Память преподобного отца нашего Зосимы

The Monk Zosimas was a Phoenician by birth and was born in the Phoenician seaside village of Sinde, located twenty stadia from the city of Tire. Practicing in the feats of monasticism, Zosima, through abstinence, fasting and other virtues that shone through him, sought such great grace from God that he not only remained free from all confusion in his conscience, but also saw with his spiritual eyes into the distant future as the present. His monastery was located near the village of Sindy in which he was born. One day he happened to be in Caesarea in Palestine, where at that time the bishop was the Monk John, nicknamed Chozebite, who was taken to the episcopal see for his virtuous life against his will from the Chozebite monastery, which was not very far from Jerusalem, along the road leading to Jericho 3728. In the same city of Caesarea lived a certain noble patrician 3729 named Arcesilaus, a pious man, adorned with all sorts of virtues. The Monk Zosima stayed with him, and was received with honor and joy. At that very moment when Antioch was collapsing from the earthquake of 3730, the elder suddenly began to groan, weep heavily and let out sighs from the depths of his heart; and shed a lot of tears. Then, asking for a censer and filling it with incense and burning coals, he cursed everyone who was there: after that, he prostrated himself crosswise on the ground and began to pray to God with tenderness. Then Arcesilaus asked him: - Why are you so sad? He answered loudly: – The noise from the terrible destruction and fall of Antioch flashed before my ears; this noise still sounds in my ears. Arcesilaus and others who were there, amazed and horrified, wrote down the hour at which the monk spoke, and then soon clearly learned that what the elder said was the truth, for Antioch fell at the very time when the elder, having shed tears, prostrated himself to pray and foreshadowed that fall. The monk performed many other miracles; Let's mention some of them here. It happened somehow that the aforementioned Arcesilaus came to the monastery of the monk, located in Sindh. This monastery was located at a distance of five hundred stadia from Caesarea in Palestine. At this time, the wife of Arcesilaus, through negligence, gouged out her eye with a knitting needle and suffered severely. When the holy Bishop John Chozebite found out about this, he hastily went to her to examine the ulcer and saw that her eyelashes had fallen out and her eye had come out of its place. Then he ordered one of the doctors who were there, taking a sponge, putting the fallen eye in its place and then tying the sponge with a handkerchief. When all this was happening, a messenger went with haste to Arcesilaus to report everything that had happened in his house. Arcesilaus at this time was in the Sindian monastery and talked with the Monk Zosima. Having learned about what had happened in his house, Arcesilaus began to sob bitterly and tear out his hair. The Monk Zosima asked him about the reason for the crying and, having received an answer, went to his inner cell, in which, as was his custom, he always prayed. Then he soon came out to Arcesilaus with a cheerful and joyful face and said: “Go to your home with joy, for Chozebite, according to the grace given to him by God, has healed your wife; Now both her eyes are completely healthy; the illness did not cause her any harm, for she was miraculously healed by the Chozebite.” These two miracles were performed by those two righteous men within one hour. Saint Bishop John healed the woman’s gouged out eye, but Saint Zosima, with his spiritual eyes, saw that healing from afar and reported it to Arcesilaus. One day the Monk Zosimas went to Caesarea; he took with him a donkey, on which he laid his things. A lion met him on the road; Grabbing the donkey, the beast ran with it into the desert. Saint Zosima followed the tracks of the beast. When the lion, having eaten the donkey, was satisfied, the old man approached him and, smiling, said: - That's it, friend! It is very difficult for me to walk, as I am very tired due to my old age; I am not able to bear on my aged shoulders the burden that was placed on my donkey; therefore, bear this burden, although it is contrary to your character, if you want to free yourself from Zosima; then you can again become evil and fierce according to your nature. Then the lion, as if forgetting his natural rage, began to caress himself towards the saint and became meek like a lamb and with his very affection showed signs of obedience. Saint Zosimas, placing on him the weight that the donkey carried, brought him to the gates of Caesarea; then, having removed the burden here, he again released the beast into the desert. Here, on the one hand, the almighty power of the Lord was revealed, subduing fierce beasts into obedience to His servants, and on the other hand, it was obviously revealed that a virtuous person, fulfilling the commandments of the Lord and serving his Creator God with all his heart, obeys and serves everything else, even unreasonable creatures. And finally, this incident undoubtedly proves to everyone the holiness of Zosima the Phoenician 3731. For all this be glory to our God, now and forever. Amen. The city of Jericho was located on the western bank of the Jordan River, in a very fertile valley, among gardens replete with palm trees, which is why it was called the “city of palm trees.” Nowadays, on the site of ancient Jericho stands the poor village of Riha. The patricians were the highest class in Rome, like our nobility. This refers to the earthquake that occurred in Antioch in 526. The death of Saint Zosima followed in the middle of the 6th century. You might be interested in: