Various stories about the holy fathers [laboring] in the desert of Mount Sinai

“Various stories about the holy fathers [laboring] in the desert of Mount Sinai” is the first of three collections of “Soulful Teachings” by St. Anastasia Sinaita. The work in its genre belongs to the Patericon and contains 39 short stories telling about the life and exploits of monks, hermits and ascetics who labored in the Sinai desert during the period of early Christianity. The collection includes stories about various forms of monastic feat: hermitage, communal monasticism, wandering. Each story reveals a unique aspect of the spiritual path and demonstrates different ways to achieve holiness. The book contains many valuable instructions and advice on spiritual life, combating passions, achieving virtues, and the correct attitude towards sorrows and temptations. Contents I, 1 I, 2 I, 3 I, 4 I, 5 I, 6 I, 7 I, 8 I, 9 I, 10 I, 11 I, 12 I, 13 I, 14 I, 15 I, 16 I, 17 I, 18 I, 19 I, 20 I, 21 I, 22 I, 23 I, 24 I, 25 I, 26 I, 27 I, 28 I, 29 I, 30 I, 31 I, 32 I, 33 I, 34 I, 35 I, 36 I, 37 I, 38 I, 39 Ten years ago, two of the fathers of the holy Mount Sinai, one of whom is still in the flesh, went out at night to worship at the Holy Summit. 1 And when they reached [a place located] two arrow flights from Saint Elijah, 2 they felt a certain fragrance, alien to [all] fragrances in the world. The student thought that the incense came from the paramonaria. 3 The elder, who was the spiritual mentor 4 [of the young monk] and who is still alive, said: “This is not an earthly fragrance.” Approaching the church, they saw inside it like a kind of oven with a fire kindled [in it], and this fire, like tongues, was knocked out through all the doors [of the oven]. The disciple, seeing this sight, was afraid, and the elder, encouraging him, said: “Why were you afraid, child? These are the angelic powers, and they are our fellow servants [in the Lord]. Do not be timid: in heaven they worship our nature, and we do not worship theirs [nature].” 5 And so they fearlessly entered the church, as into an oven, and there they prayed. And then we climbed to the Holy Peak when it was already dawn. The paramonarius, seeing their glorified and shining faces, as the face of Moses once [shone], asked: “As you rose, did you see something?” They, wanting to hide [their secret], answered: “No, father.” Then the paramonarius, being also a servant of the Lord, says to them: “I believe that you saw a certain vision, and now your faces shone with the glory of the Holy Spirit.” They, having fallen [to earth, brought] him repentance and asked him not to trust this to anyone, and then, after praying, they left in peace. Abba Misail the Iberian told us the following: “When I was a minister 6 at the Holy Summit, one night I stood inside the church and prayed, and all the doors were closed, and then I saw three men entering, although the doors did not open. One was dressed in an old hair shirt, and the other two wore coloviyas [woven] from palm fiber. 7 Seeing that I was watching them, they were surprised, and then they said to me: “Can we partake [of the Holy Mysteries], Mr. Brother?” I answered: “Yes, fathers, and if you allow, I will wake up the paramonary.” They said, "Don't worry." The door of the sacristy was locked, as was the box where the Holy Gifts were kept. When they approached the door, they fell on their faces, and immediately the door wings opened by themselves, as did the drawer. When [the men] took communion and left, the doors closed again behind them. And they became invisible." Again, John, the most holy abbot of the holy Mount Sinai, told us that not so long ago there was a certain paramonarius on the Holy Summit. One evening he went up [to the Summit] to perform incense there, 8 and suddenly thick snow fell, so that the mountain of the Holy Summit was covered with snow three or four cubits high. And [the paramonarius] was locked at the top, unable to come down. In those days, no one dared to sleep on the Holy Peak at all. And when the paramonary performed his rule, before dawn he dozed off and was [unexpectedly] transported by God: he ended up in Rome, in St. Peter's [Cathedral]. 9 The clergy [of the church], seeing him suddenly appearing in their midst, were stunned; Together with him they came to dad and told him about what had happened. According to the Economy of God, [the paramonary] discovered that on his belt [hanging] the keys to the doors, on which was written: “The Holy Peak of Mount Sinai.” The Holy Pope kept him with him, and [then] ordained him bishop of one of the cities subject to the see of Rome. He also asked [the paramonaria]: “What does the monastery need?” Having learned that he needed to set up a hospital, [the pope] sent money to set it up and a message, indicating in it everything that had happened to the paramonarius, indicating the month and day of this [event]. 10 I was the manager of this hospital for a short time. As everyone knows, Armenians have a custom of constantly coming to the holy Mount Sinai to pray. 11 Twenty years ago a large group 12 of them, numbering about eight hundred souls, arrived here. When they climbed the Holy Peak and reached the protruding holy rock, where Moses accepted the Law, terrible visions and miracles of God arose for these people in the holy place. As in ancient times, during the establishment of the law, the entire Holy Summit and all this people [who came from Armenia] found themselves in the middle of the fire. What seems most strange is that each saw how [the fire] did not touch or burn him personally, but he saw how the flame [enveloped] the other, and the other saw the next one [scorched by the flame]. For an hour, the trembling crowd exclaimed “Lord, have mercy!” - and the fire retreated without causing any harm to their hair or clothes; Only their staffs melted like wax during the [miraculous] vision and then went out. Preserving until the end [of their journey] these scorched and as if blackened, as if from fire, [staffs] as a sign, [the Armenian pilgrims] testified [to the miracle] in their land, proclaiming: “Now on the holy Mount Sinai the Lord again appeared in fire.” Nevertheless, some of the Saracens, who were above [during] the vision and seeing it, did not believe and did not stop blaspheming this holy place, [sanctified by the presence] on it of [many] icons and honorable crosses. And they should have understood and said the following: “If God had been blasphemed by Christians, He would not have created such visions as He did in Christian churches; After all, He did not do them with us, just as He does not do them in any [other] faith: in a synagogue of Jews or in a congregation of Arabs.” Another time, on the same Holy Summit, even before it was desecrated and polluted by the people now present there, 13 a certain brother serving the paramonarius took refuge inside the church, despising [the prohibition] 14 and telling [himself] that he was not doing anything unjust to Him who rested there. And the paramonary, believing that the student had preceded him and went down, performed incense in the holy place, closed the doors [of the church] and left. At night, a disciple, hiding in the church, got up to add [oil] to the lamps, and when he approached the first lamp, a spark from this lamp, by the command of God, struck him in the side. And from that moment on, one side [of his body], one arm and one leg withered away, and he remained half paralyzed until his death. Also, five years ago, one of the brothers, an Armenian by birth named Elisha, was a minister at the Holy Summit. As [a husband] pure and worthy, he, as he himself said, not once or twice, but almost every night saw a fire burning in the same church of God’s Law. And on the feast of Holy Pentecost, when the Holy Anaphora was celebrated on the Holy Summit and the priest uttered the Victory Song, 15 all the mountains responded three times with a thunderous voice: “Holy, Holy, Holy” - and this voice rumbled and continued for half an hour. He was heard, however, not by everyone, but only by those who had those ears about which Christ said: “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear” (Luke 8:8, 14:35). Someone else - one who was with the author from his mother’s womb, 16 said the following: “When three years ago I ascended the Holy Mountain from the desert, then three days before the holiday of the Holy Summit at night I saw, as if in an adventure from myself, 17 myself staying in the same palace. And someone asked me: “Why did you come here, Mr. Abba?” And when I replied that I had come to worship the King with all my heart, he said to me: “If so, then, if you ask, rise to Him before He begins to accept the masses [of other people]. And what you ask for, He will truly give you.” And so it happened, glory to Him! For when I came to my senses after the vision,” he continued his story, “and began to talk about what I had seen and heard, I asked [to help me] to the servants at this holy place; then, taking the presbyter and everything necessary, the day before the holiday he ascended to the Holy Peak, and there we performed divine services. I asked God [for what I needed], and He granted my request, as [subsequent] events experimentally testify to.” Some time ago, according to the economy of the Lord, a pestilence occurred in our desert, and a certain holy and virtuous father reposed; he was buried in the tomb of his fathers. The next day, he also died, but only one of the careless brothers, who was buried over the remains of the holy man. And one day later another father died; when they came [to the tomb] to lay his body, they discovered that the holy man had thrown the remains of his sinful brother to the ground. [The people who came], believing that this happened by chance and not miraculously, lifted the remains of their brother from the ground and again laid them on the [holy] father. But when they came in the morning, [the brothers] found that their father had again thrown off his [sinful] brother. Our holy father hegumen, having learned about this, came to the tomb and said to the deceased elder: “John, called Abba John, during your life you were meek and long-suffering.” Then, taking with his own hands the remains of the [negligent] brother, he placed them on top of the elder and again said to him: “Bear with your brother, Abba John, even though he was a sinner, as God endures the sins of the world.” And from that day on, the elder no longer threw off his brother’s remains. Forty miles from the Holy Mountain there is a gloomy and very harsh place called Turva. One venerable old man and his disciple lived in it. From Constantinople came two excuvites, 18 twin brothers, who, having renounced [the world], retired to the Holy Mountain under our holy abbot John. After spending two years in the monastery, they retired to live as a hermit in Turva, where the great elder lived. After living there for some time, they died. The elder and his disciple, taking their remains, went and buried them in the same cave. A few days later the elder also died; the disciple, who naturally revered him, placed his remains between the bodies of two excuvites. On the third day, he came to the cave to burn incense for the elder and discovered that the Excuvites had thrown away the remains of [the teacher], about which he was greatly grieved. And again he put [the elder between them], and when he came next time, he again found the same thing; the same way for the third time. Then the disciple began to complain, saying to himself: “Perhaps the elder adhered to [some] heresy in his soul or had an unforgiven sin, and therefore the newcomers have already cast him off three times, casting him out from among them?” When he was reasoning with himself like this in tears, at night two Excubites appeared before him and said: “Believe me, man, the elder was not a heretic and had no guilt, but [truly] is a servant of Christ. But you - how can you not understand that we were born together, served the earthly king together as warriors, renounced [the world] together, were buried together and present ourselves to Christ together. And you divided us and put another between us.” Seeing and hearing this, the brother was convinced and glorified God. Abba Martyrius, who tonsured the holy father of our abbot, lived for some time in the Gulf of St. Anthony on the other side of the Red Sea. And while he was there, there was an attack by some wild barbarians on the inhabitants of the mountains there: the barbarians devastated the place and killed six fathers. 19 Among them was Abba Konom, a man of vision and endowed with the gift of prophecy. Abba Martyrius, taking the bodies of the slain, placed them in one cave, the entrance to which he blocked with a large slab and covered with lime; [on the slab] inscribed the names of the saints. After some time, he came to see if a hyena or some other wild animal had dug up [the entrance] to the coffin. Arriving, he found that both the inscriptions and the protection of the coffin were intact, but, rolling away [the slab] and going inside, he discovered that two bodies - Abba Konon and another great elder - had been moved somewhere by God, and only He knew where. The same Abba Martyrius, when he tonsured the holy father of our abbot John, who had reached the age of twenty, took him and went to the pillar of our desert, John Sav[v]ait, who lives in the Gudda desert and has a disciple who lived with him - Abba Stephen the Cappadocian. 20 When Elder Savait saw them, he stood up, poured water into a small basin, washed the disciple’s feet and kissed his hand, but did not wash Abba Martyria, his [spiritual] leader, feet. This led Abba Stephen into temptation. When Abba Martyrius and his disciple left, John, seeing with a discerning eye the temptation of his disciple, said to him: “Why were you tempted? Believe me, I don’t know who this boy is, but I received the abbot of Sinai and washed the abbot’s feet.” And forty years later [this John] became our abbot, according to the elder’s prophecy. 21 Not only Abba John Sav[v]ait, but also Abba Strategies the Recluse, although he did not go out anywhere, saw Abba John on the day when he was tonsured by abbot Abba Anastasius, 22 descending from the Holy Summit. Calling Abba Martyrius and the youth himself, [Strategos] said to the elder: “Tell me, Abba Martyrius, where is this youth from and who tonsured him?” Abba Martyrius answered him: “He, father, is my disciple and your servant, and abbot Abba Anastasius tonsured him.” Then Abba Stratigius said to him: “Oh, Abba Martyrius, who will dare to tell Abba Anastasius that today he tonsured the [future] abbot of Sinai?” 23 Worthy, truly and justly, the holy fathers prophesied about our All-Holy Father John. For he was adorned and shone with every virtue, so that the fathers of the place called him the second Moses. At least, when about six hundred strangers came here and they sat down and began to eat food, our holy father John saw a certain [husband], cut short and dressed in clothes of fine linen in the Jewish style, who was in authority, giving orders to cooks, housekeepers, cellarers and other servants. After the crowd [of strangers] had left, and the servants had sat down to eat, our father began to look for the one who was walking around and giving orders, but he did not find him. Then [our] abbot, the servant of Christ, said: “Leave him. Mister Moses did not do anything strange while serving in his own place.” There was also another [ascetic] here, nicknamed the Isaurian, a spirit-bearing man abounding in the gift of healing. Again, in the [monastery] hospital, a paralytic lay, and [one day] our Lady Theotokos appeared before him and said to him: “Go to the abbot: he will pray over you and you will be cured.” Relaxed, dragging [his body], he went out and came to the abbot. According to the Economy of God, when he knocked [at the gate], there was no one except the abbot who would come out and open it for him. When he came out and opened [the gate], the paralytic said to him: “I will not let you go, because the Mother of God sent to you.” Strongly compelled [by the requests of the paralytic], the elder took off his belt, saying: “Take it and girdle yourself with it.” When the paralytic put on the belt, he immediately stood up and walked, thanking and praising God. The area [called] Arcelaia, where I lived for three years, is difficult to reach due to the rapid flows from the melting snow. I met two fathers living there, [originally] Armenians - Abba Agathon and Abba Elijah, a presbyter. One day Abba Elijah says to Abba Agathon: “Brother, get ready, because within ten days you will go to the Lord, for today I saw you dressed in a new himation and going to the royal wedding feast. When you knocked [on the door], I heard the voice of the Master of the House saying: “It’s good that you came, Abba Agathon. Prepare a place and open it to him.” And so it happened: within five days, Abba Agathon departed to the Lord. In the same area lived Abba Michael Iver, who died to the Lord five years ago. This Michael acquired a disciple named Eustathius, who came to Babylon wanting [doctors] to examine his hand. 24 [He related the following]. 25 Abba Michael fell [seriously] ill, and Eustathius was with him, sobbing. And the cemetery of the local [deceased] fathers was [at that time] difficult to reach and [the path to it] was very dangerous due to a landslide that [blocked the road] with smooth stones. Abba Michael said to Eustathius: “Son, take me so that I can wash myself and partake of [the Holy Mysteries].” When this happened, Mikhail again told him: “You know, child, that the path down to the cemetery is dangerous and slippery, and if I die, then you will put yourself in danger by lowering and carrying me there, for you can fall and die on the steep slope. Therefore, you and I will go quietly together.” After they descended, the elder said a prayer, kissed Eustathius affectionately and said: “Peace be with you, child, and pray for me.” Then, filled with joy and jubilation, he lay down in the tomb and went to the Lord. When a year ago our most holy abbot John, the new and second Moses, was about to depart to the Lord, Bishop George, his brother, came to him and, lamenting, said: “Behold, you are leaving me and going away. But I prayed that you would send me [to the Lord] before you. For without you I am not able to shepherd my flock.” 26 Abba John answered him: “Do not grieve or be sad, for if I find boldness towards God, 27 I will not leave you [alone], and you will not even satisfy the annual cycle [of your life].” And so it happened: within ten months after the winter days had passed, the bishop departed to the Lord in peace. In the same area of ​​Arcelaia, which was discussed above, 28 there was Abba George, nicknamed Arcelaite, who became famous in our desert, about whose many and great miracles many [men] told us. 29 Of these miracles, I will try to briefly dwell on only a few. When the route from Palestine was captured by the barbarians, there was a great shortage of oil on the Holy Mountain. Then the abbot went down to Arcelaia and called on the man of God George to ascend the Holy Mountain. Not being able to disobey the abbot, George climbed up with him [to the Mountain], and the abbot led him into the oil storage room, asking him to pray over the pithoi, which were 30 completely empty. Abba gently said to the abbot: “Father, let us say a prayer over only one pithos, for if we say a prayer over everyone, we will plunge into oil [as into the sea].” They said a prayer over one pithos and immediately oil began to gush out as if from a spring. The elder then said to the serving [new monks]: “Draw it up and pour it into the remaining pithoi.” When all the [vessels] were filled, the [first] pithos stopped pouring out [oil], as it once happened to Elisha (see 2 Kings 4:2–6). After this, the abbot wanted to name the pithos after Abba George, but he told him: “If you ever do this, the oil will dry up, and therefore call the pithos after the name of our Holy Lady Theotokos.” And so it happened. And this pithos has been preserved to this day, and above it hangs an unquenchable lamp attached [to the wall] in the name of the Holy Mother of God. 31 One day, eight hungry Saracens came to the same righteous George, but he had nothing of this world so that he could give them something, for he only had the fruits of wild capers, which with their bitterness could kill a camel. Seeing the Saracens suffering terribly from hunger, the elder said to one of them: “Take your bow, cross this hill, and you will find a herd of wild goats. Shoot the one you want, but don’t try to shoot the other.” The Saracen went, as the elder told him, shot one goat, grabbed and stabbed it. When he tried to shoot another, his bow broke. Having arrived and brought meat, he told his comrades about what had happened to him. 32 That blessed [husband] resurrected, sealing with the sign of the cross, his disciple, who had been bitten by an asp 33 and who was already ready to give up the ghost, and tore the asp, like a locust, with his own hands. He forbade his student to talk about this until his death. And how [amazing] was the death of this great father, or, better, his passing through death to eternal life! 34 For having fallen ill in his cave, where he lay on a mat, he sent a Christian Saracen to Aila, 35 so that he would call his beloved [brother] elder and say to him: “Come, so that I may say goodbye to you before I go to the Lord.” And the journey [to Ayla] was two hundred miles away. 36 After twelve days, the elder, lying on the mat, said to his disciple: “Hurry up and light the fire, 37 for the brethren are already approaching.” And as soon as the student lit the fire, the [sent] Saracen and the beloved [brother] of the elder from Aila immediately entered the cave. The elder said a prayer, hugged both [those who came] and, having received the Holy Mysteries, lay down [on his mat] and went to the Lord. Abba Kiriak told us about Abba Stefan, his mentor. 38 When the elder, according to him, was in Malakhan - a place, due to the melting of snows, difficult to reach and almost inaccessible (I myself had once been there), forty miles from the Holy Mountain, which was very difficult to walk - then the elder planted greens there, 39 which he used for food, for he did not eat anything else. One day wild pigs came, they ate the plants and devastated [the field]. One day, when the elder was sitting and lamenting, he saw a leopard passing by and called him. The beast sat down at his feet, and the old man said to him: “Create love and do not leave here, but guard my little garden - you will catch wild pigs and eat them.” And the leopard remained with the old man for a long time, guarding his small vegetables until the old man departed to the Lord with joy. 40 The divine John Savvait 41 also stayed in the same area of ​​Malakhan together with the great Demetrius, the royal senior physician. 42 One day they saw the footprint of a huge dragon on the sand of a mountain stream. 43 Demetrius said to the great John: “Abba, let’s leave here, otherwise the beast will attack us.” Abba John answered him: “Let’s better pray.” When they began to pray, the beast was two stages away from them. 44 And so they see how, at God’s command, this beast suddenly rose up to the clouds, and then fell to the ground with a roar and crumbled into many small parts. Abba John the Roman, a disciple of the wonderful John Sav[v]aite, who was discussed above, told me the following: “When we lived in Arcelaia, one day an adult wild pig brought her little cub, dragging him in her teeth, and laid him, who was blind, at the feet of the old man. Seeing the cub's blindness, the saint spat on the ground, made clay, anointed the cub's eyes with it - and he immediately received his sight. 45 His mother, approaching, affectionately fell at the feet of the old man, and then, taking the cub, happily jumped away. The very next day she brought the old man a heavy head of cabbage, dragging it in her mouth with great difficulty. The holy man, smiling, said to her: “Where did you bring it from? Perhaps you stole it from your fathers’ gardens? 46 But I don’t eat stolen things. Therefore, take [the head of cabbage] and take it back to where you took it from.” And as if ashamed, the animal took a head of cabbage and took it to the garden from where it had been stolen.” 47 Another time, as he says, 48 ​​there was a great drought in the desert: large herds of wild goats gathered, and they passed through all the mountains and parts of Arcelaia in search of drinking water, but did not find it. It was the month of August. And when their entire [huge] herd was close to dying of thirst, the goats climbed to the top of the highest mountain in the desert, and all these animals, fixing their eyes to the sky, unanimously let out a cry, as if they were crying out to the Creator. Since, according to him, they did not leave their place while praising the Lord, it was only in this one place that the rain fell. They got drunk, according to the words of the prophet: “He who gives their food to the cattle, and the chick of the raven that calls upon Him” (Ps. 146:9). This chapter, worthy of narration and memory, shows that slander is [a sin] terrible and painful. 49 The same wonderful John Sav[v]ait said the following: “Once, when I was in the farthest desert, a brother from the monastery came to visit me. I asked him how things were going with the fathers. He replied: “According to your prayers, good.” Next I asked him about a certain brother who had a bad reputation and fame. He replied: “I believe, father, that he has not gotten rid of such fame.” Hearing this, I said [with condemnation]: “Ugh!” And as soon as I said this “Oof!”, I found myself, as if in a state of being out of myself during sleep, opposite the holy Golgotha, where the Lord was crucified between two thieves. I wanted to approach and prostrate myself before Him, and He, seeing this, in a loud voice commanded the Angels standing next to Him: “Cast him out, because he is the Antichrist for me, for he condemned his brother even before My Judgment.” When I was expelled and found myself behind the door, my cloak got caught and got stuck in the door, which was closed. I left him there and woke up immediately. I said to [my brother] who came to me: “This is a bad day for me.” And he asked: “Why, father?” Then I told him about what I saw and said: “Believe me, my cloak is God’s cover over me, but I have lost it.” From that day, as if giving glory to the Lord, I spent seven years wandering through the deserts, not eating bread, not having a roof over my head, and not meeting [any] person until I [again] saw the Lord, who allowed me to return my cloak.” Having heard this about the wonderful John, we can only say: “If the righteous can barely be saved, where will the wicked, sinful and fornicator appear?” (1 Pet. 4:18). Orent became a wonderful offspring of our desert, 50 about whose amazing deeds our holy father hegumen and some other fathers tell. As the [abbot] says, this [husband], in order to ignite the lamp of the Holy Spirit within himself, extinguished the flame of visible fire, constantly taking hot coals with his hands and lighting the censer with them. One day, when some strangers came to visit him, the elder decided, greeting them, to burn incense in front of them. But as a result of the action of the hater of goodness, as soon as he touched the fire with his hand, it burned his middle finger, tearing his nerve as well. From then on, if he ever had to write a letter, he signed it [with the words] “Orent with a burnt hand.” However, the grace of God did not depart from the elder, and the Lord created many signs through him. One day a certain patrician wife came to the Holy Mountain, 51 having with her a daughter suffering [from demon]; Having learned about the elder, she wanted to bow to him. The saint did not accept it, 52 but he took one bunch of grapes and sent it to her. The demon [sitting] in the girl, seeing this bunch, began to shout: “Why did you come here, Abba Orent?” And, shaking the girl, he left her. 53 Abba Abraham, protopresbyter, 54 told us the following: “When Abba Orens was dying, I, Abba Sergius, Bishop of Ayla, and some others sat next to him. Seeing the appearance of the Angels, the elder said to the bishop: “Say a prayer, father.” Having said the prayer, we sat down again, and the elder once again said to the bishop: “Make a prayer.” After its completion, the elder again turned to the bishop: “You see, great sir, 55 how many crows flocked here, but by the grace of Christ I did not pay attention to them, and not one of them came close to me.” Having said this, the elder departed to the Lord in peace and joy.” When Abba Stefan the Byzantine, former 56th strategist of Maurianus, was dying, I and Theodosius the African, who [later] became a bishop in Babylon, were present. While reading the psalm “Blessed is the blameless” (Ps. 119:1), which is usually read when the soul leaves the body, the dying man suddenly looked with a menacing eye and sternly said to the one he saw [alone]: “Why did you come here? Go into outer darkness: you have nothing [in common] with us. My part is the Lord.” And when we, hastening, reached the verse in reading the psalm: “Thou art my part, O Lord” (Ps. 119:57), then Abba gave up his spirit to the Lord. We looked for a cloak in the cell to bury him [in new clothes], but we found nothing, although [in the world] he was rich and famous. 57 The friend of this blessed man both in the world and in his [ascetic] way [of life] was my Abba Epiphanius the Recluse, who two years ago departed to the Lord. 58 Much could be said about his firmness and patience both in asceticism and in [overcoming human] weakness. He showed such a degree of [success] that it seemed as if there was nothing in him except spirit and bones. At the beginning of his retreat, an Angel of the Lord appeared before him and said to him: “If you serve Christ with patience, you will be rewarded with the gift of the Holy Spirit.” By the grace of God this happened. He received great wealth and the light of the radiance of the Holy Spirit; thanks to the Divine Light, he saw demonic spirits of darkness often entering his cell, sometimes playing with him, and sometimes beating him to test him. He, as if armed with the power of Christ, often openly laughed at them and despised them as powerless. The custom of this holy [man] among us, handed down to him long ago, was the following: except for [extreme] need, do not meet with anyone until the fourth hour, even with the [monk] serving him. One day, having learned from God about his departure to the Lord, this servant of Christ said to his disciple in the evening: “Tomorrow come early in the morning, push the door and come in to me, because I want to show you something useful for you.” The servant of Christ was not false: early in the morning he opened [the door] and went inside; [in the cell] he found the saint turning his face to the east and departing to the Lord. The elder’s disciple is Zechariah, a resident of Babylon, where he was a goldsmith. 59 Not long before our time, during the days of Great Lent, one of the fathers took his disciple and said to him: “Son, in these holy days let us strengthen [our ascetic] life. We will pass through the desert, and surely God will honor us with the honor of seeing one of His servants, hermits, and taking a prayer blessing from him.” When they passed through the lands [of the desert] of Sidid, 60 they saw below, in the deepest gorge, a cell and [next to it] trees covered, contrary to the season, with all kinds of fruits. Having descended and approached, we 61 shouted: “Bless, fathers.” They answered us: “It’s good that you came, fathers.” And as soon as these words were spoken, everything became invisible: both the cell and the trees. Having returned, we again climbed to the top of the mountain from where we saw the cell, and, seeing it again, we descended. As they approached, they greeted again. When they answered us, everything became invisible again. Then I said to my brother: “Let us go, child, and trust in God, [trusting] that since the servants of Christ said to us: “It is good that you have come, fathers,” so Christ will truly honor us, for their intercession, prayers, hard work and sweat, so that we come to them in the next century.” Gudda, a place with a garden, is fifteen miles from the Holy Bush. 62 Abba Kosmas the Armenian lived in this place with me. On one day [of the week], each of us went into the desert to practice alone in contemplating God. 63 Having moved two miles away from the cell, he 64 found himself in front of the entrance to a certain cave and saw inside three reclining [men], dressed in linen caps; he did not know whether they were alive or dead. Then he decided to return to his cell and take the censer and thus [cense it] to enter the holy fathers. Having carefully marked this place and thrown stones there, he came to his cell, took Abba Kosmas and returned back. They looked for this place and the signs [left there] for a long time, but could not find anything. For it is the custom of hermits, both living and deceased, to appear [to people] when they themselves wish it, and to hide when they themselves wish it, [and all this] thanks to the power of God. In the formidable gorge of Sidida lived [one] holy man, who also had his disciple with him. One day this man sent a disciple to Raif, 65 and three days later the elder, being in the desert at the intersection [of paths] and being in divine contemplation, saw his disciple coming from afar; Believing that [it was coming] a Saracen, the old man, wanting to be hidden, transformed himself into a date palm. The student, having reached this place, saw a palm tree and hit it with his hand, saying in surprise: “Where did this palm tree come from here?” Then the elder, transferred by the hand of God to their cave, ended up there before his disciple. The next day, joyfully greeting him, the elder said: “What have I done wrong to you, brother, that you hit me yesterday?” And the student, falling to the ground, denied [everything], not knowing what was the matter. Then the elder explained that he himself was the palm tree: practicing in divine contemplation and not wanting to meet people, he transformed himself, taking the form of a palm tree. Abba told me about a similar incident. Matthias. He said the following: “When I lived in Arandul, then, in order to give Holy Communion to the captives of that desert, 66 I had the Holy Gifts above, in the holy [our] church, and they were securely locked with a key in a chest. However, often when I went there on Sunday, I found the tabernacle open, about which I was [very] grieved. Then I began to count the holy particles and imprinted the chest with wax using my finger. When I came again the next Sunday, I found both the seals and the locks intact, and when I opened [the tabernacle], I found that three particles were missing. One night, on the eve of Sunday, after I had been practicing [in prayerful contemplation for a long time], three monks appeared before me and woke me up with these words: “Get up, [it’s] time for the canon.” I asked them: “Who are you, fathers, and where are you from?” They replied: “We are sinners who often come [here] and take communion. However, you don’t care about that anymore.” Then I realized that they were holy hermits, and I thanked God, who had given such [husbands] to our family.” The blessed ascetics did not want to be seen not only by Christians, but also by Saracens, admonishing [them] to be respectful and [calling] not to disturb the monks [living] here. Among them was [one] Saracen, [who lived] at the entrance to Arcelaia, called Mundir. He told us the following: “One winter, when I was tending my goats, I suddenly found myself near a garden full of all kinds of fruits and having a source of water. And I saw a certain elderly man sitting by a spring, and also [next to him] many goats that had come there to drink. Stunned by amazement at such a spectacle, I heard the voice of the elder turning to me: “Get into your mazafin 67 as many fruits as you can carry.” While collecting fruits, I heard a monk angrily addressing one large goat who was goring [other] goats and goats and not allowing them to drink peacefully, saying this: “Listen, how many times have I admonished you [not to do this], but you do not stop fighting with your comrades. Blessed be the Lord, for on the morrow you will not drink of this water.” I left, and the next day I returned, taking my dogs with me, and began to look for that place. I didn’t find the place, but I did find a herd of goats; my dogs rushed [after them] and killed the goat to which the elder was addressing - I [immediately] recognized him. [Then I remembered how] the elder said to him: “Blessed be the Lord, for on the next day you will not drink of this water.” Another Saracen once called one of the local brothers: “Listen, come with me, and I will show you the anchorite’s garden.” The brother followed him to the limits of [the area] Metmor, and when they climbed to the top of a mountain, the Saracen showed him a garden and a cell [near it] in the gorge. Then he said to his brother: “Go downstairs alone, so that the hermit does not run away and hide because of me, since I am not a Christian.” When the brother was descending, the Saracen, under the influence of the devil, shouted to him: “Take your sandals, Abba, for you left them here.” The brother, turning back, replied that he did not need them. 68 However, turning his face again to go down, he discovered that both the garden and the cell had become invisible. And until this day they did not appear to [anyone]: neither a monk, nor a Saracen. But the monk [who walked with the Saracen] lamented for a long time and said: “What Lot’s wife endured when she turned back (Gen. 19:26), I also endured.” George, nicknamed Draam, 69 - he was a good Christian and a Saracen slave - told us the following: “Once, when I was herding camels in the Vilim desert, I discovered a certain very elderly [husband] sitting in the desert and holding a small basket. 70 I said to him: “Sir, bless,” but did not receive any answer: he only sealed me with his right hand [with the sign of the cross]. Having walked away four or five steps, I began to reason with myself like this: “I am sure that I will not be able to leave here unless I fall at the feet of the elder and he prays over me so that God will free me from this need.” 71 However, turning around and looking around in search of [the elder], I did not find him anywhere - the place was clean and devoid of vegetation.” One of the fathers who [lived] before shut himself in a cave during the days of the Holy Pentecost of Great Lent. The devil, who is always jealous of those who strive, filled the entire cave, from floor to ceiling, with bedbugs; they were everywhere - in the water, bread and everything that belonged to the father, so that it was impossible to see even a centimeter in the cave where they were not there. The brother, courageously enduring the temptation, said [to himself]: “Even if I have to die, I will not leave here until the Holy Feast.” And then, on the morning of the third week of Lent, he saw an indescribable multitude of large ants crawling into the cave to exterminate the bedbugs. Inside the cave, a battle took place that lasted six hours: the ants destroyed all the bedbugs and left the cave, carrying away [their corpses]. Therefore, patience in the face of temptation is excellent, for it always leads to good. When Abba Stefan the Cypriot, who came to the Holy Mountain with me, a peace-loving man, communing with the Holy Spirit and adorned with every virtue, was about to die, he was covered with such a rash that no one had probably seen: after suffering for several days, he died. Someone [of the brethren] who knew his work and life became indignant and began to reason in this way: “Why did a man of such [virtue] fall into such [severe] need?” Then blessed Stephen appeared to him in a dream and said: “Mr. Brother, if we [in this life] experience a little constraint, then we will find [in the future life] more excellent boldness towards Christ.” Abba George, a holy man among the old fathers of the Holy Mountain, told us that when he was still relatively young, then, according to him, one brother came here to renounce the world; he did not tell anyone either the country [from which he came] or his name. This brother acquired such reverence and silence that unless absolutely necessary he did not utter any word: neither small nor large. Having been tonsured and spending two years serving in the monastery, he suddenly departed to the Lord. He was buried in the tomb of his fathers. A day later, another of the fathers died, and [the brothers], having opened the entrance to the tomb to bury him, did not find the body of their previously deceased brother there - he was moved by God to the land of the living. After this, we carefully examined the matter. Some suggested that this deceased brother was the son of the king of Mauritius, who was saved by his nurse when the tyrant Phocas slaughtered the child of Mauritius at the hippodrome: when there was loud noise and confusion, she was able to hide him, replace him, and in return for the royal child, give her own son to slaughter. When he matured, the nurse told him everything, and therefore, according to the narrator, he chose to devote himself to God, as if as a ransom for the son [of the nurse] who was killed in his place. 72 This probably refers to the church on top of Mount Sinai. This church was built around the middle of the 4th century by the outstanding Syrian ascetic Julian Sava (“Sava” means “elder” in Syriac). See: Chitti D. Desert City. An introduction to the study of Egyptian and Palestinian monasticism in the Christian Empire. St. Petersburg, 2007. P. 271. Blzh. Theodoret talks about it like this: “Fleeing from honors... Julian with a few close disciples went to Mount Sinai, not passing through cities or villages, but making their way through an impassable desert. On their shoulders the brothers carried the necessary food, as well as a wooden bowl and a sponge tied to a rope - it was needed so that, if the water was deep in the wells, they could lower the sponge and, having taken it out, squeeze the water out of it into the bowl and drink. Traveling in this way for many days, they came to the desired mountain and, having worshiped the Lord, stayed there for a long time, considering a deserted place and peace of soul to be their greatest pleasure. Having built on this mountain, on which Moses, the head of the prophets, was honored to see (as far as it was possible for him) the Lord, a church with an altar, which has survived to this day, Julian returned to his monastery" (Blessed Theodoret of Cyrus. History of the God-lover. II, 13 // Blessed Theodoret of Cyrus. History of the God-lover. M., 2011. P. 47–48). Most likely, the Church of St. Elijah, located on Mount Horeb. About her, the 4th century pilgrim Egeria writes: “We began to descend from the top of the Mount of the Lord to another adjacent mountain. This place where the church stands is called “on Horeb.” This is Horeb, where the holy prophet Elijah fled from King Ahab, and in this place the word of the Lord came to him, as it is written in the Book of Kings: “Why are you here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:9). And they still show in front of the church doors the cave in which Elijah hid. They also showed us the stone altar that Saint Elijah himself erected for sacrifice to God” (Ascetics of piety, thriving on Mount Sinai and in its environs. To the source of living water. Letters from a pilgrim of the 4th century. M., 1994. P. 165). In church usage, this word meant “steward” and “guardian.” This refers, most likely, to a steward who was entrusted with service in the church on top of Sinai. It can be assumed that, going up there, he carried incense with him. This is how we allowed ourselves to translate the term ὁ ἐπιστάτης, which in ancient monasticism meant an experienced monk who was entrusted with leadership over the new monks. In his other essay - “Questions and Answers” ​​(Question 4.) - Rev. Anastasius, interpreting 1 Pet. 1:12, says: “Our bloodless sacrifice is carried out, performed and accompanied by holy Angels. Therefore, it seems to me, the Angels want God the Word, who created them, to dwell in their nature, as in our flesh. They also desire that their nature, seated on the cherubim throne in the bosom of the Father, should be worshiped and glorified by us, as our nature in Christ worships from them and from every visible and invisible creation" (Anastasii Sinaitae Quaestiones et responsiones / Ed. M. Richard et J.A. Munitiz // Corpus cliristianorum. Series Graeca. Vol. 59. Leuven, 2006. P. 10). Rev. here. Anastasius emphasizes the superiority of human nature over angelic nature in a predominantly Christological and eschatological aspect: God the Word took upon human nature, deifying and glorifying it. In several other aspects this superiority is emphasized by St. Gregory Palamas: the nature of Angels does not possess life as a special kind of activity, for it does not have a body and does not give life to it, like our soul. Accordingly, the soul, more than the incorporeal Angels, is created in the image of God and has dominion over the whole earth. Or, as the saint briefly formulates: “Angels are superior to us in many ways, but in some respects they are lower than us” (see our translation: St. Gregory Palamas. One hundred and fifty chapters: 30, 38, 43, 62 // St. Gregory Palamas. One hundred and fifty chapters. Krasnodar, 2006. pp. 56–57, 75, 89–90, 119 120). This term (διακονητής) suggests one of the lower stages of monastic obedience for novices. Monastic vestments, which are a tunic with short sleeves or sleeveless. According to the church historian Sovomen, such tunics meant that “the hands of the monks should not be ready to offend” (Ermiy Sozomen. Church history). Abba Dorotheos therefore argues this way: “Why do we wear a collar that does not have sleeves? After all, others have them, but we don’t? Sleeves are symbols of hands, and hands are understood as [a symbol of spiritual] work. And when the thought comes to do with our hands something related to the old man, such as, for example, to steal, hit, or even commit a sin with our hands, then we must pay attention to the vestments and remember that we do not have hands to do the deeds of the old man" (Venerable Abba Dorotheos of Giza. Teachings. 1 // Venerable Abba Dorotheos of Gaza. Soul-beneficial teachings. M., 1999. P. 39). See also our commentary in the book: Works of Abba Evagrius. M., 1991. pp. 205–206. According to Archimandrite Innocent, the Kolovium was the same in shape as the Leviton. “Leviton was white in color and was made mostly of linen. In Greek monasteries, the Egyptian colovium and leviton were replaced by a chiton and tunic almost identical in shape and structure. The Greek chiton, corresponding to the Egyptian colovium, was just as short and sleeveless and was a quadrangular piece of fabric, folded in half, with a slit on the bend for threading an arm through, fastened with clasps on the other side, where there was also a hole for the arm. The tunic, in its shape, resembled a spacious caftan. The difference between these clothes and the Egyptian ones was that the first Greek clothes were longer than the Egyptian ones. For many ascetics, this clothing was replaced by the so-called “hair shirt”, or “sackcloth”, identical to it, but different in material. By using this clothing, they wanted to express in sharper forms contempt for the world, alienation from it, and therefore they appeared among the people only in it alone, forgetting that it was lower clothing and as such, out of decency, it should already be covered with another, more beautiful-looking one” (Innokenty (Belyaev), archimandrite. Consecration to monasticism. Experience in historical and liturgical research into the rites and rites of monastic tonsure in the Greek and Russian Churches up to the 17th century inclusive. M., 2018. pp. 94–95). So, in our opinion, we can translate the phrase βαλεῖν θυμίαμα (lit.: throw incense). At the blzh. John Moschus there is a story about how the great ascetic abbot of Sinai, Abba George, was moved to Jerusalem for Easter. See: Blzh. John Mosch. Spiritual meadow 127 // Spiritual meadow. The work of Blessed John Moschus. Sergiev Posad, 1915. pp. 152–153. As noted in the note to the text, we are probably talking about St. Gregory Dvoeslov, who sent two letters to a monastery in Sinai in 600. The paramonarius, most likely, was a certain Simplicius, whom St. Gregory ordained him bishop of Paris in 601. The Armenian historian Sebeos (or Pseudo-Sebeos) cites the letter of the Armenian Catholicos Komitas (first half of the 7th century) to St. Modestus of Jerusalem, where it is said about the Armenian pilgrims: “Firstly, they forgot all the disasters and sorrows of our country; secondly, they cleansed themselves of their sins through repentance, fasting and almsgiving, by staying awake day and night, by incessant wandering; thirdly, immersing their bodies in the sacred waters and fiery streams of the Jordan, from where the grace of God spread throughout the entire universe, they poured out the desires of their hearts at Mount Sinai, close to God, repeating the words of the prophet: “Come, let us enter the mountain of the Lord and the house of the God of Jacob” (Isa. 2:3; Micah 4:2)” (Bishop Sebeos. History of Emperor Heraclos. Nikephoros Bryenniy. Historical notes (976–1087). Ryazan, 2006. pp. 94–95. In the Greek text: συνοδία μεγάλη (large assembly). Here, most likely, the Saracens mentioned above are meant, probably pagans. It seems to us that the brother climbed into the church to sleep there, and thereby violated the prohibition mentioned above (1.3). We are probably talking about those words in the Anaphora of St. John Chrysostom, which the priest pronounces: “Singing the song of victory, crying, calling and speaking.” See: Uspensky N.D. Byzantine liturgy: historical and liturgical research. Anaphora: experience of historical and liturgical analysis. M., 2006. P. 371. Here we are clearly dealing with an autobiographical indication. However, its interpretation, according to B. Flusen, can be twofold: either here we are talking about the Rev.’s own brother. Anastasia, or this narrative is a literary device of the author, through which he expresses his personal secret visual experience. B. Flusen categorically rejects the first possibility, for nowhere else in his works does the Rev. Anastasy does not mention his own brother. Therefore, according to this researcher, only the second possibility remains. See: Flusin V. Demons et sarrasins. L’auteur et le propos des Diègcmata stèriktika d’Anastase le Sinaïte // Travaux et mémoires. T. 11. Paris, 1991. P. 398–399. However, in our opinion, such a categorical denial of the first possibility is hardly possible, since the argument from silence (argumentum ex silentio) is always quite weak. We are talking about secret visual ecstasy (ὡ ς ἐν ἐκστάσει). This term, already in the era of Justinian, designated “a military detachment that was attached to the person of the emperor, as his personal guard. The commander of the excuvites, called “comes excubitorum,” was the closest military man to the person of the sovereign and accompanied him on all exits in close proximity to his person.” (Kulakovsky Yu. A. History of Byzantium. T. II. 518–602. St. Petersburg, 1996. P. 244) ". Wed. one story by the bl. John Moschus: "In Klysma (a fortress near Suez. - A.S.) a pagan Saracen told the local residents, as well as us: “Once I went hunting, on the mountain of Abba Anthony. I approached the mountain and saw a monk sitting. In his hands he had a book, which he was reading. I went straight to him to rob him, and maybe kill him. But when I approached him, he extended his hand to me." his right hand and said: “Stop!” And I stood there for two days, unable to move. “For the sake of God, Whom you honor, let me go,” I began to ask. “Go in peace!” - said the monk. And I got the opportunity to leave the place where I stood.” (Blessed John Moschus. Spiritual meadow. 133 // Spiritual meadow. The creation of Blessed John Moschus. pp. 160–161). Compare: "Abba John Savvait (in St. Anastasius, “Savvait” is written with one “v.” - A.S.) labored in two places: in the Gudde desert and in the Arselaia desert. He had two disciples, of whom we know: Stephen, who labored with the monk in the Gudda desert, and John the Roman, who lived with him in Arselaia. He arrived on Mount Sinai from the monastery St. Savva the Sanctified (in Palestine), where from this famous man he learned monastic deeds and virtues, which is why he was nicknamed Savvait” (Ascetics of Piety, Who Flourished on Mount Sinai and Its Surroundings. M., 1994. P. 112). As D. Chitti quite rightly believes, we are talking about Rev. John Climacus. See: Chitti D. Desert City. pp. 277–278. In “The Spiritual Meadow” there is a similar narrative, although it concerns other persons. It says here: “Abba Gregory, who was the rector of the Faran Lavra, pestered me a lot with requests that I bring him to the elder. One day I decided to fulfill his request. The elder was at that time in the vicinity of the Dead Sea. Seeing Abba Gregory, the elder kissed him lovingly and, bringing water, washed his feet. All that day he talked with the guest about spiritual benefits, and the next day he released him. After Abba Gregory left, I said to the elder: “You know, father, I was very embarrassed. How many bishops, presbyters and many others I brought to you, and you never washed anyone’s feet, except for one Abba Gregory.” “Son! I don’t know who Abba Gregory is,” the elder answered. “I only know that I received the patriarch in my cave. I saw an omophorion on him, and in his hands the Holy Gospel.” And so it happened. Six years later, God deigned Abba Gregory to become patriarch in Theopolis (Antioch. - A. S.), as the elder foresaw" (Blessed John Moschus. Spiritual Meadow. 139 // Spiritual Meadow. Creation of Blessed John Moschus. pp. 166–167). The previous story says that John (the Climacus) was tonsured by Abba Martyrius. However, there is no contradiction here, for, most likely, the Sacrament of tonsure (at that time it was considered a Sacrament) was performed by Abba Martyrius together with Abbot Anastasius. Our Orthodox scholar states in this regard that in “Heyler’s Euchologia” there is “a whole ritual in which, in addition to the recipient (this is the abbot of the fourth century), the abbot is the person responsible for the person being tonsured, and both of them, before taking tonsure, had to promise for the person being tonsured to guide” him in monastic life” (Innocent (Belyaev), Archimandrite. Op. S. 135). This story, like the previous one, was included in the “Short Life” of St. John Climacus. See: Venerable John Climacus. Ladder. M., 2008. pp. 17–18. This “Short Life” is clearly later and depends in a particular case on Rev. Anastasia Sinaita. We are talking about the city of Babylon in Lower Egypt, where there were probably quite professional doctors. It is quite possible that Rev. himself. Anastasy met Eustathius there. This phrase appears in the first edition of F., but is absent in the critical edition. This phrase appears in the first edition of F., but is absent in the critical edition. As stated in the note of the publisher of the critical text (R. 492), George was most likely the bishop of Paran, that is, the shepherd of the entire southern part of the Sinai Peninsula, and his flock were mainly monks. See: “The episcopal see in Parana was still in the time of Diocletian. Subsequently, that is, not earlier than the time of Justinian, the Faran Church was ruled by the same bishop who ruled Sennai” (Ternovsky S.A. Essays on Church-Historical Geography. Regions of the Eastern Patriarchs of the Orthodox Church until the 9th century. Kazan, 1899. P. 111). So literally, we think, this expression can be translated (παρρησίαν πρός Θεόν - or “boldness before God”), which presupposes freedom and a trusting attitude towards God, acquired on the narrow and cramped path of a person’s procession to Him in prayer and ascetic labors. For example, blzh. Theodoret says about one of the greatest Syrian ascetics of the 4th century, Jacob of Nizibia, that “every day his boldness towards God increased, and what he asked of God (and he asked only for what was due), he immediately received” (see our translation: Blessed Theodoret of Cyrrhus. History of the God-lover. I, 2 // Blessed Theodoret of Cyrrhus. History of the God-lover. P. 26) Naturally, such boldness finds its fullness in the Kingdom of Heaven. Here, the very moment of transition from this life to eternity, that is, our hour of death, plays an important role. According to the blzh. Diadoche, “we who love the Lord must pray that then we may be beyond all fear, because he who is then in fear will not freely pass the Tartar rulers, for they have, as it were, the fearfulness of the soul as a protector of their malice. But the soul, rejoicing in the love of God, during separation from the Angels of the world, flies above all the dark hordes, for it is, as it were, inspired by spiritual love, as if unflaggingly bearing the “fulfillment of the law” - love (Rom. 13:10). Therefore, precisely at the Coming of the Lord, those who depart from life with such boldness will be raptured with all the saints” (Popov K. Blessed Diadochos (5th century), Bishop of Photiki of Ancient Epirus, and his creations. Kiev, 1903. pp. 524–526). About him, see also Rev. John Climacus: “He who is possessed by passions spends time in the desert in constant meditation on them, as the holy elder George of Arselaite said and taught, who is not unknown to you, most honest father. Once teaching my obscene soul and instructing it towards silence, he said: “I noticed that in the morning the demons of vanity and carnal lust come to us for the most part, at noon the demons of despondency, sadness and anger, and in the evening the stinking tormentors of the womb.” Ladder. M., 2008. P. 442). “Pythos is a large ceramic vessel for storing liquid and bulk products (grain, wine, olive oil, etc.), which was usually dug into the ground” (Byzantine Dictionary. Vol. 2. St. Petersburg, 2011. P. 201). This and subsequent stories about Abba George were included, along with inaccuracies and omissions, in the book. Devotees of piety who flourished on Mount Sinai. pp. 117 118. Wed. episode in “The Life of St. Savva,” which says that “he met four Saracens who were thirsty and exhausted. Taking pity on them, Savva ordered them to sit down; but he had nothing with him except wild roots and the core of a reed, which he poured out of his mantle before them. The barbarians, having had their fill of this food, asked him where he lived in the Ruwian cave. Then, after several days, when they had enough food supplies, they brought him bread, cheese and dates. Our father Savva, amazed at this gratitude of the barbarians, came into heartfelt contrition and said with tears: "Woe to me, my soul! How great an effort these barbarians used to thank me for an insignificant service! What should we do, poor and ungrateful, we who daily enjoy so many blessings and gifts of God and, despite this, spend our lives in carelessness and negligence and do not strive to please the Giver of gifts, God, by fulfilling His commandments and continually offering Him “the fruit of lips that glorify Him” (Heb. 13:15)?. (Cyril of Scythopolis. Life of our Venerable Father Savva the Sanctified. 13 // Palestine Patericon. Issue 1 St. Petersburg, 1885. pp. 16–17). This is how we took the liberty of translating this phrase: The term μετάστασις (relocation, resettlement) to denote death is used, among other church writers, by Father Chrysostom, who, interpreting the words of the Lord (“Where I go, there you cannot come” (John 8:21)), says: The Lord “shows that His death is repose and transition ( μετάστασις ἐστι και μετάθεσις) to a place where bodies subject to corruption are not allowed" (St. John Chrysostom. Commentary on the Gospel of John. Conversation 72, 4 // St. John Chrysostom. Creations. T. VIII M., 2012. P. 483). A city on the Sinai Peninsula, along with Paran and Klisma, it is the center of urban life. Here, as everywhere else with Rev. Anastasia, most likely means Roman miles (1.48 km). So, I think, we can translate the phrase ποιήσον λαμπρόν (lamp). Just below this light source is called τὸ θυμιατήριον (censer, incense burner). The concept of ἐπιστάτης in the Byzantine period often meant the manager of a monastery (abbot). See: Sophokles E. A. Greek Lexicon of the Roman and Byzantine Periods. Hiidesheim; Zurich; N.Y., 1992. P. 551. But in this case we are clearly talking about hermits, teacher and student. This greenery (or small plants, grass) is called in the text μίκρα κοδιμέντα; It’s hard to say what she was like. Here we can recall the well-known ardent love of the lion for the great Palestinian elder, Venerable. Gerasim, about whom the blessed one tells. John Mosch. See: Blzh. John Mosch. Spiritual meadow. 107 // Spiritual meadow. The work of Blessed John Moschus. pp. 129–132. See above for details. Rev. John Climacus devotes a fairly extensive excursion to this ascetic, emphasizing his extraordinary patience and obedience. He first asceticised in Asia, then served his obedience for sixteen years in a Pontic monastery, where he was mocked in every possible way as a foreigner, and after that he went to the monastery of St. Savva the Sanctified, after which he came to Sinai. See: Rev. John Climacus. Paradise ladder. 4, 110 // Venerable John Climacus. Ladder. pp. 122 ff. This term can probably be translated this way - τοῦ βασιλικοῦ ἀρχίατροῦ. Before his renunciation of the world, Demetrius most likely held a very prestigious position as senior court physician. We are probably talking about a huge snake. Wed. Gospel story about the healing of the blind by the Lord: John. 9:6. Already from the very beginning of monasticism, the desert fathers planted small gardens and vegetable gardens, for vegetables and fruits (naturally, in small quantities) constituted, together with bread, their main food. See: L. Repier. Daily life of the desert fathers of the 4th century. M., 2008. pp. 81–82. See: “...other elders had gardens where they grew vegetables and planted trees” (Kazansky P.S. General outline of the life of Egyptian monks in the 4th and 5th centuries // Sidorov A.I. Ancient Christian asceticism and the origin of monasticism. M., 1998. P. 448). Wed. one place in the “History of the Egyptian Monks”, where it is narrated how St. Macarius of Egypt prayed in his cave. “Nearby there was another cave where a hyena lived. She, when Macarius was praying, came up to him and began to touch his feet, then she grabbed him by the hem of his clothes and pulled him towards her cave. He followed her with the words: “What does this animal want to do?” Having led him to the cave, the hyena entered and brought out to him her cubs, which were born blind. Macarius prayed for them, and they saw the light. Then the hyena, in gratitude, brought him a huge ram skin and laid it at his feet. He laughed at her prudence and sensitivity, took the skin and made a carpet out of it. This skin is still kept by one brother” (History of Egyptian monks / Translation by N. A. Kulkova. M., 2001. P. 77). It is unclear on behalf of which of the fathers we are talking about – John the Roman or John Savaithe. It seems more likely to us that on behalf of John the Roman. As the beginning of the chapter shows, it deals with the sin of slander (καταλαλία). Attention was drawn to it already in early Christian writing (for example, in one of the parts of “The Shepherd of Hermas”, called “Commandments” (III, 2), this sin is categorically condemned). The reverend himself Anastasius in one of his sermons says on this subject: “But we know almost nothing about ourselves and are deluded. And if only this alone, the evil would be less: but we are at enmity with each other, we scold, we intrigue and envy each other, we slander and mock, and none of us thinks about our sins, no one cares about our burden, but we consider the sins of our neighbor with all care; We are full of dirt up to our necks, and we don’t care about it at all. Until old age, we care about others, but we do not examine our own evil even in old age. We see the smallest shortcomings of our brothers, but we do not notice the beam in our own eye. We bend to the end under the burden of our sins, but occupy ourselves with the shortcomings of others and are not ashamed of anyone, we spare no one, we fear no one, but we bite everyone, we devour everyone: small and great, guilty and innocent, our priests and teachers, mentors, exhorters and edifiers. And therefore the wrath of God comes upon us, and therefore we are subjected to punishment and given over to all sorts of sorrows and circumstances because of the petrification that has overtaken us” (St. Anastasius Sinaite. A Sermon on the Holy Assembly // St. Anastasius Sinaite. Selected Creations. pp. 301-305). One story about Orent (or Orentia) has been preserved by the blj. John Moschus, where it is said that this ascetic once came to the church with his clothes turned inside out (that is, with the wool on the outside. When they began to reproach him for this appearance, he replied: “You have distorted Sinai, and no one tells you anything, but you reproach me for turning my clothes inside out? Go and correct what you have distorted, and I will correct what I have distorted” (Blessed John Mosch. Spiritual meadow. 126 // Spiritual meadow. Creation of Blessed John Moschus. P. 151). This is how we understand the word πατρικία. Patrick (patrician) in Byzantium was “the highest, and then a high title of the first rank, which gave the right to attend meetings of the synclite and occupy the most responsible, most important posts. Introduced by Emperor Constantine the Great (306–337). Until 537, the title of patrician was granted only to the consuls and praetorian prefects. In the IX-X centuries. took fifth place among the titles of the first rank and complained to generals and senior officials” (Byzantine Dictionary. T. 2. St. Petersburg, 2011. P. 177). This is probably due to the fact that the ancient ascetics tried not to communicate with women. This story was almost completely included in the book: Ascetics of Piety, Who Flourished on Mount Sinai and its Surroundings. pp. 109–110. Probably the head of the Sinai priests. This address (κῦριὁ μέγας) was applied to bishops in that era. Khartularius is “a relatively high Byzantine title and at the same time a rank, in particular, an officer who was in charge of lists of warriors (stratiots) of the theme, or tagma. In the fem army, the khartularius was the third commander in rank after the strategus and topotirite, and commanded half of the military units. Chartularii were also the name given to the rulers of individual areas of ducats in Byzantine Italy. In the absence of duxes, the chartularii could perform their duties” (Byzantine Dictionary. Vol. 2, pp. 466–467). Almost this entire chapter, attributed (like some others) to a certain monk Synchronus, was included in the book: Ascetics of Piety Who Flourished on Mount Sinai. pp. 106–107. This statement shows that the spiritual father and mentor of St. Anastasia was Rev. Epiphanius the Recluse, who was a friend of Stephen the Byzantine. This narrative was also partially and not in the correct form included in the indicated book: Devotees of Piety. P. 107. Probably this desert is what St. John Climacus, who, talking about the ascetic Stephen, who lived in Sinai, says: “Then this praiseworthy man accepted the intention of the most real, severe and severe repentance and retired to the abode of hermits, called Siddin, and there he spent several years of the most austere and severe life; for that place was devoid of all consolation and was removed from every human path, since it was located at a distance of seventy miles from the villages” (Venerable John Climacus. Paradise Ladder. 7, 50 // Venerable John Climacus. Ladder. P. 180). This transition to the first person raises the assumption that Rev. Anastasius was a direct participant in this event. This place is mentioned above (see I, 11). The presence of a garden (κηπίον) stated here suggests that the ascetics living in this desert could afford the luxury of eating fruits (dates?) and vegetables. So, I think, we can translate the phrase καθ᾿ αὐτὸν ἀδολεσχῆσαι τ ῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ θεωρία. Contemplation involves prayerful reflection, inappropriately called meditation in Western languages. The switch to the 3rd person is somewhat strange, but perhaps Rev. Anastasius, due to his usual monastic humility, does not want to talk about his vision in the first person. See: “Located on the coast, Raif, traditionally identified with the small pier of Tor, was an important center of monasticism from the beginning of the fifth century, when Amun of Raif began to maintain relations with Sisoy, who was then asceticizing on the Inner Mountain of St. Anthony and in Klysma” (Chitti D. Op. cit. pp. 271–272). Probably, we are talking about Christian captives that the Bedouins had. We decided to simply give a translation of this word from the Greek language (τὸ μαζάθιν); apparently means a bag or basket. At the blzh. John Moschus comes across a similar word μαζαρίον when he describes the appearance of a demon in the guise of a Saracen youth to one elder (παῖς Σαρακήνος φορῶν μαζάριον); The Russian translator, it seems to us, did not understand the expression “carrying a mazarium” quite correctly: “dressed in a mazarium” (Blessed John Moschus. Spiritual Meadow. 160 // Spiritual Meadow. Creation of Blessed John Moschus. P. 190). Perhaps there is some echo here from the biblical description of Moses before the burning bush (Gen. 3:5), when God told him: “Do not come here; put off your shoes from your feet; for the place on which you stand is holy ground.” What this nickname means is unclear, but it most likely has Semitic origins. This term (τὸ μαλάκιον) refers to a small basket made of palm branches, which the monks used to store food See: Lampe C. W. H. Op. cit. R. 825. What is meant here by "need" (τῆς ἀνάγκης) is difficult to say; perhaps this refers to the internal need to take a verbal blessing from the elder. According to the characteristics of G. Ostrogorsky. “Mauritius is one of the most significant Byzantine rulers” (Ostrogorsky G. History of the Byzantine State. M., 2011. P. 125). He was overthrown by the usurper Phocas and killed on November 27, 602. Theophylact Simocata tells about his terrible death: “The usurper, having sent soldiers to the other side of the strait, where the city of Chalcedon is located, killed Mauritius in the harbor of Eutropius. Here, before the eyes of the sovereign, his sons were killed, and then these murderers, having first punished him with the sword of nature - the murder of children, killed Mauritius himself. And he, treating his misfortunes with calm and wisdom, called on God in all of them and often exclaimed: “Thou art righteous, O Lord, and righteous are Thy destinies.” valor. When the nurse hid one of the royal babies and gave her infant child into the hands of the murderers, then, as reliable legend says, Mauritius revealed this secret to the murderers, arguing that it was unfair to offend the sanctity of the death of other children by hiding this son. So the sovereign lost his life, finding himself above the laws of nature" (Theophylact Simokata. History. M., 1996. pp. 225–226). This brutal execution of Mauritius gave rise to a number of legends. See: Kulakovsky Yu. History of Byzantium. T. II 518–602. St. Petersburg, 1996. pp. 395–397. One of them was imprinted on the Rev. Anastasia (see Question 30 above). But, as A. Binggeli notes in his commentary (Binggeli A. Op. cit. R. 523–525), only the chronicler John of Antioch has an indication that the execution was carried out at the hippodrome.