took it and gave it to the old man, who went away rejoicing.

CHAPTER V

52. At another time the Father sent him to Rossano to buy parchments. He went and returned, having as a companion another old man from among the notables of the castle, a noble man named Georgius. ^B Being asked by the holy Father what he wanted, he replied: "One day, as I was sitting in my house and thinking about the vanity of the world and my sins, there came upon me a fear of death and the question of judgment. While I was thinking on these things, a brief sleep overcame me, and I seemed to myself to be entering through the great gate of the city, where the sanctuary of the holy Apostles is situated. Seeing there an echo of a divine melody, such as I had never heard, I went at once to see who was singing. I see the whole sanctuary full of beautiful eunuchs, as it were angels offered in sacrifice, and standing with them, you whom I now see. But upon the episcopal throne sat a youth, most beautiful and resplendent, whose loveliness no one could describe. When, therefore, I had entered the temple and was contemplating those ^C wonderful forms and hearing the sweetest melody, I see two of those clad in white coming toward me, at the beckoning of him who sat upon the throne, and saying to me: 'Come, the Master calls you.' I, having gone forward with great fear, stood before him and heard him saying to you: 'Go and tonsure him.' Then you came forward and tonsured me, and made me a monk. Immediately, I awoke and began to doubt in my mind and to say: 'Truly this was a vain vision, not sent by God. For it never once crossed my mind to become a monk.'

53. "Nevertheless, I resolved within myself that if on that day some brother from the monasteries should come to my house, I would know it to be the true will of God that I should become a monk; but if this did not happen, I would treat the dream as not sent by God ^D and dismiss it. Therefore, to banish idleness, I went out into the vestibule and saw Brother Stephanus; and having learned from him the reason for his arrival, I hastily set my affairs in order and came to your holiness. Now, therefore, do with me what is pleasing to God and to you, holy Father." The God-filled Father, having heard these things, answered him: "We, most honored brother, not for the sake of God or for virtue are we sitting in the...

solitude; but because we cannot bear the burden of the cenobitic observance, we have separated ourselves from men, as if we were certain lepers and unclean. You, however, do well in caring for the salvation of your soul. Go, therefore, to the cenobitic monasteries, where you will find rest for both soul and body." He, like an adamant that is not broken by the striking of iron, remained unmoved by the words of the Father who was testing him. On the Lord's day, when cenobitic monasteries are accustomed to use a small relaxation of the body, the Father took him with him into the monastery which is called Castellani, in which, being sumptuously received and moderately refreshed with wine, after they had arisen from the table, the Father addressed the old man thus: "Lord George, wait here a little while until I have gone to visit ^B other brothers and return." He said this with the intention of leaving him there in the monastery henceforth. The old man, understanding this, immediately answered: "It is not right, revered Father, but wherever the master goes, there the dog will also follow." The Father, admiring the allegory, took him as his companion, and they returned with one mind.

34. George therefore says to him on the road: "Do you think, revered Father, that there was a lack of the abundance of delicacies and pleasures in my home, and do you imagine me to be like a child, captured by the abundance of food? Know for certain that I would not dread abstinence, nor any other austerity whatsoever. For I, having used much navigation and having traversed many regions, have experienced many ^C good and bad things. And God is able, through your holy prayers, to strengthen me to endure these out of love for Him, just as I endured those for the glory of the world. Therefore, think nothing else; for God sent me to you, and it is impossible that I be separated from you." When the great Father heard these things, he embraced him with heartfelt charity, and henceforth he held him in the place of a father; and he, in turn, strengthening himself in his confidence conceived in the Father, and hoping that through him he would become a partaker of the heavenly kingdom, loved him as God Himself. Furthermore, the words which he heard from his mouth, whether he was delivering his own instructions or explaining the Scriptures, he so received and took pleasure in them that he felt the affection of the one who said: "How sweet are your words to my throat, more than honey to my mouth" (Ps. CXVIII, 103). For this reason he endured that ^D asceticism, which was harsh beyond measure, having been changed suddenly from his domestic habits into this one, which many, having attempted to enter and persist in, quickly recoiled from and fled.

35. And as for what is a wonder, that he, having never learned letters, so chanted the hymnody in the psalms and...

^A hymns, that all who heard him were amazed and astonished, and the holy Father himself was refreshed by his sweet melody, which bred compunction of spirit. In the beginning, moreover, he used, whenever he had a little leisure, to relate as was his ancient habit, to whoever he might happen to encounter, what he had seen and heard in the world. But when he was interrupted by the Father, who would say to him: "Woe, sir! what sort of writer have you turned out to be? Luke, or Matthew?", he would immediately rise up, striking his own mouth, and going off by himself, he would beat his cheeks so much, reviling and rebuking himself, until he had shed sufficient tears.

There happened also such a thing as this in the town which is called Bisinianum. A certain youth, quite reckless, chanced to encounter a Hebrew returning from trade, and being seized with greed for his merchandise, he cut him down with a sword and slew him, and having taken the donkey with its load, he fled. His father-in-law was therefore seized by the local authorities and handed over to the Jews to be crucified on account of the slaughtered Hebrew. When the most wise Nilus learned of this from the kinsmen of the condemned man, he wrote to the unjust judges in this manner: "It were proper for you, as well-versed in the law, to pass sentences according to the law, which commands that one Christian be punished for seven Jews. Either, therefore, let the Jews hand over six others of their own to be slain for him who is to be crucified, or if it is at all decided by you to pervert the best laws, let that man whom I send to you with this letter be given to the Jews to be crucified—a man noble, of the primaries of Rossano—and let that wretched man be set free, so that mercy may be extended to him and simultaneously to his wife and children." The blessed Father therefore called the abbot George, and without disclosing anything of what he had written, he gave him the letter and sent him to Bisinianum. 36. ^B When they had received and read the written words, they said to the elder: "O monk, the Father has written that we should hand you over to the Jews for crucifixion. Does it please you?" And he said to them: "I am ready to fulfill everything that my master has written, and if there is by chance no one to construct the cross, I am sufficiently skilled at fashioning one." But they, having revered the readiness of the elder and the magnanimity of him who sent him, both released the wretched man and dismissed the elder with the greatest honor.

Furthermore, as the impious Saracens were invading those places at stated times, and the holy Fathers could not remain in the cave—for the way for the army lay precisely through there—it seemed good to the great Father to abandon that place. Wherefore, he departed to the adjacent regions of the country and remained in a place of his own, in which was situated the chapel of Saint Adrian. ^{C D}

thinking that no nation would ever enter there because of the difficult and rugged nature of the location. ^A This having come to pass, some of the poor in spirit—whom the Lord also called to His own supper—began to approach the Father and request a dwelling together. He, being moved with compassion for them, received them and labored for the salvation of their souls and bodies. As time went by, they gathered until they were twelve, and more, and by the cooperation of God, the place became a monastery. ^B While many fled from the rigorous rule and the harshness of the way of life, preferring the broad path to the narrow one, those who loved God remained and endured all things for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Now there were two brothers, united by blood, living nearby, who, being tempted by the evil one and struck by envy, began to slander the righteous man; and on every occasion they would disparage him, calling him a deceiver, a sorcerer, a hypocrite, a liar, and whatever else wickedness dictated.

^C 37. When the blessed man heard these things, he strove in every way to extinguish their envy and to heal their hearts, which indeed he accomplished no long time later. For while they were calumniating and bitterly reviling him, he, on the contrary, did not cease to praise them and to announce to everyone that they were holy men. ^D Yet whenever they seized some trifling opportunity again—whether a beast crossing the fence or straw blown in by the wind—and went out to face the righteous man, pouring forth a thousand insults and fighting and abusing him impudently, the Father would instruct the brethren that no one should answer them with anything, and he would depart with David upon his lips. And they, seeing him, would shout and say, "Do you see the hypocrite? He considers himself a saint and us demons. Did we not rightly say that the devil brought you here so that we might fight daily?" Hearing this, he would make no response; but when evening came, or even the next day, when he saw that they had gone in to dine, he would approach them and, prostrating himself, would ask for their pardon. Then, eating together with them and partaking in common joy, he would soothe their hearts with his noble wisdom and return to his cell with joy. After a considerable time had passed, the elder brother, being about to die, bequeathed to the holy Father all that he possessed and left his brother in his care, and he himself arranged all things according to the will of God. Furthermore, one day there came to the monastery the son of the abbot George, bringing with him three cows that were very handsome and large. The great Father summoned the old man and said to him, "Why have you brought these cattle here?" And he, binding his hands as is wont to be done before princes, replied with fear, "Very much so, venerable Father, since the brethren labor for the sake of obtaining their daily bread; it will be useful if, through you...

they have some small comfort." ^B 38. The Father then says to him: "The brethren have no need of these things; indeed, it is better for them that they labor." But go, kill them and distribute them to the poor. The old man, having heard this, without even a moment's hesitation, bared his arms, and taking up the knife, hurried to fulfill what was commanded. And he would have finished it immediately, had not the holy man quickly called out and restrained his hand. Then the Father, recognizing the Abrahamic virtue of his soul, said: "Do not kill them, since there is little benefit in that; but we will give two to the needy and larger monasteries, and by joining the third with our neighbors, we shall relieve our necessity; for whatever is beyond need pertains to greed." So, having done as the Father ordered, they collected a great abundance of grain that year, and all gave glory to God.

Once, when three brethren had gone from the monastery to the mill with three loaded beasts, and were returning from the mill the next day, and were already near the monastery, they saw a fire burning on the road and said, "They are fasting in the monastery right now; let us make bread here and eat, lest if we arrive fasting, we also have to fast with them." And they did just as they had deliberated. But the Father, knowing about them through the Spirit, ordered the cellarer to prepare a table, ^C saying, "So that when the brethren arrive from the mill, we may eat bread." Immediately, therefore, when they arrived and had eaten again with the Father and the brethren, after rising from the table, the Father called them aside and said to them: "Why did you lend an ear to the devil giving you advice to make bread and eat along the road? Were you far from the monastery? Or are you my slaves, that because you fear me, you eat in secret? You are my brethren, and the bread is your labor, and there is no one who forces you against your will. Knowing this, therefore, never do anything against the Rule." Hearing this, they prostrated themselves and promised to amend their lives in the future.

39. At another time, when the Father was away from the monastery, a certain maiden came wishing to meet him, not knowing that he preferred the company of a viper to a woman's conversation. ^D As all the brethren were resting in their cells in quiet, and she had seen no one, she entered the church and prayed. When the brethren saw her leaving, they grumbled against her for having acted contrary to custom. When she learned that the Father was not there, she departed immediately. The great Father, returning after four days, and the brethren having gathered to greet him, began to reproach them, saying, "Such are you as monks, that one woman coming was able to deceive you and defile your church. You are truly worthy of a great penance." And they, being struck with wonder at the miracle, fell down and asked for forgiveness. Now the blessed one, truly

George, having lived a life of great holiness according to God, and having pleased Him through ^A self-control, hardship, unquestioning obedience, great humility, and the cutting off of his own will—which is and is called martyrdom—departed to the Lord, to receive the rewards for which he had endured all things. On this account, the great Father gave thanks to God, being fully persuaded that he had truly offered to Christ the first-fruits of his husbandry, an excellent fruit and most acceptable offering.

CHAPTER VI

^B 40. But he, having the commandments of the holy Gospel indelibly in his soul, and also that which says, "But be not you called Rabbi, nor be called masters," never suffered himself to be called by any title that might imply a reputation for glory; but, always esteeming his own judgment lower than all, he considered himself as one of the least of his brethren. Therefore, as the children of the desert increased, and were born to him daily in a spiritual sense and were shepherded evangelically, he entrusted the title of superior to another for all the days of his life. One of these, and the first, was the all-blessed and thrice-holy Proclus, a man most highly learned in general education, who had made his own heart a repository for books of both secular and our own literature, ^C as well as those published later, and for those neither published nor those that were later brought to light. It was reported of him that, before he became a monk, while he was still a young man living in the fortress, he practiced the following discipline: he would fast daily until evening, would be wholly occupied with reading, and would abstain from food and drink that might be stimulants of ardor and pleasure. From evening until the morning hour, he would go around to all the churches of the fortress, reciting the entire Psalter, and at the door of each church he would perform as many prostrations as he knew he had prescribed for himself; for no one else knew of his secret labor. Now this man, having entered the monastic arena and having been marked by the seal of virtuous life by our holy Father Nilus, subjected himself to such self-control and asceticism that he mortified his ^D members which were upon the earth, and was afflicted with most painful illnesses even until his very last breath. But, since those things of his, being sufficient to constitute a separate history full of profit, we shall leave to Him who knows all things and rewards each person according to their own labor. We, however, shall return to the narrative of the great Father.

41. At that time, after a great earthquake had struck Rossano, accompanied by many days and nights of heavy rain, and the higher part of it had been shaken, that is, the building—

^A and the houses and churches, and the flood had come down covering houses and churches, sparing nothing except the episcopal church out of reverence for Saint Irene 31 — it was a wondrous and terrible spectacle to those who saw it, as the appearance of things was everywhere changed and different things presented themselves to the eyes in place of others. And the surprising thing was that in such a terrible flood, not a single soul, human or animal, perished. Now, as many people were relating these things to the blessed Father, and he was struck with wonder at them, it seemed good to him after this to go in and behold what had come to pass. The manner of his entry was thus: having found a fox skin thrown along the road, he tied it around his head, and carried his cloak on a staff over his shoulder; in this state, he passed through the entire town, recognized by no one. But the children, seeing him go by in such a guise, followed him throwing stones at him and saying, "Hey, Bulgarian monk!" ^B Others called him a Frank, and others an Armenian. But he, silent, looking around at everything, when it was already evening, went to the Great Church, and casting aside the skin from his head and placing his lowly cloak upon his shoulders, he entered with longing and contrition to worship the all-pure Theotokos, his guide and protectress. But when the warden of the temple, who was called Caniscas and who had once been his own instructor, and certain other priests saw him, and recognized that it was the great Father, they came and fell at his feet, marveling at his unexpected arrival.

42 But he, having spoken to all what was profitable, and having greatly benefited and dismissed them, remained in the church with his instructor, and gave him counsel to renounce the world and seek the salvation of his soul. For he had lived in perpetual celibacy; he was not prone to gluttony, the belly, or softness, but was so caught up in the disease of avarice that he seemed like a fly entangled in spiders' webs. Wherefore the Father used this parable ^C to him: "Those who are oppressed by the necessity of the belly, it is reasonable that they should apply themselves to ministries and labors; but since you are free from this necessity, why do you sit in vain and collect for yourself things that pass into dung, and fill yourself with their stench?" To these things he replied: "Indeed, reverend Father, we are many who proclaim your way of life blessed, and we often have devised to come forth to your godliness, but because our spirit cannot endure to abstain from wine, we are deterred from ^D [the way of the holy Peace].

great one says to him: Come, make for yourselves new cisterns, well sealed, and having filled them with wine, draw and drink eternally. Since he again made excuses for himself in his sins, and would not heed the exhortation, the great Father rose very early in the night and departed, having gone forth from that place, saying only this one word to that lover of money: "Alas, teacher, you will repent then, when it will be of no profit."

A short time having passed, and while the holy Father was performing the morning hymns in the monastery, an unbearable pain seized him suddenly, so that, being unable to complete the liturgy, he went out and threw himself upon his bed, and in this way endured the pains. In the midst of this, behold, the nephew of that Caniscas entered hastily, bringing a letter from him to the Father, of this sort: "Come, holy Father, take the great sum of money which I have foolishly amassed to the perdition of my soul, lest perhaps the devil snatch it and rob me of the gain therefrom. For behold, I am already dying, and the tribunal of the other life receives me."

^B 43. Having read these things, the Father desired to go to him, being overcome by his own natural compassion, yet he was held back from his purpose because he was severely oppressed by pains. He says to the bearer of the letters: "Christ has no need of the money of your uncle. For He Himself has said, 'Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.' But you, go, hasten, for perhaps you will no longer see him alive." The messenger, having returned in haste, found him already dead, and all his goods plundered by the public treasury.

The holy man, as soon as the messenger departed, and when the pain that held him had also left, was filled with amazement ^C and wonder, being astonished at the ineffable providence of God, that He had prevented him from doing something against His will, when he had been willing to act, and had restrained even his unwillingness.

Now while the brothers were working on the mountain, and rolling down burned trees to clear the land and make it grain-bearing instead of wood-bearing, the Holy Spirit said to His servant: "Go out onto the mountain to those who are laboring, because 'your adversary the devil prowls around, seeking someone to devour.'" He immediately rose and went, and all that day he did not cease going about to all the brothers, calling out to them and always exhorting them to pray and to drive away the adversary in the name of Jesus Christ.

The devil, therefore, seeing ^D the watchfulness of the leader and the fortification of his subjects, at about the tenth hour threw down a very large tree and killed one dog, and went away in confusion. When certain of the brothers were grieving over the dog, the great one said: "Rightly, O brothers, did the divine Scripture command us to pray always, that we may not enter into temptations. For the devil, wishing to bring his wrath upon a brother, which he showed upon the dog, was prevented by an angel of God, as the Psalm says: 'The angel of the Lord shall encamp round about those who fear Him, and shall deliver them.'"

'" ^A 44. By such words and methods he taught them to pray in every place and time, and thus to turn aside the snares of the demons. But in order to deliver them also from an attachment to earthly things, and to train them to prefer obedience to life itself, he did another act worthy of remembrance. It was the custom of the blessed man—acquired by virtue, not by nature—to blame himself in every matter. Wherefore, frequently considering within himself the sweetness of quietude, and the freedom from care that comes with lack of possessions, and how he who sits as a wrestler among brothers makes no progress in virtue, but rather can scarcely avoid becoming worse, he was, I say, considering all these things, and he was very troubled by living with many, and was annoyed even by their company, as if it hindered him from contemplation of the mind and the hidden interior work, of which the only ones who have made trial are the God-bearing Fathers such as Antony, Arsenius, and John the Hut-dweller. Against these thoughts he opposed that saying of the Apostle: "Let no one seek his own, but that of many, that they may be saved." ^B It therefore seemed good to him to test them with an act of absurd command; and if they should assent without question or inquiry, he would dwell together with them, since they too would be able to be saved in this way, and he would keep his own order; but if the opposite should occur, he would prefer withdrawal. For this reason, therefore, when the morning office had been completed on a certain day and all were present, the great Father spoke this word to them: "We have planted many vineyards, Fathers, and this is imputed to us as greed, because they are beyond the measure of our need. Come, let us cut down part of them, and leave nothing but what is sufficient."

45. Having said these things, and seeing that they agreed, ^C he took an axe upon his shoulders and set out for the more beautiful and fertile part of the vineyard, with all following behind him, not having uttered even one word. For they did not say, "This man is insane; he does not know what he is doing; this has never been seen or heard of"; but having first performed a prayer, they began to cut from the morning until the third hour. Then the Father, having acknowledged the obedience of his sons, which equaled the ancient histories, promised to God that he would put nothing before them until his last breath. When, therefore, this was made public, ^D and the fame of it had been celebrated as far as Mount Athos (33) and Sicily, no one could reach the cause of the matter; but some said that the monks had been intoxicated; others blamed the Father's anger; others, indeed, said that because they possessed many holdings, and...

Notes of John Clei

^A And for this reason he did so; and others, because, being many, they were unable to struggle. Nor is this wonderful, since not even they themselves who had cut them down knew why they had cut them down, unless the great Father revealed the mystery to those to whom he willed. Once, when Holy Thursday of Pascha had arrived, someone brought to the monastery a basket full of excellent and large fish, so that the brothers might have a small refreshment, being worn out by the long and excessive fast. Seeing them, the Father—since they were slightly gladdened by the sight of the fish—allowed them to scale, wash, and prepare them for cooking. But when a certain beggar arrived, he gave all of them to him, not leaving even one. Thus he taught them to sing from the heart: “Lord, all my desire is before thee”; and: “Thou art my portion, O Lord, and the portion to be desired.” ^B There is in the upper part of Rossano a most beautiful oratory dedicated to Saint Anastasia, which had been built by Eupraxius, a former imperial judge of Italy and Calabria, which later existed as a sacred home for virgins. The care of this sacred place had been entrusted by the same Eupraxius, while he was in Constantinople, to a certain monk by the name of Anthony. And when he was wealthy and near to death, fearing the rapacity of the princes who absorb everything, he fled to the safest tower, the blessed Father, and, having appointed him curator of all his possessions, he departed at last, freed from every anxiety.

^C Hearing this, the steward of God was moved with compassion, not so much for the departed as for the state of the monastery, for from that time it had already vanished and been scattered. He entered the town and distributed the remains of the deceased among the poor, the churches, and the monastery; he put all his effort into restoring the monastery and planting in it virgins worthy of the profession. This, with God’s help, he accomplished: he gathered all those who had been dispersed, set over them a superior such as the circumstance required, and exhorted all the inhabitants of the fortress to care for them as a weaker sex, from whom they would also derive great benefit. ^D He added this further: “If any of you dies, and his wife wishes to live the remainder of her life in chastity, but has nowhere to take refuge and therefore proceeds to a second marriage, you will be to blame for not having made the effort so that such a noble city might have a monastery.” Furthermore, while he was still staying in the fortress and had fallen into a not-serious illness, the Metropolitan of Calabria, Theophylact, also came, and with him Leo the Domestic, let-

men ^A of great learning and wisdom. But our holy Father Nilus, fleeing from the crowd of people and always embracing dear solitude, went out a short distance from the town to the church of the lover of the desert and Baptist John, whose life he furthermore emulated, and there he busied himself with God and attended to meditation.

CAPUT VII. He resolves questions proposed to him from the Sacred Scriptures, and from those things exhorts those who propose them to fear of judgment and to amendment of life; he refuses to deal with a Jew regarding God; he predicts imminent divine vengeance upon those who mock the monastic habit.

47. Therefore, the Metropolitan and the Domestic went out to him, and the magistrates, and many of the priests, and a not insignificant portion of the people. ^B And they took counsel along the way regarding what each of them might ask him from the secrets of Scripture, wanting not so much to learn as to put him to the test. The holy man was sitting opposite, and seeing them coming toward him, he said to himself: "Behold, these men now coming will cast us into idle chatter. But You, Lord Jesus Christ, deliver us from the snares of the adversary and grant us to think and speak what is necessary, and to do what is pleasing to You." Having prayed this, he opened the book he had in his hands, and by chance he happened upon the narrative of those things that had been ^C revealed to the blessed Simeon, surnamed of the Wonderful Mountain (39). As they drew near and, after the greeting, had sat down, the great Father handed the book to the Domestic to read where the mark was. He, opening his mouth, began to read with much grace and intelligence. But when he had reached that place where it is said that among thousands of souls in these present times, scarcely one is found who, upon departing from the body, falls into the hands of the holy angels, they all began as with one mouth to say: "Far be it! It is not true; he who said this is a heretic. Are we therefore baptized in vain, and do we adore the cross, and consume the body of Christ, and are we called Christians?" When all were contradicting with these and similar words, and the Saint saw that the Metropolitan and the Domestic were making no answer to them, he himself replied ^D placidly and said: "But if I show you that Basil the Great, and Chrysostom, and the most blessed Ephrem, and Theodore the Studite, and the Apostle himself, and the Holy Gospel, all hold and affirm the same thing, what punishment will be yours, who thoughtlessly open your mouths and resist the Holy Spirit and the tremendous sayings of the Fathers regarding heresy..."

openly, ^A and resisting the Holy Spirit, and subjecting the fearful words of the holy Fathers to heretics because of the baseness of your own lives. I say to you, brothers, that for all that you have voted for, there is no grace for you before God. What idols, or what heresy have you abandoned to run to Christ?

48. Does any one of you dare to say, "I am a heretic," and enter into his city? Will he not be stoned by all and killed? Be assured that if you do not become virtuous, and exceedingly virtuous, no one will rescue you from damnation. When they all heard these things, being greatly struck with terror, they all began to sigh and say, "Woe to us sinners and wretches!" Nicolaus the protospatharios said to him, "Father, why does the Gospel say, 'Whoever gives a drink to one of these little ones a cup of cold water, shall by no means lose his reward'?" The Father answered him, "This saying is spoken for those who have nothing, so that no one might offer excuses, saying, 'I have no wood to make a warm drink.' But what will you do, you who take away even the cold cup from the poor?" When he had fallen silent, another rose and said, "I would like to know, holy Father, whether the most wonderful Solomon is saved or lost." ^B The Father, perceiving that he was possessed by the spirit of fornication, said to him, "I too would like to know about you, whether you will be saved or will perish. For what profit is it to me or to you whether Solomon is saved or perishes? For that commandment was not given to him, but to us: 'Everyone who looks at a woman to desire her has already committed adultery with her in his heart,' and this: 'If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him.' Regarding Solomon, since it is nowhere found in Holy Scripture that he repented after his sin, as is recorded of Manasseh, who can say that he was saved?" After him, one of the priests rose and said, "Holy Father, what was the wood which Adam ate in Paradise and was condemned?" He replied, "A wild apple." When all smiled, the great one said to them, "Do not laugh at this, for the answer corresponds to the question. Moyses did not name that wood; all the teachers speak of the act, ^C but they did not see the species. Since Scripture has suppressed it, how are we to reveal it?"

49. You, then, having left aside the question of how you were created, how you were placed in Paradise, as Adam himself was, and what the commandment was—or rather the commandments—which you received and did not keep, on account of which you were cast out of Paradise, or rather out of the kingdom, and how you might have the strength to return to your ancient glory and honor, you instead asked to learn the name of a wood, which was just one of many. What

after having learned it, will you be in doubt about, i.e., what is the root, what are the leaves, and what is the bark? And if it is great or small? And who can interpret that which no eyes have ever seen? The domesticus answered and said: ^A I too will ask, Father. What does that saying of Gregory the Theologian mean: "For how will an alien soul easily save another, if it has lost its own?" And the Father said to him: This was said to you by the Teacher so that you might not be confident that you can gain salvation through a woman. Which the Apostle also confirmed using a chastening form of speech, saying: "For how do you know, O wife, if you will save your husband?" precisely because she is accustomed to destroying him. If, then, she who came forth from the flesh of Adam, and was his own, so to speak, sister or daughter, or rather more than these, subjected the man to transgression and delivered him to perdition, how will the one who is alien to you in will, position, habit, and formation lead you to virtue and save you? Keep watch, therefore, both for yourself and hold your wife in suspicion. When he had said these and many other things to him, through parables he was leading him to the monastic life; for he loved him greatly because of the prudence that shone forth in him.

50. ^B He answers and says: Truly, holy Father, all that you advise and admonish is full of profit. But we read in the holy Gospel: "What God has joined, let not man put asunder." And the great Father said: If indeed it were man who put asunder, you would speak well: "Let not man put asunder." But if the word of Him who spoke is that which puts asunder—"He who does not leave house, or brothers, or sisters, or wife, or children, and the rest, is not worthy of me"—who is he that could hinder this work pleasing to God? And who knows if it was God who joined them, and not rather bodily love and the pleasure of the flesh, on account of which the Apostle advises that "because of fornication let each one have his own wife"? ^C Having heard these and more things than these, and having been greatly benefited, they departed, admiring the virtue and wisdom of the blessed man, so that the metropolitan himself said: I confess, with God as my witness, this monk is great. On the following day, when the holy man had come down from that place and had entered into the city, there approached him a certain Jew named Domnulus, who was known to him from his early youth, because he was very studious and not uncommonly learned in the art of medicine. He began therefore to speak to the blessed one thus: I have heard of the harsh way of life by which you discipline yourself, and of your great abstinence, and knowing the constitution of your body, I was amazed that you have not fallen into epilepsy. Therefore, if you wish, I will give you a remedy ^D that is suitable for your temperament, so that henceforth for the whole time of your life you may fear no disease. And the great Father said to him: One of your own people, a Hebrew, said to us: "It is good to trust in the Lord, rather than to trust in man." We, therefore, trusting in our Physician, God and our Lord Jesus Christ, we

have no need of the medicines prepared by you. ^A But you can in no way deceive the more simple of the Christians, except by boasting that you have shared your medicines with Nilus. The physician, having heard these things, answered the saint nothing.

51. There had come with him another, who said to him: "Tell us something about God; for we desire to hear your words." The Father said to them: "Your speech, O Jew, seems like a man commanding an infant to take hold of a tall tree by hand and bend it down to the ground; if, however, you desire to hear some small thing about God, take the prophets with the law and come to the desert, where I also dwell in seclusion; and after you have been free there for reading for as many days as Moses was on the mountain, then question me, and I shall answer you. For it says: 'Be still and know that I am God.' ^B For if I speak to you now about God, I am writing upon water and casting seed into the sea." They answered together and said: "We cannot do this, since we would be cast out of the synagogue and our own people would stone us." And the holy Father said: "Your fathers also died in like manner in unbelief, as the evangelist says: 'For many of the leaders believed in him, but because of the Jews they did not confess it, so that they would not be cast out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory of men more than the glory of God.' " Having said these things, and having departed from them, he went out to the monastery to his cell, giving himself to contemplation and to the meditation of the divine Scriptures. ^C And after no long time, Nicolaus the protospatharios and Leo the domestikos came there to him, burning with the desire to hear his teaching and admonition.

52. And indeed, after a long conversation and exhortation, the saint returned to his cell, eager to attend once again to God; but they, reclining outside on the grass where they pleased, and having found the cowl of some brother, were placing it upon each other's heads, the domestikos and the protospatharios, laughing and jesting at the same time. The saint, having seen this through the window, and having greatly disapproved of their levity, rebuked them severely, and says: "This which you are making a joke of now, behold, the hour will come in which you will desire eagerly to cover your head with it, and you will not be able to possess it." ^D And at the same time as this prophetic word was spoken, a shivering and a headache seized the domestikos. And he, returning home on the spot,

and stretching himself out on his bed, he ordered a reverend priest to be summoned to him. When he had arrived and approached the bed to learn the reason for his summons, he found him already dead. When this happened, fear fell upon those who had accompanied him returning from the monastery, and all marveled at the saint's prediction.

CAPUT VIII. S. Nilus, fleeing adulation, rebukes Euprasios, prefect of Calabria, and after castigating him with disease and seeing his repentance, vests him in the monastic habit, and he dies piously shortly thereafter. The holy Father refuses to administer the goods bequeathed by him in his testament; he frees the duke’s son and many others from an evil demon and various diseases.

53. Some wicked men and flatterers, having gone up to Constantinople, slandered the blessed man in the ears of the imperial judge Euprasios, as if he had laid waste to his monastery and stolen the goods of Antonios. He, angered by such calumnies, wrote to one of his overseers, casting threats against the Saint and saying: "If God grants that I arrive in good health, I shall see who this monk Nilus is, and who the imperial Euprasios is." And when he arrived with much arrogance and pomp—for he had been appointed by the emperors as judge of Italy and Calabria—all the abbots of the region went to him with gifts and flattery, seeking his favor and protection. But the excellent Father Nilus, so as not to appear to fear the threats of men, nor to confide in princes—whom the royal Prophet calls, in a spirit of reproach, "sons of men, in whom there is no salvation" (Ps. CXVII, 20)—neither approached him with fawning and flattery, nor appeased the threats of his arrogance and insolence with gifts, but remained quietly in his cell in his own monastery, imploring God for the salvation of all and for the soul of the [prefect] himself. This kindled the heart of the proud man to greater anger and rage, as he was honored and attended to by all, but clearly despised by the holy man; wherefore, he faltered in his search for a pretext of iniquity against the righteous man. For it is impossible for the way of a serpent to be known upon a rock, just as [it is impossible to hide] the iniquity of a prince in a crowned man.

54. In these circumstances, while he was contriving malice and acting wickedly, a sudden destruction seized him, and the prayer of the venerable Father anticipated him. For a certain disease, which is called gangrene, having sprouted around the glans of his reproductive organ, proved the rounds of the physicians to be in vain, and the instrument of his debauchery, through which he had intemperately violated the laws of nature, exacted its penalty. Having come therefore to realization

^A of his error, and accusing himself for having been so insolent toward the holy man (for he was indeed quite prudent, even if he had been puffed up by the pride of his superior power), he who had once raged with threats became a suppliant, if by any means he might see him or even obtain his blessing and forgiveness. The Father, however, for the present delayed their personal meeting, neither allowing him to come to the monastery nor wishing to go to him, that he might satisfy his request; for in this way he worked for his salvation. He knew well how to use that pride against the senseless at an opportune time. When, therefore, after a period of three years ^B that divine-sent malady had gradually consumed the private parts and had approached the most vital members, threatening death through its corruption, then the spiritual physician set out, moved by his most piteous letters. When the viceroy beheld the holy man, he embraced his venerable feet and poured out such a flood of tears as he kissed them that the holy Father himself and all who stood by wept together with him, and cried out vehemently. For there was nothing else to be seen among them but the image of the sinful woman holding the Savior's feet with a contrite heart and seeking forgiveness for her failings.

55. When the Father saw him sated with weeping, ^C like an infant that has drunk abundantly from its mother's breast, he stretched out his hand, and taking hold of him, raised him up. He, having commanded all to depart from him, began to lay bare the evils of his soul along with those of his body, and weeping, said: "Behold, most venerable Father, for three years, day and night, I have been tormented by this most terrible malady, afflicted by the sharpest pains and an ineffable stench, which neither the multitude of unguents applied, nor the frequent changing of clothes—which I use seven times a day—could allow me to escape." The malady was, as the blessed Father narrated, beneath the groin, as if marked out by a compass, so that nothing of the hanging members remained. Once again, therefore, the viceroy, holding the hands of the holy man ^D and wetting them with tears, said: "Have mercy on me for the sake of the Lord, imitator of the Lord Christ, and do not disdain to tonsure with these your venerable hands me, who am full of every luxury; for I have promised to God to undertake the monastic life." The Father said to him: "It is not fitting for you, being a prudent and highly educated man, to think or speak according to the manner of many; for all who have received holy baptism and have not kept it pure from all sin are, without any vow, bound to receive this holy baptism, which out of His great compassion and goodness God has bestowed upon men, for rich and poor, for kings and princes, for priests and pontiffs, and for every soul that desires it, in a single moment of time."

^A And to rulers, to priests and to chief priests, and to every soul that desires to be reborn in a single moment of time as the youth of an eagle, and to be delivered from all past sins. But as for what you said about me tonsuring you, I am indeed the least of monks, possessing no priestly rank. Here is the metropolitan—for the metropolitan ^B of holy Severina was present there at that time—here are bishops and archimandrites; let them fulfill your desire, and who am I, that I should intervene? But he, again kissing the hands of the holy Father, simultaneously besought and adjured him not to allow such a work to another, but that by his own hands he should be clothed in the holy and apostolic habit, and that he should become his mediator and protector before God.

56. Therefore, the Father, moved by his tears and his entreaties, tonsured him with his own hands ^B and clothed him in the garments rendered glorious by their holy humility, he who formerly was pampered in soft and flowing raiment, in the presence of metropolitan Stephen, along with the bishop of the City, not a few hegumens, and other priests. There was also present the Jew Domnulus, the physician of whom I made mention earlier, observing all that was being done; who, having gone out and wondered at what had happened, said to those present: "Today I have seen wonders, which we once heard had happened long ago. Now I have seen the prophet Daniel taming lions. For who was ever able to lay ^C hands upon this lion? But this new Daniel both tonsured him and placed a cowl upon him." And this is what the Hebrew said. But the king, after the entire angelic order had been completed upon him, having exhorted everyone to partake of the meal, and having set it out, took his place like a servant, most ready to perform service—he who for many days before had been unable to rise from his bed, strengthened by the power of the Spirit and by the hands of the holy man. And having been ordered to sit near him, he again sought permission to serve at the table. And when this was done, all were astonished at the recovery and eagerness of the man, and they gave glory to God. After this, he distributed all his possessions with his own hand to the poor, and to the churches, and to all those in need, and having bequeathed his entire household ^D and granted them their liberty, on the third day he departed to the Lord with all compunction and thanksgiving, having set out with faith and certain hope toward Him.

Notes by Joannes Clei

(44) From these things it is clear enough that it would not be more probable [to attribute] a certain civil or secular dignity to the biodraphos, but an ecclesiastical and archiepiscopal [one]. Further, Siberona, which is today commonly called Santa Severina, is an ancient and most fortified city of further Calabria. It is distant from the Ionian Sea by 10 miles, and from Crotone by 12. The archiepiscopal see has six suffragans, of all of whom Ughellus [writes in] volume IX of his *Italia sacra*. It has a unique prelate of S. Severina before the Stephen mentioned in the charter of Count Roger of the year 1056, and Ughellus observes that he is called merely bishop there, whence he doubts whether that see was already archiepiscopal at that time. [Which is] incorrect, as is evident here.

(45) This sermon is about the bishop of Rossano: for in the same city, as will be evident below, the monk Eupraxius was active, where the body of the dead [man] was then interred in the church of S. Anastasia, which the same Eupraxius had founded and adorned, as is clear in cap. 6, num. 45 and note 36. [The text] was indeed about Rossano, as is stated in the same place. Therefore, at that time, namely toward the end of the 10th century, the see of Rossano was not archiepiscopal, since its prelate is called here only a bishop, and he seems to have been a suffragan of S. Severina or certainly of another metropolis.

(46) That is, cap or cowl, as it is in Greek.

and with thanksgiving, faith, and firm hope, he departed to Him who said through the prophet: “I desire not the death of the sinner, but that he should be converted and live eternally.” [Ezech. xxxiii, 11]

^B 57. After his body had been deposited in the monastery of the holy virgin Anastasia, the metropolitan of whom we have spoken approached the venerable Father, showing him the royal testament in which he had designated the holy man as curator and master of all his goods, both movable and immovable. The blessed man, seeing this and understanding that occupation with such affairs is a snare and a mockery of the devil, rightly permitted the same metropolitan to manage everything, as one who would render an account to God, who watches over all things; he himself withdrew to his own monastery, attending to himself and devoting his time to God, and obeying the holy angels who were exhorting him and saying: “Flee as a bird to the mountains; for behold, the sinners among us have bent the bow,”—that is, the care and concern for human affairs—“and have prepared arrows in the quiver,” that is, the wicked counsels and thoughts which they cast into the mind, and with which the impious in secret strive to shoot the upright in heart. [Psal. x, 2] While the admirable Father was therefore wholly occupied with the brethren in prayer and the pious ministry of the word, a certain commander of the army came to him, Polyeuctus by name, from the region of Mesubiani in Calabria, leading with him his son who was oppressed by a most wicked demon. Casting himself down, therefore, at the feet of the blessed Father, he begged that he might be moved by compassion and bring help to his son by driving away the evil spirit.

^C 58. The son of the humility that is truly imitable of Christ replied to him: “Believe me, man, I have never asked the Lord to grant my insignificance the grace of healings or the driving out of evil spirits. Would that I could obtain from God the forgiveness of my many sins and be delivered from the wicked thoughts which are an assiduous trouble to me. Rather, do you yourself pour out prayers to God on my behalf, brother, if perchance I might be delivered from the many demons that surround me. For your son has one demon, and that perhaps not of his own will, but for the salvation of his soul, either for the expiation of past sins or as a precaution for the future. I, however, in my laziness and sloth, am daily subjected to countless hosts of demons to the perdition of my soul.” ^D Having said these things, he withdrew for a little while and hid himself for some days, fearing lest, if he were to deliver the one oppressed by the demon, his fame might spread throughout...

^A the whole region, and they would not allow him to remain at peace in that place. But Polyeuctus, arming his heart with faith and hope, persisted in the monastery, fasting and afflicting himself, saying with tears, "I will not depart hence until my son is healed." The blessed man, therefore, seeing his godly faith and perseverance, took pity on him and his son; and, returning to the monastery, he was troubled within himself, saying, "I do not know what I should do for this man; for temptation lies before us on both sides, whether his son is healed or not." Nevertheless, not wishing to see the one possessed by a spirit, he called a man invested with the priestly order and ordered him to go into the oratory, to pray over the sick man, to anoint him with oil from the lamp, and then set him free. ^B

59. When this had been done, the young man was immediately granted healing, the demon having exited from his senses like smoke. When his father saw this, filled with joy and wonder, he took him and fell with him at the knees of the Father, giving thanks to God and to him, who by a command alone had driven the evil spirit from his son. The blessed one, however, spoke sternly to him, warning him to tell no one concerning this matter. "For God," said he, "has healed your son, not I." And having blessed them, he dismissed them in peace to their house, giving thanks to God. In this way, the admirable man delivered many who were possessed by demons, both monks and laymen; some he healed by having them anointed with oil by priests, for he himself never deigned to bestow a blessing even by the laying on of hands; others he sent to the tombs of the blessed apostles and martyrs in Rome, and these would be cleansed along the way, the blessed Father appearing to them visibly and driving the demons from them. This was done so that their faith in the holy man might not be proven empty, nor the labor of their refuge unfruitful. ^C For even if, out of humility of mind, he did not openly pour out prayers over them, avoiding the praise of men, yet being overcome by philanthropy, he would burn the demons and drive away diseases from the hiddenness of his cell by his fiery supplications. If I wished to commit all these things to writing, narrating even the smallest details, time would completely fail me as it sped by. It will suffice for the pious to grasp the whole in part, as one knows the lion from his claws. ^D

CAPUT IX

60. For the God of all gave him grace not only to relieve and heal those who came to him one by one, those who were afflicted and held fast by various evils, but also to aid entire cities in dangers and to deliver them from calamities. The following incident will make this clear: he was once governing both regions, Italy and our own Calabria—Nicephorus the...

^A the province—Italy, I say, and Calabria—Nicephorus, gifted with the dignity of *magister*, was sent by the pious emperors as the first and only man to discharge this office in those regions. He, therefore, puffed up by his greatness of soul and the amplitude of his magistracy, formed a plan not to be disapproved of by human opinion, and one that seemed to offer utility, yet one resisting the divine will and in no way to be admitted, as the end of the matter demonstrated. For he conceived the idea of building in each of the cities of Calabria those ships called *chelandia*, by means of which not only might the cities themselves be held safe and free from plots, but the neighboring and hostile Sicily might also be delivered to destruction. But the inhabitants of Rossano, not bearing this—as they were unaccustomed to such service of *chelandia*—when these were already built and about to be launched into the sea, being kindled with the heat of zeal (with which they always burn more than all other Calabrians), rushed together with fire and tumultuous force, burned the ships, and put the ship captains to death. ^B This brought the *magister* to great wrath and indignation against the people of Rossano, because by their example the other cities also had broken his plan. But the people of Rossano, recognizing the case and, led by repentance for their own rashness and folly, deliberated which of two courses they should pursue: either to revolt openly and cast off the yoke of the empire entirely, curing one evil with another, or certainly to calm the bile of the angry man with money and an abundance of gifts. But as they were pressed by constraints on both sides, they conceived a good and very useful plan: they took refuge at the unshakable tower, the holy Father, entreating him to show himself a mediator in the matter, and by the reverence of his virtue to extinguish the anger of the governor.

^C § 61. Then, indeed, the saintly man, without any further delay, but setting forth the name of Christ, reached the city and gave the citizens prudent counsel. Relying on his authority, they opened the gates and, with fear cast aside, received the *magister*, who was inflamed with wrath and swelling with fury. Therefore, while all were trembling at his presence—the nobles, the priests, and the rest—the servant of God alone stepped forward and took up the defense on behalf of all. The prince, following his virtue with veneration and struck with awe at his divine boldness in speaking and the grace of the Holy Spirit shining upon his face, left the judgment of such disorder and loss to him. To whom the holy man replied in a gentle and very clear voice: It must be confessed,

^A that a very serious and enormous crime has been committed. But if a few individuals, or the leaders of the city, had done this, they would certainly deserve to be accused and condemned by your most wise judgment. Since, however, the act belongs to the whole population, and the misguided intention of this transgression is common to all, is it permitted for you to put such a multitude to the sword and strip bare of its inhabitants a city so well-fortified by God and the Emperor? And the magister said: We shall not put them to the sword, Father, nor shall we kill anyone, but we shall confiscate their property for the imperial treasury, so that, having been disciplined in this way, they may not dare to attempt greater things in the future. And what profit will it be to your Excellency, the saint said, if you fill the imperial coffers with gain, but lose your own soul? And how shall those debts be forgiven you, which you owe not only to the heavenly King but also to the earthly one, if you yourself do not remit them to those who have foolishly and unwisely transgressed against your authority, you who are here today and will not be tomorrow? If, however, presenting the Emperor’s mandate as a just pretext, you refuse to pardon the offense, permit my insignificance to write to his Majesty, and whatever his pious rule commands, we shall perform with all diligence. ^B

62. Having heard these things, the magister replied: We, most holy Father, knowing the regard the holy Emperor has for you, grant to you the remission of this payment of money, which exceeds the number of two thousand coins. But to overlook the execution of the prefects and their dishonorable crushing is neither reasonable nor just. Then the all-blessed one, using words of exhortation and counsel, persuaded them to grant that also with greatness of soul, and to remit their claim, which did not amount to five hundred coins. When these matters had been happily concluded through the assistance of the holy Father, the indignation was turned upon the tax collector of that time. This was Gregory, surnamed Maleinus; and although he was in hiding, with much labor and very abundant prayers the blessed Father was able to obtain that he be brought into the sight of the magister. But when the magister saw him, because he was otherwise unable to restrain his boiling heart out of reverence for the holy Father, ^C he rose up in anger and cursed him, and all his household, and everything he possessed, from the horse and the ox down to the hen and the dog and all the rest. He, seized with fear, answered nothing at all, but because he was a protospatharios, he was permitted to sit, and then the magister said to him: Go, miserable man, with those like you of evil mind, make for yourselves an image of Nilus the saint, and fail not to worship ^D

^A Him, and offering him thanks; since, by the head of the holy emperor, you could not have given more glory. ^A Having thus prudently calmed and settled everything, the man truly worthy of the blessedness of the peacemakers withdrew to the monastery, rendering his prayers to God, and attributing all that was happening to His grace. He was indeed greatly troubled and distressed at having to associate with those who commit iniquity, and at seeing the vanity of the world and its empty noise, being himself an observer of heavenly things and a genuine son of quiet; yet he descended even to the tumults of the peoples, and consorted with princes, enduring many hardships and dangers, so that he might bring help and immediate succor to those suffering any evil, whether unjustly or even justly.

^B 63. For how often, in order to seek justice for a soul oppressed by those who do not fear the Lord, did he set out on foot and accept hardship! In the winter, receiving the rain upon his head, and through the bitterness of the winds having his hands and feet numbed, and his whole body afflicted by the cold, because he was covered only by a single small tunic; and in the summer, burning with heat, and exhausted by toil, hunger, and thirst? All these things he bravely endured because of the commandment that says: "Deliver those who are being led to death, and do not cease to rescue those who are being killed." For once, when the thrice-blessed Father was traveling to bring assistance to a certain brother who was suffering injury at the hands of the wicked, he was compelled by the Fathers to cover his feet with cheap skins because the ice and cold were most severe. ^C But as a very large log lay on the road where the holy man was about to pass, the moment he placed his foot upon the log, it came about through the hostile work of a demon that, slipping on the slickness of the skins, he fell, and the log striking his leg caused an unbearable wound; so that the blessed man, fainting from the pain, the cold, and the flow of blood, thought that his soul was departing and awaited his end. Drawing from his bosom the phylactery he always carried—which was a little book, a treasure of the New Testament—he applied it to his eyes, his lips, and his breast, and saying: "Lord, into your hands I commend my spirit," he fell into a short slumber, or rather, suffered a collapse. ^D But an angel appeared to him, strengthening him, and placing in his mouth something as sweet as honey. Immediately, therefore, he arose, and having become joyful, he traveled the road more vigorously than before, for the help of the one who had appeared to him had both stopped the flow of blood and eased the pain. The wonderful man used to say that he had often experienced God’s help in many matters, but never so swift, nor so great and full of such refreshment as on that occasion. For here one must add the saying: "When he falls, he shall not be crushed," he shall swiftly be raised up; for the Lord directs the steps of a man, and wills his way.

64. ^A Observing, therefore, the assistance being granted by the blessed man to human beings, both in soul and in body, the enemy of the righteous, envying all that is good, strove, if it were possible for him, to gather all the glory and wealth of the world before his eyes, and thereby to dull his vision for the contemplation of virtues, and deprive the world of the benefit coming from him. Indeed, many of the rulers who came down offered him a multitude of riches, proposing the stewardship of the brothers who were with him and the care of the poor; but he, looking upon these things as dung, said to the rulers, "The brothers are called blessed by David, if they eat the labor of their hands and do not communicate in the sins of others. ^B As for the poor, they will indeed cry out against you, as those who hold what belongs to them; but they will marvel at me, as one who has nothing and yet possesses everything."

A cubicularius eunuch, having once entered Rossano and seeing that the blessed man had not run to meet him—for he knew him only by reputation—said in wonder to those who were present: "Where is Nilus the monk staying? And why has he not come to me with all the hegumens upon hearing of my arrival? For not even the patriarch himself would have dared to act thus toward me, so as to appear to have boastfully despised my coming." Those standing by answered him: "This 'monk,' as your excellency calls him, is neither patriarch, nor does he fear the patriarch, nor even the emperor himself, who is formidable to all. ^C He sits with a few monks upon the mountain, needing no one's help. For he is not contained by wide borders, nor is he bound by an abundance of livestock. Hence he has no dispute with any man. He is a unicorn, a free-roving animal; if you wish to bring him by force, you will never be able to see his face."

When the cubicularius heard this, he admired the blessed man all the more, and wrote to him a suppliant letter, including in it also fearful oaths, so that if he would not set out to see him, he would at least not hide himself from him, or would deign to come into the town and bestow a blessing upon him and all who were with him.

65. ^D Our holy Father Nilus, both because of the written oaths and also so that he might again render the ruler more inclined to listen to him in his request for the poor, arrived at the town and approached the cubicularius. Upon seeing his prophetic habit and countenance—or rather, angelic—he fell at his feet, and having taken his hand, they both entered his bedchamber. Then, having commanded one of his most trusted men to bring a book of the Gospel, he says to the blessed man: "Since, holy Father, suspicion of lying makes a man"

^A untrustworthy to others, I wish to swear to you for the assurance of those things which I am about to promise you." But the holy Father said to him: "Since the holy Gospel clearly commands and says: 'But I say unto you, Swear not at all; but let your speech be, Yea, yea; and, Nay, nay: and whatsoever is more than these is of the evil one' (Matt. v, 34, 37); why do you hasten to clothe your excellence in a pretext of unbelief, and to begin our encounter with lawlessness? For everyone who is ready for oaths is also quick to falsehoods, and vice versa." The chamberlain replied: "It is just, most holy man, that neither you who are God’s servants should lie to anyone, nor that we should not believe those who speak what they believe in good faith. Therefore, I pray, believe my words as you hear them. I have no kinsman in this life ^B by blood, save only an infirm mother, who follows me with maternal affection. Moreover, I abound in great riches and boundless property; I have a multitude of slaves and an innumerable herd of livestock. I have therefore considered dedicating all these things to God, by establishing a monastery for monks, if God has touched your holiness’s heart and you come with me to Constantinople, so that through your holy hands both I and my mother might be clothed in the angelic habit. And I would arrange for you to sit with the holy emperors just as you are doing with me now."

66.

cannot be my disciple.” ^A And since the chamberlain would not acquiesce, but strove for his own will to be done, the blessed Father left him and departed.

CHAPTER X.

67. As he was returning to the monastery, while he was reciting that verse: “In the way wherein I walked, they have hidden a snare for me,” ^C there met him in the middle of the road a solitary girl, who running before him, threw herself across [his path] in a narrow passage where it was not permitted to the blessed Father to turn aside elsewhere. Then the divine man, assuming spiritual fortitude and recognizing the cunning of Satan, struck her with the staff he held in his hand, having threatened her sharply; she leapt back quickly without delay, according to the proverb, and went away. From that time forth he made a statute that he would permit neither himself nor any of the brethren to walk alone. For, he says, “Two are better than one,” and: “Woe to him that is alone, for when he falleth, he hath not another to lift him up.” ^D In all these things, having shown himself a victor over the adversary through God who loved him, and a proven champion—both in enduring hunger and in the temptation of changing stones into bread, and also in spurning the glory and money of the whole world, through which he who slides falls to worship the tempter—and having stood as victor not once, but often in many other temptations which he suffered in many ways and by many means, it was fitting that he should finally be tested also on the pinnacle of the temple, if he would consent to cast himself down from thence. In this, see how well he imitated his Lord and Master. At that time, the prelate of Rossano having died, one was being sought who would be suitable to succeed him. Therefore all, from the least to the greatest, conspired with one consent to seize the blessed Father, who suspected nothing of the sort, and by force install him in the ecclesiastical seat, as one who led a life which speech cannot express, and possessed speech corresponding to his life. When they had formed this plan, and the leading men of the people and the worthier clergy were hastening to put into execution what they had decided, someone ran ahead and reported the matter to the Father; for he thought that he would be pleasing to him

and would be bestowing the greatest favors, as if he had become the messenger of such a matter to him. ^B 68. And yet he did not miss the mark; for the great Father, having given thanks to him both then and afterwards, dismissed him in peace, having ordered a small gift to be given to him. But he himself, calling to mind what is read in the holy Gospel: "When Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take him by force, to make him a king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself," he likewise withdrew into the inner mountain with only one brother, hiding himself for a short while until that plan might pass away. But the priests and noblemen, having reached the monastery and having searched diligently and inquired, groaned the most bitterly at having failed in their scheme. And as they achieved nothing after waiting for a long time—for it was easier to catch a unicorn than to catch him—they returned to their own homes and chose another prelate for themselves. But the holy Father, exulting in the Lord, sang with the Prophet: "Thou didst hold my right hand, and in thy counsel thou hast guided me, and with glory thou hast taken me up. For what have I in heaven, and beside thee what have I desired on earth? For all my desire is before thee, O Lord," and: "Thou knowest that I have not desired the day of man." With such a mindset, the blessed man despised the small glory of this life and detested human honor; but now God has set him over ten cities, as he had truthfully promised. Nor did he somehow fail to multiply the talent because he did not accept the priesthood; for there are more who have attained salvation through the teaching of his mouth in the cenobium and in the solitary life than there are citizens whom that town possesses. ^C Vlatto, the metropolitan, coming one day from Africa with many captives—because the king of the Saracens had been friendly to him for a time, under the pretext that the king’s wife was the metropolitan’s sister, which was not actually the case—put in at the shore of Rossano and begged with entreaties that the blessed Father, having been summoned to him, might approach; for he desired to hear from him the things that were needful and to reap the fruit of his prayers. 69. When, therefore, the archbishop had opened up to him all the secrets of his heart and his plans, the blessed Father said to him: "Listen to me, my lord, to my advice, and no longer return ^D to the generation of vipers; for after many flatteries and honors, they will drink your blood,

having killed you with the sword. And do not labor for the peace of Calabria, nor make petition, for the Master of all does not approve of this." And the nephew of the metropolitan said to him: "Do you see, holy Father, how many souls the Master has set free?" ^A The holy one answered him: "He has not set souls free, but bodies. Yet the affliction of bodies is profitable to many, for whom the state of liberty becomes a cause of many evils, just as the locking up and starving of the insane by physicians is profitable. If these things, which indeed appear painful, did not contribute to the salvation of the many, they would not have been permitted by God to come to pass. Nevertheless, those who have the power must assist such people as much as they are able." ^B Having heard these things, and not having obeyed the counsel of the Father, the metropolitan saw the prophecy fulfilled in himself.

Our holy Father Nilus, both from the great labor of his ascetic life and from the passage of a significant amount of time—for he was around sixty years of age—had become weak and, no longer having the strength to travel long distances safely on foot, used a horse as a support for his great infirmity. For during the greater part of the journey, for the sake of practicing the self-control which contains the virtues, he would walk, leading the horse. While the holy Father was in the company of the archbishop, someone, spurred on by the devil, stole this horse and rode away. ^C But as he was going, a storm arose; he dismounted from the horse and stood under a tree, waiting for the air to clear. Then, a lightning bolt from heaven struck the miserable man and sent him to Hades, for he had not heeded the one who says: "To fine a righteous man is not good" [Prov. xvii, 26]; and: "Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, working with his own hands, that he may have something to give to one in need" [Ephes. iv, 28]. And that wretch indeed sinned, laboring in vain at iniquity; but the next day, some people passing by recognized the horse grazing in that spot and brought it to the monastery and restored what was his to the righteous man. ^D

70. At another time, one of the soldiers set out with the intention of stealing the horse from the monastery, and having arrived at sunset at the opposite side of the monastery, so that he could see it clearly with his own eyes, he waited for the night, so that in the darkness he might perform the work of darkness. Having walked all that night, he was in no way able to approach the monastery, but after encountering impassable chasms and precipices, he suffered sufficient punishment and toil. When day broke, he saw the monastery before him, and being exceedingly struck by the miracle, he approached in repentance, openly confessing his own wickedness of purpose. At that time, while the godless Hagarenes were overrunning the district of Calabria and plundering everything, the holy Father withdrew with his brethren into the fortress and was safe there; but three of them, having remained separately in the monastery, were seized by the Saracens and carried off to Sicily. Yet the blessed one determined not

^A to neglect them, but to seek them out as his own members and have them restored to their own place. Having therefore collected grain, wine, and other fruits up to the value of one hundred gold pieces, and [having] the beast of burden which Basil, the strategos of Calabria, had given to him, he gave these to one of the brothers of most proven fidelity and sent him to Panormus, having written a letter to the notary of the local dynast, who was a most Christian and pious man.

71. This notary, having shown to the one called the Amir ^B the things sent by the holy man, and having interpreted for him that wonderful letter, was struck with amazement at the wisdom and prudence of the most blessed man, recognizing him to be a friend of God and filled with every goodness. Since, therefore, he knew that virtue is respected even among enemies, he brought forward the monks and treated them honorably; he retained the beast of burden, however, as a memento in which he might take pride, and dismissed them with the money, having furthermore bestowed many deer skins and added a letter of this sort to the Father: "That your monks were treated poorly is your own error, since you did not make yourself known to me at the beginning; for if you had done so, I would have sent you my sign, which, if you had hung it outside in the street, you would have had no need to remove from your monastery, or to suffer even the slightest disturbance. But if you were even to deign to come to me, you could freely dwell in the province subject to me, and you would enjoy much honor and veneration among us." Upon hearing these things, the divinely inspired Nilus, ^C admiring the providence of God concerning him, recited the riddle of Samson: "Truly, 'out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness.'" He also added to the promises of the Amir this: "All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me" (Matt. IV, 9).

But Basil the strategos, a man of most prudent mind and very sharp intellect, being moved by such faith and love toward the Father as the centurion showed toward the Saviour, offered him up to five hundred gold pieces, swearing and saying: "I do not possess these things unjustly, but have acquired them by my sword. For when we captured Crete with the most blessed Nicephorus, ^D who at that time had not yet been raised to the empire, we found with a certain priest the truly authentic garment of the Forerunner, made of camel's hair and bloodstained about the neck. The blessed man of memory having taken this, he ceded to me all the gold. Therefore, since these things are mine, accept them for the Lord's sake, and pray for me."

[index: entries preserved]

^A 72. But our holy Father Nilus, truly a despiser of earthly things, not even deigning to look upon them, answered him as if fearing death, in this manner: "Do you wish that for the sake of this dung someone should lie in wait for me, kill me, and you lose your friend?" And he said: "Allow me to adorn the sanctuary with precious veils." The great Father said to him: "Go and give them to the cathedral church of the town, where they will be kept, and there will be no one to steal them from there." And he said: "Permit me, I ask, to build an oratory, most large and beautiful; for I do not bear with equanimity seeing it made of clay." The Father replied: "And now you will not be able to see me either, since I am made of clay." But as for the oratory, do not undertake the labor, for it will come to pass that the impious Agarenes will demolish it, and indeed all of Calabria will be delivered into their hands. Seeing this, our blessed Father Nilus with his prophetic eye, and wishing to yield to the wrath of God, did not wish to go into the Eastern parts, fearing the opinion that he held among the Orientals; for rumor of his virtue had reached even our Christ-loving emperors ^B themselves, and fleeing the honor in which he would have been held there, he preferred to dwell among the Latins, as one unknown to them and in no way held in honor among them. But the greater the zeal with which he avoided honors, the more celebrated and adorned by heavenly favor he became, and he was received by all as one of the number of the apostles, and reverence was equally shown to him. For when he had come to Capua, to omit matters past, since they are very many, he was received honorably by Pandulf, ^C at that time prince, and by the noble men, so that they took counsel to choose him as their bishop, which would also have succeeded, had death not prevented the prince. Then, having summoned to them the provost of the monastery of Mount Cassino (this was the most holy Aligernus), they enjoined him to concede to the blessed man any monastery he might wish, from among the little monasteries of our holy Father Benedict.

CHAPTER XI

^C To the Casinese monastery, declining the incursions of the Saracens, he journeyed; he is received festively by the abbot Aligernus, and he frees the monks there from the infirmities of soul and body, and imbues them with pious and learned exhortations.

73. Now when the holy Father had started out to ^D see that renowned monastery, the whole crowd of monks proceeded to meet him as far as the roots of the mountain, their priests and deacons vested in sacred habit as is the custom on feast days, carrying candles and censers in their hands, and with such pomp

to the monastery; thinking that they saw and heard nothing else than the arrival of the great Antony from Alexandria, or the rising from the dead of the great Father Benedict, their holy lawgiver and teacher. And indeed they reasoned rightly, nor did their judgment fail them. For as many among them as were suffering from diseases of the body or soul were all healed, and all received what was fitting from him: the studious received instruction, the active received guidance, sinners received correction, those endowed with virtue received encouragement, the healthy received temperance, and the sick received a cure. And to say it briefly, just as the manna in olden times was transformed for each of the Israelites according to his constitution and appetite—wherefore there was not one weak person in their tribes—so also did this wonderful man adapt himself to these men. ^B Having therefore healed them by his God-sent presence and filled them with spiritual joy—he himself also, for his part, greatly admiring their good order and well-disciplined state, and wondering at their customs as being superior to our own—he was escorted back by the abbot and the prominent brothers to the monastery where he was to dwell with his own sons. This was that which was called the monastery of the holy Archangel Michael, by name Vallelucium. Then the superior and the brothers asked that he should come up with all his brothers to the great monastery and in the Greek tongue chant the canon in their church, so that, as the Scripture says, God might be all in all. Concerning which the prophet also prophesied, saying: "That the lion and the ox shall feed together, and their young ones shall be together." ^C

But the divinely inspired Nilus at first did not consent, out of humility, saying: "How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land, we who today are humiliated in all the earth because of our sins?" Yet, so that consolation might be received through the faith that is common to us, and the great name of Christ be glorified, he eventually consented to do this very thing. And having composed from the fruit of his lips a hymnody to our holy Father Benedict, containing all the wonders written of in his life; and having taken along all the brothers, who were over sixty in number, he ascended to the monastery of Cassino and celebrated the vigil with wonderful harmony. For he had with him brothers of sharp intellect who were capable in both reading and psalmody, whom he himself had sufficiently trained in both. After the completion of the canon, all the monks came to him with the permission of their abbot—for they maintain discipline up to this point—and, marvelling at the brightness of the spirit shining forth from his countenance, they desired ^D

^A also to hear words from his mouth. Thenceforth they kept proposing questions to him in a continuous series: "Tell us, holy Father, what is the work of a monk, and how shall we obtain mercy?" The blessed Father, opening his mouth, said: "A monk is an angel; his work is mercy, peace, and the sacrifice of praise. For just as the holy angels offer to God an unceasing sacrifice of praise and hold one another conjoined in the mutual peace of charity, showing mercy and lending aid to men as to their younger brothers, so too must the true monk show mercy to the least and to the strangers among his brethren, love his equals in peace, not envy those who are advancing, and have unfeigned faith and hope in God and in his spiritual Father. Whoever possesses these three leads an angelic life on earth; but he who has the opposites—that is, unbelief, hatred, and inhumanity—becomes a dwelling-place for all evils and visibly turns into a demon."

75. For as soon as someone has taken up the monastic habit, he is no longer what he was, a man, but will be seen as one of two things: either an angel or a demon. Yet I am confident concerning you, brethren, of things that are better and closer to salvation. After the holy man had discoursed upon these and other things which would be too much to commit to writing, they were pricked in their hearts. And one of them, answering, said: "Why does David say, 'With the holy thou shalt be holy, and with the chosen thou shalt be chosen, and with the perverse thou shalt be perverse'?" The great Father says to him: "The prophet spoke this to God, not to man, for what follows befits God, not man: 'For thou shalt save the humble people, and wilt humble the eyes of the proud.' For David had heard God saying, 'I live, saith the Lord; if thou shalt walk uprightly with me, I too shall walk uprightly with thee.' And again it is written regarding the crooked—which is the same as the perverse—'The Lord shall send crooked ways, and not man.' But it has been prescribed to men that they love their enemies, do well to those who hate them, and render not evil for evil to anyone."

Another asked again: "What is the meaning of those words of the prophet Habakkuk: 'I will rest in the day of my tribulation, that I may ascend to the people of my sojourning'?" The holy man answered: "Since the Apostle says that 'all these things happened to them ^D as an example, and they were written for our correction,' I interpret the whole of Scripture as applying to myself. For hearing of Adam, and Cain, and Lamech, and all who have offended God by sinning, I consider that it is I who am that person, and no other. This statement of the prophet, therefore, is appropriate for a wise man sitting here in these lower things, in the dregs of the world, thinking to himself and saying: 'How long until I pray, and do not understand what I am saying?' Then he adds, saying: 'I watched'—which means, I observed—'and I have considered the prayer of my lips; I pray, that is, for if I have rendered to those..."

who recompense me with evil, may I suffer this and that.' And: 'Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, and according to my innocence, O God.' And that: 'God shall come manifestly, and shall not keep silence; a fire shall be kindled before him, and it shall burn round about his enemies.' ^B

76. Having considered these and similar things coming from my lips, and having understood that I was doing the opposite of these things, my heart was afraid, and my bones trembled, and the strength of my knees under me was shaken, so that I could not stand. In this day of my affliction, therefore, I knew no other way to find rest and to be delivered from trembling and fear, except by ascending thither where the people of my sojourning are; where all are strangers and pilgrims, whose conversation is in heaven, who possess nothing of their own and yet possess all things. For my fig tree, and my olive tree, and my vine, and my cattle will profit me nothing in the day of affliction, nor will they bear fruit for me after death. But if I do what I have deliberated, I shall then rejoice in the Lord, and I shall be glad in God my Savior.

Having given this moral and tropological explanation, another asked the holy man: "If, venerable Father, the abbas sends me to a service from which I suffer no small harm, while the rule commands obedience without judging, I do not know which I should prefer." The Father answered: "Obey," says the Apostle, "your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch as those who will have to give an account for your souls." You therefore, when you have revealed all the secrets of your heart to your abbas, must leave everything to his judgment. ^C

After this another said: "If I indulge my body once during the whole year's cycle and eat meat, what will this end up being?" The holy Father replied: "And if you are in good health for the whole time, and in one hour you fall headlong and break your leg, what evil will that have been?" Having sought these and more things from the Scriptures, they also asked about the fasting on the Sabbath. He, content with a brief response, extricated himself in this way: "Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received both. But why do you judge your brother? Whether we eat, therefore, or you fast, we do all for the glory of God."

77. And if you have any complaint against us because we do not fast on the Sabbath, see to it that you are not found to be ^D acting against the holy Fathers...

the pillars of the Church—Athanasius, Basil, Gregory, and John Chrysostom—and countless others, and against the holy synods, which neither performed nor legislated this; no, nor even against Ambrose, your own teacher, of whom it is written in his Life that he was accustomed to fast throughout the whole week, except for the Sabbath and the Lord’s Day. ^A For my part, I do not believe that Saint Silvester himself ordained this fast contrary to the custom of the holy Fathers; indeed, you cannot produce any reason or canon for this, except only the author of his Life, whom no one readily believes, because he brings forward nothing to prove it 66. But, omitting verbosity—for to fast is not evil—let us say that apostolic word: "For food will not commend us to God," [1 Cor. VIII, 8] and what follows. I only wish that the wretched Jews would also adore the crucified Lord, and if they fasted even on the Lord’s Days themselves, it would be no concern of mine. They said to him: "And is it not a sin to fast on the holy Lord’s Day?" He answered: "And if it is a sin, how was it that Saint Benedict, who fasted on Lord’s Days and feast days, did not even know on what day Easter fell?" Whence it must be held for certain that everything done for the sake of God is good and not to be disapproved, not even the killing of a man 67, as Phinees and Samuel showed.

78. And so we, for our part, do well in not fasting on the Sabbath, in opposition to the abominable Manichaeans, who mourn on that day and slander the Old Testament, as if it were not given by God; yet we do not abstain from works, so that we may not become like the God-killing, impious Jews. And you necessarily fast, preparing yourselves for the holy day of the Resurrection. ^B By these and many other things the monks, receiving profit and pleasure, were all amazed and marveled at the words of grace that proceeded from his mouth, and they said: "We have never seen a man explaining the Scriptures like this holy man." And in truth they were of that opinion, and spoke most correctly. For since his mind, having overcome all passions, was most pure and illuminated by celestial light, he poured forth speech that was always elegant and seasoned with salt, which served as a spur and aid to the slothful and infirm; a bit and constraint ^D to the bold and those who rushed out recklessly; and to those who avoided both extremes and walked appropriately and justly, a perfect balance and a fitting rule of life. All who came to him, he would see from afar, and would understand and predict the reason for their arrival, and the outcome of events confirmed his prediction.

Notes by John Clei

VITA S. NILI JUNIORIS.

Chapter XII.

79. I know and am convinced of this, that if all who live under the sun were to come together to seek from him a useful recommendation, they would not be bereft of what is to their advantage; for his counsel was like the counsel of God, full of all wisdom and benefit—if observed, it led to a glorious end, but if disregarded, it caused danger to the soul and harm to the body. And I have many such cases to record concerning this, if it were not that the discourse would stretch to infinity and become burdensome. But among many, let this be one. After the aforementioned Pandulf, who was the ruler of Capua, had died, his wife, called Abara, ruled and held power over all that region no less than her husband had done. She, controlled by jealousy of power, or rather by satanic envy, instigates her two surviving sons ^B to kill by guile a count, a cousin of hers, as he surpassed them in authority and was honored by all; and this they did. For their blood-sister, having called him to a meeting, and as he approached her without malice, her brothers, having found a suitable pretext, set upon him and slew him with a sword. Their mother, feigning a repentance that was not genuine, implores the blessed Father to come to her, as if she were to receive from him the penance to be imposed that would compensate for the crime committed. But when the holy man had yielded to her entreaty, and had entered the city, all were running along the high streets to gaze upon his venerable countenance and to share in his blessing. Among them was a deaconess, the superior of a monastery, with her own presbyter, a young man flourishing in the vigor of his age, who had gathered the maidens under her and gone out to meet the holy man. But the blessed man, having glimpsed their state with a prophetic eye, was not pleased at their meeting him, but met them like a fiery sword, with a harsh voice and a piercing gaze, saying to them: "What have you to do with this young man, you who seem to be virgins, that you associate with him? Do you not know that he is a man and he himself does not know that you are women? If you do not fear God, at least you have no respect for men! ^C

^B Truly, I see in you no fruit of righteousness.

80. When those women heard these things—for it was fitting to be ashamed and to tremble at the righteous man’s boldness—they went away, saying: “This man is not a servant of God, but a devil.” And immediately, the next day, the presbyter was caught sleeping with the sister of the deaconess, and the matter was noised abroad through the whole of that city. Afterward, when the blessed man arrived at the palace of Abara, she was seized with trembling at the sight of him and, falling at his feet, was confessing and asking to receive forgiveness. But he, raising her up, said: “Do not do this, for I too am a sinful man and have not yet received the power to bind and to loose. But go to the bishops, to whom the power of judging such things has been entrusted, and do whatever they say to you.” She answered: “I confessed my sin to the bishops, and they laid upon me commandments to fulfill the psalter three times a week and to show mercy to the needy. But I beg your holiness, servant of the Lord, that I may also hear from you what is for my benefit and may obtain forgiveness for my sin.” And the holy man said: “The reciting of the psalter and the giving of alms is profitable for you and for the poor, but it does not bring salvation to him who was unjustly slain, nor will it take away the sorrow of those who lament him. For what can you give that is of as much worth as what you have taken away? But if you fully wish to receive counsel from my lowliness as well, and to fulfill the will of God, look, I say to you: surrender one of your two sons to the kinsmen of the dead man, that they may do with him whatever they wish, and then you shall be expiated from your sin.” For God has said: “From the hand of a man, from his brother, I will require the soul of man. Whoever sheds human blood, his blood shall be shed.” And again: “All who take the sword shall perish by the sword.” For you are no weaker than Saul the king and Jephthah the judge, who, by the law which they themselves had established, delivered their own children to death. She replied: “I cannot do this; for I fear, lest they kill him.”

81. ^C Then the blessed one, filled with the zeal of God, answered: ^D “Thus says the Holy Spirit: The blood of your son shall be poured out in return for the blood which you unjustly shed, and this sin shall not be blotted out from your house forever. No one of your seed shall reign in this city, but shall be driven out and succumb to his enemies: because you have trusted in your power and have not learned that the Lord makes poor and makes rich, humbles and exalts.” When she heard these things, she began to weep and lament, and with her hands filled with gold, the man

^A of God, thinking that by these means she could appease him. But he, being truly impassive, neither softened by the woman’s tears, nor enticed by the multitude of gold, nor fearing her power, tore through the curtain of the bedchamber and bounded out like a deer. He took this into account, as he himself said, for he said that the devil had spoken: “This monk is dust; I will wet him with water, with the woman’s tears, and I will now make him into clay to be molded as I wish.” Thus in action he fulfilled the saying, “Be wise as serpents, and innocent as doves,” and likewise the apostolic command, “Do not share in other men's sins.” And then the holy man withdrew to his monastery. Not long after, his prophecy reached its fulfillment. For the younger son of the aforementioned woman, out of a desire for lordship, slaughtered the elder one with a sword while he was praying in the church; and the latter was again taken away in bonds by the king of the Franks for this ^B cause. Therefore, within a short time, all their pride vanished, and their power perished. And let no one among those who are bold in all things accuse the Father of being overly severe toward those who sin. For he was moved by zeal to vindicate the law of the Lord, like the prophet Elijah, whose appearance he also resembled. And this was so, not only toward outsiders and those in no way related to him, but also toward those who seemed to pertain to him by right of blood and who were his own members; for he was as free from all affection toward his own kin as the example we shall append will make plain. For I shall recount this too for the caution of those who read, and for the amendment of those who imitate Eli. ^C 82. There was a son of the sister who had reared the blessed man, who lived in the monastery, exercising himself in the brotherhood; he was very talented and apt in both respects. Once, while journeying with the brothers and carrying a silver chalice, he came upon a spring of very clear water. They wanting to drink from the water, he brought out the holy chalice, and, charmed by the purity of the metal, they all drank from it. When the blessed man learned of this, he was very angry with him, and after rebuking him severely, he turned away from him until their very meeting. And this turning away of his was as if an alienation from God, better than a rod and whip for correcting the prudent. The brother, ^D overcome by the grief of the rebuke and by the Father's turning away,

^A fell into a serious illness and died. Now, throughout all the days of his illness, the blessed man, in going into the church and returning, and in passing near the entrance of the brother’s cell, never looked in upon him, never visited him, until his departure from this life. And this was even though all the brothers had observed that whenever any brother was suffering from illness and the Father would visit him frequently, the sick man never recovered from that illness. Then naturally one of the elders, seeing the Father weeping after the brother's death and mourning his loss, approached him privately and spoke to him, as if suffering in soul himself because of the brother's distress, with which he had departed from the body on account of the Father's turning away. He replied: "If I had not turned away from him, God would not have taken him. I am fully convinced that through this small distress, his soul will be deemed worthy of the greatest joy; for God is not so unjust as to take one from a prison only to cast him into another." This was the discernment ^B of our most discerning and wisest Father Nilus, above many holy Fathers. For he surpassed those most ascetic in discernment, and those most discerning in asceticism, and those in simplicity in knowledge, and those knowledgeable in guilelessness; those conspicuous in life and famous in speech he surpassed in the splendor of his life, and those endowed both with the highest perfection of both; he was endowed with strange manners, utterly alienated from the world, insuperable by passions, exalted in the senses of his mind, inflexible in sublime things, while bearing a feeling of compassion for the humble.

85. A certain Lombard once stole a horse ^C from the monastery; and two of the brothers approached the Father and asked that they might be allowed to pursue and recover the horse, because it was very useful to the monastery. And they accomplished the deed; for when they had arrived with much labor at the town where the thief was, upon the thief’s hearing only the name of the Father, the master of the place immediately brought the horse and handed over the bound thief to them. ^D When they returned to the monastery and, falling down before the Father with joy, said: "By your prayers, Father, we have brought back the horse and the thief." The blessed man called the Lombard and said to him: "Tell me, brother, do you truly love this horse?" And he said: "If I did not love it, I would not have stolen it." Then the Father gave him the horse as a gift, and added the saddle and the bridle, saying: "If you love it, take it and go." And he went away happy and exulting. And when the brothers began to murmur, the Father called them and instructed them, saying: "Learn this, brothers, that to be deprived in any way of one's possessions is to be liberated from sins; and are we not worthy to do one main thing from what is recounted in the Lives of the holy Fathers? If God wills to have mercy on us, let us not stand against Him." And they said: "It pains us, Father, that after our many journeying labors, and after we found what was lost, you then bestowed it upon the thief." The Father replied: "I did this for you, so that you might learn by experience to love your enemies and to do good to those who plot against you, and to possess all things while having nothing, just as the Gospel and the Apostle teach us."

^A This, then, was the doctrine of our Father Nilus of blessed memory, who always had the pronouncements of the blessed and most wise doctors in his mouth and strove with every effort to perform the word in deed, so that what was being learned might produce prudence, and action might be similar to instruction.

84. Nor did he illumine and season only himself in this way, but also those with him, hearing from the Savior, "You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world." For often, if he encountered a dictum or a sentiment, or a troparion from the offices of the saints, that contained something for the correction of morals, he would call the brothers and distribute it to them as a kind of inheritance, so that they might commit it to memory—giving exalted things to those who were strong, but lighter things to those who were weaker; and according to the passion by which each was overcome, he would apply the plaster of instruction. For example, if someone was gluttonous, he would give precepts of abstinence; if someone was lustful, of chastity; if someone was greedy for vainglory, of humility; if someone was glib and contentious, the Epistle of the Apostle James. But if anyone were rather dull-witted and unable to memorize, he would write the sentiment on a scrap of paper and hang it around his neck or on his arm, until he had memorized it. Thus the thrice-blessed Father caused the mute to speak, ^B the deaf to hear, and the blind to see; he made barbarians into theologians, and those who were once keepers of beasts into teachers of men. He freed many from grievous demons, but even more from impure passions and discordant habits—and the latter is greater than the former. I have much to say about him, but time does not permit, for I am hastening to the end. After the death of the illustrious Aligernus, who had administered the monastery of Saint Benedict well and holily, there succeeded as abbot one who did not know who the holy Nilus was, or—to speak the truth—did not even know God. Nevertheless, what happened to him—which I shall relate briefly—will make this clear.

85. ^C When the blessed man had one day gone to visit him, he happened to find him in the lower monastery, where the most holy temple of Germanus is situated, surrounded by an abundance and charm of flowing waters. He found the same abbot bathing and feasting in the refectory with the leading men of the great monastery. When, therefore, the holy man waited for him in the church together with the brothers who were with him, he heard that a citharist had entered and was playing ^D the cithara in the refectory. Then the blessed Nilus said to those with him: "Remember my word, brothers, for the wrath of the Lord is not slow to come upon these men."

to the people. Rise, let us depart from here." And having said this, he withdrew. Not a year had passed when the hegumen, having been seized by the prince for insurrection, had his eyes gouged out; the monks, having fallen into a severe illness, were tormented unto death, and some of them even died. As for that lyre-player, he went away to steal, and having been caught, he too, after many torments, had his eyes gouged out; and all drank of the cup of the wrath of God according to the elder's prediction. But these things [happened] later.

CHAPTER XIII

^A St. Nilus leaves the abbey of Valleluce, as a place too convenient for himself and his own, and migrates to another more solitary one in the territory of Gaeta; he does not admit women, even noblewomen, to conversation unless compelled; he approaches princes and magnates only to act on behalf of the wretched. Having set out for Rome, he intercedes with the Pope and the Emperor on behalf of the antipope John.

The blessed Nilus, having spent about fifteen years in the monastery called Valleluce, and when the number of the brethren had increased, and all necessities were overflowing, and the monastery had become large and famous through his cooperation—whereas it was not so before—he saw that the brethren were not taking much care for their spiritual ministry and the exact discipline of the rule, which they had initially undertaken, but were rejoicing in the broad way, and were wrangling as to who among them was the greater. To this, the levity of the aforementioned hegumen also contributed, for he was a person who took pleasure in gifts and to whom piety was hateful. Having seen these things, the blessed man, knowing that an abundance of material goods becomes the cause of much disorder and complete lack of reverence, arose and departed from there, and he went about seeking a place where he might find it narrow and providing for the needs of the body only with labor, so that even by the lack of necessities, as with a bridle, the many might be drawn to the field of asceticism. Whence, even though many from the surrounding cities were running toward him and inviting him, and offering their own properties to the blessed man, and some were even gifting already-prepared monasteries, he did not accept them at all; for ^B he was not finding in them what he himself was seeking—solitude and quiet. ^C

Notes by John the Cantor

^D Leo of Ostia, who rejects the cause of the cruelty perpetrated against Manso, the successor of Aligern, [which was] the envy of the Capuans on account of the possessions recovered by Otto and his excessive pride, and [rejects] the wicked machinations of Alberic, bishop of the Marsi, for obtaining the Benedictine abbacy. Mabillon, in *Acta Sanctorum Ordinis S. Benedicti*, century 5, part 1, page 651, received the words of our biographer with some doubt and as suspect, opposing to them the testimony of Leo Marsicanus, from which he finally narrates the matter in his *Annals* for the year of Christ 996, number 32. It would be difficult to decide the case between our biographer and Leo, but I would not so assent to the assertion of the latter as to believe his testimony to be of no moment. Our biographer lived at the time when these things took place, and was likely present with St. Nilus, and it mattered not to him whether the penalty for Manso, which the holy Father had predicted, was inflicted by the Capuans and Alberic, or by the prince, or for that or some other cause. Regarding the domestic abbot, Leo writes and speaks to the end of chapter 16 in such a way as to provide faith for what is narrated: "From these messengers, whom the aforementioned pseudo-bishop (Alberic) had sent to [perpetrate] such a great crime (the eyes of Manso to be gouged out), I myself, while still a little boy, recall having seen one, a presbyter by the name of Andreas, who was barely able to move himself in his bed, who, having now lived past his centenary, was accustomed to confessing all these things in order to my uncle, of holy memory, John Soranus the bishop, as often as he was questioned, lest anyone might perhaps think it fabulous." These last things sufficiently insinuate that Leo felt he was writing about new and different things from those being narrated at the time. Furthermore, he draws authority from the relation of a man more than a hundred years old, and who did not narrate these things to himself, but to his uncle when he himself was still a boy; whether these should completely elevate the biographer’s authority, let others see. Moreover, concerning those things which the biographer promises he will say later, I find nothing.

^A He found in them what he sought: solitude, quietude, and a departure from the many. For he used to say that for monks in this generation, relaxation and freedom from care are not profitable; their leisure is not spent in prayer, contemplation, and the unfolding of the Scriptures, but in vain talk, sullenness, and a curiosity about useless things. Therefore, they find that preoccupation with toil is a way to avoid evil thoughts and many evils; for this reason, one must embrace that saying: "In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread." In this way, the apostolic commandment will also be fulfilled, and those who frequently pass through, enjoying a moderate rest, will deservedly become for us the causes of crowns.

^B 87. Some of the brethren, not at all sensing this prudence of the just man, and on the contrary preferring the broad road to the narrow one, remained in the aforementioned monastery, tied to the comforts of the place and bearing with difficulty the severity of the holy Father. Yet they were not able to enjoy rest during all the days they inhabited it, nor was there a lack there of disorder and chaos, distress and idle chatter; finally, they were completely cast out and driven away. But the blessed Father, with the brothers who had accompanied him and the renowned Stephen, finding a small plot of land in the regions of Gaeta—or, to speak the truth, a tiny, desolate place—and being pleased with its narrowness and aridity, took up residence there. At first, they were in great poverty of victuals, but not long after, when more brothers—all of them lovers of God—gathered, an abundance of all things followed. ^C Thus, labor was constant, and there was continuous psalmody, frequent recitations of psalms, frequent prostrations, voluntary abstinence, and unforced obedience. And indeed, all things were already blooming and bearing fruit through the irrigation of the discourses and the unceasing teaching of our God-bearing Father Nilus. But even he himself, undefeated in his struggles, did not cut back on his customary abstinence and divine achievements; rather, as much as he aged and grew weak in body, so much did he flourish and grow powerful in spirit. It was never his way to relax a fast, or to taste or drink at an unappointed time, as is the custom of those growing old. Never did he taste meat or bathe his body until his death; and this even in his deep old age—for he died at ninety-five—and while struggling with great and varied diseases, not only because of his age, but also because of his great hardship and unspeakable austerity. ^D For he had disciplined himself and brought his body into such a state that, even if he had wanted to eat or drink to restore himself, his habit did not permit him; nor could he even take sufficient sleep. 88. Often he would even become ecstatic, and at

^A that time he would remain voiceless for a long while, unaware of those present. Yet if while in this very ecstasy he ever spoke any words, he uttered them from the responses of the divine liturgy, such as, "Grant, O Lord," or "Holy, holy, holy Lord," and the like; at other times he was found reciting the "Blessed are the undefiled." If any of the brethren asked him afterward, "What happened to you, Father? And where were you until now?" he would answer, "I have grown old, my child, and I am delirious, and I am oppressed by a demon; what I am suffering, I do not know." Moreover, to those who approached him at inopportune times, distracting him from contemplation, he would command them to say that the old man was possessed by a demon and could not receive anyone. The more he strove to humble and lower himself, ^B the more his fame spread and grew, and everyone ran to see him and hear his conversation. Once, the wife of the prince of Gaeta asked her husband to go to pay respects to the servant of God. Her husband said to her, "Let us notify him first, lest it seem burdensome to him, and he, being grieved, flee from our region, and we suffer the loss of the servant of God." They notified him of this, beseeching him greatly; for they knew he deeply avoided conversation with women, and that a woman never entered his monastery. The holy man replied to her, saying, "Have compassion on me for the Lord's sake, for when I lived in the world, I was tormented by a demon; therefore, since I became a monk, I have been cured, but now, if I see a woman, the demon immediately returns and torments me." When the woman heard and understood these things, she burned with an even greater desire to see him, and she struggled so much that she finally came and was deemed worthy of paying him her respects. He had, however, commanded that no woman of the city should follow her, but that all men should accompany her. The blessed man, having admonished her briefly concerning purity, almsgiving, and the fear of God, sent her back home rejoicing. ^C 89. He himself considered it a great burden and vehemently avoided the company of the notables of the earth, as a fomenter of vainglory and damage to the soul. He was, however, compelled to tolerate this due to the importunity of those who had been wronged and unjustly oppressed by them, many of whom he often snatched from their very jaws by means of his letters alone. And if someone were to collect such letters written by him, it would be possible to compile a very useful book of great value from them. He did the same for his fellow citizen, Philagathos the archbishop. For when the aforementioned man had insatiably seized the Roman throne, not content with the worldly pinnacle to which God had unexpectedly raised him—for he held great honors in both empires—^D

the holy Father, as one who foresaw the future, wrote to him, beseeching him not to covet human glory, claiming as he already was with it, but to return to the quietude of the monastic state. ^A While he was saying he was preparing himself for this, when the emperor and the expelled prelate arrived, he experienced their intolerable wrath. For, having been deprived by them of his most essential members—I mean his eyes, his tongue, and his nose—he was thrown into prison, miserable and destitute of all help. Having heard these things, the God-filled Father, with his heart oppressed by sorrow, was compelled, man of that age and afflicted by such severe illness as he was—and at that time, it was the season of the Quadragesimal fast—to reach Rome and approach the emperor with suppliant prayers. ^B The emperor, along with the patriarch, upon hearing of his arrival, went out to meet him, and taking him on both sides by the hands, they brought him into the patriarchate and ordered him to sit in the middle; and they themselves began to kiss his hands from the right and the left.

5. The holy man, although he was greatly burdened and groaned at what had been done in this manner, nevertheless endured everything, if by any means he might obtain what he requested; and he says to them: "Forgive me, the greatest of all sinners and a half-dead old man, by the Lord, for I am unworthy of such honor. It is rather for me to prostrate myself at your honorable feet and to venerate your such high dignities. ^C Yet I have come to your glory not out of a desire for glory, or gifts, or the greatest revenues, but for the sake of the one who served you much and was evilly treated by you; the one who received you both from the baptismal font, and by you had his eyes gouged out. I beg your piety to grant him to me, so that he may sit with me, and we may both weep for our sins." Then the emperor, having wept a little—for not the whole of what had occurred was truly by his own counsel—answered the blessed man: "We are ready to fulfill all that pleases your holiness, if you also would hear our petition and would deign to accept a monastery in this city, ^D whatever you wish, and remain with us always." As the old man refused to dwell in the city, they proposed to him Saint Anastasius, as one situated far from the tumult and always given to the Greek nation. And indeed he accepted, being eager to obtain the requested gift. But that savage pope, not sated by the evils he had inflicted upon the aforementioned Philagathus, of whom I made mention above, brought him out and

having torn his priestly vestment from him, led him throughout the whole city. ^A

91. Upon hearing this, the holy elder was deeply grieved and no longer asked the emperor for the archbishop. When the emperor learned of this, he sent one of his own archbishops, a man of glib tongue, to appease the old man. To him the holy man said: "Go, tell the emperor and the pope: Thus says the wretched elder: You granted me this blind man not out of fear of me, nor for my great power, but for the love of God alone. Now, therefore, whatever evils you have added to him, you have not done to him, but to me; nay, rather, you have insulted God Himself. Know, therefore, that just as you did not sorrow, nor show mercy to him whom God delivered into your hands, so shall the heavenly Father in no wise forgive your sins." But that verbose archbishop did not cease to lecture the holy man, making excuses for the emperor and the pope. Whereupon the elder, bowing his head before him, pretended to doze off. When he saw that the man was paying no attention to his words at all, he left. Immediately, therefore, the holy man, together with the brothers who were with him, mounted horses and completed the journey through all that night, arriving at his own monastery, where he occupied himself with prayer and unceasingly sought to propitiate God. ^B Not many days later, the pope was forcibly expelled from the number of the living like a tyrant—as I have heard some say—and with his eyes gouged out, which hung down upon his cheeks, he was committed to the grave. The emperor, however, moved by a desire for penance, set out on foot from Rome to the Gargano, wishing to venerate the Archangel Michael, and on his return he visited the hospice of the blessed man.

92. Having therefore come above the monastery, and having seen the huts of the brothers fixed around the oratory, he said: "Behold, the tabernacles of Israel in the desert; behold, the citizens of the kingdom of heaven! These do not remain here as inhabitants, but as wayfarers." But the holy man ordered incense to be prepared, and went out to meet him with all the brothers, whom he also greeted with the highest humility and reverence. ^C And the emperor, placing his hand underneath to support the elder, entered the oratory with him; and when the prayer was finished, the emperor said to the holy man:

the emperor to the holy man: “Our Lord Jesus Christ, while He was with the Apostles, commanded them to carry no wallet, no staff, nor to possess two tunics. But when He was going to His passion, He said to them again: ‘But now, let him who has a money-bag take it, and a wallet also.’ ^A Since, therefore, you too have grown old and are about to depart to the kingdom of heaven, do you take thought for your spiritual children, lest, being reduced to straits when you are no longer here, they be scattered, departing because of the difficulty of the place. We will give you a monastery and revenues, wherever you might choose in all our realm.” The holy man answered: “I heard David saying: ‘Save me, O Lord, for the saint has failed, for the truths have diminished from the children of men;’ ^B and again: ‘There is none who does good, not so much as one.’”

93. “But if indeed there are monks with me, brethren who keep the commandments of Christ to the best of their strength, He Himself, who has provided for them up until now with me, will much more surely take care of them even without me; for He delights not in the power of the mighty, nor in the legs of a man, but in those who hope in His mercy.” After these and many other things were spoken, the emperor rose to depart. And again, turning to the elder, he said: ^C “Ask of me as your son, whatever you might wish, and I will fulfill it with all readiness.” The blessed man, stretching out his hand to the emperor’s breast, said: “I ask nothing else from your majesty but the salvation of your soul; for although you may be an emperor, you are still a mortal man and are destined to die, and to stand before the judgment, and to give an account of those things which you have done, whether they be good or evil.” Hearing these things, the emperor let fall drops of tears from his eyes. Then, bowing his head in the hands of the holy man, ^D and having received a blessing from him together with all who were with him, he set out upon his way. Yet not even so did he escape the outcome of God’s judgments; for as soon as he arrived in Rome, and a sedition arose against him, he departed in flight, and died upon the road. The Fathers, however, were murmuring against the elder for having refused the favor of the emperor, who was willing to grant them a monastery. The Father said to them: “I, indeed, spoke as a fool the things I said, but you shall know after a little while what you were thinking.” After this, then, when they heard of the emperor’s death, they marveled at the great providence of God.

CHAPTER XIV.

94. Through those days the blessed Stephen fell into a sickness.

^A from which he did not recover. The elder sat beside him as he was giving up his soul; all the brothers gathered round in a circle, and the great Father said: "Brother Stephen." He immediately sat up, clasped his hands, and gave his attention to the blessed man. Then he said to him: "Bless the brothers, for you are departing." He, extending his hands and praying, did what had been commanded of him. And again the great Father said to him: "Rest now, for you have no more strength." And he, lying down, rested, having fulfilled the rule of obedience even at the point of death.

After he had breathed his last, the elder lamented over him, saying: "O my good fellow-soldier and companion in labors, Stephen, after so many years we are separated, and we are deprived of one another. And you, indeed, are departing to the rest which you prepared for yourself; but I have remained in the torments. You are an athlete and a martyr, for I have been your torturer." The elder said this because, even in his old age, he did not cease to buffet him, knowing him to be an athlete and a pugilist, and he used him like an adze or a similar tool for those who were stubborn and impatient. For whenever sleep would overtake any of the brothers in church and he would snore while the reading was going on and the great Father was expounding it, the blessed man himself would say as if he were unaware: "Whoever is snoring, it is without doubt Stephen; cast him out, lest he teach us a bad habit." Often, too, he would drive him from the table with insults and reproaches, as though he were eating unseemly, correcting those who were committing the same fault. And in short, whatever fault was committed throughout the entire brotherhood, Stephen was rebuked as if he were guilty of everything. ^B And this was not enough for him, but even when the elder himself—being more than seventy years old and hunched from old age and various diseases—set himself to work with the brothers, he did not stand upright during the harvest or on the threshing floor for the whole day, and whatever work was filthiest or most laborious was done by him; in truth, he did not experience rest or relaxation in his whole life's course in any matter whatsoever.

95. When he had entered into his blessed rest, the Father ordered a double grave to be prepared, so that he, too, when he had finished his course, could be buried with the blessed Stephen. ^C When the prince of Gaeta (81), a man very pious and having great regard for the sanctity of the Father, had asked and learned the reason for the grave, he said to those present: "Therefore, if the Father dies, I shall leave him here and not transfer him to my city, so that he may be to it like an unshakable tower?" When this was later reported to the blessed elder, he was vehemently saddened, and thought of changing his dwelling-place, so that he might depart to where no one ^D

^A knew him. For he preferred to die miserably than to be held in the opinion of sanctity by any of men; on the contrary, he struggled to appear to the many as irascible, abusive, and full of all other passions. Many foolish people were indeed scandalized; but we, who unworthily ate and drank with him, are persuaded and fully assured, and we will confess before God and the angels, that the blessed Nilus is a saint, as one of the God-bearing Fathers, and surpassing all men of this generation, whether he worked signs or not; and this is what many of the unintelligent ask, making no account of their life—a thing that is also found among many of the heterodox. And I said this, not that I might prove his grace devoid of miracles—for those who have eyes in their head always see its power—but that I might overturn this untimely and foolish questioning. For the ^B life itself is the whole of what is sought; but the multitude and power of miracles are approved when they shine forth together, yet are neglected if they are not in harmony. Let us, therefore, return to the matter of the Nyssa [referring back to the narrative of his departure from that area]. Since then, our Father Nilus, that despiser of honors, wished to leave the monastery which is called Serperis, in which he had exercised the monastic life for about ten years, he was barely able, on account of his old age, to mount a horse to go to Rome. And he said to the brothers who were lamenting his departure: "Do not grieve, O Fathers and brothers; for I am going to prepare a place and a monastery, where I may gather all the brothers and my dispersed children." ^C 96. But they, not understanding what was being said, received consolation [from his words]. Therefore, with God guiding him to the place destined for his burial, in the manner which had been revealed to him by God, he arrived at a certain town named Tusculum, twelve miles distant from Rome. Near it was situated a monastery of a few brothers of our own Greek nation, in the name of Saint Agatha. Stopping there, the holy elder, saying, "This is my rest for ever and ever," could no longer be drawn away from there by anyone, although the brothers who were with him were troubling him, and the magnates of Rome were coming to him, and urging him to enter Rome, if only for the sake of the chief of the apostles. But he, answering, said to all: "The most celebrated and truly thrice-blessed leaders ^D of the apostles...

^A are such that they may indeed be venerated by those who possess faith as a grain of mustard seed, even though I am unworthy even to name them. Yet I have come to this humble place for no other reason than to die here."

The lord of that town, by the name of Gregory, a man known for his tyranny and wickedness, but also possessed of great shrewdness and wisdom, came down and, falling at the feet of the holy man, said: "I, indeed, servant of the most high God, because of my many sins, am not worthy that you should enter under my roof; and whence is this to me, that the saint of my Lord should come to me? But since, following the example of your Master and Lord, you have preferred me, ^B a sinner, before the righteous, behold, my house and the entire town with its surrounding fields are before you. Whatever you desire concerning them, give the order."

97. The blessed Father answered: "May the Lord bless you and yours, and your house, and your town. Grant us a small portion within your domain, that, having found rest therein, we may render God propitious for our sins and offer prayers for your salvation." Gregory fulfilled what was commanded with great eagerness. But the brothers who had remained in the monastery, after a space of two months, hearing that the Father would not return to them, departed, carrying with them their sheepskins, tunics, and remaining belongings, and arrived at the place dedicated to them by the prince for the building ^C of a monastery. When the most blessed man learned that they had arrived, he rejoiced in spirit and signaled his message to them: "It is enough for me, Fathers and brothers, that for the love of God and for my sake you have taken the labor to come here. Now, therefore, I ask your love that you wait until I myself come to you."

While he was preparing to fulfill his promise by going on foot (for the brothers were about three miles away), he summoned to himself the brothers who were with him, together with the hegumen Paul (86), to whom he had entrusted the leadership many days before—a man old and ancient in prudence, age, the exercise of the monastic life, and the study ^D of philosophy. To them he distributed his few scraps of clothing (for he had absolutely nothing worldly, not even a single coin), and then he ordered that the life-giving mysteries of Christ be brought for him to receive. Then he said to the hegumen and the brothers: "I beseech you, if I should depart this life, that without delay you commit my body to the earth."

^A Do not bury me in a church, nor build a vault over my grave, nor add any other ornament whatsoever. But if you absolutely wish to place some sign by which my burial place may be known, let it be plain, so that strangers may be able to rest there, for I too was a stranger all the days I lived; and remember me in your holy prayers."

48. Having said these things, and having blessed them and prayed for all the brothers, he lifted up his feet and stretched himself out on his cot. For two days he lay there, neither speaking nor opening his eyes. Those who saw him were amazed, for he did not look like someone passing away, but like one resting; he moved only his lips, and made the sign of the cross with his right hand, by which those present understood that he was absorbed in prayer. One of the brothers, having brought his ear close to his mouth, heard this one verse from him distinctly: "Then I shall not be put to shame, when I have looked upon all your commandments" (Ps. CXVIII, 20). When the lord of the place, Gregory, heard about him, he ran down from his castle, bringing with him Michael, a most experienced physician. Falling upon the blessed man, he wept bitterly and said: "Father, Father, why have you deserted me so quickly? Why have you loathed my sins and are you leaving me?" And kissing his hands, he said: "Behold, you no longer forbid me to kiss your hands, as you used to do before, saying, ^B 'I am not a bishop, nor a presbyter, nor a deacon, but only a lowly little monk; why then do you wish to kiss my hand?'" Saying these things, he poured forth such a flood of tears that he moved all those standing by to weep. The physician, having felt his pulse, asserted that he would not die, because there was no fever in him, nor any other sign of death; for so the situation was. When they had departed, and the hour of the evening service arrived (it was also the feast of the Apostle and Evangelist John), it seemed good to the brothers to carry the holy Father into the church; for they remembered with what affection and zeal he used to observe the memorials of the saints, and how he always used to say that a monk, short of extreme necessity, ought to die in the oratory. ^C

49. When this had come to pass, and the evening hymn had reached its end, the sun knew its setting, and he himself gave up his spirit; and truly, the sun set with the sun, and on that day light failed from the earth and the lantern from the face of those who saw. For did he not himself foresee the thick darkness of this time, the lack of those who illuminate ^D and teach the others? And where else is there another to be found...?

[index: entries preserved]

^A in the world, in our own day, such as we lost on that day? For you will find many who practice continence, but who limit their usefulness to this alone, and are incapable of doctrine. Conversely, there are many who cultivate doctrine but are empty of the practice of virtue. This man, however, excelled in both so thoroughly that he was truly ambidextrous in all things and most perfect in both eyes; and this indeed if you compare him even with the ancients, not to mention the men of our own tempestuous time, who labor in total blindness—not using even one eye, but moving about in the deepest darkness. And this, too, was revealed to that most far-sighted man as if in an ecstasy: for he saw all men and all animals, and everything that moves and creeps upon the earth, held fast by blindness and deprivation of light, and the deepest night and unspeakable gloom poured out over the whole earth. And this was formerly; but now ^B that, having abandoned earthly things, his blessed spirit dwells in the heavens, we spent all that night in psalms and funeral hymns. And when morning came, having brought out the bier with candles and incense and psalmody, we carried the body to the place where the brethren were awaiting the blessed man.

160. But when we arrived in their sight, and they heard the psalmody, all of them—old and young, small and great—came out to meet us, all bathed in tears and lamenting bitterly. Having therefore set the bier upon the ground and ceased the singing, we all together mourned our common loss, our bereavement, and the deprivation of our Father. And there was nothing else to be seen or surmised than what is written of Jacob, that ^C when his sons arrived at the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they performed a great and exceedingly strong lamentation. For a small threshing floor indeed contained us, and the new Jacob lay dead on the portable bed, and the sons of Israel were lamenting. And the inhabitants of the region, as many as were present with the governor Gregorius, were not only spectators but also followed the funeral, mingling their mourning with ours; and they did not depart before we had carried away the body and laid it to rest in the place appointed, just as the thrice-blessed Father himself had directed. And all the brotherhood remained ^D at the tomb with the aforementioned hegumen, putting forth their labor and working in patience because the place was unprovided, to procure their daily bread, which was appropriate for both the soul and the body. And many of the children of the saint of those [who were dispersed...]

Of Joannis Clei

they have been gathered through his intercession ^A and rest around his tomb, men truly to be called men of the desires of the Spirit, and full of grace and power. May we, both those who read and those who hear their divine and illustrious labors, be rendered worthy by the intercession of all these, to become partakers with them also in the kingdom of heaven in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Anno Domini 1004.

THEODORUS ICONIENSIS EPISCOPUS

MONITUM. Allatius said nothing of Theodorus, bishop of Iconium, in his diatribe on the Theodoruses, nor did he omit him in the work on the Simeonites, p. 91. Furthermore, the reason why he set down at the beginning of this writing—which we shall soon append—that this was the initiation, is that in another Vatican codex, the same work is written in a slightly more contracted form, beginning from those words which appear in the fuller Ottobonian codex a little further on. Now, indeed, this illustrious work of Theodorus on the holy martyrs Cirycus and Julitta does exist in the *Triumph of the Martyrs* of Fr. Combefis, but not without errors and variations, and it is lacking not a few verses in the first article, and even smaller clauses are missing elsewhere. Furthermore, the Bollandists reprinted the edition as affected by Combefis in the third volume of June, on the 16th day. The age of the Ottobonian codex is evident at the end as it reads: "The present book was written by the hand of Theophanes, a humble monk, and was completed in the month of August, in the second indiction, in the year 6512 (that is, 1004 AD)." We have, therefore, in this codex a sure example of Greek writing from the beginning of the eleventh century. Mai, *Bibl. Nov. PP.* VI, 416.

OF THEODORE BISHOP OF ICONIUM ON THE MARTYRDOM OF SAINTS CYRICUS AND JULITTA

^B 1. To my beloved brother, fellow minister, and co-bishop Zosimus, Theodorus, by the mercy of God bishop of Iconium, greeting in the Lord. Since your Nobility has sought through your venerable letters, brought to our humility, concerning the martyrdom celebrated by all—that of Cirycus, I say, and his mother Julitta—in order that, if it is remembered in the city of Iconium, from which went forth the illustrious mother Julitta and her glorious son Cirycus, their martyrdom might be sent to your Holiness, because of certain grandiloquent words circulated about it, and because of extraneous trifles regarding the hope of Christians, which have been spread abroad, and if one might find the true account of their martyrdom. Since the enemy of human nature is accustomed to oversow tares among the good seed, it is necessary for the masters of the Church ^C to watch and to guard, without the mixture of any impure thought, the seed of the pious faith, so that, sprouting and growing in God, it might return a manifold fruit to the Lord.