History of God-lovers

The essay “The History of God-Lovers” (Chapter 31) was written by Bl. Theodoret of Cyrus around 444. It combines hagiography and judgments about asceticism as a way of life. The work contains short biographies of the saints who labored in Syria in the beginning. IV century – sir. V century Most of them were personally acquainted with the blzh. Theodorit. In the preface, the author indicates that the purpose of the work is to preserve the memory of great virtues and provide the reader with wonderful examples for spiritual imitation. Chapters 1-20 describe the lives of ascetics who have already passed on to eternal life, in ch. 21-30 – modern blzh. Theodorit. The author's entire attention is focused on the inner life of ascetics. The main theme in the description of ascetic work is the theme of the fight against passions, weaknesses of the body and demons. According to the blessed Theodoret, the flesh should not be the enemy of the spirit, but the spirit should not be at enmity with the flesh. The flesh should be considered as an instrument of spiritual work and should be mortified for sin, i.e. It is not the flesh as such that is subject to mortification, but carnal passions. All this does not cancel daily asceticism, fasting, prayer, striving for improvement in virtues and gradual ascent to higher wisdom. The ideal of holiness is possible for everyone, not only for monks, since the call to asceticism is inseparable from the Christian vocation received in baptism. Every Christian should be an ascetic to the best of his ability. Chapter 31 is the philosophical and theological conclusion of the entire treatise and is dedicated to Divine love. Initially, it was an independent work, which was later attached to the “History of the God-Lovers.” Blzh. Theodoret says that only God’s love helped the ascetics overcome all temptations and gave strength for exploits. “Love for God makes ascetics capable of going beyond the limits of human nature” and achieving dispassion. Essay by blzh. Theodoret became a detailed testimony to the history of the emergence and early stage of development of Syrian monasticism. A significant part of it was included in the ancient synaxariums and monthly books. "Cheti-Minea" of St. Demetrius of Rostov owes mainly to the “History of God-Lovers” for their material for describing the lives of ancient Syrian ascetics. The first Russian anonymous translation of the treatise was published in 1853. This publication presents its revised version, made by prof. A. I. Sidorov. *The title of the work in Latin is Historia re ligiosa. Contents PREFACE I. JAMES OF NISBIBIAN II. JULIAN III. MARCIAN IV. EUSEBIUS V. PUBLIUS VI. SIMEON THE ANCIENT VII. PALLADIUM VIII. APHRAT IX. PETER X. THEODOSIUS XI. NOVEL XII. ZENO XIII. MACEDONIUS XIV. MAISIMA XV. AKEPSIMA XVI. MARON XVII. ABRAHAM XVIII. EUSEBIUS XIX. SALAMAN XX. MARIS XXI. JACOB XXII. THALASSIUS and LIMNAEUS XXIII. JOHN, MOSES, ANTIOCHUS and ANTONINUS XXIV. ZEBINAS and POLYCHRONIUS XXV. ASCLEPIOUS and JAMES XXVI. SIMEON XXVII. VARADAT XXVIII. FALELEI XXIX. MARANA and KIRA XXX. DOMNINA XXXI. ABOUT DIVINE LOVE 1. It is good to be an eyewitness to the exploits of the best men and champions of virtue, and, looking at them with your own eyes, benefit for yourself. Everything that is praiseworthy, when seen with your own eyes, is attractive, becomes desirable and inspires the viewer with a desire to join in with it. But stories about such virtuous achievements conveyed by eyewitnesses to those people who did not see them themselves also bring a lot of benefit. Sight, as some say, is more reliable than hearing; however, hearing is also trustworthy if it can discern the truth of what is said. Just as the tongue and larynx are capable of distinguishing sweetness, bitterness and other qualities of food, making their judgment about it, so the ear is entrusted with the ability to recognize words, and it is able to distinguish speech that brings some spiritual benefit from speech that causes harm. 2. Therefore, if useful stories could be preserved in the memory intact and the darkness of oblivion, like an open abyss, would not swallow them up, then, without a doubt, it would be unnecessary and useless to write them down, since the benefits they bring, even without recording, would easily reach later generations. But just as time damages bodies, causing them to grow old and die, so it destroys the memory of good deeds, covering them with oblivion and erasing memories of them; Therefore, no one can reproach us for deciding to describe the lives of God-loving men. After all, just as doctors, who are entrusted with the treatment of bodies, prepare medicines to fight the disease and help the suffering, so the work of writing this kind of essay is like a life-saving medicine, helping in the fight against oblivion and promoting the preservation of memory. Was it not strange for us when poets and historians describe military exploits, and tragedians openly depict carefully hidden misfortunes, perpetuating the memory of them in their writings, when some waste words on comedies and jokes - would it not be strange for us to leave to oblivion the men who, in a mortal and passionate body, showed dispassion and were jealous of the disembodied Angels? What punishment would we deserve if we allowed the memory of their amazing exploits to fade with indifference? After all, if they, themselves being imitators of the highest wisdom of the ancient saints, inscribed their memory not on copper or in writings, but, having imprinted all their virtue in their hearts, made themselves, as it were, animated images and monuments of them, then how can there be any excuse for us if we do not even honor their glorious life with writing? 3. In honor of wrestlers and fist fighters who compete at the Olympic Games, their images are displayed; Also, the drivers who win the horse races receive the same reward. But not only that: even effeminate men who play the role of women on stage, so that you don’t know whether they are men or women, are awarded images on boards from lovers of such spectacles, competing to preserve the memory of them as long as possible, although this memory brings harm, not benefit to the soul. Despite this harm, admirers honor such people with picturesque images, each with his own favorite. Since death captures its prey - the mortal body, these admirers, mixing paints and imprinting with them images of their favorites on the boards, manage to preserve the memory of them even after death. We will record in writing a life that teaches wisdom and is similar to the life of the inhabitants of heaven. We will not paint physical features in order to show their impressions to people who do not know, but we will outline the ideals of invisible souls and show the invisible battles and hidden debates of the soldiers of Christ. 4. The military leader and the foremost fighter of their phalanx, the holy Apostle Paul, clothed them in such full armor, saying: “Put on the whole armor of God... so that you may be able to withstand on the evil day and, having done everything, to stand” (Eph. 6:11, 13). And again: “Stand, having your loins girded with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; and above all, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench the fiery arrows of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God” (Eph. 6:14–17). Having dressed the soldiers of Christ in such full armor, he led them to exploits. And the nature of their enemies is the same: it is incorporeal, invisible, capable of attacking unnoticed, secretly plotting, and striking suddenly and unexpectedly. This is taught to the soldiers of Christ by their commander, who said: “...our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12). However, even having such opponents, the host of these saints, or, more precisely, each of them individually, surrounded by many similar enemies (for these enemies did not attack all at once, but attacked one at one time, and another at another), won such glorious victories that they put their opponents to flight, defeating them on the run, and erected a trophy in memory of the victory, no longer encountering any obstacle. 5. This victory was brought to the saints not by their nature, itself mortal and filled with countless passions, but by their will, which attracted the grace of God to itself. Fieryly loving the Divine Beauty, joyfully deciding to do everything and endure everything for the sake of the Beloved, they courageously endured the uprising of passions, with effort repelled a barrage of blows from the devil, and, in the words of the Apostle, “pacifying and enslaving their body” (1 Cor. 9:27), they extinguished the flame of the furious beginning of the soul and silenced the agitation of its desires. By fasting and constant wakefulness, having lulled the passions and tamed their impulses, they forced the body to reconcile with the soul and stopped the innate struggle between them. 6. Having thus established peace between soul and body, they drove away from themselves the entire crowd of enemies, who, not knowing the innermost thoughts of the soul and not having the assistance of members of the human body, could no longer successfully attack. For the members of our nature serve as arrows thrown at us for the devil. Therefore, if the eyes are not deceived, the hearing is not enchanted, the touch is not delighted by any pleasant sensation and the mind does not perceive evil desires, then all the efforts of attackers are in vain. Just as a city built on a hill, fenced with a thick wall and surrounded on all sides by deep ditches, cannot be taken by any enemy unless there is a traitor among its inhabitants who will open some secret entrance to the enemies, so demons attacking from the outside cannot take possession of a soul protected by the grace of God, unless some unclean thought opens the secret entrance of our external senses and through it does not let the enemy in inside. Having received instruction regarding this from the Holy Scriptures and heeding the voice of God, speaking through the prophet: “Death has come out through the window” (Jer. 9:21), the saints whom we blessed closed their feelings, as if with bolts and locks, with God’s laws, handing over the keys to them to the mind, so that without the command of the mind their tongue did not open their lips, their pupils did not dare to appear because of the eyelashes, if they were not allowed to do so, and the hearing, being unable to block its entrance with something like eyelashes or lips, shied away from meaningless speeches and accepted only those that delighted the mind. In the same way, they taught the sense of smell not to have a passion for fragrances that can pamper and relax the soul. In the same way, they removed satiety from the belly, teaching it to accept only that which brings not pleasure, but benefit, and they ate only as much of such food as was necessary in order not to die of hunger. They also destroyed the sweet tyranny of sleep and, having freed the eyelashes from its slavery, learned, instead of submitting to it, to dominate and use it not when it attacks, but only when they themselves call upon it for a brief reinforcement of natural forces. Having thus taken care of fencing the walls and strengthening the gates, and also having established harmony between internal thoughts, they laughed at the enemies attacking from without, who could not forcefully invade the interior of their city. For the saints were protected by God's grace and there was no traitor within them who would dare to let in their enemies. And enemies of an invisible nature could not take possession of their body - visible and subject to natural needs, because the driver, musician and helmsman, holding the reins well, forced the horses to walk in order; he, by rhythmically striking the strings of feelings, taught them to make harmonious sounds; and he, skillfully controlling the rudder of the ship, successfully repelled both the onslaught of waves and gusts of wind. 7. What person, not devoid of a sense of justice, would not be surprised by these people who made their earthly journey through countless labors, tamed their bodies in sweat and hardship, did not know what laughter was, and spent their whole lives in sobs and tears? Who will not give worthy praise to them, who considered fasting the most exquisite food of sybarites, exhausting wakefulness as the sweetest sleep, hard earth as a soft bed, staying in prayer and psalmody as the greatest and immeasurable pleasure? Who would not sing a song of praise to them, who have acquired all kinds of virtue? I realize that no word can adequately convey the greatness of their virtue, and yet I will try to do so. For it would be a great injustice not to give at least a little praise to these perfect men - admirers of true wisdom. 8. Nevertheless, in my essay I will not give praise to all of them in general, but to each one individually, for God gave them various gifts, as Blessed Paul also taught, saying: “To one is given the word of wisdom by the Spirit; to another a word of knowledge by the same Spirit; ...to others gifts of healings by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another divers tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues” (1 Cor. 12:8-10). And indicating the source of these gifts, he adds: “But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He pleases” (1 Cor. 12:11). Since they had different gifts, then, naturally, we will talk about each of them separately, without presenting all the deeds they committed (a whole life would not be enough for such a description); Having told a little about the life and deeds of one and shown in a little the characteristic essence of the life of this ascetic, we will move on in our narration to the other. 9. We will also not undertake to describe the way of life of all the saints living everywhere, for we do not know the ascetics who have shone in all corners of the world; and it is impossible for one person to describe everything. I will only talk about the lives of those who, like the dawn, shone in the east and with their rays embraced all the ends of the universe. And the speech here will be narrative, artlessly presenting a few deeds of the saints and alien to the refined techniques of panegyric. 10. I ask those who begin to read this “History of the God-Lovers” or “Ascetic Life” - let everyone call this work whatever they want - not to distrust what is written, even if they have to hear something that exceeds their strength. I also ask you not to measure the virtues of these holy men by your own standard, but to firmly remember that the Lord usually measures the gifts of the Holy Spirit with the spiritual disposition of pious people and sends greater gifts to those who are most perfect. I said this to those who have not yet penetrated sufficiently into the hidden depths of God’s works. For those initiated into the innermost secrets of the Spirit know how He favors those who honor Him and how many miracles He works in people and through people, attracting non-believers to the knowledge of God by the greatness of His accomplishments. And whoever does not believe the events that we will talk about will show that he does not believe in the truth of the acts of Moses, Joshua and Elisha, and even considers the miracles of the holy Apostles to be fables. However, if the testimonies about those deeds are true, then he should recognize these stories as being alien to lies, for the same grace that worked in the Apostles did what it did in others. 11. I myself was an eyewitness to some of the events described, but which I did not see, I heard about those from those who saw them - men who loved virtue and were worthy to see those ascetics and become their disciples. It should be recalled that of those who captured the Gospel teaching in writing, not only the Holy Apostles Matthew and John, who themselves saw the miracles of the Lord, are worthy of trust, but also Luke and Mark, to whom from the beginning they were self-seers and ministers of the Word accurately conveyed not only what the Lord suffered and created, but also what He constantly taught.” Saint Luke, who was not a self-witness, says at the beginning of his Gospel that he intends to narrate things that are “completely known” (Luke 1:1). And we, although we know that he was not an eyewitness of what he narrates, but heard about it from others, believe him and Mark no less than Matthew and John: because both are completely worthy of trust in their narratives, although they narrate what they learned from witnesses. So we will tell one thing as eyewitnesses, and another - based on the trust in the eyewitnesses who told us this, who themselves were imitators of the lives of those ascetics. I spread this about, wanting to convince them of the truth of my story. Now I’ll get down to the story itself. 1. The divine lawgiver Moses, who exposed the bottom of the sea, and filled the parched desert with waters, and performed many other miracles, described the way of life of the ancient saints, guided not by the wisdom acquired from the Egyptians, but by the light of grace received from above. For how else would he have known about the virtue of Abel, about the godliness of Enoch, about the righteousness of Noah, about the pious priesthood of Melchizedek, about the calling, faith, courage, zealous hospitality, the glorious sacrifice and other virtues of Abraham, and in general about the exploits, victories and glory of those pious men? How else would he have known about all this if the rays of the intelligent and Divine Spirit had not enlightened him? – A similar assistance from the grace of the Spirit is needed now for me, who has undertaken to describe the lives of the saints who have shone in our time and shortly before it, and also who is trying to present some kind of parting words for those who want to imitate the lives of these saints. All that remains is to call upon them in prayer and begin the story. 2. On the border of the Roman and Persian kingdoms there is the city of Nisibia, which in ancient times paid tribute to the Romans and depended on their power. The great Jacob, born in this city, loved the desert and solitary life, hiding on the tops of the highest mountains. In spring, summer and autumn he lived in the thickets in the open air, and in winter he hid in a cave, which gave him close shelter. He ate for food not what was sown and collected with difficulty, but what grew by itself. Collecting the fruits of wild plants, which were similar to garden vegetables and could be eaten, he used them to give his body as much as was necessary to maintain life, while doing without fire. Wool fabric was also unnecessary for him, which was replaced by the coarsest hair of wild goats. Both his underdress and his cloak were made from it. 3. Thus depressing the body, Saint James constantly cared for spiritual food for the soul; and, having cleansed her mental eye, she made her mind a bright mirror of the Spirit of God. According to the word of the divine Apostle, with an open face, as in a mirror, looking at the glory of the Lord, he was transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Cor. 3:18). Therefore, every day his boldness towards God increased, and whatever he asked of God (and he asked only for what was due), he immediately received. Therefore, he even prophetically foresaw the future and acquired from the grace of the Holy Spirit the power to work miracles. I will tell about some of these miracles and show the ray of his Apostolic light to the ignorant. 4. At that time, an insane veneration of idols reigned among people, and soulless statues were awarded Divine honor, and many neglected the service of the true God. They persecuted those who did not want to participate in their mad intoxication and who, having established themselves in the true concepts of things and possessing spiritual discernment of them, laughed at the impotence of idols and worshiped the Creator of the universe. At this time, Jacob moved to Persia to see the sprouts of piety there and serve them with appropriate service. When he crossed one stream, certain girls who washed their clothes here and wrung them out with their feet, instead of taking another, more decent position, without any modesty, with an impudent look and shameless eyes, looked at the man of God, without covering their heads and without lowering their raised clothes. The Man of God, indignant at this and wishing on this occasion to show the Power of God in order to miraculously defeat wickedness, cursed the stream - and the water in it immediately dried up. He also cursed the girls, punishing their shameless youth with premature gray hair; his word was immediately followed by action - the blackness of their hair disappeared and they became like trees just planted in the spring, covered with autumn leaves. Feeling this punishment (for the stream dried up before their eyes, and looking at each other's heads, they noticed a sudden change), the girls ran to the city and told there about what had happened. Some of the inhabitants of the city came out to meet Jacob, begging him to soften his anger and remove the punishment. He did not hesitate long - he offered a prayer to the Lord, and then commanded the stream to flow again: the waters instantly flowed from its hidden container, obeying the beck of the righteous man. The inhabitants of the city, honored by this, began to ask Jacob to also return the previous hair color to their daughters. They say that he heeded their request and even sent for the girls punished in a similar way, but since they did not come, he left his punishment in force in order to teach others modesty, encouraging them to chastity and constant remembrance of the Power of God. 5. Such is the miracle of this new Moses, performed, however, not by the blow of a rod, but accomplished by the sign of the cross. And besides the miracle-working itself, I am also very surprised at the meekness of Jacob, because he did not betray those shameless maidens, like the great Elisha, to fierce bears, but with a harmless punishment, which only slightly deprived them of their beauty, he taught them both piety and decency. I say this not to condemn the severity of the prophet (preserve me, God, from such madness!), but to show how Jacob, having strength similar to the strength of Elisha, acted in the spirit of the meekness of Christ and the New Testament. 6. Once he learned that a certain Persian judge had decided the case unfairly, he ordered a very large stone lying nearby to crush and disappear, in order to thus expose the judge’s unjust decision. When the stone instantly crushed into countless small particles, those present were horrified, and the judge, overcome with fear, canceled his previous decision and made another – a fair one. And here, too, Jacob imitated his Lord, Who, wanting to show that He voluntarily undergoes suffering and that He could easily punish His enemies if He wanted to, punished the soulless fig tree by drying it up with a word - and thereby revealed His Power (Matthew 21:18-22). Likewise, Jacob, imitating the Lord’s love for mankind, did not punish the unjust judge, but, having crushed the stone, taught him justice. 7. Having become famous for such deeds and being loved by everyone, so that his name sounded on everyone’s lips, Jacob was drawn to the high priestly service and received primacy in his fatherland. However, even leaving solitude in the mountains and choosing, against his will, to live in the city, he did not change either his food or his clothes - only his place of residence changed, but his way of life remained the same; Only his work increased - and the new works were more varied than the previous ones. To fasting, to the feats of vigilance and to the hair shirt in which he dressed, all kinds of care for those in need were added, that is, care for widows, care for orphans, denunciation of offenders and fair defense of the offended. And why tell all this to those who know what is required of those who take on such service? Saint James especially loved such labors, because he both loved and feared the Lord for these sheep. 8. And the more he acquired the riches of virtue, the more he received the grace of the Holy Spirit. One day this holy man was going to some village or city (I cannot name the exact place) and some poor people approached him; they showed him another poor man who pretended to be dead, and asked the saint for the money necessary for burial. Jacob granted their request and prayed to God for the supposedly dead man, asking the Lord to forgive his sins and count him among the righteous. During this prayer, the soul of the one who pretended to be dead flew away. His body was hidden by veils, and as soon as the pious man left, those who staged this performance began to force the one lying down to stand up. When they noticed that he did not hear and that the lie had turned into truth, and the mask had become a face, then, having caught up with Jacob, they began to beg him to return. They explained the reason for their deception - poverty, and asked the saint to forgive them their sin, and to return the departed soul to the lying one. Imitating the Lord’s love for mankind, Jacob heeded their request and performed a miracle, by prayer returning to the lying man the life that had been taken from him by the power of prayer. 9. And it seems to me that this miracle is similar to the miracle of the great Apostle Peter, who put to death Ananias and Sapphira - secret kidnappers and deceivers (Acts 5:1-11). For in the same way Jacob also took the life of a man who concealed the truth and used a lie. Only the Apostle, knowing about the abduction, for it was revealed to him by the grace of the Spirit, imposed punishment, and Jacob, not knowing about the deception, stopped the flow of life from the pretender. In addition, the Apostle did not free the dead from punishment, for the beginning of the preaching of salvation also needed fear, and James, filled with apostolic grace, first punished and then removed the punishment, seeing in this a spiritual benefit for those who had sinned. However, let us move on to the other acts of Jacob, briefly outlining them. 10. When Arius, the father and inventor of the blasphemy against the only begotten Son and the Holy Spirit, rebelled with his teaching against the Creator, filled Egypt with indignation and unrest, and the great Constantine, Zerubbabel of our flock (for like him he brought all Orthodox captives from a foreign country, restored and raised up the churches of God that had been brought down to earth) - gathered all the heads of the churches in Nicaea on this occasion, then Jacob, along with others, arrived there to defend the right dogmas, like the leader and foremost fighter of the phalanx of the soldiers of Christ, because Nisibia was then under the rule of the Romans. At this great council, when many reasoned sensibly and well, and others spoke differently (for there were a few who thought contrary to the right dogmas, although they did not dare to expose their wickedness, but covered it with some cunning, which not everyone could recognize, but only people who had comprehended the mysteries of truth), the confession of faith was read, preserved and preached at that time throughout the entire universe; everyone recognized him, testifying both in words and on paper that they believed so and so philosophized. Many did this completely willingly, and seven of some accomplices of the blasphemy of Arius, although they also testified with tongue and pen to the symbol of faith, but in their souls they held the opposite conviction, according to the prophetic word: “These people honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me” (Is. 29:13). Jeremiah also speaks about them: “Thou art near their mouth, far from their bellies” ( Jer.12:2), as well as David: “I will bless my lips, and curse my heart” (Ps.61:5) and “I will make their words softer than oil, and they are arrows” (Ps.54:22). And so these seven people began to ask the great Alexander, Bishop of Alexandria, to take pity on Arius, who had been condemned by the entire council. But when Alexander, knowing their pretense and suspecting the cunning of Arius, did not heed their request, then some others, deceived by their simplicity by Arius, began to praise the virtue of philanthropy, proving that it was especially pleasing to the Lord of all. When the great Alexander called unjust love of mankind towards one inhumanity, harmful to many, pointing out that it could cause the death of the entire flock of Christ, Jacob offered advice to everyone to observe strict fasting and, during the seven days of this fast, to pray to the Lord to grant peace to the churches. Everyone accepted this advice of the divine man, because they knew that he shone with apostolic gifts. Fasting was combined with prayer, and when Sunday arrived, on which many hoped to see the wicked Arius accepted by the Orthodox into church communion and, at the onset of the Divine Liturgy, expected to see the enemy of God pardoned, a Divine and truly wondrous miracle took place. In the most unclean place, this wicked man, having vomited up the food he had taken, vomited out its container along with it: his entrails fell out and mixed with sewage, this wicked man fell dead and suffered a shameful death. He received a well-deserved reward for his vile blasphemy in a vile place through the prayers of the great Jacob. The Holy Scripture rightly praises the priest Phinehas, because he defeated Baalphegor, the author of the disasters of the people of Israel. Therefore, the psalmist David sings of him, saying: “And propitiate a hundred Phinehas, and stop scourging: and credit him with righteousness, for generations and generations forever” (Ps. 105:30-31). But Phinehas deservedly and gloriously defeated the enemy with a weapon, and for Jacob, instead of a spear and sword, the word with which he struck the wicked was enough for Jacob so that he would not see the glory of the Lord. And this alone was enough to expose the madness of the accomplices of Arius’ wickedness. For Jacob, as a preacher and defender of the dogmas we honor, having struck with a weapon the words of the father of wickedness, he forced others to turn away from this insane wickedness. After the end of the sacred council, each primate returned to his flock; Jacob also returned, like a leader and a conqueror, consoled by the victories of piety. 11. After some time, the great and admirable Tsar Constantine, adorned with crowns of piety, died; His sons inherited power over the Roman empire. Then the king of Persia (Sapor was his name), looking with disdain at the children of Constantine, as unequal in strength to their father, set out with a multitude of infantry and cavalry against Nisibia; He also brought as many elephants as he could here. Having positioned the army to storm the city, he arranged siege weapons, built fortifications, established piles, and blocked the gaps between them, like a fence, with branches, ordered the soldiers to make an embankment and place siege towers against the fortress towers. Then, placing archers in them, he ordered them to shoot at those standing on the walls, and ordered other soldiers to undermine the walls from below. Since, through the prayers of the pious husband, all this did not bring success, Sapor and many of his people stopped the flow of the neighboring river, blocking it with a dam. When a large amount of water had collected, he launched it all at once onto the walls, as if using a siege engine of enormous destructive power. The wall could not withstand the pressure of the water and, under its pressure, completely collapsed on one side. The Persian soldiers raised a great cry, as if the city was almost taken, for they did not know about the great stronghold protecting the inhabitants of the city. The Persians postponed its capture for a while, seeing the impossibility of approaching the fortress due to the abundance of water. Having moved away and, as if calming down from their labors, they gave themselves rest and took care of the horses. The inhabitants of the city turned to God with fiery prayers, having the great Jacob as their intercessor before Him. All the adults diligently rebuilt the collapsed wall, not caring at all about its beauty or its harmony, but in disorder they piled up whatever they could: stones, bricks, and other objects they brought with them. The work went well, and in one night the filling in the wall reached such a height that it was enough to hold back a cavalry attack and prevent infantrymen without ladders from climbing the wall. Then all the inhabitants of the city began to beg the man of God to climb the wall and strike the enemies with arrows of prayer. Heeding the requests, he climbed one of the towers and, seeing many enemies, began to beg the Lord to send a cloud of mosquitoes and mosquitoes on them. The Lord heard his prayers, as he had previously listened to the prayers of Moses, and the Persian soldiers were wounded by the arrows sent by God. The horses and elephants broke free from their harnesses and fled, scattering everywhere because they were unable to bear the attack of these insects. 12. When the wicked king saw that all the siege weapons were of no use, and the pressure of the water was useless, for the destroyed wall was quickly restored; when he saw that his entire army was exhausted by labor, suffering in the open air and persecuted by punishment sent from above; when he also saw the man of God walking along the walls, and decided that the Roman emperor himself was in charge of this city (for on the wall he saw a man dressed in purple and adorned with a diadem), then he was indignant at those who deceived him, convincing him to go to war and assuring him that there was no emperor in Nisibia. Having sentenced these advisers to death, he sent his army back and himself hastily retired to his royal palace. 13. God performed such miracles through this Hezekiah - not less, but greater than through Hezekiah of old (2 Kings 19:14-19)! For what miracle could surpass that accomplished by Jacob - after all, the city with the destroyed wall was not taken by the enemy! Above all, I am amazed that in his prayers Jacob did not ask for lightning and fire from heaven, as the great Elijah did when two military leaders came to him, each with fifty soldiers (2 Kings 1:9-12). Jacob knew what the Lord said to the Apostles James and John when they wanted to do the same thing that Elijah did: “You do not know what kind of spirit you are” (Luke 9:55). And therefore he did not ask for the earth to open up under the feet of the Persian soldiers, and did not ask for the army of the enemies to be put on fire, but turned to God only with a prayer that it would be ulcerated by insects and that the enemies, having recognized the Power of God, would finally learn piety. 14. This man of God had such boldness before God! He was awarded such grace from above! Living in this way and progressing in the Divine from day to day, he left this life with the greatest glory and moved from these places. After some time, when the city itself was ceded to the Persians by the then Roman king, its former inhabitants came out of the city and took with them the body of their defender and leader, sick and grieving over their relocation, but singing and glorifying the valor of the victorious Jacob. For if he had lived, they would not have fallen under the rule of the barbarians. Having told about this holy man, I, praying for his blessing, will proceed to another story. 1. Julian, whom the surrounding residents honored with the name “Sava,” which translated into Greek means “elder,” established his ascetic cell in the region that was then Parthian, and is now called Osroene. This country to the west extends to the very bank of the river, whose name is the Euphrates, and in the east it borders on the Roman possessions and passes into Assyria, the western part of the Persian kingdom, which was later called Adiabene. There were many large and populous cities in this country; There was a lot of land in it - both inhabited and uninhabited and desert. 2. Having retired into the depths of the desert and finding here a miraculous cave, although not made well and beautifully, but capable of providing close shelter for those who wished for solitude, this divine man happily settled in this place, considering it better than the magnificent palaces shining with gold and silver. It was here that he spent his life, eating once a week; and his food was barley bread (and that made from bran), his seasoning was salt, and his most pleasant drink was spring water. All this was used not with satiety, but in a measure accepted once and for all. The real food, luxury and pleasure for him were the psalmody of David and continuous conversation with God. Enjoying them greedily, he could never be satiated, but, always satiated with them, constantly sang: “How sweet is your word to my throat, more than honey to my mouth” (Ps. 119:103). He also heard other words of David: “The destinies of the Lord are true, justified in their entirety: desirable more than gold, and much precious stone, and sweeter than honey and honeycomb” (Ps. 19:10-11); I also heard others: “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the requests of your heart” (Ps. 36:4), “My heart is glad to fear Your name” (Ps. 86:11) and “Taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps. 33:9). He also listened to these words: “my soul thirsts for the mighty, living God” (Ps. 42:3) and “my soul clings to You” (Ps. 62:9). Listening to these verbs, he took into himself the love of the one who spoke them. After all, the great David, singing these songs, said that he would like to acquire many accomplices and accomplices in the love of God. So he was not deceived in his hope, but attracted this pious man and many others to Divine love. Julian was inflamed with such love for God that he was, as it were, intoxicated with it; he did not notice anything earthly, day and night dreaming and thinking only about one Beloved. 3. Many of those who lived both near him and at a distance from him learned from him sublime wisdom (for the rumor about him quickly spread everywhere); many came and begged him to accept them into his school of asceticism, asking to be allowed to live with him as a mentor and leader. Thus, not only birds lure birds of their own breed with their singing, attracting their own kind and luring them into placed nets, but people also entice their own kind: some to destruction, others to salvation. Soon ten people gathered around Julian, then this number doubled and tripled, and finally reached one hundred. 4. And although there were quite a lot of them, his cave accommodated everyone; because they learned from the elder to neglect caring for the body. They ate, like their mentor, barley bread seasoned with salt. And later they collected wild vegetables, put them in vessels and filled them with the required amount of brine - this was a supply of them, saved in case of need for the sick. For stored vegetables, keeping them in the same cave was harmful: due to dampness, they could become moldy and rot. When this actually happened to the vegetables (because the cave was damp in all corners), the brothers began to ask the elder for permission to build some small house, which would be enough to store supplies there. At first he did not heed their requests, but then, being convinced by them and having learned from the great Paul not to seek his own (1 Cor. 13:5), but to yield to those inferior, he determined the dimensions of a small and narrow house, and he himself moved far from the cave to make his usual prayers to God. For he was in the habit of going deep into the desert, often fifty furlongs, and sometimes twice as far as this, to leave all human society, to go deep into himself, to converse alone with God and to contemplate, as in a mirror, the divine and ineffable Beauty. Taking advantage of Julian's absence, those who lived under his supervision built a house in proportion to the need, but larger than the dimensions indicated by the elder. He, returning ten days later from those indescribable contemplations, like Moses descending from the mountain, saw that the house turned out to be larger than he wanted, and said: “I am afraid, brethren, that by expanding our earthly dwellings, we will not reduce the heavenly ones; while earthly ones are temporary and are only suitable for a short time, and heavenly ones are eternal and cannot have a limit.” He told them this, instructing his monastic choir regarding the highest perfection, and forgave them their guilt, heeding the word of the Apostle: “I seek not my own benefit, but the benefit of many, so that they may be saved” (1 Cor. 10:33). 5. He taught the brethren to collectively praise God in songs, when everyone was in the cave, and after the dawn, two at a time, retire into the desert, and there, one kneeling, brings appropriate worship to the Lord, and the other, standing, sings fifteen Davidic psalms at that time; then, on the contrary, the first one should stand while singing, and the second one, falling to the ground, pray; and this they did constantly from morning until dusk. Before sunset, having rested a little, some from here, others from there, everyone from different sides converged on the cave, and together sang the evening song to the Lord. 6. The elder also had the habit of allowing one of the best among the brethren to participate in his ministry. Most often, the elder was accompanied by one husband, a Persian by birth, who had a majestic and amazing appearance, but an even more amazing soul. His name was Jacob. Even after the death of the elder, he shone with all the virtues, was famous and respected not only among his own people, but also in the schools of philosophy in Syria, where he died, having lived, as they say, one hundred and four years. When the great elder honored him with participation in his chant in the desert, he followed him from afar; because the teacher did not allow him to walk near him, so that there would be no opportunity for mutual conversation, and the conversation would not distract the mind from the contemplation of God. One day, while accompanying the elder, Jacob saw a huge dragon lying on the road. When he saw it, he did not dare to go forward; but, overwhelmed with fear, he wanted to go back, wavering in his soul. Then, bending down, he took a stone and, throwing it at the dragon, noticed that the dragon remained in the same position without any movement. Convinced that the dragon was dead, he thought that the death of the beast was the work of the elder. At the end of the journey and after performing psalmody, when the time for rest had come, the elder, sitting down himself, commanded Jacob to give his body a little rest and sat at first in silence. When he began some conversation, Jacob with a gentle smile asked him to explain the incomprehensible phenomenon. When the elder asked what he wanted to know, Jacob answered: “I saw a huge dragon stretched out on the way; At first he was afraid, considering him alive, but when he realized that he was dead, he continued on his way without fear. Tell me, father, who killed him? You walked ahead, and no one else passed this way.” The elder replied: “Stop being curious about things that cannot bring any benefit to those who are testing.” However, the wondrous Jacob continued to insist, wanting to know the truth. Finally, the elder, who tried to hide this, being no longer able to torment his favorite, said: “I will answer you if you really want to know this, but I command you during my lifetime not to tell anyone what I tell you; for one should hide that which often excites pride and vanity. And when I leave this life and free myself from such passions, then you can talk about the power of God’s grace. So,” said the great Julian, “know that that beast attacked me as I was making my way, and opened its mouth to swallow me. I, having drawn the sign of the cross with my finger and calling on the name of God, drove away all fear from myself and saw that the beast immediately fell to the ground lifeless. Having given glory to the Savior of all, I continued on my way.” Having finished this story, the elder stood up and returned to the cave. 7. Another time, a certain young man of noble birth, brought up in luxury, but having a zeal for piety that exceeded his strength, began to beg the elder to allow him to accompany him into the desert, not on the ordinary journey that everyone makes every day, but on a much longer journey, sometimes lasting seven days, and sometimes ten. It was the famous Asterius. The pious elder dissuaded the young man, pointing out that there was no water in the desert, but the young man did not stop begging him to be honored with such a good deed. The convinced old man finally agreed to his request. The young man followed him, at first filled with jealousy, but after the first, second and third days, being scorched by the sun's rays (because it was summer then, and in the middle of summer the heat of the sun can be unbearable), he began to become completely exhausted, tormented by thirst. At first he was ashamed to announce his suffering, remembering what the teacher had predicted for him; but, completely weakened and fainting, he began to ask the elder to take pity on him. The elder, reminding the young man of his warnings, ordered him to go back. When the young man said that he did not know the path leading to the cave, and even if he knew, he still could not go, because his strength was exhausted from thirst, the man of God, taking pity on the suffering of the young man and condescending to the weakness of his body, knelt down, began to pray to the Lord and watered the ground with hot tears, asking him to save the young man. The Lord, who fulfills the desires of those who fear Him and listens to their prayers, turned the drops of tears that fell into the dust into a source of water. When the young man drank it, the elder ordered him to leave. 8. This source has survived to this day as evidence of the prayer of the divine elder, similar to the prayer of Moses. For just as Moses once struck a barren rock with a rod and produced streams of water from it to give drink to many thousands of people who were exhausted from thirst (Ex. 17:1-7), so this man of God, having watered the driest sand with his tears, produced a source of water to quench the thirst of not many thousands, but only one young man. 9. Enlightened by God's grace, he clearly foresaw the future perfection of this young man. And indeed, after a long time, called by God's grace to instruct others in the same virtue, Asterius founded a school of asceticism in the vicinity of Gindar (a village near Antioch). He attracted to himself many other ascetics of philosophy, and among others - Akaki, a great and, I would even say, famous man. This Akaki was distinguished by the sublimity of his monastic life and shone with the bright rays of virtue when he was awarded the rank of bishop and received Veria for pastoral care. Managing the flock of Christ entrusted to him for fifty-eight years, he did not abandon the image of an ascetic life and knew how to combine hermit virtues with social ones. By strict observance of ascetic rules and economic leniency in public affairs, he united extremes into one whole. 10. But the hunter and teacher of people for such virtues was the aforementioned Asterius, who loved the great old man Julian so dearly that sometimes twice, and sometimes three times a year, he undertook a journey to him. Going to the teacher, Asterius usually stocked up figs for the brethren, loaded three or four mules with them, and collected two medimnas of figs separately, put them on his shoulders and carried them like a mule to his teacher. He carried this burden not for ten or twenty stages, but for the duration of the seven-day journey. One day, seeing a student carrying a bag of figs on his shoulders, the elder was upset and said that these figs would not be eaten by him, because it was unfair for Asterius to endure such labor, and he would enjoy it later. When Asterius swore that he would not lay down the weight from his shoulders until the elder agreed to accept the burden he had brought, the elder said: “I will do as you tell me, only first, quickly take the weight off your shoulders.” 11. Here the elder imitated the first of the Apostles, who, when the Lord wanted to wash his feet, at first refused, solemnly asserting that this would not happen (John 13:8-9), but having heard that he would not have a part with the Lord if he did not allow his feet to be washed, he not only allowed this, but also asked to wash, along with his feet, his hands and head. In the same way, the glorious John the Baptist, when the Savior demanded that he baptize Him, first confessed his slavery and indicated the Lord in those seeking baptism, and then fulfilled the command (Matthew 3:13-16) - not out of impudence, but out of submission to the Savior. So this holy man was burdened to accept food obtained by the labor of another, but when he saw the ardent zeal of the one who rendered him a service, he preferred this service to his own will. 12. Some of the incredulous, who only know how to blame what is good, will perhaps say that this story does not deserve mention. I added this to other miracles in order not only to show respect for Julian on the part of famous men, but also the friendliness and gentleness of his character, considering it useful to point out them too. He possessed such high virtue that he did not consider himself worthy of even the slightest honor and rejected it as not at all deserved by him, but sometimes he nevertheless accepted it so that it would benefit his admirers. 13. It was precisely in flight from honors (for having become known to everyone, he attracted many zealots of virtue by word of mouth), Julian, with a few close disciples, went to Mount Sinai, not passing through cities or villages, but making a journey through an impassable desert. The brothers carried the necessary food on their shoulders, i.e. bread and salt, as well as a wooden bowl and a sponge tied to a rope - it was needed so that, if there was water deep in the wells, lower this sponge and, having taken it out, squeeze the water out of it into the bowl and drink. Traveling in this way for many days, they came to the desired mountain and, having prayed to the Lord, stayed there for a long time, considering for themselves the greatest pleasure a deserted place and peace of mind. Having built on this mountain, on which Moses, the head of the prophets, was honored to see (as far as possible) the Lord, a church with an altar, which has survived to this day, Julian returned to his monastery. 14. When Julian learned about the threats of the wicked king named after him (since Julian, before the campaign against the Persians, threatened to completely exterminate the Christians, and his like-minded people were impatiently awaiting his cursed return, after which the threat was to be carried out), he made a vow to God to devote ten days and nights to prayer: during the prayer he heard a voice saying that the unclean and vile pig had died. The period of the vow had not yet ended, but he had already stopped praying and replaced the intercessory prayer with psalmody, sending up songs of thanksgiving to the Lord - the Savior of his people, and for those alien to Him - to the patient and almighty Adversary. For the Lord showed very great patience with the wicked; when this long-suffering brought the villain to extreme madness, the Lord punished him in a timely manner. Having finished the prayer and returned to the brethren, Julian was cheerful and calm, and this calmness of soul made his face cheerful. When the brethren were surprised at such a change in his face (having always been sad in recent days, he now suddenly became cheerful) and began to ask about the reason for it, he said: “My husbands, the present time is a time of mirth and joy; according to the words of Isaiah, “the wicked cease” (Is. 26:10), and the daring received a worthy punishment; rebelling against the Lord, Creator and Savior, was struck down by the obedient right hand. That is why I rejoice when I see that the churches he fought are triumphant, and the apostate did not receive any help from the demons whom he honored.” Julian had such a revelation about the death of the wicked. 15. When the Emperor Valens, who inherited the throne of the Roman Empire after Julian, deviated from the truth of the Gospel dogmas and was carried away by the error of Arius, then the greatest persecution was erected against the Church. The helmsmen of churches were expelled from everywhere, and sea robbers and villains were appointed in their places. And in order not to talk about this whole sad story at this time, I will omit everything else, and I will mention only one event that clearly showed the grace of God’s Spirit that dwelt in Elder Julian. The great Meletius, appointed by the Lord of all to shepherd it, was expelled from the Antiochian Church; All the clergy and like-minded people, who honored the one being of the Divine Trinity, were expelled from the churches of God. Those expelled, some retired to the clefts of the mountains and there had their sacred meetings; others chose the steep bank of the river as a place of prayer, which was sometimes a place for military exercises and located in front of the northern gate of the city, because the enemies did not allow pious people to converge in one place. 16. The children of lies carried and spread a rumor in this city that Julian, that same old man, adheres to the dogmas preached by them. The Orthodox were especially concerned that rumor, having deceived the most inexperienced and simple people, would not lure them into the net of heretics. But the pious and blessed men Flavian and Diodorus, who were awarded ordination and governed the Orthodox people, as well as Aphraates, whose life, with the help of God, I will later expound, convinced that same Acacius, whom we have already talked about, to take as his companion the famous Asterius - his teacher and disciple of the holy elder - and to go to the common luminary of the Church, to the pillar of the Gospel teaching, to ask him to leave his ascetic school and come to the aid of thousands of Orthodox Christians perishing from seduction, and with the dew of his coming extinguish the Arian flame. The divine Akaki set off on the journey, taking with him, as he was commanded, the great Asterius. Having come to the greatest luminary of the Church and greeted him, he said: “Tell me, Father, why are you taking on this work with such pleasure?” And when he answered: “Serving God is more valuable to me than body, and soul, and life, and everything necessary in life, and therefore I try, if possible, to serve the Lord sincerely and to constantly please Him in everything,” then Akaki said: “I will show you a way to serve God more than how much you serve now. And I say this, guided not only by my own reasoning, but also by the instructions of the Word of God Himself. For the Lord, who once asked Peter whether he loved Him more than others, and having learned what he knew before Peter’s answer: “You know that I love You,” showed him by what deed he would please Him more: If you love Me, feed My sheep” (John 21:15-17). You need to do the same, father: the flock is in danger of being destroyed by wolves, but these sheep are deeply loved by your Beloved; Those who love tend to do something pleasant for their loved ones. Otherwise, considerable danger and harm will threaten your great and many exploits if you watch indifferently as the truth is brazenly oppressed and its admirers are deceived; your very name serves as a bait for their deception, for the leaders of the blasphemy of Ariev shamelessly proclaim that you are involved in their wicked teaching.” 17. Hearing this, the elder said goodbye to silence for a while and, undaunted by the unusual bustle of the city, set off for Antioch. After two or three days of traveling through the desert, he reached a certain village by nightfall. Here one rich woman, having learned about the arrival of the sacred choir, came to receive a blessing from the elder and, falling at his feet, asked to stop to rest in her house. The elder agreed, despite the fact that he had abstained from such spectacles for more than forty years. While this wondrous wife was serving the holy men, her seven-year-old son, the only one with a mother similar in hospitality to Sarah, fell into a well in the evening in the dark. On this occasion, of course, there was an alarm, but the mother, having learned about the misfortune, asked everyone to be calm and, putting the lid on the well, continued to serve the holy men. When the table was already set for them, the divine elder ordered her to call her son to bless him. The wondrous wife said that he was sick, but the elder insistently demanded that he be brought. The mother had to tell about the misfortune. The elder immediately left the meal, hurried to the well, ordered to remove the lid from it and bring fire; Having shined the light, he saw that the child was sitting on the surface of the water and splashing his hand like a child: what everyone considered his death was a toy and fun for him! Having tied one person to a rope and lowered him into the well, they pulled out the child. The boy immediately fell at the feet of the old man, saying that he saw as if he was carrying him on water and did not allow him to drown. This is the reward the wonderful wife received from the blessed elder for her hospitality! 18. However, let us pass over in silence many other things that happened during this journey. When the travelers arrived in Antioch, people began to flock to them from everywhere, wanting to see the man of God, and everyone hoped to receive healing from him for their illness. He withdrew to the very caves at the foot of the mountain where, as they say, the Holy Apostle Paul lived and took refuge. But so that everyone knew that he was also a man, he soon suffered from a severe fever. The great Akaki, seeing the multitude of people gathered and grieving over the cruel illness of the old man, thought that the gathered people would be embarrassed if they learned about the illness of their husband, from whom they themselves hoped to receive healing of their illnesses. But the elder told him: “Don’t be embarrassed. If my health is necessary, God will immediately grant it.” Immediately after these words, turning to prayer and, as usual, bending his knees and head to the ground, he asked the Lord to restore his health if it could bring any benefit to those gathered to him. He had not yet finished his prayer when a sudden burst of sweat extinguished the flame of his fever. 19. Having healed many here from various diseases, he went to a meeting of Orthodox Christians. When the elder passed under the gates of the royal chambers, one beggar, whose legs had given out and he was crawling on the ground on his buttocks, reached out his hand and, touching his cloak, was freed from his illness by faith: jumping up, he ran as before his illness, like a lame man healed by the Apostles Peter and John (Acts 3:1-16). After this, the entire population of the city flocked, and the place of military exercises was filled to capacity with the assembled people. The slanderers and inventors of lies were put to shame, and the children of piety were rejoiced and reassured. 20. Those who needed spiritual healing took the light of piety from here to their homes. A certain man, who held an important position and ruled the entire diocese of the East, sent a servant to ask the elder to come to him and heal him of his illness. Julian immediately came to him and, having prayed to the Lord of all, freed him from suffering with a word and commanded him to bring thanks to the Lord. 21. Having performed so many miracles here, Julian finally decided to return to his ascetic cell. Passing through Cyrus, a city two days away from Antioch, he visited the grave of the victorious martyr Dionysius. The local leaders of piety, having gathered to him, asked for help, expecting obvious destruction. It came, according to them, from a certain Asterius, brought up in sophistic false wisdom, who, having defected to a heretical church and having been awarded the rank of bishop there, skillfully defends lies and uses his wicked art against the truth. “And we are afraid,” they said, “that he, covering up lies with eloquence, as a bait, and placing a web of syllogisms, like nets, will deceive many of the simple people: after all, for this reason he was appointed bishop by his opponents.” The elder answered them: “Take courage and pray to God with me, adding fasting and deeds to prayer.” When they prayed to God in this way, then one day before the onset of the great holiday, on which the defender of lies and the enemy of truth intended to give a speech to the believing people, he was struck from above and, having been ill for only one day, was crossed out from the list of the living, hearing, as it should have been, a voice: “Mad! This night your soul will be taken from you” (Luke 12:20), and the evil snares and snares prepared will be for you, and not for anyone else.” 22. A similar thing happened to Balaam, who was called against the people of God. Balak, who was plotting some wickedness against this people, was himself punished, being struck by the hand of an Israelite (Num. 31:8, 16). So Asterius, as soon as he planned something wicked against the people of God, he was immediately deprived of life through this people of God. The city of Cyrus received such salvation thanks to the prayers of Julian! What I was telling about was conveyed to me by the divine primate of the Berean church, the great Acacius, who knew well everything related to Julian. So, having left Cyrus and united with his brethren, Julian spent a considerable time among them and joyfully passed into an ageless and carefree life, acquiring dispassion in a mortal body and gaining hope in the immortality of the body. Having finished the story about him here, I proceed to another, praying to the saints about whom I am telling, that through their intercession they would bring down on me the highest favor. 1. How can we worthily praise the most famous Marcian? Can we compare him with Elijah and John, who “wandered in mantles and goatskins, enduring shortcomings, sorrows, and bitterness; those of whom the whole world was not worthy wandered in deserts and mountains, in caves and caves of the earth” (Heb. 11:37–38)? He first had Cyrus, which I mentioned before, as his fatherland, then the desert, and now, having left both, he has heaven as his fatherland. The first gave birth to him, the second raised him, and the third accepted him as crowned. 2. Having despised the nobility of origin (he came from noble parents) and the splendor of the palace in which he flourished, having received from the Creator of nature a great and beautiful body and having a soul adorned with a bright mind, he transferred all his love to God, desiring only the Divine. Having said goodbye to everything that had happened before, he chose the very heart of the desert and, having built a hut that was small and even disproportionate to his body, surrounding it with a small fence, he locked himself in it forever and, interrupting all communication with people, talked with the Lord of all and listened to His sweetest voice. For, reading God’s words, he thought that he was hearing the Divine Voice itself, and when he prayed and brought petitions to the Master, he believed that he was talking with Him. And enjoying this spiritual food constantly, he did not know saturation: he listened to the Spirit of God singing through the great David: “Whoever learns in the law of the Lord day and night will be like a tree planted by the issue of water, which will yield its fruit in its season, and its leaf will not fall away” (Ps. 1:2-3). Desiring these fruits, he lovingly took upon himself the work and replaced prayer with psalmody, psalmody with prayer, and both with reading the Verbs of God. 3. His food was bread alone, and he ate it to a certain extent; the measure was such that she could not satisfy the needs of the child, recently weaned from her mother’s breasts. They say that he divided a pound of bread into four parts and allocated it for four days, and every day there were leftovers. It was his custom to eat once a day in the evening, and never eat to the full, but always hunger, always thirst, and provide the body only with what is necessary for life. He, he said, who, after many days of fasting, takes food, performs Divine services weaker during the days of fasting; and whoever, on the day on which it is allowed to eat food, eats more than usual, burdens the stomach; a burdened belly makes the soul lazy for vigil. Therefore, it is better, he said, to eat food every day, but never to the point of satiety. For himself, he considered fasting to be constant hunger. This man of God set such rules for himself, and, having great stature and being in himself the most prominent and beautiful of all, he was content with such a small amount of food! 4. Some time later, he received two associates - Eusebius, who became the heir of his sacred hut, and Agapitus, who transplanted the seeds of his rules to Apamea. There is a village here called Nikerts, very large and populous; in it, Agapit established two very extensive schools of philosophy, one of which is named after him, and the other - the name of the wondrous Simeon, who shone for fifty years with his philosophy. More than four hundred men live in them to this day - devotees of virtue, champions of piety, seeking Heaven with their labors. The legislators of this society of saints were Agapit and Simeon, who accepted the rules from the great Marcian. From these schools sprang up many other ascetic havens, guided by the same rules, which are not easy to list. The planter of them all was the pious Marcian. For whoever gives beautiful seeds is justly credited with good seedlings. 5. At first Marcian lived alone, as I said, in his voluntarily chosen prison; and even after, when he accepted two more companions, he did not live with them; because the hut, being extremely small, was not sufficient even for him alone and caused him a lot of inconvenience, whether he was standing or lying down. Standing, he could not straighten up in it, since the roof pressed on his head and neck, and lying down, he could not stretch his legs, since the hut was shorter than his body. Therefore, Marcian allowed the two companions to build another hut for themselves, and by themselves sing hymns, pray and read Divine verbs. When an even greater number of pious men appeared who wished to become partakers of this spiritual benefit, Marcian advised them to build another refuge in the distance, commanding everyone to live in it. They were led by Eusebius, who brought here the teachings of the great Marcian. And the divine Agapit, having received the proper education and training, having learned good asceticism, withdrew, as I said, to scatter the seeds he received from the godly soul of his mentor. He became so famous and glorious that he was awarded the high priestly chair - he was entrusted with pastoral care and care for his fatherland. 6. The wondrous Eusebius, ruling the gathered flock of Christ, took upon himself the care of the teacher; and he alone received the right to sometimes visit Marcian and ask him if he wanted anything. And so, one night, wanting to see what Marcian was doing, he dared to approach the window, which was very small, and, bending down, he saw a light - a light not from a lamp and not man-made, but given by God, from heavenly grace, shining above the head of the teacher and allowing him to distinguish the letters of God's verbs. For Marcian held the Bible in his hands and sought in it the imperishable treasure of the Divine will. Seeing this, the wondrous Eusebius was overwhelmed with fear and filled with trepidation, for he knew the grace poured out on his teacher, and understood God’s favor towards the faithful servants. 7. Another time, when the great Marcian was praying in the threshold of his hut, a dragon, crawling onto the wall facing the east, hung from above and, opening its mouth, with a terrible gaze, threatened Marcian with terrible misfortune. Eusebius, standing in the distance, was horrified by this terrible sight and, thinking that the mentor did not see this, began to give him signs, shouting and begging him to run away. Marcian indignantly commanded the student to leave timidity (for even that is a destructive passion), made the sign of the cross with his finger and blew with his lips, thereby denoting the ancient enmity. And the serpent by the spirit of the mouth, as if engulfed and burned by some kind of fire, fell into many parts, like a burnt reed. 8. Look how Marcian imitates the Lord like His prudent servant! For the Lord once, when the sea threatened the ship of the disciples with danger, seeing them struggling with danger, pacified the fury of the sea only after he calmed the unbelief of the disciples with a reproach (Mark 4:35-41; Luke 8:22-25). Imitating this, this wondrous man also first dispelled the disciple’s timidity, and then put the beast to death. 9. Such are the wisdom, miracles and boldness before God of the great Marcian! But, awarded with such great grace and possessing great power to work miracles, he tried to hide this power, fearing the machinations of the thief of virtue, who, inspiring the passion of boasting, seeks to rob the fruits collected by labor. Therefore, hiding the grace given to him, Marcian reluctantly performed miracles, for then the light of his virtue was revealed and revealed the power hidden in him. For example, one day this happened. One man of noble birth, originally from Beria in Syria, who many times stood at the head of an army, had a daughter who went berserk and raged for a long time, tormented by an evil spirit. Having previously been acquainted with the great Marcian, he came to the desert, hoping that the ascetic, for the sake of his former friendship, would take part in him and pray to God about his misfortune. But, deceived in his hope, for he was unable to meet with the servant of God, he asked one elder, who at that time was serving the man of God, to accept a vessel filled with oil and place it at the door of Marcian’s house. The elder refused many times, but after repeated persuasion he gave in to the request. The great Marcian, feeling the rustling, asked: who was there and for what need did he come? The servant, hiding the true reason, said that he had come to find out if Marcian had any commands. Having reported this, he was sent away from his cell. At dawn, the girl’s father asked to return the vessel to him; The elder was frightened, but he walked as quietly as possible and, holding out his hand, took the vessel and tried to leave unnoticed. Marcian again asked what the visitor wants? And when the servant named the same reason that he had announced in the evening, the man of God became angry (because the elder’s arrival was beyond the usual) and ordered the truth to be told. The elder was frightened, embarrassed and, unable to hide anything from the one filled with Divine grace, said who exactly had come, explained the tragedy of the disease and showed the vessel. Marcian pretended to be angry, as usual, not wanting to show his virtue; and threatening that if next time the servant decided to do this, he would be deprived of his company and removed from service (and this loss was very great for those who understood the spiritual benefit), he ordered the vessel to be given to the one who brought it, and sent the servant away. As soon as Marcian ordered this to be done, the demon, who was four days away from him, cried out and was driven out of the girl, testifying to the power of the holy husband. So Marcian, like a judge, pronounced his sentence on the demon who was in Veria, and punished him, as if through some executioners: he expelled this murderer, and made the girl clean and freed him from his power. The girl's father was completely convinced of this. When he was returning and was several stages from his city, he was met by one of the slaves sent by his mistress to meet him. Seeing the master, he brought him news of the miracle that had happened, saying that it happened four days ago. Having counted the days and accurately determined the time, the master learned that this happened at the very moment when the elder brought out the vessel. 10. And the thought comes to my mind what this great man could do if he wanted to perform miracles. For even trying to hide the grace that he received, he showed such radiance, what miracle would he have performed if he had desired? And Marcian did not show his spiritual wisdom to everyone in exactly the same way, even when, after the feast of saving suffering and the Resurrection of the Lord, he allowed everyone to come to him. 11. At this time, everyone really tried to see him. One day, having gathered together, the first of the bishops, famous for their virtues, came to him: Flavian, the great shepherd of the Church of Antioch, the pious Acacius, whom I mentioned before, Eusebius, Bishop of Chalcedon, and Isidore, who was then entrusted with the government of the Church of Cyrus. With them came Theodotus, the primate of Hieropolis, shining with ascetic life and meekness. Some famous and important people also came, zealous for the faith. When they all sat in silence, waiting for the sacred voice of Marcian, he himself also sat silently for a long time, not opening his lips, but having his ears open; at this time someone, loved by him for caring for his soul and shining with other virtues, said: “Father, all these blessed fathers thirst for your instruction and await your sweet word; bring benefit to everyone present and do not block the source of benefits.” Marcian, with a heavy sigh, said: “The Lord of all speaks every day through his creation, speaks through the Divine Scriptures, inspires what is due, shows what is useful, frightens with threats, encourages with promises - but we do not receive any benefit. How will Marcian benefit with his word, who, along with others, neglects such good deeds and does not want to derive any fruit from them? This speech of Marcian prompted the fathers to express many sublime thoughts, which I considered unnecessary to convey in my narrative. Having stood up and prayed, they wanted to ordain him as a priest, but did not dare to lay hands on him. Everyone offered to do this to each other, but, nevertheless, everyone refused, and they then left. 12. I want to add to this another story, testifying to the divine understanding of Marcian. A certain Avit was the first to build an ascetic hut in another desert. This desert was north of the one in which Marcian lived, and even sloped somewhat to the east, from where the northeast wind blows. Avit, a wise man and brought up by a harsh life, was older than Marcian in age and exploits, but, having learned about his virtue glorified everywhere, he considered a meeting with him more useful than a long silence and hastened to see what he wanted. The great Marcian, having heard about his arrival, opened the door, received him and ordered the wondrous Eusebius to cook beans and turnips, if he had any. When they enjoyed their mutual conversation and recognized each other’s virtues, at the ninth hour they prayed together, after which Eusebius entered them, carrying food and bread. The great Marcian said to the pious Avit: “Come here, my beloved, and let us taste this meal together.” He answered: “I don’t remember that I ever took food before evening; It happens that I spend two or three days in a row without food.” To these words the great Marcian replied: “For my sake, change your habit now, because I, having a sick body, cannot wait for the evening.” When this did not convince the wonderful Avit, they say he sighed and said: “I am very worried and tormented by the fact that you made such efforts to see a hardworking and wise man, but were deceived in your hopes and saw a glutton and an intemperate man.” But when the wonderful Avit was saddened by such words and said that it would be more pleasant for him to eat meat than to hear such things, then the great Marcian said: “And we, my dear, lead our lives like you, adhere to the same order of asceticism, prefer work to rest, value fasting above food and usually take it at nightfall; but we know that the work of love is more valuable than fasting. The first is a matter of Divine law, the latter is a matter of our will. But Divine laws should be respected much more than the work we undertake of our own free will.” Conducting similar conversations, taking a little food and praising God, they lived together for three days and separated, henceforth contemplating each other only in spirit. 13. So who wouldn’t marvel at the wisdom of this man? Guided by her, he knew the time of fasting, and the time of brotherly love, and the difference between individual virtues: which of them should be inferior to the other and which at times should be preferred to the other. 14. I also know another story showing his perfection in divine things. His sister came to him from the fatherland with her son, who was already a mature husband and one of the leaders in the city of Cyrus, and brought him in abundance everything necessary for life. He did not allow his sister to see him, but he accepted his nephew, because that was the time he had designated for meetings. When they asked him to accept what was brought, he asked: “How many monasteries did you pass by and to which of them did you give how much?” In response to the nephew’s response that they didn’t give anything anywhere, he said: “Go away with what you brought. We do not need any of this, and even if we did, we would not accept it, because you wanted to benefit us, driven by a feeling of natural kinship, and not for the sake of serving God. If you respected more than just blood kinship, you would not have made an offering to us alone.” And having said this, he sent away his nephew and his sister, commanding that even the smallest fraction of their offerings should not be accepted. 15. Living in this way, as if outside the limits of nature, Marcian had already here moved into heavenly life. Who will present the clearest proof that he was worthy of God, according to the Voice of God Himself? For the Lord said: “Whoever does not leave father and mother, brothers and sisters, wife and children is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 19:29, 10:37). If the one who does not leave them is unworthy of the Lord, then it is obvious that Marcian, who left everything and, moreover, fulfilled this commandment with perfect accuracy, was completely worthy of God. 16. Moreover, I am amazed at his severity in Divine dogmas. He was disgusted by the madness of Arius, which intensified at that time under the patronage of the king. He equally despised the extravagance of Apollinaris. He also courageously fought with like-minded people of Sabellius, who merged the three Divine Hypostases into one. He also completely disgusted the so-called Euchites, who, under the guise of monasticism, suffered from Manichaeism. 17. He had such an ardent zeal for church dogmas that he entered into a fair dispute with one venerable and wondrous man. In the same desert lived a certain elder Abraham, who had white hair and an even brighter mind; he shone with every virtue and constantly shed tears of contrition. In his childish simplicity, he initially adhered to the long-standing custom of celebrating Easter: remaining, apparently, in ignorance of what was determined by the rule of the fathers in Nicaea, he continued the ancient custom of his country. At that time, many others suffered from the same ignorance. The great Marcian tried many times with many convictions to bring Elder Abraham (as the locals called him) into harmony with the Church. However, seeing his inflexibility, he openly broke off communication with him. After some time, the pious Abraham, disdaining dishonor and valuing agreement in the celebration of the Holiday, abandoned the previous custom and sincerely sang: “Blessed are the blameless ones who walk in the law of the Lord” (Ps. 119:1). And this was the fruit of the admonition of the great Marcian. 18. Many people everywhere built funerary chapels for Marcian, such as: in Cyrus - his nephew Alypius, in Chalcedon - a certain Zinoviana, famous for her origin, distinguished by virtue and very rich; and many others did the same, trying to attract this victorious ascetic to themselves. The man of God, having learned about this, called the wondrous Eusebius and obliged him with an oath so that he would place his body in a secret place and that no one except his two closest accomplices would know where he was buried until a significant number of years had passed. The venerable Eusebius fulfilled this will. When the death of the victorious man came, and the face of the Angels carried his holy and blessed soul to the heavenly abodes, he did not announce the death of the saint before he dug out a grave together with his two favorites, buried the body and leveled the surface of the earth. So even after fifty or more years, when countless people gathered and began to look for the body, the grave remained unknown. Subsequently, when each of the above-mentioned chapels received one the remains of the Apostles, and the other the martyrs, the heirs of Marcian’s hut boldly, having prepared a stone tomb two years earlier, transferred the remains of his precious body into it. For one of the three disciples who were at the death of Marcian and still alive pointed out his grave. 19. A zealot of his virtue, the wondrous Eusebius tried to exhaust his body with many labors. Constantly wearing one hundred and twenty pounds of iron, he put on himself another fifty that belonged to the wondrous Agapit, and to this added another eighty pounds left after the great Marcian. The place of prayer and life for him was one dry lake, and he lived such a life for three years. I mentioned this in order to show what other men Marcian raised, great in their virtues. 20. His love of wisdom also benefited the wondrous Basil, who after a long time established a monastic monastery near Seleukovil (it was a city in Syria) and who became famous for many types of virtue, mainly for his God-loving love and the divine virtue of love of hospitable people. How many workers this Basil presented to God, in the words of the Apostle, “who do not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15), is difficult to enumerate. 21. At the present time, in order not to make my story too lengthy, I will remain silent about the others, but will mention only one of them. There was a certain disciple of his, named Savin, who exhausted his body with countless labors. He did not eat bread or other foodstuffs, but only flour moistened with water served as food for him. He usually mixed it once for a whole month, so that when it became moldy it would emit an unpleasant odor. He wanted to weaken the lusts of the flesh with this type of food, and to destroy the pleasure derived from food with an unpleasant smell. Living on his own in this way, if anyone he knew came to him, he simply ate what was at hand. 22. He received such grace from God that, having heard about it, a woman of a noble family and very rich came to him from Antioch and asked him to help her daughter, who was tormented by an evil spirit. She said: “I saw in a dream someone who ordered me to come here so that through the prayers of the abbot of this monastery I would find the salvation of my daughter.” When the one who conveyed the abbot’s answers said that he was not in the habit of talking to women, she began to beg and insist with tears and sobs. Then the abbot left, but the woman, seeing him, said that it was not him, and asked to be shown another, reddish, with a rash on his cheeks. With difficulty they guessed who she was looking for (for Savin was the third, and not the first, in the monastery), asked him and brought him to the woman; and as soon as she recognized Savin’s face, the evil spirit, crying out, left the girl. 23. Such were the deeds of the disciples of the great Marcian! This wonderful gardener planted such plants everywhere! And again, finishing this story, I ask everyone for prayerful help in my endeavor. 1. In previous stories we have already shown what fruits - full and ripe, pleasant for the gardener, and also kind and desirable for right-thinking people - the barren desert brought to God. But so that no one thinks that virtue is limited to any one place and that the desert alone can lead to such virtue, in our story we now move on to inhabited places and show that they do not in the least hinder the acquisition of wisdom. 2. There is a high mountain lying east of Antioch and west of Berea; its upper part resembles a cone, and its height exceeds all the mountains surrounding it, so it got its name from this height. For the surrounding inhabitants usually call it Corypha. Since ancient times, at its very top there was a sanctuary of demons, very respected by the surrounding residents. On the southern side there is a curved plain, surrounded on both sides by not very high hills, which make it difficult for those passing and driving from south to north to make their way. Small and large villages are scattered in this plain, surrounded on all sides by mountains. At the very foot of the high mountain there is a very large and populous village, which the locals call Teleda in their dialect. On one part of the top of the same mountain there is a wooded hill, not very steep, but somewhat sloping, facing this village and open to the south wind. Here a certain Ammianus, a man renowned for many virtues, but especially superior to others in meekness, built himself a dwelling of wisdom. Here is the proof of this. Although he had much to teach not only his own students, but twice as much, he often went to the great Eusebius, begging him to take part and be a mentor and teacher in the school of asceticism he founded. 3. And Eusebius lived at a distance of twenty-five stadia from him and lived in a hut that was very cramped and had no windows. Marian, his uncle, a faithful servant of God, instructed him in such virtue. This is enough to say about him, since the Lord honored the great Moses with this name. This Marian, having tasted Divine love, did not want to enjoy its benefits alone, but made many others his accomplices; He also attracted to himself the great Eusebius and his brother - a brother not only by birth, but also by way of life. For Marian considered it unwise to involve strangers in virtue and leave his relatives unattended. Placing both nephews in a cramped hut, he began to teach them the gospel way of life. But the illness that happened to Eusebius’s brother stopped this path for him, and he, having lived a few days after leaving there, ended his life. 4. The great Eusebius stayed here throughout his uncle’s entire life, not talking to anyone and not seeing the world, but constantly being in voluntary imprisonment. And after the death of his uncle, he was satisfied with such a life until the wondrous Ammian convinced him with long persuasion and the following speeches: “Tell me, my dear, who do you think is pleased that you have chosen such a difficult and harsh life?” And when Eusebius, as he should have, answered that to God - the Lawgiver and Teacher of virtue, Ammianus said: “And since you love Him, I will show you the path, following which you will be inflamed with even greater love and will serve more diligently the One Whom you love. For whoever turns all his care to himself, I think, will not escape the reproach of selfishness. The Divine Law commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves. And the business and duty of love is to introduce many to your wealth. The divine Paul called love “the fulfilling of the law” (Rom. 13:10), and further he says that “the law is in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Gal. 5:14). And the Lord in the Holy Gospel commanded Peter, who promised to love Him more than others, to feed His sheep (John 21:15-17), and, reproaching those who did not do this, he cries out through the prophet: “Woe to the shepherds, the shepherds feed their own food!” Isn’t it the shepherds who tend the sheep?” (Ezek.34:2). Therefore, He commanded the great Elijah, who led such a life, to turn among the wicked (3 Chronicles 18). And He sent another Elijah, Saint John, who lived in the desert, to the banks of the Jordan, commanding him to preach and baptize there. So, since you passionately love God, who created and saved you, bring many others to this love. This will be very pleasing to the Lord of all. He called Ezekiel “watchman” (Ezekiel 3:17) and ordered Himself to be called as a witness before sinners. Jonah was ordered to go to Nineveh (Jon. 1), and when he did not want to, he sent against his will.” Having convinced the divine man with such and similar words, Ammianus, with his consent, dug the entrance to Eusebius’s voluntary prison, brought him out and took him to his brethren and entrusted him with the care of them. 5. And I don’t know what to be more surprised at—the meekness of one or the obedience of the other? For Ammianus avoided power and wanted to be a novice rather than a leader, having seen the danger of leadership. And the great Eusebius, although he avoided communication with people for a long time, nevertheless obeyed the convictions of Ammianus. Caught in the nets of love, he took upon himself the care of the flock of Christ and controlled the choir of ascetics, not needing copious speeches to instruct them. Because it was enough for him to only appear to motivate even the laziest to diligently follow the path of virtue. Those who saw him say that he always had a serious face, which was enough to arouse fear in those who looked at him. He himself took food after three and four days, and ordered the monks living with him to take it every other day. He exhorted them to constantly converse with God and not to leave any time free from this activity: either to perform certain general services, or, in the interval between them, alone, under the shade of some tree, or on some rock, and in general wherever everyone experienced silence, standing or lying on the ground, to pray to the Lord and seek salvation. In this way he trained every part of the body to virtue, so that they did only what spiritual understanding commanded. 6. To make this obvious to everyone, I will mention one of the stories conveyed to me. One day he and the wondrous Ammianus were sitting on a rock; one read the narrative of the Divine Gospel, and the other explained the meaning of unclear passages. At the same time, some of the surrounding inhabitants were cultivating the land in the nearby valley; the great Eusebius was distracted by this spectacle. The wondrous Ammianus, having read one passage from the Gospel, began to ask for an explanation of it. And the great Eusebius asked to repeat the reading. To this Ammianus said: “It is natural that you did not hear anything, because you enjoyed the contemplation of those cultivating the land.” From then on, Eusebius set a rule for his eyes: never look at this field, nor at the beauty of heaven, nor at the dance of stars, but he appointed himself a very narrow path (which, as they say, was a span wide) leading to the house of prayer, and he no longer allowed himself to walk outside it. They say that he lived by this rule for more than forty years. And so that, after his decision, some necessity would not distract his gaze again, he put an iron belt on his lower back and put a very heavy chain around his neck, and connected the belt to it with a chain, so that, bent in this way, he was forced to constantly look at the ground. He subjected himself to such great punishment for looking at those farmers! 7. Many others told me about this, who wrote his history and knew well everything related to him; but the same story about him was told by the great elder Akakios, whom I mentioned earlier. According to Acacius, once seeing Eusebius bent over, he asked him: what benefit does he think he will get from the fact that he does not allow himself to look at the sky, or even at the nearby field, and does not allow himself to walk anywhere except this narrow path? To this question, Eusebius replied: “I use this trick against the machinations of the crafty demon. So that the devil does not wage war against me in the main things, trying to steal chastity and justice, arousing anger, kindling lust, trying to inflame pride and arrogance and many other things plotting against my soul, I try to direct him to these insignificant things. After all, even having won here, he will not gain much profit, and being defeated, he suffers greater disgrace, since he could not defeat me even in small things. I consider this kind of abuse safer, because those involved in it suffer little damage. For what is the harm in looking at the sky or fixing your eyes on the sky? This is why I endured the battle, because here he can neither crush nor destroy me. Those arrows that do not have iron tips are not deadly." This, according to the great Acacius, he heard from Eusebius himself, admiring his wisdom and surprised by his military courage and experience. Therefore, he conveyed this story as amazing and memorable for everyone who wants to know about such things. 8. Such fame for Eusebius, spreading everywhere, attracted all lovers of virtue to him. The lambs of the beautiful flock of the divine Julian, whose history we have described before, have arrived. When this wondrous man, having reached the end of this life, passed on to a better life, then James the Persian and Agrippa, the leaders of that flock, came to the great Eusebius, recognizing that it was better to be under good management than to govern themselves. As for Jacob, whom I have already mentioned before, having told a little about his virtue, now is the time to present evidence of his high wisdom. The pious Eusebius, departing from this life, entrusted him with command over his flock, but he resolutely refused this concern, although everyone wanted to be under his care; Therefore, Jacob came to another flock, wanting to feed rather than shepherd, and, having lived there for a long time, thus ended his earthly life. So, Agrippa took over that leadership, a man adorned with many other virtues, but especially shining with spiritual purity, as a result of which he was honored to contemplate Divine beauty and, blazing with the fire of love for her, constantly watered his cheeks with tears. 9. When he, having ruled that chosen flock of God for a long time, ended his life, then the divine David, whom I was honored to see, took over the leadership - a man truly, as the Apostle says, “who mortified his earthly members” (Col. 3:5). For he so accepted the teachings of the great Eusebius that he lived in that refuge for forty-five years - and all this time he lived without grumbling or anger. And when he was the leader of the monks, no one ever saw him overcome by this passion, although, of course, there were extremely many cases forcing him to do so. One hundred and fifty men of the flock were his right hand; some of them were perfect in virtue and imitated the life of angels, while others, barely fledged, were just learning to take off and flutter above the earth. And despite the large number of those still just comprehending the Divine sciences and, of course, sinning in some way (for it is not easy for someone who has recently entered this path to do everything exactly), this man of God remained unchanged, as if he were an incorporeal being and as if there was no incident that could arouse anger in him. 10. I learned about this not only from rumors, but also from my own experience. Once, wishing to look at that herd, I went there, having other accomplices who loved a life similar to mine. Having lived with this God-loving husband for a whole week, we never saw a change in his face: it was not covered with either joy or gloom, and his gaze was always the same - neither stern nor laughing, for his eyes always radiated inner harmony. This alone clearly showed the peace of his soul. But perhaps someone will think that we saw him like this when there was no reason for confusion? Therefore, I consider it necessary to tell what happened in front of us. This divine man sat with us, talking about philosophy and exploring the heights of the Gospel life. During the conversation, a certain Olympius, a Roman by birth, and by his way of life worthy of all respect, venerable with the rank of priesthood and occupying second place in the management of the monastery, came to him and began to reproach this divine David, saying that his meekness was harmful to everyone, and calling his condescension a common evil, and his sublime wisdom not meekness, but madness. He, as if having an adamantine soul, listened to these words without being offended, although they were said in order to offend him: he did not change his face and did not interrupt the current conversation, but with a meek voice and words expressing the clarity of his soul, he sent away that old man, promising him to correct what he pointed out. “And I,” said David, “talk, as you see, with those who came to us, considering this my necessary duty.” 11. What other way can you better show meekness of soul? The one who was entrusted with the primacy patiently endured such insolence on the part of the one occupying the second place after him, moreover, in the presence of strangers who heard the reproaches, and did not show any indignation or signs of anger. What heights of courage and patience he showed! After all, the divine Paul, taking into account the weakness of human nature, compares the law with it, saying: “Be angry, do not sin; Let not the sun go down on your anger” (Eph.4:26). For knowing the natural (and not arbitrary) movements of the violent principle of the soul, he does not want to legislate what is very difficult, and even almost impossible; but under the natural impulses of nature and a storm of anger, he sets a deadline of one day, commanding that anger be suppressed with reason and, as it were, curbed with a bridle, not allowing it to go beyond its prescribed limits. And this man of God labored beyond the established laws and exceeded the established limits of nature, not allowing himself not only to be outraged by anger until the evening, but even to be slightly embarrassed. And all this is the fruit of his life together with the great Eusebius. 12. In that refuge I saw many other lovers and zealots of this wisdom - both those in the prime of life and those who were very elderly. For even the ascetics, who had lived for more than ninety years, did not want to give up their labor, but were distinguished by their youthful zeal, glorifying God all night and every day, performing holy services, and taking meager food every two days. I am keeping silent about others who are not silent, but worthy of all praise and glorification, so as not to make my narrative too lengthy. But I will mention a certain man in that place of God, named Abba, who, although descended from an Ishmaelite root, did not move away from the house of Abraham, but together with Isaac became a participant in the paternal inheritance, or, better to say, captured the very Kingdom of Heaven. Initially, he studied the way of ascetic life from one elder, an excellent mentor in this matter - his name was Marozas. Subsequently, this Marozas, leaving his leadership over others, joined the same herd with Abba and lived for a long time, after brilliant and glorious exploits he passed away from this life. As for Avva, he lived here for thirty-eight years, always with the same passion for work as at the beginning of his monastic life. So to this day he never puts on shoes; during cold weather he takes refuge in the shade, and during hot weather he exposes himself to the scorching rays of the sun, perceiving their fire as a cool breeze. During the heat, he does not allow himself to drink water and does not eat what those who are going to do without water usually eat (and they usually eat wet food). He considers water an excess, and eats very little, gradually reinforcing his strength. Having girdled his back with a heavy iron, he rarely sits down, but most of the day and night, standing or kneeling, he offers the Lord the service of prayer, and completely denies himself reclining on his bed. Until this day no one had ever seen him lying down; Having led the choir of ascetics and agreed to be its leader, he himself diligently carried out all the work, presenting himself as a model of wisdom for all his novices. 13. These are the victorious ascetics that the divine Eusebius, their teacher and mentor, presented to God! He educated many other similar men and sent them to other monastic schools as teachers of piety. Therefore, they filled that entire sacred mountain with divine and fragrant meadows. For in addition to the ascetic refuge that he first founded in the east, one can see the shoots of this wisdom both in the west and in the south, shining in a circle like stars around the moon. Some of those living in these places glorify the Creator in Greek, others in the local language. But I would be undertaking an impossible task if I decided to expound everything that was done by the divine soul of Eusebius. Therefore, here it is time, having put an end to the story about him, to turn to another and again seek the same benefit, asking for the blessing of these great men. 1. At the same time, there lived a certain Publius, remarkable both for his appearance, and who had a soul consistent with his appearance, or, better to say, even more beautiful than his body. He was of noble origin and was born in the city where the famous Xerxes, during the war with Greece, wanting to cross the Euphrates River with his army, collected many ships, connected them with each other and thus built a bridge, and then called this place Zeugma, which is why the same name of the city came about. Publius, who was born here and came from a noble family, chose one hill, no more than thirty stades distant from the city. On it he built himself a small hut, having first distributed all his inheritance received from his father: a house, an estate, herds, clothes, vessels, both silver and copper, and other property. 2. Having distributed all this to those to whom it should have been given according to the Divine law, and freeing himself from all earthly cares, he took upon himself, instead of everything, one concern - about serving the One who called him to Himself; Publius constantly kept this concern in his soul, immersed in it night and day, and tried to increase it. Therefore, his work incessantly increased, increased and intensified every day and was so sweet and pleasant for him that he could never get enough of it. No one ever saw Publius spending even the smallest fraction of the day in idleness, but his psalmody was followed by prayer, prayer was replaced by psalmody, and after that he turned to reading the Divine Scriptures; then came the care of visiting visitors, and then some other necessary work. 3. Leading such a life and being an example for those who seek such a life, he, like some sweet-voiced bird, attracted many similar to him by nature into the net of salvation. At first, however, he did not allow anyone to live with him, and having built other small huts near his, he ordered each of those who came to live alone. He himself often visited their huts and observed whether anyone was hiding anything beyond what was necessary. They say that he carried scales with him and carefully weighed slices of bread: and if someone had more than the norm, he was indignant and called those who did this gluttons. He commanded not to worry about satiety in both food and drink, but to use them only in such quantities as is necessary to maintain life. If he noticed that someone was eating flour that was not mixed with bran, then he reproached those who did this for eating the food of sybarites. He also unexpectedly approached the doors of the monks’ cells at night, and if he found someone awake and praising God, he silently walked away; but if he found anyone sleeping, he knocked on the door and reproached the careless person for serving the body more than necessary. 4. Seeing such labors of Publius, some of his like-minded people advised him to arrange one dwelling for everyone, saying that those who now live regularly will then live even more regularly, and he will be freed from a significant part of his labor. The wisest Publius accepted this advice: having gathered everyone together and destroying those small huts, he built one dwelling for all those who had gathered to him. He exhorted them to live together and encourage each other in virtue, so that one would imitate the meekness of the other, and he would temper the meekness of this with his jealousy; one was an example of staying awake while learning from others how to fast. He said this: “By borrowing from each other what you do not have, we will achieve greater perfection in virtue. As in city markets, one sells bread, another sells greens, a third sells clothes, a fourth makes shoes, and everyone, receiving the necessary things from each other, makes their life more comfortable because if someone gives clothes to another, he receives shoes instead, and the one who buys greens sells bread in return. So we should exchange mutually valuable types of virtue.” 5. So they, people who spoke the same language, labored, practiced and glorified God in Greek. But the local residents, who spoke their own dialect, also developed a love for this way of life: some of them came to Publius, asking to be accepted into their flock in order to listen to his sacred teachings. He, remembering the law of the Lord, which He gave to His holy Apostles, saying: “Go, teach all nations” (Matthew 28:19), agreed and, having built another dwelling near the first, ordered them to live in it. In addition, he erected a sacred church and ordered both the Greeks and the Syrians to gather in it at the beginning and end of the day and offer evening and morning praises to God, dividing into two parts and singing alternately in their native language. 6. This way of life has been preserved there to this day: neither time, which changes such things, changed it, nor the successors of the ministry of Publius decided to abolish anything that he had established, although these successors in the management of his monastery were not two or three, but very many. After Publius, having completed his feat, departed from this life and moved on to a carefree life, Theoteknus took control of the Greek half of the monastery, and Aftonius took control of the Syrian half. Both were animated monuments and living images of his virtue, and both those living in the monastery and outside visitors were not allowed to feel the loss of Publius, showing an exact impression of his life. But the divine Theoteknos, having lived for a short time, handed over the command to Theodotus; Aftonius managed his herd for a very long time according to the rules established by Publius. 7. As for the mentioned Theodotus, he was originally from Armenia; Arriving at the monastery and seeing the strict order of ascetic life there, he became a novice of the great Theoteknos. When he died, Theodotus, as I said, took over control and became so famous for his virtues that his glory almost overshadowed his predecessors. This man was so overwhelmed with love for God and was wounded by so many of her arrows that night and day he shed tears of contrition. And he was filled with such spiritual grace that when he prayed, those present froze in silence, listening only to his prayer calls and considering his verbs the best prayer for themselves. There was no one so cold whose soul would not be touched by such touching prayers; they softened the toughest and most stubborn, disposing them to serve God. And thus, daily multiplying his spiritual wealth and revealing himself as a treasury filled with many blessings, after twenty-five years of ruling the flock of Christ, he presented himself to his fathers, according to the word of Scripture: “he was raised in a good old age” (Gen. 15:15). He handed over the management of the herd to Theoteknos, his nephew by blood and brother by way of life. 8. And the divine Aftonius, who managed his flock for more than forty years, later received the episcopal see; but even after becoming a bishop, he did not change either the hermit’s hair shirt or the tunic made from goat’s hair, and he ate the same food as he had eaten before his primacy. Having taken on a new ministry, he did not stop caring for his former flock, spending many days there: he either stopped internecine disputes, then consoled those offended by something, and sometimes instructed the brethren with his divine admonition. In addition, with his own hands he performed all kinds of work for the needs of the brothers: he repaired their threadbare clothes, peeled lentils, washed grain and performed other similar work. Thus, adorned with high priestly dignity and excelling in virtue, he, like a ship laden with all kinds of goods, reached God's harbor. 9. The following can be said about Theotekne and his successor Gregory: the former, in his youth, excelled in all types of wisdom and departed from this life with glory similar to the glory of his predecessors; the second, to this day, being at a very advanced age, works like a man in the prime of his life. He completely abandoned grape fruits and even vinegar and raisins; He also does not consume milk in any form, observing the commandments of the great Publius. And oil, according to his rules, is permissible to use only during Pentecost; at other times it is not permissible to eat it. 10. What I told about the great Publius I learned partly by listening to the stories about him, and partly myself by seeing his students - and in the students I recognized a teacher, and through the ascetics - a mentor in asceticism. Considering it a great injustice and ill-intention to leave such useful things in vain, I offered my story to those who did not know Publius, caring both for their spiritual benefit, and for myself expecting a spiritual gain from such a memory. For I am aware of the words of the Lord, who says: “Whoever confesses Me before men, him will I also confess before My Father” (Matthew 10:32), and I am firmly convinced that if I preserve the memory of such men among people, then I will be worthy to be remembered by them before the God of all. 1. If someone had deliberately failed to mention Elder Simeon and consigned the memory of his wisdom to oblivion, he would not have escaped, perhaps, the accusation of injustice and envy and the reproach that he did not want to praise what is worthy of praise and offer those who strive for spiritual benefit an example worthy of love and imitation. Therefore, fearing condemnation and wanting to honor him with worthy praise, I will tell you about the lifestyle of this great man. He continuously, for many years, spent a desert life, settling in a small cave; I did not see a single human soul, because I wanted to be alone so that I could constantly talk with the God of all. 2. For these labors he was gifted from above with abundant grace, so that he could command even the strongest and most ferocious animals. And this was known not only to pious people, but also to infidel Jews. He gained fame among them as a result of such an incident. Some of them, for some reason, went to a fortress located outside our region. At this time it began to rain heavily and a storm arose. The travelers, seeing nothing, lost their way and began to wander through the desert, meeting neither a village, nor a cave, nor a traveler. Wandering on solid ground, as if lost among the waves, they noticed, like a pier, the cave of the divine Simeon and, approaching it, they saw a man withered and dirty, wearing short rags of goatskin on his shoulders. Noticing them, Simeon greeted them (for he was courteous) and asked about the reason for their arrival. When they told about what had happened to them and asked to be shown the path leading to the fortress, he said: “Wait, I will now give you guides who will show the way.” They obeyed and sat down to rest. Suddenly two lions approached them, whose appearance was not at all fierce, but humble, and who caressed Simeon as if they were their master, and expressed complete submission to him. With a wave of his hand, he ordered them to accompany the wanderers and lead them to the path from which they had strayed. 3. No one should consider this story fabulous, since the well-known enemies of the Truth testify to it, for those who have benefited from it do not cease to glorify it. This was told to me by the great Jacob, who himself was present with blessed Maron when they told him about this miracle. And how can one not be called more unfaithful than the Jews who does not believe them when they testify to the miraculous actions of Christians? For they, even being stubborn, submit, however, and yield to the rays of Truth; and Christians, who are called well-minded and combined with faith, do not believe the enemies who testify to the power of grace! 4. Thanks to such miracles, this man of God became famous and attracted many of the neighboring barbarians (this desert is inhabited by people who proudly call Ishmael their ancestor), but the love of silence prompted him to leave the cave; after a long journey he reached a mountain called Haman, which in former times was the place of insane worship of many idols. He cultivated it with many and varied miracles and planted piety on it, which still prevails there. 5. But it is extremely difficult to retell everything that is said about him, and for me, perhaps, impossible. I will mention only one event and, offering it as evidence of the Apostolic and prophetic gift of this elder for working miracles, I will leave it to the readers themselves to draw a conclusion as to what power of grace he possessed. It was summer, harvest time, and the sheaves were gathered at the threshing floor. A certain farmer, not content with the fruits of his righteous labors and desiring the fruits of others, stole part of the sheaves from his neighbor in order to thus increase his harvest. But God’s judgment immediately exposed the theft: lightning struck and set the threshing floor of the thief on fire. The unfortunate man ran to the man of God, who lived not far from that village, told about his misfortune, and tried to hide his theft. However, when he was ordered to tell the truth, he confessed to the theft (his misfortune led him to blame himself). Then this man of God ordered him to avert the punishment by compensation for the offense of his neighbor, saying: “As soon as you return those sheaves, this fire sent by God will disappear.” And indeed it turned out that as soon as he returned and brought the stolen ears of grain to the offended man, the flame without water was extinguished by the prayer and intercession of the Elder of God. 6. This miracle filled not only the neighbors with fear, but also the entire city, that is, Antioch, near which that village was located, and forced its inhabitants to often turn to the elder: one with a request to free him from possession by an evil spirit, another - for the cessation of a fever, and a third - for healing from some other disease that was tormenting him. And the elder generously exuded streams of grace dwelling within him. 7. But again, out of love for silence, Simeon decided to retire to Mount Sinai. Having learned about this, many of the good people who care about similar wisdom gathered and expressed a desire to join him on this journey. When they, having traveled for many days, reached the Sodom desert, they saw in the distance, in a low place, the hands of a man stretched upward. At first they considered this to be demonic seduction, but when, after their fervent prayers, they saw the same thing, they came close to this place and saw a small cave, similar to those that foxes usually dig out to make a shelter for themselves. But they did not notice anyone in it, because the one who stretched out his hands, hearing the rustling of steps, disappeared inside the cave. 8. The elder, looking there, very long and earnestly began to ask the unknown person to come out and show whether he was a human being or some kind of seducing demon pretending in this way. “We,” said the elder, “carrying out an ascetic life and loving silence, wander through this desert and wish to worship the God of all on Mount Sinai, on which He Himself, having appeared to His servant Moses, gave the tablets of the law. We strive there not because we believe that the Divinity is limited to a place - for we know His Own words: “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth with food? “speak the Lord” (Jer. 23:24), and “keep the circle of the earth, and those who live on it are like people” (Is. 40:22), but because for those who are burning with love, not only the beloved themselves are dear, but also the places where they visited and talked were pleasant.” 9. When the elder said this, a man hiding in the depths of the cave appeared; he looked wild: his hair was unkempt, his face was wrinkled, his body members were emaciated; His attire was rags made from palm leaves. Having greeted them and wished them peace, he asked who they were, where they came from and where they were going? They, having answered these questions, in turn asked where he came here from and for what reason did he choose such a life? He replied: “Once, like you, I had a desire to make the same pilgrimage to Mount Sinai; My friend and like-minded person became an accomplice in this enterprise, striving for the same goal as me. But during the journey he was destined to end his life here; being bound by an oath to him, I dug a grave here as best I could, burying his body, and next to it I dug another grave for myself. And now I am waiting here for the end of my life and offering the Lord the usual prayer service. My food is date fruits, which one brother brings, by order of my Patron.” 10. As he said this, a lion appeared in the distance. The elder’s companions were stupefied with fear, but the inhabitant of the cave, noticing this, stood up and gave a sign to the lion to go in the other direction. The lion obeyed and left, but soon brought a branch of dates, and then lay down away from those men and fell asleep. Having divided the dates and performed prayer and psalmody with the wanderers, which ended at dawn, the inhabitant of the cave released them, amazed at such an extraordinary sight. 11. If this story seems incredible to anyone, then let him remember the life of the great Elijah and the service of the ravens, who constantly brought bread to the prophet in the morning, and meat in the evening (1 Kings 17:6). It is easy for the creator of all kinds to find many different ways to preserve the lives of his slaves. Thus, He kept Jonah for three days in the belly of the whale (Jon.2); He caused the lions to be afraid of Daniel in the den (Dan. 6); He made the soulless fire act intelligently: to illuminate those inside the cave, and to scorch those outside it (Dan.3). However, there is no particular need to provide evidence of the Power of God, for it is known to everyone. 12. When they reached the desired mountain, the wonderful old man, as they say, in the place where Moses was honored to see God (and he saw God, as far as is possible for mortal nature), knelt and did not get up until he heard the Divine Voice, indicating the favor of the Master towards him. After he had been kneeling for a whole week without eating any food, the Voice of God commanded him to accept the food offered and eat it without any doubt. He stretched out his hand, found three apples and ate them, as the Giver commanded; Having regained his strength, he greeted his companions as usual. After this, he set off on his way back, joyful and cheerful, because he heard God’s Voice and tasted the God-given food. 13. After returning from Mount Sinai, Simeon built two refuges of wisdom: one at the top of the mountain, which we have already spoken about, and the other below, at the very foot of it. Gathering in them devotees of virtue, he became the teacher and leader of both monasteries; He taught the brethren regarding the battles of the enemy, encouraged them with the favor of the Supreme Judge, exhorted them to be brave, filled them with good thoughts, convinced them to be humble with their neighbors and generous with their enemies. 14. Thus teaching and thus living, having performed so many miracles and shone with so many virtues, he ended this difficult life and departed into an unfading and carefree life, leaving behind him immortal glory and eternal memory. During the life of this elder, the blessed one enjoyed his favor - and the thrice blessed one! - my mother, who often told me about his exploits. And now I pray to him to honor me with his powerful protection and intercession before God, and I am sure that I will receive them. For he who imitates the Lord’s love for mankind will, without a doubt, fulfill my request. 1. The famous Palladius was a contemporary of Simeon, led a similar lifestyle to him, was familiar with him and close to him. For they, as they say, often visited each other, mutually edifying each other and encouraging each other to Divine zeal. As for Palladius, he secluded himself in a cell not far from a large and populous village called Immi. I consider it unnecessary to talk about the patience of this man, his abstinence from food and sleep, as well as his unceasing prayer, for here he bore the same yoke as blessed Simeon. 2. But I consider it useful to talk about one miracle, known to this day, performed by him. In that village, a weekly auction was held, to which merchants gathered and countless people flocked. During one such fair, a certain merchant, having sold his goods and having a large proceeds in gold, was preparing to go home at night. But one robber, having seen how much gold the merchant had collected, was overwhelmed with insane envy and began to lie in wait for the merchant without closing his eyes. And when he, after the roosters crowed, set off on his journey, suspecting nothing, the robber, setting up an ambush, suddenly attacked the merchant and killed him. Then he aggravated his crime with wickedness: having taken gold from the murdered man, he threw the corpse at the door of the home of the great Palladius. 3. When the day came and rumors of the crime spread throughout the village, all the people who were at the fair became very excited, broke down the door of Blessed Palladius and gathered to punish him for murder. Among those who came was the killer himself. Surrounded by many people, the blessed man looked up at heaven, fixed his thoughts on grief and began to beg God to expose the slander and reveal the truth. Having prayed intensely in this way, he took the dead man by the right hand and said: “Tell me, young man, who dealt you the fatal blow, point out the culprit of the crime and free the innocent from unholy slander!” The elder’s word became the reason for the action: the deceased stood up, sat down and, looking around those present, pointed his hand at the killer. Then everyone cried out, amazed at the miracle and amazed at the malicious slander. Having undressed the villain, they found a knife stained with blood and gold, which was the reason for the murder. Blessed Palladius, who had previously caused surprise, amazed everyone even more. This miracle alone was enough to testify to the great boldness of this man before God. 4. The amazing Abrahamy, who lived in a place called Parat, and shone everywhere with the rays of his virtue, belonged to the same family of ascetics. And the miracles that occurred after his death testify to his glorious life. For his tomb still exudes many different healings: this is what those who, by the power of their faith, found them there speak about. May God grant me to enjoy the patronage of those whose memory I honor with my words. 1. The fact that all people have the same nature and that everyone, be they Greeks or barbarians, is capable of philosophy can be easily convinced in many ways; Aphraat is a clear example of this. For he was born and raised among the Persians, a most lawless people; but, being born and raised in their customs, he achieved such virtue that he eclipsed even those born from pious parents and raised in piety from childhood. At first, neglecting the nobility and glory of his family, he, like the ancient wise men, came to worship the Lord. Then, disgusted by the wickedness of his fellow tribesmen and preferring a foreign country to his own, he went to Edessa (this city is very large, populous and famous for its high piety) and, finding a hut outside the city walls, shut himself up in it; here he began to indulge in the care of his soul, uprooting, like a good farmer, the thorns of passions, clearing God’s field and bringing to the Lord the good fruits of the Gospel seeds. 2. From here he moved to Antioch, which was then shaken by a heretical storm, and, staying in a country retreat of wisdom, studied a little Greek and soon attracted very many to listen to the Divine Word. Speaking in a semi-barbarian language, he expressed the fruits of his thoughts, being awarded the abundant sources of grace of the Holy Spirit. And who among those who pride themselves on eloquence, who raise their eyebrows arrogantly, who vainly utter pompous speeches, and who amuse themselves with the intricacy of syllogisms, could overcome his uneducated and barbaric speech? He defeated the conclusions of philosophers with the thoughts of God, and their reasonings with Divine words, crying out with the great Paul: “though I am ignorant in speech, yet not in knowledge” (2 Cor. 11:6). And he remained faithful to this way of behavior, according to the word of the Apostle: “we cast down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:4-5). It happened to see that those invested with supreme power and dignity, those with some kind of military rank, and those who lived by the labor of their hands came to him; in short, both civil and military people, educated and alien to all science, living in poverty and abounding in wealth. Some listened to his speeches in silence, others objected, others asked questions and suggested new topics for conversation. 3. Carrying such great work, he refused to have a cell attendant with him, preferring his own labors to the services of others. He had a conversation with visitors through the door; however, he opened the entrance to those who wanted to enter him and saw off those leaving. He accepted nothing from anyone: no bread, no herbs, no clothes; only one of his friends delivered bread to him. In his old age, he also consumed vegetables after sunset. 4. They say that once Anthymius, who later became a prefect and consul, on his way back from Persia, where he served as envoy, brought Aphraates a tunic made by the Persians and said to him: “I know, father, that each of the people enjoys his own fatherland, and the fruits that grow there are pleasant; I brought this tunic to you from your fatherland and I ask you to accept it as my gift, and reward me with your blessing.” The elder first asked to put the tunic on the bench, and then, after talking a little about other things, he sadly said that his spirit was confused, because one question was greatly bothering him. When Anthymius asked what the question was, he answered: “I have decided once and for all to have one partner and refuse to live together with two. Therefore, one friend, beloved by me, lived with me for sixteen years; but suddenly a fellow countryman comes, also asking to lead a life together. This is the question I cannot solve, because I don’t want to live together with two people. I love a fellow countryman precisely as a fellow countryman, but I consider it unfair and insulting to him to reject an old friend who has become pleasant to me.” Then Anthymius said: “Indeed so, father; after all, it is unfair to send away someone who has served you for such a long time as someone who has become unnecessary, and to accept, out of love for his homeland alone, a person who has not yet proven his good character.” To this, the divine Aphraates said: “Therefore, my dear, I cannot take the tunic, for I do not want to have two clothes; but in my opinion, and moreover, in your opinion, the one who has served for a long time is better.” Having thus enlightened Anthemius with a parable and shown him his resourcefulness, the elder convinced him not to mention that tunic again. I told about this for two reasons: firstly, to show that this wonderful man received from only one person the services necessary for his body, and secondly, to imagine what wisdom he was filled with - for he even convinced the one who asked to accept the tunic that he should not accept it. 5. Now, leaving the story of such cases, I will talk about something more important. After the God-hating Julian received punishment for his wickedness in the enemy’s land, and Jovian received the helm of control in the Roman Empire, the pupils of piety enjoyed peace for some time. But when Jovian, having reigned for a very short time, ended his life, and Valens received control over the east, then again the winds and hurricanes agitated the sea against us, a terrible storm arose and troubles again threatened the Ship of the Church on all sides. This storm was all the more terrible because there were no skilled pilots, since the king, brave only in the fight against piety alone, exiled them to a foreign land. But even with such a lawless act, his wickedness was by no means satisfied: he intended to disperse the entire society of those adhering to piety and, like a fierce beast, to scatter the flock of Christ. Pursuing this goal, he expelled the Orthodox not only from churches, but also from the foot of the mountain and from the field where military exercises were taking place - for they, pursued by armed force, constantly changed their meeting places. The Scythians and other barbarians ravaged all of Thrace from Istra to the Propontis with impunity. But Valens, having covered his ears, as the proverb goes, did not want to hear anything about these raids, directing his weapons only against his fellow tribesmen and his subjects - people shining with piety. 6. The God-loving people, mourning the cruelty of these disasters, sang the song of David: “on the rivers of Babylon, there weeping and weeping, never could we remember Zion” (Ps. 137:1). However, the words that follow this are not suitable here, because Aphraates, Flavian and Diodorus did not allow organs of teaching to be hung on willows and did not allow them to say: “How shall we sing the song of the Lord in foreign lands?” (Ps. 136:4), but on the mountains and in the fields, in the city and on its outskirts, and in the squares, the Orthodox incessantly sang the song of the Lord. They learned from David that “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof, the world, and all that dwell therein” (Ps. 23:1); They also listened to the words of the same prophet: “Bless the Lord, all His works, in every place of His dominion” (Ps. 102:22); We also heard the divine Paul, who commanded: “Men said their prayers, lifting up clean hands, without anger or doubting” (1 Tim. 2:8). And the Lord Himself clearly predicted this, talking with the Samaritan woman: “Believe Me, that the time is coming when you will worship the Father, neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem” (John 4:21). Knowing this, they preached both in dwellings and in squares, and, in the words of the Apostle, “publicly and from house to house” (Acts 20:20); like experienced military leaders, they constantly took care of the weapons of their warriors and defeated their enemies. 7. It is worthy of surprise and praise that the great Flavian and the blessed Diodorus - the then shepherds awarded the second see - did what I mentioned above, but they did it as elected commanders, obeying military laws. And the wise Aphraates voluntarily performed these feats. Nurtured by silence and choosing a solitary life, he, as they say, was beyond the reach of arrows; but, seeing the cruelty of the battle, he despised his own safety and, leaving silence for a while, became the leader of the phalanx of the pious, striking his enemies with life, word and miracles, but never suffering defeat. 8. One day this mad king saw him walking to the place of military training, where a devotee of the Trinity happened to gather (a certain courtier noticed an old man walking along the river bank and pointed Valens to him), and asked where he was heading his way. The elder replied that he was going to make a prayer for the universe and for his reign. In response to these words, Valens asked him a question: “Why do you, having chosen a solitary life, leaving silence, go to the square without fear?” Aphraates, who, imitating the Lord, usually spoke in parables, answered: “Tell me, sir, if I, being a virgin and spending my life in a hidden chamber, saw that fire had engulfed my father’s house, what would you advise me to do, seeing the flames spilling out and the house burning? Sit inside your mansion and calmly watch as the fire destroys the house? “But by doing so, I myself would become a victim of fire.” So, I had only one way out: run up and down, carry water and put out the fire. Therefore, you cannot blame me for the fact that this is exactly what I do. For what can be advised to do to a maiden sitting in a palace, I, who have devoted myself to a solitary life, am forced to do the same. And if you reproach me for leaving silence, then it would be more fair for you to reproach yourself, who brought the fire into the house of God, and not me, who was forced to put out the fire. After all, what should go to the aid of your father’s burning house - you certainly agree with this; and that God is our Father, Who is closer than earthly parents, is clear even to people who are completely ignorant of Divine things. So, by gathering the children of piety and supplying them with Divine food, we in no way deviate from the goal we have chosen, and we do not change the intention once accepted.” And when he said this, the king, by his silence, confirmed the correctness of his words. 9. But one of those people who are neither men nor women and are deprived of the ability to be fathers (that is why they were considered to be devoted to the king, and from this they received their name), began to reproach the man from the heights of the palace and threaten him with death. For such insolence he soon received a worthy punishment. One day Valens wished to wash himself in the bath, and this unfortunate courtier hurried forward to find out if the bath was well prepared. Out of his recklessness, he climbed into one bath filled with only hot water, and since there was no one in the bath at that time (for he came here alone), he, scalded, died there. After some time, Valens sent another of his servants to call him, but the messenger did not find the courtier anywhere, which he reported to the king. After this, many people went to the bathhouse, and, examining all the baths, they found a dead eunuch in one of them. There was a noise, some began to bail out the hot water, while others carried out the pitiful body of the deceased. 10. As a result of this, great fear fell on Valens and on all the opponents of piety. Word of this incident immediately spread throughout the city; the punishment that befell the unfortunate man for his insolence to Aphraates forced everyone to praise God, in whom Aphraates believed. This incident served as an obstacle for those who insisted on sending the man of God into exile, for the frightened Valens did not heed their advice, being filled with respect for this husband. 11. However, the king knew about the virtue of Aphraates on another occasion. There was one horse, of noble blood and well trained, to which the king was very attached. However, an illness happened to him that greatly upset Valens - it was urinary retention. Those skilled in the veterinary profession were called in to treat the horse, but when they were powerless against the disease, the king became even more saddened. The man who was entrusted with caring for the royal horses also grieved. But being pious and strong in faith, at noon he went with the horse to the refuge of the great Aphraates, told him about the illness and, showing his faith, asked the elder to heal the horse from the illness with his prayer. Aphraates immediately prayed to God, then ordered water to be drawn from the well, and, having inscribed the sign of the saving Cross on it, he ordered it to be given to the horse. He, despite his painful condition, drank water. Then, calling on God and blessing the oil, Aphraates anointed the horse’s belly with it, and as soon as he removed his hand, the disease disappeared and the usual departure took place. The pious groom happily hurried to take the horse to the stable. 12. In the evening - for at this time the king usually visited the stable - he came and began to ask how the horse was feeling. And when the groom said that he was healthy and brought out the horse himself - strong, prancing, neighing and proudly shaking his mane, the king asked who healed him. The groom hesitated for a long time before speaking - he was afraid to name the healer, because he knew that the king did not favor him, but then he was nevertheless forced to reveal the truth and tell him the method of treatment. The king was amazed and admitted that this husband was worthy of surprise, but, despite this, he did not abandon his former fury and continued to rebel against the Only Begotten until he became a victim of barbarian fire, not being awarded burial at the hands of his slaves and favorites. 13. Blessed Aphraates, just as during that storm showed his virtue, so after the advent of peace he continued to excel in it. He performed many miracles, of which I will mention one or two. One woman of noble birth, being united in marriage with a dissolute husband, came to the blessed one in tears, complaining of her misfortune. She said that her husband, having become attached to a mistress who practiced witchcraft, and fascinated by her spells, began to harbor hatred towards her, his lawful wife. She said this while standing outside the door of his hut, because he used to talk to women this way and never let any of them into his cell. Taking pity on the grieving woman, he destroyed the seduction with prayer and, having sanctified the vessel with oil brought by her by invoking the name of God, he commanded that she be anointed with it. Returning home, the woman carried out this advice, again attracted the love of her husband and forced him to prefer a legal marital union to an unlawful one. 14. They also say that one day locusts suddenly attacked the earth and, like fire, began to destroy everything: the harvest, plants, trees, forests, and meadows. During this misfortune, one pious man came to the elder, begging him for help. “I,” he said, “have one field, from the fruits of which I feed myself, my wife, my children, and all my household; Besides, I also pay taxes to the king from this field.” The blessed one, again imitating the Philanthropy of the Lord, ordered the petitioner to bring a vessel with water; When he fulfilled the command, the elder laid his hand on the water, praying that the liquid would be filled with grace-filled power. Having finished the prayer, he ordered the farmer to sprinkle the borders of his field with this water. He did what was ordered, and this became an indestructible and insurmountable fence for his field. The locusts, crawling to the borders of his field, crowded around like an enemy army, but, as if frightened by the imposed blessing, they again retreated back and, as if held by a bridle, could not move forward. 15. Is it worth further telling about everything accomplished by this blessed soul? After all, what has been said sufficiently testifies to the light of the grace that dwelt in him. I myself saw him and received a blessing from his right hand when, as a teenager, I went with my mother to this husband. He, as usual, had a conversation with her, opening the door a little, and finally received a blessing; He took me inside the cell and gave me the treasure of his prayer. Oh, if only I could enjoy it now! I believe that he is alive and dwells with the Angels, enjoying greater confidence in God than before. Then it was tempered by the mortal body, so that increased boldness would not serve as a reason for exaltation. Now, having put aside the yoke of passions, he, like a victorious ascetic, boldly approaches the Supreme Judge. And therefore I pray that he will honor me with his intercession. 1. We have heard about the Western Gauls living in Europe, we also know about those who descended from them and settled in Asia, near Pontus Euxine. From them came the blessed, thrice blessed and many times blessed Peter. They say that he was raised by his parents only for seven years from birth, but spent the rest of his life in exploits of wisdom. Again they say that he died after living ninety-nine years. So, who can worthily praise someone who labored for ninety-two years and emerged victorious from spiritual warfare every day and every night? What word can describe and list the virtues in which he labored in childhood, adolescence, youth, adulthood, in his first gray hairs, in old age, and in deep old age? Who will measure the drops of his sweat? Who can count the spiritual warfare he committed over such a long period of time? What word can convey how many seeds he sowed and how many fruits he collected? What sublime thought could grasp with its gaze the acquisitions that he collected from the wise use of the talents bestowed upon him? I know how vast the sea of ​​his virtues is, and I am afraid to begin to narrate them, fearing that my word might perish, buried under the waves of this sea. Therefore, I will just walk along the shore and tell only about what I see from it. I will leave the very depths of this sea to the One who, according to the verbs of Scripture, searches the depths (1 Cor. 2:10) and knows the secrets. 2. Initially, Peter labored in Galatia, and then he went to Palestine to see the places where saving sufferings were performed, and there to worship the Savior God, not as limited by place (he knew that His being is unlimited), but in order to saturate his eyes with the contemplation of desired objects and so that not only the vision of the soul, separately from the vision of the body, would, by faith, enjoy spiritual sweetness. For those who are passionately attached to someone usually feel joy not only when they see him, but they are glad when they see his house, clothes and shoes. Having such love for her groom, the bride in the “Song of Songs” cries out: “As the apple trees are among the trees of the forest, so is my brother among the sons: under his shadow I have longed and grown gray, and his fruit is sweet in my throat” (Song. 2:3). Therefore, there is nothing strange in what this blessed man did, who, being embraced by such love for the Heavenly Bridegroom, added to himself the words: “I am wounded by love” (Song. 5:8). As if wanting to see at least the shadow of the Bridegroom, he turned to the places that exuded the life-giving moisture of salvation for all people. 3. Having enjoyed what he wanted, he came to Antioch and, seeing the piety of the city, preferred this foreign country to his fatherland, considering as fellow citizens not those of the same blood and the same tribe, but those of the same mind, fellow believers and those who bear the same yoke of piety. Having decided to settle here, he did not pitch a tent, did not set up a hut, and did not build himself a house, but lived all the time in someone else’s tomb. At the top there was a room made of boards, into which anyone could climb the stairs. Having shut himself up here, Peter lived in this room for a very long time, drinking cold water and eating only bread, and not every day, but every other day. 4. Once a crazy and frantic man came to Peter, tormented by the power of an evil spirit, and the elder cleansed him with his prayer and freed him from the power of the demon. The healed man did not want to leave Peter and asked to accept him into service, which he allowed. I myself am familiar with this man, I remember this miracle, I saw the gratitude that the healed man had for Peter, and I witnessed one conversation that took place between them about me. Daniel (that was the name of the healed man) spoke about how I should become a participant in this good service. But the blessed husband, taking into account the love of my parents for me, did not agree to this. Often, sitting me on his lap, he fed me grapes and bread. My mother, who knew his spiritual grace from experience, allowed me to receive a blessing from him once a week. 5. He became known to her for the following reason. One of her eyes fell ill, so much so that the disease turned out to be stronger than the art of medicine. For there were no such remedies - known for a long time and newly invented - that would be used for healing. When the mother experienced all this and saw that there was no benefit from the medicine, one friend came to her and told her about that man of God, telling about one miracle performed by him. She said that the wife of the then ruler of the East (it was Pergamius), who suffered from the same illness, was healed by Peter with prayer and the sign of the Cross. 6. Hearing this, the mother immediately hurried to the man of God. She then wore earrings, a necklace and other gold jewelry and was dressed in colorful clothes woven from silk threads, for she had not yet acquired perfection in virtue and, being in her prime, flaunted her youth. Noticing this, the pious husband first cured her passion for panache, admonishing her thus (I will speak in his words, without changing the holy language of the elder): “Tell me, child, if some painter, very experienced in his art, painted a picture according to all the rules of the craft and put it on display for everyone who wanted to look, and some other person, who has not studied painting well, but paints as he pleases, would come and, Having blasphemed the picture, he began to change the portrait drawn on it, giving longer outlines to the eyebrows and eyelashes, making the face whiter and adding blush to the cheeks - do you think that the artist would not be justly indignant for such an insult to his art and for everything that the hand of an ignoramus added to the picture? So believe,” the blessed one continued, “that the Creator of all things and our nature, the Creator and Artist, is offended by the fact that you accuse His ineffable Wisdom of imperfection: otherwise you would not have applied red, white and black paints to yourself if you did not think that you lack this. And thinking that your body lacks something necessary, you thereby, as it were, accuse the Creator of some kind of powerlessness, although everyone knows that He has power equal to His desire. For, as David says, “The Lord has created whatever He pleases” (Ps. 134:6), giving everyone only what is beneficial, but not giving what is harmful. Therefore, do not distort the image of God, do not try to add what the Wise One did not give, and do not invent counterfeit beauty, which corrupts the chaste and harms those who look at it.” 7. The good-natured wife, having heard this, was immediately caught in the nets of Peter (for he, like the Apostle of the same name, was also caught in the net of salvation). Falling at his feet, she began to cry and ask for healing of her eye. Blessed Peter, in response to her prayers, said that he, too, is a man and has the same nature, bears the burden of sins, and therefore he does not have boldness before God. When the mother continued to cry and beg, saying that she would not leave until she received healing, he said: “The physician of ailments is God, always ready to fulfill the requests of believers: He will now fulfill your request - not by bestowing grace on me, but by seeing your faith. And if you have sincere, firm faith and free from any doubt, then, having said goodbye to doctors and drugs, you will take this God-given medicine and recover.” Having uttered such words, he put his hand on his eye, depicted the sign of the saving Cross, and the disease immediately disappeared. 8. Returning home, the mother poured out the medicine prescribed to her by the doctors, threw off all unnecessary decoration and from that time began to live according to the rules that the healer had determined for her - without dressing in multi-colored clothes and no longer wearing gold jewelry. This happened to her when she was still very young (she was only twenty-third years old) and had not yet become a mother; seven years after that, she gave birth to me, her first and only son. This is how much benefit she gained from the instructions of the great Peter, receiving double healing: she sought healing for the body, and also acquired health of the soul. This is what he accomplished with his word, this is what he could do with prayer! 9. At another time, my mother brought her slave-cook, tormented by an evil demon, to Peter, begging him to help this unfortunate man. The man of God, having prayed, commanded the demon to reveal the reason for the power that he admires over God’s creation. And the demon, like some murderer or robber, brought before a judge and forced to talk about everything he had done, revealed, contrary to his custom, the whole truth. “In Iliopolis,” he said, “the former master of this slave was sick, and the mistress was sitting at the bedside of her husband. The young maids, taking advantage of the absence of their masters, talked at this time about the life of the monks who labor wisely in Antioch, and about the power they have over demons. Then, like naughty children, they, having fun, began to pretend to be mad, and this slave, throwing a goat skin over himself, began to conjure them, posing as a monk. I then stood outside the door and, being unable to bear the praise of the monks, I wanted to experience the power attributed to them. Therefore, leaving the maids, I moved into this man in order to find out how I would be expelled by the monks. Well, now I have learned this - and I have no need for another experience: at your command, I immediately go out.” Having said this, the demon left, and the slave received freedom. 10. In the same way, my mother’s mother, who raised me, once brought a farmer, also possessed by a demon, to Peter, begging him to help the unfortunate man. And again Peter asked the demon where he came from and how he took possession of God’s creation? However, the demon remained silent, not uttering a word; then the elder, bending his knees, began to pray and ask God to show the accuser the strength of His servants. He finished the prayer, but the demon continued to persist in silence, which extended until nine o'clock. Finally, having offered the most fervent and earnest prayer to the Lord, Peter stood up and said to the demon: “It is not Peter who commands you, but the God of Peter; answer when the Power of God compels you to do so.” The shameless seducer was ashamed of the saint’s meekness and, crying out in a loud voice, said that he lived on Mount Aman and, seeing this man, when on the way he drew water from one spring and drank, he wanted to make a home in it. “Come out,” the man of God said to him, “as He who was crucified on the Cross for the whole universe commands you.” Hearing this, the demon immediately left, and the farmer was given to my grandmother, already free from rabies. 11. Knowing many other stories of this kind about this blessed soul, I will omit quite a few, fearing for the weakness of those who, judging by themselves, do not believe the miracles of God-loving men; but, having told one or two more, I will move on to another ascetic. 12. There was a certain dissolute person, a former strategist. He had in his servants a girl who had not entered into marriage, although she was already of legal age for marriage. She, leaving her mother and relatives, fled to the society of ascetic wives (because women, like men, strive and enter the field of virtue). The strategist, having learned about the girl’s escape, scourged and tortured her mother and kept her in chains until she showed him the location of the dwelling of the pious wives. In his usual madness, he kidnapped the girl from there and brought her to his home. Unhappy, he hoped to satiate his intemperance. But the One who subjected Pharaoh to great and severe punishments for Sarah and preserved her chaste (Gen. 12:17), Who struck the Sodomites with blindness when they attempted to capture the disembodied Angels who came in the guise of strangers (Gen. 19:11), - He, having punished the strategist with blindness, allowed his prey to escape from the nets themselves. When the strategist entered the chambers, the one who was being guarded disappeared, hiding in the refuge she desired. Thus, this madman learned that he could not possess the one who had chosen betrothal to God, and was forced to calm down and no longer look for the one he had stolen, but with the help of the Power of God escaped the snares. 13. After some time, the girl became seriously ill (it was cancer): she was tormented by terrible pain from a tumor in her chest. When the pain sharply worsened, she called upon the great Peter, and, according to her, as soon as his sacred voice reached her ears, all the pain subsided and she no longer felt any torment. Therefore, she called upon him quite often to receive consolation. She said that during his presence the suffering completely disappeared. When she died after such exploits, he saw her off with victorious praise. 14. Also, my mother, who was at the very door of death after she gave birth to me, he came, being begged by my grandmother, and stole from the hands of death. My mother, as they say, seized with a strong fever, lay with her eyes closed, so that she did not recognize any of her relatives; the doctors despaired, and the family cried and expected her death. But when this man, honored with the Apostolic name and grace, came, they say her eyes immediately opened, she looked intently at him and asked for a blessing. When the assembled women wept loudly (sadness, replaced by joy, produced this cry), the man of God ordered them all to take part in his prayer: “for thus,” he said, “Tabitha received health, when the widows wept, and the great Peter brought their tears to God” (Acts 9:36-41). The women prayed as he commanded and received what he had predicted. As soon as they finished the prayer, the illness ended: the sick woman sweated all over her body, the fire of fever died down, and after that signs of health appeared. 15. So in our times the Lord works miracles through His servants! Even the clothes of this man, through touch, acted like the clothes of the most divine Paul (Acts 19:11-12). I say this without any exaggeration, but I have proof of the truth. He divided his belt into two parts (and the belt, woven from strong linen, was wide and long), girded his loins with one half of it, and mine with the other. When my father or I got sick, my mother always put this belt on us, and the illness went away. And she herself used this medicine to restore her health. Also, many of their acquaintances, having learned about this, constantly took the belt to help the sick, and the grace-filled power acting in this old man became known everywhere. Knowing about it, someone took his belt from us and, being ungrateful to the benefactors, deprived it of those who gave it. Thus we lost this gift. 16. Having shone with such rays and enlightened Antioch with them, Peter ended his earthly exploits, awaiting the crown prepared for the victorious. I will end the story about him here, praying that he will now honor me with the same blessing that I enjoyed during his life. 1. There is a Cilician city called Ross, which remains on the right hand of the one who sails into the Cilician Gulf. To the southeast of it there is a high, vast and shady mountain, which in its thickets also feeds wild animals. On this mountain, the great and glorious Theodosius, having found a valley descending to the sea, built a small house, desiring to lead the life of the Gospel in solitude. Although this man came from Antioch and was known for the nobility of his family, he left his house, his relatives, and everything else, acquiring what in the Gospel is called a pearl of great price (Matthew 13:46). 2. To those who saw his comrades and disciples, seeing in them his way of life, it is unnecessary to talk about his abstinence, lying on the ground and his hair shirt. In this regard, he was an extremely strict ascetic, setting an amazing example to his students. In addition, he placed iron chains on his neck, lower back and both arms, wore long hair that reached his legs, and even longer, as a result of which he tied it around his loins. Through the continuous feat of prayer and psalmody, he lulled lust, anger, pride and other wild animals in his soul. Constantly adding new feats to the previous ones, Theodosius, at the same time, kept his hands busy with work: either weaving so-called fans and boxes, or cultivating small arable lands, sowing seeds on them and collecting the necessary fruits for his food. 3. After some time, fame about him spread everywhere, and many began to flock to him from all sides, expressing a desire to join him in his monastery, share his labors and join his way of life. By accepting them, Theodosius led them along the same path of life. Some of them could be seen weaving sails and hair shirts, others weaving fans and boxes, and others cultivating the land. And since the monastery was located near the sea, he, having subsequently built a boat, used it for cargo - he carried the works of his associates on it and brought everything necessary for the monastery. He remembered the Apostolic saying: “we labored and labored day and night, so as not to burden any of you” (2 Thessalonians 3:8), and also another: “these hands served my needs and the needs of those who were with me” (Acts 20:34). Therefore, he himself worked and convinced his companions to combine physical labor with spiritual exploits. “After all,” he said, “if those who live in the world work and then provide food for their children and wives, pay taxes, bring firstfruits to God and, as far as possible, help the needs of the poor, then all the more should we obtain everything necessary for life by the labor of our hands, especially knowing that we need both meager food and poor clothing. You can’t sit with folded hands and take advantage of the labors of others.” Convincing his brothers with such speeches, Theodosius encouraged them to work. While performing the usual Divine services in his time, he devoted the intervals between them to labor. 4. Theodosius especially cared for wanderers, entrusting the care of them to monks who were adorned with meekness and humility and acquired love for their neighbors. He himself supervised everything, observing whether everyone fulfilled their duties according to the established rules. Thanks to his similar life, he became so famous that sailors who were at sea at a distance of more than a thousand stadia from him, in danger, called on the divine Theodosius and tamed the fury of the sea with his name alone. 5. He was respected even by the fierce and indomitable enemies who then devastated and enslaved most of the East. Who among those inhabiting our region has not heard about the disasters caused by the people known in ancient times under the name “Solims”, and now called “Isaurs”? Having given no mercy to either cities or villages, devastated everything they could take possession of and set everything on fire, they were ashamed of his wisdom and, demanding only bread, asking him to pray for them, they left his ascetic home undamaged. They did this not once, but twice. 6. However, the heads of the churches, fearing that the devil might put a passion for money into the hearts of the barbarians and instill in them the idea of ​​​​capturing the great luminary of piety - Theodosius (for people who valued piety above all else could pay an expensive ransom for him), convinced him to move to Antioch. They pointed to a previous incident: the barbarians captured two primates of the Church and, although they honored them with every respect, they released them only after they received a ransom of four thousand gold rubles for both. Heeding these advice, Theodosius came to Antioch and settled in a refuge near the river, where he also attracted to himself all those who knew how to appreciate this kind of spiritual harvest. 7. Carried away by the flow of speech, I almost forgot to tell about the miracle performed by this divinely inspired man, which, perhaps, will seem incredible to many, but which still remains evidence of how great grace from God and boldness before Him this amazing ascetic acquired. Above the monastery he built there is a steep rock that has long been dry and waterless. He, as if it depended on him how the water would flow, built a water supply system on that rock from the top of the rock to the monastery. And filled with hope in God and boldness before Him, having acquired God’s favor and having unshakable faith, he, getting up at night, climbed the mountain much earlier than his companions got up for ordinary prayers. Having fervently prayed here to God and trusting in the Creator of the will of those who fear Him, Theodosius hit the rock with the rod on which he was leaning, and the rock, crushed, gave out a stream, which, flowing through the monastery and providing abundant water for all needs, flowed into the nearby sea. And to this day we see this evidence of the grace that lived in Theodosia, similar to that which Moses acquired. This miracle alone sufficiently demonstrates Theodosius’s boldness before God. 8. After living in Antioch for a short time, he moved to the face of the Angels. His honest body, decorated with iron chains, like golden wreaths, was carried through the middle of the city, accompanied by all the residents, and even the highest commanders. A dispute and quarrel arose at the funeral bed: everyone wanted to carry it and, together with touching the relics of the saint, receive a blessing from above. Carried in this way through the city, he was laid in the cave of the holy martyrs, in the same tomb and under the same roof with the victorious ascetic of piety Julian, in the same crypt where the blessed Aphraates rested. 9. After him, blessed Helladius took over the leadership of the flock, and carried out these labors for sixty years. Then, by the will of God, he became the primate of Cilicia, not abandoning his former wisdom, but daily adding to his ascetic labors the labors of the high priesthood. After him, that great flock was led by Helladius’s disciple, Romulus. And thus this choir of ascetics remains to this day, maintaining the same way of life. Near the monastery there is a village called Marato in Syriac. At the end of this story, I pray that these blessed men may also be favored by me. 1. The Great Theodosius, born in Antioch, labored in the Russian Mountains, then returned to Antioch and here he ended his earthly life. Blessed Romanus, having been born in Ross and receiving his first upbringing here, then performed his deeds of virtue in Antioch, living all the time outside the city walls - in a strange and, moreover, very cramped dwelling. Until his old age, he never used fire or used lamps. His only food was bread and salt, and his drink was spring water. His hair was similar to the hair of the great Theodosius, and he wore the same clothes and chains. 2. The novel was distinguished by its meekness of disposition, simplicity and modesty of its way of thinking. That’s why the light of God’s grace illuminated him. For the Lord said: “On whom will I look, only to him who is meek and silent, and who trembles at My words” (Is. 66:2); and He said to His disciples: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29); and in another place He says: “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). For the lawgiver Moses, meekness was a distinctive sign of his perfections: “Moses,” says the Holy Scripture, “is a meek man more than all men that are on earth” (Num. 12:3). The same Holy Spirit testifies about the prophet David: “Remember, O Lord, David, and all his meekness” (Ps. 131:1). And about the Patriarch Jacob we know that he was “a man.” He who lives in the house is not wicked” (Gen. 25:27). 3. Having collected these virtues from these Divine meadows, like a bee, Romanus formed from them the honey of true wisdom. However, he was not the only one who enjoyed the fruits of his labors, but sources of sweetness also flowed from him to others. Roman instructed those who came to him in a meek and sweet-sounding voice: some regarding brotherly love, others about harmony and peace, and others, by his very appearance, he made them lovers of the Divine. For who could not be amazed at seeing an old man, emaciated in body, covered with long hair, voluntarily wearing the heaviest chains, dressed in a hair shirt and eating exactly the amount of food that did not allow him to die of hunger? 4. In addition to the many hard labors that he carried out, everyone was forced to respect him and marvel at the grace that shone through him: he often healed the most severe diseases and cured many barren women, asking God for the blessing of childbearing for them. But even having received such power from the Holy Spirit, he called himself poor and poor in spirit. 5. And in this way he spent his life, showing benefits to those who came to him both in appearance and in word. Having departed from here and being numbered among the Angels, Roman left behind him, not buried with his body, but even now blooming and not aging, an eternal memory, beneficial for those who seek spiritual benefit. Again, asking for blessings from this elder here, I will talk about other ascetics. 1. Few know the wonderful Zeno, but those who know cannot help but be amazed at his worth. Having left enormous wealth in Pontus, his fatherland, he was watered, as he himself said, by the springs of Basil the Great, which irrigated Cappadocia, and bore fruits worthy of this irrigation. 2. As soon as King Valens died, Zeno left military service (he served as one of the royal couriers) and moved from the royal chambers to one of the tombs, of which there are many on the mountain located near Antioch. He lived alone, cleansing his soul, sharpening his spiritual vision, engaging in Divine contemplation, believing, in the words of the Psalmist, to ascend to God in his heart (Ps. 83:6) and wanting to acquire “a wing like a dove” (Ps. 54:7) and fly to Divine peace. Therefore, he had no bed, no hearth, no pot, no jug, no book and nothing else; He dressed in shabby rags and shoes that had to be tied up because the leather on the soles was falling off. 3. Zeno received the food he needed from one of his acquaintances, who delivered him one loaf of bread for two days. He carried water for himself, scooping it from afar. One day someone, seeing him burdened with this burden, volunteered to help him. Zeno from the very beginning opposed this help, saying that he would not allow himself to taste the water brought by others. But when he did not listen, he gave him the vessels (he carried two of them in both hands); however, as soon as they entered the threshold of Zeno’s dwelling, he poured out the water and again went to the source, confirming his words with deeds. 4. And when I, wanting to look at him for the first time, ascended the mountain, I saw a man with vessels in his hands. I asked him: where is the dwelling of the wondrous Zeno? He replied that he did not know a monastic who would bear this name. From this humble answer I guessed that he was Zeno, and I followed him. Entering his hut, I saw a bed made of straw, and some other rubbish thrown on the stones so that those who sat on them would not experience pain. When we had already talked enough about philosophy (I asked, and he gave an explanation of my difficulties) and I had to return home, I asked him to give me a parting blessing. He refused, saying that it was more proper for me to pray; At the same time, he called himself a layman, and me a warrior (at that time I was a reader of the Divine Scriptures before the people of God). When I pointed out my youth and immaturity (because I had just begun to show a small fuzz on my chin) and swore that I would not come again if he forced me to do this, he, with difficulty yielding to my request, finally offered his intercession to God for me, prefacing it, however, with a long apology and saying that he did it only for the sake of love and obedience. I heard his prayer because I was nearby. 5. Who will appreciate the great humility of this old man, who has been engaged in asceticism for forty years and has reached the heights of wisdom? Who is able to give him praise befitting the sublimity of his exploits? Possessing such a great wealth of virtue, he, as if he had nothing, together with the believing people came on Sundays to the church of God, listened to the Divine Word, inclined his ear to the sermons of teachers and partook of the mystical Meal. Then he returned to his strange shelter, which had no bolt, no lock, no guard, and therefore completely inaccessible to the villains, safe from robbery, because it contained only garbage. Having borrowed a book from one of his friends, he read it all, and only after returning it, then took another. 6. And although he did not have locks and did not use latches, he was protected by heavenly grace. We know this for sure in this case. When a crowd of Isaurians captured the fortress at night, and by morning reached the top of the mountain and mercilessly destroyed many men and women who spent an ascetic life here, then this man of God, seeing the death of others, overshadowed the eyes of the Isaurians with prayer, and they, passing by his door, did not notice the entrance. And Zeno - as he himself said, calling the truth as witnesses - clearly saw three young men who drove away this entire crowd, serving as a sign of the manifestation of the grace of God. Therefore, what is written about this man of God sufficiently shows what kind of life he led and what grace he was granted by God. 7. However, the following should be added to what is written here: he was very worried and tormented that his property remained intact, not sold and not distributed according to the law of the Gospel. The reason for this was the imperfect age of his brothers, with whom Zeno had common property and money. He himself did not want to go home for the division, and did not dare to sell his part to anyone, for he was afraid that the buyers would be unfair to his brothers and bring censure on himself. Being in such indecision, he postponed the sale for a long time. Finally, having made up his mind, he sold his share to one of his acquaintances for a lot of money. And he had already distributed most of this money when an illness happened to him, which forced him to consult about the remaining part. Calling on the head of the city (this was the great Alexander - a luminary of piety, a model of virtue and deep wisdom), he said: “Be, my most respected head, a good steward of my property, dividing it in accordance with the will of God and giving an account to the Heavenly Judge. I distributed the rest myself in the way that seemed fair to me; I would like to do the same for the rest. But since I was commanded to leave this life, I make you, a saint of God, worthy of your holy rank, my steward.” Thus, he handed over the money to Alexander, the God-fearing custodian. Having lived a little more time, he left the field as a victor, having received praise not only from people, but also from Angels. And I, and begging him to intercede for me before the Master, will now turn to another story. 1. Macedonia, nicknamed “Kritophagus” (he received it from the type of his food), is known to everyone: the Phoenicians, and the Syrians, and the Cilicians; it is also known to neighboring peoples. Some of them themselves were eyewitnesses of his miracles, while others heard the loud rumor that spread about them. However, not everyone knows everything about him, but some know one thing, others another, and everyone rightly admires what they know. I, knowing more accurately than others what concerns this Divine mentor of mine (because many things prompted me to visit him often), will tell you, as best I can, about the various events of his life. In my narrations, I tell his story only now, not because he was lower than others in virtue (in terms of them he is equal to those I told about at the beginning), but because he, having lived a long time, died after those I mentioned. 2. Macedonius chose the tops of the mountains as the place and field of his exploits, not remaining in one place, but moving from one dwelling to another. He did this not because he did not like the places he had chosen, but in order to avoid the multitude of people who gathered and flocked from everywhere to him. For forty-five years he lived in this way, having neither a hut nor a tent, but choosing some deep cave as his abode. Therefore, some nicknamed it Guvvan - a word that translated from Syriac into Greek means “cave lake”. Subsequently, having already reached a ripe old age, he yielded to the requests of many and built himself a home, and then, at the request of his friends, he lived in different houses - of course, not his own, but other people's. He lived in his home and in these houses of Macedonia for another twenty-five years. Thus, his ascetic life lasted for seventy years. 3. He did not eat either bread or beans, but only barley moistened with water alone. This food was delivered to him for a long time by my mother, who knew him. One day, Macedonius, having come to her during her illness and learning that she did not agree to take food necessary in her condition (for she, too, then began to lead an ascetic life), he convinced her to listen to the doctors and consider this food as medicine, for she takes it not for pleasure, but out of necessity. “Here I am,” he said, “I use, as you know, only barley, but yesterday, feeling some kind of weakness, I asked my novice to bring some bread. I reasoned like this: if I die, I will have to give an account to the righteous Judge for my death - that I avoided exploits and shied away from the labors of my service, that I could have prevented death with a small amount of food and stayed alive in order to work and collect unearthly wealth from my labors, but I preferred starvation to a wise life. Frightened by this and wanting to avoid a reproach of conscience, I ordered to look for bread, and when they brought it, I ate it. And I ask you to bring me in the future not barley, but bread.” So, from the elder’s honest tongue we heard that he ate barley for forty-five years. From this it is obvious what a strict and hardworking ascetic this man was. 4. We will show the purity and simplicity of his morals using another example. When the great Flavian was appointed to shepherd God's flock, he learned about the virtue of this man - for his name was on everyone's lips - and called him from the mountain peak, allegedly regarding a complaint received against him. When Macedonius arrived, before the start of the mysterious sacred rite, Flavian led him to the altar and added him to the priestly rank. When the Liturgy ended, someone explained this to him - for Macedonia was completely unaware of what had happened - the elder first began to scold and strike everyone present with angry words, and then grabbed the staff (for due to old age he usually walked with it) and chased after the bishop himself and everyone who was there, since he decided that the ordination had deprived him of the mountain peak and the desired way of life. Some of his friends were then barely able to tame his anger. When the weekly cycle was completed and Sunday came again, the great Flavian again sent for Macedon, asking the elder to join them on this holiday. He answered the messengers: “Isn’t what has already happened enough for you, and you want to make me a priest again?” Although they said that the same person cannot be ordained twice, he did not heed their words and did not come. Only over time, after repeated explanations from friends, did he come to terms with what had happened. 5. I know that this story will not cause admiration among many, but I decided to tell about this incident as evidence of the simplicity of thoughts and spiritual purity of Macedonius. The Lord promised the Kingdom of Heaven to such, saying: “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 18:3). So, having shown the main features of Macedonius’ spiritual character, let us turn to the description of his boldness before God, which stemmed from his virtue. 6. One strategist, a lover of hound hunting, once visited the mountain where Macedonius lived for the sake of this fun, taking with him dogs, catchers and everything that was needed for hunting. Seeing his husband from afar and learning from his companions who he was, the strategist jumped off his horse, approached him and asked what he was doing, spending his life here? Macedonius, in turn, asked him: “What do you think you’ll do when you gallop here?” When the strategist replied that he had arrived to hunt, Macedonia said: “And I catch my God here, I strive to comprehend Him, I wish with all my heart to see Him and I will never leave this wonderful catch.” Hearing this answer, the strategist marveled and walked away. 7. At another time, when the city of Antioch, driven into a frenzy by an evil demon and possessed by a mad frenzy, overthrew the royal statues, and two chosen military leaders were already marching with the army to carry out the sentence of exterminating the city, Macedonius, descending from the mountain, stopped them in the square. Having learned who he was, the military leaders jumped off their horses and, touching his hands and knees, promised him safety. He asked them to convey the following to the king: the king himself is also a man and has a nature similar to the nature of those who angered him. Therefore, he should measure his anger with nature, but he was carried away by the outburst of this immoderate anger and ordered the images of God to be destroyed for his images, and condemned the bodies to death for the copper statues. “It is easy and simple for us to restore,” said the elder, “and restore copper statues, but even for a king it is impossible to return dead bodies to life. And what am I saying about bodies? After all, we cannot create even one hair.” Macedonius said all this in Syriac. The military leaders, having listened to his words with the help of an interpreter who translated into Greek, were amazed by them and promised to convey everything exactly to the king. 8. Everyone, I think, will agree that these words were animated by the grace of the Spirit of God. For otherwise, would a person devoid of any education, brought up in a village, living on the tops of mountains, living in simplicity of soul, and not even studying the Divine Scriptures, have uttered them? Having thus demonstrated the spiritual wisdom of Macedonius and his boldness, worthy of a righteous man, for “the righteous is like a lion who trusts” (Prov. 28:1), let us move on to the miracles of this man. 9. The wife of one noble man fell into a disease of gluttony: some attributed this disease to the action of a demon, others to the weakness of the body. Be that as it may, she only ate thirty birds every day, and not only did she not tame her appetite, but she irritated it even more. When, due to this circumstance, a lot of money had already been spent on her, the saddened relatives turned to the man of God with a request. Macedonius came to their house, prayed to God, then laid his hand on the water brought, imprinted the saving sign of the Cross on it and ordered the sick woman to drink the water. In a similar way, he healed the disease and tamed the excesses of appetite, so that after that a small piece of poultry was enough for the woman to get enough. This is how he cured this disease. 10. Another case: one girl, who had not yet reached the age of a bride, suddenly fell into a frenzy. Her father hurried to the man of God, asking, begging and persuading him to heal his daughter. Macedonius, having prayed, ordered the demon to immediately leave the girl. However, the demon said that he possessed her not of his own free will, but under the compulsion of magic spells, and revealed the name of the one who used them, also saying that the reason for the witchcraft was this person’s love. 11. The father, hearing this, could not contain his anger and, without even waiting for his daughter to recover, turned to one of the high rulers who was placed over many nations, and told him about the incident, becoming the accuser of the named person. He, who turned out to be the defendant, denied everything and called the accusation slander. The father called as a witness none other than the demon, who served as an instrument of witchcraft, and asked the judge to be sent to the man of God to receive testimony from the demon. When the judge replied that it was illegal and even impious to conduct an interrogation in the hermit’s refuge, the father promised to bring the divine Macedonius. Hastening to him, he convinced the elder and brought him to court. And the judge, leaving his chair, became not a judge, but a spectator, because the judge was the great Macedonius, who revealed the power of God that dwelt in him: he ordered the demon to leave his usual lies and tell the whole tragedy truthfully. And he, forced by great power, pointed both to the man who controlled him through witchcraft songs, and to the maid through whom the potion was presented to the girl. When he had to tell about the other deeds that other evil people forced him to do - he burned down the house of one, destroyed the property of another, harmed the third in some other way - the man of God commanded him to shut up and immediately leave both the girl and the city. And the demon, like a slave obeying the command of his master, immediately disappeared. 12. So the man of God freed the girl from madness, and freed that unfortunate man from punishment: for the elder did not allow the judge to pronounce a death sentence, saying that it is ungodly to sentence to death, relying on the incrimination of a demon, - it is better to give a person the opportunity of salvation through repentance. What has been said already sufficiently shows the abundance of the grace-filled power bestowed on Macedonia, but I will tell you something more. 13. One woman of noble birth, named Astria, went so mad that she did not recognize any of her own and did not want to eat or drink. She remained in such a state of insanity for a very long time. Some attributed her condition to the action of a demon, and doctors said that she was suffering from a brain disease. Having used all the means of medical art and not receiving any help from them, the woman’s husband (it was Avodian - a worthy man, a member of the city curia) came to the divine Macedonius, told about his wife’s illness and asked to heal her. The man of God agreed, came to his house and offered earnest prayer to God. At the end of the prayer, he ordered water to be brought and, having imprinted the saving sign of the Cross on it, he ordered the sick woman to drink it. The doctors began to object, fearing that cold water would only worsen the illness, but the husband, rejecting the doctors’ advice, brought a drink to his wife: as soon as she drank the water, she immediately came to her senses and her sanity returned. Freed from the disease, she recognized the man of God, asked him to give him his right hand, put it to her eyes, and after that she remained in her right mind for the rest of the time. 14. When this man of God lived on the mountain, a shepherd, looking for his lost sheep, wandered in the direction where Macedonius’s dwelling was located. It was a dark night and heavy snow was falling; the shepherd, in his own words, saw a burning flame near the blessed one and two young men dressed in white clothes and putting wood on the fire. So he, flaming with love for the Lord, was honored with God’s help. 15. Macedonius also possessed the gift of prophecy. Once a strategist came to him, shining with piety (who does not know about Lupikin’s virtue?), and said that he was worried about those who were bringing him provisions from the capital by sea. “Fifty days,” he said, “they left the capital’s harbor, but still there is no news about them.” Macedonia immediately answered him: “One ship, friend, was lost, and another will enter the harbor in Seleucia tomorrow.” And what the military commander heard from the saint’s lips, he soon became convinced of it in practice. 16. But, leaving other things, I will talk about what concerns us. My mother lived with my father for thirteen years, but did not become a mother: she was barren and by nature lacked the ability to bear children. She herself, being raised in piety, did not grieve too much about her infertility, seeing in this the will of God. But her father was very upset by her childlessness, and he went around to all the holy men, begging them to ask God for children. All the other ascetics promised to pray to him, but convinced him to submit to the will of God; only Macedonius, a man of God, resolutely agreed to pray and promised his father that the prayer would be accepted and he would receive one son from the Creator of all things. Three years passed, but this promise was not fulfilled, and the father again went to the elder to ask for the same thing. Macedonia ordered him to send his wife. When my mother came, the man of God told her that he would pray to God and she would receive a child, only this child should be given to the One who gave it. The mother responded by saying that she was only looking for the salvation of the soul and deliverance from fiery hell; Macedonia, in response to her words, said: “He who is generous will give you this, and on top of that, a son, because those who sincerely pray are given, according to their requests, double.” His mother returned from him with a blessed promise. Four years later she conceived and once again came to the man of God to say that his blessing was bearing fruit. 17. However, in the fifth month of pregnancy, she began to be in danger of premature birth. Not being able to go herself, she sent a man to her new Elisha to say that she again did not hope to become a mother, and asked him to remind him of his promises. Macedonius, seeing the man walking from afar, recognized both him and the reason that prompted the man to visit him, for the Lord revealed to him at night both about his mother’s illness and about her salvation. Taking his staff, he went and, having arrived at our house, greeted my mother, as was his custom, with peace, saying again: “Do not lose heart and do not be afraid - the Giver will not take away His gift if you do not violate the established conditions. After all, you promised to return the gift and dedicate your son to the service of God.” In response, the mother said: “Yes, I both wish and ask God for mercy - to become a mother; but I would rather prefer premature birth to raising my son in a spirit alien to faith.” The man of God gave her water and said: “Drink it, and you will feel God’s help.” She drank as ordered, and the danger of premature birth passed. Such were the miracles of our Elisha! 18. And I myself have been worthy of his blessings and instructions many times. He often, instructing me, said: “You, child, were born with great difficulty: I spent many nights in prayer just so that your parents would be granted what they named you after birth. Live worthy of these works. Even before birth, you are, by vow, dedicated to God, and what is dedicated to Him should be respected by everyone and inviolable by the majority. Therefore, you should not listen to the vicious movements of the soul, but you should do, say and think only what pleases God, the Lawgiver of virtue.” This man of God constantly instilled this in me. But I, by my actions not fulfilling his commandments, pray to God that, through the prayers of the blessed husband, I may receive Divine help and spend the rest of my life according to the commandments of the saint. 19. So, it is sufficiently shown what Macedonius was like and by what labors he attracted the grace of God to himself. And after his death, he is given honor worthy of his labors. For everyone: the citizens of Antioch, and foreigners, and the supreme leaders, carrying his sacred bed on their shoulders, buried Macedonius in the church of the victorious martyrs, laying his holy and God-loving body along with the bodies of the blessed Aphraates and Theodosius. His glory remains unquenchable, and no time will erase it. Let us, as we finish this story here, enjoy its fragrance. 1. I know how many other lamps shone within the city of Antioch, such as: the great North, Peter of Egypt, Eutyches, Cyril, Moses, Malchus and very many others who walked the same path. But even if I decided to describe the exploits of all of them, I would hardly have enough time for it, and besides, reading stories about many people bores most people. Therefore, according to the lives of those whom I have described, let them judge the rest, let them glorify everyone, let them imitate them and benefit for themselves. I will go to the meadows of Cyrus and, if possible, show the beauty of the few fragrant and beautiful flowers there. 2. In times preceding us there was a certain Maisima, a Syrian by language and brought up in the village, but who showed success in all types of virtue. Having become famous for his life, he received spiritual leadership over one village. While performing priestly duties and tending the sheep of God's flock, he said and did what the Divine law commands. They say that he wore the same tunic and cloak for a very long time, without changing them, but putting patches on the torn places, and thus lived to old age. He cared so diligently for strangers and the poor that his doors were always open to them. They say that he had two vessels - one with grains of grain, and the other with oil, distributing them to all those in need, but the vessels always remained full. The grace bestowed on the widow of Sarepta was also sent down on these vessels: because the Lord, who is rich to all who call on Him, commanded the vessels of the widow of Sarepta to constantly abound, giving her the fruits of the seeds of hospitality (1 Kings 17:9-16), and to the wondrous Maisima he gave abundance equal to his care for the poor. 3. This blessed one received from the God of all things the great grace of working miracles. In a hurry to move on to other ascetics, I will mention only one or two of them, and keep silent about the others. One woman, adorned with both noble birth and faith, had a sick son, who was still very small. She showed him to many doctors, but the art of medicine was defeated: the doctors despaired and decisively sentenced the child to death. However, the mother did not give up joyful hopes, but, imitating the Shunammite woman (2 Kings 4:8-37), placed a seat on the mules and, sitting on it with her son, arrived to the man of God, pouring out such understandable grief in tears and begging him to help. Maisima, taking the child in his arms, went to the foot of the altar, threw himself down with a prayer to the Doctor of souls and bodies and, having finished the prayer, returned his son to the mother, already healthy. I heard this from her herself, who saw this miracle and asked for salvation for her son. 4. They also say that when the owner of that village came to Maisima (it was Lithoios, who occupied the first place in the Antiochian council, but was overcome by the darkness of wickedness), who demanded from the farmers the fruits of their harvest more strictly than he should. The man of God inclined him to mercy, inspired humanity and compassion, but the owner remained adamant. However, he soon learned from his own experience the harm of disobedience. When he needed to go back and the cart was already ready, he ordered the driver to drive the mules; the animals, under the blows of the whip, tried with all their might to move the cart, but could not do this, as if the wheels were chained in place with iron or lead. Many villagers, called to help, turning the wheels with levers, also could not move the carts. Then one of Lithoios’s close associates, who was sitting next to him, pointed out the reason for such a strange phenomenon: Lithoios’s contradiction to the elder priest, and said that he must be appeased. Jumping off the cart, Lithoios asked for help from the one he had neglected, and, falling at his feet and holding on to his dirty rags, begged him not to be angry. Maisima, having listened to the rich man’s request and prayed to the Lord, freed the wheels from invisible bonds and gave the cart the opportunity to move in the usual order. 5. And many other things are told about this man of God. From these stories one can learn that for those who have chosen wisdom, neither city life nor rural life is an obstacle. For both Maisima and similar zealots of serving God showed that it is quite possible for those who move among many people to reach the very pinnacle of virtues. And I would like, with the assistance of the prayers of these saints, to rise at least a little higher than the foot of this mountain of virtues! 1. Akepsima also lived at the same time, whose fame spread throughout the East. He, secluded in a small dwelling, lived for sixty years, not seeing anyone and not talking to anyone, but delving into himself and contemplating God - in which he found all the consolation for himself, according to the prophetic saying: “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will grant you the petitions of your heart” (Ps. 37:4). He accepted the food brought through a small hole; it was not drilled completely straight, but made somewhat tortuous so that the curious could not look inside. His food was lentils soaked in water. 2. He himself drew the required amount of water from the nearest source, leaving his home once a week at night. One day, a certain shepherd, grazing sheep nearby, saw Akepsima walking in the darkness towards the source, and mistook him for an animal (because he, burdened with heavy chains, walked in a bent position). The shepherd took a sling to throw a stone at him, but his hand froze motionless for a long time and could not throw the stone until the blessed man, having scooped up water, disappeared. The shepherd realized his mistake and very early in the morning went to Akepsima’s home, told him about what had happened and asked for forgiveness: he received absolution for his involuntary guilt, expressed not in a living voice, but by a movement of his hand. 3. Another man, prompted by malicious curiosity, wanted to find out what Akepsima was doing, and for this he dared to climb a tree growing near his cell, but immediately reaped the fruits of his audacity. Half of his body became numb from head to toe, after which he humbly came to Akepsima and confessed to his misdeed. He told the offender that he would regain his health only after cutting down the tree, and ordered him to do this so that someone else would not commit a similar offense and suffer the same punishment. And when the tree was cut down, the guilty person was actually released from punishment. This is what patience in his exploits and what grace this blessed man received from the Judge of all! 4. Preparing to depart from this life, he predicted that he would finish his earthly career in fifty days. He received everyone who wanted to see him. By the way, the head of the local church also came to him and, convincing him to accept the yoke of the presbytery, said: “Father, I know both the heights of your wisdom and my own spiritual poverty; but, since I have been entrusted with the episcopal ministry, I perform ordinations - by virtue of such a calling, and not out of my own insignificance. Receive also the gift of the priesthood, through the laying on of my hand and through the action of the grace of the All-Holy Spirit.” To this Akepsima is said to have said: “Since I will leave here in a few days, I have no objection to this; but if he had hoped to live long, he would have shied away from the heavy and terrible burden of the priesthood, fearing a future account for it. Since, having left everything here, I will soon depart from this life, I will humbly accept what you command me.” And immediately, without any coercion, Akepsima, kneeling, accepted the grace of the priesthood, and the bishop, laying his hand on him, served as an instrument of the Spirit. 5. Having lived in the priesthood for several days, Akepsima exchanged one life for another: instead of a much-sad one, he acquired an ageless and carefree one. Everyone wanted to get his relics, and everyone tried to transfer them to their village, but one person stopped the dispute by announcing the will of the saint. He said that Akepsima bequeathed his body to be buried in the same place where he labored. Thus, the citizens of heaven care about simplicity even after death! Alien to pride during life, they do not seek honors from people even after burial, but, having given all the love of their hearts to the Heavenly Bridegroom, they are like chaste wives who care about only one thing - to be loved and praised only by their spouses, and neglect the praises of strangers. For this reason, the Heavenly Bridegroom makes them, even if they do not want it, famous, generously granting them fame from people. For if someone seeks the Divine and seeks the Heavenly, then the Lord, who fulfills the most varied petitions, gives everything else along with what is sought. He expressed this in His law, saying: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33); and again: “And everyone who leaves houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My name’s sake will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life” (Matthew 19:29). So He said, so He did. Oh, that we, taught both by the word and the deeds of the saints, and with their prayerful assistance, would achieve our desired goal - the honors of the highest calling in Christ Jesus our Lord! 1. After Akepsima I will mention Maron, for he also adorned the divine face of the saints. Having loved life under the open sky, he chose the top of a mountain, revered by the pagans in ancient times, as his place of residence. Having consecrated this place of idol sacrifices and made it a place of service to God, he labored there, building a small hut for himself, which, however, he rarely visited. Gathering the incorruptible wealth of wisdom, he not only performed the usual works for ascetics, but also invented new ones. 2. The Supreme Judge measured His grace with the labors of Maron. Greatly gifted, He so generously gifted this ascetic with the power of healing that the fame of Maron spread everywhere; Many people came to him from all sides, who were convinced from their own experience of the truth of the rumors that reached them. Before the eyes of everyone, his blessings quenched under the dew, and frenzy ceased, and demons took flight, and various diseases were healed with the only medicine. For doctors usually apply the medicine corresponding to each disease, and the prayer of the saints is a general medicine against all diseases. 3. Maron healed not only bodily illnesses, but also healed souls: he cured one from covetousness, another from anger, instilled chastity in a third, taught lessons in justice to a fourth, denounced intemperance in a fifth, and awakened a sixth from laziness. Practicing in such farming, he grew many fruits of wisdom and planted that garden for God, which still flourishes in the land of Cyrus. In this hotbed of piety the great Jacob was raised, to whom the prophetic saying is rightly applied: “The righteous shall prosper like a phoenix, like a cedar like a cedar in Lebanon” (Ps. 91:13), and many others, which I, with the help of God, will mention in its place. 4. Having thus labored in Divine agriculture, healing both soul and body, Maron, after a short illness that visited him so that we might know both the weakness of the body and the strength of the soul, departed from this life. A strong dispute arose between neighbors about his relics. The inhabitants of one neighboring populous village, somehow arriving all together, seized this coveted treasure, scattering the others. Having built a large church for him, they still receive great benefit to this day by glorifying the victorious Maron during the general holiday. And we receive a blessing from him in absentia: instead of a coffin, the memory of the blessed one is enough for us. 1. It would be a sin not to mention the amazing Abraham, if only because he, after living as a hermit, adorned the high priestly department. He is especially worthy of remembrance due to the fact that, forced to change his type of life, he did not change his image, but spent his life until the end of his earthly career both in the labors of a hermit and in the labors of a high priest. 2. He was also a fruit of the land of Cyrus: here he was born, here he was raised and here he collected a wealth of ascetic virtues. Those who knew him say that by vigil, standing in prayer and fasting, he exhausted his body so much that he remained motionless for a very long time, because he could not walk. Then, freed from this weakness by the Providence of God, Abraham decided, as a sign of gratitude for God’s grace, to expose himself to saving dangers by moving to one large village called Lebanon, which he learned that it was covered in the darkness of wickedness. Hiding his monastic rank under the guise of a merchant, he, along with other merchants, came there with sacks, as if with the intention of buying nuts (this region produced mainly them); Having rented a house for a small fee, Abraham remained silent for three or four days. Then little by little he began to perform Divine services in a quiet voice. When the residents heard his psalmody, the herald called everyone - both men and women; those gathered blocked the doors of the house where Abraham was, and then, bringing a lot of earth, threw it from the roof into the house. However, seeing that those inside did not want to do or say anything for the sake of their salvation, but continued only to pray to God, the inhabitants of Lebanon, at the command of the elder, calmed down their fury, opened the door, swept the ground and ordered the prisoners to leave immediately. 3. But at this time tax collectors came to the village and began to strictly demand taxes, putting some in shackles for non-payment, and flogging others. Abraham, not remembering the evil committed against him, and imitating the Lord who prayed on the Cross for those crucifying Him, began to ask the collectors to be merciful when collecting tribute. The collectors demanded a guarantee, and Abraham willingly took it upon himself, promising after some time to get the hundred gold pieces that were missing. And the inhabitants of Lebanon, who had treated him so badly, were now surprised at his philanthropy, asked him for forgiveness and invited him to be their patron, for the village had no master, they themselves were both peasants and gentlemen. Abraham, going to the city (it was Emesa) and finding some of his acquaintances here, borrowed one hundred gold pieces from them; then, returning to the village, he fulfilled his promise. 4. Seeing his great concern for them, the villagers began to ask him even more earnestly to be their patron. When he promised to fulfill their desire, provided that they agreed to build a church in Lebanon, the village residents invited him to begin construction immediately. They took the blessed husband here and there, showing him the most convenient places for this: one praised one thing, the other another. Abraham, choosing the best, laid the foundation for the church, and then in a short time erected the walls and roof. After the construction was completed, the blessed one began to convince the villagers to invite a priest to their place. And when they replied that they did not want to look for another, begging him to be a father and shepherd for them, he accepted the grace of the priesthood. So Abraham lived with them for three years, wisely guiding them to the Divine; then, having prepared a priest from among them to replace himself, he again retired to a monastic refuge. 5. But we will not tell everything about him, so as not to make our story too lengthy. Let us only say that, having shone with such exploits, Abraham then took the chair of the high priest at Karah. This city was still infected with wickedness and possessed by demonic fury, but, having received the care of such a worker and accepting the fire of his teaching, it was freed from the former thorns and now abounds in the harvest of the Holy Spirit, bringing ripe ears of piety to God. This man of God accomplished such cultivation of the barren land, not without difficulty, but with a lot of diligence: imitating the craft of those entrusted with the healing of bodies, he either delighted his flock with convictions, or used bitter medicines, and sometimes, by cutting off and cauterizing sick members, he restored health to the weak. The shepherd's edifying words and other methods of healing were helped by his good life. Illuminated by its rays, the inhabitants of the city listened to the teaching and willingly submitted to their shepherd. 6. During his holy service, Abraham was content with a small amount of bread and water; a bed was unnecessary for him, and fire was not needed. At night he performed forty psalmodies alternately, filling the gaps between them with a double number of prayers; By the end of the night, he would sit on a chair and allow his eyelashes to rest a little. “That man shall not live by bread alone” (Deut. 8:3), the lawgiver Moses said; The Lord also confirmed, rejecting the temptation of the devil (Matthew 4:4). And this wonderful man, during his priesthood, did not eat bread, or herbs, or vegetables cooked on fire, or even water, which is considered by people familiar with the natural sciences to be the first of the elements because of its necessity for life. For Abraham, food and drink were replaced by lettuce, chicory and parsley, which did not require the skill of bakers and cooks. During the harvest, he ate something of its fruits, but did this after the evening service. 7. Having exhausted his body with such great labor, this ascetic had vigilant care for others. For the wanderers who came to him, he always had a bed ready, and bread - clean and tasty, and fragrant wine, and fish, and vegetables, and everything else like that. At noon, he himself sat down with those dining with him, offering each one something from what was offered, handing cups to everyone and asking them to drink. But he himself, imitating his co-name, that is, the patriarch who served the strangers (Gen. 18:1-8), did not eat with them. 8. For whole days he was present at the controversial cases of the litigants and convinced them to reconcile with each other, and unwittingly forced those who did not listen to gentle admonitions and did not agree to fair concessions; and none of the wrongdoers emerged victorious thanks to their audacity, because when the righteous took the side of the unjustly offended, he turned out to be invincible. And he looked like a good doctor who prevents the excessive secretion of vital juices and takes care of the balance of elements in the body. 9. The king himself wished to see him (for the rumor was winged, easily spreading both everything good and everything bad) and demanded him to come to him. When the righteous man arrived, the king greeted him and said that his rustic clothes made of skin were more honorable than the royal scarlet. And all the princes fell to the hands and knees of the elder and asked for blessings from their husband, who did not even understand Greek. 10. Thus, wisdom deserves respect both from kings and from all people, and ascetics, even after death, are often awarded great honors. This can be verified by many examples, first of all by the example of this divinely inspired man. When he died and the king found out about it, he wanted to place the deceased in one of the sacred tombs. But, thinking that it would be fairer to give the body of the shepherd to the flock, the king volunteered to accompany the deceased himself, walking ahead of everyone; The king was followed by a choir of queens, then by superiors and subordinates, warriors and ordinary people. The city of Antioch greeted the tomb of the righteous with the same triumph, and all other cities met him as far as the Euphrates River. Citizens, foreigners, and residents of border countries flocked to the bank of this river - everyone vied with each other to try to receive a blessing from the deceased. The coffin was accompanied by many lictors, who frightened with whips those who attempted to remove the clothes from the body of the deceased in order to have at least a scrap of them. Psalmody and lamentable songs were heard: one grieving woman called him patron, nourisher, shepherd and teacher, then a crying man called him father, helper and intercessor. With such praise and tears, the holy body of the saint of God was buried! 11. I am surprised at him as a person who, with the change in his life, did not change his way of life, for, having become a bishop, he did not prefer an easier life, but only increased his ascetic labors. Therefore, I placed the story about him in the history of the hermits, without separating him from the community he loved, so that I myself could receive a blessing from him for this. 1. To those saints about whom I spoke above, I will add the great Eusebius. He died a short time ago, but lived for many years, undertook, according to the number of years of his life, many and great works, acquired virtue equal to these works and received many different fruits from it; for the Supreme Judge, in rewarding His rewards, exceeds the exploits of men. Eusebius at first, entrusting himself to the care of others, went where he was led: since they were men of God, zealots and ascetics of virtue. Having lived with them for some time and studied the science of philosophy, he fell in love with a solitary life and, coming to the ridge of a mountain, near which there is a very large village called Asikha, he took advantage of one fence, the stones of which were not connected even with clay. Here Eusebius began to spend the rest of his life working in the open air, covering his body with leather clothing and eating peas and beans moistened with water. Sometimes, however, he also consumed figs, thus trying to strengthen the weakness of the body. And having lived to a ripe old age, when he had already lost most of his teeth, he did not change either his food or his home. In winter frosts and summer heat, the righteous man patiently endured all changes in the weather, having a wrinkled face and all the members of his body withered. Through many efforts, he brought his body to such exhaustion that even the belt could not stay on his loins, for the muscles completely disappeared and the belt slid down freely. Therefore, Eusebius sewed a belt to the chiton, devising this as the only means of keeping the belt in place. 2. The ascetic did not like conversations with many people: for he, constantly practicing in Divine contemplation, did not want to entertain his thoughts. However, having so ardently loved contemplation, he still allowed some acquaintances to open the door and enter to him; only after saturating them with the Divine Verbs did he order the door to be covered with mud again. However, then, deciding to avoid communication with only a few, he completely blocked the entrance to himself, rolling a large stone to the door of his home. And only with a few of his brothers did he speak through the hole through which it was impossible to see him, because that’s how it was built; Through the same hole he accepted the small amount of food brought to him. Finally, Eusebius began to refuse everyone his conversation: only I was honored by him with his sweet and God-loving voice; often, when I was about to leave, the elder held me back, continuing to talk about Heavenly things. 3. When many began to come to him and ask for the gift of blessing, he was usually dissatisfied with such a crowd and, despite his old age and forgetting about the weakness of his strength, jumped over the fence, which was not easy for a strong person to climb. One day, having done this, Eusebius went to the nearest ascetics and in their monastery - a small fence attached to the wall - he continued to strive in ordinary labors. 4. The leader of this flock of Christ, a man filled with every virtue, said that here Eusebius spent seven weeks of Great Lent, being content with only fifteen figs. And he undertook similar feats at the age of ninety and, moreover, in poor health! But stronger than his physical weakness was his fiery zeal, and his love for God made everything simple and easy for him. In such labors, washed by streams of sweat, he reached the goal of his field, looking at the Supreme Judge and trusting in heavenly crowns. Even now I wish to take advantage of his intercession before God, as I did during his life. For I believe that he still lives and has the purest boldness towards God. 1. I think that I would have insulted virtue if I had not told descendants information about the life of the wondrous Salaman and left it in the darkness of oblivion. Therefore, I offer a story about him, stated very briefly. To the west of the Euphrates River, on its very bank, there is a village called Kapersana. Salaman was born in it. Having fallen in love with silence, he found a small shelter on the other side and shut himself in it, leaving neither door nor window. Once a year, crawling under the wall of his shelter, he brought himself food for the whole year, without ever entering into conversations with any of the people. He lived like this for a very long time. 2. The bishop of the city to which the said village belonged, having learned about the virtue of this man, came to him one day with the intention of offering the gift of the priesthood. Having ordered to break through part of the wall, he laid his hands on Salaman, said a prayer, said a lot to him, explained what grace had been given to him, and then left without hearing a single word in response. After this, the archpastor ordered the breach in the wall to be repaired. 3. Another time, the inhabitants of the village from which the ascetic came crossed the river at night, destroyed his hut, took him and quickly transported him to their village. At the same time, he showed neither resistance nor consent. In the morning, the villagers built a hut for Salaman, similar to the previous one, and they imprisoned him in it again: he continued to remain silent and did not say anything to anyone. After some time, the inhabitants of another village, lying on the opposite bank of the river, also came at night and broke down the hut, took the silent man to their place: this time he did not resist at all, did not ask to be left, but did not express his readiness to settle in a new place. Having thus made himself dead to this life, Salaman could, in the most precise sense, repeat the Apostle’s words: “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:19-20). Such was this blessed man! What has been said is enough to understand the life he voluntarily chose. I, having gained benefit for myself from this narrative, move on to another. 1. There is one village called Omira. Having built a small dwelling near this village, blessed Maris secluded himself in it and lived here for thirty-seven years. His hut absorbed a lot of dampness due to the proximity of the mountains: in winter, water flowed down its walls. And both city dwellers and rural residents know what harm this causes to the body, because everyone knows the diseases that come from dampness. But this did not force Saint Maris to change his home: he remained in it until the end of his life. 2. He began his exploits of virtue from a very early age, maintaining both the purity of his body and the purity of his soul. He himself told me about this, saying that he kept his body uncorrupted - the way it came out of his mother’s womb. While still a young man, on the festivals of the martyrs, he delighted the people with his voice, performing the church service of a singer, and attracted people to him with euphonious singing. He remained a singer for a long time - and during the heyday of physical beauty. However, neither this physical beauty, nor the euphonious clarity of his voice, nor communication with many people damaged the beauty of his soul. Living in this world like a prisoner, Maris cared only about his soul, and in the labors of the seclusion he increased the wealth of virtue. 3. I often enjoyed communicating with him, because he allowed me to open the door of his refuge. When I arrived, Maris hugged me and began to have long conversations about wisdom. He was distinguished by his simplicity and did not tolerate guile, and considered poverty to be the greatest prosperity. Having lived ninety years, he was content with clothes made of goat hair, and used a little bread and salt to strengthen his bodily strength. 4. Having lived as a recluse for a long time, Maris wished to see how the spiritual and mysterious Sacrifice was offered, and asked me to celebrate the Divine Eucharist in his home. I happily agreed and ordered the sacred vessels to be brought (the hermit’s dwelling was nearby). Using the hands of deacons instead of a throne, I offered the Divine and saving Sacrifice. Maris was filled with such spiritual jubilation that he saw the sky; after that he told me that he had never felt such joy. Having received his ardent love, I would have acted unfairly if I had not praised this righteous man after his death. I would be unfair to others if I did not offer him as an example to follow for those who dare to achieve high wisdom. Therefore, asking for the protection of this saint of God, I finish the story about him. 1. Having outlined the exploits of the fighters of virtue, who have already been proclaimed winners, and showing in the main features their efforts in zeal for heavenly things, and the fruits of their hard work, earned later, and, finally, their glorious and ever-memorable victories, we will now describe the lives of the great ascetics who still exist today, who seem to strive to surpass the labors of their predecessors. In this way we will leave a soulful memory for our descendants. For just as the lives of the ancient saints, who had long since shone forth, brought the greatest benefit to their descendants, so the story of the living ascetics will present worthy examples of virtue for subsequent generations of Christians. 2. I will begin this story with the great Jacob, who excels among others both in time and in deeds; others perform wondrous and amazing deeds, already imitating him. I don’t know how, but it so happened that both among the deceased ascetics and among the present, this name takes first place. After all, I began my story about the life of the deceased ascetics with blessed Jacob, who with prayer scattered the Persian army and did not allow the city to be captured, although its walls had already fallen, he put the enemies to flight, sending mosquitoes and flies to them. Our contemporary Jacob, equally honest and similar in lifestyle to that Jacob, should take first place among the still living ascetics, not only as the same name of the former Jacob, but also as the same zealot of virtue, who himself became a model of wisdom for others. 3. Having become close to the great Maron mentioned above and having accepted his teaching, Jacob even eclipsed the teacher with his great works. For Maron chose refuge for himself in a grove where pagan sacrifices had previously been made: here he built a hut covered with skins, in which he could hide from rain and snow. And Jacob, having neither a hut, nor a tent, nor a grove, lived under the roof of the vault of heaven, subject to all changes in the weather: now he was wet by pouring rain, now he was chilled by snow and frost, now he was scorched and burned by the rays of the sun. The righteous man endured all this with great patience and, laboring as if in a body that did not belong to him, tried to overcome his nature. Clothed in a mortal body and subject to suffering, he lived as if dispassionate; in the flesh, imitating the disembodied, he said along with the Divine Paul: “While we walk in the flesh, we do not fight according to the flesh. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for the pulling down of strongholds: with them we cast down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and we bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:3-5). 4. But Jacob gradually ascended to such feats, exceeding human nature, from diligence for lesser labors. First, secluding himself in one small dwelling and freeing his soul from external disturbances, he riveted his mind to the remembrance of God and thus prepared himself for the exercise of perfect virtue. Then, having already accustomed his soul to doing good, he decided on a more strict asceticism: having come to one mountain, thirty furlongs distant from the city, he made it, which was hitherto unknown and barren, glorious and respected. Nowadays this mountain has acquired such a blessing that even the land taken from it is revered, for pilgrims coming from everywhere carry away particles of this land, hoping to benefit from it. 5. Living here, the ascetic is always in sight of everyone, because, as I said, he has no cave, no hut, no tent, no grove, not even a fence to fence him off. He is visible when he prays and when he rests, when he stands or sits, when he is healthy and when he suffers from some illness. Therefore, constantly laboring in front of everyone, he is forced to restrain his natural needs. I say this not according to the words of others, but as an eyewitness. Fourteen years ago Jacob suffered a serious illness, common to the mortal body. It was the middle of summer, and the sun's rays were unbearably strong, since there was no wind and the air remained still. He suffered from a spill of bile, which went down, tormenting and bursting his insides, and demanded a way out. Then I saw the great patience and steadfastness of this man. Since many local residents had gathered who wanted to carry away the victorious body, he was torn by two desires: nature demanded to go and relieve himself, and shame in front of the crowd present - to remain in place. And I, knowing this, spent a long time persuading those present and even threatened, ordering them to leave; then, when persuasion did not work, he reminded them of his priestly rank and, with great difficulty, in the evening, drove them away. But the man of God, even after everyone had left, conquered nature and abstained until the onset of night forced the few remaining to retire home. 6. Coming to him the next day and seeing that the heat of the day had become even stronger and this intensified the fever that was tormenting him, I, under the pretext of a headache, said that I was suffering from the effects of the sun's rays, and asked permission to quickly arrange some small shade for him. When Jacob allowed this, we, having driven three stakes and covered them with two skins, found shade for ourselves. The blessed one commanded me to use it, but I said: “I am ashamed, still a young and healthy man, to use such consolation when you, tormented by a severe fever and needing coolness, sit in the sun and endure the heat of the burning rays of the sun. If you want me to use the shadow, I continued, share it with me. I would like to be with you, but the sun’s rays prevent this.” Hearing these words, Jacob agreed and accepted my services. 7. When we were enjoying the shade together, I started talking about the fact that I needed to lie down, because my legs were tired of sitting for a long time. He allowed me to lie down, but in response he heard that I would not allow myself to lie down if he sat. I said: “If you want me to enjoy peace, lie down, Father, with me: then I won’t be ashamed to lie down.” And having outwitted his abstinence with such words, I gave him this consolation as well. 8. When we were reclining, I tried to talk about things that were joyful and pleasant to his heart. Then the idea came to me to slowly rub the old man’s back; putting my hand under his clothes, I came across an iron chain encircling Jacob’s waist and neck; other chains, attached to a ring near the neck (two in front and two behind), descended obliquely to the lower ring, forming an X with their coupling in front and behind and connecting both rings together; the same bonds were on his arms near the elbows. Seeing such an enormous burden, I asked the ascetic to ease my aching body, for which it was impossible to endure both voluntary burden and involuntary illness at the same time. I said to Jacob: “Now, father, your fever replaces iron: when it passes, then we will put chains on your body again.” He, convinced by my persistent requests, agreed to this too. 9. Having been ill for a few more days, Jacob recovered, but after some time he again fell into a severe illness. Again many people gathered from everywhere to take possession of his body. Having learned about this, the residents of the nearest city flocked to the ascetic: there were both warriors and ordinary people - some in full armor, others seizing whatever weapons they could find. Waving it, they began to throw darts and throw stones - not to kill, but just to frighten - and thus drove away the strangers. Then they laid the victorious fighter on a bed and brought him to the city. He did not feel anything that was happening to him, and did not even move when some villagers pulled out his hair as a souvenir. 10. Having reached the Church of the Holy Prophets, the carriers of the bed left Jacob in the monastery located here. One person, having come to Veria, where I was then, told about what had happened and reported the death of the righteous man. I immediately hurried and, after spending the whole night on the road, the next morning I came to the man of God. He no longer said anything and did not recognize anyone present. But when I bowed to him and conveyed greetings from the great Akaki, he suddenly opened his eyes and asked how he was doing and when I visited Akaki; As soon as I answered, he closed his eyes again. Three days later Jacob came to his senses again and asked where he was. When he found out, he was very upset and asked to take it back. I, obedient to him in everything, immediately ordered the bed to be raised and the elder moved to his original place. 11. Then I saw once again how dispassionate the soul of the righteous man, venerable to me, was in relation to honors. The next day I brought him barley broth, which was cooled, although I knew that Jacob did not allow himself to take anything boiled, completely refusing to use fire. The elder did not want to accept my offering, but I said: “Have mercy on all of us, Father! We consider your health to be a common good for all of us, because you not only serve as an example for us in deeds that are good for the soul, but you also help us with your prayers and attract God’s blessing to us. If it’s hard for you to deviate from your rule, then be patient with this too, Father; after all, such patience is also one of the types of wisdom. Just as when you were healthy, when the need for food arose, you overcame hunger with patience, so now, when you have no desire to taste food, show your patience by accepting it.” During our conversation, the man of God Polychronius was also present, who, approving my words, was the first to decide to taste the food, although it was still morning and usually he only fed his body after seven days. Having finally obeyed, Jacob drank a little of the broth, squinting his eyes, as we usually do when we drink something bitter. Since his legs refused to walk due to weakness, we convinced him to wash them with water. I consider it necessary to make a remark here regarding his wisdom. The vessel with water was not far away, and one of the servants wanted to cover it with a basket so that those who came to Jacob would not see this vessel. The blessed one, noticing this, asked: “Why are you closing the vessel?” The servant replied: “So that it is not visible to those who come to you.” Then the elder said: “Leave it, child. Do not hide from people what is clear before the God of all. For, wanting to live only for God alone, I did not care about human opinion. “What good is it,” he continued, “if people consider my work great and God less? After all, reward for labor will come not from people, but from God, the Giver of everything.” It is difficult not to marvel at both these words of the elder and his mind that gave birth to them, for he greatly rose above the glory of man. 12. I know one more case. It was evening, already late evening, and the time had come for eating. Jacob, taking a nearby vessel, took out the moistened lentils, which constituted his only food. At this time, a certain warrior appeared on the road from the city, who was entrusted with some task. Jacob, seeing him from afar, did not leave the lentils and continued his meal as usual. Thinking that this was a demonic ghost, he intended to meet the passerby as an enemy, showing that he was not at all afraid of him, and therefore did not stop bringing food to his mouth. The wanderer, whom he suspected, began to assure the old man that he was a man and that it was only because of his promise to leave the city in the evening that he was traveling at such a time. Then Jacob said: “Calm down and do not be afraid, and after prayer go on your way. Now share dinner with me and taste my food.” Having said this, he handed the wanderer a full handful of lentils. Thus Jacob banished vanity and other passions from his soul. 13. It is unnecessary to talk about his patience, for it is obvious to everyone. He often spent three days and three nights in the winter, prostrate and praying to God, and the snow covered him so that not a single piece of his clothing was visible. Often the neighbors, raking away the piled snow with spades and shovels, pulled the old man out from under him. 14. For such labors he reaped the gifts of Divine grace, which are enjoyed by all who wish. By the power of his blessing the flame of fever has been and is now being extinguished; For many, the feverish chills weakened and completely stopped through his prayers; many demons were cast out by this power; water blessed by the right hand of the righteous became a saving medicine. Who, for example, does not know about the resurrection of a child accomplished by his prayer? The parents of this child lived on the outskirts of the city; they had many children, but they were all led to the grave prematurely. When their last child was born, the father immediately ran to the man of God, asking God to intercede for a long life for the newborn and promising to dedicate the child to God if he was alive. However, this child also died after living for four years. My father was not at home at the time; Having returned, he saw that his child was already being carried out, and, snatching the body from the coffin, he exclaimed: “I must fulfill my vow and give my child, although dead, to the man of God!” As he said, so he did: he took the child to the old man and, laying the child’s body at his feet, repeated the same words. The Man of God, placing the child before him, knelt and fell on his face, praying to the Lord of life and death. Towards evening the child made a voice and called her father. Seeing that the Lord accepted his prayer, the elder thanked the Almighty, who fulfills the desires of those who fear Him, finished the prayer and gave the child to the parent. I myself saw this and heard from the child’s parent, who told many about the miracle that had happened, worthy of the Apostles. Thus, he brought great benefit to everyone who heard about this miracle. 15. I myself often used the help of the saint of God. I will mention one or two cases, considering it great ingratitude to remain silent about them and not tell others about his benefits. The vile Marcion sowed many thorns of wickedness in the region of the city of Cyrus. Trying to uproot them, I used all my strength and resorted to all sorts of means. But those whose salvation I cared about, in the words of the prophet, “instead of loving me, slandering me... and putting evil on me for good, and hatred for my love” (Ps. 109: 4-5), resorted to witchcraft spells. With the assistance of evil demons, they began to wage an invisible war with me. One night a seducing demon appeared to me and began to speak to me in Syriac: “Why are you arming yourself against Marcion? Why did you go to war against him? Has he ever insulted you? Stop the war and give up your enmity, otherwise you will learn from your own experience that it is better to maintain peace. And be sure that I would have struck you long ago if I had not seen the choir of martyrs guarding you together with Jacob.” 16. Having heard this, I asked one of my friends who was sleeping right there: “Did you hear what was said?” He replied: “I heard everything and wanted to get up to look and find out who was speaking; but only for your sake, thinking that you were sleeping, I remained silent.” Then we both stood up and looked around, but did not notice any movement and did not hear any sound. All those who were with us heard the same words. Then I realized that the demon called the “choir of martyrs” the vessel with the blessed oil that I had collected for blessing from the tombs of many martyrs; The old clothes of the great Jacob, hanging over my head by the bed, were stronger for me than any adamantine fence. 17. Later, when I intended to enter a large Marcionite village, I encountered many obstacles; I sent one person to my Jacob with a request to help me. He said: “Be calm: all these obstacles will scatter like cobwebs - God revealed this to me last night, not in a dream, but in a vision. Having started my prayers, I saw, in the direction in which the village was located, a fire-like serpent rushing through the air in the direction from west to east. Having completed three prayers, I saw him again, but already curled up: having connected his head to his tail, he formed a circle. Having finished eight prayers, I saw him cut in two, and then he turned into smoke.” 18. What Jacob saw in vision, we actually saw. For in the morning those who then belonged to the teachings of Marcion (now they are already members of the Apostolic Church), being led by the serpent - the leader of evil, showed us their naked swords, rushing at us from the west. At three o'clock in the afternoon, they had already closed, thinking only about their salvation, just as a serpent covers its head with its tail in a moment of danger. At eight o'clock they dispersed and allowed us to freely enter the village. There we found a serpent made of copper, which they worshiped. For, having clearly rebelled against the Creator and Creator of all things, they began to serve the damned serpent - the enemy of God. These are the benefits that I received from my venerable teacher. 19. Since we are talking about God's revelations, I will tell you something else that I heard from the same undeceitful tongue. He did not tell the story out of love of fame, which his holy soul was alien to, but only out of necessity, he told others what he himself wanted to hide. I asked him to pray to the Lord that He would make my field clear of chaff and completely free it from heretical seeds, for I was extremely upset by the widespread error of the vile Marcion. The Man of God responded to my requests: “You do not need my or anyone else’s intercession, because you have the great John, the Voice of the Word and the Forerunner of the Lord, as your constant prayer book for you, bringing continuous prayer for you.” When I said that I believed in the prayers of both this and other saints, apostles and prophets, whose remains were recently transferred to us, he said: “Believe also in the fact that you have John the Baptist as a special intercessor for yourself.” 20. After this, I could no longer remain silent and began to question with greater insistence, wanting to know why he especially mentioned the holy Forerunner. He said: “I would like to touch these coveted relics.” I replied that I would not bring them until he promised to tell about his vision. Jacob promised, and the next day I brought what he wanted. Having ordered everyone to leave, the blessed one told me the following: “When you received the city guards, who were coming from Phenicia and Palestine with the holy relics, with David’s psalmody, a doubt arose in me: is it true that these are the remains of the great John, and not another martyr of the same name? A day later, I got up at night to sing psalms and saw someone dressed in white robes who said: “Brother Jacob, why didn’t you meet us when we arrived?” When I asked who we were talking about, the one who appeared answered: “We are those who came yesterday from Phenicia and Palestine. Everyone received us with pious zeal - the shepherd, the people, the townspeople, and the villagers; only you did not honor us along with others.” This was a hint of my previous doubt. Then I said: “Even in your absence and in the absence of other saints, I honor you and worship the God of all.” The next day, at the same time, he again appeared to me and said: “Look, brother Jacob, at the one who is standing there in clothes as white as snow and in front of whom a vessel of fire is placed.” Turning my gaze there, I thought that I saw John the Baptist, because he was dressed appropriately and extended his hand as if at baptism. The same voice continued: “This is exactly the one you are thinking about.” 21. Following this, Jacob added: “When you went to the village at night with the intention of punishing the rebels and asked me to offer God the most earnest prayer, I spent the whole night in vigil, praying to the Lord. Then I heard a voice saying: “Do not be afraid, Jacob! The great John the Baptist vigilantly implores God of all kinds. A great defeat of Orthodoxy would have occurred if the insolence of the devil had not been tamed by his intercession.” Having told me about this vision, the elder forbade me to tell others about it. But for the sake of benefit, I not only retold about it to many, but also captured this vision in writing. 22. Jacob also told me that he saw the Patriarch Joseph with a gray head and beard, and in his old age shining with mature beauty, who, having reached the heights of virtue, called himself the last of the saints. According to Jacob, when he turned to Joseph as the first of those who were in the same tomb with him, Joseph himself considered himself the last. 23. The elder also told me about various attacks on him by crafty demons. “As soon as I began my ascetic life,” said Jacob, “someone appeared to me, completely naked; he looked like an Ethiopian and fire sparkled from his eyes. Seeing him, I was stupefied with fear, began to pray and could not eat food, for he appeared every time I wanted to eat. Seven, eight, ten days passed and I remained without food; Finally, despising the crafty attack, I sat down and began to eat. The demon, unable to bear my boldness, threatened me with blows of his staff. I said: “If this is allowed to you by the Lord of all, then strike, and I will gladly accept the blows, as if being punished by Him Himself. If it is not allowed, then you will not be able to hit me, even if you rage a thousand times.” Hearing this, he immediately fled. 24. However, secretly this demon continued to plot his intrigues. Twice a week they brought me water from under the mountain; he, meeting the bearer, took my form and took the water: he ordered the bearer to go back, and poured the water out. After doing this two or three times, the demon made me suffer from thirst. Exhausted, I asked the one who usually brought me water: why hasn’t he brought it for fifteen days? He replied: “I brought it three or four times and you took it from me.” And when he showed me the place where this happened, I said: “Even if you see me a thousand times in this place, do not give up the vessel until you come here.” 25. When I thus destroyed this intricacy, the demon encroached on another. At night, he screamed in a loud voice: “I will dishonor and disgrace you so much that not a single person will ever look here.” In response I said: “Then I will thank you, because you are unwillingly benefiting the one against whom you are at enmity, giving me the opportunity to enjoy more the remembrance of God. For I, having more free time, will devote myself to the constant contemplation of God’s Beauty.” A few days later,” the elder continued, “I, while performing the usual service at noon, saw two women coming from the mountain. Indignant at their insolence, I wanted to throw stones at them, but I remembered the threat of the villain and decided that this was the dishonor with which he threatened me. Then I did not hesitate to shout to them that even if they sit on my neck, I will not throw a stone or chase them, but will continue to pray. They immediately disappeared without a trace, and thus ended this ghostly vision. 26. After him,” said the ascetic, “during night prayer, suddenly I hear the sound of a chariot, the cry of the driver and the neighing of horses; I was confused by this strange circumstance. I thought: I had not heard that any commander was now planning to pass into the city, and the path here is difficult for chariots, and the time is inconvenient for driving. As I was thinking thus, I heard the noise of an approaching crowd; it seemed that the lictors were running ahead, shouting and whistling, dispersing the people and clearing the way for the commander. When it seemed that the procession was already approaching, I, guessing the trick of the evil one, asked: “Who are you and where are you coming from? For what need have you come at this inopportune time! How long will you, unfortunate one, amuse yourself and abuse God’s forbearance?” I said turn your face to the east and offer prayers to God. And the demon rushed at me, but could not knock me down, because the grace of God opposed him. Then everything disappeared without a trace.” 27. Jacob also said that during the invasion of foreign robbers, who, having come out of Isauria, burned and plundered almost everything in the East, he was greatly afraid not of death (for he was not tied to earthly life), but of slavery, captivity and the need to be a spectator of their wickedness and lawlessness. “Having heard about this fear, since I often spoke about it to friends, the devil at night presented me with the howling of women. “I,” the elder said, “having heard the cry, thought that the enemies had already come and set the village on fire. Immediately, dividing the hair on my head in two and letting it down over my shoulders to the right and left, I made my neck open to the sword, so that I would sooner be exposed to death and not be a witness to the terrible sight. Having thus spent the whole night in constant anticipation of an attack from the enemy, when day came, when some came to me, I asked: had they heard anything about the Isaurians? And when they said that these days there were no rumors about these robbers, then I realized that a devilish obsession had happened to me. 28. Another time,” he continued, “the devil, taking the form of a blooming youth, adorned with golden hair, approached me with a smile and grins. In anger, I drove him away with abuse, but he continued to stand, looking at me friendly and exuding voluptuousness with smiles and jokes. Then, filled with even greater anger, I said: “How can you go around the whole universe and plot such intrigues to everyone?” He answered: “I am not alone, but there are many demons scattered throughout the earth, who are both having fun and at the same time acting seriously. With such seeming fun they are trying to destroy the entire human race.” “Go away,” I said, “according to the command of Christ, who once cast out a whole legion of demons among swine and cast them into the depths of the sea” (Matthew 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:26-33). As soon as the evil one heard this, he immediately fled, unable to bear the power of the name of our Lord and unable to look at the radiance of the wisdom of His servant.” 29. I know many other similar stories, but I do not want to write them down, lest their abundance serve as a reason for unbelief for those weak in faith. After all, to those who see the man of God with their own eyes, no story of this kind will seem incredible: the virtue of Jacob visible to them confirms everything that is said about him. But since our narrative, captured in writing, will be passed down to posterity, and most ears are more difficult to believe than eyes, we must measure our narrative against the weakness of our listeners. 30. For this blessed one, some built a large tomb in a neighboring village, several stages distant from the place of his exploits. And I prepared a crypt for him in the church of the victorious Apostles. But the man of God, having learned about this, insisted in every possible way that his body should be buried on the very mountain where he labored. I remarked to him more than once that it was indecent to care so much about the burial place for someone who did not care about real life. But seeing that the elder remained adamant, I agreed to fulfill his wish: I ordered the coffin to be carved out of stone and delivered to the mountain. Then, knowing that the stone was damaged by frost, he ordered the coffin to be surrounded by a small building. When it was finished, in accordance with the will of the elder, and we had already covered it with a roof, he said: “I will not allow this tomb to be called the tomb of Jacob, but I want it to be the house of the victorious martyrs, and let me, like a certain stranger honored to live with them, lie in another crypt.” And he not only said this, but also did it. Having collected particles of the relics of many prophets, apostles and martyrs from everywhere, he placed them in one tomb, wanting to be installed in the community of saints and hoping to rise with them and be worthy of the contemplation of God. 31. This sufficiently proves his humility. For, having collected such a great wealth of virtue, he, as if living in great poverty, wished to live in the community of the rich. So, how great were the labors of this venerable man, what were his exploits and what kind of grace he received from God, how many victories he won and what crowns he was decorated with - all this is obvious from the previous stories. 32. But since some condemn Jacob for his severity and reproach him for his excessive attachment to solitude and silence, before I finish this story, I will talk about this too. Everyone, as I said, saw that it was not surrounded by any wall, had neither a tent nor a hut to hide in. Others, like him, who have loved the wise life, have both walls and doors; they enjoy silence: the hermit opens the entrance to his cell if he wants, but he may not open it, indulging in Divine contemplation as much as his heart desires. But Jacob had none of this. Therefore, he became very angry with those who disturbed him during prayer. If the visitors, obeying his word, left, he again returned to prayer; but if they continued to stay and, being asked several times, did not obey, then he indignantly sent them away with reproaches. 33. I had conversations with him about this. I said: “Some of those whom you sent away without giving them a blessing are very mournful. But people who come, in fact, for the sake of your blessing and make a multi-day journey, should leave not upset, but filled with joy, giving pleasure to those who have not seen you with the story of your wisdom.” He answered: “I settled on this mountain not for others, but for myself. I myself am covered with numerous sores of sins and I myself need healing. That is why I pray to our Lord that He will give me medicine against sins. How indecent and reckless it would be for me to interrupt the thread of prayer and start a conversation with people! After all, if I were a slave of a person like me and, while serving my master, forgetting to bring food or drink on time, started a conversation with one of my co-servants, then how many fair blows would fall on me? Or, if I, having come to the ruler and telling him about an insult inflicted on me by someone, interrupted my speech in half and started some kind of conversation with one of those present, do you think the judge really would not be angry? Wouldn’t he really have deprived me of his intercession or even ordered me to be flogged and expelled from court? So, if a servant before a master and a petitioner before a judge should behave decently, then should I not, when approaching God - my eternal Master, the most righteous Judge and King of all - act with all reverence, not turn to my fellow servants during prayer and not have long conversations with them? 34. Having heard such words from the elder, I conveyed them to those who were angry with him. And it seems to me that he said everything well and correctly. One can also add that those who passionately love someone tend to neglect all others and become attached only to one person whom they love and to whom they strive: to see him in a dream at night and think about him during the day. That is why, it seems to me, Jacob was upset that, when he was in contemplation dear to his heart, he was prevented from enjoying the heavenly Beauty of his Beloved. 35. In telling the story of Jacob, we took every care of brevity, so as not to make the long story tedious for the readers. If the blessed one survives our story and adds many others to his previous exploits, someone will describe them too. For our desire is great to leave this world as soon as possible. Let the Supreme Judge of the zealots of piety grant this blessed man an end worthy of his exploits; will help him complete his earthly career as worthily as he began it; will allow the victorious one to gain a crown and strengthen our weakness with his prayers, so that we too, having received such support, can repel many of the attacks of demons on us and just as victoriously leave this life here. 1. We have the village of Tillima, where the seeds of Marcion’s wickedness were once sown, but now this arable land is cultivated by the teaching of the Gospel. To the south of the village there is a hill, not very high and not very low. The wondrous Thalassius, a man adorned with many good qualities, and surpassing his contemporaries in simplicity of character, meekness and humility of mind, built for himself an ascetic refuge there. I say this not only from hearsay, but also from experience, for I myself visited the holy man many times and enjoyed sweet conversations with him. 2. Limnaeus, now glorified by all, was accepted into the choir of his companions, who entered this school of piety at a very young age and here was brought up in sublime wisdom. First of all, he, well aware of the tendency of the tongue to temptation, even in his youth made it a rule to always remain silent and lived for a long time without talking to anyone about anything. Later, Limnaeus, having already been sufficiently saturated with the teachings of the blessed old man and having assimilated his virtues, went over to the great Maron, whom we mentioned earlier. This happened at the same time when Saint James came to the mountain for labors. Having acquired a lot of useful things for himself here and loving life in the open air, Limnaeus settled on the top of a mountain located not far from a village called Targalla. 3. Here he lives to this day, having neither a house, nor a hut, nor a tent, but surrounded by one bare wall, the stones of which are not connected even with clay. There is also a small door in this wall, which is constantly covered with dirt; it does not open for others who come, but for me, when I come to him, Limnaeus opens it. Therefore, a lot of people gather from everywhere when they find out that I want to visit him, wanting to join the ascetic with me. With others who come to him at other times, he talks through a small hole in the wall and teaches them a blessing that gives health to many. Calling on the name of the Savior, he heals diseases, casts out demons, and performs other similar Apostolic miracles. 4. And not only does Limnaeus give healing to those who come to him, but he also healed his own body more than once. One day an illness happened to him - colic. How great the suffering and torment can be in this case is well known to those who have either themselves been exposed to this disease or have seen it in others: the sick whirl around, like those possessed by a demon, turning back and forth, stretching out and squeezing their legs; they sit down, then stand up, then walk, trying to somehow alleviate their suffering; sometimes they sit in the bath, and do this repeatedly, looking for at least some kind of calm. However, why dwell in detail on what everyone knows? Having fallen ill with this disease, Limnaeus did not use the help of doctors, did not go to bed, receiving healing and relief not from medicine or food, but, sitting on a board laid on the ground, he was healed by the mere power of prayer and the sign of the cross, quelling his torment by invoking the name of God. 5. Another time, while walking at night, he stepped on a sleeping viper, which sank its teeth into his foot. Trying to protect his leg, the elder bent down and covered it with his hand, but the reptile also stung his hand; then, wanting to help his right hand with his left, he bit that hand too. Having exhausted all its anger and inflicted more than ten wounds on the saint, the viper crawled into its lair; he was tormented by severe pain piercing all the members of his body. However, this time he did not resort to the help of medical art, but began to heal bites only with the healing of faith - the sign of the cross, prayer and invocation of the name of God. 6. It seems to me that the Lord allowed the evil reptile to rage against the sacred body of the elder for this purpose, in order to reveal before everyone the firmness of his God-given soul. Just as we know, the Lord allowed it in relation to the long-suffering Job, allowing him to be subjected to many and various storms in order to show everyone the Wisdom of the Pilot. And how else would we have known both about the courage of the former and the firmness of the latter, if the enemy of piety had not been allowed by God to throw various types of arrows? 7. Having sufficiently demonstrated the firmness of blessed Limnaeus, let us also mention his love for mankind. He, having gathered many blind and poor people around him, built shelters for them on the eastern and western sides of the mountain, ordering them to live here, praising God, and ordered the food they needed to be delivered to those who came to him. He himself, having shut himself up among them, encouraged everyone to sing psalms, and those who came could hear how they constantly praised the Lord. He constantly showed such philanthropy towards his neighbors. The time of Limnaeus' ascetic labors in the open air is the same as the time of the asceticism of the great Jacob, for both of them have been asceticizing for the thirty-eighth year. XXIII. JOHN, MOSES, ANTIOCHUS and ANTONINUS 1. John was jealous of the same way of life, distinguished, among other things, by modesty and meekness. Choosing for his place of residence one rocky cliff located in the north and blown by harsh winds, he lived there until this day for twenty-five years, patiently enduring all the unfavorable effects of the climate. Other things, so as not to list each separately - food, clothing, and iron chains - were the same for him as those ascetics we talked about before. He was so elevated above the needs of human nature that he found no consolation for himself in anything inherent in human weakness. Here is one proof of this. A certain kind man planted an almond sapling near his home, which, over time, became a tree, giving John shade and pleasing his eyesight. But he ordered this tree to be cut down, so as not to have such a consolation for himself. 2. Moses lived a similar life, laboring on one high peak near Rama, and Antiochus, an already elderly man who built a fence for himself in a very deserted place, and Antoninus, in an old body, labored like young people. They all have the same clothing, food, standing in prayer, and labor that continues day and night: neither the duration of these labors, nor old age, nor the weakness of nature weakened their patience; on the contrary, they are all constantly filled with a love of hard work. The Supreme Judge of virtue, God, has within our borders, on the mountains and plains, many other ascetics, whom it is difficult to list, let alone describe the life of each of them. Therefore, having pointed out these holy men to those who wish to gain spiritual benefit, I, having asked for their blessing, will move on to the story of others. XXIV. ZEBINAS and POLYCHRONIUS 1. Those who were honored to see Zebinas glorify him to this day. They say that, having reached a ripe old age, he remained in the same labors until his death, and the burden of old age did not force him to change the exploits of his youth. He surpassed his contemporaries in his special zeal in prayer. Spending days and nights in her, he not only did not become satiated with her, but, on the contrary, acquired an increasingly ardent desire for her. Therefore, he talked briefly with those who came to him, not allowing his thoughts to be distracted from the Heavenly; but, very soon leaving the visitors, he again indulged in prayer, so as not to move away from the God of all, even for a minute. In old age, when Zebinas could no longer painlessly endure constant standing, he resorted to the help of a rod and, leaning on it, prayed and praised the Lord. 2. Being adorned, among other things, with the virtue of love of strangers, he allowed many of those who came to stay with him until the evening, but they, fearing his all-night standing, tried, under the pretext of some business, to avoid such labor. Zebinas was also surprised by the great Maron, who commanded everyone who visited him to go to the elder and receive a blessing from him. Maro called Zebinas father, teacher and example of all virtue; he even asked that they both be placed in the same coffin - only those who stole Maron’s sacred body did not allow this desire of the ascetic to be fulfilled: they took it to the place that was already mentioned above. Blessed Zebinas, having died before Maron, was buried in a neighboring village called Kittika; A large church was built over the place of his burial, since the relics of the ascetic provide healing from various diseases to those who come with faith. Now, together with him, under the same sacred roof, rest the remains of the martyrs, who, although they labored among the Persians, are also honored with annual festivities among us. 3. The great Polychronius also tasted the teachings of Zebinas; and the divine Jacob said that this old man was the first to clothe him in hair shirt. I, who never saw Zebinas (because he ended his life before I began it), see the wisdom of the divine man captured in the great Polychrony. Even on wax the image of the ring is not as accurately imprinted as the characteristic features of that blessed one were imprinted in the Polychrony. I was convinced of this by comparing the stories about both. And Polychronius, like Zebinas, flames with Divine love and rises above everything earthly; being bound by the body, he has an inspired soul and, flying with his thoughts through the air spaces and the region of the ether, he ascends above the heavens, constantly remaining in Divine contemplation. He never allows his thoughts to be entertained, even during conversations with visitors. 4. I learned about his all-night vigil and standing in prayer as a result of such an incident. Seeing that Polychronius, oppressed by old age and weakness, did not resort to anyone’s help, I often asked him to take two cell attendants so that he could make his life easier. And since he agreed to accept only men who shone with virtue, who led a solitary life in another refuge of ascetics, I convinced two of them to prefer serving the man of God over everything else. However, after living with him for a short time, they wanted to leave Polychronius, because they could not endure the all-night vigil. When they began to ask the man of God to balance his work with the weakness of his body, he told them: “Not only do I not force you to constantly participate in my standing, but I ask you to lie down more often.” To these words of the elder, the cell attendants replied: “How can we, people of flourishing health and far from old years, go to bed, when a person, aged in labor, stands, despising the weakness of the body?” Thus I learned about the nightly exploits of this venerable husband. 5. And his former cell attendants over time became so successful in virtue that they became equal in wisdom to their teacher. Moses (the name of one of them) remains with him to this day, taking every possible care of the elder as a father and master and reflecting in himself the rays of the virtues of his holy soul. Damian (this is the name of another), although he retired to a nearby city called Niara, and finding here a small house on a threshing floor, settled in it, he spends a life here completely similar to the life of Polychronius. Therefore, those who know both well, seeing Damian, think that they see in the other body the soul of the great Polychronius. Both have the same simplicity, meekness, humility, kindness in words, gentleness in treatment, vigilance of the soul, meditation on God, standing, work, vigil, food and non-covetousness, fully consistent with the Divine law. Apart from a small vessel with lentils soaked in water, there is nothing in Damian's hideout. This is how much benefit he received from communicating with the great Polychronius. 6. I, having left the students, will turn to the teacher, since streams usually originate at the source. Having expelled ambition from his soul, along with other passions, and trampled upon the tyranny of vanity, Polychronius always tried to hide his works. He did not dare to wear chains for fear of harming his soul, in which pride might flare up because of this. However, having commanded to bring a heavy oak root, as if for some other need, he laid it on his shoulders at night and thus performed a prayer; sometimes he did this during the day, if there was time at that time. When someone came to him and knocked on the door, Polychronius hid the root in a certain place. One person, accidentally seeing this, told me about such a feat. I wanted to know how heavy this root is; Having found time, I was barely able to lift it with both hands. Seeing this, the elder ordered me to leave it. I diligently began to ask Polychronius to take away the root in order to take away from him the weapon of a grueling feat, but, noticing that my words were unpleasant to him, I was forced to yield to his thirst for victory. 7. As a result of such labors, the grace given to him by God flourished in Polychronia, and many miracles were performed through his prayers. When a terrible drought, striking the inhabitants of the area, prompted them to pray, many priests came to him; Along with others, the shepherd of the Antioch region came, who was entrusted with caring for many villages. He asked the elders present to persuade this man to place his right hand on the oil vessel that had been brought. When they responded by saying that the elder would not do this, the shepherd himself, during the ascetic’s prayer that soon took place, standing behind him, moved a vessel towards him with both hands, which immediately began to fill with oil so that even two or three of those present extended their folded hands and they also filled with oil. 8. However, even having shone with the rays of God's grace, having succeeded in many different virtues and daily collecting the wealth of wisdom, the elder is so filled with humility that he usually hugs the legs of each of those who come to him and falls on his face before everyone: whether a warrior, or an artisan, or a peasant comes to him. I will tell one story that shows his simplicity and humility. One good man, having received control of our province, arrived in Cyrus and wished to enjoy with me the sight of the great ascetics. Having gone around everyone, we visited the one whose virtue we are now talking about. When I told Polychronius that the one who came with me was a ruler, a zealot of truth and a lover of piety, the divine man, stretching out both hands and hugging his legs, said: “I want to make one request to you.” He felt unpleasant, and he asked the elder to stand up, promising to fulfill his desire, for he thought that the ascetic was interceding for one of his subordinates. But the divine man said: “Since you promised to fulfill my request and confirmed your promise with an oath, here is my request: bring earnest prayer to God for me.” The ruler, being amazed by such a request, asked the elder to remove the oath from him as from a person who, even for himself, could not offer worthy prayers to the Lord. This incident shows that not a single word can praise one who, having reached the heights of wisdom, possessed such great humility. 9. His hard work was not weakened by illnesses that often befall him; even being exposed to various ailments, he continued to perform ordinary feats. With repeated requests, we barely convinced Polychronius that we wanted to build a small house for him, so that he could somehow warm his half-cooled body. During their lifetime, many brought him gold and, when they died, bequeathed it to him, but Polychronius did not accept anything from anyone, but ordered the donors themselves to be stewards of what was brought to him. One day the great Jacob sent him a robe made of goatskin, which someone had brought to him, but the elder sent away this robe too, saying that it was too thick and beautiful, for he used to wear the poorest and cheapest clothes. He preferred poverty to all the kingdoms of the world; I didn’t even want to always have the necessary food with me. I know this because, often coming to Polychronius, I did not find anything else with him except two figs. Truly this blessed man is attractive to those who see him, and he will be respected to those who hear about him. Even among those who scoff at piety, I do not know a single person who could hurl any reproach at him. Everyone praises the great old man, and those who visited him would never want to part with him. 1. The wondrous Asclepius also belongs to the same society of lovers of God, who, although he was at a distance of ten stages from Polychronius, lived in the same way as him. He had the same food, clothing, modesty of character, the same kindness and brotherly love, the same meekness, moderation, conversation with God and the greatest poverty; and at the same time - the same abundance of virtues, the same wealth of wisdom and everything else that we saw in the sacred Polychrony. They say that, while still living with his brothers in the village, Asclepius led an ascetic life and was full of abstinence, and therefore communicated with many people without harming himself. Having become famous in both ways of life - both in the worldly and in the hermit, he, in fairness, will be awarded a double crown. 2. His virtues were imitated by many others, and not only our city, but also neighboring cities and villages, was filled with his wisdom. One of these imitators of Asclepius was the divine Jacob, who secluded himself in a small house near a village called Nimuse. Until the very end of his life (and he lived for more than ninety years), the ascetic remained alone in seclusion, giving answers to those who questioned him through a small hole drilled obliquely in the wall; invisible to anyone, he never used fire or used a lamp. Only to me did he open the door twice and allow me to enter his room, thus honoring me and showing me the love that he had for me. Contemporaries have no need for my words, because they can, if they wish, themselves be eyewitnesses of the wisdom of the holy ascetics. And for descendants who do not have the opportunity to see them, it is enough for spiritual benefit to point out the distinctive properties of the wisdom of each of them. So, having finished here the story about Asclepius and Jacob and having asked for their blessing, I will move on to another story. 1. The famous Simeon - this great miracle of the universe - is known to all subjects of the Roman Empire: the Persians, the Medes, and the Ethiopians learned about him; the spread of rumors about his hard work and wisdom even reached the Scythian nomads. But I, even having as witnesses, as they say, all the people of the universe who will confirm my word about the exploits of the saint, I am afraid, however, that my story may seem incredible and alien to the truth to my descendants. For what happened to Simeon exceeds human nature, and people usually like to compare what they are told with nature. And if something is narrated that goes beyond its limits, then such a word seems incredible to those not initiated into the Divine mysteries. But since both on earth and at sea there are many pious people who, having been taught the Divine mysteries and enlightened by the grace of the All-Holy Spirit, do not distrust the words of others, but sincerely believe them, I will diligently and fearlessly present my story. Let me begin with how Simeon was awarded the heavenly calling. 2. In the middle, between our region and Cilicia, there is a village called Sisan. There Simeon was born, who at first, by the will of his parents, tended sheep, in order to thus become equal to the great men - Jacob the Patriarch, Joseph the Chaste, Moses the Lawgiver, King and Prophet David, Prophet Micah and other similar divinely inspired men. One day it snowed heavily, and the sheep were not taken to pasture. Simeon, being free from his duties, went with his parents to the church of God. I heard the story about this from his own sacred lips. In the church, he heard the Gospel reading, in which those who weep and mourn were declared blessed, those who laugh were called unhappy, and those who had a pure soul were called worthy of glorification, and everything that follows (Matt. 5:5-8; Luke 6:21-25). Hearing this, Simeon asked one of those present: what must be done to acquire each of these blessings? The questioner pointed him to monastic life and explained the essence of this sublime wisdom. 3. Having accepted the seeds of the Divine Word and conscientiously placing them in the deep furrows of his soul, Simeon, as he himself said, went to the nearest church of the holy martyrs. There, bending his knees and forehead, he began to beg the One who wants to save all people to direct him to the perfect path of piety. When he had been in this position for a long time, a sweet dream fell upon him, during which he saw the following vision. Simeon himself talked about it this way: “It seemed to me as if I was digging a hole for the foundation of a house; then I hear someone standing nearby ordering me to dig even deeper. Having gone deeper at the behest of the unknown, I wanted to rest, but he again ordered me to dig and not weaken my efforts. And he gave me such orders three or four times; Finally, he said that the depth was already sufficient for the construction of the structure and that my work was finished.” Subsequent events testify to the correctness of this prediction given in a dream. 4. Getting up, Simeon went to one monastery of ascetics, located nearby. But, having lived here for two years and desiring more perfect virtue, he retired to the village of Teleda, which we have already mentioned, where the great men of God Ammianus and Eusebius established a school of asceticism. However, blessed Simeon chose not this as his place, but another school of philosophy, which was founded by Evsevo and Avivion, imbued with the teachings of the great Eusebius. Throughout their entire lives they had one feeling, one disposition and, as it were, one soul in their two bodies. And they had many like-minded people who loved the same life. When both men departed from this life with glory, the glorious Iliodor took over the leadership of the monks of the monastery, who lived for sixty-five years, and of which he spent sixty-two years in the monastic seclusion. For in his parents' house he was raised only until he was three years old, and then he came to this monastery and did not know anything worldly. He said that he didn’t even know what pigs, roosters and other similar animals looked like. I was often privileged to see him, I was amazed at the simplicity of his character and was extremely amazed at the purity of his soul. 5. The glorious ascetic of piety Simeon came to him, having lived in this monastery in labors for ten years. Eighty other monks labored with him, but he surpassed everyone: while others took food after two days, he remained without food for a whole week. The managers of the monastery condemned and prohibited this, calling such a way of life a violation of order; but they did not convince Simeon with their speeches and could not even force him to weaken his jealousy. I heard Simeon himself and the abbot, who now manages this flock, tell that one day he, taking a rope made of date branches - and it is impossible to touch it - girded his loins with it, putting it not on top of his clothes, but directly on his body, and pulled it so tightly that his entire lower back was covered with wounds. When he had spent ten or more days in this way and his wounds began to bleed, one of the brethren, seeing him in this position, asked: where did he get the blood from? Simeon replied that he did not feel any pain, but the associate, touching him against his will, understood everything and told the abbot. He immediately began to exhort and convince Simeon; then, calling his act cruel, he took away the ascetic’s bonds, although with difficulty. But the abbot was unable to convince Simeon to use any treatment to heal his wounds. When after this incident they noticed that he was continuing the same feat, they ordered Simeon to leave the monastery so that, by encouraging others, weaker in body, to compete in feats, he would not become the culprit of harm to the weak. 6. Then he left the monastery and went to the most deserted places of the mountain. Having found one waterless crevice, not very deep, he settled in it and from there offered psalmody to God. However, after five days, the leaders of the monastery, repenting, sent two brothers to find Simeon and bring him back. The messengers, going around the mountain, asked the shepherds tending the sheep there if they had seen a man who looked like this and was dressed in such and such clothes? When the shepherds pointed out to them the crevice, they began to call the blessed one and, when he responded, they lowered the rope and with great difficulty removed him from the crevice, for the exit from there was not as convenient as the entrance. 7. After this, after living for a short time in the monastery, Simeon retired to the village of Telanissa, located at the foot of the mountain on which he now lives. Here, having found a small house, he shut himself up in it and lived like that for three years. Trying to constantly increase the wealth of virtue, he, like God’s people - Moses and Elijah, wished to spend forty days without food (Ex. 24:18; 1 Kings 19:8). He asked the wonderful Vass, who was then going around the villages, taking care of the village priests, so that he, without leaving anything inside his cell, would cover its door with clay. When Vass pointed out the difficulty of such a feat and began to convince people not to consider violent death a virtue (since suicide is the greatest and first crime), Simeon said: “Okay, father, put ten loaves of bread and a vessel of water for me; if I see that my body needs food, I will use it.” Vass did as Simeon asked: he put in water, put in bread, and, blocking the door with a stone, covered it with clay. After forty days, the wondrous Vass came again, rolled away the stone, went inside and saw the bread whole, and the vessel of water untouched; Simeon himself lay on the ground as if dead, having no strength to move or speak. Therefore, Vass, taking a sponge, moistened it and washed the lying person’s lips with it, and after that he put Divine secrets into them. Thus strengthened, the blessed one stood up and took some food: lettuce, chicory and the like. 8. The Great Vass was extremely amazed and, coming to his flock, told about this extraordinary miracle. For he led more than two hundred ascetics, whom he did not allow to have either an ox or a mule, nor to accept the gold brought, nor to go outside the gates of the monastery to buy any necessary things or to meet with someone they knew, but he ordered everyone to stay in their cells and take only the food that God’s grace sends. His companions adhere to this rule to this day, without breaking the commandments given to them. 9. However, I will return to the great Simeon. From the time he spent forty days without food, for twenty-eight years now he has fasted annually on Holy Pentecost in the same way: time and constant exercise have made this work easier for him. He usually spent the first days of this fast standing and singing psalms; then, when the body, due to hunger, could no longer endure standing, he served God while sitting, and in recent days he even lay down. Exhausted and little by little losing his physical strength, Simeon was forced to lie down and sometimes lay half dead. After he began the feat of pillar-bearing and decided never to leave the pillar again, he came up with a special kind of standing. Having attached a crossbar to the pillar and tied himself to it, the elder spent forty days in this way. Subsequently, having received even greater grace from above, he no longer needed such an adaptation and stood for forty days without eating food, but strengthened by zeal and God's grace. 10. So, after spending, as I said, three years in the house, Simeon settled on the top of a mountain known to everyone and ordered himself to be surrounded by a wall; then, taking out an iron chain of twenty cubits, he chained one end of it to a large stone, and tied the other to his right leg, so that he would not be able to go beyond the wall, even if he wanted to. Constantly turning his gaze to the sky, Simeon contemplated what was above the heavens, and the bonds of iron did not hinder the flight of his thoughts. But when the wondrous Meletius, who was entrusted with the supervision of the parishes in the vicinity of Antioch, a man distinguished by wisdom and prudence, adorned with foresight, said that iron is not needed when the will is able to impose mental bonds on the body, Simeon willingly listened to his words and, calling a blacksmith, ordered his bonds to be unfastened. And since his legs were covered and sheathed with leather so that the body would not suffer harm from iron, when they tore it apart, they saw, as they say, more than twenty large worms swarming under the skin; The wondrous Meletius also saw this, according to his own testimony. I mentioned this to show my husband’s great patience: after all, he could squeeze the skin with his hand and easily kill all the worms, but he wanted to endure the torment, accustoming himself to greater deeds with small deeds. 11. When rumors about the great ascetic spread everywhere, residents of not only neighboring areas began to flock to him from all sides, but also residents of regions many days away from the place of his exploits. Some came, broken by paralysis, others - with a request for the healing of some sick person, others petitioned for the gift of childbirth, which nature had denied them, to bestow upon them. Those who had their requests satisfied, returning, joyfully told others about the benefits they had received and sent to the elder those who had similar needs. And when the people rushed to Simeon from all sides, the path to him became like a river; the very place of his exploits resembled a sea into which numerous streams flow. For not only the inhabitants of our state rushed to him, but also the Ishmaelites, and the Persians, and the Armenians, subject to the Persians, and the Iberians, and the Gomerites; Representatives of neighboring tribes also came. There also came many people living on the farthest borders of the west: Spaniards, Britons, Galatians and others living in between. And there is nothing to say about Italy, because they say that in great Rome this man enjoys such fame that small images of him are nailed to the gates of all workshops in the hope of receiving protection and security through them. 12. When the number of those who came to the venerable father increased too much and everyone tried to touch him, receive a blessing from him and take some piece of his leather clothes, he, considering such a great honor inappropriate for himself, and on the other hand, burdened by the inconveniences of such a lifestyle, decided on a new feat - the feat of standing on a pillar. At first he erected a pillar six cubits high, then twelve, then twenty-two, and now thirty-six, thus gradually rising towards the sky and moving away from earthly vanities. I believe that such a stand did not take place without the will of God. And therefore I ask those who love to blame everything, to curb their tongues and not allow them to talk randomly, but to take into account that the Lord often arranges such things to admonish the careless. So, He commanded Isaiah to walk naked and barefoot (Is. 20:2), Jeremiah to gird his loins and in this form appear with a prophecy to the unbelievers (Jer. 1:17, 28:12), another time he commanded him to put a yoke on his neck, first of wood, and then of iron (Jer. 28:13, 35:10–14); Hosea - to take a harlot as a wife and to have love for an evil and adulterous wife (Hos.1:2, 3:1); Ezekiel was to sleep on his right side for forty days and on his left for one hundred and fifty days (Ezek.4:4-6), then - to break a hole in the wall and go out through it (Ezek.12:5), like a captive, and also to take a knife, shave his head and divide his hair into four parts, distributing one there and the other here (Ezek.5:1-4). And the Lord commanded many other things: it’s impossible to list them all. The Lord of the universe commanded each of these events to happen so that those who are not convinced by the word and do not want to heed the prophecy would be enlightened by the unusualness of the spectacle and prepared for the prophetic voice. And indeed, were they not amazed to see the man of God walking naked? Weren't they curious why the prophet took a harlot as his wife? And just as before the God of all things commanded all this to be for the benefit of those living in idleness, so He arranged this new and unprecedented spectacle in order that by its unusualness it would attract all those who came to look at it and make them more ready for the edification of the saint. After all, it is known that the unusualness of the spectacle makes learning more accessible, and those who come to see it return, having received instruction in the Divine. Just as those who had the lot to reign over people, after some time, change the images on coins, imprinting on them figures of lions, then images of stars and angels, with these and other new images trying to give greater value to the metal, so God, who reigns over everyone, bestows, as it were, new characteristic features on the cause of piety, striving with new and varied types of life of the lovers of God to inspire the tongues of not only the children of faith, but also those suffering from unbelief. 13. And the standing of the Monk Simeon on the pillar enlightened many thousands of Ishmaelites, who had hitherto been enslaved to the darkness of wickedness. Like a lamp placed on a candlestick, Simeon spread its rays everywhere, like the sun. Near him one could see, as I said, Iberians, Armenians, and Persians receiving Divine baptism. Also, the Ishmaelites came in crowds, sometimes of two and three hundred people, and sometimes of a thousand: they solemnly renounced the error of their fathers, crushing before the great light the idols they had previously idolized and rejecting the insane orgies of Aphrodite (for they had long revered this demon). Receiving the Divine Sacraments, they obeyed the rules that the sacred lips of the elder commanded them, and, having said goodbye forever to their fatherly customs, they refused to eat wild asses and camels. 14. And I myself saw and heard with my own eyes how they renounced their father’s wickedness and united with the teaching of the Gospel. Once I was even exposed to the greatest danger. The holy elder ordered the Ishmaelites to come to me and receive a priestly blessing from me, adding that they would receive the greatest benefit from this. The savages, barbarically surrounding me, began to push and crowd me - some from the front, others from behind, and others from the sides; those standing further away tried to squeeze through others, and all of them, holding out their hands, tried to either grab me by the beard or get pieces of my clothes. And I would have suffocated from their swift attack if I had not driven them away by shouting in a loud voice. This is what benefit the pillar, condemned by scoffers, exuded! This is the ray of knowledge of God that poured from him into the hearts of the barbarians! 15. I know another similar event. One military detachment of barbarians asked the man of God to pray for their commander and send him a blessing; another detachment located here dissuaded Simeon, arguing that the blessing should be given to their own boss, for he is alien to all unrighteousness, and that boss is a most unjust man. A loud argument arose, the usual quarrel among barbarians began, and finally they rushed into a fight with each other. I had to use much effort to persuade them to remain quiet, saying that the man of God could give abundant blessings to both leaders. However, some of the barbarians said that that commander was unworthy of the blessing, while others insisted that this one should be deprived of it. Then Simeon, scolding them from above and calling them dogs, calmed the discord. I told about this to show how great the importance of faith in the elder was for the barbarians. 16. I saw another glorious miracle performed by him. Once another leader of the Saracens came to Simeon and began to beg the blessed one to help a man, all the members of whose body were broken by paralysis while he was on the road; This misfortune happened near Kallinika, a very large fortress. When the sick man was brought in in the presence of everyone, Simeon commanded him to renounce the wickedness of his ancestors. He willingly obeyed and did what he was ordered. After this, the elder asked: does he believe in the Father, the Only Begotten Son and the Holy Spirit? And when he confessed such faith, Simeon said: “If you believe in Them, then stand up.” The sick man stood up, and the elder ordered him to carry the chief on his shoulders (and he was huge in body) all the way to his tent. The healed man, taking the leader, immediately went, and all those present began to glorify God. 17. In giving such a command, Simeon followed the example of the Master, who once ordered the paralytic to carry his bed (Matthew 9:6). And this imitation cannot be called “tyranny.” For the Lord Himself said: “He who believes in Me, the works that I do will he do also, and greater works than these will he do” (John 14:12). And we have seen the fulfillment of this promise. For when the shadow of the Lord was not present, the shadow of the great Peter dissolved death, drove away diseases and put demons to flight (Acts 5:15). The Lord of all previously performed miracles through His servants, and now the divine Simeon, calling on Him, works thousands of miracles. 18. A miracle also happened, no less than the previous one. One of those who believed in the saving name of the Lord Jesus Christ (he was a rather noble Ishmaelite) brought a prayer to God and made a vow, taking Simeon as a witness. This vow was to abstain from all animal food for the rest of my life. After some time, breaking this vow (I don’t know how), the Ishmaelite dared to taste the killed bird. God, wishing to bring him to conversion by reproof and to honor His servant, who was a witness of the broken vow, turned the meat of the bird into stone, so that the one who broke the vow could not taste it. For how could one eat something that had turned to stone? The barbarian, astonished by this strange phenomenon, hastily went to the saint, revealed to him his secret guilt, confessed to everyone his violation of his vow and, appealing to God for mercy, asked the holy elder to, through his prayers, obtain for him permission from the bonds of the sin he had committed. There were many eyewitnesses to this miracle, who themselves felt the chest part of the bird, which was made of bone and stone. 19. And I not only witnessed the miracles of the Monk Simeon, but also heard his predictions about future events. So, two years in advance he predicted the drought that we had, the crop failure and the famine and illness that followed, testifying that he saw that a rod had fallen on people from above and that this rod meant heavenly punishments. Another time he predicted an attack by the so-called locusts, and also that they would not cause much harm, for this punishment would be accompanied by God’s Love for Mankind. After thirty days, indeed, a large cloud of locusts arose, blocking the sun's rays and covering the earth with shadow: we all saw this clearly. But the locusts only damaged livestock feed, and did not cause any harm to the plants that people eat. And to myself, when a certain person was filled with enmity towards me, the elder predicted the death of my enemy in fifteen days - and I learned the truth of the prediction in practice. One day it was given to him to see how two rods descended from the sky, falling to the east and to the west, and this man of God predicted the uprising of the Persian and Scythian peoples against the Roman Empire. He told about the vision to those present, and then with many tears and continuous prayers he stopped the scourges brought over the country. At least, the Persian army, already gathered to march against the Romans, was turned away from the invasion by Divine Providence and became engaged in internal strife. 20. Knowing many other similar things about the ascetic, I will omit many of them in order to avoid excessive length of the story. However, what has been said is enough to show the spiritual insight of his mind. We can only add that the loud rumor about Simeon also reached the king of the Persians, who, as the ambassadors who were with him say, carefully questioned what the life of this man was like and how great his miracles were. And the king’s wife, as they say, even asked for the oil blessed by the ascetic, and accepted this oil as a most precious gift. All those close to the king, hearing, on the one hand, a lot of slander against him from the Magi, and on the other, the highest reviews about Simeon, with special attention they found out about him and, having learned everything, they themselves began to call him the Divine Man. And the common people ran to the mule drivers, servants and soldiers, brought money and begged them for the blessed oil received from the holy elder. 21. The queen of the Ishmaelites, being barren, but wanting to have children, first sent her nobles to him with a request that he pray for the gift of childbearing to be sent down to her. Then, when her request was fulfilled and she found what she wanted, the overjoyed mother took the newborn prince and went with him to the elder of God. And since women did not have access to him, she, sending the child to him, begged Simeon to honor the baby with a blessing. “This is your gift,” she said, “with tears I brought the seed of prayer, and from this seed you produced an ear of corn, for through your prayers, the rain of Divine grace watered this seed.” However, until when will I strive to measure the depth of the Atlantic Ocean?.. For just as it is immeasurable for people, so what Simeon does every day surpasses all description. 22. But most of all I am surprised at his patience. Day and night it stands, being visible to everyone, because he removed the gate and destroyed a significant part of the wall enclosing it; he presents a new and unusual spectacle for everyone, performing his prayer for a long time, either motionless, or making frequent bows, reverently honoring God with them. Many of those who come try to count Simeon's bows. One day, one of the people who were there with me counted one thousand two hundred and forty-four bows, but then got tired and stopped counting. When the elder bows, his forehead always comes close to his toes: by eating once a week, and then little by little, he has reached the point where his belly allows his back to bend easily. 23. They say that from standing for a long time, a wound opened on one leg, from which a lot of pus is constantly released. But even these sufferings did not hinder Simeon’s wisdom: he courageously endures both voluntary and involuntary torment, overcoming them with fiery zeal for God. One day he was forced to show his wound. I'll tell you how it happened. One day a man came to him from Raban, a zealous servant of Christ. Having ascended to the very top of the mountain, he turned to Simeon with these words: “Tell me, for the sake of the Truth, which turns the entire human race to itself, are you a man or an incorporeal creature?” Those present were indignant at such a question, but the elder ordered everyone to calm down, and asked the man: “What prompted you to ask me such a question?” He replied: “I hear from everywhere that you don’t eat and don’t sleep, while both are characteristic of man, because human nature cannot do without it.” Then Simeon ordered a ladder to be placed against the pillar, allowed this man to climb up it and enter him, so that he could first examine his hands, then stick his hand under his leather clothes and examine not only his legs, but also the most painful ulcer. Having seen with his own eyes how terrible this ulcer was, and having learned from the elder how he took food, the servant of Christ came down from the pillar, struck by surprise, and, coming to me, told me about everything. 24. During church holidays, the holy ascetic displays a special image of patience. From sunset to sunrise, he stands all night with his hands raised to the sky, forgetting about sleep and fatigue. 25. But with such great labors and virtues, having performed so many miracles, Simeon is so humble in spirit that he considers himself the last of all people in dignity. With his humility, he is accessible to everyone, affectionate and courteous, answers the questions of each of those talking to him, be it a craftsman, a beggar or a farmer. Having received the gift of teaching from the greatly gifted Lord, he exhorts those who come twice a day and delights their ears with his instructions, because he speaks very kindly. Teaching edifications from the Holy Spirit, with his teaching he persuaded many to look up to heaven, move away from earthly vanities, imagine the Kingdom awaiting us and fear the threat of Gehenna, despising earthly things and looking forward to the future. 26. One can also see Simeon as a judge, making correct and fair decisions. But he does this and similar things after the ninth hour. He spends the whole night and day until the ninth hour in prayer; and after the ninth hour, he first teaches those present, and then listens to everyone’s requests, performs healings, stops the quarrels of the warring parties, and finally, around the time of sunset, he again begins a conversation with God. 27. However, spending his life in such labors, the ascetic does not abandon care for the Holy Church: either he fights against the wickedness of the pagans, then he crushes the insolence of the Jews, then he scatters gatherings of heretics; sometimes he writes messages about this to the king himself, sometimes he arouses zeal for God in those in charge, and sometimes he convinces the shepherds of the churches themselves to show more concern for their flock. 28. I told you very little, thinking to show the rain in a drop and let me taste the sweetness of honey on the tip of my finger. Events like those told are on everyone's lips; I, starting this work, did not set out to describe everything, but wanted to state in a few words what is characteristic of every ascetic. Probably others will write about Simeon, and they will write much more than me. If he lives longer, they will, of course, tell many more miracles about him. And I wish only one thing: that I, with the help of prayer work, try to continue in good deeds. I pray to God, Who is the Most Perfect and Most Virtuous, that He will strengthen my life and direct it according to the way of life of the Gospel. Having performed many miracles, remaining invincible under the scorching rays of the sun, and under the cold of winter frosts, and under powerful gusts of wind, without bending under the weight of the infirmities of human nature, the monk, when the time came to unite with Christ and win the crown of immeasurable deeds, by his death showed all non-believers that he was also a man. However, even after his death, Simeon remained adamant: his soul flew up to heaven, and even then his body did not fall, but continued to stand straight in the place of his exploits, like an invincible fighter, trying not to touch the ground with any of his members. Thus, victory remains with the ascetics of Christ even after death. And so healings of various diseases, miracles and the power of God’s appearances, as during his life, are now taking place not only at the tomb where Simeon’s holy remains rest, but also at the monument to his magnificent and long-term feat. I speak of the great and glorious pillar of righteous and praiseworthy Simeon. We constantly pray for his holy intercession, so that we ourselves, who follow the Orthodox faith, and the whole city and the whole country will be saved by his intercession. May the name of our Lord Jesus Christ overshadow all of us! May He protect us from all troubles: from heavenly destruction and from the invasion of enemies. Glory to the Lord forever and ever! 1. Just as the common enemy of the human race invented many paths of evil, trying to destroy all human nature, so the pupils of piety invented many and various ladders for ascending to heaven. Some of them strive together, uniting with each other into societies (countless many such communities!), and thus acquire incorruptible crowns for themselves, achieving the desired ascent to heaven. Others, having chosen a solitary life and wanting to talk with God alone, deprive themselves of all human consolation and in this way receive victorious crowns. Some of them glorify God, living in huts, others in tents, and still others spend their lives in caves. And many (we have already mentioned some of them) do not even want to have a cave, a hut, or a tent, but, living in the open air, they endure all the vicissitudes of the weather: they are either frozen from extreme cold, or scorched by the sun's rays. For these latter ascetics, life is again different: some constantly stand, others sometimes stand, and sometimes sit. And one more thing: some surround themselves with some kind of wall and avoid meeting with strangers, while others deprive themselves of any fence and stand before the eyes of everyone who wants to see them. 2. All this I now considered necessary to list, starting to describe the life of Varadat, who also invented for himself a new image of courageous patience. At first, shutting himself up in a small house, he enjoyed Divine consolation for a long time. Then, having moved to a nearby cliff, he built a small box out of wood, disproportionate to his body, in which he spent his life in a constantly bent position, because the box was shorter than his height. In addition, this box was not knocked together from boards, but was a kind of sieve and looked like a fence with wide holes for light. Therefore, Varadat was not protected either from rain or from sunlight, but patiently endured both, like those ascetics who live in the open air, but surpassing them in his difficult imprisonment. 3. Having spent a long time in that box, Varadat finally left it, convinced by the blessed Theodotus, who then occupied the high priestly see of Antioch, and began to labor standing. He stood with his hands constantly raised to heaven, constantly praising the God of all. The blessed one's entire body was covered with a leather chiton: only a small hole was left near the nose and mouth for breathing, so that through this hole he could inhale air, without which human nature cannot live. And Varadat endured such labors, not only not having a strong constitution, but being susceptible to many diseases: ardent zeal forces even those who are unable to work to work. 4. Possessing a reasonable mind, Varadat gives excellent answers to all the questions that come to him, and his evidence is more correct and stronger than the evidence of those who studied Aristotle’s dialectics. But being at the height of virtue, he does not allow his mind to rise high, but forces it, as it were, to crawl down at the foot of the mountain, for he knows what great harm a mind inflamed with pride can cause to a person’s soul. This is the wisdom of this man in a nutshell. May God grant that, growing in this wisdom and piety, Varadat will finally reach the goal of his lists. For the glory of the holy victorious people is the common joy of all pious people. May the Lord grant me, through the prayers of the great ascetic, not so far from this mountain and from time to time to ascend it to enjoy the contemplation of the holy elders. 1. I cannot keep silent about Phaleleus, which is an equally wondrous sight. For I not only heard the stories of others about him, but I myself was an eyewitness of this extraordinary spectacle. At a distance of twenty stadia from Gaval (a small but beautiful town) there was a hill on which an idolatry had long existed. On this hill, desecrated by many sacrifices to idols, Phalelei built himself a small hut. According to the stories, the pagans served demons here because they hoped to tame their cruelty with sacrifices, for they caused harm to many - both passing travelers and surrounding residents, and not only people, but also donkeys, mules, cows and sheep, not fighting against cattle, but through them plotting intrigues for people. When the demons saw the ascetic who had come there, they tried to frighten him, but they could not do this, since faith protected him and grace fought for him. Then, filled with rage and rage, they attacked the trees growing there (there were many green figs and olives near the hill), and, as they say, suddenly more than five hundred of them were uprooted. I heard farmers talk about this, who, having long been in the darkness of wickedness, with the help of the teachings and miracles of Phaleleus, received the Light of the knowledge of God. 2. Not having shaken the ascetic of philosophy in this way, the destroying demons resorted to other tricks: at night they began to make the sounds of crying and showed many will-o’-the-wisps in order to frighten the old man and create confusion in his thoughts. When he put this attack to shame, the demons, finally leaving him, went away. 3. Then Phalelei, having arranged two wheels, each two cubits in diameter, fastened them together with boards, not laid completely next to each other, but with some intervals. Having secured these boards to the wheels with wedges and nails, he erected the structure in the open air. Next, having strengthened three long stakes in the ground and connecting their upper ends together with wooden boards, Falelei erected his structure on them, and he himself placed himself inside it. The interior space of the structure is two cubits high and one cubit wide; since the ascetic is very tall, he has to sit there not in a straight position, but constantly bent over and bowing his head to his knees. 4. When I came to him, I found Phaleleus reading the Divine Gospels and diligently collecting the good fruits of this reading. Wanting to know the reason for his chosen new way of life, I asked him a question about it. Phaleleus, speaking to me in Greek (he was originally from Cilicia), replied: “Being burdened with many sins and believing in the punishments that await sinners, I came up with such a feat for myself in order to subject my body here to moderate punishments, to reduce the severity of future punishments. For they will be heavy not only in their number, but also painful, since they will not be voluntary. However, what happens against one’s will causes special suffering. Voluntary work, although difficult, is less regrettable, since the work of asceticism is undertaken here of one’s own free will, and not under compulsion. So, if I reduce future ones with these small sorrows, I will receive great benefit from this.” Hearing such words, I marveled at the wise ingenuity of Phalelei, who, having followed the path of asceticism already paved by others, also came up with special feats for himself. Understanding their purpose, he showed it to others. 5. The surrounding residents testify that through Phalelei’s prayers many miracles and healings were performed, and he healed not only people, but also animals: camels, donkeys and mules. Therefore, all this people, obsessed with wickedness from time immemorial, abandoned it and were enlightened by the radiance of the Divine Light. Then the ascetic, using them as helpers, destroyed the church of demons and erected a great church in honor of the victorious martyrs, as if contrasting the false gods with the God-loving relics of the righteous of God. Through their prayers, may God grant him to achieve the goal of his exploits with victory. And we, with the assistance of both him and them, would become zealous imitators of their exploits of wisdom. 1. Having described the lifestyle of the ever-memorable husbands, I consider it my duty to mention the wives who accomplished no less, if not more, feats. These wives are worthy of all the more praise because, having a weaker nature, they show the same zeal as their husbands and free their sex from the shame of their ancestor. 2. First of all, I will mention Marana and Cyrus, who surpassed all others in their feats of patience. Their homeland is Veria; They were of noble origin and received an education in accordance with their origin. However, despising all this, they fenced off a small place for themselves outside the city, shut themselves in there and blocked the door with earth and stones. For the maidservants who wished to share their exploits, they built a small house near their fence: through a small hole in this fence, Marana and Cyrus look after their fellow ascetics, encourage them to pray and ignite Divine love in them. They themselves, having neither a house nor a hut, spend their lives in the open air. 3. Instead of a door, they have a small window through which they take the necessary food and talk with the women who come to them. For such meetings they have a designated time of Pentecost; on all other days of the year they remain silent. However, only Marana talks to those who come, for no one has ever heard Kira’s voice. 4. They wear chains that are so heavy that Kira, being of a weaker build, bends to the very ground and cannot straighten her body. Their clothing consists of large blankets, which go down to the bottom at the back, completely covering the legs, and at the front go down to the waist, completely covering the face, neck, chest and arms. 5. I saw them several times when I was allowed inside the fence, because out of respect for my rank as head of the priesthood, they ordered the door to be opened. Having seen such chains on weak wives that would have been heavy even for a strong husband, I began to convince them to get rid of such weight - and then with difficulty I received their consent. However, after I left, they again placed chains on their bodies: on their necks, on their belts, on their arms and legs. 6. And they live in this way not five, not ten, not fifteen years, but forty-two years. Having labored for such a long time, they love their labors as much as if they had just begun them. Contemplating the beauty of the Heavenly Bridegroom, they easily and willingly carry out the labor of their field and try to reach the limit of their exploits, directing their gaze to where their Beloved stands and shows them victorious crowns. Therefore, steadfastly enduring all the vicissitudes of the weather - rain, snow and scorching rays of the sun, the ascetics do not lose heart and do not mourn, but from these visible adversities they are able to extract joyful consolation for themselves. 7. Imitating the fast of the divine Moses (Ex. 24:18), they remained three times without food for the same amount of time and only after forty days did they take some food. Also three times, imitating the abstinence of blessed Daniel, they spent three weeks of days in fasting, and then lightly nourished the body. One day, desiring to see the sacred places of Christ’s saving suffering, they hurried to Elia. On the way, Marana and Cyrus did not take any food; Only when they came to this city and worshiped the shrine, they tasted it. On the way back they observed an equally strict fast, although the distance was at least twenty days' journey. Another time, wishing to see the tomb of the victorious Thekla in Isauria, the ascetics went there, making a round trip without taking food. That’s how great Divine love made them forget about themselves! That's how strong their attachment to the Heavenly Bridegroom was! Having become the adornment of the female sex in their lives, Marana and Cyrus became models of virtue for others, and, of course, they will receive victorious crowns from the Lord. I, having told about them for the sake of general benefit, will move on to another story. 1. The wondrous Domnina imitated the life of the blessed Maron, who was mentioned earlier. She made a small tent for herself out of millet stalks in the garden of her mother's house. Spending whole days there, Domnina wets not only her face with incessant tears, but also her hair clothes that cover her body. Usually, after the roosters crow, she goes to the church of God, located nearby, in order, together with other men and women, to bring praise to the Lord of all. She does this not only at the beginning, but also at the end of the day, believing herself and others that a place dedicated to God is more honorable than any other. Therefore, she herself considers him worthy of all care, and convinced his mother and brothers to spend their wealth on the house of God. 2. She feeds only on lentils soaked in water, and has a body exhausted from fasting and almost half dead. Her skin is very thin and film-like: it also covers the thin bones, since the fat parts of her body and muscles are exhausted by abstinence. Domnina lives openly for everyone who wants to see her, be it men or women; only, when receiving people, she herself does not look at their faces, and does not show her face to anyone, since she is covered with a veil that reaches her knees. Speaking in a weak and indistinct voice, she pronounces the words, constantly shedding tears. Often, taking my right hand and placing it to her eyes, Domnina released it so wet, as if the hand itself was streaming streams of tears. And what word can properly praise this blessed one, who, possessing the great wealth of wisdom, weeps, grieves and groans, like those living in extreme poverty? For her tears are born out of ardent love for God, inflaming and spurring her mind to Divine contemplation and making her desire with all her heart to depart from this world. 3. Spending her days and nights like this, Domnina does not neglect other types of virtue: whenever possible, she provides services to those great ascetics that we have already mentioned, and to those that have so far remained silent. She also takes care of those who come to her, inviting them to live with the shepherd of her village and herself providing them with everything they need, because she has at her disposal the estate of her mother and brothers, to which, thanks to her, God’s blessing descends. She also sends me bread, vegetables, and lentils soaked in water when I come to that region located to the north of ours. 4. However, how long will I go on, trying to expound all her virtues? Hasn't the time come to show the lives of other wives who imitated her and other ascetics? For there were and are many other wives who led and are leading a solitary life; others, loving community, live together, two hundred and fifty people (sometimes more, sometimes less), eat the same food, sleep only on matting, and when their hands are busy with yarn, they devote their tongues to sacred psalmody. 5. There are countless such schools of wisdom, not only in our country, but throughout the East. Palestine, Egypt, Asia, Pontus, and all of Europe are filled with them. From the time that Christ our Lord honored virginity by being born of the Virgin, nature began to produce these, so to speak, meadows of virginity and to bring to the Creator the fragrant and never-fading flowers of virtues, without distinguishing virtue by male and female sex and without dividing wisdom into these two parts, because Christians differ only in bodies, and not in spirit. After all, according to the words of the divine Apostle, “in Christ Jesus there is neither male nor female” (Gal.3:28); the same faith is given to both husbands and wives, for “there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in us all” (Eph. 4:5–6). The Judge of all the victors promised the Kingdom of Heaven alone, determining this common reward for their exploits. 6. So, as I said, there are many schools of wisdom - male and female - not only here, but throughout Syria, Palestine, Cilicia and Mesopotamia. They say that in Egypt there are some monasteries numbering more than five thousand men, laboring in various labors and together glorifying the Lord. With the help of their labors, they not only obtain the food they need, but also help the needy wanderers who come to them. 7. However, to tell about all this would be impossible not only for me alone, but for all writers. However, even if this were possible, I consider it unnecessary and useless. For those who want to receive spiritual benefits, what I have said is enough. This is why I mentioned the various types of ascetic life, and to the story about husbands I added the story about wives, so that the elders, the youths, and the wives would have before them examples of wisdom; so that everyone, having imprinted in himself the life he loved, would consider it a measure and model for his own life. And just as painters, looking at some prototype, make copies from the eyes, and from the nose, and from the lips, and from the cheeks, and from the ears, and from the forehead, and even from the hair and beard, and in addition, they depict a person sitting or standing, capturing the expression of his eyes - stern or cheerful - so those who will read the present story, let them choose any life they like, and, if possible, let them conform to it your life. Just as carpenters, leveling boards according to a plumb line, saw off everything unnecessary until they see that the board is aligned according to the plumb line, so should one who wants to imitate the life of a saint do: let him make it a standard for himself, cutting off the excess of vice and making up for the lack of virtue. This is why we have undertaken this work, so that those who wish to gain spiritual benefit can receive it. And therefore I ask readers who, without effort on their part, will benefit from the work of another, to pay for this work with their prayers. 8. I also pray to those whose lives I have described, that they will not despise me, who lives far from their spiritual choir, that they will raise the valley of the lying to the height of virtue and join me to their host, so that I not only praise the wealth of others, but also have something worthy of praise, glorifying in deed, word and thought the Savior of all - Christ our God, to whom, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be glory both now and forever and ever. Amen. XXXI. ABOUT DIVINE LOVE 1. How great and numerous the devotees of virtue are and with what shining crowns they are crowned is clearly demonstrated by the stories we have recorded in writing. Although not all of their exploits are mentioned, a few of these exploits are enough to show their entire life. For the stone used for testing gold does not wear away all that gold, but by rubbing the metal a little with it, you can find out whether it is pure or impure. An archer is tested in a similar way: it is enough for him to shoot a few arrows at the target so that it becomes clear to everyone whether he is a well-aimed shooter or is still unskilled in his craft. The same can be said about other masters of their craft, without listing them all: athletes, runners, actors, helmsmen, shipbuilders, doctors, farmers and all those who are engaged in any craft. For a little experience is enough to distinguish true experts in their field from those who are only called such, but in fact reveal their ignorance. Therefore, there is no need for lengthy narratives about the accomplishments of holy men, but a little is enough to present the entire way of life that they voluntarily chose. Now we should investigate and explore, in order to know exactly where the impulse came from that forced these holy men to lovingly accept such a way of life and by what reasoning they were guided in reaching the pinnacle of wisdom. For experience clearly teaches that they did not rely on the strength of the body, having loved a cause that exceeds human nature, transgressing the limits set by this nature, and going beyond the boundaries established for the fighters of piety. 2. For none of those who are not involved in this wisdom can demonstrate such courageous patience. Although shepherds are also caught in the snow, it is not always: they take refuge in caves and return home to rest there for a while, and put on proper shoes on their feet, and wrap the rest of their bodies in warm clothes; They eat food twice, or even three or four times a day. But a good piece of meat and a good cup of wine, as you know, warms the body better than any hearth. For when this food, having changed and being, as it were, filtered through a sieve, reaches the liver, then there it turns into blood and enters the heart through the blood vein; from there, having heated up, it spreads through blood vessels, like some kind of water canals, throughout all parts of the body, not only nourishing, but also heating them up, like fire, and thereby warms the body better than any soft-wool clothing. For the body is not warmed by tunics, outer and lower clothes, as some people think (otherwise the tree or stone clothed in them would also be warmed, but no one has ever seen them become warmer when covered with clothes), they only retain the warmth of the body, protect it from the access of cold air and receive the fumes emanating from it, themselves being heated by them and, already heated, covering the body. Evidence of this is experience: after all, often, when we lie down on a cold bed, with the touch of our body we make the bed warm, which shortly before was cold. Therefore, food warms the body better than any clothing: those who eat it to the full find in it sufficient protection from the onslaught of cold, for with this food they arm the body and make it able to withstand the cold season. But those who do not eat and drink every day, but curb their urges of hunger and thirst, and do not eat what can warm the body, but eat either grass, like dumb animals, or legumes soaked in water - how can they get heat from such food that warms the body! Can such food produce a few drops of blood, or even one drop of it? 3. Therefore, the lifestyle of ascetics does not in any way resemble the lifestyle of other people. For neither the clothes of both are the same, since the ascetics wear the coarsest clothing and least capable of warming, nor the food of both is the same, but even the opposite. After all, for example, for shepherds and the like, any time is suitable for eating food, because it is determined only by their desire: if hunger attacks them early in the morning, then they immediately take up food and eat what God sent them, since it is not established for them what can be eaten and what cannot be eaten, and they fearlessly eat the food they want. But here everything is determined: days, hours, times, type, and measure of food, but satiety with it is not allowed. Therefore, none of those who reproach us for praising the monastic life, presenting them as farmers, shepherds and sailors, can belittle the struggles of the great ascetics. For the farmer, having worked hard during the day, finds peace at home at night, surrounded by the care of his wife; the shepherd in the same way has everything that we have already talked about; As for the sailor, although his body is scorched by the sun's rays, he finds relief in the water, for he bathes as much as he wants, and uses the coolness of the water as a healing medicine from the heat of the sun. But the ascetics do not receive relief from anyone, for they do not live with their wives, who come up with all sorts of consolations for their husbands; scorched by the sun's rays, they do not seek relief in water; in winter, they do not protect themselves from the cold with food and do not use night rest as a cure for daytime fatigue, since their night labor is harder and longer than the day. After all, at night they enter into a struggle with sleep, do not allow it to gain its sweet victory over them, but overcome its most pleasant tyranny, performing all-night hymns to the Lord. Therefore, none of those who are alien to their philosophy could provide evidence of their steadfast patience. 4. And if no other person can withstand such labors, then it is clear that love for God makes ascetics capable of going beyond the limits of human nature. Burned by the mountain fire, they joyfully endure the attacks of the cold, and with heavenly dew they soften the heat of the sun's rays. Love feeds, waters, clothes and inspires them; she teaches them to fly, prepares them to soar above the sky, reveals to them, as far as possible, the Beloved, kindling their spiritual desire by contemplating His appearance, awakens affection for Him and ignites the heavenly fire in their souls. Just as those possessed by bodily love in the vision of their beloved find food for their obsession and, thereby, are more and more struck by its arrows, so those wounded by Divine love, imagining that Divine and pure Beauty, make the arrows of love more and more sharp, and the more they thirst to enjoy It, the further they are from saturation. After all, bodily pleasure is followed by satiety, but Divine love does not obey the laws of saturation. 5. Such was the great lawgiver Moses, who, having been honored many times, as far as is possible for man, with divine contemplation, having repeatedly enjoyed the Divine Voice, having spent forty days in divine darkness and having accepted God’s law, not only did not experience satiety, but acquired an even stronger and more ardent desire for God. After all, as if numb from the rapture of this love and falling into self-forgetfulness, he no longer knew his own nature, wanting to see what was not allowed to be seen; as if forgetting about the sovereignty of God and thinking about only love, he said to the God of all: “Behold, you say to me: ... you have grace with Me, and we know You above all. If I have found grace before You, show me Yourself, so that I can see You with understanding” (Ex. 33:12-13). He was brought into such rapture by Divine love, and this rapture did not quench his thirst, but made it stronger. The more Moses drank the divine wine, the more hungry he became, and tasting this drink only increased his desire. Just as fire, the more flammable substance is thrown into it, the stronger its effect is manifested (after all, with the increase of this substance it does not go out, but flares up more and more), so love for God is inflamed by the contemplation of divine things, and its effect from this becomes more and more powerful and ardent. And the more a person devotes himself to the Divine, the brighter the flame of love flares up in him. And not only Moses alone teaches us this, but also that Holy Bride, about whom the inspired Paul speaks: “I have betrothed you to one Husband, that I may present you to God as a pure virgin” (2 Cor. 11:2). And in the “Song of Songs” this bride calls out to the groom: “Show me Your visage and make Your voice heard by me: for Your voice is sweet, and Your image is beautiful” (Song. 2:14). Filled with love for the groom only by rumors, she is not satisfied with them, but wants to hear His voice. Stories about the beauty of the groom inspired the bride, and She strives to behold him, expressing her love with the following praises: “Show me Thy visage, and make Thy voice heard by me: for Thy voice is sweet, and Thy image is beautiful.” 6. Having loved this Beauty, the mediator who unites the bride and groom in marriage - I mean the inspired Paul - spoke the following word full of love: “Who will separate us from the love of God: tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or the sword? as it is written: “For Your sake they kill us every day; we are counted as sheep doomed to the slaughter” (Ps. 43:23; Rom. 8:36). Then the Apostle shows the reason for their steadfast patience: “But we overcome all these things through the power of God who loved us” (Rom. 8:37). Therefore, considering who we are and what blessings we have tasted, we can say that we were not the first to love, but were first loved by God, and then repaid with love (1 John 4:10, 19); haters, we were loved, and “though we were enemies, we were reconciled” (Rom. 5:10). And we ourselves did not beg to be granted this reconciliation, but we received the Only Begotten Son as an Intercessor for us; having offended, we were consoled by the offended. And besides, let us think about Him who was crucified for us, about His saving suffering, about death becoming rest, and about the hope of the Resurrection given to us. 7. Taking into account these and similar blessings of God, we overcome the sorrows that happen to us and, comparing the memory of blessings with the temporary suffering of the body, we joyfully endure the blows of adversity. For, weighing all the sorrows of life against love for the Lord, we find them very light. And if we put together all the imaginary pleasures and pleasantries of this life, then, opposed to Divine love, they will seem to us a weak shadow and a fleeting bloom of spring flowers. The Apostle clearly speaks about this both in the above and in the following phrase: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38-39). Since above, presenting only one sad thing, the Apostle spoke about sorrow, oppression, persecution, hunger, nakedness, danger and the sword, that is, violent death, here he quite rightly adds joyful things to the sorrowful: life to death, intelligible things to the sensible, invisible Powers to the visible, future and permanent to the present and transitory, and moreover, the depth of Gehenna and the height of the Kingdom. Heavenly. But having contrasted all this with love and finding that it - both sad and joyful - is inferior to it, and that the loss of love is more painful than punishment in Gehenna, and also showing that he (if only this were possible), in the presence of Divine love, would prefer the threatened punishment to the promised Kingdom of Heaven without love, the Apostle, in the ecstasy of love, seeks even what does not exist now and, comparing this with Divine love, insists: “neither height nor depth, no other creature can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 8. After all, as he says, not only do I prefer love for the Savior and Creator to everything in the aggregate, visible and invisible, but even if some other creature were discovered, greater and more beautiful than this, then she would not convince me to change this love. And if someone offers me something that brings joy, but without love, then I will not accept it; If for the sake of love hardships befall me, they will seem pleasant to me and very desirable, for for the sake of love hunger is more pleasant to me than luxurious feasts, persecution is sweeter than peace, nakedness is dearer than purple and gold-woven clothing, danger is more pleasant than safety, violent death is more desirable than any life. Because the very cause of suffering becomes a joy for me, since I accept the barrage of adversity as the Lover and, at the same time, the Beloved. “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21); “He, being rich, became poor for our sakes, that we through His poverty might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9); He “has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13); “he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross” (Phil. 2:8); “Christ died for us while we were still sinners” (Rom. 5:8). Reflecting on these and similar words, I thought that I could not find the Kingdom of Heaven without heavenly love; I would not have avoided punishment in Gehenna if it had been possible, possessing this love, to endure hellish torment. The Apostle clearly teaches this in another place: “For the love of Christ embraces us, who reason thus: if one died for all, then all died. But Christ died for all, so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again for them” (2 Cor. 5:14-15). Therefore, those who no longer live for themselves, but for the One who died for them and was resurrected, joyfully accept all deeds and suffering for His sake. 9. And comparing with this love those sufferings that are great and difficult for human nature, the Apostle calls them light and bearable: “For our momentary light suffering produces eternal glory in immeasurable abundance” (2 Cor. 4:17). And then he teaches how comparisons should be made: “when we look not at what is visible, but at what is invisible: for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18). For, he says, it is necessary to compare the future with the present, the eternal with the temporal, glory with sorrow, since glory is eternal, and sorrow is instantaneous; Therefore, sorrow is light and easy to bear, but glory is expensive and difficult to bear. As a result, the expression: “in immeasurable abundance”, the Apostle refers to both the ease of sorrow and the significant value of glory: one is immeasurably small, light and transitory, and the other is also immeasurably famous, dear, valuable and eternal. And elsewhere Paul cries: “Therefore I am content with weaknesses, with insults, with needs, with persecutions, with oppressions for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:10). 10. Also, the great Peter, wounded by this love, knowing in advance about his future renunciation, did not dare to hide, but recognized it as better to renounce the Lord by following Him than to flee after confessing Him. And the actions of this Apostle testify that his following of the Lord was the fruit of love, and not of reckless courage. After all, even after his renunciation, he did not dare to leave the Teacher, but, as the Gospel narrative teaches, “wept bitterly” (Matthew 26:75) and lamented about his defeat and weakness, being even more committed to the Lord and held by the bonds of love. Then, having heard the gospel of the Resurrection, Peter was the first to reach the tomb. Also, while fishing in Galilee later, he, having learned that the Lord Himself was standing on the shore and talking with them, did not wait for the boat to slowly cross the space of the sea separating them, but wanted to gain wings in order to quickly reach the shore by air. However, deprived by nature of wings, he used his hands instead and, instead of flying through the air, swam on the water (John 21:1-8). Having sailed across and having found the Beloved, as a reward for his haste, he receives preference over the other disciples of the Lord. For when the Lord commanded them to sit down and divided the food that was there (John 21:9-14), it was with Peter that He began a conversation, as if asking and inquiring about the strength of his love, but, in fact, revealing to others the love of the great Peter: “Simon the Jonah! - He said, “Do you love Me more than they?” And Peter called Him Himself as a witness of his love, answering: “Yes, Lord! You know that I love You” (John 21:15). He seemed to mean: “after all, You penetrate into the souls of people, you clearly know every movement of their thoughts, and nothing human is hidden from You.” “You have known that you are all last and ancient” (Ps. 139:4–5). And the Master added to what was said the words: “Feed My sheep” (John 21:16), meaning the following: “I have no need for anything, but I consider it a great blessing to care for My sheep, which I recognize as caring for Me Myself. Therefore, it is fitting for you to have the same care for your fellow servants as you do yourself, to feed them as I feed you, to feed them as I feed you, and to repay through them the same grace that you owe to Me.” 11. And the Bishop twice asked the great Peter about this, and he answered twice and twice accepted ordination from the Shepherd. But when the same question was asked to him for the third time, blessed Peter became saddened, he answered not with such courage and not so fearlessly, but he was filled with fear, confusion entered his soul, he began to waver in the decisiveness of his answer and fear whether the Lord foresaw his second renunciation and whether He was laughing at his bold statements about his love. With his mind, Peter returned to former times and remembered how earlier he had repeatedly insisted that he would not leave the Teacher even until death, and to this he heard from Him: “before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times” (Matthew 26:34); he discovered that his promise had not been fulfilled, but the Lord’s prophecy had come true. The memory of this made Peter tremble and did not allow him to give an appropriate answer with the same courage. The sharp and heavy stings of grief stung him, he yielded knowledge to the Master and he did not resist, as before, saying: “Even if I were to die with You, I will not deny You” (Matthew 26:35), but he said that he had the Lord Himself as a witness of his love, he only confessed that accurate knowledge of everything belongs to the One Creator of all things, and said: “Lord! You know everything; You know that I love You” (John 21:17). He meant: “What I love, You know and testify, but whether I will remain in love, You know better than me, and I will not say anything about the future and will not argue about what I do not know, for I have been taught by experience that one should not contradict the Lord. You are the Source of Truth, You are the Abyss of Knowledge, and I am taught to remain within the limits set by You.” 12. The Bishop, seeing the trepidation that overwhelmed Peter, and knowing his love perfectly, dissolves his fear with a prediction of martyrdom (John 21:18), testifies to his love, confirms Peter’s confession and puts this medicine of confession on the wound of renunciation. Therefore, I think, the Lord demanded a threefold confession: in order to apply medicine the same number of times to the three wounds of renunciation and in order to open the flame of love to the disciples present there. With His prediction about the death of Peter, He consoled him and taught others that his renunciation occurred according to God’s economy, and not according to the will of the supreme Apostle. And our Savior and Lord Himself points to this, saying: “Simon! Simon! Behold, Satan asked to sow you like wheat, but I prayed for you, so that your faith would not fail; and when you have once turned, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:31–32). He says: “Just as I strengthened you, who wavered, so be a support for your wavering brothers, give them the help that you yourself use, and do not push away those who have slipped, but raise those in danger to their feet. This is why I allow you to stumble, but I do not allow you to fall completely, because through you I prepare support for those who waver.” 13. So this great pillar strengthened the wavering universe, did not allow it to fall completely, but supported and made it unshakable; Having received the command to feed the sheep of God, he endured reproaches for them and rejoiced when they beat him. Coming out with his companion from the evil Sanhedrin, he rejoiced, “that for the name of the Master he was deemed worthy to receive dishonor” (Acts 5:41). Thrown into prison, he rejoiced and rejoiced there too. And when under Nero he was condemned to accept death on the cross for the Crucified One, he asked the executioners to nail him to the bars, not like the Master, but to crucify him on the contrary, fearing, as it seems, that His equality with the Lord in suffering did not force the foolish to give him the same honor. Therefore, he begged to be nailed with his hands down and his feet up. After all, Peter had learned to choose the last place not only in honor, but also in dishonor. And if it were possible to endure such a death ten or fifty times, then he, burned by Divine love, would accept it each time with great pleasure. The divine Paul also proclaims this: “I die every day: I am testified of this by the praise I have in Christ Jesus” (1 Cor. 15:31); “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:19–20). 14. Therefore, he who has received Divine love disdains all earthly things, tramples upon all bodily pleasures, despises wealth, glory and human honor; in his eyes, royal purple is no different from a spider’s web, and precious stones are like ordinary pebbles scattered along the banks of a river. He does not consider bodily health to be bliss, and he does not call illness a misfortune; does not call poverty misfortune, and does not recognize wealth and luxury as happiness; all this, as he rightly thinks, is like river streams that flow past trees planted along the banks, but do not linger at any of them. Likewise, beauty, poverty and wealth, health and illness, honor and dishonor, and everything else that flows through human nature like river streams, does not, as can be observed, always remain with the same people, but constantly moves from one to another. Many who live in abundance fall into extreme poverty, and many of the poor join the ranks of the rich. And illness and health travel, so to speak, throughout all bodies - whether they are languishing in hunger or in luxury. 15. Only virtue, or wisdom, is a permanent good. It overcomes the hands of the robber, and the tongue of the slanderer, and the hail of enemy arrows and darts; is not the prey of fever, the toy of the waves, and does not suffer damage from a shipwreck. Time does not diminish its strength, but, on the contrary, this strength increases over time. The substance of philosophy is Divine love. For it is impossible to excel in wisdom without becoming an ardent lover of God; Moreover, it is called “love of wisdom” because God is Wisdom and is called “Wisdom”. For blessed Paul speaks of the God of all: “the incorruptible, invisible, only wise God” (1 Tim. 1:17); about the Only Begotten he says: “Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:24) and “wisdom from God has been given to us, righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30). Therefore, a genuine wise man can rightly be called a “lover of God.” But the lover of God despises everything else, directing his gaze to the One Beloved, preferring serving Him to everything else: he only says, does and thinks what is pleasing and favorable to the Beloved, and hates what He forbids. 16. Having neglected this love and turning out to be ungrateful to the Benefactor, Adam, in retribution for his ingratitude, reaped thorns, labors and troubles (Gen. 3:17 ff.). Abel, having preserved unshakable love for the Giver of blessings, despising the pleasures of the womb and preferring the service of God to everything else, was adorned with unfading wreaths, reaping praise for himself in the memory of all generations (Gen. 4:3 et seq.). Also, Enoch, who acquired this true and genuine love, sowed well and reaped even better, being taken into heaven as a reward for serving God, receiving immortal life to this day and a glorious and honorable memory in the hearts of the people of this entire age (Gen. 5:23-24). And what can be said about the love of Noah, who was not overcome by any pressure from the lawless? When everyone turned away and chose the opposite love, he alone walked the straight path, preferring the Creator to everything; therefore, he alone with his children found salvation, leaving a seed to nature and preserving the spark of life for the human race (Gen. 14:18-21). Also, the great bishop Melchizedek, disgusted by the madness of the idolaters, dedicated his priesthood to the Creator of all things (Gen. 14:18-21), for which he accepted a great reward, becoming the prototype and shadow of the One who truly is “without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life” (Heb. 7:3). 17. The line of reasoning leads us to the one who is called “the friend of God,” who conscientiously preserved the laws of friendship and taught them to others. For who among those who have received at least some education in divine things does not know how the great Abraham was obedient to God’s calling, how he left his father’s house and preferred a foreign land to his fatherland? Having once and for all loved Him who had called him, he recognized everything else as secondary to friendship with Him and, despite many difficulties, did not leave his Beloved under the pretext of failure to fulfill His promise; but even tormented by thirst, when he was prevented from drinking water from the wells he himself had dug, he was not annoyed with the Caller and did not take revenge on the offenders. He endured bouts of hunger, but did not extinguish the flame of love within himself; he lost his wife, shining with beauty, adorned with chastity and always making his life pleasant, but along with his wife, his love for God was not taken away from him - on the contrary, with the help of God, who exercised him in long-suffering and allowed him to suffer the blows of injustice, he always remained equally loving. He became an old man, but did not become a father, and then he did not change his favor towards the One who promised to make him a father, although he had not yet fulfilled His promise. When the promise was later fulfilled, Sarah's nature was conquered, the limits of old age were surpassed, and he became the father of Isaac, Abraham did not enjoy this joy for long: as soon as the child became a child, he was commanded to sacrifice him to the Giver, to return the gift to the Giver, to be a priest of the fruit of the promise, to sacrifice the great fountain of nations, and to stain his hands with the blood of his only begotten son. However, although all this, and even more, was contained in the sacrifice, the patriarch did not resist, did not evade under the pretext of the rights of nature, did not point out the promises given to him, did not remind him that his old age needed care and that someone should take care of his burial, but, rejecting every human thought, he opposed love to love, and the law - the law, that is, the law of nature - the law of God, and therefore hastened to make the sacrifice and would undoubtedly have struck, if the Greatly Gifted One, seeing his zeal, had not immediately prevented the slaughter. But I don't know if any word can describe this love. After all, the one who did not spare his only begotten son when the Beloved ordered him to be slaughtered, would he not have neglected anything else for His sake? 18. And the great Isaac acquired the same love for the Lord, as well as his son, the patriarch Jacob. The Divine Scriptures glorify the love of God of both, and the God of all things does not separate the branches from the root, but calls Himself “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob” (Ex. 3:15–16). Joseph was a pious fruit - an old man among young men, a strong man among elders, whose love for God was not destroyed by envy, nor slavery did not extinguish, nor the flattery of a mistress did not rob, nor threat and fear withered, nor slander, prison and for a long time did not overcome, nor power, might, luxury and wealth were not plucked from the heart; but he always and equally remained in this love of God, fixing his eyes on the Beloved and fulfilling His laws. Having acquired this love, Moses neglected to stay in the royal palaces, “he would rather suffer with the people of God than have temporary sinful pleasure” (Heb. 11:25). However, should the discussion about this be continued and extended beyond measure? After all, the entire host of prophets, given over to this love and adorned by it, succeeded in the most perfect virtue and left behind them an ever-memorable glory. Also, the choir of the Apostles and the faces of the martyrs, having received its fire, disdained everything visible and preferred countless types of death to all the sweets of life. Having loved Divine Beauty, thinking about God’s Love for us and thinking about the thousands of blessings of God, they considered it a shame for themselves not to desire this Divine Beauty, showing ingratitude to the Benefactor. Therefore, they kept their covenant with Him until death. 19. And the new ascetics of virtue, whose lives we have briefly described, having loved the same Beauty, entered into the same great competitions, conquering human nature. Their mentors in this were the Divine Scriptures, for together with the great David they sing: “Lord my God, you have been greatly magnified, you have clothed yourself in confession and glory. Dress yourself in light like a robe, stretch out the sky like a skin” (Ps. 104:1-2). And other verbs of Scripture instruct regarding His Wisdom and Power: “The Lord reigned, clothed with beauty; the Lord clothed himself with strength and girded himself” (Ps. 92:1), for “set straight the world that cannot move” (Ps. 95:10). And here His Wisdom, Beauty and Power are proclaimed. Elsewhere it says: “He is more beautiful in kindness than the sons of men” (Ps. 44:3). Here the psalmist praised the human beauty of God the Word. His wisdom also sings: “grace is poured out on Your lips” (Ps. 44:3). He also shows strength: “Gird Your sword on Your thigh, O Mighty One. By Thy beauty and Thy kindness, come and prosper and reign for the sake of truth and meekness and righteousness” (Ps. 45:4-5). And Isaiah cries out: “Who is this who came from Edom, whose scarlet robe was from Bosrah? This one is beautiful in His utensils, green in strength” (Is. 63:1). For human garments did not hide His Divine Beauty, but, clothed in them, He shone with blooming youth in order to induce those looking at Him to submit to Divine love. The holy bride speaks about this when she talks with Him in the Song of Songs: “Thy name has been poured out in peace. For this reason the maiden loved Thee, attracted Thee, and flowed after Thee into the stench of Thy world” (Song. 1:2-3). For young souls, sensing Your fragrance, desire and strive to comprehend You; held by this fragrance, they do not want to break the bonds - sweet and voluntarily imposed. The words of the divine Paul are consonant with this: “For we are the savor of Christ... among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing: to some a savor of death unto death, and to others a savor of life unto life” (2 Cor. 2:15–16). 20. These ascetics are taught by the Divine Scripture that the Lord is beautiful, possesses indescribable wealth, that He is the Source of wisdom, is able to do whatever He wants, pours out His immeasurable love for mankind on people, exudes rivers of meekness and desires only one thing - to bestow His blessings on people. They are also taught by God-bearing men about the countless types of these benefits and, wounded by the sweet arrows of love and being members of the bride, they cry out with her: “we are also wounded by love” (Song. 5:8). For the great John says: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). And the prophet Isaiah foretold the future as if it had already happened, saying: “He was plagued for our sins, and he was tormented for our iniquities, the punishment of our peace was on Him. By His stripes we are healed” (Is. 53:5) and everything else similar that was said by the prophet about the saving sufferings of the Lord. Paul also proclaims: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” (Rom.8:32); and again: “In the name of Christ we ask: be reconciled with God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:20-21). 21. Having acquired such and similar verbs from those who have become servants of the Word of God, new devotees of virtue are encouraged on all sides to Divine love and, neglecting everything, imagine the Beloved in their minds and make their body spiritual before the expected incorruption. And we, too, having accepted this love, enchanted by the beauty of the Bridegroom, prompted by the promised blessings, ashamed of the many benefits of God and fearing punishment for our ingratitude, we become loving guardians of His laws. For the definition of friendship is this: to love and hate the same things that a friend loves and hates. Therefore, God said to Abraham: “I will bless he who blesses you, and he who swears you I will curse” (Gen. 12:3). And David says to God: “I was greatly honored by Your friends, O God” (Ps. 139:17); also: “Have they not hated Thee, O Lord, and in all Thy ways have they hated? I hated them with complete hatred, having been my enemies” (Ps. 139:21–22); and in another place: “I have hated the transgressors, but I have loved Your law” (Ps. 119:113), and also: “If I have loved Your law, O Lord, all the day long I have been my teaching” (Ps. 119:97). Therefore, the obvious proof of love for God is observance of God’s laws: “whoever loves Me keeps My commandments” (John 14:23), said the Lord Christ. With Him is glory, honor and worship of the Father with the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. You might be interested in: