III. ПАЛЕСТИНСКИЕ ПОДВИЖНИЦЫ

The daughter of a pious and wealthy Palestinian house, Cleopatra, was given in marriage to a military commander. He died in the royal service in Egypt, leaving a young son, John. For the widowed mother, there was only one consolation left - a son. She raised him with all tender love and prayed for him. When Uar (Var), the chief of the Egyptian military hundred, was tortured and martyred for freely confessing the name of Christ, and his body was thrown among the corpses of animals, Cleopatra, looking at the exploits of the martyr without fear and with love, secretly with her servants hid the holy body in her house, where she reverently laid it in a cave under her bedroom. This was during the persecution of Maximin Herculius in 313. Under Constantine, the persecution ended. Pious Cleopatra, returning to her homeland, reverently took with her the relics of the martyr, and this cost her many worries. She placed the relics in the family cave “in her settlement of Edre.” Every day she prayed at the relics of the martyr and decided to build a church to the martyr. Meanwhile, the son came of age, raised by the watchful love of his mother. He was a wonderful young man, kind, obedient, ready for anything good. His loving mother took care of enrolling him in military service. At the request of the mother and for the merits of the father, the son was accepted with the rank of officer, and a military belt was sent for him. The mother was very happy about her son’s happiness, but said: “Let my dear son endure St. Petersburg with me. relics to the new church and then he will go to service.” The bishop and the clergy were invited to the consecration of the church, and a large crowd gathered. When the consecration took place and the relics were transferred to the church, during the liturgy the mother fervently prayed to the martyr to ask the Lord for her son that which would please the holy will of God, good and wise. “Moreover,” she said, “I dare not ask for anything, the Lord knows what is useful for us.” A rich meal was prepared for the guests of the new church. Christian love did more: the mother herself served at the table, and the son, by her will, also served. “You and I will eat after,” she told her son. At the end of dinner, the son felt a headache and went to bed. His mother got ready to eat with him, but it turned out that he was on fire. The mother became alarmed and remained at the bedside of her sick son. By midnight the son died. The mother wept inconsolably over the loss of her only son, her only joy; in the agitation of her soul she grumbled at the martyr for his coldness towards her fate. Exhausted by mental suffering, she fell into a light sleep. The martyr and her son appear to her, both in brilliant military attire and in a wonderful light. The martyr says to his mother: “You are in vain complaining about me. I know and appreciate all the deeds of your pious love - both those that you did in Egypt and those that you did here. I prayed and pray for you. Through my prayer, the Lord forgave the sins of your relatives; resting in your family cave. For your son, I asked the Lord that he is now with me in the rank of warriors of the King of Heaven, close to His throne. Isn’t this the good will of God that you wanted for your son? If you want, the son can enter the service of the king of the earth. Choose, but don’t be deceived.” The son asked the martyr not to return him to a world full of sins and troubles, even if his mother wanted it. Cleopatra, seeing her son in such unprecedented glory, said: “Take me with you.” The saint answered: “We’ll take it when the time comes.” And both became invisible. Having come to her senses, Cleopatra found her heart full of joy and joy. She told the vision to the priests, and the body of her son was placed near the relics of the martyr. Now the blessed one realized that she still needed to work on herself for the Lord: those in heaven do not speak lies. And she doubled her efforts. She distributed her property to the poor and began to live only for sincere piety. The apostolic decrees prescribed: “Let every widow be meek, silent, quiet, kind, not angry, not talkative, not bilingual, not eager to interfere in other people’s affairs... Just as the wise Judith, known for her chastity, begged God night and day for Israel (Judith. 9:1), so a widow like her constantly lifts up to God prayer for the church... Her eyes are spotless, her ears are pure, her hands are not dirty, her feet are calm, and her lips say what is right... She is self-controlled, reverent, bashful - she sings psalms, prays, reads the sacred, fasts.” This is how blessed Cleopatra lived. She prayed day and night and fasted. Otherwise, she was now leading a life dedicated to God. The contemporary Palestinian Bishop Eusebius wrote about this life: “In the Church of God there are two kinds of life. One flows above nature and ordinary life, does not care about marriage, or about the birth of children, or about earthly happiness, completely and in everything separates from ordinary life, devotes himself to serving God, out of complete love for heavenly things; Those who choose this life appear to be dead to mortal life; they remain on earth in body, but in spirit they are in heaven.” During such a life of the Monk Cleopatra, the son and martyr often appeared to her from heaven. She spent seven years in the exploits of a high spiritual life and peacefully moved to the martyr and her son. Her body was placed near the relics of the martyr. This was no later than 327. Blessed Pavla's father came from the family of Agamemnon, and her mother from the house of the Scipios and Paul Aemilius; her husband was a descendant of the house of Yuliev. The brilliant celebrity origins were matched by the wealth of the spouses. Pavla was a kind wife and mother of five children. But earthly happiness could harm Pavla’s kind heart. And so the Lord sends her severe sorrow: her beloved husband dies when she was 32 years old. Pavla, who had a tender heart, cried inconsolably over the death of her husband. The pious and educated widow Markela served as her support. She softened her sorrows with Christian consolations and turned her heart to the Lord. Paula became an evangelical widow. Her enormous fortune provided her with the means to wipe away the tears of hundreds of poor families. There was not a dead person among the poor who was not buried at Pavla’s expense, there was not a sick person who was not supported by Pavla’s love. Pavla sought out poverty and grief in a huge city in order to console them. She considered herself unlucky if she was not able to provide assistance to a suffering family. Blazh. Jerome, when he met her, considered it necessary to say to her: “Are there no excesses in charity?” But he himself admits that she disarmed him with the words: “I wish to be poor for the Lord, who became poor for us.” She was now strict with herself. Ties with the gay world were weakened; She punished her small mistakes severely. When St. Epiphanius of Cyprus and Paulinus of Antioch arrived in Rome on church business (this was in 328), Epiphanius and Jerome lived in Paul's house and she delivered everything that Paulinus needed; conversations with saints were the most pleasant pleasure for her. Her eldest daughter, unusually gifted, who lived with her husband for only 7 months, was preparing to enter the monastery, but died. This was a strong blow to Pavla’s heart. Blazh. Jerome had to console her. “Your daughter,” he wrote, “passed into the next world with a wonderful determination to devote herself to God; For more than 4 months her soul had been purified by peace. You don’t even think about what the Savior says to you: Paul, why are you grieving because your daughter has become Mine. Your tears are indignation against My concerns, an insult to Me. I know that one must yield to mother’s nature, but excessive sorrow is not an honor for faith.” The consequences of the marriage of her son Toxotius amazed Rome and consoled Paul. Leta, the wife of Toxotius, was the daughter of the high pagan priest. Who would have thought, says Jerome, that the granddaughter of the pagan priest Albina would be born on the promise of a martyr, that the babbling granddaughter would sing to her smiling grandfather: “Hallelujah” - and such an old man would feed the bride of Christ on his knees? But we happily hoped: “a holy and believing house illuminates the unbeliever”? The old pagan became a Christian. The Ecumenical Council of 381 called the Jerusalem Church “the mother of all Churches,” and Rome - what is it in Christian history? Paula strongly desired to be a daughter of the Jerusalem Church. This desire was inspired in her by her friend Markella and supported by Jerome. It was not easy for her to part with her children and her extensive noble family. But in 385, the famous and wealthy patrician set off with her daughter along a dangerous sea route to the East. On the island of Pontius, which is famous for the exile of the famous patrician Flavia Domitilla under Domitian, I saw female cells; where St. languished for a long time. sufferer. In Cyprus I saw St. Epiphanius, ten days were spent here not for rest, but for visiting monasteries and churches. Then she was in Antioch with Peacock. “On the shore in Sarepta she entered the small church of Elijah, where she worshiped the Lord the Savior; the sands of Tire, on which Paul knelt, reached Akka, present-day Ptolemais; through the fields of Megiddon, knowing about the death of Josiah, she entered the land of the Philistines; marveled at the ruins of Dora, once a very strong city; Returning, she was in Caesarea, where she saw the house of Cornelius the centurion, converted into a church, and the church of Philip, and four virgin prophetesses. I saw Lydda, renamed Diospolis, famous for the resurrection of Aeneas; also not far from it is Arimathea, the village of Joseph, who honored the body of the Savior with burial; Joppa, the port from which Jonah fled. Having repeated the path, I was in Nicopolis, formerly called Emmaus, where the Lord was recognized in the breaking of bread and consecrated the house of Cleopas into a church.” In Jerusalem, the proconsul prepared a palace for her, but she lived in a small, poor house. “She prostrated herself before the cross of the Savior, kissed the stone rolled away by the Angel, and the place where the body of Him who took upon himself the sins of the whole world lay. How many tears were shed here, how many sighs and sorrows! They showed her a pillar sprinkled with the blood of the Lord, where, tied, He was scourged. They indicated the place where the Holy Spirit descended on 120 believers.” Having distributed what she could to the poor, she came to Bethlehem and visited the cave where Christ the Lord was born. “What happiness,” she said, “for a poor sinner like me to kiss this manger where my Savior lay as a baby! Do I still need to look for a place for myself after the one that my Savior chose for Himself? Visiting the outskirts of Bethlehem, Paul ascended to Gader, the tower of the flock, near which Jacob tended the flocks of sheep (Gen. 37:1), and the shepherds who were awake at night were honored to hear: “Glory to God in the highest” (Luke 2:14). From Bosor I was in Yesyaol, I saw traces of Abraham's oak, Hebron, Kafar-Sarun and the sad lake. Then she traveled to Jericho, where she saw the Gilgal camp (Joshua 5:13); from the bank of the Jordan she was to Bethel and on Mount Ephraim, where she saluted the tombs of Joshua, the son of Nun, and Eleazar, the son of Aaron; She passed through Shechem, saw the tombs of 12 Patriarchs, Sebastia or Samaria, where “the prophets Elisha and Obadiah and the one who was no longer born of women, John the Baptist, were buried, there she was amazed and shocked by many oddities. She saw how demons amused themselves with various torments, how people in front of the tombs of saints howled like wolves, barked like dogs, roared like lions, hissed like snakes, mooed like oxen, while others spun on their heads and touched the ground over their backs with the top of their heads. She felt sorry for everyone and shed tears for everyone, begging Christ for mercy. A doubly expensive journey: both as advice for piety, and as a lesson for the fervent skepticism of the later semi-pagans! From Bethlehem, mother and daughter set off to visit the deserts of Egypt. They accepted the blessing and advice of the Macarievs, Isidores, Serapions and other wondrous hermits. Upon returning to Bethlehem, Paul built a hospice house and a men's monastery on the road to Jerusalem, where Bl. Jerome was the rector. An extensive women's monastery was built in Bethlehem, with three branches. On Sunday, everyone gathered for prayer in the common church; on other days, services were held in prayer rooms. Everyone was dressed the same, no one had any property, but everything was common; Everything we needed was prepared by our own work. The sisters were prescribed strict restraint in speech; not a single harsh word should come from the lips of a virgin who dedicated herself to God; “if there was a grumpy, impudent, arrogant person among them, stopping her more than once, Paula forced her to pray at the door of the meal, behind all the sisters, and to eat separately from them, so that shame would bring to reason the one whom words had not brought to reason.” Those who showed more than neatness in their clothes were told that her foppishness was a sign of a dirty soul. There was zealous care for the weak and sick. Pavel's strict mother was a school of piety for her sisters; her humility was amazing. “When she was surrounded by a host of maidens, she seemed to be the last among them both in clothes, and in voice, and in techniques, and in gait. She slept on the bare ground, even in a fever, ate little food, and of the simplest kind at that, and fed more on tears. Except on holidays, she added almost no oil to her food. When they asked her to take care of her poor health, she answered: “I need to disfigure my face, which I have put on display so many times, rubbing it with paints, as an insult to the will of God; justice requires torturing a body that has eaten too many sweets; I need to cry a lot, after crazy and criminal fun; I must replace luxurious clothes with hair shirts that flattered vanity and bliss; I have tried hard enough to please the world; I want to use everything to be somewhat pleasing to God." The Lord brought one sinner to Paul. In the vicinity of Caesarea in Palestine, St. Martinian. On a stormy night, his wife, dressed in rags, came to his cell and asked him for protection. The hermit kindly accepted her into the front cell. The next day he sees his wife dressed in luxurious clothes. Having lit a fire in the middle of the cell, he stood on it with his bare feet and said to himself: “How does this fire seem to you, Martinian? After all, this is not like the fire of Gehenna! If you want the fire of hell, perhaps approach this woman.” Struck by self-denial and his preaching, the sinner threw herself at the feet of the holy hermit, confessed her sins and asked him for spiritual healing. The monk took her to the monastery of Pavla, and here she, under the supervision of the monk, led a strict life until death and rested in peace, with the name of the Monk Zoe. Reading the Holy Scriptures was Pavla’s favorite pastime, and she tried to apply its rules to the life of her soul. The bliss had to endure a lot of insults. Pavle from a party that did not intelligently understand and even less intelligently defend the personal opinions of Origen. When it was not possible to win over the famous Roman woman by cunning, and it was not possible because the blessed one. Jerome was against this party, the party began to throw various insults at Pavla, passing her off as crazy and saying: they need to protect her from disorder. Things got to the point where the blessed mentor advised Paul to leave the East. She answered him: “You would be fair, my father, if I could find my beloved Bethlehem anywhere. And why hide from people's anger? We must overcome it with patience! Why not triumph over pride through humility? Why, when receiving a blow on one cheek, not turn the other?” The death of St. was approaching. Pavels. In her grave illness, she quietly read the psalms. “Aren’t you suffering too much and that’s why you don’t ask for advice?” – asked her confessor. She answered in Greek: “I feel good.” And these were her last words. Archbishop John of Jerusalem with several other bishops, many monks and nuns performed burial over her. The psalms of the petah were in Hebrew, Greek, Latin and Syriac. Widows and the poor pointed to the clothes she brought; crowds of needy people shouted that “they had lost their mother and nurse.” She died Jan. 26 days 404, in the 58th year of his life. Following in the footsteps of the blessed mother Pavla was the blessed daughter Eustochia. Although Eustochia was brought up under the supervision of the pious widow Markella, it was not easy for the daughter of a senator, a girl from the most aristocratic and wealthy house, to decide on the poverty of Christ, especially since Eustochia, the first of the noble maidens of Rome, decided to devote herself to virginity. Relatives rebelled violently against her monasticism. Aunt Pretextata, an aristocrat of the highest rank, at the behest of her husband, threw off Eustochia’s humble clothes and dressed her magnificently, “wishing to defeat the daughter’s determination and the mother’s desire.” What happened? God is a helper of good and against sin. According to the news of the blessed Jerome, “that same night she (the aunt) sees: a formidable Angel appeared to her and said: “Did you dare to prefer the will of your husband to the will of Christ? You touched the head of the Virgin of God with sacrilegious hands. Your hands will dry so that you feel yourself, after 5 months you will be closer to the coffin. If you persist in wickedness, you will lose both your husband and children.” Everything was accomplished in due time and later repentance was sealed by death.” The courageous girl firmly walked her own path and did not look at the judgment of the proud world. Jerome rightly wrote: “Who is braver than Eustochia, who with a vow of virginity captured the gates of nobility and the pride of the consular family?” Blessed Jerome, who assisted Eustochia in her determination to live as a virgin for the Lord, wrote an extensive work on virginity for her in 383. “As long as we live in this fragile body,” he wrote, “while we “carry treasure in an earthen vessel” (2 Cor. 4:7) and the flesh struggles with the spirit, as the spirit does with the flesh (Gal. 5:17), there is no certain victory. Therefore, humility and work are constantly needed. Especially for a young body, abstinence is needed: the freedom that many allow themselves in this regard causes pitiful consequences. It is necessary to avoid relations with persons who smack of worldliness. Rarely do you go to worship the martyrs; worship them in your cell. It is difficult for the human soul not to love anything, not to be carried away by any feelings. Let carnal love be overcome by spiritual love, wash your bed with tears, stay awake in solitude; sing with your heart and lips: “Bless the Lord, my soul, and do not forget all His rewards, who cleanses all your iniquities, who heals all your illnesses.” The advantages of a virgin life are too great not to be respected and loved with all your heart.” Pointing out the means to protect the dear treasure, he suggests remaining in solitude as much as possible, practicing prayer, and not listening to flatterers. “Do not convince yourself that you are young, tender, weak and therefore cannot do needlework. Don't speak ill of anyone; After fasting for several days, do not think that you are superior in virtue to people who do not fast. Even though you are fasting, you can be impatient and arrogant; and the other does not fast, but is meek and humble.” Moreover, one must also be wary of vanity and not show off oneself as special. “When you fast, keep your face cheerful. Let your attire be quite clean, and not vile, so that those passing by do not point the finger.” “Like vanity, stinginess is a bad thing.” Having depicted the life of various ascetics of the East, he says: “Do not look at those who are concerned about the flesh, about acquiring property, and counting income. Don’t say: she and she enjoys their property, is held in high esteem by people, brothers and sisters flock to her - and has she ceased to be a virgin? Yes, it is doubtful that such a girl would be a virgin. God doesn't look at us the way people do. If she is a virgin in body, but I don’t know if she is a virgin at heart? The Apostle defined the virgin this way: let her be “holy” in body and soul (1 Cor. 7:34)... We need to look not at the life of sinners, but at the life of saints, martyrs, and apostles.” Arriving in Jerusalem with her mother, visiting its holy places, visiting the hermits of the East, Eustochia, on behalf of herself and her mother, wrote a letter to Markella in Rome, inviting her to the East. “From the time of the Ascension of the Lord until this day,” she wrote, “how many bishops, martyrs, and eloquent teachers visited Jerusalem. It was as if they lacked something in their piety, intelligence, virtue, if they had not worshiped Christ in those places from where the light of the Gospel, lit from the Cross, spread. And in fact, if the speaker is condemned for not studying Greek sciences in Athens, but in Libya, and getting acquainted with Latin sciences not in Rome, but in Sicily, since each province has its own advantages that the other does not have, how can one believe that, without visiting Christian Athens, they can ascend to the heights of Christian wisdom? “We do not deny that the internal Kingdom of God must be within us and that there are great, holy people in other countries. But we want to say that the first, best people from all over the world gather here. We do not belong to the first, but to the last, and we came here to see the first of all countries. The best flowers, expensive stones are the faces of monks. Britain, separated from our country, because it wants to advance in Christian piety, must send its own from the West to the East, so that they can see a place that they know only by hearing and by the description of Holy Scripture. What can we say about Armenia, Persia, India, Egypt, so prolific of monks, about Pontus and Cappodacia, about Syria and Mesopotamia and about the whole East? People from all countries rush here, and we can see different examples of virtue. Languages ​​are different, but piety is one. There are almost as many singing faces as there are tribal differences. Moreover, the first virtue of Christians is conversion, far from pride and vanity; they argue only about surpassing in humility.” Having described other virtues that are seen in experiments, he turns to Bethlehem. “This manger where the Divine Child lay! Oh! They must be honored more with silence than with words. Where are vast porticos, magnificent rooms covered with gold, tall buildings decorated with the labor of the hungry and the tears of slaves?.. It was in this earthly cave that the Creator of the world was born, here he was wrapped in swaddling clothes, visited by shepherds, shown by a star, received the worship of the Magi. Of course, there is a church in Rome... But the very greatness of the city, its power and glory, the need to be seen and seen, congratulated and congratulated, praised and scolded, listened to or spoken to, to see so many people are very far from the peace and quiet of monasticism. If we see people coming to us, we lose silence; if we don’t see it, they consider it pride. Paying visit after visit, we cross the proud entrance, under the abuse of servants we enter the gilded doors.” “In the town of Christ there is rural simplicity and silence; they are disturbed only by the sounds of psalms. Everywhere you look, you hear praises to God. The villager behind the plow sings: “Hallelujah.” The reaper, covered in sweat, announces himself with psalms, and the vinedresser, pruning the vine, emits the sounds of David's song. Psalms are the only songs on this side; These are the favorite songs of the shepherd and the plowman's song." After a lively, picturesque description of the country, Eustochia vividly describes Markella’s imaginary stay in the Holy Land. "ABOUT! When will the traveling angel bring us the news: our Markella is in the Palestinian harbor! When the faces of monks and nuns will fussily prepare to receive her!.. Here comes the day when hand in hand we enter the cave of the Savior, weep at the tomb of the Lord, weep with our sister, weep with our mother, kiss the Cross, enter the Mount of Olives and fly on the wings of the spirit after the ascending Savior; we see Lazarus wrapped in burial shrouds, we see the Jordan River, which was so joyful at the baptism of Jesus; we visit the shepherds' caves and pray in the tomb of David; we see the prophet Amos playing the shepherd's pipe on the rock. Let us hasten to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and to the monuments of their wives; we see the stream in which Philip baptized the eunuch... We go to Nazareth and, according to the meaning of his name, we see the beautiful flowers of Galilee. Not far from here we meet Cana, where the Savior transformed water into wine. Then we go to Tabor and want to see the Savior’s presence not with Moses and Elijah, like Peter, but with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Then we are on Lake Gennesaret and from here in the desert, where we fed “five thousand” once, four thousand another time, with four and seven loaves (Matthew 14:15-22). We go further and see the town of Nain, at the gates of which the widow’s son was resurrected; further in sight is Mount Hebron and the stream Endor, at which Sisera was defeated, and also Capernaum, the chosen place of the miracles of Christ. Now we are returning, accompanied by Christ, through Shiloh, Bethel and other places where churches were built - the victorious signs of Jesus, we are returning to our cave. Having finished the journey, we will often cry and sing even more often, pray continuously and, stung by love for Jesus, we will begin to repeat: “I have found Him, whom my soul loves; I have found Him and hold Him and will never let Him go" (Song. 3:4)." Marcella was already decrepit for long journeys, but the letter to her about the East, without a doubt, created strong movements in Rome. It can also be of benefit to those miserable patients who are sick with doubts about the Gospel story. “And her word, and her gait, and her life are a school of virtues,” Jerome wrote to Lethe about Eustochia, advising her to send her daughter to her aunt. Paul was definitely brought up by her aunt when St. was still alive. Paul's grandmother, and the granddaughter of a pagan priest, was later a sincere nun. When St. died in 404. Paul, the loss of such a mother was mourned by her daughter. To console Eustochia, Jerome, with an eloquent pen, described the life of St. Pavels. Eustochia is now the head of the community, as her mother was. It was necessary to take care of the maintenance of the monasteries. But was there anything to support: “Jesus is a witness,” Jerome wrote, “the mother did not leave a single penny for her daughter, everything was distributed to the poor; All that remained was someone else's copper, debts and many brothers and sisters. It is difficult to maintain them, and it is a sin to send them away. But be at peace, Eustochia: you are rich in a great inheritance, your portion is the Lord.” It was only with hope in the Lord Jesus Christ that Eustochia ruled the community. Blazh. Jerome continued to help her with advice, encouraging her with heavenly consolations. He translated the monastic rules of St. for the Bethlehem monasteries. Pachomia. He dedicated his interpretation of the prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah to Eustochia, who, under his guidance, had long studied the Hebrew language. After prayer, studying the true meaning of Holy Scripture was the most pleasant and refreshing work for Eustochia. Contemporary Palladius wrote: “The daughter of blessed Paula, Eustochia, is still asceticizing in Bethlehem; She, they say, is the most chaste wife and maintains a hostel of 50 virgins.” In 416, the Pelagians, in a frenzy of anger at their accuser Jerome, broke into his monastery, killed several people, including the deacon, robbed and burned his monastery; then they broke into the monastery of Eustochia, robbed what they could seize; The nuns escaped, but all the servants were killed by the frenzied. Blessed Eustochia and the younger Paula wrote in a very moderate tone about the misfortune that befell them to P. Innocent: without naming the rebels by name, they only exposed their defenseless position. The Pope wrote an insistent demand to Patriarch John of Jerusalem to curb the insolence of heretics. “If you do not do this, then you yourself will be brought before the church court.” But John had already died. The Pelagians were pacified, according to the conciliar definition, by Patr. Let's pray. The next year, 418, a terrible earthquake terrified everyone in Palestine - many expected the end of the world. A series of sorrows prepared the ascetic for the transition to blissful eternity. Shortly before the death of the great elder-mentor, on September 28, 419, the Monk Eustochia reposed. The granddaughter of the pious Melania, who spent the last half of her life in the monasteries of the East, belonged to a rich and very ancient noble family. Blessed Melania, even as a child, expressed a desire to devote herself to serving God. This desire did not weaken in her over the years, despite the life of a luxurious aristocratic house. When she was 13 years old, she was almost forcibly united in marriage with Pinian, the son of the prefect of Italy and Africa. The love for spiritual and physical purity was so strong in her that at the very first time of marriage she begged her husband to dismiss her from marital cohabitation. The young husband promised to give her this permission when she gave birth to his son. The first fruit of marriage was a daughter. Melania made a vow to dedicate her daughter to the Lord. She again made her previous request to her husband, offering to give him her entire fortune, which was enormous, in return for fulfilling her desire, but he did not agree. Then she decided to patiently wait for the will of God, but together she decided to live alone and strictly, as much as possible in her high rank. She fervently asked the Lord to hear the desires of her heart; Her prayer for this was especially fervent on St. Lawrence. Her prayer was heard. During her second birth, Melania was in mortal danger. Her husband, who loved her very much, was extremely frightened. He rushed to the church to pray to God for his wife’s life. Melania sent to tell him that if he promises to fulfill her request, her heart assures that she will remain alive. The husband made a vow without hesitating for a moment. Melania felt relief and gave birth to a son. The son died soon after baptism, then the daughter died. These losses were bitter for Pinian, but they strengthened Pinian's determination to follow the desires of his pious wife. Pinian and Melania began to live according to the rules of the Gospel and weakened their ties with the gay world. Thus, notes Palladius, the words of the Apostle were fulfilled: “What... weigh, wife, if you save your husband?” (1 Cor. 7:16). This event - a change with Pinian - dates back to the month of August 401. Then seven years of their marriage had passed, Pinian was 24 years old, and Melania was 20 years old. Pinian had not yet completely given up social pomp, but Melania was carefully reworking his heart. The pious grandmother of Melania, having learned about the good change in the life of her granddaughter and her husband, despite her sixty years, arrived from the East to Rome. Her family and relatives met her in Naples; from here she went to Nola to St. Pavlina, who was her relative. Having taught everyone in Rome the advice to value pure faith and beware of heresy, she went to Africa along her estates. Returning again to Rome, she persistently advised her grandchildren to sell their real estate and part with the noisy capital. Melania Sr. was respected by everyone. Her daughter Albina, the mother of the youngest Melania, decided to live for the Lord, like her daughter; the patrician Avkhozia, under the influence of Melania, convinced her pagan husband to accept Christianity; Asterius, her son, and daughter Eucopia devoted themselves to a solitary life. There was a strong movement in Rome in favor of Christian piety. According to the instructions of the pious grandmother, Melania and Pinian changed their lives even more; it was decided to sell the estates in parts. Melania abandoned all her outfits and gave away her expensive dresses to churches. At first she began to fast for four days in a row, but then, moderating her jealousy, she ate food every other day. Together with her husband, she visited hospitals, ransomed those held for debts, received strangers and little by little sold her estates. Pinian's brother, Severus, watched how secular people looked at the deeds of mercy of the spouses. “This is harmful extravagance,” he said. Without thinking twice, he grabbed what he could from his brother's estates. “It is necessary to save,” he said, “wealth that is being wasted unwisely.” Pinian and Melania patiently endured his violence and remained silent. But Empress Verina, who deeply respected Melania’s virtues, having learned about everything, asked her to come to her. The husband and wife came to the palace in simple clothes. Their humility not only did not humiliate them, but elevated them in the eyes of the empress. She told Melania that she knew all the unjust actions of the North and that he would be severely punished for them. Then the offended turned to intercession for the offender and asked for one thing - to return their property, and, moreover, not for them, but for the poor. The Empress, touched by their kindness, asked Emperor Honorius for the full right to sell property and lands without any obstacle from anyone. This will of the emperor turned out to be doubly useful. Buyers, seeing that they could safely buy the estates of the spouses, raised the price of the estates, and the sale proceeded quickly and successfully. The husband and wife had lands not only near Rome, but in the whole of Italy and Aquitaine, in Sicily and Spain, in Gaul and England, in Terracina and Africa. Melania first sold distant lands - in Spain, Gaul and England. She kept the others until her father’s death gave her the freedom to go with her husband to the East. The spouses used the income from the remaining estates, as well as the money from the sold estates, for charitable deeds. The poor churches, monasteries, and departments of the West received rich offerings from them. Blessed Melania entrusted the Dalmatian hieromonk Paul with large sums for distribution in the East: 10,000 gold coins were given for the monasteries of Egypt and Thebaid, the same amount for the Syrian monasteries; the same amount for the churches on the islands and for the exiles; 15,000 – for Palestine. She herself gave away four times as much. All slaves were given freedom. The north never ceased to disturb the good spouses. But the Lord did not leave them without his help. The instructions of the grandmother and St. Peacock reinforced them a lot. Palladius, Bishop of Elenopolis, who was in Rome (in 405) on the case of St. John Chrysostom was received by Melania and her husband with complete love. “When we were in Rome in large numbers,” he says, “for the blessed Bishop John, they received us with great honor, lodged us in a hotel, and provided us with rich travel supplies. In this way they gain participation in the eternal life of our Lord Jesus Christ and in a better way of life.” In 407, Melania's father died. Then Melania left the noisy capital and settled on her estate to live in solitude. From here the couple went to the Company to St. Pavlina. Melania gathered together several pious virgins and prayed and labored with them. Pinian began to live in the same way with 30 hermits. The siege of Rome by Alaric (in 408, 409 and 410) proved how wise the advice given by the pious grandmother to her grandchildren about the sale of estates was. The Goths would have plundered their estates, and, following the advice, they transferred the rich price of the estates to heaven through the hands of the poor. The barbarians scattered throughout Italy to plunder. Pinian and Melania retired to Sicily, where they sold their remaining property, then moved to Africa. Alypius, a friend of the blessed one, was bishop of Tagaste. Augustine. Conversations with the good shepherd were pleasant for Melania and Pinian. Here they hoped to see the great teacher Augustine, but from his letter they learned that, with all his desire, he could not be in Tagaste. Pinian and Melania went to Hippo, leaving Albina in Tagaste. The spiritual joy of the meeting of all five friends was outraged by the special occasion. The people of Hippo, who had known Pinian for a long time, announced that they were electing Pinian as a presbyter, and, moreover, so that he would undertake not to be separated from them. No matter how much Augustine, Alypius and Pinian tried to ensure that the people did not bind Pinian’s freedom, they had to yield to his insistence. However, subsequently the people, grateful to Pinian, freed him from this word. The charitable Pinian and Melania also lavished their charity in Africa. In Tagaste they donated lands for the department of Alypius and for his church metals and expensive stones; they gave a large sum of money for the benefit of the poor; Dissatisfied with this, they built two monasteries - a male monastery for 24 monks and a female monastery for 130 nuns, ensuring their existence with capital. They lived in Africa for seven years, until their local estates were sold. Melania lived in her new monastery, under the direction of the abbess. In Rome she ate food every other day; In Tagaste, moving forward in her spiritual life, she first ate once every three days, then once every 5 days, and finally only once a week. Her cell was so small that she could barely stand up and turn around; She slept on matting - and only 2 hours a day, but devoted most of her time to prayer and reading Scripture. This is how the richest aristocrat in Rome lived. She turned many young people to the path of goodness and attracted several pagans and Jews to the faith of Christ. In 419, Melania and her mother went to the East. She saw St. in Alexandria. Kirill and upon arrival in Jerusalem became very ill. Having recovered, she hastened to bow to St. places. Having received money in Jerusalem for the sold estates, she distributed them to the poor and she herself remained poor out of love for the poverty of Christ. The famous Pelagius became close to Melania. She insistently demanded that he abandon his delusions; the cunning Pelagius verbally refused obvious mistakes, but with subtle reasoning he wanted to shield himself from shame. Melania conveyed her conversations with him to Augustine, and he sent Melania and Albina two of his books: “On the Grace of Jesus Christ” and “On Original Sin.” Having visited the Egyptian hermits, Melania locked herself in the Olivet cell for feats of prayer; She only allowed her mother and cousin here. The latter loved an absent-minded social life, but Melania’s admonitions brought her to the point that she fell in love with a solitary life. Melania spent 14 years in her cell. At the urgent request of some virgins and wives, she built a monastery for them. The death of the mother was followed (in 435) by the death of her husband, or more precisely, her brother, the pious Pinian, who lived in recent years in the Jerusalem monastery. Melania, convinced that she would not long outlive the people dear to her, increased the severity of her life. But she still had a feat ahead of her. Her uncle, Volusian, despite the requests of his sister and the admonitions of Augustine, still remained a pagan. Now he was in Constantinople on special orders from the Western Emperor and strongly wanted to see his niece. The bright hope of bringing him out of darkness into the light of Christ alone could force Melania, already weak, to set off on her journey. She left Jerusalem. In Chalcedon she was consoled by a miracle. When she stood here near the shrine of St. Euphemia, immersed in prayer, a heavenly aroma overshadowed her - and all doubt about the success of her good intention disappeared in her. In Constantinople she stayed at the palace of Lavza, the famous prefect, for whom Palladius wrote Lavsaik. Her uncle was very ill. The poor and humble appearance of the former Roman aristocrat amazed Volusian. The Christian woman explained to the pagan that Christians strive for higher blessings than earthly ones, for eternal blessings, before which everything earthly is dust and insignificance. This explanation, justified by a living example, had an effect on Volusian. Soon Volusianus felt a seizure that threatened death, and he himself demanded to be sanctified by baptism. He wanted Melania to be his adoptive mother from the baptismal font, but severe pain in her leg had not allowed her to leave the house for about seven days. Having learned about her uncle’s extreme situation, she, despite her suffering, asked to be carried to Volusian. On the road they inform her that Volusianus is being baptized by St. Proclus, Archbishop. Melania's joy over this event was so great that her pain suddenly stopped and she walked the rest of the road herself. With her, her uncle partook of the Body and Blood of Christ. Melania's stay in Constantinople was beneficial for many. She convinced Empress Eudokia to visit St. places. Emperor Theodosius also listened to her conversation with benefit. Many of those who were carried away by the heresy of Nestorius were kept on the side of Orthodoxy by the advice of Melania. Upon returning to Jerusalem, Melania built a chapel and with it founded another monastery, connected to the first under the command of one abbot. Empress Eudokia arrived in Jerusalem (438) and experienced for herself that grace dwells in Melania. The Empress sprained her leg and suffered greatly, but as soon as Melania touched her leg, all the pain stopped. Feeling the proximity of her death, the saint once again walked around the holy places of the Holy Land and spent the day of the Nativity of Christ in Bethlehem. Upon returning to Jerusalem, she felt a chill, received the Holy Mysteries, and on December 31 (439) she peacefully surrendered her spirit to God in the 57th year of her life. “Having loved the purity of virginity, you inclined your partner to goodness, squandered a lot of wealth, and built monasteries for monastics. That is why she moved into the Heavenly Abode. Have mercy on us, all-honorable Melania.” Cond. The Lord chose St. as an instrument of salvation for the sinner Pelagia. Bishop Nonnos. He was known for his high virtues even in the Tavenna monastery. In 448, he was invited to the See of Edessa, to replace the deposed Willow. When, in 451, the Council of Chalcedon returned Iva to the See of Edessa and the Patriarch of Antioch was given the blessing. Nonna another department, then Nonnus took the department in Iliopolis. Here his activity was wonderful: he turned to St. faith up to 30,000 Arabs. After the death of Willow St. Nonnus in 457 again occupied the See of Edessa and remained there until his death, which followed in 471. “The Most Holy Bishop of Antioch,” writes eyewitness St. Nonna and Pelagia, - gathered eight bishops to himself on one matter: among them was the holy man of God, my bishop Nonnus, a wonderful man and the strongest monk of the Tavenna monastery. For his incomparable life, he was taken from the monastery and made a bishop. The Bishop of Antioch ordered the assembled bishops to be in the church of St. much Juliana. We and all the other bishops entered and sat down in front of the entrance of the martyr’s church. When the bishops were sitting, my lord Nonnus was asked to give a sermon. The holy bishop immediately began to speak for the instruction of everyone. Everyone marveled at his holy teaching. And now the director of the dancers and pantomimists of Antioch passes by; sitting on a donkey, she rode with great pomp, dressed up so that only gold, pearls and expensive stones were visible on her. Her legs were covered with gold and pearls, and with her was a magnificent cortege of young men and girls dressed in expensive clothes. There was a chain around her neck. Some rode in front of her, others behind. Secular youth could not get enough of her beauty. As she passed us, the air was filled with musk and other aromas. When the bishops saw her passing without a veil and so shamelessly, they sighed from their hearts and turned away from her face as if from sin. His Beatitude Nonnus looked at her intently and for a long time, so that he looked back at her when she passed. Then, turning to the bishops, he said: “Are you not taken by her beauty?” They were silent. He bowed his face to his knees and wet with his tears not only the handkerchief that was in his hands, but also all his knees. Sighing heavily, he said to the bishops: “Are you not taken by her beauty? And I am truly captivated by her beauty. God will point out this beauty to us, bishops, at His Judgment, when He judges us and our government. What do you think, beloved, how much time did this wife spend in her dressing room, washing, tidying up, looking around in the mirror with all the tension of her thoughts, so that there would be no lack of attire, so as not to be humiliated by lovers who are now alive and gone tomorrow? We have an Heavenly Father, an Immortal Bridegroom, who bestows eternal rewards on His faithful, which cannot be estimated. The eye did not see, the ear did not hear, the mind did not enter into what God has prepared for those who love Him. What to say a lot! We, who are promised the honor of seeing the great, bright, incomparable face of the Bridegroom, which the Cherubim do not dare to look at, we do not adorn ourselves, we do not cleanse the impurities from the hearts of our poor, but abandon them through negligence.” After that, the bishop took me, a sinful deacon, and we entered the inn where we were given a cell. Entering the bedroom, he fell to the ground with his face and, striking his chest, cried and groaned. “Lord Jesus Christ,” he said, “forgive me, a sinner and unworthy. The attire of one day on a harlot far exceeds the attire of my soul. With what face will I look at You? How can I be justified before You? I cannot hide my soul before You, You see all mysteries. Woe to me, a sinner! I stand before Your throne and do not display my soul in the beauty that You desire. She promised to please people - and they do. I promised to please You - and I lied because of my negligence. Naked before heaven and earth, I do not keep Your commandments. So, I have no hope in my works, my hope is only in Your mercy, from which I expect salvation.” So he spoke and grieved for a long time. On the same day we celebrated a holiday. On the next day, which was Sunday, after we had performed the night prayers, St. Bishop Nonnus says to me: “Brother deacon! I had a dream and I am very confused. I saw in a dream: a black dove, covered with all kinds of dirt, stood at the altar; she flew near me, and I could not stand her stench. She stood next to me until the prayer of the catechumens was completed. When the deacon cried out: “You catechumens, come forth,” she no longer appeared. When, after the prayer of the faithful and the making of the offering, the people were released, the dove, covered with uncleanness, came again and flew near me. Reaching out my hand, I took it and lowered it into the font of the vestibule of the church. The dove came out of the water completely clean and white as snow. Flying, she rushed upward and disappeared from sight.” When the holy Bishop of God Nonnus expressed his dream, he took me, and the other bishops and I came to the great church, where we congratulated the bishop of the city. Entering the church, he taught the people; the bishops were sitting in their pulpits. After the statutory service or after reading the Gospel, the bishop of the city, giving St. Gospel to the Most Blessed Nonnus, invited him to preach a lesson to the people. He spoke the wisdom of God that dwelt in him; He did not say anything sophisticated, or philosophical, or disorderly, but, filled with the Holy Spirit, he denounced and exhorted the people, speaking with all sincerity about the future Judgment and about future reward. All the people were greatly distressed by his words, so that the floor was wet with tears. By the arrangement of God's mercy, the harlot about whom it was spoken came to the same church. And a wonderful thing, she who never thought about her sins and never went to church, was suddenly struck by the fear of God, shed streams of tears and could not restrain herself from sobbing. Then she said to her two servants: “Stay here, when Bishop Nonnus comes out, follow him and find out where he lives, then come and tell me.” The servants did as the mistress ordered; following us, we came to the church of St. Martyr Julian, where there was a hotel or cell for us. Then they left and told the lady: “He lives in the Church of St. much Juliana". Hearing this, she immediately sent the following letter with the same servants: “To the Holy Disciple of Christ, a sinner and disciple of the devil. I have heard about your God that He bowed down the heavens and came down to earth, not for the righteous, but to save sinners. He humbled himself so much that he approached the tax collector, and He, whom the Cherubim do not dare to look at, walked among sinners. And you, my lord, in whom there is so much holiness, although you did not see with your bodily eyes Christ Jesus speaking with the Samaritan woman at the well, are a sincere worshiper of Him, as I heard from Christians. If you are His disciple, then you will not reject me, who desires to see the Savior through you.” Holy Bishop Nonnus answered her in a letter like this: “Everything is open to God: both your deeds and your desire. But I tell you: do not tempt my humility, I am a sinful servant of God. If you sincerely desire piety, accept the faith and see me, there are other bishops here with me, and in their presence you can see me, but you will not see one.” When the sinner read this, she was very happy and ran to St. Church. much Juliana made her arrival known. The holy Bishop Nonnus, hearing about this, invited the bishops to his place and then ordered her to enter. Entering the place where the bishops were gathered, she fell to the floor and grabbed the saint’s legs. Nonna the Bishop. “I beg you, my lord,” she said, “be an imitator of your teacher, the Lord Jesus, pour out your kindness on me, make me a Christian. I, my lord, am a sea of ​​sins and an abyss of wickedness. I ask you to baptize me.” Barely St. the bishop could convince her to stand up. Then he said to her: “Church rules command that a sinner should not be baptized unless she presents guarantors that she will no longer wallow in sins.” After hearing this decision, she again fell to the floor and grabbed the saint’s legs. bishop and, washing them with tears, said: “You will give an answer to God for my soul and I will lay the wickedness of my deeds on you if you begin to put off the baptism of the vile sinner; You will not find a share with God with the saints if you do not remove me from my evil deeds.” Then all the bishops and the assembled clergy, seeing such a sinner so ardently desiring piety, said: “We have never seen such faith as the faith of this sinner.” They immediately sent me, a deacon, to the bishop of the city to inform him about everything and ask his beatitude to order one of the deaconesses to be sent. Hearing this, he said: “Okay, venerable father.” He immediately sent with me the first of the deaconesses, Mrs. Romana. She found her still at the feet of Bishop Nonnus. He could barely lift her. “Rise, daughter, to perform the spell, confess all your sins.” She answered: “If I look at my heart, I do not find a single good deed in myself. I know my sins, they are more than the sand in the sea. I trust in your God, that He Himself will weigh the weight of my sins and look upon me.” Then Bishop Nonnus asked: “What is your name?” “My parents,” she said, “named me Pelagia, and the citizens of Antioch call me Margaret; according to the heaviness of the ornaments with which my sins have adorned me, I am beauty and a vessel of the devil.” The holy bishop said: “Is your natural name Pelagia?” “Exactly,” she answered. Then the bishop performed a spell on her and baptized her, placed the seal of the Lord on her and gave her the Body of Christ. Her spiritual mother was Mrs. Romana, the first deaconess. Taking her, she brought her to the chamber of the catechumens, because we were there too. St. Bishop Nonnus said to me: “Brother Deacon, let us now rejoice with the Angels of God, in addition to custom we will eat food with oil and accept wine with spiritual joy for the sake of the salvation of this maiden.” While we were eating, suddenly we heard a cry as if from a person being crushed. The devil shouted: “Alas, alas, what am I suffering from this old man? The 30,000 Arabs you took away and baptized and brought to your God are not enough for you. Iliopolis is not enough for you, which was also mine; all its inhabitants honored me, but you took it away and brought it to your God. Now you have taken away my best hope from me. And I can't stand your tricks. Cursed is the day on which you were born." Then, turning to the newly baptized girl, he said: “What are you doing, my lady Pelagia? You are imitating Judas. He, crowned with honor, betrayed his Lord, and you did the same to me.” Holy Bishop Nonnus tells her: “Protect yourself with the cross of Christ and curse it.” She signed herself in the name of Christ, blew on the demon - and he immediately disappeared. Two days later, when she was sleeping with Saint Romana, the devil appeared to her at night, woke up God’s servant Pelagia and said: “My lady Margaret, are you not enriched with gold and silver? Have I not adorned you with pearls and stones? Why are you offended? Answer me, and I will do everything for you, just don’t make me the laughing stock of Christians.” Then the servant of God Pelagia became famous and, blowing on the demon, said: “My God, who snatched me from your teeth and brought me into His heavenly palace, may He arise for me against you.” And the devil did not appear again. On the third day after her baptism, Saint Pelagia called her servant, who was in charge of everything, and said to him: “Go to my dressing room and copy everything that is in silver and gold, in finery, in expensive clothes, and bring it to me.” The servant fulfilled the will of the mistress and brought her all the property. She immediately, through her mother Saint Romana, invited the holy Bishop Nonnus and transferred all her property into his hands. “Here, sir,” she said, “are the riches that Satan has endowed me with. I hand them over to the will of your holiness: do with them what you want. I need to desire the gifts of my Lord Jesus Christ.” He called the senior custodian of the church and, in her presence, gave all the property into his hands. “I adjure you,” he said, “inseparably by the Trinity, none of this should go to the bishop’s house or to the church, but everything should be distributed to the poor, widows and orphans; let what was poorly collected be squandered wisely...” She invited all her servants and maidservants and gave everyone freedom. She gave them gold chains and said: “Hurry to free yourself from the wicked world, so that just as we were together in this century, so we could be together in that blessed life.” On the eighth day, when it was necessary to take off the white clothes, getting up at night, which we did not know, she took off her baptismal clothes and put on the hair shirt and cassock of the holy Bishop Nonnus and from that time disappeared from the city of Antioch. Saint Romana wept for her, but Saint Nonnus consoled her and said: “Do not cry, daughter, but rejoice: Pelagia chose good will, like Mary, whom the Lord preferred to Martha.” Pelagia went to Jerusalem and built herself a cell on the Mount of Olives, where the Lord prayed. The bishops were each released to their own city. Three or four years later, I, Deacon Jacob, wanted to go to Jerusalem to worship the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and I asked my bishop for permission to go. As he released me, he said: “Brother deacon! When you come to Jerusalem, look there for a certain brother Pelagius, a monk and eunuch, living in seclusion for several years, truly you will benefit from him.” He spoke secretly about God's servant Pelagia. I came to Jerusalem, bowed to St. resurrection of our Lord and the next day I found the servant of God. I found him on the Mount of Olives, where the Lord prayed, in a small locked cell with a small window in the wall. I knocked on the window. She opened the door and recognized me, but I did not recognize her. How could I recognize the one whom I had once seen as a beauty and who was now dry from fasting? Her eyes seemed to have sunk into depressions. She said to me: “Where did you come from, brother?” “I was sent to you by Bishop Nonnos,” I answered. “May he pray for me! He is truly a saint of God,” she said. And she immediately closed the window and began to sing for the third hour. I prayed at the wall of her cell and then left with great benefit because I saw the Angel. Returning to Jerusalem, I began to visit the monasteries. The great glory of Mr. Pelagius spread throughout the monasteries. Therefore, I decided to visit him again in order to take advantage of his saving instructions. When I came to the cell woman and began to push and call even by name, there was no answer. I waited another and a third day, called Pelagia by name, and heard nothing. Therefore, I said to myself: either there is no one here, or the monk has left. Then he said to himself: I’ll see if he’s dead? I opened the window, looked - and I saw the deceased. Having closed the window and covered it with clay, I hastened to Jerusalem with the news: St. Monk Pelagius, who performed miracles, died. Then the holy fathers came with monks from different monasteries and the entrance to the cell was opened. The holy body was taken out and laid there like a jewel. When the holy fathers anointed him with myrrh, they learned that she was a woman. They wanted to hide it, but the people found out, and everyone exclaimed: “Glory to you, Lord Jesus, that you have hidden on earth not only men, but also wives.” The rumor spread everywhere, and all the monasteries of virgins came, both from Jericho and from the Jordan, with candles, lamps and hymns. The holy remains were buried with honor by St. fathers. Thus, purified by the waters of baptism, Pelagia became so elevated in four years of selfless life that she performed miracles during her lifetime. According to the time of the Iliopolis pastorate of St. Nonna must assume that St. Pelagia died no later than 461. The Western pilgrim Antoninus in 600 saw the relics of St. Pelagia. Russian abbot Daniel in the 12th century. wrote: “On the Mount of Olives there is a deep cave, near the Ascension of the Lord, at noon, and in that cave there is the tomb of St. Pelagia the harlot.” The monk Zosima said in 1420: “The second church (on the Mount of Olives) is small, in it is Pelagia the harlot and her tomb is like an elbow from the wall and ole miracle! She won’t let anyone who wants to pass by her tomb unless he’s worthy.” Mary of the Desert is an example of equal-angelic life. In one of the Palestinian monasteries, the monk Zosima was famous for his strict life, under Emperor Justin the Elder (518–526), ​​in the vicinity of Caesarea. He was even known for his miracles and the gift of clairvoyance. He lived for 50 years in his desert solitude and, however, wanted to see examples of higher life for his edification. At one time, the man of God said to him: “To see what other ways of salvation there are, go to the Jordan monastery.” Zosima went to the indicated monastery. “I have come for edification,” he said to the monk-gatekeeper. “Let everyone pay attention to himself,” he answered, “and do things with a sober sense with the help of God; but since your love wanted to see us, humble, live with us.” Zosima soon became convinced of the strict life of the elders of the monastery. They were constantly busy either with psalmody or handicrafts; no idle word came out of their mouth. They cared neither about income nor about the comforts of life; they cared only about the mortification of the body. Teaching in the word of God was the most pleasant food for them. For a long time, such a rule was observed in the monastery. Before the onset of Great Lent, on Sunday, the sacrament was performed, as usual, and everyone partook of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Having taken some food, everyone gathered in the church, and after kneeling prayer, the monks said goodbye to one another; and everyone, falling before the abbot, asked to pray for him. The gates opened and people came out singing the verses: “Lord my Enlightenment and my Savior, whom will I fear?” (Ps. 26:1). One or two remained to guard the monastery (however, there was nothing for the thieves to steal), and to actually perform the service. Everyone supported themselves as they wanted or could. One carried with him a loaf of bread, another some dates, another some soaked beans, and the other had nothing but clothes. They ate, when the needs of nature required, desert herbs. The rule was not to meet one another. Having crossed the Jordan, they walked away from each other... Everyone lived for themselves and God, constantly singing psalms and eating food at certain times. This is how they spent the entire period of fasting, and before the bright day of the Resurrection of Christ they returned to the monastery to celebrate the Feast of Vaii with vaiyas, according to the order of the church. According to the rules of the monastery, Zosima also went out into the desert for his post. He walked for 20 days in the Jordanian desert with a secret premonition of something special. One day at noon he was praying earnestly with his face turned to the east, and suddenly he saw someone flashing past him like a ghost. Fearing seduction, he protected himself with the sign of the cross and continued his prayer. Having finished it, he turned and saw someone quietly walking past him. The naked body of the walker is burned by the sun, his hair is short and white as snow. Convinced that he was seeing one of the holy inhabitants of the desert, from whom he could learn spiritual perfection, Zosima burned with a desire to know the life of the wondrous hermit. Forgetting his years, he ran after the one who had appeared. He tried to get away from the elder and ran across the dry river bed. Zosima shouted: “Whoever you are, servant of God, take pity on the frail old man who wants to ask for your prayers and blessings. Why are you running away from me, poor sinner? Remember that God Himself, Whom you serve, does not reject anyone.” At the edge of the riverbed, Zosima heard the answer: “I beg you by God, blessed Zosima, do not come closer to me anymore; if you want to talk to me, throw me your cloak; Having covered my nakedness, I will ask you to bless the sinner.” Surprised that he was called by name by a woman who was not at all known to him, Zosima realized that she knew him by revelation. He threw his cloak with holes to her and turned away. Then the stranger, covered with a cloak, crossed to his bank and fell at his feet, asking for a blessing. Delighted with joy and with a feeling of respect, Zosima also bowed and asked for blessings. In this touching struggle of the saints’ humility, the hermit defended her desire by saying that she was a sinner wife. Zosima also pointed out his unworthiness. “You have the sacred right to bless me and call upon me grace, you are a presbyter,” said the one who appeared. “She also knows that I am a presbyter,” thought Zosima, and became even more convinced that this was an extraordinary man of God. “I see, blessed mother,” said Zosima, “that the Spirit of God rests on you and that, having killed yourself for the world, you have risen to the level of the All-Merciful by your piety: didn’t He Himself reveal to you my name and my dignity? The abundance of grace living in you is higher than my rank, which without piety is condemnation for me. Therefore, I beg you with the love of our Savior, bless me and pray for the sinner who needs your prayers.” The desert woman obediently said: “Merciful God, guardian of our souls and bodies, may he be blessed forever.” “Amen,” answered Zosima. They stood up. “Why did you come to the sinner? No, not you, but God brought you to give me spiritual alms. Tell me, St. Father, what is the state of Christianity? How is the Church of God governed?” - said the hermit. “By the goodness of Jesus Christ, God gave lasting peace,” answered Zosima and asked the servant of God to pray for the whole world. Yielding to this new persistent request, like the previous one, the one who appeared turned to the east, raised her hands to the sky and began to pray so quietly that Zosima could not hear her words. The prayer flowed to the sky for quite a long time. Zosima sees with amazement that the one praying has risen from the ground into the air more than an elbow. Struck and frightened, the elder fell to the ground and repeated the words: “Lord Jesus Christ! Have mercy on me, a sinner.” She finished the prayer and, approaching Zosima, said: “Why, blessed one, are you falling into this confusion? I am not a spirit, as you suspect, I am body and bones, I am a sinner, but I am worthy of holy baptism.” Then she protected her forehead, eyes and chest with the sign of the cross and said: “May the Lord deliver us from the temptations of the demon by the power of the Holy Cross.” Zosima, confident that he saw the chosen servant of God, threw himself at her feet and begged to tell her who she was, how long she had lived in the desert and what kind of life she led? He imagined that it was not idle curiosity that asked her about this, but a sincere desire to find out for himself and others what was necessary for the salvation of the soul. “I come from Egypt,” said the hermit, “I was no more than 12 years old when, preferring criminal freedom to the duty to feed my parents, I went to Alexandria... Without horror I cannot remember what kind of life I led there. For almost 17 years I indulged in the most terrible debauchery, and not in order to receive money, but only in order to satisfy lusts; I did not ask my lovers for money, as long as they served me. Living like this, in the year 29, I saw on a summer day many people from Egypt and Libya who were heading to the sea in crowds. I asked someone: what does this mean? They answered me that these people were sailing to Palestine to celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross in Jerusalem. I decided to go with them. I had nothing to pay for moving and food, but I was sure that my crimes would provide me with everything I needed. With the impudence of a shameless libertine, I became attached to the young people and entered the ship with them. On the way she drowned in abominations and did the same in Jerusalem. When the holiday came, I went to church with others. But when I reached the door, an invisible hand forcefully threw me away from the entrance. Everyone entered, and no one stopped anyone. Three and four times I tried to enter the church, and each time an invisible hand threw me back into the square. Full of embarrassment and shame, I stood on the porch in the corner and thought about the reason for the extraordinary circumstance. She explained herself to me, only I glanced at the abomination of my life. Grace penetrated my heart, and I burst into hot tears, beat my chest silently and was tormented. Sobbing and groaning, I raised my eyes and saw that I was standing in front of the icon of the Mother of God. I turned to Her with a prayer to have mercy on the sinner, to open her entrance to St. church. I prayed for a long time and with some hope I went to the church doors. I was overcome with trepidation before entering, but I entered the church. I entered and, together with others, bowed to the Life-Giving Cross. Prostrated before Him, I was amazed in awe that He would allow such a criminal to approach Him. Returning to the image of the Most Holy Theotokos, I poured out gratitude for Her mercy and begged Her with hot tears to show me the path of repentance. Then I heard a voice from afar: “Cross the Jordan, and there you will find peace.” I felt that this applied to me, and with hot tears I exclaimed: “Mistress, Lady! Don't leave me! Then I decided to follow the voice. As I was leaving, someone handed me three coins with the words: “Take it, Nonna!” I bought three loaves of bread with them and, having learned the way beyond the Jordan, set off. I walked all day, shedding tears, and at sunset I reached the Church of John the Baptist on the Jordan. Having prayed, I washed my face and hands in the waters of the sacred river and returned to the church, where I attended the service. Having eaten half of one of the three loaves, I fell asleep on the ground, and in the morning I crossed the Jordan in a canoe. So I reached the desert and since then, alone, detached from people, I live here in anticipation of God’s mercy, strengthening with its grace those who repent and sincerely convert.” The hermit woman brought confession to Zosima about her sinful life, but did not say anything about how she lived in the desert. Therefore, Zosima again asked her to reveal how long she had been in the desert, what she ate and what she experienced? “About forty-seven years have passed,” she answered, “since I left Jerusalem into the desert. I had two and a half loaves left when I crossed the Jordan; I ate them little by little and then ate grass. My struggle lasted 17 years. She was such that I now shudder. On the one hand, I suffered unspeakably from hunger and thirst. The torment was intensified by the memory of delicious food and wine from the days of my debauchery. The evil spirit resurrected in my thoughts with all vividness the dissolute songs that I sang, and the vile, lustful pictures of my innumerable crimes. On the other hand, the clothes in which I went out completely fell apart, and I was exposed to all the changes, all the cruelties of the seasons: now the sun burned with hot rays, now the cold enveloped me. Then I fell to the ground, burned or frozen, I felt that I was dying, and thousands of temptations attacked me with demonic force. In this inexplicably cruel state, the Most Holy Theotokos was a refuge. I sobbed bitterly and, hitting myself on the chest, prostrated myself on the ground and prayed to the Lady not to deprive me of help. After sobbing and pleading, light illuminated my soul and peace returned to my heart. The merciful Queen did not refuse me her help. “Remembering,” the hermit continued, what evils the Lord delivered me from, I feed on incorruptible food, the hope of salvation, I feed and cover myself with the word of God, who contains everything. “Man does not live by bread alone” (Deut. 8:3). When Zosima heard that the hermit was pronouncing the words of the Holy Scripture, he asked her: how does she know the Holy Scripture? She smiled and said, “that she had never studied in the world, nor in the desert had she heard anyone read books to her; The voice of God, living and active, resounding in my heart, is my only mentor. But enough, enough about me, I have fulfilled your wish.” Falling at the feet of Zosima, she asked to bless her. He said with tears: “Blessed be the God who performs miracles! May He be blessed and merciful to me.” The hermit stood up and, holding back Zosima, who was ready to fall at her feet, said: “I beg you in the name of the Savior not to say anything about me to anyone until I die. Next year you should not leave the monastery with others at the beginning of Lent, and it will be impossible to leave; On Maundy Thursday, come to the bank of the Jordan and bring a vessel with the Body and Blood of Christ, so that I may be worthy to partake of the Holy Mysteries. Let me know about. John, the abbot, to look after his flock - there is much in it that needs correction. But you will talk about this after you involve me.” The following year, Zosima lay sick when the brethren went out into the desert at the beginning of Lent. He then remembered the words of the hermit. On Maundy Thursday he went with the Holy Gifts to the Jordan. In the evening he sees a saint on the other side. She made the cross over the water and walked on the water as if on dry land. She asked to read the Creed and the Lord's Prayer “Our Father.” When she partook of the Body and Blood of the Lord, she raised her hands to heaven and said: “Now You are releasing Your servant, O Master, according to Your word in peace; my eyes have seen the salvation of my soul.” Then, turning to the elder, she said: “And you, Father Zosima, create love for me, do not refuse to come in the next Lent to the place where you and I spoke for the first time.” She took only three grains of lentils and set off across the river as she had come, but the water felt like walking on dry land. The next year Zosima came to the place where he first saw the hermit. Here he saw the dead body of the righteous woman and watered her feet with tears. He began to sing psalms, but hesitated, where to bury her? The face of the deceased was turned to the east, and near her head he sees the words in the sand: “Abba Zosima! Bury the body of poor Mary here and, having interred the earth, pray for her who goes to the Lord after communion of the Holy Supper.” Zosima buried the saint's body in a hole dug by a lion who came to the service of the righteous woman. The death of the equal-angel Mary followed in 522, April 7th. Zosima, returning to Cenobia, retold everything he saw and heard about Mary, to the glory of God. St. Maria Mastridia and two unknown ascetics When the story of the wondrous Mary became known, the lofty exploits of the equal-angel Mary, her wondrous hope in the Lord, which turned out to be so faithful and strong, inspired more than one virgin to perform more or less difficult exploits. About one ascetic who died during the life of St. Kiriyaka and, therefore, before 557, when St. Kiriyak, says Cyril in the life of St. Kiriyaka. John, disciple of St. Father Kiriyak the hermit, writes Kirill, told me the following: “Several years before this, my friend, brother Paramon, and I went to Father Kiriyak. And then in the distance we see a man standing. We, thinking that he was a hermit, hastened to approach him to bow to him. When we approached this place, he disappeared from our eyes. We were frightened at the thought of whether it was an evil spirit. They began to pray, and, having prayed, looked around, here and there, and found a cave. “Of course, the servant of God is here,” we said, “he hid from us here.” Approaching the cave, we asked that he show himself to us and not deprive us of his instructions and blessings. From the cave we heard the answer: “What benefit do you want from a woman, sinful and simple? Where are you going? “We are going to the hermit Kiriyak,” we said, “but reveal to us for God’s sake your name, your life and why did you come here?” She answered: “Go where you are going, and when you return, I will tell you.” We assured her with an oath that we would not leave until we heard about her life. Realizing that we would not leave her, she, without showing herself to us, told us about herself like this: “I am called Mary, I was a reader of psalms at the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, the evil spirit hurt many with me. I came to fear: lest I be guilty of temptation and lest I add sins to my sins. I prayed earnestly to God to deliver me from this misfortune. Once, my soul touched by the fear of God, I went to Siloam, filled a vessel with water, took a basket of soaked beans, left the holy city at night and, entrusting myself to God, went into the desert. God brought me here, and I have been living here for eighteen years; By the grace of God, neither my water ran out nor the beans in my basket diminished. Then I ask you - now go to Father Kiriyak and fulfill your service; when you return, visit me, poor thing.” Having heard this, we went to Father Kiriyak and told him everything that we had heard from Blessed Mary. Father Kiriyak, marveling, said: “Glory to You, our God, You have hidden holy men and women who secretly serve You. Go, my children,” he added, “to the saint of God and keep what he tells you.” Returning from Father Kiriyak, we came to the cave of blessed Mary. “Servant of God! - we said. “We came to you by your order.” But there was no answer. Entering the entrance to the cave, we said a prayer, but again there was no answer. Then we entered the cave itself and found the servant of God who had died in the Lord. A strong fragrance came from her holy body. We had nothing with us to dress her with. Having hastened to the monastery, we brought everything we needed; Having dressed her, they buried her in a cave and blocked the mouth of the cave with a stone.” The great ascetic Silas, who labored in an Arabian cave, in the monastery of Farah, spoke about another Palestinian desert woman. “Several years before this,” he told the brethren, “there lived a hermit near me, whom I loved very much. It was our custom to visit him on great holidays, bring him what he needed and receive his blessing. On Easter, I took some mantle, some beans and some bread and went to the elder, according to custom. According to God's providence, I had to get entangled in hills and wastelands; The heat of the day came, I began to exhaust myself from heat and labor. And I turned to the Lord with strong prayer. Exhausted from thirst and heat, I lay exhausted and fell into a subtle sleep. Someone comes up to me and says: “Be cheerful, Abba, you are not lost, and your work is not in vain.” When I woke up, I didn’t see anyone, but I joyfully thanked God; I prayed - and now I see traces of a man between the hills. I followed the tracks, I see a lot of brushwood and a cave; I began to call: “Bless me, father” - there was no answer. I approached again and saw another monk sitting in silence. We bowed to one another, and he told me to start praying. “This is your business, you are a presbyter,” he said. I refused, wanting to hide myself. “Why lie, Abba Presbyter?” - he said. We sat down, and I was at a loss as to whether it was the wife or the eunuch? “You, Abba, are confused about me, whether I am a wife or a eunuch,” he said. I was confused by these words. “Give me your word not to tell anyone about me until death, and I will tell you about myself,” said the desert man. “God knows,” I answered, “how much I wish to know about my exploits,” and I gave my word to remain silent. “I am the daughter of the Eparch of Constantinople,” she said, “the senator betrothed me to his son, being a friend to my father. I didn’t want to get married, but I didn’t tell my parents about it. My consolation was to practice prayer, and I prayed to the Lord to fulfill my secret desire. Once my father tells me: “Be ready for marriage, my daughter, the time has come.” “I can’t decide on that,” I answered, “before I fulfill my vow.” "Which?" - said the father. “I promised to worship the holy places,” I said. He jokingly says: “When you get married, then you will fulfill your promise - together with your husband.” “No,” I said decisively, “I promised to bow to the virgin - and this must be fulfilled: I can’t lie before God, it’s scary.” The parent relented. Many servants, maidservants, and 3,000 gold pieces were sent with me. We arrived by ship in the holy city. Having bowed to the holy places, I went to visit the Egyptian fathers. Near the great Lavra of Egypt I saw three great elders, one of them especially seemed to me like an angel. Upon returning to the holy city, it was necessary to return to Constantinople. I prepared two letters, one to my parents, the other to my younger brother, who was with me. In the last one I wrote that I cannot be married and devote my life to the Lord. When we were leaving the city, I told my brother that I needed to visit Gethsemane. Leaving the letters in my clothes, I went to Gethsemane with one maid. Then, leaving her here, she hurried alone to her great elder. With tears, I asked him to clothe me as a monk and give me the books that I saw with him. He fulfilled my request. After staying with him for a day, I told him: “Now bless me to go wherever the Lord commands.” Having prayed for me with tears, he gave me his books and sent me away in peace. Having placed my hopes in the Lord, I came to this desert and now I have been living in it for 28 years; You’re the first one I see here.” When she finished her story, I asked her to eat with me the food that was with me. “You need to eat food, you are tired, but I have other food,” she said. What was amazing for me was that, having lived in the desert for so many years, it had not lost its beauty. I didn’t feel thirsty in her cave, but I thought: something will happen after? She, responding to my thought, said: “Be calm, Abba, thirst will not torment you until you reach your cell.” Saying goodbye to her, I asked her: “Allow me to come to you for advice.” When I set off, I definitely didn’t feel thirsty. After some time I went to her, but no longer found her in the cave. For everything, glory to the Lord." About the third hermit, who labored in the same Jordanian desert where Mary, equal to the angels, lived, we read a story from John Moschus. “We came,” says Mosch, “to Abba John the Hermit, nicknamed the Fiery One. He told us what he himself heard from Abba John of Moab. In the holy city (Jerusalem) there was a virgin who dedicated herself to God, very pious and zealous (according to the Prologue, named Mastridia). The devil, envious of the virgin, ignited satanic love for her in one young man. The great maiden, understanding the tricks of the devil and seeing the dangerous situation of the young man, put some soaked beans in the basket and retired into the desert, so that through this she could both save the young man from temptation and find safety for herself in the desert. A lot of time has passed since then. So that her high feat would not remain unknown, at the discretion of God, one hermit of the Jordan desert saw her. "Mother! How did you come here? - he asked her. She, wanting to close her hermitage, answers the hermit: “Forgive me, I have lost my way, do me a favor, for God’s sake, father, show me the way.” The hermit, having been informed about her from above, says to her: “Mother! Be sure that you have not gone astray; you don't need another road; Tell me frankly, how did you come here?” Then the maiden answered: “Forgive me, Abba! One young man was tempted by me. Recognizing that it was better to be here than to serve as a temptation, I withdrew into the desert.” The elder continued: “How long have you been here?” She answered: “By the grace of Christ, seventeen years.” “What do you eat?” - asked the old man. She, taking out a basket with beans lying in it, said to the hermit: “This basket that you see went with me from the city with this food, but God showed me such mercy that since then I have been eating the same thing and the food has not diminished. Don’t forget, father, that God so covered me with his mercy that for 17 years no one saw me except you alone, although I saw others.” Hearing this, the hermit glorified God.” Death of St. Mastridia followed no later than 580. Here is another secret, wonderful Palestinian ascetic of the same time. “At a distance of about 20 thousand steps (40 versts) from Jerusalem,” says Blessed. John Mosch, - there is a monastery, the so-called Sapsas. From this monastery two fathers went to Mount Sinai to worship. Returning to the monastery, they told us the following. “Having bowed on the holy mountain and returning back (this happened to us), we got lost in the desert and rushed through it for a long time, as if on the sea. One day, seeing a small cave in the distance, we went to it. Approaching the cave, we saw a small spring, near it some grass and a human footprint; It’s true, we told ourselves, God’s servant lives here. Entering the cave, we did not see anyone, we only heard that someone was crying. Having examined carefully, we found something like a manger, and someone was lying in it. Approaching the servant of God, we asked him to tell us something. But when he didn’t answer, we took him. His body was still warm, but his soul went to the Lord. Then we learned that at the very time we were entering the cave, the servant of God died. Taking his body from the place in which it lay, they dug a grave in the same cave; one of us took off the robe he was wearing, and we began to wrap the body in it; Then they found that it was a wife, glorified God and, having completed the rule over her, buried her.” His death probably followed in 596. In order for the examples of zealous ascetics to be more powerful for us, let us repeat for ourselves the following instructions of Holy Scripture: “Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts” (Gal. 5:24). “Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2). “Let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16). You might be interested in: