Епифаний, архиепископ Кипрский

1. Saint Epiphanius, Archbishop of Cyprus, was from Phenicia, Jewish by birth and faith. As a child, he lost his parents, first his father, then his mother, adopted Christianity together with his sister Callitropia and entered the monastery, being sixteen years old. Callitropia also became the bride of Christ in the guise of nuns 257. 2. The brotherhood of the monastery in which Saint Epiphanius became a monk consisted of ten monks. The Monk Lucian, a spirit-bearing man, presided over them; Also among the brethren there were men filled with the grace of God. In the company of such brotherhood, under such leadership, the chosen vessel, Epiphanius, soon achieved spiritual prosperity, which subsequently developed in him in extraordinary abundance. The brethren were engaged in copying sacred books: with this handicraft they supported themselves and the monastery 258. This handicraft also had its own spiritual purpose: this is clear from the writings and many sayings of Saint Epiphanius. 3. He said: “Ignorance of the Scriptures is a great rapids and a deep abyss” 259. 4. He said: “Ignorance of Divine laws is a great betrayal of one’s salvation” 260. 5. He said: “Reading Scripture is a great defense against sin.” 261 6. He said: “The acquisition of Christian books is necessary for those who have the means for such acquisition; just the sight of these books stops the desire for sin in us and arouses in us the desire for virtue” 262. This is how concepts and sensations were expressed that were born from private practice, which was carried out in the spiritual mind and with a primarily spiritual purpose. 7. Epiphanius, Bishop of Cyprus, of blessed memory, was informed by the abbot of his monastery in Palestine: “We do not abandon your rule and carefully conduct divine services at the third, sixth, ninth hour and in the evening.” He responded by ordering him to say: “It follows from this that at other times you remain without prayer; but a true monk should constantly pray and sing in his heart” 263. St. Epiphanius, before his elevation to the rank of bishop, founded a monastery in Palestine and was its abbot. Despite the fact that the monastery was located in the deep desert, many visitors flocked to it from everywhere. They were attracted by the abundant gift of miracles and other spiritual gifts with which God was pleased to adorn His saint. This forced Epiphanius to often leave his monastery for a long time. During one of these journeys, he was carried by a storm to Salamon or Constantia, a city on the island of Cyprus. There, at that time, a council of bishops was engaged in the election of a bishop for the city, and, by revelation from Above, consecrated Epiphanius as Archbishop of Constantia and the entire Cyprus Island. 8. Once Epiphanius, Archbishop of Cyprus, sent to Abba Hilarion, begging him to come to him. “Come for a meeting with me before we leave the body,” the saint said in his invitation. Abba Hilarion came, and the elders rejoiced mutually over each other. As they sat at the meal, poultry was served. The bishop took part of it and gave it to Abba Hilarion. But the elder said to him: “Forgive me, Father: from the time I took on the monastic form, I have not put anything slain into my mouth.” The bishop answered: “And from the time I took on the monastic form, I did not allow anyone to fall asleep, having anger against me.” Abba Hilarion said to this: “Forgive me, Father! your residence is higher than mine" 264. 9. When Epiphanius had already reached a ripe old age, Fr. Seeing that the council was acting out of passion, he personally asked Emperor Arcadius for permission to return to Cyprus. During this meeting, the emperor asked Epiphanius: how old is he? Epiphanius answered: “One hundred and fifteen years and three months. I was ordained bishop when I was sixty years old; I have been in the rank of bishop for fifty-five years and three months.” On the same day, says the writer of Epifaniev’s life, we boarded a ship sailing to Cyprus. Epiphanius fit into the lower part of the ship, and we with him. Epiphanius had the custom of constantly holding the Gospel in his hands. He sighed and wept three times, opening the Gospel; closing it, he shed tears again. Then he stood up and prayed; After completing the prayer, he sat down again in the same place, at the bottom of the ship, and with tears began to tell us: “If you, my children, love me, then keep my commandments, and the love of God will abide in you. You know how many sorrows I went through in this life - and I did not consider these sorrows to be sorrows, but always remained cheerful, trusting in God; God did not leave me, but always preserved me from all the snares of the evil one. “All things work together for good to those who love God” (Rom. 8:28). One day, O my beloved children, when I was in a deserted place and offered a prayer to Christ that He would free me from all the slander of the enemy, many demons attacked me. They began to torment me and, grabbing me by the legs, dragged me along the ground. Some of them hurt me. They did this to me for ten days. After that, I no longer saw the demon in his own face all the days of my life, but he poured out his anger on me through the mediation of people: such misadventures befell me in Phenicia from the frantic Simonians, in Egypt from the wicked Gnostics, in Cyprus from the wicked Valentinians and from other heretics. Listen carefully, O my children, to the words of Epiphanius the sinner. Do not lust after money, and money will be sent to you in abundance. Do not hate any man, and God will love you. Do not slander your brethren, and the devil will not dominate you by stirring up your passions. Turn away from all heresies, as from beasts filled with deadly poison; I have conveyed this to you in books called Panaria. Turn away and be kept from the lusts of the world, which corrupt both mind and body. Know that through these lusts Satan approaches you. Sometimes peace in the flesh is not disturbed, but the spirit of those who are not sober is subject to desecration by dreams. When our mind is awake and constantly remains in the remembrance of God, then we conveniently defeat the enemy” 265. This was the dying instruction of Saint Epiphanius to his disciples: he died on the ship and did not reach Cyprus. Sancti Epiphanii vita, Patr. Gr. Tom. 416 cap. 1, VIII and IX. 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