CONCERNING S. DOMITIAN, MONK AND DEACON IN JUDAEA.
Year of Christ 473.
CommentaryDomitian, monk in Judaea (S.)
From various sources.
[1] The inseparable companion of the great Euthymius, whose Life, admirably written by the monk Cyril, we gave on 20 January, and the associate of his ascetic exercises and the minister of his miracles, was Domitian, who on the eighth day after the death of Euthymius, summoned by him, departed this life most holily. But--and we wonder at this with good reason--The natalis of S. Domitian we do not find his name recorded even in the Greek Calendar. Constantius Felicius alone, in his Calendar or historical Ephemeris, writes thus about him on this day: "Domitian, monk, a most holy man, disciple of the great Abbot Euthymius, dies at Jerusalem in the year 465." Not at Jerusalem, but in the wilderness of Jerusalem; nor did he die in the year 465, but in 473, as can be gathered from the Life of S. Euthymius, in which many things are proclaimed about his virtues, which we shall briefly sample: for it is not necessary to linger longer over what has been commemorated and explained at length in that place.
[2] Domitian was a Melitene by birth, but a zealous lover of virtue, as Cyril records in ch. 5, no. 28. Euthymius chose him from the entire community of the Brothers as his companion, with whom he withdrew from the monastery of S. Theoctistus into the wilderness of Ruban, companion of S. Euthymius in the wilderness and then to Mount Marda; in which places and afterward in the desert of Ziphon, both lived on herbs for no short time. When they had afterward returned to the monastery, Juvenal, Bishop of Jerusalem, around the year of Christ 429, together with S. Passarion the Chorepiscopus and Hesychius the Priest, visited Euthymius, and while he initiated others into the priesthood, he becomes a Deacon he ordained Domitian and Domnus--who afterward became Patriarch of Antioch--as Deacons, as is narrated in ch. 6, no. 42.
[3] Domitian was appointed by Euthymius as the Steward of the new Laura. Steward of the Laura. But when they were pressed by great scarcity of provisions, it happened nevertheless, by the will of God who wished to test the virtue of both, that nearly four hundred Armenians, traveling from Jerusalem toward the Jordan and turning to the right off the road, stopped at the Laura. When Euthymius saw them exhausted by the toil of the journey, he summoned Domitian and ordered him to set a table for them. Domitian said there was not enough food in the house to suffice the Brothers for a single day, much less for so great a multitude. "Go," By a miracle he is taught to place his trust in God said Euthymius, "to the storeroom, and you will know what human calculations amount to, and what divine grace can dispense and provide beyond expectation." Domitian obeyed, and found the storeroom so packed with bread that he could not even open the door; but having called upon the Brothers for help, he had to break it down in order to enter. Inside, moreover, there was an enormous quantity of wine and oil. Struck by the miracle, Domitian threw himself at the feet of Euthymius and begged to be forgiven his illiberal parsimony. Euthymius, raising him with a kindly spirit and hand, said: "O my son, he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully," and with many words exhorted him to place his trust in God and to bestow provisions abundantly upon pilgrims. From that time the domestic resources began to increase, so that now fifty monks were being supported, a cell having been built for each.
[4] When Domitian foresaw that, with the increased number of Brothers, a greater ministry would also be needed, A certain man who refuses to obey him is divinely punished he procured mules. He asked a certain Auxentius, an Asiatic by origin, to undertake their care. Auxentius refused. Since, however, he seemed eminently suited for this task and the matter was useful, indeed necessary, Domitian took with him the priests John and Cyrion, and with them asked Auxentius again. When he would not obey even so, and the Sabbath had already arrived, on which it was possible to meet the great Euthymius, the Steward reported everything about Auxentius to him. Euthymius immediately summoned the Brother, advised him to obey, and not to be so obstinate and disobedient, following his own will and refusing a ministry that was useful to the Brothers in common. When Auxentius would not yield even to the admonitions and authority of Euthymius, he was seized by a sudden illness; and from this he was delivered by Euthymius through the sign of the Cross, and was taught thenceforth to obey his superiors. Thus the authority of Domitian and Euthymius was divinely vindicated.
[5] On one occasion, as is related in ch. 13, Terebon the Saracen and the holy Gabriel saw Euthymius offering the unbloody sacrifice to God, with Domitian assisting, He is surrounded by heavenly fire during the sacred rite and from the beginning of the sacred Trisagion until the completion of the sacred ministry, both were surrounded on all sides by heavenly fire. S. Sabas, still a youth in age, inflamed with the desire for the ascetic life, Euthymius entrusted for the time being to his disciple Domitian for training; but afterward he sent him to S. Theoctistus, as is related in ch. 15 a familiar of S. Sabas and will be told again in the Life of S. Sabas on 5 December. The same Sabas, after the death of S. Theoctistus, came to Euthymius with Abbot Longinus; and when they had tarried some days near Ruban, Euthymius took him and Domitian with him into the wilderness and drew forth a spring by his prayers, so as to refresh Sabas, who was laboring under vehement thirst and nearly fainting.
[6] At length, with death approaching, Euthymius summoned Domitian and, having exhorted his followers to mutual charity, zeal for chastity, hospitality, he is sought as Abbot and other virtues, he then also asked them whom they wished to command and preside over them. And they all answered as if with one voice: Domitian. But he said: "That cannot be. For Domitian will not remain here long after me; his death is foretold by S. Euthymius but when he has passed only the seventh day, he will follow me on the next." This astounded all who were present, since it had been spoken so openly and so freely. When therefore they had lost hope regarding Domitian, they asked for a certain Elias, Steward of the lower monastery, a native of Jericho. Cyril commemorates the death and obsequies of Euthymius, and then adds the following:
[7] "Domitian, who was truly the great and genuine disciple of the Great One, as one who was the most careful imitator of his life, having served the Saint for more than fifty years, did not depart from the place; summoned by him to heaven, he dies but remained thereafter until the sixth day from that time, as one who had resolved that he ought not to live any longer and that it was not to be borne that he should look upon this light at all. When the seventh day had come, Euthymius appeared to him joyfully by night, saying: 'Come hither, to obtain the glory prepared for you. For behold,' he said, 'God has granted you that we also may dwell here together.' Domitian announced these things to the Brothers when he came to the synaxis. And thus he departed this life in joy and in hope of the good things to come."