Житие преподобного отца нашего Паисия Великого

The vain charm of this world - corruptible and transitory - attracts people who thirst for it, and forces them, for the sake of insignificant earthly joy, to sin in their intentions and feelings and to cling their minds to earthly passions, and moreover, so much so that these peace-loving people sometimes begin not only to despise the heavenly life promised to them, but also - alas! – they turn away from the Creator of true life Himself and strive more for temporary and earthly blessings than for future ones, thereby voluntarily preparing for themselves a cruel and endless death; like this, the eternal treasure in heaven - in people who hope to achieve it, it arouses an immeasurable desire for itself and saturates their hearts with some kind of Divine and unspeakable sweetness: the heavenly Kingdom promised to us makes such people remember eternal bliss, reward for their labors and the bright triumph of ascetics; the thought of this so motivates them to strive to achieve this Kingdom that they not only begin to despise everything temporary and vain, but do not even spare their lives, wanting, for the sake of Christ, according to the word of the Gospel (Matthew 10:39), to lay down their souls for Him, and prefer death for Him to all earthly joys and pleasures. In those cases when, after the cessation of persecution, the ascetics of piety did not find martyrdom for themselves, they longed to endure it in a different way: they take on the long, but necessary for them, feat of mortification of their flesh, and at the same time, of course, endure constant illnesses: fasting daily and killing themselves with various feats, they fight with invisible demons, and while still in the flesh, they constantly force themselves to resist these ethereal enemies. Among such glorious and godly people there was a certain man about whom I 4050 now want to tell, telling about his birth, youth and wonderful life: that man’s name was Paisius. And let everyone believe me, hearing something glorious and supernatural about him, and let no one think that, for the sake of honor, I am adding anything to the story about this holy father: he is much higher than all human glory and, being praised in the highest villages by the holy Angels, does not require praise from us, lowly and sinful. But I will tell about him for the benefit of those who listen and who want to be jealous of his virtues. And I will tell you what I saw and heard with my own eyes and ears. So, I will begin the story about the praiseworthy and instructive life of the monk from his very infancy. This glorious and blessed man was born and lived in Egypt, where Moses, the great seer of God among the prophets, was once born, who, as the Holy Scripture tells us about this, was greatly exalted by his closeness to God and his great miracles. But Egypt became no less famous for the second time, through the life of the Monk Paisius, who was born in it and enriched it with his honest name and many different virtues. The parents of Blessed Paisius were people of true faith and fear of the Lord. They spent their lives immaculately in fulfilling the commandments of God and tried to please the Lord alone with all kinds of good deeds. They had seven children and raised them all in good obedience, trying to imitate them, their parents, in everything. The saint's parents had abundance in everything and distributed alms to all those in need. Their hands were always outstretched to retribution, and what they gave to the poor was rewarded to them in abundance from Divine gifts. But since no person can be innocent of death, the saint’s parent also passed away from this life, leaving his honest wife to take care of the children; of them, the youngest in years was the youth Paisiy, and because of him the mother had to endure especially much sadness. One night, when the boy’s mother was already sleeping, she had the following vision: an Angel of the Lord appeared and said: - God, the Father of the orphans, sent me to you to ask why you are so sad about your children, and are constantly in such great care about them? Are you the only one who cares about them, and God doesn’t even think about them? So, from now on, leave your sorrow and dedicate one of your sons to God on High, - through him the most holy and glorified name of the Lord will be glorified. The saint’s mother answered this to the Angel: “All my sons belong to the Lord, and if any of them pleases Him, let Him take him to Himself.” Then the Angel, taking Paisius by the hand, said: “It’s better to take one of the elders,” the old woman said then. But the Angel answered her: - Oh good woman! Don’t you know that the power of God is usually manifested in the weak? So, this youngest is chosen by God, and he will please Him. Having said this, the Angel disappeared. The saint’s mother, awakening from sleep, was surprised at such a Divine vision and thanked the Lord thus: - May Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us and on Your servant, Paisiya! Then, after a rather lengthy prayer, she took her son to church to ordain him as a clergyman. The blessed youth Paisius, having been worthy of entering the clergy, began to become like virtuous men and, growing in years and intelligence, at the same time he grew in the grace of God: day by day his heart was inflamed with more and more love for God, and he himself burned with impatience - as if to quickly achieve monastic tonsure; and so, when this time came, and he could be worthy of initiation and begin a more perfect life in the monastic rank, he, like an immaculate lamb, admonished by the grace of God, went to the hermitage desert and there, for spiritual instruction, wished to settle with the shepherd of verbal sheep - blessed Pamva 4051; this father received him with love and joy and clothed him in a holy monastic image. Blessed Pamva was gifted with the gift of foreknowledge: by revelation from above, he knew everything that was about to happen to Paisius and therefore looked at him as a chosen vessel of God’s grace, which guided him to every good deed. First of all, Blessed Paisius zealously underwent obedience, unquestioningly obeying his father and fulfilling his will in everything, and at the same time he always led the most severe way of life and, as by degrees, ascended in his heart to greater perfection in virtues. Our venerable father Pamva, seeing that he had devoted himself entirely to fasting, and wanting to encourage him to an even greater feat, one day said to him: – Child Paisius, a new monk needs to carefully guard all his feelings from stumbling and temptation, and he especially needs to guard his eyes from any curious glance; You don’t need to look anyone in the face, but constantly fix your eyes downward, and with your mind look at the heights and with your inner eyes contemplate the ineffable goodness of God, glorifying and chanting the omnipotent Lord. And so blessed Paisius, instructed by such instructive conversations, inflamed with even greater love for God, decided to fulfill everything that was told to him exactly - and indeed, for three whole years he carefully observed the commandment - not to look at other people's faces, and diligently devoted himself to reading Divine books, constantly listening to the word of God and his instructions, always like waters, watering his soul; and it was, according to the word of David, like a certain garden planted by a source of water, growing, prospering and bearing sweet fruit in its time, for this psalm broadcast to God was desired by him: “How sweet are Your words to my throat! “Better than honey to my lips” (Psalm 119:103), according to the apostolic exhortation, praying unceasingly, afflicting his body with fasting and vigil, he enslaved it to the spirit and in the depths of his heart, like a kind of treasure, he kept all his virtues. The venerable elder Pamva, seeing him prosperous, rejoiced at his virtuous life in God: watching him fatherly, he guided him to further exploits; and piously instructing him in every pleasing deed and knowledge, he soon made him the most skillful of the monks. When the time came for the departure of Saint Pamva to the heavenly inheritance, to which he so longed to pass, this reverend father, having blessed blessed Paisius and uttering many prophetic words about him, passed on to the eternal blessed life, in order to receive there the ineffable benefits he had long awaited. “I, humble John (says the writer of this life), remained with Holy Paisius: similar to each other in everything, we spent our lives together; living far from everyone and fulfilling the same rule both in prayers and in life, as we received it from our father, we supported each other, caring only about the salvation of our souls. But after a little time, blessed Paisius desired a higher feat and life, and therefore we had to disperse. Inflamed in spirit by ever more severe fasting, he did not touch food for a whole week, and on Saturday and Sunday he ate only bread with salt and water, but on other days, instead of sensual bread, he ate spiritual bread; he often read the prophetic book of the prophesied Jeremiah, and many times this holy prophet, appearing to him, explained secrets that were incomprehensible to him in the prophecy, and with innermost thoughts excited his mind to achieve the promised benefits; but stretching ever forward to a more severe way of life, Paisius abandoned the initial feat of his fasting and chose a new one: now he began to fast for two whole weeks and only after they had passed, as was said, he ate a little bread with salt and water, as much as was needed. And no one knew about his fasting and life as equals with the angels, only God alone, who knows all the mysteries of man, for whom everything that has not yet been revealed is revealed; In addition, he desired to take upon himself the feat of silence, in order to offer prayer to the one and only Lord Christ in private, to draw even closer to Him and to be enlightened by His light. “Having learned about this desire of his,” continues John Kolov, “I realized with heavy sadness that we must be separated from each other.” But I, wanting to know whether this was his intention from God, or from ordinary human self-will, told him: - Brother Paisius, I see that you want to take on the feat of silent living; Believe me sincerely that I have the same thought, but I doubt, being unsure whether this thought is from God or not; So, let us pray to the generous God - may our Lord Himself, according to His will, arrange our lives and may He reveal to us whether we should stay together or be separated from each other. Paisiy answered me: – You speak well, beloved; Let us do what you said. So, getting up to pray, we prayed to the Lord with zeal all night. And the merciful Lord, not wanting to despise our prayer, sent His holy Angel to us with the news, who, appearing to us in the morning, said: – The Lord divides you in your life; So, you, John, while staying here, be a mentor to the salvation of other people, but you, the servant of Christ Paisius, move from here to the western side of the desert, for the Lord said that a great host of monastics would gather to you and, at His command, a monastery would be created there and His name would be glorified through you. Having said this, the Angel walked away. We (says John) worshiped the Lord with thanksgiving and, at His command, dispersed: I remained in the same place, but blessed Paisius went further to the western part of the desert; there he carved out a cave in the mountain and settled in it, and here, with all-perfect purity and many varied exploits, he became so close to God that Christ Himself appeared to him, taught him and guided him to virtue, as all this will be said in its place. One day, when Paisius was sitting in a cave and chanting Divine songs, the Savior appeared to him and said: – Peace be with you, My beloved saint! He, overwhelmed with fear and trembling, stood up and said: - Christ, the Lover of Mankind, the Savior, I am Your servant, and why do You, Master, show me such great mercy that now You yourself deign to condescend to my unworthiness? To this the Lord answered him: – Do you see this desert, how big and wide it is? For your sake, I will fill it with fasters who will glorify My name. Then the chosen saint of God, Paisius, fell to the ground and said: - Lord God! Everything obeys Your strong hand, and whatever You wish is done: I pray for Your goodness, let me understand, where will everything necessary and necessary for those who will struggle in this desert come from? - Believe Me, who tells you the truth, that if I see love in them, the mother of all virtues, and if they fulfill all My commandments, then let them not worry about anything: I Myself will take care of them. Then Paisius asked the Lord again: – Once again I ask Your goodness: how will they cross the enemy’s snares without stumbling and avoid fierce demonic temptations? “If they keep My commandments, as I told you, with meekness, righteousness and a humble heart, then I will not only make them above all enemy warfare and crafty deceits, but I will also give them the Kingdom of Heaven as an inheritance.” Having said this, the Savior ascended into heaven with glory. Saint Paisius, having become even more imbued with the fear of God in his heart, began incessantly to reflect on the Savior’s condescension to him from heaven. But the father of envy and the misanthrope, the enemy the devil, seeing that Paisius, skillfully bypassing all his insidious networks, was invulnerable to his machinations and was above all his slander, became even more inflamed with anger against him; but being unable to approach him, in view of the Divine power that was given to him from God, he began to invent other deceits in order to finally catch the servant of Christ in his net. Thinking of captivating him with the golden bait of covetousness, the devil attempted, with the help of alms, to catch the saint of God in the net of the love of money, so that - after he fell away from non-covetousness - it would be more convenient for the fierce spirits of malice to attack him. And so the flattering enemy of the human race went to a certain Egyptian prince, a God-fearing man and possessing great wealth; he appeared to him in the form of an Angel and said: - Beloved, arise and go into the desert; you will find there a man named Paisia, a completely poor man, but highly decorated with the virtues and divine grace of a chosen vessel; Having met him, you give this old man, without stint, gold, so that he will have something to replenish the lack of other desert dwellers. That prince, not understanding the demonic seduction, but thinking that it was really an Angel, took part of his gold and silver and much else that was necessary for the monks, and went to the saint. But the Divine power that dwelt in Paisius revealed to him these machinations of the devil, who, under the guise of princely alms, wanted to captivate the saint with covetousness - and the Divine husband Paisius, immediately stood up and went to meet the prince. When the saint met him, the prince asked him about the desert dweller Paisiya: - who is he and where does he live? Paisiy, for his part, asked the prince: – Why are you looking for Paisius? What do you need it for? “I came to share with him gold, silver and everything necessary in life, so that he would distribute all this to the monks. Then the saint, answering the prince, said: - O lover of Christ! Know that gold and silver are not needed for those who want to live in this desert, and none of those who settled here will want to take anything from your estate; So, without grieving, return home, and God will accept your good will. And if you want to distribute what you have brought to the poor, then in the cities of Egypt there are many needy people, the poor, the beggars, the orphans and the widowed - take care of them, and you will receive a great reward from God! The prince, believing the words of the saint, returned and acted as he had taught him: he distributed his property to the poor, the poor and the needy. When the Monk Paisius entered his cave, the devil appeared to him and said: - O Paisiy! What should I do with you now, because you are frustrating all my cunning plans? Now I’ll rather go and scold others, but I’ll never return to you, for I’m defeated by you. After this, the blessed man cursed the unclean spirit with the power of Christ and drove him away from him, and the devil withdrew in shame, no longer daring to approach the saint so brazenly. Soon the monk went to the inner part of the desert, but, staying there in body and spirit, he, together with the heavenly powers, stood before the Lord of all; here, becoming like the disembodied, he indulged in an even more strict life and for this he was honored to become a contemplator of the heavenly mysteries on earth, for the Holy Spirit abiding in him deigned to show him the endless triumph of the righteous in heaven. One day, standing in prayer, Paisius felt as if he had flown on wings and was already in heaven: first of all, he saw the beautiful villages of paradise, filled with indescribable light and joy, he also saw the church of the first and eternally triumphant, and, having been honored here to partake of the immaterial food of the Divine Mysteries, he accepted the gift of extreme abstinence and fasting. Having received communion once during the week, precisely on the weekly day of the Resurrection of the Lord, until the next weekly day he remained completely without food: thus, by the power of God’s grace, his nature was enriched by the Creator. “To me (says the writer of his life) let everyone of the believers believe the word of God, for I have the word of God as a faithful witness.” Doesn’t it also say that everything obeys God’s command? and since it is true, then let everyone consider what I convey to be true. – After receiving the Divine Sacraments of the Body and Blood of Christ, the Monk Paisius sometimes remained without bodily food for seventy days; and this is not surprising, for Divine grace has indescribable power, and therefore could support life in him (Paisia) better than reinforcement with perishable food. For, according to the carnal nature of those living, the body, in order not to become exhausted, requires nourishment to strengthen it, and those who, like the disembodied, have succeeded in a supernatural life, are given this grace in abundance by the creative power, to which human nature obeys, and no longer lives so much on bodily food as on spiritual food. The Almighty Creator, our God knows how to preserve the life of seven sleeping youths on earth for three hundred years and even more, and He preserves the life of Elijah in the heavenly villages until the last day. “But enough about that, let’s talk about Blessed Paisius.” Many not only monks, but also lay people flocked to this reverend father, wanting to live with him; settling around him like a swarm of bees, they all greatly thirsted to be satisfied with the sweetness of his spiritual honey. He, drawing grace from the ever-present Divine source, sweeter than any sensual honey and honeycomb, exuded to them this spiritual drink, filled with indescribable sweetness, so that every day the number of brothers who gathered and multiplied around him greatly increased; all of them, having rejected the worldly delights of this world, were lifted up by the yoke of Christ in the Gospel. From among these brothers, the reverend father separated some for the feat of silence, so that they would privately talk with God in warm prayer; He commanded others to serve the Lord together with others and unanimously with the brethren to remain in obedience and bear common labor; and he left others to study handicrafts, so that they would not only feed themselves from the labors of their hands, but would also feed the hungry, the poor, and would lovingly give rest to other poor brothers and wanderers. His main behest was the following: no one does anything of his own free will, but everything is done according to the command and consideration of experienced fathers. Such was the covenant of the monk for the brethren who gathered to him, and such was his teaching; As for the silent life of the reverend father himself, it is impossible to convey this in detail, but out of many things, let at least something small be said. After some time, the monk, seeing that his silent life was constantly being disturbed by the brethren coming to him, began to be burdened by this, for he himself wanted to strictly observe the feat of silence; Therefore, he decided to leave the cave where he had previously lived, and at the same time the care of his brethren. And so, secretly from everyone, he left there and went to more remote places in the desert; here in one place he found a cave, settled in it and stayed there for three years. And during this time the hair on his head grew greatly and was so long that, tying it with some skill to a stake that was erected at the top of the cave, he could, without falling asleep for a minute, perform all his all-night prayers; Thus, both at night and during the day, he did not give himself rest, completely abandoning himself to work, and only in it did he have peace, for the sake of the love of God, which he was always enveloped in. Therefore, the Lord loved him, and the monk more than once was rewarded with the Divine appearance and sight of Christ, just as our Savior Himself said in the Holy Gospel: “Whoever loves Me will be loved by My Father; and I will love him and show myself to him” (John 14:21). One day, when the Monk Paisius was inflamed with especially ardent love for God, and his whole mind was deepened in the Lord through divine prayer, - as before, the Savior Christ appeared to him; Paisius, being unable to behold the radiant glory of the most holy face of the Savior, fell to the ground, overwhelmed with fear and trembling. But the Humane-loving Master extended His hand to him and (oh, Thy ineffable love, O Christ the King, for Thy saints!), raising Paisius from the ground, he said to him: - Peace be with you, My saint; Do not be afraid, and do not let your heart tremble; for My goodness greatly delights in your deeds, and your deed is very pleasing to Me; rejoice and accept a worthy reward for this: behold, I give you this gift: everything that you ask of My Father in My name will be given to you. Saint Paisius, seeing such great goodness of the Lord, took on a certain boldness and said: - O philanthropic God, Christ! If, by Your inscrutable goodness, You vouchsafe me, unworthy and accursed, with such Your grace, then I humbly pray to You, instruct and teach me about whom and what needs I need to ask, for I see all my sins before You and for my shortcomings I always pray for Your mercy: forgive and cover with Your compassion the multitude of my sins, and grant me the rest to spend the time of my life sinlessly, so that by fearlessly ascending the path of salvation, with Your help and guidance, I can achieve a blissful life without stumbling; for who can do anything good without Your help and guidance and receive mercy from You? And what good deeds of ours, what labor and feat are worthy of such great mercy of Yours - even if we accepted death for You, as it befits us to lay down our souls for You, our Creator and Redeemer, Who most mercifully loved us sinners? For if You, the immortal God, for us, mortal people, shedding Your most holy blood, endured the cross, death and tomb, in order to give us resurrection through Your resurrection, then what kind of death must we endure for the sake of You, our Savior? While Saint Paisius spoke thus to the Savior with great tenderness of heart, the Lord blessed him and, departing from him, ascended to heaven with glory. Paisius bowed to his Lord, praising and thanking him for His merciful condescension towards him. Our next word (the writer of this life continues) is intended to show the great zeal of this saint for the holy faith; This jealousy once showed itself in this way. In one of the Egyptian villages there lived a certain old man; - in his life he was a very virtuous man, but he was completely ignorant of the Holy Scriptures - and so, out of ignorance, he fell into the following heresy: he spoke about the Holy Trinity not as a trinity, but as a twofold, i.e. - he confessed the Father and the Son, but he kept silent about the Holy Spirit, saying that He is not God. And believing so falsely himself, he taught others this evil of his; many of the common people followed his blasphemous wisdom and teaching, seeing his virtuous life according to God. Christ God, who prepares salvation for everyone, not wanting the elder’s labors and his fasting deeds to be in vain, announced it to blessed Paisius and showed him the village and place where this holy elder lived. Paisiy immediately began to get ready for the journey with haste: he made many baskets with his own hands and at the same time attached three ears to each of them, and went with them to that old man, posing as a wanderer and a seller of his handicrafts; Many of the monks who were with the elder, holding his false teaching and wrong faith, seeing the wanderer and his baskets and not knowing that it was Paisius, began to ask who he was and where he came from? To this he said that he came from the desert to sell his handicrafts. They also asked him about the baskets, why are they made with three ears? And Saint Paisius always answered them: - Since I am a servant of the Most Holy Trinity and are passionately imbued with love for Her, therefore I made my baskets in the image of the Holy Trinity with three ears, so that I would not only believe in my heart and confess with my lips, but also glorify the Holy Trinity with my handicraft, which prefigures the trinity of Divine Persons - the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; for one ear was made in the image of God the Father, the other in the image of God the Son, the third in the image of God the Holy Spirit; and just as each basket has three ears, but in itself is one, so in the Holy Trinity there are three Persons, but one God. While Saint Paisius briefly expounded this mystery about the Holy Trinity, those men, together with their fasting teacher, were ashamed and, preparing to listen to him, said: “O marvelous one, tell us about the true faith even more clearly, and teach us more with your conversations - you have already surprised us greatly with what you said.” And the Divine Paisius, filled with the Holy Spirit, as an experienced mentor, began prudently and wisely to expose the heretical error and its soul-destroying harm, and zealously began to teach them the holy, Orthodox and soul-saving faith and guide them on the true path. And for a long time the Monk Paisius talked with them from the Divine Scripture and inspired books, taught them to believe in the Holy Trinity and piously confess this truth, and turned that old man and everyone who was with him to repentance about their former error; and having thus enlightened them, he went back to his desert, singing prayers of thanksgiving to the Lord. When he approached the desert, suddenly a great light shone before his eyes and, looking around, he saw that entire desert filled with angelic hordes; Surprised, he wondered what it was, and asked the Lord to reveal to him what everything he saw meant. And immediately the holy angel accompanying him said: - God showed all this to you, so that you would know that both with you and without you, the Angels, at His command, protect the monks who live in this desert, as the Master Himself promised you. And Paisius, having given thanks for this to God, the Provider of all, went further to his cell. The following narrative will be offered about the prophetic gift of Saint Paisius, namely, with what insight this saint of God was filled. The fame of the Divine and Saint Paisius spread everywhere, and many virtuous people called on him in order to get to know him and talk with him; So Blessed Pimen, being still very young at that time, was inflamed with the desire to see Saint Paisius. He went to the Monk Paul and began to beg him to go with him to the great Paisius: Paul usually often visited Saint Paisius. But to this request he said to Pimen: “You are still very young, and I am ashamed to lead you to this holy man; for he is a great saint of God and loves silence, and we do not easily come to him, but with prudence, and not always, but only at a convenient time, for the sake of spiritual benefit. Pimen answered him: “But, Father, when I come to him with you, I will stand outside the cell, and you alone will go in to the saint. It will be a great consolation for me if I only hear his voice talking with you; but even if I am not worthy to hear his voice, then at least I will touch his cell, and when you leave him, I will also touch your honest feet that entered inside the cell, and I will take the dust of the earth on which the holy feet of the saint walked - and this will be a great joy for me. Blessed Paul, seeing that Pimen was saying all this with great humility and good faith, took him with him and went to the great Paisius; Having reached the saint's cell, Paul alone entered there, and Pimen remained outside it. Having received Paul with love, like a father, Saint Paisius asked him about young Pimen, whom, although he had not yet seen with his physical eyes, he saw him from afar with his spiritual eyes, and said to Paul: -Where is your companion, the young man? “He, father, remained outside the cell, because he was afraid and ashamed to come to you!” Then the saint, commanding Pimen to enter, said: – It is not good to forbid the visit to us of those for whom the Savior has made it convenient to ascend to heaven; and He also said to men in the Holy Gospel: “Unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 18:3). Having said this, Saint Paisius took the young man and, turning his face to himself, blessed him, and said to Paul: “Believe me, dear Paul, that this youth will save the souls of many people and many, thanks to him, will be worthy of a heavenly village, for the hand of the Lord is with him, protecting him and guiding him to the Divine path.” Having said this, Saint Paisius, laying his hands on the head of Pimen, blessed him again, and after a rather lengthy conversation about spiritual salvation, he sent them away in peace; he himself, silently, continued to strive in his usual fasting deeds. However, it is time to tell about the glorious miracles of St. Paisius. In the Syrian countries there lived one great faster, a man adorned with very many virtues; One day, when this monk was standing in prayer, he involuntarily asked himself: - Which of those who pleased God is he like? As soon as he thought about this, a heavenly voice was heard from above: - Go to the country of Egypt, and there you will find a man named Paisia, who has the same humility and love for God as you. Hearing this, the honest old man immediately began to get ready for the journey with haste, and, not paying attention to either the long journey or the hard work, immediately went from Syria to Egypt; Having reached Mount Nitria 4052, he asked about Paisius - where is he? And since the name of Paisius was already known everywhere, he was immediately shown his place of residence; Yes, and Paisius’s coming of the elder was not unknown, but by the grace of God it was open; and so, getting up, he went to meet the elder. Having met in the desert, they kindly hugged each other and kissed each other with a holy kiss in the Lord; then, having come to Paisius’s cell and said a prayer, they sat down and began to talk. The elder was the first to speak to Saint Paisius; he spoke through an interpreter in Syriac, for he did not know how to speak Egyptian. Paisius, being an Egyptian, grieved a lot that he did not know the Syriac language, since he did not want to miss a single useful word of the elder. And so, lifting his eyes to heaven and directing his mind to God, he sighed from the depths of his heart and said: - Son, Word of God, let me, Your servant, understand the power of the words of this holy elder! And as soon as he said this, “Oh, how close God’s help is always to us!” - He immediately began to understand the elder’s Syriac conversation and, enlightened by the Divine Spirit, began to speak to him in Syriac, and they both enjoyed divinely inspired conversations without an interpreter, telling each other about their ascetic labors, which were bequeathed to them by God, and what God’s gifts were given to them. So they stayed together for six days, filling themselves with spiritual sweetness and rejoicing in God, their Savior. At the end of their soul-saving conversations, when the elder already wanted to go to his home, Saint Paisius called all his disciples who were then with him and said to them: – O beloved children, this reverend man, being perfect in virtues, is filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit; and so, come, all of you, to be worthy of his blessing, and accept his prayers for your protection from all the slander of the enemy. After Paisius said this, all his disciples began to render the elder Syrian the worship due to him and receive his blessing. Then, having prayed to the Lord for the disciples of Paisius and giving him a kind kiss in Christ, and also saying goodbye to all the brethren, this elder, accompanied by Paisius and his disciples, set off for his own country. A short time after the elder’s departure, a certain brother, living separately from the others, came to Saint Paisius; The saint's disciples told him: - O beloved! There was here with us, from the land of Syria, one man of God, a great elder among the fathers; he is enlightened both in mind and heart and greatly strengthened us with his soul-saving conversations; he has just gone to his home, and if you want to see him, then you can: for he has not yet managed to go far and is now somewhere near us; - and so, try to overtake him in order to receive a blessing from him. And that brother decided to immediately follow in the footsteps of the elder. But Saint Paisius said to him: - Don’t go: the venerable elder has already walked more than eighty miles, for the clouds are carrying him. After the saint said this, everyone was surprised and glorified the Lord, marvelous in His saints. One day a brother came to the Monk Paisius, who wanted to see him, and found him sleeping, but at his head he saw a Guardian Angel standing, looking very beautiful, and, surprised, he said: truly God protects those who love Him! The brother did not dare to approach his sleeping father, because he was afraid of the presence of the Angel and, thanking God, he left, having received great benefit from the fact that he was honored to see the Angel of God from the monk. One of the disciples of Saint Paisius, obeying his orders, went to Egypt to sell his handicrafts; On the way, he accidentally met a certain Jew who was also going to Egypt and went with him. On the way, the Jew, seeing his simplicity, began to pour out with his foul tongue the poison that he had in his heart from the strangled snake, and among other things he said to the monk: - O beloved! Why do you believe so much in a simple, crucified Man, when He was not the expected Messiah at all? Another must come, but not He. After the Jew had spoken to him many other crafty and harmful words, the monk, due to his mental weakness and simplicity of heart, was deceived by the Jew: he listened to his words as if they were the truth and even once said: - It may be true what you say. Oh, seduction and unexpected attack! For this monk (woe is me) immediately lost the grace of baptism, as will be discussed below. When he returned to the desert and came to the Monk Paisius, the elder became as if unapproachable for him: he not only did not want to look at his disciple, but everywhere he turned away from him and did not answer him a single word. And for a long time the father avoided his disciple, and the latter greatly grieved over this and was sick at heart, not knowing any guilt or sin before Saint Paisius. Finally finding a convenient time, the monk came to the monk and, falling at his feet, said: “Why, father, do you turn your honest face away from me and despise me, your accursed disciple?” And what you were never in the habit of doing before, you now show towards me, turning away from me, as if from some vile person. The elder said to him: - Who are you, man? I don't know you. “Father, what did you see strange in me that you don’t recognize me?” Am I not your student? - and at the same time he said his name. “This disciple of mine was a Christian and had the grace of baptism, but you are not like that; but if you really are my disciple, then truly the grace of baptism has departed from you and the image of a Christian has been taken away. So tell me, what happened to you? And tell us about the temptation that happened to you, and what soul-destroying poison you took on your way? “Forgive me, father,” the monk said to this, “I didn’t do anything.” “Get away from me along with all those who have denied the Lord, I don’t want to talk to you; for if you had been my disciple as you were before, then I would have seen you as you were before. Then the monk, sighing, began to shed touching tears, saying: “I am that student of yours, and not someone else, and I don’t know what I did wrong.” The Great Paisius then asked him: – Who did you talk to on the way? “With a Jew,” answered the monk, “and with no one else.” – What did the Jew tell you and what did you answer him? The saint’s disciple said to this: “The Jew didn’t tell me anything else, as soon as he said that Christ, to whom you bow, is not the true Christ, that the Savior has yet to come into the world; To this I told him - maybe what you say is true. - Oh, damned one! What could be worse and more disgusting than this word, by which you rejected Christ and His Divine baptism? Now go and mourn yourself as you wish, for you have no place with me, but your name is written with those who rejected Christ, and with them you will receive judgment and torment. After these words of the elder, his disciple, sighing and crying, raised his eyes to heaven and cried out to the monk with prayer: “Father, have mercy on me, the accursed one, and give peace to my soul!” Having been deprived of Divine enlightenment through negligence and having become joy and joy for the crafty demons, I don’t know what to do now; but I resort to God and to your holy prayers - do not despise me, the accursed one, and beg the Lord Christ for me - may He return His mercy to me again! When he prayed like this, appeasing the elder more with tears than words, the saint was moved, looking at him, and said to him: - Be patient, child, - we must now beg for you from the generosity of a man-loving God. Having said this, the monk closed himself in prayer and began to ask the Lord to forgive the sin of his disciple, who had sinned against Him through carelessness and ingenuous inattention. And the Lord, who never despises, but always fulfills the prayers of His saint, bowed to mercy and forgave the sinner; the sign of forgiveness was the following vision: the monk saw the grace of the Holy Spirit returning in the form of a dove to that disciple and entering his mouth, and at the same time he saw the evil spirit that came out of the sinful monk in the form of dark smoke and spread through the air. Seeing this, the monk believed that the Lord had granted forgiveness to that brother and, turning to him, said: - O child, give glory and thanksgiving to Christ God with me, for the unclean blasphemous spirit has come out of you, and instead of it the Holy Spirit has entered you, returning to you the grace of baptism; and so, now watch yourself so that, through laziness and carelessness, you do not again fall into the enemy’s snare and, having sinned, do not inherit the fire of Gehenna. This was one of the miracles of Saint Paisius; but let’s continue the story about his other glorious deeds. One day an old man named John came to Saint Paisius; he spent many years in the desert, learning the feat of fasting. This brother was very hungry and needed food. The monk, realizing in spirit that John was very greedy, said to his disciple: “Hurry up and prepare a meal for us and bring us food so that we can eat with Father John.” When the meal was prepared, the Monk Paisius invited John to partake of it, saying: – Due to prolonged abstinence, you now need food; So, taste and be strong. - Forgive me, father; Now is fasting, and for the sake of numerous sins it is fitting for me to fast. Then the elder, surprised by John’s abstinence, immediately stood up and, looking up at heaven, said from the depths of his heart: - Lord, visit Your servant John, who labors more than might for Your name! While Paisius prayed like this, according to his merits, a great and glorious illumination was sent down from God to the one for whom he offered this prayer; - and then John, as if in delight, saw a certain beautiful young man holding food and drink in his hands and serving them to him, so that he would strengthen himself after his hunger; Having come to himself, he was filled with great sweetness, as if completely satiated from a very rich meal, and no longer needed the food offered by the elder and was already filled with heavenly food, but, having given thanks to God and His saint, Saint Paisius, he went into his desert, and even more intensified his feat of fasting, constantly saying to himself: - I ate very sweetly; Therefore, I will fast with diligence. So this blessed John, strengthened by the prayers of Saint Paisius, succeeded in fasting. “When from time to time I sat with the Monk Paisius,” writes Blessed John Kolov, “some monks came to him, wanting to hear from him a word that was useful for their souls, and at the same time they often asked him: - Tell us, Father, about our salvation - how should we live for the Lord? The elder said to them: - Keep the commandments of God and preserve the traditions of your fathers. And another time the monks asked him: “Tell us, father, something else for the benefit of our souls.” The divine man, seeing their thoughts with his discerning eyes, told everyone what he was thinking about, and at the same time told them which of their thoughts were good and which were vicious, and why these thoughts came to their hearts. These monks, greatly surprised by the elder’s foresight, told me (John Kolov narrates) in private: “Truly, Father John, Abba Paisius revealed to us all the secrets of our hearts, and what only God knew, he clearly saw it in us. “Many times we have learned from experience this insight of his; if you believe me, then I will tell you the truth, for I do not intend to say anything else about him except the truth: after all, we fear the true Judge, Who says in the Holy Gospel: “By your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:37). “I tell you that for every idle word that people speak, they will give an answer on the day of judgment” (Matthew 12:36). So, I am telling you a truthful and non-idle word - everything that I often thought to myself and that I did secretly from others, Father Paisius, meeting me when I came to him, spoke to me about all this, as if he was in the cell with me and saw everything I did.” The monks, hearing this from me, marveled and said: - “He gives strength and strength to His people” (Psalm 67:36). And after that they left, glorifying the Lord for His great grace that was given to His servant, Saint Paisius. Let’s also say how powerful the saint’s prayers were and how they could bring a great sinner who had departed from God to God again and turn him onto the path of salvation. One brother, named Isaac, following the inclination of his heart, decided to leave his desert feat of silence and settled near the city; and since he often entered this city to sell his handicrafts, he very soon fell into a destructive snare: one Jewish woman came up to him to buy something from what he was selling; he, looking at her face, noticed her beauty and was immediately seized by an unclean thought towards her; also that woman, seeing that he was still quite a youth, fixed her gaze on him, and after the conversation that took place between them, they were inflamed with satanic love for each other. Thus, soon, with demonic assistance, the monk got stuck in the net of that nasty woman and, having conceived an illness, gave birth to lawlessness: leaving monasticism, he married her and - Oh woe! What’s even worse is that he, the accursed one, not only abandoned his monasticism, but also his faith out of love for this woman; he converted to the Jewish faith and, serving their Old Testament law, lived with the Jews, was their constant interlocutor and blasphemed Christ, our Savior, just as the Jews blaspheme: Isaac in everything followed the will of his nasty and unclean wife, who was overwhelmed by such malice towards Christ and such hatred of His holy name that often, laying the head of her accursed husband on her own chest and opening his mouth, she pulled out his teeth with a small knot, saying at the same time: “let no part of the Christian communion remain between the teeth,” for this wicked wife thought that among Christians the Divine Communion remains between the teeth for a long time; - and the husband yielded to her malice and truly became the enemy of Christ our Lord. Oh godlessness! I know,” says the writer, “that everyone who hears about this will hurt their hearts, but I am amazed at God’s long-suffering, His great love for mankind and His innumerable Divine grace, which not only loves the righteous, but also has mercy on sinners, and with a secret visit touches their hearts, just as a sunbeam, passing through a small well into a church that is closed from everywhere, illuminates it all. However, I return to the interrupted narrative again. That damned monk, moving away from monasticism and Christianity and falling through his destructive unbelief into the depths of hell, after quite a long time, as he fell into this lawlessness, nevertheless began to gradually come to his senses and, with remorse, began to recognize his entire destruction. At this time, some of the brethren of that desert, where this fallen monk Isaac had previously performed his feat of fasting, needed to go to the city for their needs. At God's discretion, those monks had to walk past the house where he, seduced, lived with his Jewish wife; seeing them walking past, he immediately felt heartfelt contrition, remembering his former life and the honest host of holy brethren; going out to them from the house, he began to ask them where they were from, who they were, and why they came here. They answered him: – We are from the Nitrian desert 4053, disciples of the great Paisius, but we came here for our needs. Then he, sighing heavily, told them everything about himself, and fervently began to beg them to convey his request to the great elder, so that he would beg the Lord for him, so that through his prayers he could get rid of the enemy’s snare. The monks, sick about him in their hearts, promised to convey his request to the holy elder, which they actually did: returning home, they told the blessed father about all this. The elder, having listened to them, sighed from the depths of his heart and said: - Alas for me, beloved children, how often men are deprived of Divine grace because of women! We have an indication of such men in the holy books written by the ancient fathers; for for the enemy who wages war against people there is no stronger weapon than women; Using this weapon, the adversary easily overcame great men: remember the great David and his great-grandsons and grandsons; - that’s why we always need to be careful and always pray to the Lord to get rid of such deceit. Having said this, the elder shut himself up in his prayer cell and, standing in prayer, began to cry out to the Lord: – Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Word! Do not despise the work of Your hands and do not allow that monk to be completely cast into the depths of destruction, but look mercifully from Your heavenly dwelling and do not despise the prayers I bring to You: accept the prayer for the one who has departed from You and has now come to repentance again: I pray for Your goodness, call him to repentance. After the saint had prayed like this for quite a long time and incessantly propitiated the bounties of God, God’s mercy was bowed down by his prayers; for the Savior does not despise the prayers of those who love Him. The Lord Himself appeared to the holy elder, and He who knew everything asked him: – For whom do you cry out to Me day and night? Is it not about that cursed man who rejected Me and has now gone over to the enemies, who was once a monk, and now has become a Jew? Is this not the person you are praying for, My saint Paisius? The elder answered the Lord: – For him I pray to Your goodness, humane Lord. Looking at Your bounties, calling everyone to salvation and not wanting the death of a sinner, but awaiting his conversion, for the sake of these Your bounties, I dared to pray for Your mercy: call, good Shepherd, the lost sheep, call again into Your fence and be merciful to him. To this prayer the Lord said to him: - O My saint! Your piety is great: for you, imitating My love, care about the salvation of sinners; therefore, do not grieve: what you ask will be given to you. Having said this, the Lord ascended to heaven. After a little time, that evil Jewish woman, struck by God’s wrath, died. Isaac again returned to the desert and, presenting himself to the monk, fell at his honest feet, crying and confessing his sins; with his return and repentance he brought great joy to the monk and all the fathers of that desert. After the teachings of the great father, this monk again accepted his former faith and again clothed himself in the angelic image; and he labored in great labors, crying and lamenting over his sins; and so having lived all his days in repentance, virtuously and pleasing to God, he departed to the Lord. And the sinner received all this through the prayers of St. Paisius: he repented and was saved; It is fitting for us, who hear these glorious deeds, to glorify and glorify Christ God, Who so magnified His saint. Among the disciples of the Monk Paisius there was a certain elder who had completely worldly customs and morals; and when the monks, for instruction, came to the monk and listened to his God-inspired words, the elder also listened with them, but he did not receive any benefit from this, for he did not have well-cultivated and moist soil in himself, but his heart was like a stone, hardened, and therefore the good seed of Divine conversations could not take root and vegetate in him: at times he even reviled the words of the saint; for, having departed from the presence of the monk, that elder, in front of the other brethren, sometimes allowed himself to swear at the conversations of Saint Paisius, speaking only corrupting and blasphemous lies, as befits worldly and wicked people - and some monks were tempted by the blasphemies they heard from him. After quite a long time, the brethren, no longer wanting to hear his corrupting words, but not daring to tell the holy father about it themselves, went to a certain God-loving and virtuous ascetic, complaining about that evil old man; then this ascetic went with them to the great Paisius. While the saint was privately practicing his thoughts on God, an angelic voice was heard: “Let it be known to you, father, that the elder who is with your disciples creates temptations and seduces other brothers; and so, it is necessary to stop his disorderly custom and correct it with the help of the commandments. To this voice Saint Paisius answered: “I would have done this a long time ago if I knew that I could fix it.” But since the devil is ready to destroy him and, when he appears, lures him into his net with his cunning, then I cannot say anything cruel to him, lest he receive my word with bitterness and consider it offensive to himself: after all, in this case he can leave the midst of the brethren and the desert and go back into the world; then I will turn out to be the culprit of his death and will be guilty before God, since I could not tolerate a brother overwhelmed by the enemy; we need to pray for him, may the Lord heal him from such an illness. Having said this, he began to pray for that old man, and immediately saw a blasphemous and shameless spirit emanating from the old man. Then, with that God-loving ascetic, the brothers came to their father, but before they began to talk about the disorderly elder, he came after them and, falling at the feet of the holy father, began to wash them with tears, repenting and asking for forgiveness, and promising to correct his life. After this, he became meek and obedient: he joyfully listened to the inspired conversations coming from the lips of the reverend father and tried in every possible way to put into practice what he perceived from his teachings. And soon he surpassed many in virtue, and became an experienced hermit - and all this with the help and prayers of Saint Paisius, who asked God for great mercy for him. But enough of that; It is impossible to pass over in silence the other glorious deeds of Saint Paisius: therefore, let us leave a word about these numerous miracles of his, for it is impossible to describe in detail all these miraculous deeds; So, having already said a lot about them, let’s keep silent about all the rest. One day, two young brothers came to Saint Paisius in the desert and, at the command of the monk, began to live together with those brothers who were already in his monastery; Paisius himself, together with his disciple, lived separately in the desert, far from his monastery. For a long time those two brothers carried out the feat of obedience; Finally, having come to the elder, they began to ask him to allow them to live alone in the desert, as hermits. The monk, seeing their fiery desire for the feat of fasting and realizing that they were capable of special desert silence, fulfilled their desire and blessed them to move from the monastery to a desert hermitage. And these two brothers, having found a place in the desert convenient for the silence of the feat, settled there and spent their lives pleasing to God, skillfully defeating all the temptations of evil spirits. The invisible enemy, always envying all good people and knowing how to invent various and varied tricks for the servants of Christ, extended his cunning to these two monks and planned to deceive them in this way: one of the desert hermits, who had not yet been committed to monastic non-acquisitiveness, had his wretched cell property stolen. This hermit, still cowardly, and therefore feeling sorry for the stolen things, began to look for the one who had stolen them, but did not find him; Having heard about one perspicacious old man, and hoping that he would help him reveal both the stolen property and the one who stole it, he went to him: he did not dare to go to the Monk Paisius, fearing that he would reproach him for covetousness. Having come to that seer, the monk began to ask him to tell him where the stolen property was and who exactly stole it. But the elder, not actually being enlightened by the grace of God in clairvoyance, but having foreseen everything by demonic power, according to the teaching of an evil demon, slandered those two monks who had recently settled in the desert: “These monks,” said the seer, “committed the theft; Having taken these silent ones, do not let them go until they give you everything. Hearing this, the hermit immediately went with haste to the monastery of that desert; Having come to the abbot and asking him for a strong guard, he went further and, as if accidentally, attacked those silent two monks; he seized them as villains and, dragging them with beatings, brought them to the monastery; here they were imprisoned with dishonor. The abbot, together with the elders, believing that seer, condemned those monks as thieves to deprivation of the monastic rank and began to torture them with beatings for stolen things. The Monk Paisius, having perspicaciously learned, by the grace of God, about everything that had happened and feeling sorry for those two brothers who at that time suffered so innocently, got up and went from his cell to that Lavra. His arrival was immediately known everywhere, since among the desert dwellers there was no name more glorious than the name of Paisius, who was glorified everywhere for his godly life. The brethren from the surrounding monasteries and hermit cells gathered to greet him, and even the elders came to him. By the way, the old man who, through demonic seduction, posed as a seer, also came. And when all the fathers and brothers gave the saint a kind kiss for Christ, our great father Paisius asked them: – Where did you send the two young monks – desert dwellers? The brothers were silent. Then some of them answered and said: “Father, they are thieves, and for their evil deeds they are now locked up in prison.” -Who said about them that they are thieves? Then the brethren, pointing to the perspicacious elder, answered: - This perspicacious father pointed out them as thieves. Then the great Paisius asked that elder: – Is it true what you said about them? – What I said is the truth: it was revealed to me from God. After this Saint Paisios said: – If this insight of yours was from God, and not from demonic seduction, then the devil would not be visible on your lips. Hearing this, everyone was overcome with fear: for it was clear to everyone that the words coming from the mouth of Paisius were true; and everyone began to reproach that seduced seer, and forced him to ask for forgiveness from the monk; and he, overwhelmed with shame, fell at the saint’s honest feet, saying: “Father, forgive me and pray for me, the deceived one.” And as soon as the saint prayed for him, in front of everyone, from the lips of the seduced man, a vain and deceitful demon emerged and, turning into a larger wild boar, rushed with great fury at the saint, as if wanting to tear him to pieces with his teeth. But the blessed father, having cursed the unclean spirit, sent him into the abyss. And the old man, who had previously been seduced by the devil, felt and even saw with his eyes the demonic power of seduction emanating from him; filled with great horror and trembling, he fell to the ground, lying at the feet of Paisius, and with tears begged to receive complete forgiveness from him. Also, the other brethren, who, having indulged in seduction, offended the innocent, all of them, falling to the saint, asked him for forgiveness. And they brought those two young monks out of the seclusion, and everyone, looking at them, cried with tenderness, and those who had offended them asked them for prayers. The Monk Paisius taught everyone to carefully avoid such enemy temptations and not to believe the false prophecy of those who try to appear holy and perspicacious. And in private, he pointed out to the Lavra abbot where the stolen things were placed, but said nothing about those who had stolen them. Then, having taught forgiveness to everyone and said a prayer for everyone, he returned to his cell. At the same time and in the same Egyptian deserts, another saint of God, St. Paul, shone forth in the feats of fasting, through whose prayers the Lord also showed great mercy to people. The Monk Paisius, wishing one day to visit him, went to him, and they came together like two Angels of God and like two warriors of Christ, strongly fighting invisible enemies and helping each other in this. And they both were, like some kind of stronghold, insurmountable by any enemy wickedness, and they talked with each other in words filled with the Holy Spirit - together they enjoyed the sweet fruit of silence; in their old age, they daily invented purely youthful feats, each time starting to struggle all over again and as if deciding to lead an even more perfect life. The great Paisius was older than Paul in years, but blessed Paul was dignified in appearance, but kind in soul; and the Monk Paisius said: - While we are in this life, the Lord does not want our body to weaken and become lazy, and it will be shame and disgrace for us if at the time of our death we find ourselves in laziness. When the Monk Paisius said this, blessed Paul, having listened, answered: - O chief shepherd, now I am following your commendable and good advice not to allow myself to be lazy and I trust in God that through your holy prayers He will help me lead my life according to your will. Having lived together for quite a long time and instructed each other with teachings, the Monk Paisius and Blessed Paul, after a kind kiss in the Lord, separated in body, but not in spirit. The Monk Paul remained in the same place, and Saint Paisius returned to his cell. Both of these holy fathers were miracle workers, healers of passions, experienced leaders in the matter of saving souls, prayer books for everyone, intercessors for the salvation of everyone and mentors, men strong in deed and word, serving at the same time as a good example for every person, for the monastic labors of Saint Paul were greatly pleased, and the numerous and supernatural fasting feats of blessed Paisius, performed by him in secret - although not all, but only some of them - were almost known to everyone; and they were known precisely so that those listening about these exploits could be encouraged to thank the omnipotent God, and those who struggle could be inflamed to even greater zeal: after all, not a single human word can sufficiently convey the entire height of his spiritual life; for he served the Lord a lot in secret, and did not like his good deeds to be known to others - and this, of course, was due to his great humility. And when one of the brothers asked him: which of the virtues is the highest? - he answered: “one that is done in secret and about which no one knows.” He also highly respected the following virtue - to act in everything according to the will of others, but not according to one’s own. Throughout his virtuous life, the monk determined - and religiously observed - each task at its appropriate time. He had time to be silent, time to speak, time to retire and shut himself up in his cell, time to go out to the brethren and talk with them about spiritual things. So, in silence, the monk, through divine ascent, approached God, and in communication with the brethren he sought the salvation of his neighbor; and the most amazing thing was that he wisely knew how to hide his virtues, so that his life would not be known to everyone who was in communication with him. When the brethren began to glorify him for some deed, he left this deed and began to perform another feat, so that everyone would quickly forget about his first deed. “When,” says the writer of the life of St. Paisius, “I asked him, why are you doing this? - he answered me with joy: so that my previous feat would remain intact; for the great misfortune, he added, is human praise, and whoever works for it receives little benefit for himself, and few of such people are saved, since vain human glory harms them a lot; and truly it was said by our Master: – “Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” (Matthew 6:3). Having remembered these words and the teaching of the monk (John continues), I come to the end of my story. Having reached a very old age, great in his life and enlightened by virtues, our venerable father Paisius accepted the end of his labors here, and the Lord called him to eternal peace and heavenly bliss. His body was buried with honor by many monastics, but his soul soared to heavenly and immortal life. A little later, blessed Paul, in his remotest desert, departed from this life; having passed on to an ageless life, he, together with Saint Paisius, was installed in the lordship of the saints, so that just as they labored together in monastic deeds, so their blessed souls would enjoy endless peace together. Their honorable bodies did not rest for long separately from one another: according to God’s will, they were soon laid together, and this is how it happened. Our venerable father Isidore, fasting in his monastery on Mount Pelusium, having heard about the repose of the great Paisius, boarded a ship and reached the place where the holy body of the venerable father was buried; with honor and reverence, taking it from the ground and wrapping it in burial shrouds, he put it into the ark, wanting to enrich his abode with it, as with some great treasure, more precious than any wealth - and having brought this ark onto his ship, he set off on his journey with great joy, singing and praising the Lord. When he sailed not far from the desert where the honorable body of St. Paul rested, suddenly the ship, as if delayed by some miraculous force, stopped and turned towards the country where the desert of St. Paul was located. The shipbuilders worked for a long time, trying to sail from this place, but they could not do anything; They stayed in such labor for two days and, not knowing how to set off on their journey, were in great bewilderment. The Monk Isidore, realizing that this stopping of the ship was an act of God's providence, commanded the shipmen to leave the ship to sail where he wanted - and the ship, guided by an invisible hand, sailed to that deserted shore where the body of St. Paul was located, and stopped in the shallows. While everyone on the ship was grieving and perplexed about this, a certain old man named Jeremiah came to that shore from the desert; addressing those on the ship, he said: - O beloved! Why are you working beyond your strength? Don't you see that St. Paisius is calling on his favorite St. Paul? He wants to be transported with him to your country and be placed in one place; therefore, hasten to go and take his body. Hearing this, the Monk Isidore and all those who were with him were filled with great joy and, landing on the shore, they asked that honest father Jeremiah: – Where is the body of St. Paul laid? Then he led them into the distant desert and showed them the tomb of St. Paul. Taking from there his honest relics, more precious than gold and all sorts of expensive stones, they carried them to the relics of Saint Paisius, and as soon as they entered the ship, he immediately moved from his place and, lo and behold! He sailed with great speed along the proper route and immediately reached the pier that was located in Pelusium. Then the Monk Isidore carried the venerable relics of both holy fathers – Paisius and Paul – onto land, carried them with the singing of psalms and spiritual songs to his monastery and placed them in the church he created; and glorious miracles happened here: those overwhelmed by unclean spirits and possessed by any other diseases - as soon as they touched their honest arks, they immediately received healing: the unclean spirits were driven away, and every ailment was immediately healed through the prayers of these great saints of God. I, John, nicknamed Kolov, wrote this for the benefit of those reading and listening - for the glory of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, one in the Trinity of God, to Him belongs all glory, honor and worship, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Those. - the writer of this life - John Kolov, nicknamed Kolov, that is, short - labored in Egypt. He reposed in about 430 in a desert cell near the city of Coltsum (now Suez). – His memory is November 9. In the northern part of Egypt, in the Nile Delta. Monasticism began in the Nitrian desert with St. Ammon, a contemporary of St. Antonia. In Nitria itself, St. Ammon founded the monastery, and Anthony laid the foundation for the establishment of monasteries. At the end of the 4th century. there were up to 50 monasteries here, established according to the charter of St. Pachomia. To the south of Nitria there was the Skete desert, where many monks lived. You might be interested in: