Память преподобного Фалалея

Saint Thalaley was from the Cilician region in 1658. Disdaining the vanity of the world, he first came to the monastery of St. Savva the Sanctified. Having loved the fasting feats of monastic life, he took on the angelic form and for his virtuous life was awarded the rank of presbyter. A few years later he came to Gabala, one of the Syrian cities that belonged to the Laodicean metropolis. At a distance of twenty stadia from the city there was a large grave. On it stood a pagan temple that had already fallen into disrepair, surrounded by ancient tombs; Many unclean spirits lived here. Everyone passing by was afraid of this place, for unclean spirits not only frightened travelers with ghosts, but often even attacked them and caused a lot of harm to both people and animals. Hearing about this, the Monk Falaley went there and settled there. He built himself a small tent and lived in it, laboring in fasting, mortifying his flesh with hardships, and praying incessantly day and night. Unclean spirits could not endure such proximity. Having gathered in a whole horde, they rushed with great fury at the holy man, tried to frighten him with wild voices, threatened him and with all sorts of intrigues tried to force the saint to leave the place that they had long considered theirs. But strong by his faith in God, the Monk Falaley, protected by prayer and the sign of the cross, stood cheerfully, like a brave and invincible warrior, and trampled on the weak power of evil spirits. So for a long time, every day and especially at night, the saint courageously fought against unclean spirits and finally, with God’s help, defeated them. They fled in shame, not being able to defeat the invincible warrior of Christ. Having cast out the demons, the saint of God built himself a small and cramped cell, completely different from his height, two cubits high and one cubit wide; in it he not only could not stand, but even sit normally: the Monk Falaley was tall, therefore, sitting in his cell, he was always forced to bend his head to his knees. He lived in such cramped conditions for about ten years. At that time, Bishop Theodoret of Cyrene visited him and found the Monk Falaley reading the Gospel. When the bishop asked him why he chose such a way of life, the saint answered: – I am a great sinner; Believing that great torment would befall me in a future life, I voluntarily invented such a small prison for myself, hoping that with these small restrictions I would get rid of eternal torment. By talking with him, the bishop received great benefit for himself. God also gave the Monk Falaley the gift of miracles: the saint, through his prayers, could heal those who were ill with all sorts of diseases, and he healed not only people, but also livestock. Therefore, many came to him as to a healing source, and from him they found health not only physically, but also mentally, so that many of the surrounding Hellenes turned to Christ God. Among the Christians living within the city of Gavala, there were many pagans. All of them were enlightened by holy faith, being brought to the knowledge of the truth by the miracles of Saint Thalaley. With the help of these newly converted Christians, the monk destroyed the pagan temple and destroyed the graves. Having cleansed this place from demonic filth, he built a church of God here in the name of all the holy martyrs and began daily worship in it for the glory of God. He spent the rest of his life in the same exploits as before, and, pleasing God, he died in old age. Saint Sophronius of Jerusalem writes about this saint in “Limonar” 1659: “Abba Peter, presbyter of the Lavra of St. Sava, told us about Abba Thalaleos of Cilicia that this blessed father was a monk for sixty years and never stopped crying, saying: “God has given us this time, brothers, for repentance, and if we destroy him, we will be strictly judged for this.” The Monk Falaley died around the year 460, having remained in monasticism for 60 years. Cilicia is the southeastern province of Asia Minor, which once formed one of the flourishing regions of the Roman Empire, bordered on the east by Syria, on the north by Cappadocia and Lycaonia, on the west by Pisidia and Pamphylia, on the south by the Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf. Now this area belongs to Turkey. “Limonar” (Greek – meadow, pasture) is a very widespread composition by the Greek monk John Moschus (622). In the monasteries of Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Cyprus, Constantinople and Rome, Moschus collected a lot of stories about the lives of Christian ascetics, as well as their sayings and moral teachings, and presented all this in his Limonar, which served as one of the primary sources for hagiographic works of later times. “Limonary” was completed. Moschus was in Rome, where he was accompanied by his disciple, the monk Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem. Having graduated from Limonar, Mosch handed it over to Sophronius. You might be interested in: