The life and asceticism of our holy father Simeon the New Theologian

The first major work of St. Nikita Stifat became “The life and asceticism of our holy father Simeon the New Theologian” (152 chapters). The Monk Nikita describes in detail the life path of his spiritual father: from his youth and calling to monasticism to spiritual exploits, mystical revelations and clashes with church authorities. Particular attention is paid to the theological views of St. Simeon, his teaching about the direct experience of knowledge of God, deification and acquisition of the Holy Spirit, which became the central theme of his sermons and hymns. The work is not only biographical, but also apologetic in nature, being a fiery defense of St. Simeon from attacks and misunderstandings from his contemporaries, as well as glorifying his holiness and spiritual greatness. 1. The virtue of warmth is full and is capable of not only fanning the embers of desire, but also turning the very soul into fire; She can also inspire the mind, tearing it away from the earth, lift it to heaven in spirit and make the whole person a god. So the great Simeon, whom we have to talk about, having become her warmest zealot, ascended to the shining pinnacle of her glory; That is why we should tell everyone who is close to us about his wonderful qualities - how many of them were an inheritance for him from his family and fatherland, and how great righteousness he acquired by the sweat of his brow, through ascetic labors, struggles and battles in order to gain virtue. 2. Glorious in virtue, Simeon grew from the lands of Paphlagon, like a flowering and fruitful tree, abounding with the fruits of the Spirit from its young nails. His homeland was a village called in those places Galati, and his parents, Vasily and Feofano, from the rich and noble, bore the nickname “Galatians”. Even at a tender age, he was sent by his relatives, like some kind of jewel, to the city of Constantine. There his relatives close to the royal court receive him, give him to a literature teacher, and he comprehends the beginnings. Being receptive and full of intelligence from childhood, he diligently studied, and thanks to his innate liveliness and ability to think, he benefited from it. If Simeon saw any childish pranks and liberties, then, feeling as if he were already wise with gray hair and turning his whole mind to his studies, he moved away from the foolish. And having reached a more mature age, he devoted himself to more complex studies and, studying them even more diligently, soon learned to write very beautifully and even mastered the most beautiful art of cursive writing, of which the books written by his hand are a sure testimony. In completing the secular sciences, all he had to do was refine his language in Hellenic and successfully become familiar with rhetoric. But, being from childhood a husband full of prudence, avoiding reproaches, he not only neglected it, but barely touched the benefits arising from it with his fingertips and learned only the so-called grammar, everything else that is meant by secular science, he rejected and avoided the hostility of his peers. 3. So, his uncle on his paternal side, seeing that he differed from many in his beauty and flourishing appearance - his uncle was the head of the Kytonites and enjoyed very free access to the then sceptreholders (and these were half-blooded and porphyritic brothers Vasily and Constantine) - he set out to introduce him to the emperor and bring him closer to the court. But Simeon with tears rejected his uncle’s intention: he did not want to get acquainted with the rulers of that time, so as not to lose God by acquiring something that was not worth a penny. His uncle barely convinced him to accept the dignity of spafarocuvicularius (servant at the emperor’s bedchamber with the rank of spafarius) and become one of the members of the synclite. But this is true nobility! Bonds and enslavement to worldly things have no power over him; he is not subject to the vain splendor of this life. After all, while one was in a hurry to show his husband to the world in the radiance of passing glory, the other wisely rejected some things, and with condescension accepted some things for a while, awaiting the future. Suddenly that famous husband is snatched from life by inevitable death. Then Simeon, taking this opportunity, immediately, leaving everything, flees from the world and from what is in the world, and rushes to God. Thus, his entire soul, wounded by the heavenly beauties, filled with a thirst for unearthly glory, easily despises the deceptive shine of visible things and completely indulges in the taste of hopes and pleasures from the unearthly world, every day feeding his mental feelings with the sweetness of thoughts [about God] and striving to more perfectly achieve what he desires. 4. So, Simeon finds himself in the glorious Studite monastery. He was looking for someone who from his youth would become his spiritual father and teacher. And this was Simeon, great in virtue, like no other, who achieved extreme dispassion, in whom reverence for God, combined with piety and modesty of character, gave rise to his nickname. Simeon finds him, informs him of his goal, asks him to take him in so that he can completely change his life and be numbered among the monks. And he, being experienced in monastic life and knowing the attacks of the evil one, does not condone the immediate fulfillment [of the request], but the young man who has barely reached fourteen years old turns away from this impulse and offers him a term after reaching a more perfect age. But from childhood, while living in his uncle’s house, Simeon kept the flame of divine desire ready to flare up, so, above all else, he began to diligently engage in prayer and reading. When one day he received from the hands of a teacher a book of the works of the holy men Mark and Diadochos, opening it, he found among the written words addressed to him: “In seeking benefit, take care of your conscience; do everything that it says, and you will find benefit.” And as if hearing this from the mouth of God, he begins to take care of his conscience. And this divine quality inherent in people strengthened his spiritual fervor every day and contributed to the growth of goodness. Because of this, his time of prayer and wakefulness increased until the roosters crowed. After all, the lifestyle that he led was limited only to what was necessary for long prayer and reading, and before abandoning the world, he loved the life of the incorporeal in the body - it must be said, young and tender. Therefore, there was no need for many years of periods to completely remove himself from the visible and immerse himself in the contemplation of invisible divine visions: after all, after a short time, the grace of the Spirit, finding his soul free from matter and inflamed with love for the Creator, inspired him with the lust of the mental and, tearing him away from the earth, lifted him to the visions and revelations of the Lord. 5. And so, when one night he stood in prayer and with a purified mind came into contact with the Primary Mind, he suddenly saw a light shining on him from heaven, transparent and immeasurable, illuminating and pure everything, as if turning the night into day, by which he himself was illuminated - and it seemed to him that the whole house with the cell where he stood immediately became invisible and went into oblivion, while he himself, caught up in the air, completely forgot about body He experienced such joy, as he [subsequently] wrote and told those he trusted, that he was immediately filled with tenderness and warm tears; and, shocked by the unusualness of the miracle, for he was not yet privy to such revelations, he began to cry out countless times in a loud voice: “Lord, have mercy!” - as he realized later, having come to his senses. Then he did not know at all whether his voice was heard and whether his speech was heard from the outside. Being under the influence of this light, he saw - and behold, like a shining cloud, without form or outline, full of the ineffable glory of God, in the heavenly heights, and to the right of this cloud he saw his spiritual father, Simeon the Reverent (oh, a terrible vision!) standing in the ordinary clothes that he wore in life, incessantly looking at that divine light and incessantly praying to him. So, having spent a long time in such ecstasy and seeing his father standing at the right hand of the Glory of God, he did not feel whether he was “in the body” or “outside the body” (2 Cor. 12:2-3), as he later explained and related. And a little later, when this light gradually disappeared, he realized himself again in the body and inside the cell, and then his heart found itself filled with unspeakable joy, and his lips exclaimed, as already said, “Lord, have mercy!”, and he was all watered with tears, sweeter than honey and honeycombs. From then on, he felt that his body became thin and light, as if spiritual, and this continued for a long time. Such is the effect of purity and such is the great effect of divine love on zealous people. 6. Having seen such a vision, the wondrous Simeon was even more inflamed within with divine fire and began to persistently ask his spiritual father to tonsure him. And he, with a perspicacious gaze, foresaw the time necessary for this, and also considering the tender youthful age for a difficult feat to be unreliable, he decided that it was too early to do this. When six years had passed since that awe-inspiring vision and Simeon, for some reason, hastily gathered for his homeland, he came to talk with that divine father in the glorious Studite monastery. And that amazing husband, as soon as he saw him, said: “Here, child, is the right moment when, if you want, you should change your appearance and lifestyle.” These words became a hot coal for the young man’s heart, and he said: “Why, father, did you not say this to me, your child, earlier? But now I will say goodbye to the world and to what is in it. And since, because of the royal service entrusted to me, I am hastily going to my homeland, there I will take everything that belongs to me and, upon returning, all my property, and I will completely surrender myself into the hands of your holiness.” He finished his speech, set off and quickly found himself in his native land. And since the time of fasting had come, he completely abandoned himself to warfare in order to acquire virtue. Then, having examined his parents’ library, he takes from there the “Ladder” of the divine John; Conversing with her, like some kind of fertile soil, he absorbed words and thoughts with his heart, preparing to cultivate them daily and bear fruit. And since his cell at the entrance to the chapel was very small, when he entered there, he was the only one there; then, having locked the door of the chapel at night, he prayed until the third hour, and during the day he either “secretly” prayed to the Heavenly Father (Matthew 6:6), or conversed with the Divine Scripture. And, hearing about the supernatural virtues of the saints who remained in obedience, and about the successes they acquired, he himself ardently desired the same and began a battle equal to their battle. Therefore, turning to the aforementioned book, he found in it the following words: “Insensibility is the mortification of the soul and the death of the mind before the death of the body.” As soon as Simeon read these words - since he sought and found healing in such a book - he began to stay awake and pray at the graves, painting images of the dead in his heart, and thereby aroused a whole war against him: he intensified his fasting and vigil, dwelling in the memory of death and the Last Judgment. 7. And so, while he was indulging in this, he prayed one night in the church, where there was an ark full of remains, and out of habit he had locked the doors. Then a lot of demons came running, and with threats they rushed to the church, they all leaned on the doors at once, opened them to kidnap him, and they rumbled so much that he thought that the doors had scattered in all directions. Seized by great fear, he raised his hands to the sky and began to call on God’s help from above. When the spirits of evil saw that he had been standing motionless for many hours, defeated, they left. From the great tension, Simeon’s hands became numb and did not bend, but he connected them, despite the severe pain, and then saw with amazement that the doors were locked. From then on, he gained more courage against the demons; he no longer thought anything of their attack, because he gained complete confidence that they had no power against us, unless we were rejected by God. Being in this state and doing this, Simeon renounced all worldly concerns, and was zealous only in prayer and reading. If despondency suddenly bothered him, he would retire to the places where the graves were located and sit on them, either mentally talking with the dead who were underground, then silently indulging in weeping, or emitting mournful cries with tears, trying with all this to protect himself and remove the veil of insensibility from his heart. Such was the war of the wondrous Simeon from the very beginning, and such was his zeal when he was still a layman. Undoubtedly, the grace of God acted on him, for the sight of dead bodies was imprinted on his mind like an image painted on a wall. Moreover, all his feelings changed, so that from then on the face of every person, every blooming beauty, every moving animal he saw truly dead. 8. When the time came for his departure to the great city and the parent saw that he was in a hurry and getting ready to set off, then, having tried all means, but not having the strength to divert him from the divine goal, he remains alone with him and begins to beg him with tears: “I pray you, child, do not leave me in my old age! For, as you see, the end of my days is near and “the time of my departure” is not far off (2 Tim. 4:6) Now, when you hide my body in the grave, then go wherever you want, and go the way you wish. Now do not want to upset me with your departure. You know that only in you do I find the support of my old age and the consolation of my soul. Therefore, I consider separation from you tantamount to death.” The father said this and much more, shedding streams of tears. But the son, as having already transgressed the bonds of nature and preferring the Heavenly Father to his earthly father, answered: “It is impossible for me, father, to linger in the world any longer, even for a short time: after all, we do not know “what the coming day will give birth to” (Proverbs 3:28), and to prefer anything to serving the Lord is risky and dangerous for me.” 9. Having said this, he immediately renounced in writing the entire paternal inheritance. Then, taking only his own things, servants and what he got in other ways, he jumped on his horse and, driving him like Lot (Gen. 19:17-26), rode with all his might. He did not look back at the lamentations of his relatives and did not think about the worldly service entrusted to him. So much more acute than any other thing, and even natural love for parents, is the all-burning love for the Heavenly Father! He knew that no natural bonds could hold him back and no threats from people, since the best had prevailed over the worst and had torn away the autocratic thought from all worldly feelings. That is why the wondrous Simeon, overwhelmed by such feelings, ordered the servants to go forward, and he himself, in deep sadness, either leisurely followed them, or lagged behind them so much that they did not hear his sobs. His weeping filled the mountains and plaintive cries filled the valleys, but his love for God consoled him. So one day, when he rushed forward and reached the top of the mountain, the grace of the Holy Spirit suddenly illuminated him from above, like fire, like Paul once (Acts. 9:3, 22:6), and he was completely filled with unspeakable joy and sweetness, which increased his love for God and trust in his spiritual father. 10. And so, having reached the city in eight days, the head of other cities, like a thirsty deer, he runs to cold springs (Ps. 41:2), reaches the glorious old man of God and falls to him, as if to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, laying down all his property at his feet. And he, a truly loving father, seeing the depth of his humility and faith, first distributed everything to the poor (Matthew 19:21), freeing the student from worrying about property, and then took him with him to the monastery and prepared him for the coming trials; With his perspicacious eye, he foresaw the troubles that would befall the young man. 11. The next day, having taken the noble young man, the elder presents him to the abbot (Peter was then caring for a large flock of Studites) and, having put aside two liters of gold for the monastery, clothes him in ascetic clothing. But since there was no free cell at that time where the young man could take shelter, the abbot placed him with that great father - this is what they both decided because of Simeon’s young age. And the elder, having received the one whom he had raised from a young age in the study of verbal sciences, commanded him to remain under the stairs of his cell and reflect there on the narrow path (Matthew 7:14); for in the cell there was a corner like a coffin, in which the young man slept, squeezing himself in there with great difficulty. So, one begins more advanced labors in order to acquire virtue, and the other begins to skillfully teach it. And the father says to the young man: “Look, child, if you want to be saved and avoid the wiles of the evil one, pay attention only to yourself; do not communicate in vain with any of those who are here in sacred meetings, do not go from cell to cell, but stay like a wanderer, invulnerable to every person; think about your sins and think about eternal reward; keep your mind unentertained external things. By observing this, you will gain great benefit.” 12. Hearing these words, as if coming from the mouth of God, Simeon strictly fulfilled them all. But the father-mentor, wanting to crown the young man’s labors even more, ordered him to perform the most base work in his cell. The young man, having enslaved himself to the elder once and for all, willingly did everything, considering himself a slave and a wanderer, for he was ready to joyfully and willingly plunge even into the fiery furnace and into the depths of the sea, if only the elder had ordered him. Engaged in the most despicable labor and greatly exhausted in it, he did not forget about fasting and vigils, but, knowing how great the benefit was from them, he constantly remained in them. The elder, wanting to cut off the will of the young man, often ordered him to do the opposite of this - to sit at meals and indulge in sleep: although this greatly upset Simeon, he endured all this, learning a lot; for that divine elder was wise: either he forced Simeon to endure humiliation and labor, or he honored him and gave him rest, in one way or another, opposing his will and giving him a reward. So, taught by his father, the young man thus changed for the better, but his trust in the old man and reverence for him increased so much that he even reverently avoided stepping on the ground where his father’s feet had trodden. Therefore, he revered every place where he saw his father standing or praying as if it were the holy of holies, he fell to him, prostrated and kissed him, and with his hands he collected the teacher’s tears from him and, like a medicine for passions, applied them to his head and heart; He considered himself unworthy to touch any of his clothes. 13. And so the enemy, seeing that Simeon was rapidly soaring to such a spiritual height, began to sharpen his teeth at him and try in various ways to catch him. However, the pillar of fire (Ex. 13:21) of the elder’s prayer was a strong defense for Simeon. But in order to show that the power of the enemy’s anger is insignificant, the teacher allows him to attack Simeon a little in moments of weakness. Therefore, the enemy first approaches him in a dream and causes relaxation and darkness in the head and heaviness of the whole body, so that it seemed to Simeon that he was dressed from head to toe in heavy sackcloth and was unable to stand, bow down, open his lips, or listen to what was sung in church. But the valiant young man, having foreseen the attacks of the enemy, repels them with the strength and weapons of the Spirit, without yielding at all or moving from the place where he stood. Therefore, being unable to bear the strength and great tenacity of Simeon, the enemy, having suffered defeat, flees the fight, that’s how. Once, when Simeon was standing at the beginning of the morning psalmody, it seemed to him that the weight of his clothes seemed to free the ends of his legs and gradually slide upward. Therefore, the parts of the body removed from her were free, and those with which she was in contact, she experienced a feeling of even greater heaviness. Then, as if a thick cloud with a powerful breath stopped at a distance in the air - and from that time on, the valiant husband felt light and subtle and as if completely spiritual. Then, filled with unspeakable joy, he himself cried out along with David: “Thou hast torn my sackcloth to pieces, and thou hast girded me with gladness” (Ps. 29:12). So, having received power from above, he no longer sat at all services, but, imitating his teacher, conducted them all standing. 14. When the evil spirit of despondency was finally defeated, demons of fear rose up against him at night and, when he was praying, they began to shake his cell, making noise and presenting terrible visions; when he went to sleep, they appeared to him like Ethiopians, emitting flames from their eyes and mouths, breathing suffocating smoke into his face and at the same time filling the entire cell with it; and sometimes it seemed that they were screaming, shaking fiery weapons; and where he lay, there they set fire to the floor and walls. Thus the demons carried out their usual work, and at each attack he stood up to pray, and they soon fled. 15. So what? The strongest demons of fornication, never resting, come out to another battle and approach him. Then every night, twice or even three times, they began to attack him in visions in order to wound his heart with the pleasure of carnal confusion. He received such great grace from God against the demons that even in his sleep he remained as if awake, and resisted them even more than when he was awake. 16. Since they were again defeated and no longer dared to attack him in the same way, then in their unbridled madness they arm themselves with weapons of envy and incite against him the most careless of the brethren and even (which would not have happened!) the Kafigumen Peter himself. But the valiant warrior of Christ, being clothed in the armor and helmet of the Spirit, did not allow himself to look at any of the tempters or talk with them, but also avoided all other people without hatred; and, like a child of Christ, artless in understanding, he rested only in the spiritual embrace of the divine father, to whom he revealed everything that was in his soul, and went out fully armed to battle with demons. Therefore, at divine services he stood like some kind of column or lifeless statue, not raising his eyes at all, from which he let out streams of tears every day, without saying a word to anyone around him. So among the monks, those equal to him in piety, seeing him in such a state, rejoiced and praised God, while others could not stand to see him: for all who were mired in wickedness believed that his way of life exposed their negligence. Вот от них-то на доблестного мужа и надвигается великая война. And they themselves, who were unbearable to see Simeon’s exploits, exceeding human nature, and their primate begins to fight with him, persistently strive to deviate him from his chosen path, deprive him of trust in his spiritual father and follow their way of thinking, or completely remove him from the monastery if he does not succumb to their admonitions. 17. But were they the only ones who, like half-brothers against Joseph, were sent by the enemies to fight Simeon? Not at all: but also some of the laity, and even his own father. And one could see a strange battle and struggle on both sides: the laity tried to return Simeon to the family and the world from which he had fled, and the monks sought to alienate him from the spiritual order and benefit and either make him their like-minded person, or, if he did not give in, completely deprive him of even their society. But what is this wisdom of the sages and intrigues against him? Flattering speeches and threats, reproaches and praises, slander and promises, in order to crush the one who resisted the demons in at least one of these. Some drew him to feasts, drinking parties and conversations, promising him what they considered an honorable deed. What exactly? Services, luxurious cells, ordinations. Others rejected him and threatened him with expulsion. For what? So that he despises God and renounces virtue and his spiritual father. 18. So what is this valiant young man, superior even to the elders in understanding and perfectly able to distinguish the best from the worst? Are you relaxed by flattery? Have you sacrificed at least a little the severity of the feat? Has the narrow path changed to a wide one? Not at all! But, like some invincible fighter in wonderful insensibility, he grabs what contributes to his glorious exploits - slander, persecution, sorrows, denunciations - and passes by what delights many. What is this? Praises, glorifications, honors, presiding, service and other things that please those who strive for this. But what next? The elder anointed the fighter with admonitions, so that he would find courage and strength in the trials, and addressed him with the following words: “Valiantly endure, my child, the temptations raised by demons against you, for they are a touchstone for us. Understand well that all the things that we zealously strive for in order to acquire them through labor in battle, such as fasting, vigilance or success in any other form of asceticism, are in vain for us if we do not fight to acquire a soul that is good-natured, simple, non-vain, humble and meek. For in such a soul the grace of the Divine Spirit dwells and breathes, as if in the most pleasant dwelling, and otherwise no one can see it or receive it.” 19. The wisest Simeon, as soon as he heard this, desiring to receive the grace of the Holy Spirit, immediately falls on his face and touches the holy feet of the elder, fervently begging him to quickly receive grace through his prayers, rather than be honored to receive it through his own deeds and labors. The compassionate elder softens in heart and says to the prostrate disciple: “Get up, child! I am a man myself. However, hoping for God’s love for mankind, I say that you will be given twice as much grace as me.” Extremely amazed by these words and accepting them with unshakable faith, Simeon stood up with eyes full of tears, and the elder, kissing him, sent him away in peace. It was about three o'clock in the morning. When Simeon entered his cell, oh, the speedy intercession of God! - the morning light shone, and then suddenly a light from above, like lightning, shone around him, completely embraced his mind and, capturing him all, filled him with indescribable joy. And she inspires his soul with even greater love for God. With warmth of spirit and a contrite heart, he falls to God and, confessing, gives Him thanks. And then, defeated and crying, a terrible miracle appears to him. As soon as he fell to God, he immediately saw with his mind a light-like cloud falling on him, imparting to his soul all the sweetness and pleasure, filling it with divine grace, completely thinning the earthly thickness of his carnal understanding. 20. So, from that time on, Simeon’s trust in his spiritual father began to increase and he began to “stretch forward” (Phil. 3:13–14). After all, longing for the revealed vision completely overwhelmed him, and he found lasting tenderness. The word of wisdom and knowledge was given to him, so that everyone was amazed at his intelligence and speeches and, amazed, said this: “Where did he, who has not learned external sciences, get such wisdom and knowledge?” It was hidden from them that God is the very wisdom and perfect knowledge of those in whom He dwells and makes a dwelling for Himself and fills those who participate in Him with ineffable wisdom and knowledge and makes them wiser than all the sages and rhetoricians, as His disciples and apostles. And not only was everyone amazed at this, but also at his humility and constant tenderness; for persistent asceticism helped him to soar to such a height in a short time that he overtook even those who had been struggling for virtue for a long time, and became their teacher, like the great prophet Daniel (Dan. 1:17-21). Anyone can learn this from what he wrote in response to their questions, amazing them extremely with his messages. 21. But a little time passed, and envious people, seeing his progress in virtue and trust in his spiritual father, came to the abbot and greatly fanned the coals of his anger against Simeon. The abbot, having called the valiant man, began to talk with him and, with promises and threats, tried to turn him away from the teacher and attract him to himself: after all, the primate harbored inappropriate envy of that great elder. But when he saw Simeon’s unyielding spirit and his unshakable trust in the elder, he, defeated by the persuasiveness and wisdom of the blessed man’s words, immediately ordered his expulsion from the monastery. 22. Seeing the envy of the abbot and the rest of the brothers, the great father, taking his disciple, goes to that same Anthony, who was then known for virtue, the abbot of the nearby monastery of St. Mamant. It is to him that the elder hands Simeon over, like a treasure of the good. So what? Did the evil one retreat at all and abandon envy and intrigues against Simeon? Not at all. But he again raises up a father according to the flesh and some people from the synclite, and they try to prevent Simeon from tearing himself away from the world and from what is in the world. But the valiant warrior of Christ, inflamed by divine love, remained unshakable and adamant. 23. Therefore, Simeon sends a letter to the father according to the flesh, with which it would be appropriate for him to address his son, in order to admonish him not to prefer anything to the love of Christ. But then, when he was writing, another divine sign appeared to him. When he wrote an instruction to his father, wanting to teach him how to address holy men in letters, he added the following: “And you will write a letter to my holy father like this...” And with these words - oh, your extraordinary mysteries, King Christ! - suddenly an endless light shone from the sky for him, as if dividing the roof of the house and again filling his soul with unspeakable joy and sweetness, and from the immensity of this light, both he himself and the burning lamp were completely eclipsed (after all, it was night!). And from this divine light comes a voice: “To the Apostle, Disciple of Christ, our intercessor and representative before God.” As soon as Simeon heard these so unexpected words, his mind went into a frenzy, and his feelings were seized by awe. For he swore by God who appeared to him that he was completely illuminated by divine light. "Shedding streams of tears," he says, "I felt how someone made my hand light, pushed it towards the writing and began to move it. After all, I could not see with sensory vision when I wrote down what was spoken from above." 24. When the “good shepherd” (John 10:11) began to visit the disciple more often and realized that he was all inflamed with divine love and burning with desire for the holy image, he tonsured the disciple and clothed him in the robe of joy (Is. 61:10). From now on, Simeon, with ardent zeal for the acquisition of virtue, proceeds to even greater feats and, with understanding of the matter, girds himself around his loins with a belt (1 Pet. 1:13; Ps. 29:11) of joy and courage, in which he has grown and with which he has become accustomed from his youth. He also touches more perfect acts of righteousness and, leaving everything else, devotes himself only to prayer, silence and meditation on the Holy Scriptures and, in the light of contemplation, comes into more perfect contact with God, for whom he lived before tonsure and who generously illuminated him from the cradle. 25. His daily food, purified to the extreme, was life-giving bread and the honest blood of Christ, edible plants and grains. By this he maintained the life of his body, taking nothing else for six days of the week except Sundays, and on holidays he took part in a common meal with his brothers, without looking at anyone and in inexhaustible tenderness, then he got up, thanked him, hastily retired to his cell, locked the door behind him and stood up to pray. Then, after reading for a while, he indulged in a short rest, bending down to the ground: for he had neither a bed, nor a bed, nor any other comfort for the body, but as a bed he preferred a floor with a spread sheep's skin and a mat, and even then he did not spend every night on it. On Sundays and on major holidays, the cell saw how he remained awake from evening until morning and thus, like Arsenius the Great, did not indulge in sleep, but got up to pray with the first rays of the sun, shedding the warmest tears. For he believed that there was nothing more valuable than conversation with God. And he tried very hard not to utter a single idle word (Matthew 12:36), for he knew for sure that violating any of Christ’s commandments, even if it seems the smallest, would bring considerable harm to the soul in the future life. 26. Therefore, one could see him every day, as if in a stadium, running with enthusiasm and in a boiling spirit along the path of the commandments of Christ, not looking back at any of the people, completely filled with attention, spiritual heat, divine revelations and insights. From that time on, this strong man spent whole days in a locked cell and did not leave it at all. While staying inside the cell, he produced the honey of virtue and, like a hardworking bee (Proverbs 6:8), he beautifully stored each virtue in a honeycomb in order to have an inexhaustible supply of food for the future and so that the fruit of his own work, worthy of a heavenly meal, could be given in a proper manner to his King and God. Therefore, at first completely concentrating and renouncing the external, he got up to pray, as it is said, at dawn, delighting the mind with grief and immaterially being with the immaterial God; his mind was not clothed with any worries and was not dissipated by sensory impressions, but the Divinity itself immediately accepted his prayers and enveloped the rational part of his soul with its light, refining what was earthly in him, and filling his heart with spiritual warmth and every joy. Then, having washed himself with tears, as if in a bath, and having become like a flame from prayer, he left the cell on the kathisma (bench), and then turned to the Holy Scriptures and, reading the lives of former ascetics, assimilated their exploits for himself. 27. After reading, he set to work, making lists of inspired books, for he was a very gifted scribe, so that everyone who saw his writing was filled with joy. At the blow of the beat, he quickly stood up for the divine service and, while the divine anaphora was being performed, he, secluded in one of the prayer services of the church, after reading the Gospel, stood in prayer and talked with God with tears until the priest offered bread. Then, being completely engulfed in divine fire, he partook of the Most Pure Mysteries and immediately silently hurried to his cell, took a moderate and simple meal and began, as said, his usual activities. But when evening came and night began, one could see him, like some kind of never-ending star shining in the darkness of the night: until midnight he stood in prayer, read the Holy Scriptures and in the ecstasy of sacred contemplations mysteriously united with God. 28. At the seventh hour of midnight, with a blow, he rose from the ground, lying on which he had rested for a very short time, and together with his brothers sang morning hymns to God. Throughout the entire matins until his dismissal, he stood upright and did not sit down while reading the Holy Scriptures, but retired to one of the chapels of the church and stood motionless, listening to the reading and watering the floor with tears. When the usual sequence ended, he, alone after everyone else, silently left the church, hastily retired to his cell and indulged in his holy deeds. This was the path of the ascetic deeds of the wondrous Simeon throughout the day and night. And he spent the days of Holy Pentecost almost without food, all days of every week, except Saturday and Sunday: on these two days he ate beans and boiled vegetables at a common meal. He never lay down on his side, but if he ever felt that his nature was weak, he, as he sat, bowed his head on his arm that was numb and aching with pain and, as if indulging in sleep, gave himself rest for no more than one hour. Such was his work in the initial and middle labors of this legal asceticism (2 Tim. 2:5). 29. When, within two years, he had well mastered the middle part of the feat and, with the help of wisdom, began to quickly move towards perfection, then, having closely examined the nature of things with the eye of contemplation and having learned the reasons due to which they received movement from above, he gains clarity of speech from the Spirit and, having composed beautiful sermons, pronounces them in the midst of the Church of Christ (Ps. 21:23). And when the shepherd and teacher learned that the student had thus quickly, with the ardent zeal of the spirit, grown “into a perfect man, according to the measure of the stature of Christ” (Eph. 4:13), he had the wonderful intention of placing this already lit lamp on the candlestick (Matthew 5:15) of the church of the faithful, so that he would reveal to everyone in it that in which the light of knowledge had enlightened him. 30. This is what that holy man thought about Simeon, and meanwhile a little time passed, and the abbot of that monastery, leaving earthly things, went to the Lord. And then, by the decision of Patriarch Nicholas Chrysovergus and the monks of the monastery of St. Mamant, Simeon is elevated to the teaching throne and ordained a priest, as a co-celebrant of the highest powers, not without struggle and commendable resistance, which he firmly acquired in humility of heart, reverent for the dignity of the priesthood and putting off the burden of power due to praiseworthy and beautiful timidity. So, he is anointed with the “oil of joy” (Ps. 45:8) and proclaims peace to people, being loudly attested by everyone as a worthy priest, a guardian of the divine mysteries and a contemplator of the terrible sights that he saw with the eyes of cherubs. After all, when the wise Simeon was ordained priest by the archpastor and he prayed over him, and he bowed his knee and head before the sacrament, he saw how the Holy Spirit, like an infinite light, simple and formless, descended and covered his all-holy head. He saw the Holy Spirit descending on the sacrifice he offered when he celebrated the Liturgy, during the forty-eight years of his priesthood, as he himself told someone, as if about someone else, secretly meaning himself, and as it is written in his apothegms. 31. So who in this generation has risen to such a degree of contemplation as to always clearly see the Holy Spirit, hear Him speak, and feel His action and movement? Then, plunging into the depths of humility, turning away from human glory, he sought to be inconspicuous and avoid, as far as possible, even his fellow servants. That is why, often, when he was asked what a priest should be like, he, overcoming himself, answered with emotion and with tears: "Oh, brothers, why do you ask me about such things? After all, just the thought of this makes me tremble: I am not at all worthy to be a priest, because I think terrible things about sacred dignity; and yet I, insignificant, firmly know what a priest should be. Firstly, a priest must be pure, and not only with the body, but, what is much more important, with the soul itself; and not only this, but also to be uninvolved in any sin, humble in outward behavior, and contrite in inner disposition. When he stands before the holy throne, he must mentally see the Divinity, and sensually the gifts presented, gain knowledge in his heart of the One who is invisibly present in the gifts, so that he can boldly offer prayers and talk with God and the Father, as a friend talks with a friend, and without condemnation say “Our Father who art in heaven” as having in himself the true God and by the nature of the existing Son of God abiding in him with the help of the Holy Spirit indwelling him.” 32. So speaking, he shed streams of tears and begged each of those present not to achieve this unworthily before, through many labors, he reaches such a state to perform such a high and even for the angels terrible sacrament, but to work diligently day after day in fulfilling Christ’s commandments and, so to speak, to repent hourly of what we, people, sin not only in the flesh, but also in the depths of the mind and the secret thoughts of the soul; and those who are especially contrite in spirit should daily, with tears, offer up a sacrifice to God for themselves and for their neighbors - prayers and petitions of our mysterious sacred rite, in which God rejoices and, accepting which into His holy, heavenly and mental altar, gives us the gift of the All-Holy Spirit. 33. Thus answering those who asked and in such a state, sitting on the presbyteral throne, the co-servant of the highest ranks constantly offered a bloodless sacrifice in contemplation of the Spirit, and his face took on an angelic image. Even a callous soul, if he looked at Simeon during the Liturgy, when he taught peace to the people, could not endure the radiance of his face for long, but was blinded by the rays emanating from him, being in confusion, like one who suddenly looked at the sun and was blinded by the inherent light of the sun. After all, the grace of the Spirit, poured out in full measure throughout Simeon’s entire body, made him all like fire, and he became almost inaccessible to human eyes during his ministry. Simeon of Ephesus also spoke, who himself became a disciple of this man and who told some people about him: “When I served the saint,” he says, “my intelligent eyes were opened, and I saw him during his service in the altar with an omophorion, dressed in the patriarchal table and immersed in the divine sacraments.” Meletius, who was tonsured as a saint with his own hand, assured me that, he says, “we often saw how a luminous cloud enveloped him all over when he stood at the altar during the holy anaphora.” This is how it should be: those who reach the heights of virtues are awarded the glory of God. 34. By the time Simeon took charge of the flock of the verbal sheep of Christ, the monastery had long been in complete desolation and was neither a refuge nor an abode for monastics, but served as a place where the laity lived, and a tomb where many dead bodies lay. Few of the monks remained, but even those, due to spiritual sterility, became wild and languished with hunger for the word of God. So it is these few souls entrusted to him that Simeon first feeds with the immortal food of words, satisfies hunger and gives them a taste of a better life. Then he gathers with Jesus (Matthew 12:30) and multiplies the sheep, brings them to a large number and forms an army from the disciples. From a single grape berry or from a young and unripe bunch, he puts ripened clusters, that is, “men of spiritual desires,” into the master’s winepress (Dan. 9:23, 10:11, 19). But since the monastery required a lot of work to restore, he takes out beyond the fence everything dumped in piles and lying on the ground as useless and splendidly renovates the entire monastery from the foundation, except for the church. And the church, which, as they say, was built by the Emperor Mauritius and which long ago became a tomb, he cleanses of dead bodies, covers the floor with marble and brightly decorates the church with donated utensils and holy icons. In addition, he arranges a repository for books, sacred vestments and everything else, as well as lamps carved from transparent stone and amazingly beautiful chandeliers. 35. Having thus restored the entire monastery, Simeon then also turns to the spiritual structure of the disciples, edifying and teaching them the art of arts and the science of sciences, that is, the monastic way of life - a little in words, but more in action, encouraging them to fulfill the commandments, showing his example and speaking; “Look at me and do the same” (Judges 7:17). Then he established a common meal for himself and his disciples - boiled vegetables and cereals, which, having tasted enough, the disciples stood up with thanksgiving, and he often, moving away from them, was content with raw vegetables and a moderate amount of water, thereby curbing himself and restraining himself, showing the disciples an example of a very narrow and labor-filled path (Matthew 7:14). This is what he did and this is what he taught, and thanks to an overabundance of humility, the gift of tenderness, sent down from above, began to increase in him, which became bread and drink for him throughout his life, so that he could say together with David: “You have fed us with the bread of tears and given us to drink the wine of tenderness” (Ps. 79:6). For this work, he set himself three times of the day, as was said: early morning - after the morning psalmody, the time of the sacred anaphora, when the Son of God is sacrificed, and the evening time, after other psalmody. During these three times, standing alone, he communed with God one-on-one with tears. 36. Every day this righteous man secretly performed such a task. One night he stood and offered his prayers to the Lord - and suddenly he saw that the roof of the house had risen and a cloud of light, descending from the sky, fell on his honest head: it covered him all over for quite a long time and filled him with the greatest warmth and some indescribable sweetness, indescribable joy and spiritual pleasure, for he heard a mysterious voice coming from there, which taught him some unknown and hidden secrets. Therefore, when the cloud moved away, he found his heart exuding streams of divine grace in the wisdom of God, and from now on he no longer belonged to himself, but divine grace, which completely captured him, made his tongue “the reed of a scribbler” (Ps. 44:2), and his mind - the source of divine wisdom (Bar. 3:12). Therefore, although he was completely ignorant of secular sciences, he began to theologize, like a “beloved disciple,” and devoted himself to theology all night long. 37. We heard that all nature involved in this life is tamed by sleep, but the soul of this man, alien to bodily needs, did not want sleep and did not allow his body to bow down, nor to feel tired during an all-night vigil or standing, nor to give in and succumb to the needs of hunger and thirst. Like those who lead a pampered life in prosperity and look blooming and rosy, so Simeon, in any misfortune, looked radiant and angelic. But having been so perfected by grace from above and awarded the apostolic gift, that is, the teaching word, he became and was visible, I repeat, as an organ of the Spirit, mysteriously sounding from above: either he composed in a free meter “Hymns of Divine Love,” then, from the abundance of thoughts, he wrote interpretations of the Holy Scriptures, sometimes he composed catechetical words, and at times, addressing messages to a few, he was heard by everyone. 38. But what next? He watered, as I said, his flock continuously with words, and it grew daily, but not painlessly, not without various obstacles, but with great difficulties and enemy temptations. And in order to show through one temptation the others that happened to him, I will tell you about what the monks of this monastery inflicted on him during the service. One morning, when the morning doxology ended and the blessed husband, as was his custom, began to teach his disciples, now denouncing, now forbidding, now exhorting (2 Tim. 4:2), according to the apostolic advice - suddenly about thirty monks, tearing their clothes, like those who were once with Anna and Caiaphas (Matt. 26:65), with incoherent cries, rushing to commit murder and confusing the entire church, they boldly raised their wicked hands against their father in order to seize and tear him to pieces like wild animals. And he, when he noticed their sudden change and how they had changed towards their own father and teacher, pressed his hands to his chest and directed his thoughts to the sky: standing motionless, with a clear smile, he looked at the wicked. 39. They continued to attack him with senseless screams and abuse, revealing the fury of barking dogs and revealing their shamelessness, but the power from above did not allow them to lay wicked hands on him, for the grace that settled in Simeon kept them at a distance and pushed them away from him. Not knowing what to do, they run out of the church and, breaking the bars of the monastery gates, possessed and insane, they run to the patriarchate, leaving the blessed husband only with the pious. When they, unarmed, passed the first gate of the great Church of God and began to pester the archpastor with shouts from below - and it was Sisinnius - the patriarch called them, inquiring about the cause of the unrest and about the intrigues against the holy man. Having recognized their terrible madness, the next day he summons the blessed husband. And when the blessed one came to him with dignity and in clear calm, he began to question him about the reason for the insane behavior of the monks. When he spoke in an elegant and colorful style about what happened during the usual sermon and teaching, then about their shamelessness and their impulse to commit murder, and how they fled, breaking the bolts and locks of the gates, the patriarch, shocked by this and learning about the envy and fury of these madmen, was filled with just anger and condemned them all to exile. 40. If someone else had suffered this from them, would he not have been happy about this decision? Would you not rejoice, according to the word of Scripture (Ps. 57:11), if you saw vengeance? Not so the good shepherd and the most accurate imitator of the First Shepherd. When he saw the guards preparing to seize the rebels and take them away, he, filled with compassion and laying down his life for the sheep (John 10:11), falls on his face, touches the feet of the patriarch and in tears asks for forgiveness for them. The patriarch bows with difficulty and, in response to requests, cancels the exile, but does not allow these people to return to the monastery. Immediately they were all excommunicated from the Church and, filled with madness, fled, each following his own will. Of these, some became catechumens in churches, others were scattered among different monasteries, and all the worst and most insignificant were scattered wherever they happened. 41. What about the good shepherd? He returns alone to the monastery, internally tormented by the loss of Christ’s sheep and shedding tears. And look at the inflexibility of the holy soul and the gentleness of the righteous (Wis. 2:19)! Since it was unbearable for him to see the courtyard empty of sheep, what does the all-wise and noble man do to reconcile the flock with himself and with God and to return it to himself? He scouts out those places in the city where each of these people stays of his own free will, and, having found out, sends everyone what they need, softening the hardness of their hearts with comforting words. He did this for many days and, being a truly good shepherd, humbly communicated with each individual, talked with love, asked to return and forgive him, as if he had offended them rather than being offended by them. With edifying words he softened their stubbornness and cruelty of heart, and in a short time the good shepherd gathered everyone, entering the sheepfold by the door of Jesus, and not in any other way, like a thief who had entered there (Jn. 10:1–2), and again filled his yard with tamed sheep that had recently gone wild. 42. May the shepherds of the present age hear about his virtue and may they imitate it in order to become, if they wish, partakers and sharers of that grace from above which he tasted. After all, that blessed man, unlike today’s shepherds and teachers, was helped not by the desire to satisfy every bodily need in this life, but by the concern to quickly eliminate the flame of lust and not give predominance to the worst element of the soul, to follow only the best and follow the will of God. Therefore, he avoided human glory as the bearer of eternal punishment. He did not suffer what is characteristic of many - who, not being able to appear worthy before others thanks to extreme virtue, instills fear in the people under their control with a proudly raised head and frowning eyebrows - but imitated his God and Lord, commensurate in everything with his disciples; Therefore, he accepted blissful poverty and non-covetousness with joy, as reliable wealth, for through them he was perfectly able to remain in humility in his thoughts and constantly be in contrition of spirit. 43. Therefore, streams of tears flowed from him, meekness blossomed in him, and the attraction to divine love and righteousness, compassion for his neighbor, purity of heart, peace towards himself and towards everyone, patience in temptation and perseverance in the persecution for the truth (Matthew 5:5-10) - all this, like a great reward, he always sought to achieve. Therefore, he was not mistaken in his desires, his plans were fulfilled in practice to the end, and he showed patience in business, as the subsequent narrative will show. And his face always seemed to be shining, he rejoiced from within with the grace of the Spirit, as the sage said: “When the heart rejoices, the face blooms” (Proverbs 15:13). 44. Such was Simeon, and such was his life, and such was the activity that accompanied him. Firstly, he completely renounced the world and what is in the world, stripping himself of all attachment to visible things; then, eliminating his own desires and embarking on the path of achievement, he valiantly drove off the enemy. Having succeeded in this, he turned from silence to the ministry of the word and, sitting on the presbyteral see, enlightened the people entrusted to him with teachings, made many of the unworthy worthy, brought them to God and, finally, fighting for the sake of truth with many temptations, until the end he preserved the testimony of his conscience undefeated. Such was, as has been said, the life of this man; to put it in a nutshell, a life that is active and at the same time extremely contemplative and sublime, perfect in theology and in the great wisdom of God. His flock was the same, as it were, the second church of the sacred Studites, in its appearance and deeds, in its very attire and morals, or, better to say, a choir of disembodied angels, intelligently singing (Ps. 46:7-8) the praise of God and serving him with ardent zeal. Spending his life in this way and thus surpassing the base needs of the body, the blessed man daily grew in the desire for the best (Phil. 3:14), and his flock of Christ grew through his disciples who were tonsured. 45. It is worth mentioning the virtues of one or two of his students and talking about them along the way, so that through this the virtue of their teacher becomes even more clear to everyone. A certain man, who also came from Paphlagonia, a eunuch, a cursive writer by training, despised the vanity of this life and, when rumors about the blessed father reached him, he went to him, completely renouncing the world. And so, when blessed Simeon saw and tested him and found that this man hated the world in every possible way and ardently rushed to God, he accepted him into his flock, took off his worldly clothes and first clothed him in the robe of novice, without promising tonsure; If he fulfills the work assigned to him well, and willingly endures the work of all suffering, then in good time it will be given to him to put on the holy schema, and to share with the other brethren the order and rules of the monastery. In a short time, having demonstrated his humility in the best possible way, showing in practice what kind of love he has for exploits of virtue, and having gone through all the base obediences, this man is tonsured by Simeon, both externally and internally, and receives the name Arseny. So, he enters the field of asceticism and, being free from spiritual desires, begins a fight with the enemy. 46. ​​And look at the machinations of the enemy and at the strength and intelligence of Arseny. Since love for parents is some kind of difficult-to-break bonds, woven by nature itself, and few, with the help of philosophy, have acquired refuge from them, then through this the enemy is trying to destroy Arseny. But he, having great confidence in blessed Simeon, broke this connection from the very beginning, like a web, as the further description of his deeds will show. Arsenia's mother was still alive and lived on Pontus Euxine. Koznodey prompted her and moved her, so that for the sake of ardent love for her son she would reach the queen of cities. Arriving in the city, she finds out where the refuge and whereabouts of her son are, quickly hurries there and, prostrating herself in front of the gate, with tears asks permission to see her son. The gatekeeper, unable to bear the woman’s insistence, tells Arseny about her, and how she says: “I will not get up from this place unless I see my beloved son.” And what is a true student of a true shepherd and teacher? "I," he says, "have already died to the world; how, brother, can I turn back and see, as you say, who gave birth to me in the flesh? I have one who gave birth to me in the Spirit, from whom I daily taste the purest milk (1 Peter 2:2) of the grace of God - I am talking about my father according to God, who, having given birth to me in the Spirit, became for me both a mother, as they say, and who is in the womb and she cherishes me in her womb like a newborn baby. I will never be able to leave it and rush after her, even if I hear that she has given up the ghost at the gate.” The gatekeeper listened to this and conveyed to his mother what Arseny had said. For three days, shedding tears, she stayed at the gate and set off on the way back, never seeing her son again, not defeated by natural love. 47. If such was the one born at the beginning of the lists, what was the height of virtue and knowledge of the one who gave birth to him? After all, the sage says that a parent is known by his sons (Sir. 11:28). Having barely begun to prepare Arseny for feats of virtue, Simeon saw that the student was diligent in any obedience, and was not slow in providing the thirsty with ways to gain benefit: he ordered Arseny to look after the mules, then to help in the cookhouse, and sometimes to carry water and do all sorts of more base work. Arseny not only willingly carried out these labors, but surpassed all his fellow monks in enduring other difficulties, such as fasting, vigil and prayer. Therefore, when at the beginning of his stay in the monastery the fast of the Holy Pentecost began, he, still inexperienced in asceticism, turned to Simeon with a request to spend the first week completely without food. And the saint, seeing his ardent zeal, as befits, rejoiced and encouraged him to ascetic deeds, but did not want him to follow his own will, but preferred that he derive greater and more perfect benefit through cutting off his will. Therefore, Simeon did not indulge his will. And he became inflamed and, trying to avoid obstacles in the work he had begun, sought to fulfill his request. 48. But since the blessed man often stopped his impulse, and he often insisted on fulfilling his desire, Simeon said to him: “Arseny! It would be wonderful and very useful for you not to follow your own will, but to obey my commands more; if it seems to you that it is useful to fulfill your own desire, as you judged, then I, albeit reluctantly, still allow you to do what you want. Look what lies ahead for you endure and what fruit of disobedience you will receive.” He said, and when the first week came, Arseny, with all his inherent ardor and ardent zeal, recklessly began more advanced feats, while still a beginner. When everyone else left for dinner at ten o’clock, he alone remained without food, looking at Saint Simeon and wanting to imitate him. But during the night vigil of the fourth day, standing among those chanting psalms, he suddenly faints and falls backward - a disaster from disobedience, a very formidable and terrible example to those present. And the saint, foreseeing what happened and instructing one of the disciples to keep a vessel with diluted wine and some bread ready, gives a sign to bring this directly to the morning service and orders, as soon as it is brought, to raise Arseny and feed him with it. Having taken the food, he stood up with as much shame as can be expressed and heard from the blessed one: “If you had been like your brothers in everything, then, being among them at the vigil, you would not have endured anything inappropriate. But since you, ahead of time, through pride and disobedience of your soul, hastened to achieve more and gain primacy among others, then in justice you did not retain less.” 49. From that time on, Arseny was overcome by unfeigned repentance; from the consciousness of shame it plunged him into the depths of humility. And in order for our story to show his success in humility, we will remember, to decorate the story, one or two cases of how the blessed one dealt with him for the sake of his humility. While serving as a cellarer, Arseny once washed the wheat with water and placed it in the vestibule of the church. He left one door open to allow the grain to dry. But crows flew in from somewhere, climbed inside the church, ate as much grain as they could, jumped and screamed. Hearing their voices, Arseny rushed there and found them greedily swallowing grain, and the grain was scattered everywhere. And so, seeing this and filled with anger at the birds, he closed the door, killed them all with a stick and threw them to the ground. And as if he had done something righteous, he reports this to the blessed one. And he, as if favorably accepting his words, says: “Come on, let’s go, I’ll see if you did a good job in killing them.” Arriving at the place and seeing that the dead birds were stretched out on the floor, the saint was saddened and indignant at Arseny’s reckless impulse. Calling one of his children, he ordered to bring a rope, tie all the birds with it and hang it around Arseny’s neck. The fulfillment of the order preceded the words, and then the blessed one ordered the culprit to be led through the entire monastery and placed in full view of his fellow monks. Arseny endured this shameful act with such a contrite mood that rivers of tears flowed from him, and he loudly called himself a murderer. So, enough of what has been said to show the virtue of both and the wise practice of their piety. 50. But we must also add to what has been told what almost eluded us. One day friends came to the blessed one. And since one of them, due to some kind of bodily illness, needed to taste meat - and, moreover, the meat of newly fledged pigeon chicks - the compassionate and blessed Simeon orders the birds to be roasted and offered to the needy. When the sick man ate, Arseny, who was sitting right there at the table, looked at him with indignation. So, blessed Simeon noticed his condition and, wanting to teach him to listen only to himself and not consider it possible to become defiled by accepting anything, - after all, it is said that “to the pure all things are pure” (Tit. 1:15), “nothing” that comes “from without can defile” the soul (Mk. 7:15), - and at the same time, wanting to show the height of the disciple’s humility to the tablemates, so that they would know that there are true children of obedience to God and virtue, he says to him; “Why, Arseny, don’t you pay attention to yourself and eat your bread with humility, with your eyes downcast, but, fixing your gaze on the one who eats meat out of weakness, you suffer from thoughts, you think that you are more pious than this man, if you eat vegetables and earthly seeds, not as eagles eat pigeons and partridges? Or have you not heard Christ say: “It’s not that, what goes into the mouth defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth” (Matt. 15:11), such as: “murder, adultery, fornication” (Matt. 15:19), envy, greed, etc. Why do you, slow-witted, not look and think with knowledge, but so unreasonably within yourself condemned the eater, of course regretting it? killing birds, and forgot about the one who said: “Let him who does not eat condemn him who eats” (Rom. 14:3)? Now eat from them yourself, and know that you are more defiled by your thoughts than by eating these birds.” 51. And, grabbing one of the birds, the saint threw it to Arseny, ordering him to eat it. And he, as soon as he heard this, shuddered from the cruelty of the order, but knowing that disobedience is harder than eating meat, bowing down and asking for a blessing, he took the bird and began to chew it and eat it with tears. When the saint saw that he had already crushed the food enough with his teeth and was preparing to pass it into his stomach, he said: “That’s enough for you, spit out the rest, for if you, glutton, began to eat, even a whole pigeon coop will not be able to satisfy you and stop your lust.” So, without reasoning, the glorious disciple of this great father fulfilled the obedience that he promised to keep in the face of God until death. It is not in vain and not without intention that I talk about this, but to show the teacher’s knowledge of virtue, the success of his students in humility, and how great was the work of piety among both the teacher and the students - in this generation, which neglected the divine and careful practice of virtue characteristic of the fathers. 52. But, if you wish, let us turn the story to his other student. After all, this story is not only not without pleasantness, but it will also bring you benefits along with pleasure. There was a certain bishop, from the West, very God-loving in character and way of life, reasonable, pure and virtuous. Due to devilish envy, he fell into the grave sin of murder. But I will tell you in order how it happened. The bishop once sat at the entrance to his cell, holding a book in his hands, and felt slightly thirsty. It was evening. And since his beloved nephew was serving him, he called the boy to prepare him a cup of diluted wine. Immediately fulfilling the request, the boy brings the cup to the bishop, that is, to his uncle. Having accepted it and tasted it, the bishop was filled with displeasure because the mixture was lukewarm. Then he picked up the staff he was holding in his hands, and, grabbing it in the middle with his fingers, swung it at the boy, as if wanting to scare him. And the staff - oh, your incomprehensible judgment, Christ! - by the action of the devil, slipping out of the hands of the bishop and, hitting the boy on the crown of the head, instantly snatches him from this life: the defeated youth falls to the ground dead. The bishop, seeing that his nephew, contrary to all his intentions and through his own fault, was lying on the ground, lifeless and dead, rushes at him with cries of regret and with tears asks that he himself give his soul. 53. When his crying announced to everyone about the misfortune, the clergy of his bishopric gathered, lamented and mourned not so much the child as their shepherd. After all, for the entire clergy he was a kind, meek, calm, fair, compassionate, merciful man, a doer of all virtue and truth; therefore, wanting to bring him out of a state of deep despair, people begged, fell, shouted that they would endure everything for him - even the punishments of slavery and suffering. And he, as if struck to the very depths, could not even hear what they were saying. In the morning he got up, buried the remains of the deceased, tied a chain around his neck and, giving the end to one of the servants, ordered himself to be dragged to Rome by force. And so, when the people of the bishopric saw that they had achieved nothing and that they could no longer hold on to the bishop, wounded to the depths of his soul, with loud sobs they agreed to his departure. Having quickly walked such a great distance along that long path in tears and sobs, the bishop enters Rome with a chain around his neck, drawn by a servant. He confesses his sin to the pope and the bishops who were in Rome in a voice interrupted by crying and screams. Seeing his boundless contrition and tearful repentance, they not only quickly gave him permission in his grief, but with countless words of consolation softened the pain of his suffering soul. But overcome by heartache, the bishop remained inconsolable. 54. From there he directs his servant, who is drawing him, to the great city of Constantine. Having also made this journey on foot, he reaches the royal city and, entering the great Church of God, with tears confesses his sin to the patriarch and bishops and, having finished his speech, resigns his episcopal dignity along with the chain. The bishop was spiritually loved by Patrician Genesius, and he himself loved him in equal measure. When the patrick found out about what had happened, he invited the bishop to his house, caressed him and encouraged his soul with words of consolation, talked with him about how to change his life and directly asked about this, that is, what his intentions are and what way of life he will choose for the rest of his days. And he answered: “Solitude, and, moreover, in the mountains, caves and in the bowels of the earth.” Captured by the deepest sympathy, the patrician said: “I don’t think, father, that this will be good for you: but if you listen to my good advice, then you will love to spend a monastic life in the monastery and you will receive considerable benefit through cutting off your will.” The bishop replied: “Where, my lord, could I find a monk, cared for by a knowledgeable shepherd, so that I, burdened with an involuntary crime, could completely surrender myself to voluntary death?” 55. Genesius, having blessed Simeon as his spiritual father and knowing how great he is in shepherding and healing souls, tells the bishop about him and says: “If you strive for true good and want to see the second Arsenius the Great and the monastery organized with all care - “come and see” (John 11:34), and, having seen, believe.” Patrick went ahead, and the bishop immediately followed him, and so together they reached the blessed monastery, made themselves known to him, and were greeted kindly. When the holy man found out what had happened to the bishop, his soul was grieved and, just listening, shed streams of tears. When the bishop saw the compassion of the holy man and heard words of sympathy from his lips, he threw himself at his feet and asked permission to be received into the monastery, change his appearance and live with his disciples. And the blessed man, immediately understanding the ardent impulse of this man and knowing in spirit what kind of God-chosen vessel he would become, accepted him and, having done over him everything that was necessary for his tonsure into the schema, he named the priest of God Hierotheus. Having achieved what he so ardently desired, Hierotheus immediately entered, of his own free will, into an all-out fight with the enemy who had wounded him. He exhausted his flesh with fasts and prolonged suffering, tamed himself with vigils and all-night standing in prayer, and crushed his spirit in serving his brothers. In his thirst for suffering, he pretended, as if by accident, but in fact deliberately, to break pots of sewage, which he carried out, in order to hear curses or even get slapped. Accepting insults, he rejoiced, as if he was receiving something desired, and longed to try scourging, so that, by exposing the outer shell to the blows, he could free the inner man from future sorrows. Such great tenderness was given to him then, along with an abundance of tears, that he could not hold them back either day or night. 56. In order to show everyone with one example how a virtuous life arose from his zeal through sorrow and temptation, I will only tell you the following and immediately turn to blessed Simeon. When one day Hierotheus was performing a service in a warehouse, the holy man instructed him to fill one of the empty vessels from a barrel. The hierofei immediately obeyed and went to the barrel. It was his custom to always sing psalms and cry, even when he went to perform services, and to venerate the images of saints and the marks of the cross, even if there were tens of thousands of them. It so happened that there was a cross on both sides of the barrel lid. The hierofei opened the barrel, kissed the cross and, closing the lid, fell again, kissed and again opening the barrel, he filled the empty vessel, put it on the barrel and left it like that. Then, lifting the lid again, he began to kiss the cross, and the vessel immediately overturned and water began to pour out onto the ground. Seeing how the vessel was being emptied, he said with a smile: “I swear by the holy fool Hierotheus, oh evil demon, I will not lift it until I venerate my cross - because I know that for this reason you staged such a spectacle!” When the vessel was completely empty, Hierotheus picked it up, hurried to the blessed father and told about everything that had happened. And the saint, knowing the zeal of Hierotheus and knowing that he did everything in order to bring dishonor upon himself, and wishing to provide such to the one who thirsted for crowns, ordered the following to be done with him. Since on this day the inhabitants happened to load a lot of empty vessels onto the monastery mules, Simeon ordered Hierotheos to be placed on them and so carried to Xirolophus, and to the person leading him to say: “If anyone is damaged in mind, then this is the triumph that awaits him!” And so they did: they sat Hierotheus on top of the load, the mule driver began to loudly proclaim what was ordered to him, and the wondrous Hierotheus echoed him, shedding streams of tears along with the words. 57. Lest anyone think that this man, because of his bad treatment, incurred the hatred of some of Simeon’s disciples, I will briefly tell another incident with Hierotheus, which testifies to his trust in the blessed man. One day the blessed one sent Hierotheus to visit the mentioned patrician. Seeing his friend, Patrick was very happy and, having treated him, gave him a wallet with gold. At first he did not want to take the wallet, because he who had never owned anything but a hair shirt had no need for it. But since the patrician began to conjure and force him, he nevertheless took the wallet and, removing the cover from his head, put the money there. Holding the money in his outstretched hand, he ran away in this position; Having reached the monastery, he saw the blessed one and dumped a wallet with gold into his hands. This glorious disciple of his and the others had such trust and unshakable love for the saint - all for whom flight from the world was not false, even if their teacher subjected them to many different tests through what seemed painful and tempting, so that no one would turn out to be a vicious and stubborn child who had gone astray and, because of his depravity, would become hated by his father. Hierotheus, among other disciples of Simeon, succeeded in such love for God that if he ever happened to read a book, then no matter how many times “God” or “Christ” or “Jesus” was written, he applied his right eye to this divine name, then the other, and cried until the book and his chest were moistened with tears. 58. Our blessed and great father Simeon cultivated such fields and acquired such disciples. After all, if I try to mention one after another his chosen disciples - the wisest Leo, nicknamed Xylocodon, that is, the “Wooden Bell,” Anthony, Ioannikis, Sotirich, Basil and Simeon, and some other men seeking the Holy Spirit, then I, the narrator, will only have to say with the apostle: “I lack time” and paper “to narrate” about them (Heb. 11:32). But enough about that. 59. Everything went well for the wondrous Simeon: he gathered the wonderful flock of Christ, prepared worthy disciples burning in spirit and taught them to serve the Lord with all their souls. But his daily affairs and worries about them greatly upset him, because they distracted him from the most beautiful and desired silence. Moved by the Holy Spirit, he plans to organize the government of the monastery and the disciples according to the ancient custom and henceforth free himself from worries and again, as before, indulge in the practiced silence. After all, the love of silence captured his soul and even in the midst of the bustle kept him aloof, awaiting a change for the better. And so, by the decision of Patriarch Sergius, he voluntarily leaves the abbess, and in his stead he appoints as abbot his disciple Arseny, who has just reached the age of Christ, and who has rapidly risen in spirit to a perfect man who can shepherd the flock of Christ. He himself sets aside one corner for himself, along with other monks, raising his eyes (Ps. 123:1) to the hands of the disciple in Christ-like humility. From this time on, the student Arseny began to take charge of the monastery, and the shepherd and teacher of all the monastery inhabitants began to study in solitude and to contemplate the logoi of creation. So one leads the flock, and the other strengthens the leader with prayer and, observing the innermost motives of others, directs them to something better and more perfect. 60. But first he gathers his disciples and in front of them turns to the wondrous Arseny and encourages him with the following teaching: “You know for certain,” he says, “my deepest love for you and for everyone else - my children and brothers, father and brother, and may you never forget my love, my compassion, my tears that I shed for you day and night in the face of God during the twenty-five years of my abbesses, but may you remember this and you will be an imitator of my trust in my spiritual father and your father - I’m talking about blessed Simeon. Knowing my commitment to him, may you lead your fathers and brothers with faith, may you take care of them as if you were your own members (1 Cor. 12:26-27), and, if necessary, lay down your soul for them (John 15:13) and not prefer anything from worldly things to love for them. him. And since the Holy Spirit chose you from all others to be hegumen and condemned you to this through my humility, then you should, in accordance with the word of our Lord and God, be the last in your way of thinking and divine humility (Mk. 9:35), so that as a strong person you would bear the infirmities of the weak, as a doctor you would treat the ailments of your brothers, as a shepherd you would bring back the lost, and so that you would help the good to give birth to virtue in abundance, and remove those full of vice and negligence from your verbal flock, so as not to transmit the disease to the healthy. But I have already grown old, I have suffered a lot and I will rest a little from my labors and will remain with you near God with a calm and undisturbed soul. 61. So try, my child of the Lord, to increase the flock of the Lord by caring for its verbal sheep, so that you do not deviate towards bodily weakness or effeminacy; do not accumulate monastic property more for yourself than for your brothers for the sake of pleasure. Don’t try to be away often; It is enough for you to go out once a month to do the most necessary for your monastery; the rest will be done for you by the servants, who will keep you in constant service to the word and in caring for your brothers. Do not prepare expensive dishes for yourself, but such as are established for the brothers under you, modest ones; Give them sour wine to drink, but let there be a common meal for you and your children, who lead their lives in the same way as you and are like-minded with you, except in cases of weakness or visiting friends. Let the cellarer prepare food for everyone: boiled vegetables and grains, or fish once a week, on Sunday or on the Lord's holiday. As for the monastic affairs, do not try to do them all alone: ​​the main and necessary work is enough for you - I mean caring for the souls of the brothers. But assign to each of those who live piously and fearing God duties according to your vision, testing their thoughts yourself, according to the tradition of the witness and confessor of Christ, our father Theodore the Studite, which we accepted according to our father’s will as a rich inheritance. 62. Do not fall into anger and irritation against your children and brothers, unless there is a reason fraught with danger to their souls, but, on the contrary, teach them with meek speech, instructing how everyone should live and behave among the brethren. Let the young and weak spare themselves and the rest of their brothers, lest those who see them be harmed by the insolence and indiscipline characteristic of youth; those who have been in asceticism for a long time, you will teach with reasonable words patience in temptations, humility, crying, care for prayer and fulfillment of God’s commandments for the benefit of others; clergy - piety, silence, study of the Holy Scriptures, knowledge of the apostolic rules and traditions, strict adherence to dogmas, purity of heart, unceasing prayer and tenderness, standing with fear at the throne of God, so that through word and deed they would become for all the brethren and for the laity divine salt and light (Matthew 5:13-14), having in themselves the “word of life” ( Phil. 2:16). And if you ever have to speak out against troublemakers with reasonable anger and with a “corrective rod” (Prov. 22:15) in order to somehow eliminate a vice and cut off a bad habit, this is also not alien to the church of the faithful. After all, every act of ours that eliminates evil and helps righteousness and virtue is praiseworthy and pleasing to God. Do not accumulate goods in your monastery for either your parents or relatives - after all, you have once and for all torn them away from yourself and despised affection for them - but treat them as the Lord's property, and guard them in this way, as one who must give an account to God even for an insignificant thing. And to your relatives, if they are in need, give only what is necessary as to those in need, so that under the guise of meekness for the sake of praise from people because of some trifle, you do not become filled with pride and do not despise the gospel life and the monastic dispensation, but, imitating your Christ and God, grieving and dispassionately indignant (John 11:33), defend the commandments of God. 63. And may you have accurate judgment with everyone and when confessing the thoughts of each, so that you know which of them need to stand with those praying, some with those taking communion, some separately and with those who repent, so that, consciously or unconsciously, you do not make the church of God, instead of the holy church, a den of thieves or a fornication: for this you will not escape the terrible judgment of God's wrath. Make your spiritual children reverent, according to what is written (Tov. 12:6), and teach them to reverently relate to places dedicated to God and to objects of service to Him. Know that the apostles blessed only the most reverent monks in holy orders who participate in the sacraments to touch this. Therefore, do not allow everyone who wishes to enter the altar of God, but, as has been said, only those of the brethren who are dedicated and sanctified. As for the rest, useful to your monastery, you have instructions and a charter handed down from the fathers in the divinely inspired “Testament” of the great martyr and confessor of Christ Theodore - the common mentor for us, his servants, and our holy father Studite. If you keep this and begin to do this, laying down your life for the love of your brothers, then “the God” of your fathers is faithful (1 Cor. 1:9, 10:13), that great will be your reward in heaven and your inheritance together with Jesus Christ, the “Head Shepherd” of our church of the faithful (1 Pet. 5:4). And in the future, your rest will be with Anthony, Euthymius, Simeon and Theodore, our blessed fathers. This, father, brother and abbot, is my teaching and testament to you. 64. Come also, my children, my brothers and fathers, whom I gathered together with Jesus Christ my God (Luke 11:23), and whom I gave birth to through the Holy Spirit in the teaching of the word, and listen to me, your unworthy father and teacher, and give me, as I am tired, a place to rest and for a short break in my labors, so that I can breathe a little and look at myself. And before the one who, by grace from above and my humility, has been appointed your abbot, bow your knees and your hearts - I beg you in the name of Jesus Christ - and accept him, as you did me, and him and you who gave birth through grace from above, and “humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God” (1 Pet. 5:6) and before him, who has already become your shepherd by your holy election. So, let none of you despise either his youth (1 Tim. 4:12), or the unvarnished style of his teachings: after all, if he is ignorant in the art of speech, then in the knowledge of grace he is not at all ignorant. But an active word, combined with knowledge from above, is wiser than crazy human wisdom, just as the sun is brighter and better than the stars. 65. Therefore, incline your ear to the words of his mouth, and he will convey to you the original instructions that he heard and learned and which his fathers told him. For true humility in capable people is recognized by what they study and everything else, namely, by the ability to provide ears to listen to what will be told to them and what they learn from the lips of teachers (Ps. 77:2-3). This is how every person accepts the seeds of the word, humbling himself before his brother, and knows how to receive thirty-fold, sixty-fold and hundred-fold perfect fruit (Mark 4:8, 20) of the Holy Spirit. May no one appear to contradict or disobey the abbot; let no one be disobedient or insolent; but all of you be submissive, all of you meek, all of you submit to your spiritual father, since, according to the divine apostle, he must watch and pray for your souls (Heb. 13:17); let him do this with joy and without grumbling - otherwise it will not bring you any benefit in this life. Hurry with faith to confess to him the thoughts that demons sow in you, since, according to the proverb, revealed wounds do not rot. Just as snakes, while hiding in their holes, live and give birth to many snakes, but when they come out of their holes and crawl out, they themselves become visible to people and are destroyed by them, in the same way, evil thoughts, being written down by us as if on pillars and revealed before our fathers, are eliminated by the sword of God's word (Eph. 6:17) and do not give rise to agreement with them, directing our doing to evil. 66. If, due to negligence, any of the bad thoughts come true and we do something out of human weakness, then - I beg - let us not become obdurate in what happened, but hastily run and fall at the feet of our reverend father and without shame with tears we denounce the vice, in hot repentance we will take healing medicines or even cauterizations from it, and soon we will receive healing. Do not accept hostilely what he says and does, even if it contradicts the opinion of the holy fathers, but at the present moment bow your heads before him. Then, if there are those among you who differ from the rest in age, lifestyle or way of thinking, let them tell him the opinion of the one who does not agree with him, as Basil the Great prescribed: “Endure him on the day of temptation and bitterness for the Lord’s sake, without resisting him in any way and without rebelling against him.” For whoever resists him and rebels against him resists the authority of God, as Paul says (Rom. 13:2), and in everything that does not contradict the commandment of God, the apostolic institutions and rules, you must obey him in every possible way and obey him as the Lord. But in everything that threatens the Gospel and the laws of the Church, you should not obey either his instructions and commands, or even an angel, if he suddenly came down from heaven, preaching to you a gospel different from what the self-seers of the Word preached (Gal. 1:8). 67. So observe, my children and brothers, what I preached to everyone privately and separately in order to acquire virtue (1 Tim. 6:20), as given by God for the treasuries of your hearts. Moreover, work on this and increase it as good servants of Christ, so that, preserving these smallest talents and putting them to work (Matthew 25:16), you will be allowed by the grace of Christ to partake of the many blessings of the Kingdom of God and so that you may reign with Him and inherit the Kingdom of God, “prepared” for the righteous “from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34). So, greet me and your father, the lord abbot, with a “holy kiss” (Rom. 16:16). And may God, who is peace (Rom. 15:33), “who surpasses all understanding” (Phil. 4:7), restore His peace among you (Col. 3:15) and lead you in the path of His commandments (Ps. 119:35) and may He increase His flock—you, who keep the trust of your fathers according to God—into a holy assembly, a “chosen, royal people.” "His priesthood in Christ Jesus (1 Peter 2:9)." 68. Having taught these and other admonitions to the wondrous abbot Arseny and the rest of the brethren, our holy father Simeon enters the workshop of silence and with all the greater zeal devotes himself to the desired wisdom. Since the long run through the lists of asceticism was completed for him, success contributed to the acquisition of the best, his soul ascended higher and higher to the heavenly and divine. Labor in sacred battles turned into something that did not require effort, or, strange to say, into god-like resting places for ethereal forces. The bodily nature turned into incorruptibility, for it was brought out of its base state by power from above. Then he was again caught up in “visions and revelations of the Lord” (2 Cor. 12:1) and began to see future events. 69. One day, when he was standing, offering pure prayer and talking with God, he suddenly saw with his mind how the air began to sparkle, and, although he was in the cell, it seemed to him that he was outside of it; and it was night, about the time of the first watch. Above, it seemed, the morning dawn was breaking. Oh, the terrible visions of this husband! The house and everything else disappeared, and he thought that he was not in the house at all. When he completely lost his temper, comprehending with all his mind this manifest light, which gradually increased and filled the air with radiance, he began to feel that, together with his whole body, he was torn away from the earthly. But when that light shone even brighter and he imagined that the midday sun was shining from above, then he realized that he was inside the light that appeared to him. Sweetness abided throughout his whole body, and he was filled with joy and tears. Moreover, he saw that the light itself miraculously touched his flesh and little by little penetrated into his members. The stunning vision alienated him from his previous contemplation and directed him to comprehend only what was wonderfully happening in him. And he saw that the light gradually engulfed his entire body, heart and entrails, making him entirely fire and light. Just as he had previously forgotten about home, so now the light made him forget his form and position, his carnal nature and the appearance of his body, and he stopped crying. And from the light a voice came to him: “So the living and remaining saints must be changed at the last sound of the trumpet, and, having become such, they will be caught up,” as Paul says (1 Thess. 4:16-17). 70. Standing in this position and spending so many hours, constantly glorifying God with certain mysterious chants, comprehending with his mind the glory that overshadows him and the bliss that will be eternally bestowed on the saints, the blessed man began to reason and say to himself: “What, will I return to my previous bodily form or will I remain in this state?” Having thought this, he felt the bodily form, like a shadow or breath, enveloping him. After all, as was said, he understood that the whole thing, together with the body, became light - formless, formless, immaterial. And he felt that the body was inherent in him, but somehow incorporeal and, as it were, spiritual, for he did not feel that it had weight or density, and was amazed to see himself in the flesh as if incorporeal. And the light, in the same voice, as before, said: “After the resurrection, in the next century, all the saints will become like this, incorporeally clothed with spiritual bodies - lighter, thinner and more capable of flying, or, conversely, denser, heavier and more gravitating towards the earth - which will determine for each his place, rank and degree of closeness to God.” 71. Hearing this and seeing the ineffable light emanating from God, the most God-contemplative and God-inspired Simeon gave thanks to God, who glorified our race and made us partakers of His Divinity (2 Pet. 1:4) and the Kingdom, again fully entered into his body and again found himself inside the cell, in the same form and appearance, being entirely human. Subsequently, he swore to those whom he trusted and to whom he revealed his secrets that for many days he felt this lightness of body, without experiencing any fatigue, suffering, hunger, or thirst. But since, thanks to such miracles, he became completely the property of the Spirit and was filled with His divine gifts, it is clear that, having extremely purified his mind, like the ancient prophets, he saw terrible visions and revelations of the Lord. Having an apostolic mentality, as inspired and moved by the divine Spirit, he possessed grace emanating from his lips and, like the apostles, being unskilled in literature, began to theologize and with his inspired writings taught the faithful the exact observance of piety. Leading such a life and being so great in spirit, he writes in the form of chapters ascetic words about the virtues and the vices opposing them - what he learned from experienced wisdom and from divine knowledge. Likewise, to those who strive in a wise life, he teaches precise teaching and becomes for the monastic people of Israel a river of God, overflowing with the waters of the Spirit. 72. Silent, Simeon engaged in the work characteristic of the silent, and, by the grace of the Spirit, reached such a height that in life, word and knowledge he became like the ancient fathers and theologians. Since he, like those people, had to go through the fire of temptation (Luke 22:31) and be tested in his patience, like Job (Job 2:6), the tempter asks him, and he surrenders into his hands. But I will tell you in order how it happened. The previously mentioned divine man Simeon, rightly nicknamed “Reverent,” the spiritual father and teacher of this wondrous Simeon, having reached old age after forty-five years of strict asceticism (2 Tim. 2:5), acquired an excellent testimony of conscience, was awarded apostolic grace, healed and performed miracles; being unlearned, but inspired by the divine Spirit, he wrote a whole book full of all kinds of spiritual benefits. But it was fitting for him to rest from his great ascetic labors, which anyone who wants to will know for sure from their detailed description; he fell ill with an incurable disease and moved to the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8), leaving his long-suffering and patient body. His blessed disciple, knowing his brilliant exploits and having studied his apostolic life in detail, not knowing how to hide the works of God and divine gifts, but knowing how to proclaim them and sing of them, by divine revelation wrote hymns, words of praise and his entire life in his honor. And in order to arouse in people zeal to imitate the one whom they sang, and to become doers of virtue, Simeon began to solemnly celebrate his memory every year, according to the apostolic tradition, along with all the saints, painting his icon as a monument on which the history of his virtuous life is imprinted. 73. Patriarch Sergius also heard about this. He calls the holy man and asks him about what he heard. When the blessed one explained everything to him, as well as how, inspired by divine revelation from above, he composed hymns to his spiritual father and wrote his life, the patriarch wanted to look through it and delve into what was written. So, taking the books in his hands, the patriarch carefully read the entire work, was delighted by its contents and, uttering many words of praise and highly praising the strong faith of the holy man, dismissed him, calling on him to remind him when the memory of his father would be celebrated, so that he himself could send wax and ointment and prayerfully honor the saint. This continued for sixteen years: God was glorified by the memory of His servant, and people rejoiced at the glorification of the righteous (Proverbs 29:2), the poor were fed, churches were illuminated, virtue was proclaimed, and many began to imitate the saint. 74. And what about the evil one? Did he completely surrender to peace, seeing this, or did he forget about his innate malice? Not at all. He rebels and, armed with an ancient weapon - envy, raises a mountain of temptations and a stream of various sorrows against Simeon. Strain your ears and listen. A certain Stefan headed the Metropolis of Nicomedia - Stefan of Alexin - a man who differed from many in speech and knowledge, not only influential among the patriarch and emperor, but capable of giving answers to unexpected questions to anyone who asked, thanks to his breadth of education and fluency of language. He refused the episcopal see for unclear reasons, known only to him and God, was constantly with the patriarch and enjoyed great fame among everyone because of his knowledge. But blessed Simeon, possessing true spiritual knowledge, enjoyed universal love at that time; his knowledge aroused reverence and delight, and everyone revered him not only as spiritually wise, but also as a saint. And since it was impossible for a city standing on such a high mountain (Matthew 5:14) to hide from the wisdom of God, this reached the ears of the mentioned husband. He, having a high opinion of himself and despising everyone else, began to mock the saint’s fame and condemn those who spoke about his knowledge, calling the saint an ignoramus or even a hillbilly, speechless, who could not say anything in front of wise people who knew how to subtly value the word. This is what the wise Syncellus said out of contempt for the holy man; however, those who personally knew Simeon spread a more faithful rumor throughout the city, loudly proclaiming that “in this generation there is no equal to Simeon in knowledge, wisdom and virtue”; Hearing this, Sincell was stung by the sting of envy. After all, for him, who nurtures and kindles envy in himself, the rumor then spreading throughout the city of Constantine that Simeon surpasses Stephen in knowledge and wise speeches would be an unbearable torture, especially since he, as he heard, writes about things divine and human, and even touches on theology, while he himself shakes the air with mere words and empty sounds and only pleases the ears. 75. This is how things stood: envy flared up more and more and almost threatened with fire. A little later, the saint meets Syncellus 1 in the patriarchal chambers, and he, taking the guise of a friend, turns to him: “Hello, most pious Mr. Simeon, glorious in knowledge, piety and ornateness!” And the saint replies: “May God, Whom I serve, my blessed master, give you peace in the Spirit as a reward for your love for us, according to your greeting.” And Sinkell says: "For a long time I have been striving to enjoy a conversation with you and sit with you to discuss some urgent things as with a friend and as a person always illuminated and devoted to true contemplation. But since business does not leave us time for proper leisure, I cut off this desire. And now, as you see, your coming here and meeting you beyond expectation turned out to be a good occasion for me. But, wise one, focus your thoughts on what I intend to ask you about, namely, about your understanding of the Trinity Itself, and resolve the question: how, tell me, do you separate the Son from the Father - by thought or deed?” Sincellus prepared this crafty and double-slippery question in advance, hoping that if Simeon said anything, choosing one of the two, he would slip as an allegedly ignorant person and, exposed at the very first attack, would cause a lot of condemnation and laughter towards himself, and his ignorance would become obvious to those praising him. 76. The saint, being shocked by the question and the vanity of this man, said in response: “It has been given to you, the bishops, to know the secrets of God (Matthew 13:11), oh, most wise ruler, and to expound them to those who question, because this is your most necessary duty. And we, the humble, whose lot in our entire lives have not been given any other philosophy than to know ourselves, must provide ears teachers and joyfully indulge in silence before those who are smarter than us. Therefore, you would rather initiate us into the secret of knowledge of such subjects, and also teach us to be humble and only mourn our own sins, without being curious about what is deeper and higher than us. But if you, the wise one, strive to test my spirit and want to know what gift is given from God to the poor in spirit, then, as you see, I, a disciple of fishermen, do not possess the exquisite. speech. But he who gives prayer to him who prays (Eph. 6:18) and the word to him who opens the mouth can incline the ear to me (Isa. 50:4-5), open the ears of my soul and give by the grace of the Holy Spirit what should be said to me in response about this subject, so that I, having retired to my cell, put it in writing and send it to you." Sincellus, hearing the word “in writing,” grinned and answered the saint with mockery: “And I, too, eagerly wish to receive from you a detailed exposition of this question.” 77. So, one withdrew into the depths of his inner chambers, and the other, returning to his flock, arms himself with pure and undistracted prayer and, having kindled his heart with divine fire, begins to expound, first describing in prose and simple language the insight that happened to him. Then, having clarified the meaning of what is being presented and bringing the syllable to complete purity and clarity, he composes his work according to the method of poets, in free verse. With the power of word and spirit, as well as an abundance of thoughts, he resolved and dispelled the intractable tangles of that sage, like a lion that attacks hunters, scares them away with one roar and turns their pursuers into fugitives. But, as if in passing, he touched the sage with hints; Having rewritten the work, he sent it to Syncellus, who refined his language (Ps. 139:4). And from now on he himself prepared for the tests. After all, he had already foreseen in spirit that the one defeated by such a beautiful victory would not calm down and would not give in until he had done a fair amount of mischief, being obsessed with envy, since, as it is written, everyone defends himself from the enemy. 78. And now the talker gets a solution to the question. He comes into contact with the deepest thoughts of the saint, sees the greatness of meaning in simple and unpretentious words, sees the clarity and purity of style, the indestructible power of thought, delicacy and pleasantness in handling, the harmony of presentation, the seriousness of the way of thinking, the creative power inherent in a person who is unlearned and has not tasted secular science. He is amazed at the thought, is speechless, and even his voice disappears. But what next? The heart of the syncellus is wounded by the goads of the wise word, for, according to Solomon, “the words of the wise are like needles” (Eccl. 12:11). He is inflamed with anger and rises up to repel the saint with reproaches against him. First of all, the syncellus begins to examine the life of the saint, whether he will not find anything worthy of reproach to help the slander being prepared against him. And then, not finding nothing in what is impeccable, Syncellus incites some church people, and they incite others from Simeon's flock, and forces them to raise a cry against him for the veneration of his spiritual father and for the solemn services. And so they shouted and spoke lies “against the righteous” (Ps. 30:19), and Sinkel “set his mouth in heaven” (Ps. 72:9), his speeches reached the ear of the bishop, and he spoke lies before the highest Holy Synod. 79. But since, as stated above, the bishop and the rest of the bishops were not ignorant of what was happening, they at first rejected the slander, knowing that Syncellus was stricken with envy. “Is there really,” they said, “any disagreement with the Universal Church and its institutions in that which does not cause any harm to souls, but, on the contrary, benefit, when virtue is clearly glorified?” And that husband, being by nature highly inclined to stir up discord, did not cease daily to peck at the bishop’s ears. The Patriarch and the bishops of the Holy Synod covered their ears for two years, not giving the envious voice room to enter. They were ashamed to condemn themselves, because the patriarch annually honored the saint with fragrances and candles, and many bishops of their own free will came to their father’s feast day. They were ashamed to pass off light as darkness, and darkness as light, and to call the gall tongue of Syncellus sweetness, and the sweetness of Simeon's truth as gall (Isa. 5:20). In fact, there was a kind of battle between truth and lies: the first, uniting with justice, powerfully repelled the madness of lies, and the second acted in concert with injustice and, from an excess of madness, attacked the good. 80. How does the battle between them end? Evil wins - sometimes it takes advantage of an opportune moment and surpasses good. Look how the righteousness of John was defeated by the vice of Herodias (Matthew 14:6–11): in the dance, the second mocks the first and immediately boasts of the trophies of victory. Likewise, in this case, envy, having slandered the truth, defeats righteousness by mocking and despising it. Sincellus tired of the patriarch and bishops with continuous slander and, oh, injustice! oh, the wiles of Satan! – shook their souls; after all, they are entirely human. And they insist that he put forward some pretext for accusing the saint, so that the verdict against the saint, which he so sought, would not be without foundation. So, I know, the hardness and strength of a stone is hollowed out by a continuously falling drop, and in the soul stability and constancy are damaged by the persistent vice that creeps into it. 81. From year to year our Simeon solemnly celebrated the memory of his spiritual father, as befitted a disciple. And the father, even during his lifetime, having previously mortified the flesh with extreme dispassion and completely extinguished its natural movements, had a feeling for the bodies approaching him like a dead man for a dead man, however, he put on the mask of sensuality, wanting, firstly, to hide his treasure of dispassion - for he avoided fame and human praise, like a serpent biting in the heel (Gen. 3:15), - and secondly, to unnoticedly extract with this bait from the depths of destruction and free from death some of those lying down, and if possible, then all. Syncellus uses this wonderful method of catching him (Matthew 11:19) as a plausible pretext for accusation and puts it forward before the Synod, saying: “He glorifies his spiritual father, who was a sinner, as a saint along with the saints.” Such was the accusation invented by the wise Syncellus against Simeon, who had never offended him. Such was the reason for condemning this blessed man, similar to the condemnation of Christ. For He was condemned by the deicides of that time as a glutton and a wine drinker, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. He was reviled as possessed by a demon because He called God His Father and revered Him, just as He answered the accusers: “There is no demon in Me; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me” (John 8:49). 82. And so they call blessed Simeon to give an account before the Holy Synod of what cannot be accounted for, and they introduce him who has never offended anyone as condemned, and the patriarch says: “Why is it that you, Mr. Simeon, have such great zeal in honoring your father, so that the whole city comes running to celebrate his memory and is amazed at the excessiveness of the honor given, although, as you see, he bitterly condemns him the most God-loving syncellus, who has an unkind opinion of him. Although I myself praise and accept this, the syncellus too often bothers us and the Synod, making loud speeches against the deceased. Therefore, I want you to free the city from excessive veneration of him and commemorate him in the presence of only the monks subordinate to you. So, of course, your accuser will someday give up his irrepressible attacks on you, and we will be freed from his pestering.” And the blessed man, answering, said: “What can be said about faith in my spiritual father and about his glorification, as I understand, all-holy lord, you know better than me, your servant. As for the accusations against him coming from the most God-loving syncellus, I will consider it worthy to answer them when the accuser presents evidence." Then the patriarch says: "You gave your answer clearly and reasonably. But can you now prove that, commemorating your spiritual father along with the ancient saints, you are acting according to the regulations of the fathers and apostles, so that you are exactly following the sacred laws?” And the saint replies: “If I cannot present evidence from the entire Holy Scripture, as you said, my lord, and you prompted me to do this, then let my accuser be right in his accusations and faithful before his listeners, and I deserve any punishment.” The Patriarch says: “As best you can, tell me now in which of the divine institutions you found support for yourself, and we will listen to you with full attention.” 83. And so Simeon, wise in divine things, began to speak and boldly said something like this: “Holy Assembly! Who does not know the words of Christ written in the Gospel, the exact meaning of which: “Whoever receives you, receives Me,” and whoever does not receive you, does not receive Me, and he who does not receive Me does not receive Him who sent Me (Matthew 10:40)? And again: “Whoever receives a righteous person, in the name of a righteous person, will receive the reward of a righteous person”; and “whoever receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive the reward of a prophet” (Matthew 10:41). And what do those who have seen the Word say in their statutes? “Glorify the one who preaches the word of God to you; honor him as the one who brings you good,” And further: “If the Holy Scripture says about parents according to the flesh: “Honor your father... and your mother, and may it go well with you” (Ex. 20:12), and “whoever reviles father or mother... let him die” (Matthew 15:4), then how much more will the Word encourage us to honor and love spiritual parents as benefactors and intercessors before God! Those who gave birth to us anew through water, filled us with the Holy Spirit, nourished us with the milk of the Word, raised us in teaching, strengthened us with exhortations, honored us with the saving Body and precious Blood, forgave us our sins and made us partakers and joint heirs of the message of God - reverently honor them with various honors, for they received from God the power of life and death.” 84. And what does the golden-tongued John say in praise of Philogonus? If, he says, he who curses his father or mother is put to death (Ex. 21:17), then it is obvious that he who blesses them will taste life. If it follows that parents according to the flesh should receive such great favor from us, then much more spiritual parents, and especially when praise does not add glory to those being glorified, but makes us, the listeners, the speakers, the listeners, better. After all, the one who ascended to heaven does not need human praise at all, because he has gone to a better and more blessed destiny, and for us, who are still here and in need of manifold consolation, it is fitting to offer praises to the saint in order to gain the same zeal ourselves. Therefore, a certain sage exhorts, saying: “The memory of the righteous will be blessed” (Proverbs 10:7). Not for those who have departed, but for those who praise, this brings the greatest benefit. And that what we do in this way is pleasing to God and that it was established from above by the grace of the Holy Spirit, my word is confirmed by Moses the God-seer, who described not only the life of the first people, but also his own life, and Ezra, and the wise Solomon, who described the life of Job, and Chrysostom himself praising the saints. He says: “Divine grace left us a description of the lives and deeds of the saints so that, having studied how they, being of the same nature as us, fulfilled every virtue, we would strive for similar deeds and be inflamed with a loving attraction towards them. How does this happen? If we constantly remember those men and, carrying their image in our thoughts, we will lead their way of life, for by this more than by all the rest combined, God will be glorified. After all, if “the heavens preach the glory of God” (Ps. 18:2), without making a sound, but moving others to do so thanks to a vision, then all the more those who give an example of an amazing life will glorify God, even if they are silent, because through them others glorify God.” 85. See, gentlemen, how God is glorified through the veneration of my father, which we arrange for him every year. Understand firmly that not only is this done for the glory of God, but it is also very useful for the people. And this is clear from the words of the sage: “When a righteous man is glorified, the people rejoice” (Proverbs 29:2). Interpreting these words, Basil the Great, in praise of the martyr Gordius, says: “People rejoice with spiritual joy at the mere mention of the deeds performed by the righteous, being led to zeal and imitation of the virtues that they hear about. After all, the life history of those who were under good leadership, like some kind of light, illuminates the path of life for those who are being saved. If words of praise to other people require lengthy speeches, then the truth about what they have accomplished is enough for the righteous to show their outstanding virtue. Therefore, when we tell about the lives of those who have distinguished themselves in piety, we first of all glorify the master through the slaves, we praise the righteous thanks to the testimony that we recognize, because we know about them, we make people happy because they hear about it. For just as light necessarily follows fire, and fragrance follows peace, so good deeds are followed by benefit.” 86. But in order to prove to you even more convincingly that it is unprofitable for life not to honor those who spent their lives in many exploits, which I myself am doing today, I will bring Gregory, the most famous in theology, as testimony and finish my speech. What does he say in his words of praise to Athanasius? “It is neither pious nor safe to honor the memory of the wicked, but to pass by in silence those who spent their lives in piety.” Oh, Holy Synod! If, as you heard from me today, to do as I do, the Holy Gospel commands, and those who have seen the Word with their own eyes teach, and the Holy Fathers prescribed, urging the faithful to do so, then which of all the other people who teach in deviation from what has been said will we listen to? If my accuser knows something deeper than this, which has remained hidden from me, and likewise from the holy fathers and apostles, let him lay it out in detail before you, holy men, and I will not only listen to it in silence, but will also be convinced and with spiritual readiness accept what is established by the sacred laws, if what is prescribed is based on Holy Scripture.” 87. The bilious accuser Sincellus was the only accuser of the righteous man and, although he could not bring either an excerpt from the Holy Scriptures or a plausible argument by which he would refute what the holy man said, he received the full consent of those sitting, which was openly expressed to him. Simeon seemed to be singing for the deaf and speaking into the air. Therefore, the investigation, which took place in a chaotic verbal battle, ended. But since envy is a vice associated with disputes, when the loser does not like defeat, and the winner does not calm down, the sincellus, excited by it, stubbornly continued the battle. For six whole years I dragged the righteous man through the courts, very much wanting him to be condemned to death - oh, Thy patience, Christ the King! - this sage, bishop, monk, who thought that he was the light of knowledge for others, who imagined that he contained the salt of the Spirit. But since he turned almost all the bishops against the righteous man, he made him an enemy of the patriarch himself (which should not have been). There were some slanderers from the monastery of Simeon, struck by the madness of Judas, sick with hatred of the teacher; Using the support of the sincellus and the patriarch himself, one night they steal the icon of his holy father Simeon [the Reverent], against whom the sincellus waged a great war, and bring it to the patriarchate. Seeing that it depicted many saints and Christ Himself, some - everyone who was on the side of the accuser - blasphemed the holy man, falsely accusing him, while others - everyone who had even a drop of true knowledge - lamented the perpetrators of what had happened and shuddered at the reproach of Christ, who said: “He who receives you receives Me also” (Matthew 10:40), and again: “All that you have done... to one of... my brothers... they did it for me” (Matthew 25:40). After all, they knew that His saints had “put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27). 88. Thus, with the censure of some and the approval of others, the icon of the saint from the accuser is brought to the Synod. When the image has been revealed to everyone, even to the patriarch himself, the righteous man is again called, and he makes a speech on this occasion, speaking in these words: "As for me, then, checking myself mentally, I will say that I did not do anything unusual or alien to the tradition of the fathers and apostles. But our fathers, who initially adopted as a heritage the customs and institutions of the church of the faithful, commanded us that we talk about the images of our holy fathers and honor them and to them were applied, for veneration transfers to the prototype of Christ Himself, Whose image we carry within ourselves (Rom. 8:29), if He Himself did not consider it unworthy to accept our image. Therefore, I painted this icon of the servant of Christ, as a member of His members, made conformable to His image. I reverently adore it, worshiping Christ Himself in this saint, and Himself in Christ and God, since He himself is in Him. Christ through the Spirit and Christ in God and the Father, and the Father in Christ and God, according to the Holy Scriptures. “On that day,” He says, “you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me” (John 14:20). 89. But our father John of Damascus, exhorting the faithful to do this, says this: “The representatives of our entire family, those who pray for us before God, should be honored by erecting churches in their name, bearing fruit, celebrating their memory and rejoicing in their spirit, so that the joy of those who convene [us] becomes ours.” A little further: “In psalms and hymns and spiritual songs (Eph. 5:19), with tenderness and compassion for those in need, we, the faithful, will honor the saints, by which we best express respect for God, we will erect visible monuments and images for them, and through imitation of their virtues we ourselves will become their living images and monuments.” If, in saying this, I distort the preaching of salvation, then I also distort the truth and faith, and I did an unheard-of thing, which no one has ever done in the church of the faithful - I painted an icon of a holy man or even an ordinary person; If this is being done everywhere throughout the entire church by every faithful person, and from me alone today, as if I had broken the law, the wise sincellus demands an explanation for this, and I am judged as subject to responsibility, and, perhaps, I will be punished and fined, where is the justice, tell me? After all, as you can see, I not only painted [this icon], but with faith and love I painted [this image] on every wall of the monastery I renovated, painted [it] next to the image of Christ, erecting a monument to virtue and teaching others an example of good deeds.” 90. Having said this, in front of everyone, he fell to the revered icon of his father and greeted it with these words: “Oh, Saint Simeon, through communion with the Holy Spirit, you became like the image of my Lord Jesus Christ, glorifying Him in your members by the mortification of pleasures, through long asceticism, clothed in the shining clothes of dispassion, washed with your own tears, equal to the abundance of the baptismal source, carrying Christ within you, Whom you ardently desired and by whom you are much loved and by whom you are glorified in miracles, having acquired from the voice that descended to me the testimony of [your] equal-to-the-apostles holiness, protect me, humble and for your sake, as you see, judged. Pray for me to gain the strength to worthily endure insults and ridicule, to be subjected to insults for the sake of you and your icon, or better yet, for the sake of Christ, because He took upon Himself everything that is ours, except sin, and, being God, partook of our properties, so that I could become a partaker of the glory that you tasted while still in the flesh, just as you were shown to me standing at the right hand of God, and now you partake even more clearly with all the saints.” 91. So, having prayed, he turned around, somehow joyfully looked at the accuser and said: “My wonderful lord and sincellus! Your struggle and stand for justice is remarkable. May you leave everything else and, caring for your conscience, unwaveringly turn to the apostolic rules and regulations, without violating even the slightest commandment of Christ. But why are we delaying? And why are you still putting off [the final] decision is against us? Everything is yours: the thrones, the authorities, the ministers, and the servants. Take advantage of what belongs to you. We are ready to endure everything that your envy has in store for us.” Thus spoke the saint, but he was tormented by envy and did not know what [else] to do, seeing how the Synod hesitated, fearing the Gospel and the righteous man who consciously and purely fulfilled it. As far as he had the strength, he rebelled against the icon, convincing the patriarch and bishops of the Holy Synod to at least scratch out the inscription “saint” on the icon. Those who do this stop his rage a little. And thus, after the icon was returned to Simeon, the court disperses. 92. So what? Will the one who once committed slander remain silent in the future? No way. After all, the stings of Simeon’s true wisdom, piercing his heart, did not allow him to calm down at all. What kind of tragedy can I use to describe the absurdity that happened in the city? Having embarrassed the patriarch with slanderous slander against these saints, Syncellus convinces him - which should not happen - oh, anger that rises up against so many and great [things]! - send [people] to destroy all the Holy icons of that great father, wherever and whenever they were painted. Indeed, even the best [people] are subject to disgrace. How did this man, glorious in wisdom, not remember our divine father, John of Damascus, who explains and speaks about holy icons in this way: “Let every person know that whoever tries to destroy an image that appeared as a result of divine love and jealousy for the glory and remembrance of Christ and His Mother - the Mother of God, or any of the saints, for the shame of the devil and for the defeat of him and his demons, and who does not worship him, is not he who venerates him as a precious image and not as God is the enemy of Christ and the Holy Mother of God and the saints, the defender of the devil and his demons; in fact, he shows his sadness that God and his saints are honored and glorified. For the image is [as it were] an explanation and a triumph, and an inscription on a pillar in memory of the victory of those who, being unafraid, distinguished themselves and were put to shame. defeated and overthrown by the evil one.” 93. So, what's going on? People who dared to do this terrible thing are immediately sent. Oh, how can I tell my listeners without tears what they dared to do?! They destroyed some of the images of the reverend husband with a criminal hand, in uncontrollable rage with an ax, striking the images first on the head, then on the chest, sometimes on the stomach, and sometimes on the thighs, and did not stop beating them until they turned them into powder. Other icons were hidden, smeared with lime and soot, while the monks and laity wept bitterly, seeing what was being done by Christians in the church of the faithful (which Copronymus had once arranged for the destruction of God's churches), and were unable to defend themselves from those who did such things, because both of them were called Christians. The criminals considered for themselves beauty and pleasure paintings similar to those in the theater, just as the sacred curtains in some churches are also painted for decoration - I mean palaestra, orchestra, hunting lodges, with various types of dogs, monkeys, reptiles, also with flocks of birds and [herds of] horses. And the icons and images of man, whose image the Creator took upon himself out of love, in accordance with which the perfect man and the perfect God, cognizable in one hypostasis, are depicted, were removed from the environment of the church, like an idol - and not a word about their temptation or about the seduced people. So let vice perish and its culprit, envy, through which tens of thousands of saints became victims of violent death. So the Egyptian Theophilus envied John Chrysostom, and the heavenly man became a victim of his envy. So my Simeon, the chosen vessel and many-voiced organ of the Spirit, having become the envy of the wise Stefan of Alexinsky, began to expect terrible deeds from him, like the mentioned saint. 94. When Simeon, experienced in the divine, saw that the flame of envy was flaring up more and more and would not subside until the enemy of him and the truth, strong in words, did not harm [him], he decided that he should justify himself in writing in the accusations brought against him. Therefore, he drafted his first apology and wisely postponed it until the time of the second trial, fully preparing himself to die for a good deed. A little time passed, and my Simeon was again led from the place of his exploits to the judgment seat. A verbal battle ensues again, very similar [to the previous one]. The struggle of both sides was the same: either completely stop the brilliant festivities in honor of the holy father and his glorification, or completely remove Simeon, not only from the monastery he built, but also outside the boundaries of this entire large and glorious city. This was the content of the speeches, and the holy man presented the apology to the patriarch. It was read before the Holy Synod for quite some time. Like thunder, she struck the minds of those listening with the power of thought, the greatness of style, the dignity of style, the skillful use of [sacred] sayings, combined with the sharpness and irrefutability of truth. Unable to weaken the power of his word, they rose from their seats, their tongues were bound by silence, and they, having condemned the righteous man, sentenced him to exile. 95. Such, friends, was the wise outcome of what was started by Syncellus, the wise man, monk and clergyman, and his illustrious learning, coupled with his love for his neighbor, ascended to such a radiant height. Alas! We, [the warriors] of the sacred army, have become like a people without knowledge, according to the word [of the prophet] (Hos. 4:6), and we have been given a “womb that does not give birth” and “dry breasts” (Hos. 9:14). Having sailed across the Propontis near our Chrysopolis, those who were taking the blessed one away put their boat on a pier near a small village called Palukiton. They left the saint, who had no belongings at all, in the winter, left him in the middle of a deserted place completely alone, where a column of the condemned dolphin was erected, and, being heartless people, did not deign to provide him with food even for one day. So, when the most blessed Simeon realized that the madness of Syncellus had won and what his envy desired had come true, he without bitterness gave thanks to God, who allowed this to happen for him. Walking along this unusually steep hill, he sang in some kind of spiritual joy the words of the psalm: “With my voice I cried to the Lord, with my voice I prayed to the Lord, I will pour out my prayer before Him; I will reveal my sorrow to Him... In the path that I walked, they secretly laid snares for me. I looked to my right side and saw that no one recognized me” (Ps. 142:1-5). And again: “This is God my Savior and Lord, and I will trust in Him, and I will be saved by Him, and I will not fear, for my glory and my song is the Lord; and He was my salvation” (Isaiah 12:2). 96. So, having gone down to the foot of the hill and finding there the ruins of the chapel of St. Marina, he entered there and offered God the prayers of the ninth hour. Then, giving himself up to a short rest, like a true disciple of Christ, he greets his friend Syncellus with the following letter. "To my all-holy and holy master, the glorious Syncellus, because of you, your expelled and persecuted Simeon. Look, all-holy master, what a harvest the seeds of your deeds in God and reasoning brought me, what glory and joy they brought me, how many crowns they became the reason for me, how great joy they filled me, raised me to the top of spiritual knowledge and the feet of my mind beautifully established on the rock (Ps. 39:3); and they prepared for me to clothe myself in the very rock from which I receive living water. She hypostatically waters me, moves [me], speaks to [me], and encourages me to write to you, filling me with all joy; she does not at all allow me to feel deadly temptations, but, just as she kept the three youths untouched by the fire, she, as it were, hid me in hers. tabernacle (Ps. 26:5), keeps you carefree and free from suffering - for this I am grateful to you and will never stop thanking and praying for you. So if you have anything else to add to the joy and glory of those who love you, do not hesitate to do it, so that your reward will increase and the reward from God, who has already laid down the law, will be given to you in abundance. Be healthy." 97. Having received this message, the sincellus, arrogant with knowledge, read the lofty thoughts and, not understanding most of them, was struck down by verbal stings stronger than, as it seemed, he himself had struck down the holy man with evil attacks. And he answers, but not with words - he was not capable of that - but with deeds. He immediately begins to defeat the undefeated, who is in the distance, but not as a sage, with any arguments of reason - for he did not have a free mind driven by love - but as capable of anything, replete with malice, insidious chatter, slander and unworthy intrigues. And so, without delay, coming to the patriarch himself and whispering in his ears what he had against Simeon, he fanned the coals of anger with slander, set them on fire again and aroused the strongest flame of trials for Simeon. Since he knew for sure that the blessed man loved to honor [his spiritual] father in celebrations and very generously distributed money to the poor, he imagined, like that Midas who saw everything in gold, that the holy man owned golden treasures hidden in his cell - where heaps of ascetic deeds were stored. Immediately he convinces the patriarch to send [people] in search of the notorious riches of the saint. And not only them, but together with them, confiscate all the property in the cell - I mean books, clothing for the body and other necessary things. 98. Do you see what envy and hatred do towards your neighbor? Truly blinds and imagines what does not exist as existing and what does not exist, uses it as if it exists, and fights with it. So, they search the cell of the blessed man, which once acquired the treasure of the grace of the Spirit and became its container. They are looking for buried golden treasures from the one who despised and discarded everything and acquired nothing except a hair shirt and a cloak to protect his body, withered by excessive exploits, which was heavy even with rags. They search [the cell] with the help of some shovels and devices, dig up the floor, break through the walls, remove the roof, and even scatter all their belongings in the open air. But the soulless cell, carefully searched throughout the whole day, for its part, began to take revenge for its occupant; completely full of holes, it gave nothing away from what the pogromists were looking for and thirsting for. Then the books folded in it and the little consolation for that man’s body were taken away - it all consisted of a cloak and a veil, due to his inherent weakness. So, having learned about the theft of property, Simeon, with the apostolic mind, accepts it with joy, completely despising those who mocked and laughing at their naivety, for they thought to find golden treasures from the one for whom all his life poverty in Christ was wealth and need served as a luxurious meal and more abundant than a table of sophisticated dishes. 99. So, one, wise in malice, did everything possible in order, as it seemed to him, to wound the saint all the more. And the other sent him a letter again, and the first received more blows to the heart than the second. And the one who sent the letter says: "Good Stephen, my lord, has again added beautiful crowns to my crowns. But how will we reward you for what you have done to our insignificance, driven by good disposition, and you do, and I know that you will continue to do, benefiting us every day for seven years? How will we defend ourselves before you, zealous in such a matter and knowing how to honor your friends and please them with sweets your medications? But we beg you, do not stop in your plans and do not stop your deeds; add to them, if necessary, others that will make my labors sweeter. You have increased in me the light, the joy, the pleasure that strangely boils within me, filling my soul with the inexplicable joy of the spirit in peaceful thoughts. You will, perhaps, completely multiply all this by doing your usual deeds, and will soon unite us with the beloved God, for whose sake I willingly endure everything and for whose sake, as you see, you have placed these bonds of exile on me. Be healthy. To my all-holy and holy lord, Simeon, who was expelled by you and deprived of your property.” 100. The said chapel and the place on which it stood belonged to one of the dignitaries, Christopher, surnamed Fagura. Having learned that the saint had been expelled and was stationed near the chapel, this disciple of the saint immediately crossed the Propontis and found himself exactly in the [designated] place. When he saw that the blessed man was sitting there with one student and had nothing to warm his body, with tears he quickly threw himself at the beautiful feet of the teacher and fervently mourned his misfortune. When he also learned the reason for the expulsion, he severely condemned the actions of the persecutor, but considered happy the one who was persecuted and who heard “every evil word” (Matthew 5:11) according to the commandment of God. He carefully asked the saint [to allow] him to deliver the things necessary for the body, so that he would not feel the need for the necessary things. And the saint answered: “What, child, do we need, besides daily food, which bread and salt with water provide us in greater abundance than other foods? But if you, whom we gave birth to in the Spirit, care more about pleasing us, then first of all you will give this chapel as a gift to us, homeless. And if God somehow looks at our sorrow and, looking, looks at us and deigns us, persecuted for the sake of His commandment, some kind of consolation, then we will restore the monastery of monastics, and for those who are being saved and for you, this act will be a defense before God and a reward, and will give us a place to perform prayers and fulfill the commandments of Christ." Hearing this and being very happy with what was said, this man immediately brings a gift to the saint. chapel, dedicates it to God. 101. But let us put aside the story about the construction of the monastery, let the presentation once again touch upon the suffering of [our] father, and let it be told how everything happened. So, the rumor about this man, like a strike of lightning, struck everyone whom it reached, and prompted many to visit him. Regarding his expulsion, some had one opinion, others another. He, possessing an apostolic mind, considered it necessary to take care of those who were tempted. Therefore, when he told those who came what his accusers had done to him, he plunged them into tears of compassion, because they saw his old age and defenselessness, and all who possessed divine knowledge and were fluent in speech, blessed him, saying: “Blessed are you, Father, who endured persecution and reproach for the sake of righteousness, as the apostle clearly said. “If they slander you for the name of Christ, then blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and strength, the Spirit of God rests on you... If only none of you suffers as a murderer, or a thief, or an evildoer... And if as a Christian, then let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in His name. For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God” (1 Pet. 4:14-17).” With these words they returned, filled with [confidence] in the impeccability of his life and words. 102. But in order to show himself not involved in any accusation and to reveal every single reason for his exile to people, not only now coming to him, but, moreover, far away and to those who will come later, he prepares a small book about himself, also writes a [message] to Patriarch Sergius, where in simple and understandable words he openly talks about his faith and his boldness. He sends what he wrote to the patrician Tenesius and the rest of the rulers, for whom he was a teacher of piety, so that they deliver it to the patriarch and bishops of the Church. And so the famous [people] from among the authorities first of all arrange a meeting with the patriarch, coherently set out what concerns the expulsion of the saint and, denouncing lawlessness, fill his soul with fear; then they hand him a book and a letter. And he, seeing how many famous people came to him, respecting their fame, [and also] fearing that the circumstances of what had happened might reach the emperor and end with strong censure for him, orders this to be read in the Synod. The metropolitans listened attentively to what was being read and many of them sighed heavily over the syncellus who had done such a thing, and many loudly praised the saint’s rationality and pure lifestyle. 103. At the end of reading what was written, the patriarch turns to the rulers and disciples of the saint: "As for me, glorious ones, I never had a bad suspicion against Mr. Simeon. Moreover, I read from the very beginning what he wrote about my [spiritual] father and rejoiced when I learned the life of that man. And I ordered that what was written be sung in churches, praising his faith. But I do not know why and what discrepancy arose between him and Sincell and brought against him and his [spiritual] father countless accusations, containing nothing except slander. And the fact that he suffered from us, he suffered not because he was mistaken in church dogmas, by which the right and immaculate faith is strengthened, but because he invariably adhered to his goal and, honoring his father, did not cease to celebrate [his memory] with brilliance. His accusers were worried and came to the crowd every day. us, so I removed him from the monastery and from the city. But now, if he wishes and if he obeys my words, he will again become the master of his monastery, and I will ordain him, with the permission of the entire Holy Synod, as a bishop in one of the high metropolises. Then the injustices that have occurred will be corrected, and your undying trust in him will be preserved.” 104. So he said and, having sent for the holy man, brought him back from exile. When the rumor about his arrival spread everywhere, it was as if everyone were gathering for a great holiday - laymen and monks, priests and Levites, as well as all the famous members of the synclite who knew the blessed one by his virtue, for whom he was a teacher and father: they go with him to the patriarch. When the father’s arrival was announced, the patriarch went out into the small reception room, and there he was met by the saint, accompanied by high-ranking persons. The Patriarch says: “Why did you decide, pious Mr. Simeon, to plunge yourself into confusion and to upset these disciples who love you, and to endure what should have fallen to the lot of a condemned [criminal], and not such a knowledgeable and virtuous husband as you? After all, I - let justice itself testify! - had a high and good opinion of you, and had some other ideas about you that I can bring to the end, if only you treat my words with confidence and great zeal. But listen to us at least on this: return again to your monastery, where you put in a lot of work, and we will not interfere with the celebration of the memory of your [spiritual] father; We only ask you to slightly moderate the splendor of your many-day celebrations and celebrate only with the monks subordinate to you and with friends coming from outside until the time when those moved by envy against you either calm down or leave this world and this transitory life. Then you will do as you please and as pleases God.” 105. And the saint answered: “In the confusion and temptation that you spoke about, my lord, it is not I who am guilty, but the reasonable syncellus, who in his own eyes is a learned man, for whom I became the object of causeless hatred through nothing other than empty and unnecessary research. He likes to waste time in them, and with the help of them he thinks to capture and test the knowledge and understanding of other people, so that no one in this seems greater than him, but so that everyone would be overcome by his wisdom and knowledge. In justice, he should be condemned for this turmoil, as the apostle says: “He who troubles you, whoever he is, will bear his own condemnation” (Gal. 5:10). And for what I have suffered and endured, and perhaps will endure again, I give thanks to my God and to you, my lord, because I suffered not as a libertine or a villain, but as a servant of Christ, observing. apostolic institutions and canons, as Peter, the head of the apostles, teaches me, in these words: “Just as long as none of you suffers as a murderer, or a thief, or an evildoer... but if as a Christian, then do not be ashamed” (1 Pet. 4:15–16). Therefore, not only am I not ashamed of what I endured for the sake of the commandment of God, which commands us not to despise our fathers, but I rejoice and consider myself blessed, because I myself, insignificant, was honored to give an answer for one commandment of my God, to suffer condemnation for the truth and to be expelled following the example of our ancient fathers. 106. As for your previous disposition towards me, I myself am a witness to it, and not only me, but also the truth itself that dwells between us. You often honored us beyond what we deserved and always received honors from us. You extol the faith in our [spiritual] father, declaring it divine and admiring what we do. I acknowledge, my lord, your affection for us. But the envy of Satan - I don’t know how to express it - did not properly change your inner dispensation, making “sweet bitter” (Is. 5:20) and turning the light into darkness, and not only for us, but also for the whole earth, throughout which rumors of what had been done against us spread. As for some other ideas that you have about us, which you have been thinking about, continue to think about and intend to fulfill, if we obey your words, then this concerns temporary blessings - temporary human glory and honors. I, your servant, will not talk about them, for I have long ago come to the conclusion that one should consider dishonor from people a guarantee of heavenly glory, and glorification from them should be endured as insult and reproach. If [we are talking about] a matter pleasing to God and beneficial to the soul, I will always readily obey your instructions. And who will not praise you, my lord, because you teach to observe what Christ and His disciples said and commanded, according to the word of the Son of God: “teaching them to observe everything that I commanded you” (Matthew 28:20). So deign to teach according to the Holy Scriptures, following the holy fathers who previously taught, and we will accept you as an apostolic like-minded person, and we will become earth and dust under your holy feet, and we will consider being trampled by you a holy deed, as I wrote earlier. And not only this, but we will also keep your commandments until death, and you will love us as servants and prudent disciples of Christ, and you will praise us as speaking well. 107. If you do not want to teach so that we, as was said, obey your commands, but, having secured some promises that will glorify me among ordinary people and make me an ally of you and all the bishops of the church, you force us to renounce our father, who enlightened us, and now praying for us and always interceding for us in life’s circumstances, like a most loving father, you are thus trying to ensure that we offended Christ, who said: “Whoever rejects you rejects Me” (Luke 10:16). And we will not say anything else, except that the disciples of Christ: “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). For “if I were still pleasing men, I would not be a servant of Christ” (Gal. 1:10). Know that from now on I do not prefer for myself the expulsion of either a monastery, wealth, fame, or anything else that happened in God’s justice, or anything else that people strive for in life. After all, none of this, “neither death nor life... will... separate me from love... for Christ” (Rom. 8:38, 39) and for my spiritual father himself. Because from the moment I entrusted all the care of the abbess to my student Arseny and decided that he should stand at the head of the brethren instead of me, I completely, even while there, became outside of my affairs and labors and, being in solitude, as if I was not among them. And since I was expelled from there because of the truth and because of keeping the commandment of the Living God, I will not return there another time while I am alive, but I will die along with the commandment of Christ, without rejecting Him (2 Tim. 2:11). I am confident that I will not fall away from His inspired Beatitudes. After all, He says: “Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and slander you in every way unrighteously for My sake” (Matthew 5:11).” 108. And so, when the patriarch, contrary to all expectations, heard this, he said: “You really are a passionate person, Mr. Simeon, and you have their tenacity, perhaps worthy of praise, if it is legal.” Then he briefly expressed his opinion in the following words: "I said that I would somewhat curtail your great stubbornness in this matter, but since you are still the same and have not changed at all, but remain in unshakable veneration of your spiritual father and in loyalty to him (which seems to me and to everyone commendable and lawful), then in any case you have shown your disobedience to our words. So from now on, be wherever you please, communicating, of course, with your disciples and acting as you wish, without encountering obstacles on our part, whether outside this city or in it, solemnly celebrating and rejoicing with your friends.” Having said this, he sent them away in peace. 109. So, blessed Simeon, even without being subjected to persecution, showed himself to be a voluntary martyr, both according to the testimony of his conscience, and by patiently enduring the temptations that came upon him for the sake of fulfilling the commandment of the Lord. With his beloved children - the high-ranking officials mentioned above, he joyfully leaves the patriarchal chambers, and together with all of them he is shown hospitality in the house of the wonderful Christopher, nicknamed Fagura. He spent many days there. First of all, he greatly provided spiritual benefit to the master himself and his two brothers, and then he freely allowed many others to [listen to] the teachings contained in his honeyed speeches - and these were priests, Levites, nobles, common people, husbands and wives, children and old people, everyone who learned about him and by whom he was loved. Then he goes to his beloved [place of] solitude, wanting to set up a cell there for the [feat of] silence. But God, who gives a nest to eaglets and bread for people to eat, pours out money like a shower to this blessed man and opens for him the treasures of those in power, and at once everyone - their relatives, friends, and children - brings him a sufficient amount of gold. Having accepted it, the blessed one boldly turns to God, to whom he prayed for this, that is, for the construction of the monastery. 110. But who is able to tell again about the temptations that arose against him from demons and from neighbors? The first, not obviously, but the second, clearly, gnashed their teeth at him every hour, threw stones [at him], insulted, threatened, and intimidated. They did everything they could to dissuade him from the idea of ​​erecting [a monastery]. Simeon, having clothed himself in rock (Gal. 3:27; 1 Cor. 10:4), having established on it forever (Ps. 39:3) the foundations of his mind, remained firm and unshakable to the onslaught of temptations and to opposing winds. Driven by envy, his neighbors obstructed him, openly threatened him and chased him, showering him with stones. And the demons, who had long ago waged war against him, being invisible, shook the buildings and forced him to work again. Why talk a lot? A mountain of disasters and fierce waves rose up against him every day, both from demons and from people. But nevertheless, as is now clear, with great effort he completed the construction of this small monastery, where he planted a garden and a vineyard to console the monks, who were to indulge in their exploits here. And so Simeon again gathered another flock and began to celebrate the memory of [his] father with greater honors than before. Indeed, [in the lands of] Eugene, where he also acquired a courtyard, almost all the clergy of the great Church of Christ gathered in the Church of the Mother of God, following the popular custom of gathering, with a large gathering of monks and laity, and for eight whole days a holiday was celebrated, and no one forbade or condemned it, as before. 111. But when he has rested from all his affairs, he again indulges in his beloved silence, which he never abandoned, even when he was involved in the worry of many matters. He is completely immersed in [his] ordinary revelations and contemplations in the Spirit. Then, having overcome matter and the density of the body, with mind and spirit he is completely united with God, from whom he has never moved away. His tongue becomes a fiery tongue, he theologizes “Hymns of Divine Love” and against [his own will], with the powerful breath of the Spirit, he publishes what he learned in divine revelation and what he contemplated in visions when he was above nature. Under the influence of divine fire, becoming from day to day all fire and light, he became a god by adoption and from now on, as the son of God, with his face uncovered, mysteriously talked with God and the Father, like Moses, and with the help of the pointing finger of God (Ex. 31:18), as on tablets, he imprinted the actions of divine fire. In addition, with the power of wisdom, he then composes his very strong apologetic and polemical Words, putting them forward against his opponents. 112. But the demon does not calm down, seeing this and tempting him, like Job; he arouses the anger of those living next door to the monastery against him. They sometimes treated him arrogantly and reviled him cruelly, and sometimes they raised their hands against him - against him, old and powerless - with criminal hands they pushed him to the ground (oh, Thy patience, my Christ, and inexpressible generosity!), sometimes they even threw stones at the righteous man. So, one of these [people] one day grabbed a stone, as large as his hand could hold, and threw it into the place where the saint used to sit and write words of divine grace. The stone pierced the glass, flew over the top of the saint’s head and fell right in front of him. From the sheer force of the fall, a spinning whirlwind filled his honest head. If [the stone] had hit her in midair, nothing would have prevented the saint's instant death. What does an imitator of the one who said: “Do not repay evil for evil” do (Rom. 12:17)? He responded with good deeds to Elodeus himself and to other offenders. In a meek voice he calls his disciple Simeon and says, showing him the stone: "You see, brother, what threatened us? So go and with the oil of good deeds calm the rage of that man and give him from our poverty in abundance what he needs for [his] healing." 113. Such was this great disciple of Christ: he endured what the masters inflicted on him, and rewarded those who did evil to him with good. Being a true follower of the apostles and an imitator of Christ, he did not respond with reproaches when he was reviled, suffering, did not murmur when persecuted, endured, being insulted, exhorted. Rejoicing in his sorrows with unspeakable joy, he considered himself a participant in the blessings of Christ. Staying in this state and living, according to the Gospel, in an apostolic manner, the blessed disciple of Christ leaves the deception of the sensory world and, while physically being with people on earth, his soul mentally abides with God, in the divine light, and converses with heavenly angels. He who knows how to accurately judge divine things will call him an earthly angel and a heavenly man. For, as a heavenly man, he illuminated the good deeds of earthly people, and through the knowledge of heavenly things and the wisdom of God, he enlightened the souls of those who approached him in faith. As an earthly angel, he used to foresee and foreknow the future, prophetically predict it, and each [event] took place exactly at the appointed time. This is evidenced by the prophetic prediction with which the saint addressed the famous nobleman John, who was the prothonotary of the house under the autocrat Vasily. The saint boldly predicted a great test for him, and after ten years the king accused this man of a terrible [crime], and he suffered the most severe punishment. At the same time [a similar thing happened] with the head of the petitions, John, who was a relative of the saint. We have presented both cases more fully in the detailed biography than in the abbreviated one. Such was the life of this man and such was the insight of this purest soul, so that he saw for many years the events that were to happen later, and foresaw them, as if holding a book in his hands and, thanks to continuous study of it, receiving clear knowledge of upcoming events. 114. But after we have remembered some of the miracles of him, whose life was entirely a great miracle, and especially [a miracle was] the word of the wisdom of God and knowledge, which he, like the apostles, enriched by the inspiration of the Spirit, we will direct the story to his blessed death. There was no water in the monastery he built, and the disciples experienced great hardships, as they carried it from below on their own backs. This upset the saint more than his disciples. But since it was impossible to find water in that place, because there was almost only stone all around, then, filled with pity for the work of those delivering water, he confided his pain with spiritual groaning in prayer to the omniscient God. He asks to mysteriously reveal to him a place where a crack in the rock would pour out water for the needs of those who are thirsty. God opened a place for him, and he, constantly avoiding worldly glory, could not hide [any longer]. But since his nature, having reached extreme old age, strived for liberation and, as if unable to endure so many temptations, intended to pay the common debt, and since the blessed man had a presentiment that his last illness had already happened to him, then one day, when he was being carried on a stretcher, he ordered those carrying him to the courtyard of his small monastery and [there] to stop. After this, he asks to bring him a hoe, which is usually called “tsapion”. Taking it and saying: “Blessed be God!”, he struck it three times in the middle of the courtyard where he was, and ordered the monks to bring diggers and quickly excavate this place. They eagerly set to work, but when they reached the depths, there was no water, for the rock they stumbled upon was extremely sharp and unyielding. Very tired, unable to split it, they stopped their work. The saint heard about this when he was already dictating to the scribe what concerned his departure [from life] and his will. “Tell those who dig the well,” he says, “to hit the edge of the rock and not bother themselves anymore: for immediately springs will be given to us from it.” And so those who hit the rock repeatedly and with effort and achieved nothing, immediately split it with one single blow, and the cleft poured out from the depths of the purest and drinkable water. Since then, this depression, which turned into a well, has been preserved as a testimony of what boldness before God has achieved. Thus, God listens to his saints and the silent voices of the voiceless and reveals them against their will through works of grace. 115. But it must also be said that, having first appeared in a vision to Anna, the abbess of [the monastery] Vardena, he performed a miracle on her. She herself told us [about this] in these words. "Once a fever happened to me, inside I was burning with a terrible fire, my flesh melted like wax, my bones became like dry brushwood and complete disorder set in throughout my whole body. I suffered for many days from the fever that consumed me and could not even eat light food at all. When the doctors saw that the medicine was intensifying the disease, the strength was leaving the body and the flesh was terribly emaciated, the voice dried up and lost strength, they despaired of me recovery and left, leaving me, like a breathing corpse, alone with only my mother. And so my mother - what would I do without her? - when she heard that the doctors had lost hope for my life, and saw that my gaze was fading, that I was constantly suffocating and already at my last breath, she pressed me to her chest and began to sob bitterly, she waited for the moment for me, dying, to close my eyes. Being in such a state and no longer perceiving what is happening around me, I see in a vision that blessed Simeon extends his right hand to his holy father, Simeon the Reverent, and approaches me with great glory. Approaching me, he said in a meek voice: “Hello, my lady Anna! What terrible illness has attacked you? Why are you, being in such a state, lying motionless on your bed and not talking with your mother or with us, your friends, and not eating food at all?” And from the voice of the holy man, as if having come to my senses, I opened my eyes and at the same time my lips and, with difficulty recognizing him, said in a weak voice: “I am dying, my all-honorable father!” Then Saint Simeon Studit, turning around, said to his blessed disciple, that is, Saint Simeon: “Rise her up, Mr. Simeon, supporting her with [your] hand, and give her something to eat.” Having done this, as it seemed to me, he began to feed me food taken from my mother. Having eaten from those holy hands, I immediately gained health and strength, got up from my bed, called my mother and told her about the vision. Recently, still speechless and dead, I asked her for food, ate with great pleasure and got up completely healthy. So now the Holy Gospel acts on those who live according to God and exactly according to the Gospel and consistently keep its commandments.” 116. This is the story. But now let us turn the story to other miracles of our father. One boy, Nikifor, was brought up by this blessed father. After the death of the saint, he took monastic vows at the monastery of St. Marina and also received the name Simeon. He became an eyewitness to some of the miracles of [his spiritual] father and, being a priest, told me, calling God as a witness, the following. "When I was a boy," he said, "and had just reached the age of fourteen, I was brought by my relatives to the saint and became one of those who served him. I don’t know how to say it, but from my earliest childhood my nature resisted eating fish, and if someone forced me to take it at a meal, especially fresh and not salted, then I immediately vomited it, my nature rejected it, and I was filled with all kinds of disgust. Once at a meal, when I was in such a state and was suffering greatly from the rejection [of fish], the saint extended his hand to me and gave me a piece of fried fish. I slowed down and began to refuse. When the saint asked me and learned about the reason for the refusal, he withdrew his hand and briefly went deep into himself to immediately find out about this through prayer from the omniscient God. After he had a mysterious conversation with God, he ordered me to approach and, when I approached, he stretched out his hand, blessed this piece of fish and gave it to me to eat, with the words: “Having received it in Christ my God, eat and from now on you will have a natural desire for everything that God has given us to eat, saying: “As the green herbs I give you everything” (Gen. 9:3).” When the saint said this and I consumed this food with faith, I immediately, by the grace of God and through the prayers of my father, felt a desire to eat fish. Since then, I ate fish more readily than meat before, when I was in the world. The blessed man performed this first sign of his holiness with me, like the sign of Jesus my God at the wedding in Cana of Galilee. 117. But when I became close to the saint in all respects and received a lot of love and care from him, he did not allow any of the monks who lived with him to stay with him for a long time or remain in the same cell with him, except me, perhaps because, while still in childhood, I was spotless and blameless - he constantly took care and carefully watched so that no one knew about his feat - or maybe for the sake of some kind of service to his old age, or, perhaps, according to the economy of God, so that it would be revealed what his feat was in [this] life, among the world and the city, with the present generation, for it was necessary for him not to go to God until then - for how much [time], I cannot say - until, finally, absolutely no one remained with him in his cell. And so, when one day I was lying in the corner under the roof of his cell, around midnight, as if awakened by someone, I opened my eyes and saw a shuddering sight: for what happened to him was terrible for sight and hearing. At the top, right under the ceiling of the cell, a large image was suspended - the deisis, and near it there was a lit lamp. And so I saw that just at the level of the icon, at a level of about four cubits - Christ the Truth is my witness - the holy man was in the air, raising his hands and praying, becoming all light and all shining. As soon as I, a child, inexperienced in such things, saw this supernatural and terrible miracle, in fear I crawled with my head under the blanket, hiding my face. When morning came, overcome by fear, I told the saint in private about the vision. He strictly ordered me not to tell anyone about this at all. 118. But since it was not God’s will for him to hide until the end [of his days], but it was necessary that, finally, the grace that he had abundantly acquired from above should reveal itself, even if it was undesirable for him, the all-pervading and guiding [God’s] Providence prompted him to leave the [home] hearth and brought a certain poor woman to the holy husband in the monastery. She carried in her arms a child of about four years old, relaxed and motionless, terribly exhausted by illness, which left almost no hope for his survival. Tormented by two misfortunes at once - poverty and the serious illness of her own child - she suffered cruelly and shed streams of tears. Therefore, having climbed the stairs leading to the church of St. Marina, she quietly laid the child on the platform and hastily left, so that out of the two misfortunes that oppressed her, choosing one, she could get a short and small respite. When the monks who lived near the monastery and the holy man came and saw that the child was lying, completely withered, completely motionless, silent, with wildly staring eyes, continuously emitting heavy sighs, by which only one could know that he was alive, they informed the saint about this terrible and unbearable sight. And he, taking out the staff from the box, on which he leaned and helped himself in old age and bodily weakness, went out to look at the heartbreaking sight for himself, who was no longer a child. When he looked with his eyes full of compassion and saw what only the eyes of those looking on were fixed on - a stunning and awe-inspiring sight - he wept over it and groaned from the depths of his heart, amazed both by what he saw and by the extent to which the action of the evil one against God’s creation extends. Then, turning to us who surrounded him, the blessed one says: “What do you think about this child and what do you want?” We all unanimously answered: “We must bury him and bury him, he is, of course, dead and is about to take his last breath.” “No, that’s not so,” said [the saint], “you gave me the answer without thinking.” And, putting aside his staff, the holy elder bent down, took the child in his arms and laid him on the chair, sitting in which he rested in sacred meetings. And he ordered us to bring the lamp that hung in front of the [icon] of St. Marina, took oil from there, anointed this terribly withered child, then prayed and made the sign of the cross over him. How you have magnified, O King Christ, your saints! Immediately the child, who miraculously came to his senses, ignited with life and gaining strength and health from the mere laying on of these holy hands, stood up - a child who had been lying motionless all his life - grabbed the saint's chair, then began to walk and jump around the church, grabbing the pews, and, as usual, looked for food. When the child was full, [this] culprit of misfortune and poverty was given to the mother. This is one of his apparent miracles. 119. A certain other woman had a son - a young man of flourishing age and beautiful appearance. The Evil One pursued her with envy, and the son she was carrying was overwhelmed by an unclean spirit, went into a rage and let out foam. And so, moved by Providence from above and grace, she brings her son to the monastery of the saint. Climbing the stairs, she stopped at the entrance to the church and began to pray to God for her son. Then the woman asked the saint to receive her and see him; her request was conveyed to him. Christ-likely accessible to everyone - husbands, wives, children, old people, young people, wanderers, acquaintances, every person - he approaches her with a calm and quiet gait, as usual, holding his staff in his hands and leaning on it. When she knelt in honor of the saint with tears and faith, and the young man saw with his own eyes his angelic appearance, the unclean spirit threw him to the ground and twisted him, lying, gnashing his teeth, emitting foam and bleating like a goat. Seeing how the young man was tormented by a demon and rolling on the ground, the saint took pity on him, sighed for him from the depths of his soul and cried in front of the image of Jesus Christ the God written above the gate. Having become indignant and rebuking the [unclean] spirit, he says (and we have heard): “The evil and unclean demon! May the Lord my God forbid you! Get out of God’s creation!” He said [thus] and, taking oil from the lamp in front of the icon, anointed the sufferer, gave him his hand, raised him and sent him home healthy with his mother. He never again suffered from a demonic attack. 120. One day the saint went to his homeland, to his father’s house. And when he found himself near the very large river Gallos, which flows through Bithynia, he noticed that a fisherman standing on the shore was catching fish with a rod and net. Seeing him, the saint asked if he had any fish to sell. And he [answered]: “I worked a lot, venerable father, from dawn until the present, as you see, nine o’clock in the afternoon and I caught nothing at all, either for my own food or for sale.” Then the saint said: “Cast a fishing rod on my behalf and, if with God’s help you catch something, accept money from me as the price for the fish you caught, and I will take what you caught.” And the fisherman quickly, as soon as he could, casts his fishing rod into the middle of the river and - oh, Christ, the miracles and powers of your saints! - Without waiting even a short time, he pulls out a fishing rod and removes a huge fish from it with his hand. When, contrary to all expectations, the fisherman sees the great fish he has caught, he grabs it and hides it under his clothes. And the saint says: “Take what we agreed on, and give me the fish caught in my name.” The fisherman replies: “I need it for one patrician, I won’t sell it.” And the saint, realizing his depravity and the unrighteousness of his soul, left him and, going away a little, cursed the unrighteous. And immediately the fish, jumping out of his clothes, jumped high and rushed into the middle of the river, leaving the foolish man, as before, with nothing. 121. This blessed man had a friend named Orestes, [who lived] near the harbor of Chrysopolis. This man did not need anything, having abundance and abundance of funds. Owning a lot, he lived happily in his house with his wife and children. But an envious demon became jealous of him because of his prosperity and, slowly creeping up, attacked him, twisted his entire mouth to his ear, and he lost his speech. They carried him home on a stretcher to his wife and children. When the wife saw her husband, and the children saw their father, suddenly struck by such a terrible illness, with no hope of recovery, they, along with all those present and friends, began to beat their chests, moaned loudly and cried inconsolably. Then they inform the [holy] father about the misfortune of this man - that his friend Orestes is about to part with his transitory life. And he, foreseeing the future in spirit, said to the one who reported: “Come on, I’ll look at my friend like a friend who has come, and he will look at me.” So, taking his staff, he set off on the path leading to that [man], and I, as the narrator [Nicephorus] says, walked ahead of the saint. As soon as the saint entered his friend’s house, his wife saw him, mournful and overcome with grief, and began to lament: “You see, father, [your] friend, whom we love and whom you dearly loved, is dying, and everyone will soon see me as a widow, and my children will become orphans and will be deprived of their father. But I pray, help me, your servant, and pray to God, so that either I give up the ghost with him and not be left without a husband for a single hour, or see him healed by nature and turned to home and business.” 122. This is what the wife said to the saint. When he saw his friend under the burden of severe suffering, speechless and blind, lying on the bed and not perceiving anything that was happening or being said, he shed tears of compassion over him and said: “Dear Orestes, how you suffer! What did the envious demon do to you!” Having said this, he raised his hands in prayer and, turning the intelligent eyes of his soul to the Lord who listened to his petition, touched his husband’s head and, having made a prayer over him for the sick, immediately imprinted [the sign of the cross] on his lips and his entire head. And immediately - oh, Thy ineffable kindness, Lord! - this man is restored to his natural state and, having again received freedom of his lips from the onslaught and scourge of the evil one, addresses his wife with a word and greets the saint. From then on, while the blessed husband was alive, the friend who had benefited him constantly brought him fruit as a token of gratitude. And he, accepting the offerings out of love, said: “For everything, brother, we must thank God alone, Who can work His miracles over all who trust in Him. We are His creations and He brought us from non-existence into existence, being created for good deeds for the glory of His goodness, although we, as you see, are sinful people and, like you, are clothed with all sorts of infirmities. Moreover, we should diligently take care of our own lives, so that, involuntarily or voluntarily, we do not do something contrary to reverence or unworthy of the will of God and through this, giving room to the evil demon, do not fall into such temptations. See, brother, that, having become healthy by the grace of God, you never again fall into evil-mindedness and sin, so that something worse does not happen to you than what happened, as God’s Word mercifully says not only to the paralytic, but to all of us” (John 5:14). 123. But how can I miss the awe-inspiring miracle that he performed on one of the brothers who rebelled against him? For [each] of his amazing miracles that I encounter seems more significant than the previous one and disrupts the flow of the story, preventing it from reaching the end, despite my efforts, and compels [me] to open and set forth what was hidden, but which God has now revealed to us. The story of this terrible miracle is as follows. One day, two people from a neighboring village, brothers born of the same mother, began, as best they could, to revile the holy man because of the monastery he founded. They blasphemed and insulted him and boldly threatened him. And he answered them kindly, exhorting, begging, saying and doing everything that would pacify their souls. They became more and more inflamed with rage against the saint and showered him with curses. Then he began to remind them of the Last Judgment of God, how it is carried out on those who insult and revile the servants of God. And one of them, named Damian, driven by a fit of unbridled anger, pushes the saint with his criminal and wicked hand and throws him to the ground. Then, fearing that the breath of God’s wrath would one day overtake him, with repentance he quickly bends down and lifts the holy priest of God from the ground, and hears from him: “May God forgive you, brother, and not count this against you as a sin.” 124. And the other [brother], the unfortunate one, whose name was Anfis, directing the shamelessness of his soul into the great nonsense of insults and reproaches, not sparing himself at all and not even refraining from mockery, as if drunk, jumped on the holy man, calling him a hypocrite, a pretender, a deceiver of those who seek meetings with him and talk. So, the blessed one saw the immeasurable impudence of that [man], extending to many things, and that the insolent one sharpened his tongue even against the church of God and against the [Holy] Spirit, which is one and the same thing, and not only that, but that he insulted the life-giving deadness acquired in the sacred struggles for virtue, the energy of divine grace acting hidden in him, his meek disposition and ascetic appearance - in a word, [all] wonderful thing that he received by inspiration from the [Holy] Spirit. Then [the blessed one] imitates the anger of [the prophet] Elisha, when he, driven by the jealousy of God, betrayed the wicked children through curses to ravenous beasts (2 Kings 2:24). Filled with anger and inflamed by the Spirit from Above, he says to this [man] this way: “If, as you yourself claim, I am a hypocrite and a pretender, and my appearance therefore serves to deceive people who come to me and talk with me, truly I tell you, you will take on this disguise, having a swollen belly, and you will, just like me, deceive people.” He said and - O God of all, Your judgment is inevitable! - according to [the spoken] word, in the evening of the same day, the unfortunate man, having sunk to his bed, no longer had the strength to rise from it, but, being seized by a serious illness, having swollen excessively, becoming in color similar to a lemon, on the indicated days he gave up the ghost from this illness and from the terrible wrath of God. And this happened to intimidate ignorant and foolish people, so that they would not despise the saints and the grace that dwells in them, [and also] in fulfillment of what was said by the apostles in their decrees, where they openly talk about the need to honor our spiritual fathers, in the thirtieth chapter of the second book, which literally [looks like this]: “These [people] received from God the power over life and death, to judge those who have sinned and condemn eternal death, and those who repent are absolved from their sins and revived.” 125. When the time of transitory life has come to pass for the saint and he foreknew the end of the number of his days, he prepares [for this] for the last illness, and his bed receives the sick. And his illness was an intestinal disorder: it depleted his body and completely destroyed the connection of its constituent elements. So, the blessed one lay for quite a few days, seized by illness, gradually lost strength, decayed his flesh and was freed from [bodily] shackles. Because of his illness, his flesh was so withered that he himself could not even move if they had not given him a helping hand in advance and turned him from side to side with the help of some device. When he was in this state, and we asked him whether he needed anything by nature, he urgently asked that I alone be present and remain with him. But I was still young, and a deep sleep quickly took possession of me - I expressed this to the saint [and added] that I did not have sufficient strength to care for him alone, for I was enslaved to this passion, like a slave. He answered me: “On this bench (we usually call it “arkla”), lie down and rest next to me and you will find relief from [your] passion.” When I did this according to his orders,” he says, “that evening on which he commanded, and fell asleep on the bench, by the grace of God I no longer plunged, as before, into a deep sleep, having once been completely captured by it due to my inherent necessity. But, shaking it off like some kind of heavy burden, from then on I did not feel the desire to sleep, not only when I was awake, but also when I slept, through the prayers of the saint, according to the word of Scripture: “I sleep, but my heart is awake” (Song. 5:2). 126.But, adding to all this, [the narrator] continues, the sign that I saw while he was [already] lying, I will quickly finish the story. Since, as I said earlier, he did not allow anyone else but me to stay in the same cell with him, I lay during his sleep on the bed, which has already been mentioned, throughout the whole night, now falling asleep, now serving him in whatever was necessary. His time of weakness continued, and the illness completely defeated him, and little remained before he was freed from the shackles of his stubborn flesh. One night, when I, as usual, was lying on that same bed, slightly immersed in a thin and weak sleep, suddenly, as I have already told you, it was as if someone had woken me up. And oh, a terrible miracle! I see that this blessed and equal-angelic man, stricken with illness, whom we had difficulty turning on his bed from side to side with the help of some device, hangs in the air under the ceiling of his cell at a height of four or more cubits and prays to his God in ineffable light. When I saw him like that (after all, from a previous vision I remembered his great holiness and angelic dispensation), I, filled with delight and awe, continued to lie silently. I reasoned with myself and said: “How is it that the one who yesterday and this morning could not turn over on his bed and generally move and stand up without outside help, now rose from the bed and, ascending into the air, prays like that - a person like us, wearing flesh that drags down?” 127. So thinking about this to myself and being amazed, I, against my will, fell into sleep while the saint was still hanging in the air. Therefore, after some time, waking up from sleep (after all, my heart was trembling from this incredible and strange sight), I saw the saint already lying on the bed; he took the blanket and covered his body with it. This, more than anything else, shocked me and drove me crazy. Therefore, I said to myself, marveling at what had happened: “How is it that the one whom illness weakened and made immobile, divine grace, in the Father and the Son through the Holy Spirit, indwelled him in abundance, completely restored, completely strengthened and lifted him from the earth into the air, to communicate with her, and the destructive power of illness and infirmity turned out to be weaker than the divine power that dwelt in him from his youth? But such is the power that comes from above on the saints and equals to the apostles through the visitation of the Spirit. It turns out to be higher and stronger not only than illness, withering and infirmity, due to which the flesh disintegrates, dies and turns to dust, but [stronger] than torment, death and the depths of hell.” When the day came and my concern for the saint began, I dared, being left alone with him, to reveal the secret to him. And he [answered]: “You are prohibited from God and from my insignificance. Don’t tell anyone about this vision before you see me leaving the flesh.” I have kept this until now and have not told anyone about it.” Here ends what Nikifor, also known as Simeon, told us. 128. After the noble man spent thirteen years in exile and during this time with humility endured many trials, labors and sorrows, and his nature, having already reached a painful old age, began to strive for liberation, he was overcome by weakness and illness. His thinned, exhausted nature endured the sufferings characteristic of him, which he should [endure], and his soul completely clung to God, for Whom he lived until [his] death, for Whom he theologized and with Whom he coexisted. Therefore, he asked for a speedy release from the body, so that on the chariot of virtues he could be lifted up to heaven and settled in incorruptible abodes (Phil. 1:23). Strengthening himself and his disciples, he encouraged them with words of consolation, and at the same time predicted for them the day and hour of [his] departure from the body and asked that neither before the time of [his death] nor after they would recklessly beat themselves [on the chest] and weep like those who have no hope. And with a prophecy that inspires awe, he captured the end of his life. Looking at the mourners and seeing [their] orphanhood, he said: "Why are you mourning me as I leave you? On the fifth indictment you will cover me, who died, with a coffin, and on the fifth indictment you will again see me emerging from the coffin and staying with you who love me." Having said this, when the designated day arrived, March 12, the ever-memorable husband took communion of the Most Pure Mysteries of Christ, which was his custom every day, said “Amen” and commanded the disciples to sing the departure prayers. 129. So they sang with lit lamps and with tear-stained eyes. And while they were singing, he raised his holy hands and, to the best of his ability, prayed a little more, and then crossed them and collected himself respectfully. Having said quietly and calmly: “Into Your hands, O Christ the King, I commit my spirit,” the illustrious and long-suffering ascetic of Christ, rejoicing, left his patient and long-suffering body. Having completed the brilliant battles, he departed to the Lord, at the moment of death becoming a burnt sacrifice from an all-consuming fire, [a sacrifice] blameless and acceptable to God (Lev. 22:18–21). That's what we wrote in his epitaph. Thus, in the feats of confession and abstinence, the righteous man joins the righteous, the saint, the theologian, the martyr, the confessor and the great teacher of the Church of Christ, the confessors and teachers and the holy martyrs. But when thirty years have passed since the death of this ever-memorable father, according to his prophecy, the transfer of his holy remains is foreshadowed by a sign: in an indescribable way, the number “five” appears, as if written on marble in the cell of his disciple Nikita Stifat, and many saw it. Thus, when the fifth indictment ended, that is, in 6560, his luminous relics, filled with all grace and fragrance, were carried over the earth, calling many and illuminating his friends and disciples, who touched them and kissed them. 130. Such was, brothers, our blessed and ever-praised father Simeon, great in [the knowledge of] the mysteries of God, but not known to people, equal in deeds and thought to the apostles, truly living, as it is said, according to the Gospel of Christ and God. Therefore, he glorified God within himself both during life and after death, shining in the face of people with good deeds. And therefore he himself was justly glorified by Him. And the fact that he was a companion of Christ’s apostles, that he also received the same grace, is clear not only from the miracles he performed and from his wise words, for he theologized without being a scientist, and, like Paul, was granted visions and revelations (2 Cor. 12:1), but also from the miracles performed from the hem of his clothes, as we hear about those [men]. For just as the shadows of Christ’s apostles incomprehensibly worked miracles (Acts 5:15), so the fragrance of this man’s clothes evoked joy and spiritual delight in those who touched them, because they exuded the sweet smell of some strange and extraordinary world. This is natural, for since the grace of the Spirit abiding in him spread through the clothes of the holy man, through the fragrance flowing from them it filled the hearts of those who approached him with faith with joy and delight. This grace was abundantly tasted not only by me, his disciple and the author of these lines, but also by his other disciple, Theodulus, who told me this. "Once," he said, "the saint gave me his short tunic, and I, having accepted it, immediately took off my clothes, put aside my own tunic and put it on my naked body. And when I came to my bed to lie down and indulge in sleep, I felt such a strong fragrance, as if from a valuable world, that I hid my head inside the tunic, inhaled the incense and could not get enough of the joy emanating from it. Although I repeatedly washed and cleaned, it retained the same fragrance until it was worn out from old age and turned into rags.” This is what it is about these things and the grace of the Spirit that dwelt in him. 131. But it is time to say and put in writing what he entrusted to me regarding his writings, not only [appearing] in a dream vision, but also what he also prophetically wrote to me about them, far seeing the future, so that through me they would become known to everyone else for the benefit of those who read. When the blessed one was still in this life, he day and night, against his will, wrote down the secrets given to his mind by the divine Spirit. After all, the Holy Spirit aroused joy and rejoicing in him, not giving him respite until His words and actions were committed to writing. The blessed one gave me what he had written, and I copied it onto parchments and other scrolls. Having rewritten them, I returned them to him. But one day I decided to keep one of them. The blessed one asked the one who brought [the rewritten copy] about the missing scroll, and since he, out of ignorance, could not answer intelligibly, the holy man, as if angry, drove him away. Hearing about this, I thought that the blessed one suspected me of some kind of cunning because of the abandoned scroll and, saddened, refuted the accusation in writing. And he, constantly moved by the divine Spirit and wanting to tell about the events of the last times in writing and in oral traditions, as well as to reveal and confirm the prophetic property of his soul, since the last times [are coming], sends me an answer in simple and artless words. 132. “We received your scripture, our spiritual child, but did not approve of it, because we saw in it a fair amount of your stupidity, because you generally thought of us as if I imagined or thought that you, out of some deceit or curiosity, in order to upset me, hid the scroll. What deceit or what grief from this will affect me in the future, if it even seems that for me [now] Is this most likely? But since I did not know at all that you had left this [scroll] with yourself, and assumed that it might have perished due to the negligence of a servant or in some other way, this upset me, since I recognized in you once and for all as myself and entrusted everything that was mine to you, hoping through you to reveal [it] to all others, as Christ said to His disciples: “Whatever you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops” (Matt. 10:27) So what kind of bad suspicion did I have about you? That’s why I ask you to copy this in a notebook so that I can leave you all my writings as an inheritance. And how did you suspect that I had such thoughts about you? Nevertheless, God will forgive you this sin - that you condemned us as having fallen away from love, which “endures all things and never fails” (1 Cor. 13:7-8), unless someone moves away from it voluntarily. But she remains integral, inseparable, meekly accepting everyone who wants to turn and cleave to her again, connecting in a family way, and often attracting and calling those who do not want to come to her. I pray that you, child, will cleave to her and unite [with her], so that you may not talk about what is bad, what exists and what does not exist at all, but constantly keep yourself from temptation in everything in relation to us and to everyone [others]. Amen". 133. He wrote this to me when I was still young and inexperienced, when my face was just covered with the first down. Not being able to comprehend the power of his words, I rewrote this letter, along with other letters that he sent me on various occasions, as I think, by inspiration from above. But when sixteen years had passed in the struggle and battles with many [opponents], as said above, among temptations, I forgot not only about this letter, but also about all his other inspired writings. But one day, through his prayers, divine goodness visited us and saw our sorrows and needs to which we are subject in this life to atone for our sins, and opened for us an unhindered return to our God-saved studio flock, of course, driving away and depriving all our opponents of strength. She visited me then thanks to my beloved repentance, silence and tears, and I tasted the gift of God - that’s what I call the consolation from the Holy Spirit that arises in the heart through the sweetest tenderness. It is wonderful to bow reverently before God and proclaim His mercy to everyone. In the second week of Great Lent, a certain frenzy and change suddenly seized me from “the change of the right hand of the Most High” (Ps. 77:11), for even before that, on Thursday of the first week, I was seized by a terrible vision. My feelings and, in general, my nature, thoughts and all the movements of my body changed, so that I even forgot to eat my bread, as the divine David says (Ps. 102:5). All of me became - Christ the Truth is my witness - as if not clothed with a body (2 Cor. 12:2-3), for it seemed to me that I carried it as something light and spiritual. I did not experience hunger, thirst, fatigue, or insomnia thanks to the freedom and lightness that was born in me, thanks to the hidden silence of the spiritual forces and thoughts of the mind and the inexpressible silence of my heart. For the love of God, poured out on him, lifted all my feelings to heaven at once, and I remained in a quiet light, as if deprived of a body. For seven whole days, my soul, not disturbed by any passion or thought or, one might say, by the needs of nature, was in a state of great pleasure and inexpressible joy. At the same time, any attachment to the world moved away from me, either becoming alien to me or completely disappearing. 134. When I was thus overwhelmed by this blissful experience, while still in solitude, in the upper floor of the large church of the Forerunner, love for my blessed and holy father Simeon, who enlightened me and guided me on the path of [righteous] life, flares up in my soul along with sweetness and tenderness. For I felt how someone secretly moved and brought my mind to the memory of things that I had completely forgotten, such as the piety of this blessed father, his incomparable good deeds, constant tenderness, daily tears, humility, meekness, unfeigned love (Rom. 12:9), pure and unceasing prayer, abstinence, fasting, all-night vigil, perseverance in temptations, in all sorrows, daily thanksgiving, giving alms to those in need, compassion, generosity, kindness of character, integrity and straightforwardness of soul, inflexibility in thoughts, firm standing for truth and justice, invincibility, sobriety, chastity, kindness, justice, Orthodoxy, brotherly love, tranquility, purity of heart with which he communed the divine Mysteries of Christ every day, speech full of light, sweetness in communication, the greatest brilliance and the greatest purity of soul, which is why his face acquired a radiance like the sun, compliance, calmness, firmness in adversity, non-covetousness, modesty, absence of vanity and guile, humility, simplicity, moderation, mercy, kindness, love of poverty, love for one’s children, lack of rancor towards one’s offenders, spiritual joy, love of beauty and virtue. To this [one can add qualities] more perfect and sublime, [such as] wisdom in speech, knowledge of the ineffable mysteries of God, the height of his theology, the depth of his humility, terrible visions, according to Blessed Paul, mysterious revelations, contemplation of the boundless and divine light; his cherubic reverence in standing before God at the Liturgy of the terrible Mysteries of Christ, when he clearly saw the Holy Spirit descending and sanctifying him and the Gifts, his prophecies, predictions, foresight. And also, his edifications, catechumens, practical advice and teachings, his writings, interpretations of divine Scripture, famous moral and public words, epistles, his apologetic and polemical words, hymns of divine love. 135. And so I remembered the greatness of all this, how a treasury of so many blessings appeared, how a “chosen vessel” of God appeared (Acts 9:15) and was enriched with all virtue, with all the wealth of the gifts of the [Holy] Spirit, because he loved wisdom and was united with it (Wis. 8:2) through an overabundance of purity. [But] being still inexperienced in this amazing action [of the Holy Spirit], I could not accurately determine from where and by whom this was mysteriously instilled in me, who said it in my heart, who moved my soul to love him, until divine grace saw me, restless and seeking the reason for what was supernaturally spoken to me, and came close to whisper in my ear: “This is from the coming and consolation of the Spirit [The Saint], as Christ God says to his apostles and through them to all the faithful: this “Comforter..., the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you everything and remind you of everything that I have told you”” (John 14:26). - as if someone was forcing and pushing me to glorify his virtuous life and for glorification to compose some hymns befitting the height of his holiness. But I put [this] off for many days, because I had no experience in the art of writing this kind of essays: I had not had time to sufficiently nourish myself and [so to speak] fill my mouth with external knowledge and hone [my] style. For while still a youth, at the age of fourteen, I left [worldly] life and vanity, as well as the pursuit of science. And I had no rest either day or night from the Spirit burning me from within, forcefully urging and pushing me to do this. 136. Therefore, being unable to endure [this] onslaught for long, I first composed the hymns of the canons to our holy father and confessor Theodore the Studite as a sign of love for him and for the sake of exercising in verbal art. Then, as if from inexpressible pleasure, my mind was filled with the sweetness of words, and I composed a funeral oration for our blessed and great father Simeon, hymns to sing [them], and words of praise. My mind, as if from a pure source, began to pour out streams of thoughts abundantly and unhindered, and my hand could not keep up with the speed of the words dictated to me from within. Finally, having composed, corrected and transferred [all this] to paper, I showed it to one of the very experienced [people] in external and intimate knowledge. From him I heard that [my works] are no worse than [the works of] ancient hymnographers and are not inferior to them in church style. Then I went out, went to the grave of that blessed father and, together with other pious men, sang the height of his holiness, and also read the funeral homily in fulfillment of my sacred duty, giving him glorification to the best of my ability. When I did this in his honor with great love and great faith, one night the following vision came over me. 137. It seemed to me that someone was calling me and telling me: “Brother, your spiritual father is calling you - come, follow me.” I followed him with great joy and spiritual zeal, for since the time of his migration to God I had not been privileged to see him. But when I found myself near a certain royal and brilliant palace, which is usually called an edicule, the one who called me opened the doors and invited me to enter. And now I see that on an elevated and richly decorated bed lies the holy [husband], resting, like some glorious king; his face glows, and he looks at me, as if smiling. And when I saw him, he made a sign for me with his hand to come closer. Immediately, with great joy of heart, I ran up and, kneeling as best I could, paid him due homage with all reverence and reverence. And when I got up and approached, he hugged me, kissed me on the mouth and said meekly and sweetly this: “You have calmed me down, my beloved and desired child!” Then, taking my right hand and placing it under his right thigh, and with the other hand showing me an unfolded and written piece of paper that he held in it, he said: “How have you forgotten the one who said: ‘Commit this to faithful men who... are able to teach others also’ (2 Tim. 2:2)?” As soon as he said this, I immediately woke up at these words, as if I had seen it in reality, and not in a dream, and I found in myself such great joy and spiritual joy, and [my] lips were filled with such sweetness, and my heart trembled so joyfully that from great pleasure and spiritual delight I sought to throw off my body and with a naked soul to abide where I was given in immaterial bliss. dwelling place for that man along with all the saints from the ages. 138. And that this was really a vision and not a dream, I am convinced by the joy that arose in me, together with the inexpressible jubilation of my heart, as well as the indelible memory of this imprinted on my mind. After all, imaginary objects appear in the soul according to the imagination and completely disappear from the mind of the one who imagined them, not being retained either in memory or in vision. But this is not the case with true visions, which remain in the mind for many years, even until the end [of life] in the form in which they were shown. Gregory the Theologian also convinces me, describing in [the funeral homily] to Caesar the appearance of his brother to him as if it had happened in reality, and confirming to those to whom he writes: “Then,” he says, “I will see Caesar himself, no longer departing, not worn out, not accompanied by regrets, [but] shining, glorified, exalted, as you have repeatedly appeared to me in a dream, the most beloved of brothers and the most brotherly.” And not only that, but when he saw something similar about his sick mother, the vision turned out to be true. And he assures and convinces me with his writings that this vision was true, and not some kind of sleepy dream. After all, he says this: “How then does God feed her? Doesn’t he rain down manna, as he once did for Israel?” And a little after that: “She imagined that I, especially her beloved (even in her dream, she did not prefer anyone else to me), suddenly appeared to her at night with a basket and the lightest loaves, [then] I said a prayer over them and sealed them [with the sign of the cross], as is our custom, in order to feed [her], strengthen and restore her strength. And this night vision was a true event, for from that time she came to her senses and hope increased for a better outcome. This was revealed in a clear and obvious way.” And that this was a true vision, and not some senseless dream, is clear to me, as I have sufficiently shown in the entire previous narrative. 139. So, with myself I examined the vision and reasoned about it, as if under someone’s mysterious guidance. In addition, I learned that I should still tell about it to the old man, who was very wise in matters divine and human. And he, as soon as he listened to my words, clearly understood the meaning of this mysterious guidance and said: “Having said to you: “You have calmed me, my desired and beloved child,” the saint expressed his approval of the hymns and words of praise in his honor. He showed that the saints living in God, even after death, joyfully and with all approval accept the hymns and praises. This is also shown by Dionysius the Areopagite in his mystical interpretation [burial rite] the departed, [arguing] that when glory ascends to God, this also benefits those who listen, since they become better from listening and imitate the life and deeds of the saints, but by kissing he showed the closeness to the saints that comes from this and the grace they give to those who write this. And putting your right hand on his right thigh [meant] the oath that Abraham once demanded from his household and steward, saying: “Put your hand under my thigh and swear to me by the God of heaven and earth.” He hinted that he would take an oath from you about the offspring of the Spirit, whom he conceived in the womb of his mind, in the fear of God, and gave birth to on earth, among the present human race - I’m talking about his writings, inspired by the Spirit from above - so that you would copy them and teach them to faithful people, for the benefit of those who read. He reminded you of this through the apostolic word: “Teach this,” he says, “to faithful people who will be able to teach others”; and showed the charter unfolded and covered with writing.” 140. And so, having been mysteriously taught the interpretation of a vision by the wisest old man who opened our minds to the understanding of Scripture and the “ancient of days,” I suddenly remembered the letter of the holy man who had once been sent to me and his divinely inspired writings. And as he then, turning to me, precisely prophesied, so everything happened in due time, and I believe that it will continue to happen! For all his works fell into my hands after a certain stubborn man possessed them and kept them like a royal treasure for thirteen years, even one small book of his works, which [that man] sold, was brought to me and found a place next to the others [books]. Since then, according to his prophecy and according to his sacred letter, having become the heir to the wealth of his gifts, which God bestowed on him, as the seers of the Word through the gift of the Spirit, I preach it everywhere and generously offer it to everyone, providing his theology for the good and benefit of the soul, even if [this] due to their weakness, those who envy the virtuous do not desire. For this I hope to receive reward from the hand of the Lord here and there, through the prayers of this blessed and holy [husband], for Christ Himself truly said: He who accepts “the righteous in the name of the righteous will receive the reward of the righteous.” And again: “He who receives a saint in the name of a saint will receive the reward of a saint, and he who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive the reward of a prophet” (Matthew 10:41). And again: “Whoever receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me” (Matthew 10:40). But enough of that. 141. So what? Should we leave without mention other miracles that, after his dormition, the theologian and our great father Simeon performed and continues to perform year after year? Lest we suffer righteous punishment from God for the fact that we have despised divine deeds. But let us, without mentioning a word of the Judaizers and the envious, I will tell you, the faithful, how many miracles God did with our fathers (Ps. 65:16) and how many miracles our Holy Father, by the power of the Spirit, performed for the glory of God, who glorified him in the midst of His Church. A certain monastic priest, who had just come from Mount Latra and who had devoted himself to wandering, having passed through and known many places, stopped to rest from his wanderings in the small monastery of St. Marina, opposite Chrysopolis, founded by the saint [husband]. Having been received as a guest by the local monks, the said priest clung to the small flock of the monastery and considered it his destiny to live and spend time with the monks, as well as to carry out their ascetic labors with them. As it is said, these monks accepted him and installed him in their brotherhood, and he becomes a member of their community. When this man began to participate, along with everyone else, in all the praises taking place in the church and to serve at the Divine Liturgy, then he saw in the corner of the altar, opposite the altar, the image of [our] holy father Simeon, and, struck by thoughts of unbelief, he began to doubt and said to himself: “With what signs and wonders did he, like the ancient fathers, confirm his holiness? Having learned about them and believed in them, I myself would have recognized him as a saint, just as the Church of the Faithful, on the same grounds, has recognized the ancient [men] as saints since ancient times.” 142. And as if under the influence of a spirit of unbelief, he was shaken by such thoughts. One day, when everyone had finished the morning doxology and when the monks, having left the church, went to their cells, this [man] voluntarily remained in the church completely alone and, to his own misfortune, began to shower the saint with ridicule. And so, being blinded by the devil, the unfortunate man approaches the icon of the saint and, finding himself near it, the shameless man shamelessly stretches out his hand to it and says with arrogance and contempt: “I will never recognize, I will not glorify and in no way will I recklessly worship him as a saint.” And while he was still pronouncing these words out loud, the wrath of God descended on him (Ps. 77:30-31), for the very hand that he stretched out to the holy icon immediately withered away from him, the idle talker, and he stopped with his outstretched hand, since it could not bend at the elbow. Being then seized by cruel suffering, contrary to his desires and will, the madman could not move at all, and his piercing moans attracted the attention of everyone. The monks, frightened by his screams, ran to the church and found him struck by God’s fair judgment. As if tied by his right hand and suspended in the air in front of the holy icon, he touched the monks looking at him with pitiful cries. The monks who came running, having learned from him the reason for such a great wrath of God that touched him, bitterly mourned his insolent act, but at the same time they took pity on him and began to pray to God and the divine father Simeon to spare the unfortunate man from this terrible punishment. That is why, having taken oil from the lamp in front of his icon, his entire withered hand, by which he was suspended in the air, smeared it from shoulder to fingers, only [by praying] from the morning until sunset were able to incline God and the saint to mercy and free his impudent hand from the inevitable and invisible bonds of God’s wrath. What a terrible and strange miracle it was. 143. A similar thing happened to another [person], struck by thoughts of unbelief, just on the day of the saint’s feast. Something happened that would have been better off not happening, and this is how it happened. During the service to our holy father in this monastery, when a great crowd of people gathered and there were even monks from the royal monastery of Cosmidius, one of them, Ignatius, [known for his] beautiful voice, sweetly sang at the morning vigil the kontakion written for the saint and loudly performed the ikos contained in it. It was he, under the influence and envy of Satan, who was wounded by thoughts of unbelief against our triblessed father, looking intently at the divine icon of the saint, hanging, as it is said, in the corner of the altar. And since this man was secretly troubled by such thoughts, the saint wanted to heal his soul, damaged by the devil’s envy, and also to give grace and help to everyone singing with him. When Ignatius was still singing in a sweet voice, before his eyes and before the eyes of Methodius, who echoed him, who hastily arrived from the Studite monastery, the face on the icon of the saint seemed to ignite, [it] became fire-like, began to sway and rush from side to side along the corner of the altar where it hung. And as soon as Ignatius saw this incredible miracle, his voice faded away, and he stopped, speechless, unable to utter a sound, dumb and voiceless. When both the singers and the ministers saw him suddenly numb, and the icon of the saint itself shaking and shaking, they began to ask what happened to the mellifluous singer, what was the reason for his muteness and for what thoughts he was suffering. And he, being truthful and reasonable, humbly confessed the thoughts of unbelief in his soul and, looking closely at the icon of the saint, saw its face, like a flame, as if threatening him and with a movement clearly showing the grace of the Holy Spirit dwelling in it, just as God once showed it to the people through tongues of fire that [descended] on the apostles and thus made believers those wounded by thoughts of unbelief. 144. But, if you wish, let us move on to another miracle of our theologian father. Among those serving the disciple of the saint (I mean, of course, Nicetas Stiphatus) there was also a certain famous Manasseh. Having fallen ill with an intestinal disorder - a disease also called “ileos”, for fifteen days he consumed as much food as was usually necessary to maintain the body, but the excess did not come out. His life was in danger, every day he, one might say, expected death, for everything that accumulated in his stomach came out in an unnatural way through his mouth. When this disease showed that every method of treatment and every medicine were powerless against it, and the doctors lost hope that he would [still] remain in this life, he himself, despairing of all other means that would bring relief to the body stricken by the disease, resorted to God with repentance and prayer. Out of deep despair, shedding streams of tears and then falling into sleep, he sees in a night vision how the mentioned disciple of the saint, whom, as it is said, he served, stands before the icon of the saint, calls him, calling him by name and addresses him with the following words: “Manasseh, take the lamp from the icon of the holy father and simply drink from it, and you will receive relief from your illness.” And as soon as he heard this, he grabbed the lamp and drank it all in his sleep. Before he even woke up, he felt the need, woke up, jumped from the bed as he was, and immediately releasing the contents of his stomach that had accumulated over fifteen days, he completely recovered. In such a miraculous way, having received healing, which earlier, having resorted to doctors, he could not receive from medical means, he warmly thanks the saint, falling with tears to his divine icon. Joyfully telling about what happened to him with the help of the saint, he openly announced to everyone about the holiness and boldness of this [husband] before God. That's what this [event] was like. 145. Some two pious people, one named John, the other Philotheus, while still in the world, according to the divine commandment and instruction of the Lord (Matthew 18:19), consciously agreed to renounce the world, put on the holy monastic schema and, of their own free will, began ascetic deeds. Through these people, Providence intended to erect a refuge for ascetic deeds for those who wished to practice virtue, withdrawing from the world, and through the works of monastic piety to acquire the life of the Gospel. It guides them from above, although they live in poverty and need, not having sufficient daily food. With the assistance and power of God, they erected a holy monastery near the harbor of the Byzantine Propontis, so majestic and beautiful, so well-decorated and full of splendor that with its external luxury and precious decoration it shocked those who knew about their poverty and frugality. After the monastery was completed, one of them, God-loving and burning [with the desire] for spiritual exploits, rightly nicknamed Philotheus, having built himself a cell of silence for the shutter, installed himself in it and closed all access to it, choosing, out of ardent desire, the path of more perfect exploits of silence. And the other, John, being frail and weak in body - he was a eunuch, after all - took over the management of the monastery's economy and set about it as a wise steward. 146. But when Philotheus planned to enter the holy place of silent practice, he decided to first go to the royal city and offer prayers in the all-honorable churches there, see the spiritual men, talk with them, consult about [his] intention and then, having received consent from all of them, with the help of God, begin the feat of silence in the mentioned cell. So, having arrived in Constantinople and bowed in its all-honorable churches and offered prayers to God in them, he goes to the famous Studian monastery to greet the famous Nikita, nicknamed Stifat, and consult with him [about his] intention. Since the mentioned husband was an ardently devoted student of his father-theologian, when talking with Philotheus, he aroused in his soul an ardent love for the saint. He told him what trials and how many sorrows the saint endured for the sake of love for Christ and for [his spiritual] father, and what grace-filled gifts from above he was awarded like the apostles, how he theologized with the help of the divine Spirit, without being taught secular sciences, and wrote teachings for the building of the Church of Christ. And when [Philotheus] asked for this book, Nikita, handing him one of the inspired works and instructive words of [the saint], released him, and he rejoiced that he would enter the seclusion and then go out there in virtuous deeds. So, this God-loving Philotheus, before he entered the refuge [intended for] silence in order to diligently indulge in holy warfare, was overcome, as usually happens, by thoughts that embarrassed [him due to] the severity of ascetic deeds, labors and struggles in seclusion. Such is a truly ascetic soul: it always seeks to add labor to labor, so that the wise saying will be fulfilled: “He who increases...knowledge increases sorrow” (Eccl. 1:18). 147. Finding himself in such a position, this man fervently prayed to God to strengthen his patience, strength and understanding in order to humbly withstand the sorrows and hardships that accompany the retreat. One night it happened that while he was awake, he heard someone knocking at the gate. When he hastened to see who this knocker was, he opened the gate and saw a gray-haired man, a handsome eunuch, reverent, very similar in appearance to an angel, with a face filled with divine grace. And [Philofey] says to him: “Who are you, honest father? And who are you looking for, having arrived at our humility?” And he [answers] meekly: “I am Simeon, living near Chrysopolis, in the local monastery of St. Marina, and I came here to stay and live with you.” And Philotheus [says]: “And who, father, tore your clothes?” And the saint [answers]: “Some worthless people did this to me unrighteously (Ps. 34:19). But you, dear Philotheus, what are you thinking about to yourself? What you should care about and think about first of all, you, of course, should know, [namely] that one who intends to partake of the Terrible Mysteries must with the greatest diligence abstain from drinking heavily and [rich] meals and be content with only three cups in the evening for drinking and comforting the body. And after communion, in the same way, he should be content with a simple meal and a simple way of life." What does he show with these [words] and what does he warn about? "You need to know,” he says, “since you are embarking on the path of such great feats of asceticism and silence, that you should so purify yourself with abstinence, tears and prayer, so that every day you are ready to receive the Mysteries of Christ. Through this [sacrament], you, unwaveringly remaining in silence and prayer, because of the abundant communion of the Holy Spirit in the contemplation of the hidden mysteries of God, will acquire an enlightened mind, as it is written: “The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God” (1 Cor. 2:10).” 148. And talking in this way with Philotheus, the saint puts his hand under his clothes and touches the naked belly of the one who was lying on the bed, and presses on it with force, moves his hand, as if measuring it, squeezes it with his fingers and palm, as if making it capable of containing [only] a little food. Then, turning kindly to Philotheus, he said to him: “If you want, come out [of here] and come to visit us, we will see and greet you again, dear Philotheus.” When one said this and the other heard it, the saint disappeared from Philotheus’ sight. And Philotheus, having come to his senses, found his soul filled with all kinds of joy. From then on, he developed natural abstinence: he lived a reclusive life with few needs and a simple meal. He joyfully told those around him about [his] vision, about the visit and appearance of the saint to him. But when the venerable Philotheus felt some support from what had happened, he decided that the vision was from God and was not a deception, and decided to actually confirm [his] good intentions. So, together with the brothers with whom he lived, he goes in search of the saint and, at his direction, having reached the familiar Chrysopolis, he looks for the monastery mentioned by the holy man. When the local monks showed him the hill with the remains of the saint, he falls to it and prayerfully gives honor and worship to the theologian father Simeon, along with thanksgiving, as befits. Having received from the said disciple of the saint his icon, words of praise written in his honor and his own inspired teachings, he completely acquires the saint for himself, and the saint dwells with all the monks there. Therefore, every year Philotheus joyfully celebrates the memory of his father in his monastery and prospers and, in the language of the psalms, “put ascension in your heart” (Ps. 83:6). This is what you can tell about the saint’s help to strangers. 149. But, if you wish, let us hear how he helped his close disciple after his death. During the especially revered fast of the Holy Pentecost, the mentioned close disciple of the saint, Nikita, also known as Stiphatus, as usual, indulging in holy exploits, was struck by the spirit of fornication, for by God’s permission grace receded. A very reasonable man, who spent his life in battle, fasting and all kinds of suffering, was driven out of himself and reached despair. Investigating where and why vile and unclean thoughts penetrated into him at the time when he was carrying out a body from fasting, withered and almost, so to speak, mortified by cruel abstinence in food and vigil, without finding [the reason], he fell into deep sadness and despondency, for he did not know what to do to cure the disease. Being overwhelmed by sadness, he says a fervent prayer to God and the saint. And so, calling and asking God and the saint, one day after a simple meal and a moderate amount of food, he lies down with sorrow in his ascetic closet, since he still had an underground dwelling under the arches. When it seemed to him that he was falling asleep, but he had not yet closed his eyes, he clearly saw in reality, for he lay awake, that a saint came in to him, sat down on his bed, touched his clothes and called him by name. And he says: “Don’t you know, my child, where and for what reason passionate thoughts surrounded you?” When he suddenly saw and heard the saint, having collected himself, he answers him with fear: “I, O holy man of God, have investigated this in every possible way,” he says, “and have not yet been able to find the reason for such a misfortune.” And the saint [in response]: “But I came to point it out to you, heed my words. Know, child, that it lies undoubtedly in pride and exaltation of the rational part of your soul. Humble your mind, measuring yourself and your [thoughts] with the commandments of Christ, and soon [this attack] will recede from you.” Having said this, the saint immediately disappeared from his sight. And Nikita, hastily leaving the closet, went after the saint and asked the servant: “Did you see how Saint Simeon left [from here]?” From that time on, having carefully examined his thoughts, he easily found the reason why, as the saint told him, passion struck his soul, contrary to expectation at such a time. Therefore, having humbled his mind and weighed his imaginary merits against the suffering of Christ alone, [namely] with spitting, he was immediately freed from the burden of thoughts and passions, and consolation from the Holy Spirit followed through tears and tenderness. He offered great gratitude to his father theologian, combining his love for him with faith. That's what [the event] was like. 150. God, wishing to show that it would be pleasing to Him and His servant Simeon, and to the benefit of the Church of the faithful, if a copy of his inspired words appeared, shows a vision to John, the disciple of Stiphatus, as he once [showed] to Proclus, the disciple of Chrysostom. The mentioned Nikita, also known as Stiphatus, was once prompted by revelation to the saint, as it is written in detail in the life of the saint, to rewrite his inspired teachings and soul-helping writings. When he was diligently copying them onto parchment, his disciple saw the following vision in a dream: it seemed to John that, as usual, he went to the cell of the reverend husband to listen and seek something useful for the soul. But as soon as he approached the door of the room where Stiphatus was in silence, he quickly entered it and saw that Stiphatus was sitting and moving his stylus, diligently working on the copying of the inspired words of the saint, and the divine father Simeon the theologian was sitting directly opposite him. With one hand he leaned on his staff, and with his right hand he held it outstretched to Stiphatus, as if telling him something of his own thoughts, and close, mouth to mouth, talking about it, secretly instructing him in the depths of his lofty contemplation of the logoi of things and in the dogmas of mysterious theology, which he left to the Church of Christ as a source of life-giving water for the healing of souls. As soon as John saw this, he recognized the saint, although he had not seen him during his lifetime and, unable to look at the angel-like face of his father, he internally froze, gripped by fear, and did not dare to enter. Then, a little later, when the saint came out of there and quietly began to walk away along the grief-inducing path, it seemed to John that the saint was calling him by name and saying: “John, tell my Nikita: “Hurry, child, to complete the copying of my works, and what you seek will be fulfilled and will be abundant for you.”” This is what the saint did after his death with his disciple Nikita Stiphatus. 151. But how can I miss the fact that, when they [only] hear about it, it shocks the listeners? Nevertheless, I will connect this with what happened earlier for the glory of God, for the joy and benefit of His Church. Once we celebrated the feast of the saint on the third day of January, when we remember his exile. And it happened that Cosmas, the most pious monk and abbot of the monastery of St. Stephen, on Mount St. Auxentius, celebrated with us. So, when the festive praises of the saint were being performed and all those celebrating were overcome with joy and rejoicing during the glorification of God, who feeds the poor and sanctifies the church, zeal for God entered into the mentioned husband, and he began to mentally scold himself for not having the inspired teachings and writings of the saint, but still celebrating the feast of the theologian father. Then he turned to the often mentioned disciple of the saint with a request to receive from him an icon of the theologian father, as well as hymns and words of praise written in his honor, so that he himself could celebrate the memory of the saint in his own monastery and bring [to him] a blessing from above in accordance with what is written: “Those who bless you will be blessed, and those who curse you will be cursed” (Gen. 12:3). Then this man, with faith and with embarrassment, as it is said, having received the icon of our great father Simeon, hands it over to one of the monks of his monastery, so that he places it in the mentioned monastery of St. Stephen, orders him to precede the path and follow the road leading to the mountain [of St. Auxentius]. And this monk took the icon of the saint and, neglecting the instructions given to him by the abbot regarding the icon, gave it to a certain Scythian, who was once a servant of the mentioned abbot, so that he would go up and carefully lift the icon there, and the monk would follow him. 152. That barbarian was a runaway slave and a notorious thief. Taking the icon, he returned, boarded a ship [sailing] from Chalcedon, crossed the Propontis and, arriving in the reigning city, sold the icon to the Venetian. When the abbot arrived at his monastery before him, he began to look for the monk to whom he had given the icon, and there was neither the icon nor the barbarian to whom the monk had foolishly given the holy image. A few days passed, and when sadness and despondency over what had happened overwhelmed the abbot, the slave, with the help of God, was handed over for investigation. And during interrogation he admitted that he sold the icon to the Venetians. The money that the runaway slave received for it and [already] spent was returned to the buyer. Those who received the icon of the theologian father placed it in the monastery of St. Stephen, and at the same time that fugitive slave was flogged. When the holy icon was saved - oh, the inevitable punishment of God! - when they took it to the church and hung it in the corner of the altar, “the wrath of God” descended (Ps. 77:31) against the thief for such insolence: a dumb and terrible demon crushed him according to just judgment, and the unfortunate man immediately threw himself down in front of everyone, gnashing his teeth and emitting foam, emitting senseless screams. The unfortunate man spent a sufficient number of days in this state and barely freed himself from the demonic scourge, having received healing through the mercy of Saint Simeon. This is how God glorifies those who glorify Him and appears to them for universal veneration in His Church. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen. Sinkell is a high title that a representative of the highest spiritual nobility could have. Sinkell was usually a member of the synclit. -ed. You might be interested in: