Память преподобнаго Варадата, пустынника Сирийского

The Monk Varadat was from Antioch in 1571. Having chosen for himself the exploits of a contemplative hermit's life, he first locked himself in one hut, and then after a while he retired to one high mountain and began to live hopelessly in a cell that he built for himself. The monk deliberately arranged this cell in such a way that its size was smaller than his height, and therefore he always stood in it, hunched over, and lay bent over. The cell was without windows, with only one door, and the saint always kept that door closed in order to protect himself from outside visitors, and to allow daylight to penetrate inside the cell, instead of windows, he built wells in the wall, which were so wide that he never had protection in his home from either rain or the heat of the sun. Saint Varadat lived in such a cramped and uncomfortable room for many years. Subsequently, yielding to the convictions of the Antiochian Bishop Theodoret, he left his home, but from that time on he began to wear clothes made of sewn leather, which covered his entire body from head to toe, and only small slits were left in it near the mouth and nose for free breathing. Unable to walk in such clothes, the monk constantly stood on his feet with his hands raised to the sky and glorified God. Thus, Saint Varadat was always in seclusion. He carried out such a feat not for the pleasure of the flesh, but in order to force himself to endure bodily pain and thereby humble his flesh, since he was obsessed with strong passions and was constantly kindled by fiery, indomitable lusts. When the monk, in order to receive the reward promised to the ascetics in eternity, brought his flesh to the point of exhaustion, he departed to the Lord and received eternal rest from Him. Here, of course, is Syrian Antioch, the once vast and rich capital of the Syrian kingdom, now an insignificant town in Asian Turkey. You might be interested in: