Житие преподобного отца нашего Зосимы, епископа Вавилонского

The Monk Zosimas, nicknamed Kilix (since he was from Cilicia 3628), fell in love with God in his youth. Rejecting the world, he came to Mount Sinai 3629, here he put on the monastic rite and began to labor in fasting and prayer. However, he did not stay long in Sinai. Striving for silence and silence, Zosima, while still young, left Mount Sinai for the deserts of Libya 3630, and there settled in a deserted place called Ammoniac. Here he began to live in complete solitude, caring about pleasing the one God. One day he saw an old man in the desert dressed in a thorny hair shirt. Approaching him, Zosima wanted to bow to the elder and, according to custom, ask for his blessing. But the elder warned him, saying: - Why did you come here, Zosima? Get out of here, because you shouldn't stay here. Thinking that the elder had known him for a long time, Zosima, bowing to him and asking for a blessing, said: - I pray to you, father, show me favor! Tell me how do you know me? “Earlier than two days ago, a wonderful-looking husband appeared to me and said to me: behold, a monk from Mount Sinai, named Zosima, will come to you; do not give him a blessing to stay in this desert. I want to entrust him with the church of Babylon, which is in Egypt. Having said this, the hermit walked away from Zosima to the distance of a thrown stone and began to pray, raising his hands to God. He prayed for about two hours; then, having finished the prayer, the elder again approached Zosima and, hugging him fatherly, kissed him on the face and said: “My dear child, it’s good that you came here.” Truly, God brought you to me so that you would bury my body in the earth, as I am going to the Lord. Then Zosima asked the elder: - How many years have you been staying in this place, father? “It’s already been forty-five years of my stay here.” At these words of the ascetic, his face lit up like fire. Turning again to Zosima, the elder said: - Peace be with you, child, pray for me! And after such words he lay down on the ground and quietly went to the Lord God. Blessed Zosima, having dug a grave, buried the honorable body of the great ascetic and, having stayed in that place for two days, returned to Mount Sinai, glorifying God. During his second stay in Sinai, a robber came to him and begged him with these words: “Have mercy on me, Abba 3631, grant me monastic tonsure, so that I may mourn my sins in silence.” I committed many murders, and now I have repented of my criminal and sinful life, and I want to spend the rest of my days in weeping and heartfelt contrition for my countless atrocities. The Monk Zosima, having instructed this man, clothed him with the monastic rank; but after some time, calling the repentant thief to him, he said to him: “Child, believe me, it’s impossible for you to stay here.” If one of the dignitaries finds out that you are taking refuge with us, he will seize you. In addition, one of those offended by you may recognize you and report you. Therefore, listen to me and I will take you to a more distant monastery. The monk agreed to the admonition of the monk, and the holy elder took him to the monastery of Abba Dorotheus, located near Gaza 3632. Having placed him in this monastery, Zosima returned to Mount Sinai. That brother lived in the monastery of Abba Dorotheus for nine years. But then, having studied the Psalter and experienced the works of monks, he again returned to the Monk Zosima and said to him: - Do mercy on me, father, give me back my worldly clothes, and take my monastic clothes from me. The monk asked him with sadness: “For nine years, Father, as you yourself know, I remained in the monastery, practicing fasting and all abstinence, working with meekness, silence and the fear of God and obeying everything, in the hope of God’s endless mercy and the forgiveness of my countless sins. And yet, despite my constant exploits and labors, I always see before me a child who says to me: “Why did you kill me?” I see this vision not only in a dream, but also in reality: when I stand in church, and when I approach the Divine Mysteries, and when I eat something with the brethren at a meal. I don’t know peace for a single hour: even when I’m walking, and then I see a child in front of me, always telling me the same thing: “Why did you kill me?” So I decided, father, to go to where I committed my robberies, so that I would be captured and brought to justice. I need to die for the reckless murder of that child. So, having taken worldly clothes from the reverend father, the monk went into the world. When he came to the city of Diospolis 3633, he was captured, and the next day he suffered execution, being beheaded with the sword. So he went to the Lord God, having washed away his sins with his blood. Soon after this event, the Monk Zosima, tormented by an irresistible desire to live in the silence and silence of the desert, again decided to leave Mount Sinai. And so, taking with him his disciple John, the monk went with him to the desert, which bore the name Porphyrion 3634. Walking through this desert, they met two hermits: one of them was from Galatia 3635 and bore the name of Paul, and the other came from the Meletian region 3636 and was called Theodore, and took monastic tonsure in the monastery of Abba Euthymius the Great. Both ascetics wore clothes made of buffalo skin. The Monk Zosima settled with his disciple near those hermits, at a distance of about two miles 3637, and lived there for two years. But then the disciple of the Monk Zosima, John, was bitten by a serpent: his whole body was saturated with serpentine venom, blood gushed from his eyes, nostrils, ears and from all skin openings and pores, and John died. Blessed Zosima became greatly saddened and went to the two hermits mentioned above. Those, seeing him in great sorrow, before Zosima said anything to them, warning him, said: - What, Abba Zosima, did your brother die? Zosima, amazed at their perspicacity, informed them of the circumstances of the death of his student, which were already known to the elders. Then both ascetics rebelled and went, together with Zosima, to brother John. Seeing the deceased lying on the ground, they said: “Don’t grieve, Abba Zosima, God will help you.” And after these words they shouted loudly, turning to the deceased: “Brother John, get up, for your Abba is calling you.” The dead man immediately came to life and stood up from the ground. Then the elders found the snake and tore it in two; then they said to Saint Zosima: - Abba, we do not falsely proclaim to you the will of God: go to Mount Sinai; because God wants to entrust you with the bishopric of the Babylonian church in Egypt. Hearing this, the Monk Zosima accepted the blessing from the desert saints and, taking with him his disciple John, returned to Sinai again. After some time, the Abba of Mount Sinai 3638 sent Blessed Zosima, along with two other monks, due to the needs of the Sinai monasteries, to Alexandria 3639. The Patriarch of Alexandria fell in love with the blessed elders and, keeping them in the city, ordained them bishops, one in Iliopolis 3640, the other in Leentopol 3641, and Zosimas in Babylon of Egypt. For in ancient times there were two Babylons: the first - the most famous and ancient - was located in the Chaldean land 3642, and Nebuchadnezzar and all the Chaldean kings reigned in it, and the other - less famous and smaller in size and number of inhabitants - was in Egypt. This city was founded on the banks of the Nile River by immigrants from ancient Babylon, who named their new settlement after the name of their abandoned homeland. In this Babylon of Egypt, the Monk Zosima, by the will of God and according to the prophecy of the hermits, accepted the throne of the bishop and began to shepherd the flock of Christ. He ruled the holy Church well, being an image to the flock in word, action and purity (1 Tim. 4:12). He spent quite a long time at the head of the Babylonian Church and guided many on the path of salvation. When the saint reached a very old age, then, seeing his bodily weakness and expecting imminent death, he left the episcopal throne and returned again to Mount Sinai, the place of his former residence. Here, having lived a little, the saint died in the Lord 3643 and in the ranks of the holy hierarchs now stands before our Master, the Lord Jesus Christ; To him be glory forever. Amen. Cilicia is a region of Asia Minor, located in the southeastern part of it, on the borders with Syria and along the southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Mount Sinai is actually a group of mountains consisting of granite rocks, cut and surrounded by steep and rough valleys. It lies almost in the middle of the famous branches of the Red (Red) Sea, which form the Sinai Peninsula. It consists of three mountain ranges. The southeastern peak of the middle ridge was the site of the famous Sinai legislation. From the 4th century According to R.H., Mount Sinai became a favorite place for ascetics and was dotted with monasteries. Libya is a province in northern Africa, west of Egypt. Adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea, part of Libya was inhabited, while the other, going inland, was a desert with several oases. This is the easternmost tip of the famous Sahara Desert, stretching from Egypt almost to the very shores of the Atlantic Ocean. Abba is a Syrian word, meaning father. This name was usually given to the heads of monasteries, as well as to the elder brethren. The novice monk, given over to the guidance of some experienced elder for training, also addressed him with this word - Abba. Gaza City is located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, at the southernmost tip of Palestine, near Egypt; it was once the southern border of the Canaanites. During the power of the Romans, Gaza was a significant trading city in Palestine; this meaning was maintained for some time and later during the Byzantine Empire. But over time, this flourishing city lost all its significance, and now only sandy hills and miserable ruins serve as evidence that a great city existed here. Diospolis is a Palestinian city, on the northern road from Jerusalem to Joppa (Jaffa). Of course, apparently, the desert was located near the city of Porphyrgon, in Phenicia, near Mount Carmel (south of Ptolemais). This desert and especially Mount Carmel were filled with monks. Galatia is a small, mountainous but fertile province of Asia Minor, lying between Bithynia, Pontus and Cappadocia. It got its name from the Galatians - warlike tribes of Gali or Celtic origin. Meletina is a region in the northern part of Lesser Armenia, not far from the river. Euphrates. Under Emperor Trajan (98–117), a village of the same name as the region grew here to the size of a significant city. Field is a measure of distance; it was equal to our 690 fathoms. Two fields thus amount to 1,380 fathoms or 2 versts. The monasteries of Mount Sinai were under the authority of one common leader - the Abba of Mount Sinai. Alexandria was the main city of Egypt and the North African provinces. It was founded by Alexander the Great in Lower (Northern) Egypt, at the mouth of the Nile. After Rome, Alexandria was considered the first city in the world and served as a center of trade, industry and especially pagan learning, and in the first centuries of Christianity a hotbed of Christian enlightenment. From the 5th century the bishop of Alexandria enjoyed the title of patriarch and all the churches of Egypt, Libya and North Africa were subordinate to him. The Sinai Peninsula, with its monasteries, was also under the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Alexandria. Currently, Alexandria (Iskander in Turkish and Arabic) is one of the most important trading points on the Mediterranean Sea, with a population of up to 230,000 inhabitants. Iliopol is a city in Africa; located on the right bank of the Nile, on one of its eastern branches, in the south of Lower Egypt Leontopolis is a city in central Egypt. Chaldea was located in Mesopotamia, along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. He died at the end of the 6th century. You might be interested in: