Житие преподобного отца нашего Серапиона Синдонита

In Egypt there lived one old man named Serapion, who bore the nickname “Sindonita” 3235, since he covered his bodily nakedness with only one cloak. From a young age he lived a monastic life; he had no property, not even a cell; he had no shelter and lived like a bird of the air. He never entered a house to rest in it or rest on a bed. He wore only one small cloak and had only one small Gospel; Serapion walked from place to place and stopped to spend the night where night overtook him. The next morning, getting up from sleep, he did not remain in the same place, but again continued his journey, as if disembodied, which is why many called him “dispassionate.” Many times he was met near the village where he stayed. They saw him crying, sitting by the road, and asked him: -What are you crying about, old man? He answered those who asked: “My master entrusted me with His wealth. But I lost him, and now He wants to punish me. The saint spoke this in a tributary manner, calling God Lord, his soul being riches, created in the image of God and redeemed by the blood of the Son of God. Those who heard such an answer, not understanding what was said, thought that the elder was talking about gold; That’s why they threw him what they could, some bread, some vegetables, and said: - Take this, brother, though; Do not grieve about the wealth that you have lost, for God can return it to you. When Serapion arrived in Alexandria, he met a certain beggar, completely naked, shivering from the cold. And the old man began to think to himself: - How can it be that I, who imagine myself to be a faster and a faithful follower of Christ’s commandments, wear clothes, and this beggar, in whose image is Christ Himself, suffers from the cold? How can I help but feel sorry for him! Truly, if I do not cover his nakedness and allow him to die of cold, then I will be condemned on the day of judgment as a murderer. Then, taking off his cloak, Serapion gave it to the beggar, and he sat down naked near that place, holding only the Holy Gospel on his chest, which he never parted with. It happened that someone who knew the elder passed here. Seeing Serapion naked, a passerby asked him: - Father Serapion! Who exposed your nakedness? Serapion, pointing to the Holy Gospel, answered: - This revealed my nakedness. Then the blessed one met a certain man, who was taken to prison for debt. Having pity on him, but having nothing that he could give him, the monk sold the Gospel, which he carried with him, and gave the proceeds, paying off the man’s debt. Then Serapion came to the hut in which he sometimes stayed. The monk’s disciple, seeing him naked, asked him: -Where is your cloak, honest father? “I sent him to a place where we will find many times better things instead.” – Child, it (the Gospel) told me every day: “Sell what you have and give it to the poor” (Matthew 19:21), in order to acquire it on the Day of Judgment. I listened to it and did as it advised me. I sold it and gave the proceeds to someone in need, in order to obtain mercy from our God, Jesus Christ, for listening to His Holy Gospel. After some time, one of his acquaintances gave the monk an old thin cloak so that he could cover the nakedness of his body with it. This non-covetous old man once came to Greece and stayed in Athens for three days; he was very hungry, but could not get a piece of bread from anyone, because no one gave him anything, and he had nothing to buy bread. Fulfilling the words of Christ, he never carried with him either coins, money bags, or clothes (Matthew 10:9-10), with the exception of only a thin cloak with which he covered his nakedness. On the fourth day of his stay in Athens, Serapion became very hungry. Standing on a high place in the city, he began to cry and cry out loudly: - Men of Athens! Help me! Philosophers and city leaders approached him and asked him: -Where did you come from, old man? And what grief do you have? – I am originally Egyptian. When I left the place of my homeland, I immediately fell into three debts, namely: I was left with two creditors who had nothing to take from me, but the third creditor does not leave me even to this day, but tortures me, demanding his debt from me. The philosophers asked him: -Who are your creditors and who is torturing you? Tell us and we will help you. – From a young age, I was embarrassed by carnal lust, love of money and passion for gluttony; I have already gotten rid of two and they no longer bother me, for I do not feel carnal lust; I have no property or wealth; the thirst for food does not leave me: this is already the fourth day since I have had nothing in my mouth; therefore the thirst for food does not leave me, confusing me and demanding my usual duty. Some of the philosophers thought that he was deceiving them and gave him a gold coin, but watched him from afar to see what he would do. The elder, taking the coin, hurriedly went to the grain merchants and, placing the coin in front of them, took one piece of bread and left from there, and no longer appeared in that city. Then the philosophers became convinced that this old man was truly a virtuous man. Approaching the grain sellers, they gave them a coin corresponding to the cost of the bread bought by the elder, and took the gold coin for themselves. Blessed Serapion, having come to Lacedaemonia 3236, and having learned that one of the local mayors was a Manichaean 3237, but at the same time led a virtuous life, he went to him and sold himself to him as slaves. Two years later, by the grace of God, Serapion convinced him to renounce heresy, so that he joined the holy Orthodox Church with his entire household. Then everyone loved the elder here not as a faithful slave, but as a dear father, and greatly revered him, rejoicing over their salvation from heresy, and glorifying God. The elder, having lived here for as long as he considered necessary to save the souls of those people and returning to them the money received from them, left there, according to his custom, bypassing many countries and cities. It is also told about this old man that, when he was still a youth, he sold himself to a Greek buffoon for twenty pieces of silver and, keeping this money, he lived with the Greek until he converted him and his whole house to Christ God. This happened because the buffoon saw how his slave constantly spent all his days fasting, eating bread and water only in the evening and then in small quantities, and at night he always got out of bed and prayed to God with tears; Seeing all this, the buffoon became moved and, believing in Christ, the true God, was baptized, and after him his wife and his whole house were baptized. After this, the Greek said to Serapion: “Go, brother, for we want to free you from your slavery, just as you freed us from slavery to the devil.” “Since my God has granted you salvation, I will tell you my secret: I was not a slave, but a free Egyptian; but seeing that you were mistaken and close to destruction, I took pity on you and for this reason sold myself into slavery to you, in order, with the help of God, to guide you on the path of salvation. But since you are now already set on this path, then take back your silver; I’ll go and take care of saving other people. But they begged him for a long time, saying: “We are ready to honor you as our father and master; Therefore, from now on, be our master, and we will be your slaves. Just don't leave us! However, they could not persuade him to stay in his place. Moreover, they did not want to take the silver pieces from the elder and told him: - Honest father, give this to the poor; It is enough for us that you directed us on the path of salvation. But the man of God answered them: – You yourself can give away what belongs to you; I can’t give away other people’s silver to the poor. They again began to beg him to visit them at least in a year. After that, the monk left from there to another country. One day, having met a ship departing from Alexandria to Rome, Serapion boarded it, wanting to come to Rome. The shipmen, having sailed from the shore, did not ask the old man whether he had paid the following amount for transportation? They thought about each other that one of them had accepted money and things from the elder; although they saw that he was wearing a very poor cloak, they nevertheless thought that he would have the money to pay for the transportation. When the shipmen sailed about five hundred furlongs from the shore, they began to eat food in the evening. Not seeing the elder eat food, they thought that he was fasting that day. Seeing the same thing on the second and third day, and not understanding why the old man did not eat food, they thought that he had caught a cold at sea and was suffering from the sea wind. Seeing that the elder did not eat food on the fourth and fifth days, they asked him: - Man! Why don't you eat anything? “That’s why I don’t eat because I have nothing to eat.” Having talked among themselves about who took the man’s things into the ship, and having learned that he had not paid money for transportation, the shipmen began to murmur against the monk, saying with anger: “Why did you come here without anything with you?” What will you eat here? How will you pay us for transportation? “I have nothing with me except this thin rags, as you can see for yourself.” If you don't want to take me with you, take me back and take me back to where you took me from. But the shipmen said to the old man: “If you gave us a hundred gold coins so that we could return back for you alone, then even then we would not agree to this, especially since the wind is now blowing favorable to us.” And they allowed the old man to be on the ship, feeding it for God’s sake. The monk, having come to Rome, went around the houses of all those citizens about whom he heard that they lived a pious life. By talking with them, he received spiritual benefits for himself. For this reason, he wandered, collecting spiritual wealth in order to buy himself heavenly blessings in eternal peace. He received these benefits by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom glory is given forever and ever. Amen 3238. The name "Sindonite" was adopted by the Monk Serapion because he wore only one sindon - coarse linen clothing. Lacedaemonia or Laconia is the southeastern region of the Peleponesse, bordered in the north by Argolis and Arcadia, in the east by the Myrtoan Sea, in the south by the Laconian or Hytheatian Gulf, and in the west by Messenia. Manichaeism is a heretical false teaching, which is a mixture of Christian teachings with the principles of the religion of Zoroaster. The founder of Manichaeism was Manes, a Persian magician. Manes taught that from time immemorial there have been two independent kingdoms - good and evil, which are in constant struggle with each other. Man also, according to the teachings of Manes, consists of a mixture of two elements - light and darkness and has, as it were, two souls - good and evil, which constantly fight among themselves. In life, the Manichaeans were very abstinent: they preached celibacy and constant fasting. Manichaeism was quite widespread in the 3rd and 4th centuries. The death of Saint Serapion followed in the 5th century. You might be interested in: