ON ST. STEPHEN THE SABAITE, WONDERWORKER, MONK,
IN THE LAURA OF ST. SABAS NEAR JERUSALEM.
IN THE YEAR 794.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
Stephen the Sabaite, Wonderworker, monk in the Laura of St. Sabas near Jerusalem (S.)
BY THE AUTHOR J. P.
§ I. A brief notice of the Laura; the Saint's cult; distinction.
In our third volume of March, page 166, in the preliminary Commentary, number one, a brief notice was given of the Laura of St. Sabas, on the occasion of the twenty monks of that same place, Martyrs. A more prolix one we reserve for the V day of December, [A longer notice of the Laura is reserved for the 5th of December, sacred to St. Sabas, the author of that place.] sacred to St. Sabas the Abbot, the author of that place; to whose Acts, as we there forewarned, it will be possible to treat more fully of its situation, increases, disturbances, and desolation. The etymology also of the name, the definition, the distinction from a monastery, and the norm of living for the monks in it, will be able to furnish matter for further inquiry. For the greatest and most illustrious Laura, more eminent than all the Lauras of Palestine, as Cyril of Scythopolis testifies in the Life of St. Sabas, published by Cotelier in volume 3 of the Monuments of the Greek Church, page 229, above the others there here and there in various places recounted, namely the New Laura, the Laura of the Towers, of Firminus, and of Suca, is the more highly to be exalted, whose not least praise is that it produced and nourished St. Stephen the Wonderworker.
[2] The new Anthologium announces him on this day; but the Menology of Sirletus in these words: [Announcements from the Greek Synaxaria of our Stephen, somewhere confused with another:] The commemoration of our holy Father Stephen the Sabaite. With which agree the printed Menaea with their manuscript Index, and Maximus, bishop of Cythera, and also the supplement to the printed Greek Menaea from the Synaxarium of Sirmond and the manuscript of Chifflet: in which the following little verses are sung to him:
Καὶ σκῶλα, καὶ θηράτρα, καὶ πάγας βίου Φυγὼν Στέφανος, εἰς Ἐδὲμ λόχμας ἔδυ.
The obstacles of life, the fetters, and the bonds, while you shun, O Stephen, you enter the groves of paradise.
It is noted besides in the Calendar published by Genebrard, and in volume 4 of the Library of the Fathers, on this day the XIII,
nothing being added except the name and surname. It is found also in the Slavo-Russian manuscript Menology: The memory of the most blessed Stephen the Sabacta (Sabaite), who suffered in the year 201 under Severus; where it wrongly makes our Stephen a martyr, or confuses him with some other martyr; for a Sabaite, as the reckoning of time teaches, could then have been none; St. Sabas, the founder of the Laura of the Sabaites, being not yet born. Julius the Greek metrist, inserted in the Greco-Muscovite Ephemerides before volume 1 of May, page XXXIII, marks the memory of our holy Father Stephen the Sabaite, as above. But the Index to the Typicum of St. Sabas defers him to the XIV of this month: whose announcement in that Typicum, as I think, described by Papebroch, has nothing different from the aforesaid, except the surname ἁγιοσαβίτου, by which he is indicated to have been a monk of St. Sabas: the word differing a little in composition, but agreeing in substance with the other texts of the cited Synaxaria, in which he is called Sabaite. In the supplement to the printed Greek Menaea from the parchment Synaxarium of Sirmond, or of the College of Clermont of the Society of Jesus at Paris, this Stephen is basely confused with another Stephen the Sabaite, when it relates these things on the XXVIII of October, on which he is venerated: Μνήμη οὐ ὁσίου πατρὸς Στεφανου οὖ Σαβαΐτου, ἀνεψιοῦ Ἰώ. Ἰωάννου οὖ Δαμασκηνοῦ; of which matter presently more.
[3] Eulogies But both Stephens, each on his own day, are honored in the printed Menaea with almost the same sacred Office. Let a small specimen suffice; whose sense is this:
A life congruous with your words
Bestowed on you a twofold crown,
O thrice-blessed one.
Christ, the giver of life,
Placed a crown of glory becoming your head,
O blessed Stephen, who have obtained a name
Congruous with the thing.
There is an allusion to the word στέφανος, in Latin "crown." No eulogies of the Saint do I find in the Synaxaria, at least those which I have inspected: although Papebroch, on the Menaeon of Chifflet, copied by himself, observes that he has a eulogy, and indeed a longer one. But both our Saint, who is there marked on this day, and the others, on their own days, are there noted simply without any eulogies; whether these were absent from the exemplar whence the Saints are taken, or omitted for the sake of brevity. But that defect, if indeed any can be so called, the Life will abundantly supply; where toward the end it is adorned with a most cultivated and most worthy eulogy; to which perhaps the praised Papebroch alone had regard, when he set on the said Menaeon the note of a longer eulogy. Behold for you, scattered in the context of the Life, most honorable epithets, by which, as by so many rays, his name is illustrated. He is called prodigious or "prodigiophorus," σημειοφόρος, number 42; Wonderworker, numbers 62 and 92; God-bearing in various places; a divine elder, number 69; a great elder, number 80; a wonderful elder, a prodigious elder, number 85; a bestower of health, number 99; a marvelous master, 103; an admirable man, 185. From plucking more of this kind I forbear.
[4] [He is recorded by Castellanus, who errs in his age: conjectures why he is venerated on this day.] Alone, so far as I know, of the more recent writers, Castellanus, in the Additions to his Universal Martyrology, gives St. Stephen on this day too, and indeed more distinctly than the Synaxaria are wont: In the Laura of St. Sabas in Palestine, St. Stephen the Wonderworker, monk, nephew of St. John Damascene. In this he is much deceived, that he connects him with the 10th century, the Life protesting. But fitly he attributes to him the title of Wonderworker, in the cited Synaxaria indeed omitted, but doubtless somewhere found by himself in those which he used: since the Author of the Life so calls him, and the context of the Life, so far as it has come down to us, consists of a continuous series of miracles, prophecies, and of the discernment of hearts, searching out any hidden and abstruse thoughts: by which he is proved to have stood forth great, in a few, as a worker of signs and wonders. But why his feast is celebrated not on the 2nd day of April, on which he departed from life, but on this day, is wholly hidden from us. If there is room for conjectures; perhaps the Sabaite monks, either on occasion of the body solemnly elevated, or lest they should too often be impeded by the Paschal Office or that of Holy Week, transferred him hither: unless perhaps another Saint impelled them to remove him elsewhere, marked on the same 2nd day of April in the Index of the said Typicum, and indeed with the title of Wonderworker: whom, a presbyter and hegumen, honored among the Greeks with a singular cult, and commemorated in several Synaxaria in the first place (a whole ecclesiastical Office being dedicated to him alone in the great Menaea and the Anthologium), we saw on that same day, in volume 1 of April, page 101. But on page 102 you have his eulogy, ecclesiastical Office, little verses, odes, strophes; and there, page 103, from the canon explained it is gathered that he lived in the 8th century or the following, under the Iconoclasts. Whatever it be; let it be permitted here to conjecture, when we do not have more certain documents. And of the cult of St. Stephen thus far: now let us treat of the homonymous Saints, yet truly distinct from him.
[5] It is related in the Life, number 184, that our Wonderworker observed three Lents in the desert clothed in a hairshirt. Various Stephens, Might he not therefore deservedly be called Trichinas? But in the Lives of the Fathers in Rosweyde, book 10, chapter 57, is set the abbot Stephen Trichinas, prelate of the monastery of our holy Father Sabas. Is this Stephen the same as ours, or different? Many things agree in both: the name, the place, the institute of life, the wearing of the hairshirt: for he is called Trichinas who uses a hairshirt, so called ἀπὸ τῶν τριχῶν, that is, from the hairs of which it is woven. But that Stephen of Rosweyde is called a prelate; ours, however, was never a prelate, as clearly appears from the Author of the Life, number 184, accurately enumerating all the offices administered by the Saint among his own, and abstaining from the dignity of prelate. The same is clear from this, that in number 183 he is said to have been buried, the holy Father and Hegumen Basil, and all the monks of the Laura, being gathered. The same Basil, in the preliminary Commentary of the Sabaite Martyrs, number 5, is there asserted to have been Hegumen; and in the Acts of the martyrdom, number 2, he is called the excellent pastor Basil, when Stephen had already died two years before, as will be established from what is to be said. These things therefore sufficiently distinguish the two Stephens.
[6] In the Praetermissi on the second day of April, after it had been said collated with this our one, that the memory of St. Stephen clad in hairs, who lived in the Laura of Sabas, is recorded in the manuscript Arabic-Egyptian Menology, rendered into Latin for us by Grazia Simonio the Maronite, it is subjoined that he seems to be Stephen the Sabaite, recorded by the Greeks on this day the XIII of July. But that conjecture appears to me too uncertain for me to dare vouch for it; both because nowhere in the Synaxaria, that I know of, is our Stephen distinguished by this surname: and because, although he observed three Lents clad in a hairshirt, and this wearing or garment was used for the space of three years, and that extended over 15 years; as is indicated by the words immediately preceding in the same place, though it may seem to suffice for that singular surname; yet I think it was never given to him: especially because, as is said in the same number 184, in the remaining seventeen years (the last of his life, through) those three annual Lents, he did not wear the hairshirt, both on account of the Fathers who were with him, and on account of those who from everywhere had recourse to him, lest they should see him clothed in this habit. I hold it therefore most persuaded that upon another certain Stephen, a Sabaite monk, was imposed the surname "clad in hairs," as characteristic, by which he might be distinguished from other ascetics of the same place and name; and who wore the hairy garment either through his whole life, or at least through the greatest part of it; and even at the last time of approaching death did not lay it aside, dying perhaps even in it; that he might make this his proper and singular surname, from a thing practiced by few with such rigor.
[7] are brought forward, John Phocas, published by Leo Allatius in the Symmicta, page 28, treating of the holy men seen by him in the Laura of St. Sabas, which he had a little before described, narrates that in those places he beheld almost forty God-bearing men, and before others notable; and before them chiefly six, among whom is enumerated a certain Stephen in the first place, marked indeed by no surname; but yet different from our Stephen. For since the praised John inspected the holy places which he describes in the year 1085, as his editor proves in his little Preface; and since our Stephen was there illustrious in the 8th century, dead in 794; the times differ so exceedingly much that the one cannot be confused with the other. We indicate the difference here, lest some unskilled person, lighting upon him, should at first sight take one for the other, deceived by the homonymy of the proper name and of the monastery, the same in both. The error of the Slavo-Russian Menology we have already indicated.
[8] all of whom are to be distinguished from him Stephen besides here offers himself to us, so much the more easily liable, at first glance, to confusion with this our one, as more marks of identity concur in both: namely of the proper name, of sanctity, of dwelling or institute of life, on account of which, equally as ours, he is called Sabaite; and of time; since he was contemporary with him. But these do not prevent him from having whence he may be distinguished both from our Stephen and from the others going before, namely the surname Poet, which the Typicum of St. Sabas gives him on the XXVIII of October, and by which he is recorded in the Synaxaria; add a Life prolonged after the death of ours, since he seems to be the same Stephen as he who was the Author of the martyrdom of the Sabaite monks; in whose preface he thus speaks: Which (slaughter of the barbarians inflicted upon the Sabaites) I myself beheld with my own eyes, as one of those who, inhabiting this sacred Laura, were found there in that deadly irruption of the same. Hither also pertain the words of the Life which we here give, number 177: But you all also are witnesses that this vision (concerning Theoctistus in heavenly glory) was true, not only on account of the manifest sanctity of his life; but also because he was purged by the supreme baptism of martyrdom, which admits no second defilements: for he is of the number of the Fathers slain by the barbarians in the Greatest Laura of our holy Father Sabas: of whom a man excelling in all virtue, Father Stephen, the great glory and ornament of our Laura, composed the history.
[9] are proved. And from these things it is plain the difference of this last Stephen, and of the others preceding, from our one. There may also be seen the things already long since said in the said preliminary Commentary of the Sabaite Martyrs on the XX of March, number 5. The printed Menaea involve the matter, when on the said XXVIII day of October they twice make mention of St. Stephen the Sabaite, once indeed adding "disciple of St. Sabas"; which cannot befit the Author of the martyrdom of the Sabaite monks, on account of the distance of time, if the signification of the word "disciple" be taken in strictness; and once simply, that clause being omitted. But the further investigation of the present argument pertains to that day: where account also may be taken why in one place there the same or another seems to be announced among the Martyrs;
as also he is expressly reckoned among them in the Martyrology of Sirletus on the same XXVIII day of October in these words: Of the holy Martyrs, Terence, Neonilla, and of our holy father, Stephen the Sabaite; who all, persevering in the confession of the Christian faith, after prisons and stripes, exposed to beasts, and cast into cauldrons full of boiling pitch, when they made all torments as nothing, were beheaded with the sword. Our Simon Wangnereck, in the Prolegomena of the little work entitled The Marian Piety of the Greeks, page 79, number 24, confuses Stephen the Sabaite of this day with him who is venerated on the XXVIII of October, and thus this our one with the Poet; since he adds: Whom also (St. Sabas) he seems to have imitated in composing or collecting hymns. Then, in Century I, page 188, he brings forward a Marian eulogy in Greek and Latin under his name: but wrongly: for if our Stephen had been a hymnographer or Poet; is it credible that Leontius would have made not even the least mention of this matter, being so accurate a historian of his deeds, and in very many things indeed an eyewitness inspector? Nor should you object that in the part of the Life which has perished this was perhaps done: for in the summary of that same Life, in which he describes summarily and minutely the offices and virtues of the Saint; or in his said eulogy, he would at least have indicated in a word that hymns in praise of God and the Saints had been composed by him. Which since he nowhere does; we judge that argument enough is furnished us from his silence, that, as regards the poetic gifts, we should attribute this to the other.
§ II. St. Stephen a kinsman of St. John Damascene; his entrance into the Laura; the year and day of his death.
On the VI of May it was treated of St. John Damascene, and on the same occasion it was indicated in passing that St. Stephen was his nephew, but John his uncle. What things were there touched in passing with terms less proper and too vague, are here to be a little elucidated. St. Stephen therefore was the son of the brother of St. John Damascene, and so, if we wish to speak properly, that Saint was his paternal uncle, not indeed his maternal uncle. The matter is established from Leontius, thus speaking in the subjoined Life, number 184: At ten years old he came to our Greatest Laura with his paternal uncle (in Greek it is πατραδέλφῳ). The word πατράδελφος here signifies the brother of the father, or paternal uncle, not indeed the brother of the mother or maternal uncle: which is here, in number 133 of the Life, also applied to the nurse of Leontius, the sister of his father, τιτθὶς πατράδελφος. The praised Leontius does not add the name of the paternal uncle above; therefore, as I judge, because in that quite large part of the Life which has perished, he had perhaps elsewhere more than once expressed it, when occasion offered of treating of Stephen's first entrance into the Laura, and of his first sacred fervors after it under the direction of his paternal uncle, as the same Author seems to hint, when he adds: With whom he lived for 15 years in all obedience and submission. Whence it follows that the announcement of the Clermont Synaxarium adduced above in number 2, besides the confusion of our Saint with another synonymous with him, of which we there spoke, sins in another thing, when it adds to him: ἀνεψιοῦ Ἰώ. (that is, Ἰωάννου) οὖ Δαμασκηνοῦ: for ἀνεψιὸς signifies the son of a brother as well as of a sister; nor does it determine, by the force of the word, whether he be a paternal or maternal uncle, in respect of whom someone is called ἀνεψιός. Which equivocation here to remove, it has seemed good.
[11] besides the law of the Lauras, The immature age of St. Stephen did not prevent him from being admitted into the Greatest Laura; although by the ancient and usual custom, and by the fixed law of the Lauras, youths and beardless persons were kept from thence, and were sent to monasteries. This is clear in various places in the Life of St. Sabas in Cotelier, pages 228 and 229; whom St. Euthymius thus addresses: Son, I do not think it right that you, who are young, should remain in the Laura: for neither does it profit the Laura to have a youth: nor does it befit a youth to dwell in the midst of anchorites. Go therefore to the lower monastery, to the abbot Theoctistus … To whom he signified that he should take care of him … From his own example he gave him a sanction, that he should not receive a beardless one into the Laura; but should hand on the same law also to the Superiors of the other Lauras, which was ancient, and had prevailed among the ancient Fathers. That custom prevailed also under St. Sabas: for, as you have in the same place, page 259: To a beardless one he did not at all permit to dwell in his convent, who had not covered his face with a beard … and if ever he had received a beardless one, yet of perfect age, desirous of renunciation, he sent him to the most blessed abbot Theodosius; who, as is said in the same page 259, dwelt about 35 stadia from the Laura to the West, where he had established a most illustrious monastery by the help of Christ. The same is confirmed in the same place, page 260. Whence it is clear that immature age kept boys from the Lauras.
[12] the law of those keeping boys from thence, These things notwithstanding, it is established from the Life that St. Stephen at ten years old came to the Greatest Laura with his paternal uncle. Was it perhaps because, by the lapse of time, some moderation or mitigation was applied to that primitive rigor? This seems to be persuaded from the Acts of SS. Theodore and Theophanes, who were illustrious about the beginning of the ninth century, and so immediately after the death of our Saint. Of them may be seen Surius on the XXVI of December; where Theodore, when he was already passing from boyhood … is handed over to the monastery of the divine Sabas … but he had also a brother Theophanes, who … was younger … And there indeed both dwelt. And more than once there recurs the word "monastery"; and in the Greek manuscript Acts, which we keep, is often repeated μονὴ, which signifies a monastery, not a Laura: and it is gathered from what has been said that there was a great difference between the admission of boys into the Lauras and into the monasteries: for to these were sent those who by defect of sufficient age were excluded from the former: for the monks were first trained in monasteries, whom, when they had come to greater perfection, they placed in the cells of the Lauras, and called them anchorites, as is proved by several examples on the XX day of January, page 299. For between the Lauras and the monasteries there was this difference, that, besides the aim set by us in number I, let us add this one, that the Lauras consisted of various little cells, sufficiently separated from one another, in which solitaries lived apart; but in the monasteries the monks lived together in common; as you may see in the Notes of Henri de Valois on Evagrius, page 64; and in the place just cited, page 298. Although therefore there was a great difference between those two kinds of dwelling, and the one indeed included boys, the other excluded them; yet it does not seem that anything can here be made out of that difference; since I think that the Greatest Laura of St. Sabas is manifestly indicated by the writer of the said Acts; he afterward subjoining: Of which (monasteries which were in Palestine) the first and greatest was the monastery of the divine Sabas; in which this great Theodore, as we said before, trained himself. Hence it follows either that something was relaxed of that primitive and fixed law of the Lauras, or that by a singular indult access to the said Laura was granted to those two brothers Theodore and Theophanes at an age immature for this.
[13] But as for what we here see granted to St. Stephen beyond the primitive law of the Lauras, why then was he admitted into the Laura of St. Sabas? I think it is to be attributed partly to the mitigation by which the law of the Lauras gradually began to be relaxed, if not universally, at least in particular in respect of some, to whom either singular and foretokening indications of a more eminent perfection opened an easier access thither, or some other singular reason supplied the defect of age. For since the entrance of St. Stephen into the Laura anticipated by almost a whole century the entrance of SS. Theodore and Theophanes, it is not therefore certain to me that the mitigation of which here is the question, introduced, as it appears, in their time, was already flourishing at the time of St. Stephen's boyhood; for things which so differ in time often differ also in the right and custom of laws, receding less or more from the primitive vigor. What if the whole, if at that time there were need of it, or a good large part of the favor done to the tender Stephen, the Sabalaurite monks granted to the authority of his paternal uncle St. John Damascene, a man most notable for the gifts of integrity of life and of doctrine? To whom it could not be denied that he should bring into the Laura together with himself the son commended to him perhaps by his dying brother, or at least handed over by him while yet living, betimes to his discipline, that, since to be accustomed from tender years is much, he might from a little child apply himself to the divine service; not only bearing the yoke of the Lord from his adolescence, but also molding his morals and his whole manner of living, by requiring and forming them, to the most perfect norm of the Laurosabites, which then flourished among them.
[14] Not such is the perspicuity of the chronological marks of the death and burial of St. Stephen, From the Alexandrian epoch, which the Author of the Life uses, however distinctly and expressly marked by the Author of the Life, that in respect of Westerners they do not need a little elucidation, by which they may be reduced to our common Era. For Leo Allatius, in the book which is entitled On the perpetual consent of the Western and Eastern Church, treating of the Sundays and Weeks of the Greeks, rightly observes these things: The Greeks are wont for the most part, nay almost always, when they recount years, to number not from Christ's birth, but from the very founding of the world: which although it is not arduous to them, yet to foreign readers, and those who enter upon another way of numbering, it seems in a manner to spread a mist; and with difficulty do those extricate themselves from it who do not have the numbers in hand; especially since not all have entered upon the same reckoning of numbering … so that there have been almost as many opinions as writers. In those shadows therefore a light is to be set before the reader, lest he stumble. But the death of the Saint our Biographer thus chronologically determines, number 183: But the elder … rendered up his spirit … to the Lord … the day after the New Sunday, about the first hour of the night. But the burial thus: He was buried on the second day of the month of April, the third weekday, of the year from the creation of the world six thousand two hundred and eighty-six. There is not added here, as is commonly done by the Greeks, the year of the world restored according to the Era which they call Alexandrian, of which we have treated more than once, especially in the first preliminary Exegesis on Theophanes before volume III of March, where it was shown to fall short of the common by about eight years: which that it may hold good here, recourse must be had to the Acts of the Sabaite Martyrs, whose contest, since it is here below, number 17, rightly marked in the year from the founding of the world six thousand two hundred and eighty-eight, from God born according to the flesh 788; but since the death of our Stephen preceded the aforesaid martyrdom by two years, it is clear that here must be ascribed the year from God born according to the flesh 786; to which if you add eight years, you will have the year of the common Era
794.
[15] [reduced to the common Era, it is shown that the Saint died in the year 794, on the Kalends of April:] Which is rendered plain from the agreement of the marks here shining forth on both sides: for the Κυριακὴ Νέα, the New Sunday, here noted, of the Greeks, which is also by them called Κυριακὴ οὖ ἀντιπάσχα, the Sunday opposed to Easter, ἤτοι οὖ Φωμᾶ, or of Thomas, because on that day is read the Gospel concerning Thomas the Apostle, putting his finger into the print of the nails, at the Lord's command, which is then read among the Latins too; the New Sunday, I say, is called by the Latins Dominica in Albis; of the etymology of both Leo Allatius treats in the cited place. Now since that Sunday in the aforesaid year 794 fell on the XXX of March, since Easter fell then on the XXIII of the same month; it is consequent that the Saint died on the Kalends of April, on the day of the Moon or second weekday now running from about the hour, since he died the day after the Sunday in Albis about the first hour of the night; and was buried δευτέρᾳ ἡμέρᾳ, on the second day (which was the second after death, and the second of the month of April), τρίτῃ, on the third weekday, such as it then was. Nor does it matter that in the Greek text the word "weekday" is not explicitly expressed: for that the weekdays of the weeks, simply, without the addition of the word ἡμέρα or the like, are expressed by the ordinal numbers alone, you may read in the praised Author, and in the little table set out in two columns a, in which after the Sundays there are always set the weekdays, not indeed expressed but understood in the numerals, δευτέρα, τρίτη, second, third, up to the Sunday next following: just as it is now the custom among us, that we write the day of the month by the ordinal numbers alone, the word "day" being understood. What need is there of examples? When even in the Life of our Saint, which we have in hand, number 110, is set τῇ ἓξ καὶ δεκάτῃ οὖ Φεβρουαρίου μηνὸς, on the XVI of the month of February, the word "day" being understood: which is done again at 112 near the end in the same words. The same, if in the Greek Liturgies, certainly holds place in our text of the Life especially. For since the word ἡμέρα immediately preceded, it could not, save insipidly, be repeated again by the Author, still less ought it, here, if anywhere else, most clearly understood.
[16] [and it is illustrated and confirmed from the reckoning of the death of St. Sabas,] Therefore on the single characteristic mark of the Sunday in Albis, as on a fixed hinge, all things turn, and best do all agree, both among themselves and with the marked year 794; namely Easter, the day of death, the day of burial, the day of the month, and the weekday. And these things, although they need no further elucidation, may yet be illustrated from the reckoning of the death of St. Sabas in the cited place, pages 353 and 354, thus described by Cyril of Scythopolis: His (St. Sabas's) death happened on the V of the month of December, in the X Indiction, from the creation indeed of the world … in the year six thousand and twenty-four: from the Incarnation of the Word of God … the twenty-fourth above the five hundredth. To which if you add eight incomplete years, there will arise the year 531, noted by us after Baronius in the preliminary Commentary to the Life of St. Euthymius on the XX of January, paragraph 4, number 15, Pagi also agreeing: which year began from the month of September to run concurrently with the X Indiction.
[17] Conformably also to this system must be arranged the martyrdom of the twenty monks of the Laura of St. Sabas, and of the holy Sabaite Martyrs, whose epoch Stephen the Sabaite, an eyewitness, marks, In the year from the founding of the world six thousand two hundred and eighty-eight … From God born according to the flesh … 788, in the V Indiction: which we, with Pagi, connect with the common year 796 according to what has been said; and consequently with him we think that the IV Indiction is to be read for the V; even though the V Indiction in the said martyrdom, printed in Greek at the end of volume 3 of March, is expressly expressed by the Author in number 3, whether that happened by his own error, or by the carelessness of the copyists; although it is much easier that by a slip the number five should be changed into four, or the contrary, in some Latin copy, than in the Greek πέμπτον into τέταρτον. However it be, the IV Indiction, begun in the year 795 from the month of September, was running in the month of March of the year 796, in which the said Martyrs were slain, up to the next September. Hence Papebroch is to be corrected, in the preliminary Commentary to the said martyrdom, number 6, where he notes the year 797 according to those things which, in the first preliminary Exegesis, prefixed to the said volume, he had discoursed concerning the Chronography of St. Theophanes; besides the eight years adding another year of Phocas, subtracted for the cause indicated by himself in the same Exegesis, for equalizing the Alexandrian Era with the common; by the addition of which year to the V Indiction, marked in the martyrdom, it may be arrived at; which, however, does not agree with the Easter, which he marks in the same number 6.
[18] He fixes it on the XXIII of March; but he strays through a whole month: for in the year indeed, as is clear from what has been said, whose epoch is here reformed. 794 it fell on the XXIII of March; but in the year 797 on the XXIII of April (the XXIII of March is also wrongly noted in Du Cange, in the expanded Chronological Tables of the Latin Glossary at the word "annus"): which inadvertence of Papebroch it is wonderful that Pagi did not observe, being here sufficiently sharp-eyed in correcting the year of the martyrdom and the Indiction. For the rest, just as from a single point wrongly fixed there are wont to follow other things not cohering; so by that number several things do not stand, to be brought to the balance and reformed by second thoughts. For indeed, if according to our system you fix the martyrdom in the year 796, Easter falling on the III of April, I do not for my part see what stands in the way that the Chronological marks, expressed in the course of the same, should not be conveniently composed among themselves. Of which kind are these: Lent passing by, παρεκβᾶσα ἐτύγχανεν, number 21: the irruption of the barbarians into the Laura on the XIII day of the month of March, in the same place; which in the year 796 fell on a Sunday. But on the morrow … that whole week they pray incessantly (the Sabaites), number 27, namely up to the XIX of March: which being passed, on the Saturday evening they receive the messenger monks of the Old Laura, number 28. Whether and what happened afterward, which could be added here, we should perhaps know, if the part of the martyrdom had not perished. Finally they adorned the time of the Lenten abstinence, that is, they underwent martyrdom in the time of Lent, number 78: before … his (Christ's) passion suffering also themselves, that is, before Holy Week among the Latins (but the Great among the Greeks, of the salvation-bearing Passion, and the days of the Passions, as you may see in Allatius). Whence after a few days with the same they celebrated the salvific Easter, as is said in the same place. All which things in our epoch are neatly arranged, everyone sees; according to which also may be emended what Papebroch has in the Chronological History of the Patriarchs of Jerusalem before volume 3 of May, page XXXIX, concerning the death of St. Stephen; where again he marks the year 795, and to the praised Martyrs again attributes the year 797. These things being thus examined and established, it remains that we proceed to arranging the chronology of the Life of St. Stephen.
§ III. The chronology of the Life; the Acts which are here given; their Author; the Annotations; the version.
The chief deeds of the Life brought to chronological reckonings: The year of the death of St. Stephen being thus fixed, it will be of no great labor to adapt the chief heads of the things done by him, which, the order of time and the duration being observed, the Author very accurately recounts in number 184, to the years of his age and also of the common Era; so that its own chronological reckoning may correspond to each, distributed into the following points of time. Since therefore it is there said that the Saint lived full periods of 69 years, let us circumscribe the whole sum of his life by the same 69 completed years. He began then to live in the year of Christ 725. When he had spent nine years among his own, the tenth of his age being begun, in the year of Christ 735 (not 745, as it is faultily written on the VI of May in the preliminary Commentary of St. John Damascene, page 109, number 9) he came to the Greatest Laura with his paternal uncle; under whose discipline he spent 15 years, in the 24th year of his age, of Christ 749. Then he gave 8 years to various ministries; and so reached the 32nd year of his age, of Christ 757. Add 5 years, spent in the closest solitude of a hesychasterion, and he will have numbered the 37th year of his age, expressly expressed in the Life, of Christ 762; likewise 15 years, which he passed mostly solitary, and clad in a hairshirt, observing besides three Lents yearly in his desert, up to the 52nd year of his age, of Christ 777. Finally to these add 17 years, spent with the chief fathers of the Laura; and you will have the 69th year of his age, of Christ 794, in which he closed his life.
[20] On what occasion the Acts were described; genuine, but headless; Of the Acts there occur the following things to be observed. Papebroch dug them out and described them; but in what place or time, or on what occasion, he indicates in the several times cited preliminary Commentary of the Sabaite Martyrs, number 4: The said Acts (of the Sabaite Martyrs), together with the other Lives of Saints pertaining almost to Palestine (and so of this our Saint too) we described in the year 1662 from a most approved codex of more than six hundred years of Pierre Séguier, Chancellor of France, lent to us at Paris out of favor to the Reverend Father François Annat, Confessor to the King. While therefore we give to light the Life of St. Stephen, we open to the world a huge treasure, and one scarcely to be valued at a price: for, to say nothing of the antiquity of the codex from which it was transcribed; it deserves the highest price on account of the most rare and altogether singular marks of sincerity, again and again shining forth in the course of it: whence it comes that the truth itself, everywhere betraying itself, seems to meet the reader: by an example most unusual in Greek Acts; since very rare are those which, adorned rhetorically and hyperbolically by Metaphrastic geniuses, or rather painted and deformed, have not for the most part lost the loveliness of their primitive and true ornament. But one thing must vex all those to whom such treasures are of price, that our Life is headless; a great part of it (alas! the grief) being lost. Which loss long since tormented Papebroch in the metrical July related above, where he relates these things: We, having obtained the most prolix Acts of St. Stephen himself, grieve that they are headless; and we shall gladly learn that there is elsewhere an exemplar, whence our defect may be supplied. But it has not yet been permitted us thus far to be so blessed; may it be permitted hereafter; that a good large part, elegant and precious, unhappily cut off from the rest of the body, may at length from somewhere be restored to it, complete in all its members.
[21] But how far that loss extends, it is permitted to estimate from those things which, a great part of them being wanting, from the summary of the Life in number 184, collated with the beginning from which it starts, manifestly indicate what parts have perished. Whatever therefore the Author handed down of the Saint's birth, and of the boyhood nine years passed among his own in the world;
whatever concerning his entrance into the Greatest Laura with his paternal uncle St. John Damascene, under whose, as we suppose, direction he spent fifteen years, has perished: in which so long a time, the qualities of the master, then so excellent in ascetic matters, and the fervor and docility of the disciple, doubtless furnished copious matter for weaving prolix narrations of the things done by him: for it seems to have been a thing still unusual at that time, for a boy of ten to be admitted into a Laura, as we just now observed: and so he must have shown many wonderful things in so tender an age, which might compensate the defect of age; which without doubt the Author of the Life diligently pursued; especially since the things done openly and in the sight of very many others within the Laura itself could be better known and proved than those which he did secretly in the closest solitude. Nothing also survives to us of the offices administered for eight years among the monks, and distinctly expressed by the Author of the Life in the cited place, of Canonarch, Artocopus, Hegumenarch, Xenodochus, and set forth in the Annotations there: in which it is scarcely credible that the Saint conducted himself without a notable exercise of patience, obedience, and charity: by which he stirred up in himself the admirableness of virtues, and furnished to others, as I hold persuaded, matter for speaking of himself, but to the writer of the Life a most ample field for running out into his praises. But now our fragment begins from the deliberation of the Saint, whether he wished wholly to withdraw from men, St. Martyrius persuading him to persist in the institute of the mixed life; and someone, deploring the loss by death of St. Martyrius, number 4, sees the hesychasterion of St. Stephen shine with heavenly light, as is said in number 5. The Biographer therefore begins, in the fragment which we publish, to narrate those things which happened about that time when the Saint shut himself in a hesychasterion; namely about the 37th year of his age, as is gathered from the said summary.
[22] Nor does it stand in the way that he is there called an elder and a "calogerus": for it does not thence follow that at that time, when he was so called, he was truly aged in years: which, how great it is, is examined. because the monks called themselves one another γέροντες and καλογήρους, elders and as it were fine elders; which is as much as to say fathers; just as religious are now called both among their own and among strangers. But he is exhibited as a priest in number 8, not long, as it appears, consecrated. He has a disciple by name Eustratius, number 12; whence it seems it can be argued that the Biographer chiefly recounts those things which the Saint did in the last 17 years of his life, in which, as the summary records, he underwent those three annual Lents with certain chief fathers of the Laura, taking with him one of his disciples, who, unless I am mistaken, was the said Eustratius. As regards those Lents, the summary only mentions them after it had enumerated nine years of boyhood, 15 of monastic life, 8 of ministries, 5 of solitude, so that he began to undergo them the 38th year being begun. The Biographer mentions the fasts in numbers 12, 25, 30, 31, 34, 45, 83, 86, 176, 178, 179, but from number 115 he recounts the deeds of the last four years of the Life, in which he was his disciple. Whence it is clear that those things are extant which the Saint did from about the middle of the years of his Life; but the earlier things have perished; and so, if not half, certainly a great part of the Life has been lost.
[23] For the rest, the praised Biographer's name is Leontius, his fatherland Damascus, his institute of life in the Laura of St. Sabas, Who was the Biographer? and how much credit he deserves: his manner of writing most accurate, and therefore most worthy of historical faith; partly the matter collected from monuments, which the Author received from most faithful witnesses, and carried down to the beginning of chapter 10, number 115; partly thereafter from those things which he himself observed, a writer, spectator, and witness, and for 4 years a disciple to the Saint. Which things are proved from his words in the same number 115: And all these things, as I had collected from men worthy of faith, I, the poor and abject Leontius, wrote down: but what I myself saw in person, and heard with these ears, I now begin to explain. For the last four years, which preceded his sacred migration from this world, I spent in the discipline of this Saint. But in what manner this came about, I will briefly relate. After this, from number 116, he indicates his fatherland, and his profession of life, his vehement and long struggles, his perturbations of mind, and most grievous impulses to despair. He subjoins also in what manner he was cured by the Saint, and admitted into his discipline, and many other things which it would be long to review, and can be read in the same place. Whereby it is understood that he deserves the fullest faith in all that he narrates: which he not moderately gains for himself, by naming persons, places, times, and the other circumstances that surround the matter: nay, from number 166, he commits to writing the ascetic exhortations of the Saint, which he received from his mouth in person: which are as it were so many sacred apophthegms, by which briefly and solidly he teaches the economy of the more perfect life; which most deservedly he himself, number 166, calls sacred documents full of all erudition. Add that the candor of his writing, the perspicuity of his discourse, joined also with some elegance, are as great as one could desire in a historian of the best mark.
[24] In what year he wrote is uncertain: In what year determinately he wrote, is not known: but at what time about, can not with difficulty be established. That he wrote after the martyrdom of the Sabaite monks, and so not before the year 796, is clear from the vision in number 177, by which the Saint is narrated to have beheld Theoctistus his disciple, one of the number of the Fathers slain by the barbarians in the Greatest Laura of the holy Father Sabas, rejoicing among the heavenly ones. Let us proceed a little further. The said martyrdom happened, as is related in its Prologue, number 3, when the most blessed Patriarch of the church of Jerusalem, Elias, governed; but our author expressly declares in number 49 that he wrote after his death, thus speaking: Elias … sought again his own see by postliminy, and enjoyed the patriarchal dignity for a long time; and when he hence migrated holily to God, he left Domnus George his syncellus as successor in the Theadelphic chair. Papebroch, in the Chronological History of the Patriarchs of Jerusalem, from the words just cited of the martyrdom of the Sabaites, asserts that Elias lived in the year 797 (according to what is said above, 796) and died the same or the following year; but I could wish this to be a little more proved: Pagi, at the year 795, writing more rightly that the time of Elias's death is unascertained. Whence it does not seem sufficiently established even concerning the time of the ordination of George his successor. Papebroch indeed connects it with about the year 799, citing the Metz Annals of the Franks, written in the 10th century, which are extant in Du Chesne, volume 3; but since in the same place, page 288, we have nothing at the aforesaid year but that a monk, coming from Jerusalem, brought many relics to the King (Charlemagne) on the part of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, we cannot thence learn who that Patriarch was, whether Elias or George. Nor will Baronius give anything more certain at the same year 799, if you inspect him. Nothing therefore remains but that we say that Leontius wrote indeed after the martyrdom of the Sabaites and the death of Elias, Patriarch of Jerusalem, whose lot, to add one thing to what has just been said, is among the Saints, as is noted in number 19 of the Life; but that meanwhile the mark of the time remains unascertained, in which the praised Leontius committed it to letters; which happened about the beginning of the 9th century.
[25] And this is again confirmed from the words of our Leontius, number 136, but at what time about is determined. saying that at the time when he was writing, Thomas had undertaken the government of the Theadelphic (Jerusalem) throne. But the Annals of the Franks, deduced from the year 708 to 808, in Du Chesne, volume 2 of the Frankish writers, from page 11, at the year 807 treat of the monks from Jerusalem, who discharged the legation of Thomas the Patriarch. And in the same place, in other Annals, ascribed to Eginhard, page 253, the same is related at the same year. But whether that Thomas immediately succeeded George in the patriarchate of Jerusalem, as Pagi holds at the said year, number 4, against Papebroch; or whether with Papebroch you interpose Fortunatus between the same George; of which controversy the decision is not of this place; we scarcely doubt, to speak with Papebroch in the Chronological History, page XLI, that this (Thomas) is the same who is praised in the Acts of the Sabaite Martyrs, number 24, as the excellent physician, and the same most pious abbot, and afterward ordained Hegumen of the old Laura: which words seem too graphically to agree with the words of the Life, number 136, describing the medical gifts of Thomas, for not the same person to be indicated in both. He held that see a long time: since he answers the letters of Theodore the Studite in the year 821, as is in Baronius at that year, number 54 and 55. Whence it is clear that the time in which Leontius wrote suffers some latitude from the beginning of the ninth century, and that meanwhile it remains in obscurity in what determinate year he wrote.
[26] We keep among other literary monuments a Greek Life from a manuscript of the Royal Library of Paris, Leontius, who wrote the Life of St. Gregory of Agrigentum, marked number 804, of St. Gregory, Bishop of Agrigentum in Sicily, to be given on the XXIII of November, marked with this title of the Author: Λεοντίου πρεσβυτέρου καὶ ἡγουμένου μονῆς τοῦ ἁγίου Σάβα. Of Leontius, presbyter and hegumen of the monastery of St. Sabas. The identity of the two writers, at least at first sight, the same name seems to persuade, the same institute of life, almost the same designation of the monastic place, so far indeed as the aforesaid words sound. There is added that this Leontius at once in the Prologue prefaces his own slenderness, little suited for writing such great things; our Leontius too professing his own in number 115, calling himself poor and abject; and in number 185 plainly, as being neither strong in letters nor in fit elegance of speech, unequal to adorning the Life according to its merits. But that the one was truly distinguished from the other, more and weightier considerations of reasons persuade, which we propose to be weighed. That other things be absent which distinguish the two Authors, the manner of writing and the choice of matters of each is plainly unlike. Our Leontius is wholly in narrating facts, solidly established, in a style foreign to episodes and frivolous adornments. But the other, how much I am mistaken if in many things he finds full faith among historians of a fine nose; to pass over the dialogisms, again and again repeated in our Greek exemplar, and in that which Surius published not so expressed; the rest in others, of which I collated a great part with the Greek, agrees well enough as to substance. In Allatius, On the writings of the Symeons, page 127, there is attributed to Metaphrastes a Life of Gregory of Agrigentum, which begins in the same manner as begins that which is in Surius, and which he published under the name of Metaphrastes. But page 113 he sets among the Lives which he denies to Metaphrastes the exordium of another, which agrees verbatim with our Greek; and it is noted also to have Leontius as Author. There is therefore a Life written under the name of two Authors,
of whom without doubt the one preceded the other. Furthermore, Baronius diminishes its credit at the year 494. But Papebroch, in the cited Chronological History, page XXIX, asserts that it is suspect of much fabulousness; and not to be adduced in testimony of sanctity for Macarius (Patriarch of Jerusalem), until it has been discussed by a severe examination. We have the same Life in an Eclogium, or collection of the Lives of some Saints, taken from Metaphrastes, and translated into the common tongue of the Greeks; but if you know one, you know without doubt all in substance.
[27] he is not to be confused with our Leontius. Between the two Leontii therefore there is so exceedingly great a difference that the same cannot be reckoned the Author of both Lives. What? that by the monastery of St. Sabas, of which that other Leontius is noted in the title of the Life to have been presbyter and Hegumen, is not understood the Laura of St. Sabas near Jerusalem, which nourished our Leontius, but the monastery at Rome most well-known under the name of St. Sabas; as becomes plain to one unrolling the Life in Surius, number XXVIII. Which the praised Allatius either found noted in the title of the Life, or gathered from its context, when in the same page 113, after the exordium of the Life, he adds these things concerning its Author: Of Leontius, presbyter and Hegumen of the monastery of St. Sabas of the city of Rome: and it lies on the Aventine hill, near the gate of St. Paul. Of which Floravante Martinelli in Roma Sacra, page 295: Formerly it was called "in Cella nova": a most ancient monastery of Greek monks, then of Cluniacs under Lucius II, and of Cistercians under Julius II. Gregory XIII granted it to the College of the German Alumni. And these things more than sufficiently separate the two Leontii. A third of the same name, here in number 32 praised by our Leontius, it is manifest is distinguished from both of those.
[28] Certain things are noted concerning the Annotations and the version of the Life. Annotations to this Life Papebroch left us; which also we give under his name, some being cut away and contracted; and even so they are more than sufficiently prolix. New annotations here and there by us, as occasion offered, have been inserted into those old ones: some things also changed in them. The Life from Greek into Latin our associate Father Pieter vanden Bosch (Boschius) made, not drowsily versed in that matter, so that he might follow as closely as he could the genuine and original sense of the Author. But whether and how far he attained it, let the philhellene reader judge. Another manuscript version indeed of the same Life had long since been elaborated here, and thus far kept: but that the whole matter might come forth more perfectly, it pleased to attempt a new one, diligently collated with that other older one, not seen by the new interpreter until after he had for the most part advanced his own, so that thus to the old equally and the new, to the first and second cares, provision might deservedly be made for the most esteemed Life, with the labor which its dignity required, and serious accuracy. Besides these, there occurs nothing wherewith to delay the reader. It remains therefore that we now submit it itself to the eyes.
THE HEADLESS LIFE
BY THE AUTHOR LEONTIUS, DISCIPLE OF THE SAINT.
From an old Greek manuscript of Pierre Séguier, Chancellor of France.
Pieter Boschius being the translator.
Stephen the Sabaite, Wonderworker, monk in the Laura of St. Sabas near Jerusalem (S.)
BY LEONTIUS THE DISCIPLE, FROM A GREEK MANUSCRIPT.
CHAPTER I.
Abbot Martyrius dies. The sanctity of St. Stephen is declared by miracles.
Καθὼς ἔφης τὸ πρότερον, επιλέλησμαι κλεῖσαι τὰς θύρας. Νῦν τί ἐρεῖς; μὴ ὡς αὔτως ἐποίησα; Ὁ δὲ ἄρα σχημειδειάσας φησί· Καὶ νῦν ἐπελάθου, ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως, ὡς οἶσθα, οὐδὲν ἀδυνατεῖ τῷ Θεῷ. Ἐγὼ δ᾽ οὐκ ὀλιγάκις, θεωρήσας τοῦτον χάριτος τοιαύτης ἀξιωθέντα, εὐχαριστίαν καὶ δόξαν ἔπεμψα τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ ἔτι περισσότερον πίστιν μεγάλην ἐκτησάμην εἰς αὐτόν. Ὅθεν μιᾷ τῶν ἡμερῶν συνομιλῶν αὐτῷ περί τινων πνευματικῶν ὡς ἔθος ἦν, …ἐθέμην αὐτῷ μυστήριον· ἔσχον γὰρ λογισμὸν τοῦ κόσμου παντελῶς ἀναχωρῆσαι, καὶ προσελθὼν αὐτῷ εἶπον· Ὅσιε πάτερ Μαρτύριε, ὀκτὼ ἐκ χρόνων ἔχω επιθυμῶν επὶ τὴν ἐνδοτέραν ἔρημον πορευθῆναι γυμνὸς, καὶ μηκέτι ἐνταῦθα στραφῆναι, μήτε τινὶ ἀνθρώπων όφθῆναι, ὅπως πόῤῥωθεν ὑπάρχων τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων θορύβων, καθαρῶς λατρεύσω τῷ Θεῷ, ὃν οὐ διέλειπον ἐκλιπαρὼν, ἵνα φανερώσῃ μοι τὴν εὐδοκίαν αὐτοῦ· οὐ προεθανοίμην γὰρ ἄνευ θείας πληροφορείας ἀπελθὼν, καὶ μέχρι τῆς δεῦρο οὐδέν μοι τούτου χάριν θεόθεν ἀπεκαλύφθη. Νῦν, ἴδε, πεπίστευκα, ὅτι διά σου γνωρίσει μοι· οὐκοῦν, πάτερ, λάλησον, ὅπερ ἄν ἐμπνεύσει σοι ἡ χάρις τοῦ παναγίου Πνεύματος, καὶ θεράπευσόν μου τὴν ψυχήν.
[2] Ὡς οὖν οὕτως εἶπον αὐτῷ· παραυτὰ διορατικοῖστε καὶ προορατικοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς σκοπήσας τὸ συμφέρον, ἔφη· Ὁ Θεὸς οὐ θέλει σε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἀφανῆ γενέσθαι, εἰς τὴν ἐσωτέραν ἔρημον εἰσελθόντα· ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον διπλοῦν κομίσασθαι στέφανον, τόντε τῆς ἐρήμου, τόν τε διά σου σωζομένων ψυχῶν. Ἀναπλήρωσον οὖν τὸν βίον σου, καθὼς ἐδιδάχθη ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ, τὸ ἥμισυ τοῦ χρόνου ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν ἐν τῷ ἡσυχαστηρίῳ, ἵνα πολλοὺς ὁδηγήσῃς εἰς θεογνωσίαν καὶ ἀρετήν. Διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ οὐ βούλεταί σε ὁ Θεὸς ἀποστῆναι τῶν ἀνθρώπων φιλάνθρωπος. Μηκέτι τοίνυν παρακάλει αὐτὸν περὶ τούτου, ὅτι μετά σε σχεδὸν οὐ πατηθήσεται ὑπὸ τῶν φαινομένων ἀναχωρητῶν ἡ ἔρημος.
[3] Πληροφορηθέντος οὖν ἐμοῦ διὰ τοῦ στόματος τοῦ Ἁγίου, ἐξετοπίσθησαν ἐκ ποδῶν οἵτινες ἐκ πάλαι περὶ τούτου ἐκλόνουν με λογισμοὶ, ἐν γαλήνῃ δὲ διήρκεσα ἕως τοῦ νῦν, εὐχαριστῶν τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ τὴν τοῦ ἀββᾶ Μαρτυρίου ἐπαινῶν ἀρετήν. Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν περὶ τοῦ ἀββᾶ Μαρτυρίου διηγήσατο ὁ ὅσιος Στέφανος. Οὐδεν δὲ ὧν ἔφησεν, ἔμεινεν ἀνενέργητον. Οὐ γὰρ εἴα τὸ Θεῖον τὸν Στέφανον, ψυχῶν ἰατρόν ὄντα χρήσιμον, ἐν κρύμνοις, καὶ ὄπαις, ξαὶ ὄρεσι κρυβῆναι ἄπωθεν τῶν λογικῶν αὐτοῦ θρεμμάτων. Οὐκ ἔτι γὰρ μετ᾽ αὐτὸν, ὥσπερ ἡμῖν φαίνεται, ἐπατήθη ἡ γῆ ἐκείνη ὑπὸ τῶν ὁρωμένων άναχωρητῶν, οἶα προείπεν ὁ θαυμάσιος Μαρτύριος, ὃς μεγάλως τῷ Θεῷ εὐαρεστήσας, καὶ μεγάλων ἀξιωθεὶς χαρισμάτων, ἀπεβίω ἐν τῷ ἑαυτοῦ ἐγκλειστηρίῳ χρόνους ἱκανοὺς διαποιήσας.
[4] Τούτου δὲ κοιμηθέντος, εἷς τῶν πατέρων, ἔχων εἰς αὐτὸν ζέουσαν πίστιν, οὐχ εὑρέθη. Ὡς οὖν, ὅθεν εἴη, ἐπὶ τὴν Λαύραν ἐπανίη, κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν ἐνόησεν τὴν ἐνθένδε ἱερὰν αὐτοῦ μετάστασιν, καὶ λύπῃ συσχεθεὶς ἀπείρῳ ἐπένθησε πένθος δακρύων πολλῶν μεστόν. Ταλανίζων δὲ τὴν Λαῦραν, ἔλεγεν· ὁποία συμφορὰ συμβέβηκέ σοι σέμερον, ὦ ἡμετέρα Λαῦρα, καὶ ποία σε λύπη κατέλαβεν; Στυγνότητος καὶ ἀθυμίας νέφος επὶ σε ἐπεσκίασε, τοῦ σοῦ φωστῆρος Μαρτυρίου ὑπὸ γὴν καταδύντος. Σὺ δὲ, ὦ ἱερὸν τῶν τοῦ ἁγίου Σάβα μαθητῶν ἄθροισμα, ὁποῖον ἀπώλεσας καύχημα καὶ ψυχικῶν παθῶν ἀκέστορα. Ὦ ψυχή μου νοσερὰ καὶ τάλαινα, τίνος ἄρα τοῦ λοιποῦ τεύξῃ παρηγορίας, ἢ τίς σε θεραπεύσει; εἰ γὰρ καὶ τὸν ἀββὰ Στέφανον εὐλαβῆ καὶ ἐνάρετον ἔχομεν, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδαμῶς αὐτὸν τῷ ἁββᾷ Μαρτυριῳ συγκρίνομεν· ἐπειδὴ πολὺ ἀμφοτέρων τὸ διάφορον. Ὧσπερ γὰρ ἀπέχουσι ἀνατολαὶ ἀπὸ δυσμῶν, οὕτως ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀββᾶ Μαρτυρίου ὁ τοῦ ἄββᾶ Στεφάνου ἀφέστηκεν.
[5] Ὡς οὖν ταῦτα καθ᾽ ἑαυτὸν ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ ὁδεύων ἐθρήνει, καὶ ἔλεγεν, ἔστη επί τινα ἀκρώρειαν ἄνωθεν τοῦ ἡσυχαστηρίου τοῦ γέροντος ὑπαρχουσαν. Καὶ τότε δι᾽ αυτοῦ ἐντόνως περισκοποῦντος τὸ ἡσυχαστήριον, ἐπένευσεν ἡ ἀγαθὴ τοῦ Θεοῦ πρόνοια δεῖξαι αὐτῷ τὴν ἐμφολεύουσαν τῷ ἁγίῳ Στεφάνῳ θείαν καὶ ἔκλαμπρον χάριν· εἶδεν γὰρ τὸ ἡσυχαστήριον μεγάλου φωτὸς μεστὸν, ἐκπέμποντος ἀπὸ τῶν θυρίδων ἀκτῖνας τηλαυγεῖς. Ἐκθαμβηθεὶς δὲ ἐλογίζετο, τί ἄν εἴη τὸ ὀφθὲν, λέγων· Ἄρα μή τις σπινθὴρ ἀπὸ δαδὸς ἢ κανδήλας ἐξέπεσε, καὶ τὴν φλόγα ταύτην ἐν τῷ κελλίῳ, τοῦ καλογῆρου καθεύδοντος, ἄνηψεν; ἢ αὐτὸς ὁ καλόγηρος ἀσυνήθητον ἐποίησε πυρκαἳὰν; ὅπερ οὐκ οἶμαι, οὔδε πιστεύω· οὐ γὰρ εἴωθε τοῦτο ποιεῖν, οὔτε μὴν οἱ κατ᾽ αὐτόν.
[6] Οὕτως οὖν ἐνθυμούμενος τῷ ἑαυτοῦ κατήντησε κελλίῳ. Τοῦ ἐρυθροῦ δὲ φανέντος, ἀπῆλθε πρὸς τὸν γέροντα, νομίζων εὑρεῖν τὸ κελλίον ὅλον πυρποληθέν. Ὡς δ᾽ εἶδε τὸν γέροντα ἐν καταστάσει πολλῇ τυγχάνοντα, καὶ οὐδὲν εὗρε πυρὸς ἴχνον, οὔτε μέχρις ὀσμῆς κάπνου, ἔγνω ὅτι τουτὶ τὸ θαῦμα γέγονε ἔνεκα τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ὀλιγοπιστίας, καὶ ὑπέστρεψε εἰς τὸ ἴδιον κελλίον, δοξάζων τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ τὴν τοῦ γέροντος ὁμολογούμενος ἐκθειάζων ἁγιότητα.
[7] Τὶς μοναχὸς μέγας καὶ ὑψηλὸς, τῷ γένει Αἰγύπτιος, Χριστοφόρος ἐπονομαζόμενος, ᾤκει ἐν σπηλαίῳ τῷ επίκλην τοῦ ἁγίου Θεοκτίστου ἐν τοῖς ἀνατολικοῖς μέρεσι τῆς τοῦ ἁγίου Εὐθυμίου μονῆς. Ην δὲ θεάρεστος ὁ ἀνὴρ καὶ ἀσκητὴς ὑπὸ πολλῶν μεμαρτυρημένος ἐπ᾽ ἀγαθοῖς. Ἀγάπην δὲ ἄδολον εἶχε, τὴν μητέρα καὶ τιθήνην πασῶν τῶν ἀρετῶν. Προεθυμεῖτο δὲ καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ οἰκεῖον ἐκχέαι τὸ αἶμα ὑπερ᾽ τῆς θεραπείας παντὸς ἀρχομένου πρὸς αὐτόν· οὐ γὰρ μόνον πρὸς τοὺς ὁμοπίστους, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς αὐτοὺς τοὺς ἀπίστους καὶ βαρβάρους, μιμούμενος καὶ ἐν τούτῳ τὸν ἑαυτοῦ κύριον καὶ δεσπότην, τὸν ὑπερβαλλόντως ἡμᾶς ἀγαπήσαντα, καὶ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἐκουσίως ἀποθανόντα ἀμαρτωλῶν ὄντων.
[8] Καθ᾽ ἑκάστην δὲ ἡμέραν δισχιλίας ἐπόνει γονυκλινείας, ἡμέρας χιλίας, καὶ νυκτὸς χιλίας σὺν παννύχισιν ἀγρυπνίαις πολλαῖς τε νηστείαις καὶ δάκρυσι πλείστοις. Ἤσκει δὲ καὶ τὸ ἐργόχειρον διὰ τὴν ἀκηδίαν. Οὗτος τοίνυν παρεκάλεσε τὸν ὅσιον Στέφανον κατὰ σάββατον, εἰ δυνατὸν, λειτουργῆσαι πρὸς αὐτὸν, ἦν γὰρ τότε πρεσβυτερικὸν ἐπέχων βαθμὸν· οὕτινος νῦν επιμνησθεὶς, πρὸς βραχὺ σιωπήσομαι τὴν ἐν χερσὶ διήγησιν, ἄχρις ἂν ἐξαγορεύσω τὸ δι᾽ αὐτοῦ γενόμενον θαῦμα.
[9] Ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις δὴ τῆς ὑψώσεως τοῦ τιμίου σταυροῦ ψήφῳ Θεοῦ χειροτονηθεὶς πρεσβύτερος οὗτος ὁ ἀββᾶς Στέφανος, ἐν τῷ ἑαυτοῦ ἡσυχαστηρίῳ προσήνεγκε τὴν λογικὴν καὶ ἀναίμακτον θυσίαν μετ᾽ οὐ πολλὰς ἡμέρας· αὐτοῦ δὲ κατὰ τὸν ἐκκλησιαστικὸν θεσμὸν τὴν προσφορὰν τῆς προθέσεως ἀναφέροντος, καὶ βοῶντος, καὶ λέγοντος· Τὰ ἅγια τοῖς ἁγίοις, ἔλαμψεν ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἡ χάρις τοῦ Κυρίου, καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ἐπεφοίτησεν ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸν, καὶ τὸ εὐκτήριον ὅλον ἀπείρου φωτὸς ἐπλήρωσεν, αὐτὸν δὲ ὁλόφωτον κατεσκεύασεν, ὥστε καθορῶν ἑαυτὸν πανευαγῆ καὶ πάναγνον, καὶ τὸν ἀέρα, καὶ πάντα τὸν κόσμον παραδόξως ἡλιωμένον. Μείνας οὐν ἐν τῇ τοιαύτῃ φαιδρότητι, ἀεὶ θεωρῶν ἑαυτὸν ἄλλον ἐξ ἄλλου γινόμενον καὶ μὴ σκοπῶν ἵχνος ἀνθρώπινον, ὥσπερ τὸ πρότερον, ἐδειλίασε σφόδρα δειλίαν ἀξιέπαινον, ὡς ἐγκύψας εἰς τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ δόξαν τὴν ἄῤῥητον, καὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ καταμαθὼν ἀσθένειαν· Λογισμοὶ γὰρ ἀνθρώπων δειλοὶ, ἐπειδὴ ἡ φύσις αὐτῶν καθέστηκεν εὐμετάστατος.
[10] Τούτου γὰρ χάριν δείσας ὁ Μακάριος ἐταπεινώθη, μνησθεὶς ἐξ οὗ πεπλαστούργηται πήλου· οὕτω γὰρ Μωυσῆς ὁ θεόπτης, δοξασθεὶς καὶ Θεὸν, ὡς ἀνθρώπῳ ἰδεῖν ἐφικτὸν, ἀξιωθεὶς, καὶ εἰς τοσοῦτον ὕψος ἀρθεὶς, ἐφοβήθη, ἰχνόφωνον ἑαυτὸν ὀνομάζων καὶ βραδύγλωσσον. Καὶ Δαβὶδ ὁ θεοφάντωρ,
ὡς αὔτως ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ ὑψοθεὶς, σκώληκα ἑαυτὸν ἀπεκάλεσε· καὶ πτωούμενος, μήπως τῆς κατὰ Θεὸν ἐκπέσῃ στάσεως, ἐταπείνου καὶ ἐσκληραγώγει ἑαυτὸν ταῖς κακοπαθείαις. Καὶ πρὸς τούτοις πτωούμενος, οἶμαι, ὁ Ὅσιος, ἤτι πάθῃ κενοδοξίας ἔπαρμα, ὑπὲρ πάντων ἀνθρώπων ἐπαινούμενος μάλιστα· ὅπερ οὐκ εἴα παθεῖν ἡ θεία πρόνοια· ἀμεταμέλητα γὰρ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰ χαρίσματα, ὃς τὴν προθυμίαν αὔξων, ἢ ἐκπτήσσων αὐτὸν, οἷα παιδευτὴς ἄριστος, διὰ σωτηριώδους παραχωρήσεως τὸν ἑαυτοῦ θεράποντα φοβηθῆναι ἡυδόκησεν.
[11] Ἐντεῦθεν τοίνυν πολλὰ δειλιάσας ὁ Μακάριος, λιταῖς ἐκτενέσι τὸν Θεὸν ἐξεμειλίσσετο, λέγων· Ὁ Θεὸς, ὁ μεγαλόδωρος δοτὴρ, καὶ θησαυρὸς τῶν αἰωνίων ἀγαθῶν, ὁ πολὺς ἐν ἐλέει καὶ οἰκτηρμοῖς, καὶ πάντων προνοητὴς, μὴ ὀργισθῆς κατ᾽ ἐμοῦ, ἄνες δὲ τὰ ὑπὲρ ἄνθρωπον τῆς χάριτός σου κύματα· ὑπερβέβηκε γάρ μου, δέσποτα, τὴν δύναμιν· τότε δέ μοι χαρίσαι αὐτὰ δέομαι τῆς σῆς εὐσπλαγχνίας, ὅτ᾽ ἂν αἰτήσωμαι ἕνεκεν τῆς τῶν συνδούλων ψυχωφελοῦς οἰκοδομῆς, καὶ θεραπείας, καὶ μὴ ἀγανακτήσῃς κατ᾽ ἐμοῦ, φιλάνθρωπε, παρὰ τῆς σῆς ὑπερθέου μεγαλειότητος, αἰτοῦντος ταῦτα· ἐπειδὴ ἀσθενής εἰμι τῇ ψυχῇ, καὶ τῇ σαρκὶ, καὶ τοῖς πάθεσιν ὑποκείμενος· αἰθάλη γὰρ ὑπάρχω γεώδης, καὶ πηλὸς ἀργὸς, καὶ κόνις κακότροπος. Οἶδας δὲ καὶ ὄτι φύσις ἀνθρωπίνη οὐ δύναται ἀεὶ φέρειν ταῦτά σου τὰ μεγαλόδοξα χαρίσματα, εἰ μὴ σὺ ἐνισχύσῃς αὐτὴν, ὁ μόνος ἀπειροδύναμος, ὁ μόνος ἀόρατος. Σύστειλον οὖν τάδε τὰ πολλὰ πλήθη τῶν σῶν δωρεῶν, κᾀκεῖ μοι δώρησαι αὐτὰ ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι αἰῶνι τῆς μελλούσης μακαρίοτητος, ἐνταῦθα δὲ ὅτ᾽ ἂν δέοι, καὶ ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τῆς προσκομιδῆς, ἐν αὐτῷ γὰρ αὐτῶν καταξίου με. Οὕτως οὖν αὐτοῦ προσευξαμένου καὶ δεηθέντος ὑπήκουσεν ὁ Θεὸς, ὁ πᾶσιν ἐγγὺς τοῖς ἐπικαλουμένοις αὐτὸν ἐν ἀληθείᾳ. Ἀπὸ τότε δὴ πᾶνυ, ἅπερ ἂν ᾐτεῖτο, ἐλάμβανε, μάλιστα ἐν ταῖς τελεταρχικαῖς ἀναφοραῖς καὶ μυσταγωγικαῖς παραστάσεσι, κᾄντε μυστήριον ᾖ, κᾄντε ἐνόρμημα, κᾄντε ὅραμα, κᾄντε προόραμα, καὶ τότε δὴ τοῖς ἐρωτῶσιν ἀπεκάλυπτε ταῦτα, ἡνίκα ἀκούειν ἔδει καὶ ἥρμωζεν.
St. Stephen, deliberating about an absolute withdrawal from men, As you warned before, I have forgotten to shut the doors. Now what will you say? Have I not just now done so? But he, as if smiling, says: Even now you have forgotten; nevertheless, as you know, to God nothing is impossible. But I, considering this man honored with such grace, not rarely rendered thanksgiving and praises to God; and moreover obtained greater confidence in him. Whence, conversing with him one day about certain spiritual matters, as was the custom, I entrusted to him a certain secret: for I was thinking of wholly withdrawing from the world; and, having approached, I said: Holy father Martyrius a, it is now eight years since I have desired to penetrate naked into the inner desert, and to return here no more, nor to give myself to the sight of men; that, dwelling far from human tumults, I might serve God purely, whom I have not ceased to beseech, that he would open to me his will: for indeed to die would not be desirable to me, having set out without a sure attestation from God; nor yet on that account has anything up to now been divinely revealed to me. Now, behold, I have been brought to sure hope that it will be made known to me through you. Declare therefore, father, whatever at last the grace of the most Holy Spirit shall suggest to you, and heal my soul.
[2] When therefore I had thus spoken with him; then he straightway, having contemplated with keen and provident eyes what was expedient that he should persist in the institute of the mixed life,: God does not will you, he said, having entered the interior of the desert, to live unknown to men; but rather to obtain a double crown, both of solitude and of the souls saved through you. Follow therefore that manner of living which you have been taught by God; setting half indeed of the time in solitude; but what shall remain, in the hesychasterion b; that you may instruct many to the true knowledge of God and to virtue: for this is the reason why God, the lover of men, forbids you to withdraw from men. Do not hereafter so importune him for this: for scarcely after you will there be conspicuous anchorites c by whom this desert may be inhabited.
[3] Therefore, since I fully acquiesced in the words of the holy man, Martyrius persuaded him, there were soon driven out whatever thoughts had long since disturbed me over this matter, and up to this time I have persevered in tranquillity of mind, both giving thanks to God, and extolling the virtue of father Martyrius. And these are the things which the holy Stephen narrated of father Martyrius. But none of the things which he had said fell out in vain. For neither did the Divine power suffer Stephen, that so useful physician of souls, to lie hidden far from his spiritual nurslings in dens and caves and mountains: nor after him ever, as it appears to us, was that land inhabited by hermits, who at least were seen, who afterward died piously in the cloister. just as that wonderful Martyrius had foretold, who pleased God so greatly, and, enriched with such gifts, migrated from this life, when he had spent many years in his cloister d.
[4] When he was dying, one of the Fathers happened to be absent, full of fervent confidence in him. Which loss a certain one deploring, He therefore, as he was returning to the Laura from where he had been, learned on the way of his sacred departure from this world, and, filled with immense grief, gave himself to mourning full of many tears. And weeping for the Laura: O our Laura, he said, what a calamity has befallen you today, what grief has overwhelmed you! a cloud of sadness and consternation has overshadowed you, Martyrius your luminary being sunk beneath the earth. And you, O sacred assembly of the disciples of holy Sabas, how great an ornament have you lost, and what a physician of the diseases of the soul! O what consolation will you find after this, my sick and unhappy soul; who will bring you a remedy? For although we have father Stephen, excelling in the fear of God and in every virtue; yet we by no means think him to be compared with father Martyrius: because there is a great difference between the two. For as far as the rising is distant from the setting, so far is father Stephen from father Martyrius.
[5] While therefore, proceeding on his journey, he lamented and said these things to himself, he sees the cell of St. Stephen shining with heavenly light, he halted on the top of a certain mountain, which overhung the hesychasterion of the Elder, then, as he attentively looked round it within, the benign providence of God did not refuse to reveal to him the divine and excellent grace lying hidden in holy Stephen. For he saw the whole hesychasterion illumined, casting far bright rays through the doors and windows. But, amazed, he reasoned within himself what this could at last be which he had seen; whether perhaps some spark had fallen from a torch or candle, and had kindled that flame, the Calogerus e sleeping; or whether the Calogerus himself had built an unusual fire, which I neither think nor believe; for neither is he himself wont to do it, nor indeed those who are with him.
[6] Amid thoughts of this kind he came to his own cell; no spark of fire being there found. but since it appeared ruddy, he ran back to the Elder, thinking to find the whole little dwelling consumed by flames. But when he found the man wholly secure, and detected no vestige of fire, nor even of any redolent smoke, he understood that on account of his own small faith that miracle had happened; and he returned to his cell, glorifying God, and professing with the highest veneration the sanctity of the Elder.
[7] A certain monk, great and lofty, an Egyptian by race, The illustrious sanctity of the monk Christopher, surnamed Christopher, inhabited a cave which was called of St. Theoctistus, situated toward the eastern f parts of the monastery of St. Euthymius, a man pleasing to God and held by the testimonies of many for a holy ascetic. He cultivated sincere charity, which is the mother and nurse of all virtues. Nay, it was among his wishes to pour out his own blood, that he might provide for the salvation of whoever came to him: for he was not so affected only toward those who professed the same religion with him; but even toward the unbelievers and barbarians, imitating in this too his Lord and Master, who loved us beyond all measure, and for us, and indeed sinners, willingly met death.
[8] He bent his knees g two thousand times each day, a thousand by day namely, and as many by night, to which were wont to be added nocturnal vigils, and many fasts, and most abundant tears. and pious exercises. Besides, lest any sloth should creep in, he worked with his hands. This man therefore begged holy Stephen that on any Sabbath, if it could be done, he would perform the sacred rites with him: for he then held the priestly grade. Since I have now made mention of it, I will break off for a little the narration which I had in hand, until I have related the prodigy wrought by him.
[9] St. Stephen, celebrating Mass, is surrounded with splendor; On the days therefore of the Exaltation h of the venerable Cross, God granting it, this father Stephen, initiated a presbyter, not many days after offered the reasonable and unbloody sacrifice in his hesychasterion. But when, according to the ecclesiastical rite, he lifted up the oblation of the proposition, and cried out and said: Holy things to the holy i, there shone from him the grace of the Lord, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him, and filled the whole oratory with infinite splendor, and exhibited him gleaming in his whole body, so that he beheld both himself altogether pure and unstained, and the air, and the whole world reflecting a certain wonderful appearance of the sun. Persisting therefore in this light, and steadfastly beholding himself now made another out of another, and not observing the vestige of any human form, as before, he was vehemently seized with a not unworthy dread; as one who looked up to the ineffable majesty of God, and had been well taught his own infirmity. For the thoughts of mortals are timid; because their nature is exceedingly unstable.
[10] For therefore, growing afraid, the Blessed man depressed his mind, but out of humility, mindful from what mud at last he had been brought forth: for thus Moses, that beholder of the divinity, glorified, and found worthy to gaze upon God, so far as is permitted to man, at length raised so high, began to fear, and to call himself stammering and slow of tongue; nor otherwise that divine oracle David, when God likewise so exalted him, called himself a worm: and, consternated in mind, lest perhaps he should fall from the place in which he stood before God, cast himself down, and by harsh treatment vexed himself. Besides this, the Saint feared, I believe, lest vainglory should lift him too high, especially when he was praised above other men: but divine providence did not permit that. For without repentance are the gifts of God, who, increasing the alacrity of his mind, and unfolding wings for him to fly, like the best master, willed by a salutary permission that his servant should be afraid.
[11] [He asks God to restrain his favors, unless it be otherwise expedient for his neighbor.] Thenceforth therefore, seized with huge fear, the blessed Man set himself to win over God with prolix prayers: O God, he said, O munificent bestower, and treasure of eternal goods, great in mercy and compassions, and who art foreknowing of all things, be not angry against me; but restrain the waves of thy grace over a man: for it surpasses my strength, O Lord: yet I entreat thy mercy, that it grant me whatever at last I shall ask for the useful edification and healing of the souls of my fellow-servants; and be not incensed against me, most benign one, beseeching these things of thy supreme and divine majesty: since I am weak in soul, and subject to the flesh and to appetites: for I am the soot of the earth, and inert mud, and worthless dust. But thou knowest that human nature is not equal to bearing always with modesty these so illustrious favors of thine, unless thou, alone omnipotent, alone invisible, supply it with strength. Draw in therefore this so great multitude of thy benefits, and in the future age of the blessedness one day to come, there bestow them; but here only that which shall be needful; likewise at the time of the oblation: for then deem me worthy of them. Him thus praying and supplicating, God, who is present to all invoking him from the heart, heard. And so whatever from that time he asked, he wholly obtained, especially amid the sacrificial oblations and the exhibitions of the divine mysteries, whether it were the revelation of some secret, or an inner impulse, or a vision, or a foreseeing: which he then opened to those inquiring, when it was necessary and fitting for them to understand these things.
ANNOTATIONS OF D. P.
CHAPTER II.
St. Stephen unlocks a door by his blessing alone; walks unseen among robbers; foretells to the Patriarch Elias his return to his see, and to Christopher his death in Persia.
Ἀλλὰ τὴν προτέραν μεταχειρισόμεθα διήγησιν, ἣν μικροῦ παρεσιωπήσαμεν, περὶ τοῦ πατέρος ἡμῶν, Χριστοφόρου φαμὲν, καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου Στεφάνου· Οὗτος δὴ, ὥσπερ ἔφαμεν, ὡς επίπαν κατὰ σάββατον τὴν προσφορὰν ἐν τῷ μνημονευθέντι σπηλαίῳ ἡγίαζεν· ὅτε γὰρ ἐν τῷ ἡσυχαστηρίῳ διῆμεν, ἀπίη πρὸς αὐτὸν, καὶ πάλιν ὅτε κατὰ τὴν ἔρημον ὑπήρχε, τῆς Τεσσαρακοστῆς πληρουμένης, πολλάκις δι᾽ αὐτοῦ τὴν ὁδὸν ἐποιεῖτο, εἰς τὴν Λαῦραν ὑποστρέφων· τοῦτο δὲ ἐποίει, πολλὰ ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἀββᾶ Χριστοφόρου παρακλητικῶς βιαζόμενος. Αὐτοῦ οὖν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ διατρίβοντος κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς ἁγίας Τεσσαρακοστῆς κατέλαβόν τινες προσήλυτοι εἰς τὴν Λαῦραν ἀναζητοῦντες αὐτὸν, καὶ παρὰ τῶν πατέρων μαθόντες, ὅτι ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ διάγει, παρεκαλεσάν τινα Εὐστράτιον ὀνόματι, τοῦ γέροντος τότε μαθητὴν τυγχάνοντα, πορευθῆναι πρὸς τὸν επιστάτην, καὶ γνωρίσαι αὐτῷ τὴν ἑαυτῶν ἄφιξιν, ἣν ἕνεκεν αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν Λαῦραν ἐποιήσαντο. Ὁ δὲ πεισθεὶς ἀπῆλθε σημάναι τῷ γέροντι· ὃς τὴν τῶν νεηλύδων ἀκούσας ἔφοδον, μετ᾽ ὀλίγας ἡμέρας τὴν τεσσαρακοσθήμερον νηστείαν πληρώσας ὑπέστρεψε εἰς τὴν Λαῦραν.
[13] Ἐποιήσατο δὲ τὴν πορείαν, ἔχων μετ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ τὸν ἴδιον μαθητὴν, διὰ τοῦ σπηλαίου τοῦ ἀββᾶ Χριστοφόρου, ὅπερ καταλαβόντος αὐτοῦ καὶ κατὰ τὸ σύνηθες λίθῳ μικρῷ κάτωθεν κρούσαντος, ὁ ἀββᾶς Χριστοφόρος τὴν επιμήκη ἑαυτοῦ ἄνωθεν κλίμακα τοῖς σχοινίοις χαλάσας, καὶ ἀναβῆναι προυτρέψατο. Ὁ δὲ ἀνέβη, συνανέβη δὲ μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ ὁ μαθητής. Τὴν ἠθισμένην οὖν αὐτοῖς ἐκτελέσαντες εὐχὴν, καὶ ἀλλήλους ἀσπασάμενοι ἀνήγαγον τὴν κλίμακα. Επὶ δύο μέντοι ξενισθεντες ἡμερῶν διάστημα, τῇ ἐπαύριον τῆς ὁδοῦ τῆς επὶ την Λαῦραν φερούσης ἐβουλήθησαν ἔχεσθαι. Ὁ δὲ ἀββᾶς Χριστοφόρος πλεῖστα τὸν πρεσβύτην ἠξίου, Μεῖνον, λέγων, πρὸς ἡμὰς ἄλλας δύο ἡμέρας, καὶ πλέον, εἰ ῥάδιον. Ὁ δὲ γέρων εὐφυῶς ἀπολογούμενος, ἔφησεν· Εἰ καὶ διὰ παντὸς επιποθοῦμεν τὴν σην, πάτερ, ποιεῖν θεράπειαν καὶ ἄνεσιν· ἀλλ᾽ οὖν καὶ ἑτέρους, πληροφορῆσαι πνευματικοὺς ἀδελφοὺς καὶ διαναπαῦσαι δεόμεθα· ὑπὸ δὲ τῆς ἀγάπης σου βιαζόμενος, παρά σοι τὴν αὔριον διατελέσω, εἴπερ ὁ Θεὸς επινεύσειν· ἀλλ᾽ ἑτέραν μὴ ζήτει παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ.
[14] Πολλὰ οὖν ἔτι δυσωπηθεὶς, ἄλλην αὐτῷ οὐκ εἶξε χαρίσασθαι· τῇ δὲ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ ἐδήλωσεν αὐτῷ λέγων· Αὔριον ἀποβήσομαι πάντως, τοῦ Θεοῦ εὐδοκοῦντο. Ὁ δὲ ἀββᾶς Χριστοφόρος, γνοῦς, ὡς ὁ Γέρων οὐ πεισθήσεται διὰ ποιήσειν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἡμέραν ἄλλην, κατὰ τὴν νύκτα λαβὼν τὰ σχοίνια, τοῦ Γέροντος ἀγνοοῦντος, κατέκρυψεν, ὃν τῆς ἡμέρας γενομένης μεῖναι λίαν ἱκετεύσας, οὐκ ἔπεισε. Τοῦτο δὲ σαφῶς θεῖον ἦν βούλημα, δοξασθῆναι τὸν μέγαν Στέφανον, καὶ εἰς γνῶσιν πάντων ἐλθεῖν τὸν ἄνδρα, καὶ τὴν αὐτοῦ θεόσδοτον χάριν. Ἀπιὼν γὰρ ὁ ἀββᾶς Χριστοφόρος τὴν πύλην τοῦ σπηλαίου ἀσφαλῶς τῇ μανδάλιδι κατέκλεισε, σφοδρῶς σαλεύσας αὐτὴν, ἄχρις ἃν αἱ βάλανοι ταῖς γλυφίσιν ἐνηρμώσθησαν, καὶ παραυτὰ στραφεὶς, ὐπομειδιάσας ἔφη πρὸς τὸν Γέροντα· Νῦν ὄντως καὶ ἄκοντα κατέσχον ἡμέρας, οὐχ ἡμέραν, ἕως τινὲς ἐλθόντες ἀπὸ τῆς Λαύρας, ἢ ἀπὸ τῆς μονῆς τοῦ ἁγίου Εὐθυμίου, ἢ ἄλλοθεν, τὴν ἄλιδα [*] λαβόντες ἀνοίξωσιν. Ἀλλ᾽ εἴπερ, ὥσπερ φασί τινες, ὑπάρχεις μοναχὸς τέλειος καὶ ἅγιος, προσελθὼν κέλευσον ἀνοιχθῆναι
τὴν θύραν, ἵνα σε τοιοῦτον σὺν ἐκείνοις ἀκριβῶς καὶ ἐμπείρως ὁμολογήσωμέν τε καὶ ἕξωμεν.
[15] Ὁ δὲ Γέρων ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν· Ἅγιος μὲν οὔκ εἰμι, ὥσπερ οἱ πολλοί φασιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάλιν πλημμελημάτων ἀνάμεστος ἐμαυτὸν γὰρ οἶδα καὶ τὰς πράξεις μου τὰς κακὰς, ἃς εἴ τις ἴδει, οὐκ ἄν μοι λαλεῖν ἀνείχετο. Μέγα γάρ ἐστι τὸ πέλαγος τῆς ἐμῆς βεβηλότητος· ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως καὶ εἰ τοιοῦτος ὑπάρχω, ἐπέίπερ ᾑτήσω παρ᾽ ἐμοὶ τὴν θύραν ἀνοιχθῆναι, καὶ εἶπας, ὅτι τινές με τοιοῦτον ὄντα καλοῦσιν ἅγιον, πίστει φερόμενοι· τοῦτο καὶ ποιήσω, οὐ θαῤῥῶν τῇ ἐμαυτοῦ πρὸς Θεὸν παῤῥησίᾳ καὶ ἀξιότητι, ἀλλὰ τῇ ἀφάτῳ αὐτοῦ εἰς ἡμᾶς φιλανθρωπίᾳ καὶ ἀγαθότητι, εἰδὼς ὅτι καὶ ἐν μάντει καὶ ὄνῳ ἡ χάρις αὐτοῦ κατῴκησεν, οὐ διὰ τὴν ἐκείνων ἀξίαν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν ἀνθρώπων σωτηρίαν. Δὶς οὖν φωνήσας τὸν μαθητὴν αὐτοῦ, Εὐστράτιε, Εὐστράτιε, εἶπεν, ποίησον μετάνοιαν. Τοῦ δὲ μαθητοῦ κλίναντος τὰ γόνατα, εἶπεν αὐτῷ· Εὐλογητὸς κύριος, ὅτι εἰς δόξαν τοῦ ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ ἀνοίξεις τὴν μανδάλιδα. Ἀναστὰς οὗν ὁ μαθητὴς καὶ τῇ θύρᾳ πλησιάσας, καὶ τῆς μανδάλιδος ἄκροις δακτύλοις ἁψάμενος, παραχρῆμα ἀνέῳξεν.
[16] Ὁ δὲ ἀββᾶς Χριστοφόρος θεασάμενος, ἔφριξε καὶ ἐξέστη, τὴν ἄπειρον τοῦ Θεοῦ δοξάσας δύναμιν, καὶ τὴν θεόσδοτον τοῦ Ἁγίου χάριν ἀγασθεὶς, καὶ ἀνακράξας μεγάλῃ φωνῇ· Δόξά σοι, ὁ Θεὸς, ὁ θαυμάσια ἐργάζων μόνος ἐν τοῖς Ἁγίοις· οὐκ ἔτι γὰρ τοῦ λοιποῦ κληθήσεται οὗτος ἀββᾶς Στέφανος, ἀλλὰ ἅγιος Στέφανος, φερωνύμως στεφανώμενος θείᾳ δυνάμει καὶ χάριτι, ἃς κεκτημένος ὁ πρωτοδιάκονος καὶ μάρτυρ Στέφανος, ἐποίει τέρατα καὶ σημεῖα μεγάλα ἐν τῷ λαῷ. Σὺ τοιγαροῦν, ὦ ἅγιε Στέφανε, οὕτως εὐλογίαν τῷ μαθητῇ δέδωκας, κεκλεισμένην τὴν θύραν ἀνοῖξαι ἄνευ τῆς ἰδίας κλειδὸς, καὶ ἀνέῳξεν· εἰ δι᾽ ἑαυτοῦ ἀπῆλθες, ἔπεσεν ἃν ἀθρόως ἡ θύρα σὺν τῷ τείχει εἰς τὸν χείμαῤῥον ἐκ τοῦ φόβου. Ὁ δὲ Γέρων ἔτι πρὸς τὸν μαθητὴν ἔφη· Εὐστράτιε, Εὐστράτιε, ἐλθέ εἰς τὸν ῥύακα εἰς τὰ ἀνώγεα τοῦ σπηλαίου, καὶ εὑρήσεις ἐκεῖ τὰ σχοίνια κεκρυμμένα ἐν τῷδε τῷ τόπῳ, καὶ λαβὼν ἄγαγε μεθ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ, ἵνα ἀπέλθομεν ἔνθεν· Ὁ δὲ ἀββᾶς Χριστοφόρος πάλιν ἀκηκοὼς, ὅτι τὸν κρύφιον ἔγνω τόπον τῷ πνεύματι, ἐδόξασε ἔτι τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ τὸν ἅγιον Στέφανον πολλοῖς ἐγκωμίοις ἐπῄνεσεν· ὁ δὲ μαθητὴς τὴν κέλευσιν εἰς πείραν ἤγαγεν. Εὐχὴν οὖν ποιησάμενος ὁ Γέρων, καὶ τὸν ἀββᾶν Χριστοφόρον ἀσπασάμενος ἀπίη.
[17] Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ὕστερον αὐτοῦ κατὰ τὴν ἔρημον επιπωλεύοντος, ἔδοξεν αὐτῷ δευτέραν διὰ τοῦ μνημονευθέντος σπηλαίου ποιήσασθαι τὴν πορείαν, καὶ κατ᾽ οἰκονομίαν Θεοῦ συναντᾷ τῷ ἀββᾷ Χριστοφόρῳ, κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν επὶ τὴν μονὴν τοῦ ἁγίου Εὐθυμίου πορευομένῳ. Εὐχὴν οὖν ποιησάμενοι, καὶ ἀλλήλους ἀσπασάμενοι, καὶ περί τινων βραχέα διαλεχθέντες, καὶ εὐχὴν επὶ τῇ σωματικῇ διαστάσει ἐκτελέσαντες καὶ σφραγισάμενοι, καστος τὴν ἰδίαν ἐβάδιζε τρίβον. Πορευόμενος οὖν ὁ ἀββᾶς Χριστοφόρος ἀτενίζει καὶ θεωρεῖ δύο λῄστας ἀπὸ τῆς Λαύρας ἐρχομένους, προσεγγίσαντας τῷ ἀββᾶ Στεφάνῳ, καὶ ἐφοβήθη φόβον μέγαν σφόδρα, μήπως επιχειρήσωσιν αὐτόν. Καὶ ὡς ἀτενίζων ἦν, φόβῳ συνεχόμενος, βλέπει τοὺς μιαιφόνους αὐτοῖς τοῖς ἱματίοις προσψαύσαντας τοῦ Ὁσίου καὶ προσπήξαντας αὐτοῦ ἑκατέρωθεν, τὸν μὲν ἐκ δεξιῶν, τὸν δὲ ἐξ εὐωνύμων, καὶ τὸν ἁγίον Στέφανον διὰ μέσον αὐτῶν ἀσινῶς καὶ ἀπημάντως διαβάνθά τε κσὶ ἀλύξαντα, θείας δυνάμεως τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς τῶν βαρβάρων ἀχλύἳ βαθυτάτῃ κατακαλυψάσης.
[18] Καὶ ὡς εἶδεν αὐτοὺς πρὸς αὐτὸν πλησιάσαντας Χριστοφόρος, ἡρώτησε γνωρίσας αὐτοὺς, πλειστάκις ἐν τῷ ἑαυτοῦ σπηλαίῳ φιλοφρονησάμενος. Τάχα γνωρίζετε τὸν ἀββᾶν Στέφανον, γέροντα τῆς ἐρήμου ταύτης; οἱ δὲ ἀποκριθέντες εἶπον· Οὐδὲ, τίς ἐστὶν ὁ ἀββᾶς Στέφανος, ἡκούσαμεν, Ὁ δὲ ἔφη πρὸς αὐτοὺς· Ουδὲ νῦν τούτῳ ὑπηντήσατε, οὔτε μὴν πρὸ τῆς σήμερον ἑωράκατε; Οἱ δὲ ἀπεκρίθησαν· Εἴπαμεν ἅπαξ, ὅτι οὐδέποτε ἐθεασάμεθα τοῦτον, οὐ δὲ σήμερον ὅλως μοναχὸν, πλήν σου. Τότε τῇ χειρὶ νεύων ὁ ἀββᾶς Χριστοφόρος, τοῖς αἱμοβόροις ἐδακτυλοδείκτει τὸν Γέροντα, ἐπάνω βουνοῦ ἐπηρμένου οὐκ ἕκαθεν ὄντος, ἑστῶτα, καὶ ἔφη· Ἄρα τοῦτον τὸν μοναχὸν, τὸν κατέναντι ὑμῶν ὑπάρχοντα, οὐκ εἴδετε σήμερον; Ἀρτίως γὰρ ὄντως διὰ μέσου ὑμῶν διέβη. Οἱ δὲ ἀγριωθέντες ἔφησαν· Ποῦ ἐστιν οὗτος, ἵνα σκυλεύσωμεν αὐτὸν καὶ πλήξωμεν δεινῶς; Ὁ δὲ δακτυλοδεικτῶν ἔτι καὶ ἔτι ἐδείκνυεν αὐτοῖς τὸν βουνὸν, ᾧ ἐφίστατο ὁ Γέρων. Οἱ δὲ ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτῶν ἐκρατοῦντο, τοῦ μὴ βλέπειν αὐτὸν, σκοτισθέντες ὑπὸ θείας χάριτος. Ἀγανακτίζοντες οὖν κατὰ τοῦ ἀββᾶ Χριστοφόρου ἔφησεν· Ἡμῖν προσπαίζεις εἰρωνευόμενος, ὡς ἐσχηκόσιτε πρός σε εἰρήνην καὶ ἀγάπην; Ὁ δὲ ἀββᾶς Χριστοφόρος ὅρκῳ πληρωφορηθεὶς ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν, ὡς τὸ πρὶν οὐχ ὡράθη αὐτοῖς, οὐ δὲ νῦν ἐπερωτηθεῖσιν ὤφθη, ἐπορεύθη, τὸν Θεὸν δοξάζων, τὸν διὰ πολλῶν χαρισμάτων δοξάζοντα τὸν δοῦλον αὐτοῦ.
[19] Μετὰ οὖν ταῦτα ὀλίγου παρῳχηκότος καιροῦ, ηὑτομόλησεν ὁ ἀββᾶς Χριστοφόρος εἰς τὸ ἡσυχαστήριον τοῦ ἁγίου Γέροντος, καὶ πολλὰ παρεκάλει αὐτὸν, ὅπως ἀμφότεροι πορευθῶσι πρὸς τὸν πρωτοσύμβουλον τῶν Ἀράβων, διὰ τί δὲ, καὶ τινὸς χάριν, συντόμως ἐρῶ. Οὗτος ὁ ὅσιος Στέφανος καὶ ὁ ἀββᾶς Χριστοφόρος ἡγαπῶντο λίαν ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐν ἁγίοις τῇ λήξει κύρου Ἡλία πατριάρχου Ἱεροσολύμων· ἦν δὲ οὗτος ὁ μακάριος ἱεράρχης κύρις Ἡλίας ἀδίκοις διαβολαῖς καὶ κατηγορίαις ἀλόγοις καταγορηθεὶς πρὸς τὸν πρωτοσύμβουλον, ὃς ἰταμῶς μεταστειλάμενος αὐτὸν, κατέκλεισεν ἐν Περσίδι, δεσμοῖς καὶ φυλακαῖς καθείρξας ἀνηλέως επὶ χρόνους ἱκανούς. Ἐντεῦθεν οὖν τινες ἀφορμὰς λαβόντες, οὐ διὰ Θεὸν συνεβουλεύσαντο τῷ ἀββᾷ Χριστοφόρω ἐλθεῖν επὶ τὴν Περσίδα, παρηγόρησίντε καὶ βοήθησιν τῷ ἁγιωτάτῳ κύρῳ Ἡλίᾳ, καὶ μηχανεύσασθαι ἕνεκεν τῆς αὐτοῦ ἀπολυτρώσεως· ἀλλὰ δι᾽ ἰδίαν αὐτῶν χρείαν, ὅπως αὐτὴν ἐν τούτοις ἐκτελέσῃ.
[20] Ἀπατηθεὶς οὖν ὑπὸ τῆς τούτων δολερᾶς συμβουλῆς ἐδυσώπει τὸν Γέροντα, λέγων· Δίκαιόν ἐστι, πάτερ, ἀπελθεῖν ἡμᾶς ἀμφοτέρους ἕνεκεν τοῦ ἁγιωτάτου ἡμῶν πατριάρχου· οἶδας γὰρ, οἶδας, οἴαν κέκτηται εἰς ἡμᾶς ἀγάπην· καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἀνάγκαις γνωρίζονται οἱ φίλοι. Καὶ δεῖ σε, ὡς τῆς ἀγάπης ὅρους εἰδότα καὶ φυλάττοντα, προθυμηθῆναι, καὶ μᾶλλον ἡμᾶς καὶ ἄλλους διεγεῖραι· κᾂν γὰρ μὴ δυνηθῶμεν τοῦτον τῆς φυλακῆς ἀποσπᾶσαι, ἀλλ᾽ οὖν παρηγορήσομεν πάντως. Ὁ δὲ Γέρων εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτόν· Ὡς ἀληθῶς ἄξιόν ἐστι συναλγεῖντε καὶ συνεργεῖν τῷ πατριάρχῃ ἡμῶν, καὶ ἀγωνίσασθαι ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ πάσῃ ψυχῇ, καὶ παντὶ σθένει, καὶ μέχρις αἵματος· ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως επὶ τὴν Περσίδα πορευθῆναι τούτου χάριν οὐ δυνάμεθα· ἐὰν γὰρ ἀπέλθωμεν πρεσβεύοντες ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ πρὸς τοὺς μεγιστᾶνας, οὐχ ἕξομεν παῤῥησίαν. Διὸ τοιγαροῦν πείσθητί μοι, καλόγηρε, καὶ δεῦρο ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, καὶ τοῖς μοναστηρίοις ἡμῶν ἡρεμήσωμεν, ἀγρυπνίαις καὶ νηστείαις πρεσβεύοντες ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ πρὸς τὸν τῶν ὅλων δεσπότην καὶ λυτρωτὴν, τὸν μόνον ἔχοντα τὴν ἀδιάδοχον ἀρχὴν καὶ ἐξουσίαν Χριστὸν, μετὰ τῶν ἁγίων πατέρων, ὡς παῤῥησίαν πρὸς αὐτὸν κεκτημένων· ἐπεὶ πληροφοροῦμαι, ὅτι νικήσειν μέλλομαι τοὺς θεομάχους, καὶ ὄψεσθαι τὸν πατριάρχην ἡμῶν, δεσμῶν καὶ φυλακῆς λυτρωθένθα καὶ εὐφροσύνως καὶ ὑγιῶς ἐπανελθόντα. Μὴ οὖν κόπους ἀνοήτους αὐτοῖς παράσχωμεν, ἀφέντες τὸν ἀγαθὸν καὶ εὐεργέτην Θεὸν ἡμῶν, καὶ προσελθόντες πρὸς δυσμενεῖς καὶ δυσσεβεῖς τυράννους, πρὸς οὓς οὐκ κτήμεθα παῤῥησίαν· ἐλέγξει γὰρ ἡμᾶς ὄντως ὁ δικαιοκρίτης ἐν τῇ φοβερᾷ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς κρίσεως, εἰ τοῦτο ποιήσωμεν.
[21] Ἀκούσας δὲ ταῦτα παρὰ τοῦ Γέροντος ὁ ἀββᾶς Χριστοφόρος, εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτόν· Ὡς ὁρῶ, οὐκ ἔχομεν ἀγάπην, ἀλλ᾽ ἐστερήθημεν αὐτῆς, καὶ πρὸς τὸν πατριάρχην ἡμῶν παντελῶς οὐκ ἐδυνήθημεν φυλάξαι ταύτην, ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως παρακαλῶ μὲν ἐλθεῖν σε μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ· εἰ δὲ μὴ, αὐτὸς μόνος πορεύομαι. Ὁ δὲ ὅσιος Γέρων ἀνεξικάκως παραίνεσεσι καὶ διδάσκαλικαῖς νουθεσίαις, χρήσειστε ἀπὸ τῆς γραφῆς προσφέρων, ἐκώλυεν αὐτὸν· καὶ θεωρῶν αὐτὸν μᾶλλον ἀναινόμενον, καὶ ἀπειθοῦντα τοῖς θείοις λογίοις, ἔτι πρὸς αὐτὸν εἶπεν προσηνῶς· Ἰδοὺ, ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐρῶ σοι, ὦ καλόγηρε, ἐὰν ἀκούσῃς μου, καθίζῃ ἐν τῷ σπηλαίῳ σου καὶ ἡσυχάζεις, ὅτι οὐκ ἰσχύεις ὠφελῆσαι τὸν πατριάρχην, ἐπειδὴ οὐκ ἔχεις πρὸς τὸν πρωτοσύμβουλον παῤῥησίαν, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς μοναχὸς, παῤῥησίαν ἔχων πρὸς τὸν κύριον τῶν κυριευόντων, οὗ ἐν τῇ χειρὶ πέφυκεν ἡ καρδία τῶν επιγείων βασιλέων, καθέζου ἐν τόπῳ σου, καὶ ἀγωνίζου κατὰ δύναμιν, νύκτωρ καὶ μεθημέραν λιτανεύων αὐτὸν, καὶ πρεσβεύων ὑπὲρ τῆς λυτρώσεως τοῦ πατριάρχου, καὶ παντὸς τοῦ Χριστονύμου λαοῦ, καὶ ὑπὲρ τοῦ ῥυσθῆναι ἡμᾶς καὶ αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ πάσης ἐναντίας επιβουλῆς, καὶ παντὸς πειρασμοῦ διαβολικοῦ τε καὶ ἀνθρωπίνου, ὅτι εὐφρανθήσῃ, καὶ εὐχαριστήσεις τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ ἐπεύξῃ ταπεινώσει· Γνῶθι δὲ, ὅτι ἐάν μου παρακούσῃς, ὡς καὶ γενήσεται, βιάζομαι φανερῶσαί σοι, ὅπερ οὐκ ἤθελον.
[22] Τούτου δὲ παντελῶς μὴ πεισθέντος, ἀναγκασθεὶς εἶπεν· Σὺ μὲν μετα τοῦ κακοῦ συμβούλου Χαριτῶνος επὶ τὴν Περσίδα πορεύσῃ, κᾀκεῖ τὸν πατριάρχην ὄψει, κᾀνταῦθα οὐκ επιστραφήσῃ. Ὁ δὲ πατριάρχης πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἐπαναλύσει, καὶ τοῦ ἰδίου θρόνου κρατήσει, καὶ ἡμᾶς διὰ τῆς αὐτοῦ παρουσίας χαροποιήσει. Σὺ δὲ ἐκεῖ διαποιήσεις, καὶ επὶ τὴν Παλαιστήνην ἔτι οὐδαμῶς οὐκ ἀνακάμψεις, οὐδὲ θεωρήσεις ἡμᾶς σὺν τῷ πατριάρχῃ ἐν τῆ ἁγίᾳ πόλει, οὔτε ἐν τοῖς περὶ αὐτὴν χώροις, οὐ δὲ ἡμεῖς ὀψόμεθά σε. Ὁ δὲ οὐ συνιεὶς, ὡς ἕνεκεν τῆς ἀποβιώσεως αὐτοῦ εἶπεν, ἀλλὰ νομίσας αὐτὸν προφητεύσαντα, ὅτι διαμενεῖ ἐν τοῖς μοναστηρίοις τῆς Περσίδος οἰκήσας, ἠνιάθη σφόδρα, καὶ μετὰ λύπης εἶπεν· Ὦ ἅγιε Στέφανε, τί ἐρεῖς, οὐκ επίσταμαι. Ἄρα τοσοῦτον ἐσκανδάλισά σε, ὥστε λέγειν περὶ ἐμοῦ, ὅτι διαμενῶ ἐν Περσίδι; Ἄρα εἰς τοσαύτην ἐγὼ, ὁ ταπεινὸς καὶ ταλαίπωρος, ἐλήλακα ἀφροσύνην καὶ ἀμέλειαν, ὥστε ἀφήσειν με τὸν μονήρη βίον, καὶ κατοικήσειν τὴν Περσίδα; Τί λελάληκας οὐκ οἶδα, ἀλλ᾽ ἐγὼ μὲν ἀκούων σε υπὸ πολλῶν προφήτην ἅγιόν τε καὶ δίκαιον καὶ ὅσιον μαρτυρούμενον, καὶ τῇ τοῦ ἁγίου Εὐθυμίου προηγορίᾳ καλούμενον, καὶ ἴσον αὐτῷ κρινόμενον, οὐκ ἐπληροφορούμην πιστεύειν, ὡς ἔτυχεν, ἀπὸ ψιλῆς ἀκοῆς καὶ φήμης, ἀλλ᾽ ὕστερον διὰ πολλῆς μεμαθηκὼς αὐτόπτης πείρας, τοιοῦτόν σε ὁμολογῶ καὶ κηρύττω· πῶς δὲ περὶ ἐμοῦ ταῦτα ἀπεφήνω, οὐκ οἶδα σαφῶς· οὒ γὰρ πιστεύω τελειωθήσεσθαί σου τὴν πρόῤῥησιν ταύτην ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ· οὐδέποτε γὰρ ἔσχον τοιοῦτον λογισμὸν ἐκστήσονθά με τοῦ σπηλαίου μου, καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ κατοικήσειν με πείσοντα.
[23] Ὁ δὲ ὅσιος Γέρων πρὸς αὐτὸν ἔφη· Ἅπερ μοι θεόθεν ἀποκεκάλυπται αἰνιγματώδως εἶπον· Ὅτι περ, εἰσελθὼν τὴν Περσίδα, αὐτοῦ διαμενεῖς, καὶ οὐκ ἔτι πρὸς
ἐπανελεύσῃ μετὰ τοῦ πατριάρχου. Ὁ δὲ πάλιν οὐ συνῆκε τὸ αἴνιγμα· ἀλλ᾽ ὅτε δὴ ἡ τοῦ θανάτου ἔφθασεν ὥρα επιμνησθεὶς τῆς τοῦ ἁγίου Γέροντος ἀψευδοῦς προφητείας εἶπεν μετὰ πολλῆς ἀνίας πρὸς τὸν συνόντα αὐτῷ ἀββᾶν Χαρίτωνα· Ὦ Χάριτον, τί μοι γέγονε, Σὺ, Χάριτον, ἐξηπάτησάς με· σύ με ἤγαγες ὥδε. Οἴμοι, οἴμοι· ὁ ἅγιος Στέφανος περὶ τοῦ θανάτου προέλεγέ μοι· Ὅτι ἐν Περσίδι διαμενεῖς, καὶ οὐκ ἔτι εἰς τὴν ἁγίαν πόλιν στραφήσῃ· οὐ δὲ ἡμᾶς τοῦ λοιποῦ ὄψει, κᾳγὼ οὐκ ἐνόησα ὁ ἀσύνετος, ὄτι περὶ τῆς ἐμῆς ἀποβιώσεως προεῖπεν οὗτος ὁ προφήτης καὶ ἅγιος τοῦ Θεοῦ Στέφανος· καὶ ταῦτα καὶ πλείονα τούτων εἰρηκὼς, καὶ τὸν Χαρίτωνα αἰτιώμενος καὶ πλείοσι ὑποβάλλων μομφαῖς, καὶ τὸν ὅσιον Στέφανον μεγαλύνων, καὶ τὴν τῶν εὐχῶν αὐτοῦ βοήθειαν αἰτούμενος, παρέδωκε τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ τῷ κυρίῳ. Καὶ τελειωθεὶς ἐν εἰρήνῃ ἐτάφῃ ἐν Περσίδι. Μετὰ πολλῆς δὲ χαρᾶς καὶ εὐφροσύνης ἀπολυθεὶς ἀπὸ Περσίδος ὁ πατριάρχης κατέλαβε τὸν ἴδιον θρόνον, καὶ ἐπληρώθη ἡ τοῦ ἁγίου Γέροντος περὶ ἀμφοτέρων πρόῤῥησις.
Wont to sacrifice frequently with abbot Christopher, But we shall resume the earlier history, now for a little interrupted, namely of our father Christopher and of holy Stephen. This man therefore, as I was saying, on every Sabbath in general made the sacrifice at the altar in the cave of which I have already made mention; when he dwelt in the hesychasterion, he went off to him; and again, when he had been in the desert, at the close of Lent, he was wont to have his way thither, returning thence into the Laura. But this he did only when compelled by much exhortation from father Christopher himself. While therefore in the time of Lent he was in the solitude, certain strangers came into the Laura seeking him; and when from the fathers they understood that he was now dwelling in the desert, they begged a certain Eustratius by name, at that time a disciple of the Elder, that he would go to the Master, and make him certain of their arrival and of the journey undertaken as far as the Laura for his sake. He acquiesced, and departed to bring this message to the aged Man; who, learning this recent arrival of theirs, the Lenten fast being completed a few days after, returned into the Laura.
[13] he turns aside to him on his journey; But the way, his disciple accompanying him, he held which led to the cave of father Christopher; where when he had arrived, and had knocked at the door from the lower place with a pebble a, as was the custom, father Christopher, letting down his long ladder by ropes, invited him to ascend. He ascended, and with him the disciple mounted together. Then, the prayer accustomed among them, and mutual salutation, being performed, they draw up the ladder. And having stayed for the space of two days with this host, they resolved on the morrow to set out on the way toward the Laura; but father Christopher, assailing the Elder with very many prayers: Stay, he said, with us other two days, and, if it be not grievous, even longer. But the Elder ingenuously excused himself, and said: Although that is most pleasant to us, since we can be to you, father, either a perpetual service or a delight; yet there are also other spiritual brethren, whom we must confirm and refresh. Nevertheless meanwhile, since your love urges me thereto, tomorrow, unless it seem otherwise to God, I will remain with you: but do not ask a day besides.
[14] but, about to depart, he is prevented by the closed door: Earnestly therefore begged by many prayers, he had not even one day to add: but on the third day, reminding him: Tomorrow, he said, we shall wholly, God favoring, set out. But father Christopher, now well understanding that the Elder would never be led to draw out even a single day, seized the ropes and hid them by night, the Elder unaware; whom, the sun now risen, when he had earnestly begged to stay, he could not prevail upon. For God had decreed to render the great Stephen more illustrious, and to make plain to all both the man and the grace poured out upon him by himself. For father Christopher, departing, shut the doors of the cave most securely with a bolt b, and pushed it strongly, until the bars, inserted into their holes, fitted: and soon returning, and smiling, he said to the Elder: Now indeed I will detain you even unwilling, not for one day only, but for several, until at last, when some coming from the Laura, or from the dwelling of St. Euthymius, or from elsewhere, the bolt being removed, shall have unlocked the door. But if, as some say, you are a monk of consummate life and sanctity, approach, and command the doors to be opened, that we too with them may know you and hold you such, both diligently and relying on our own experience, in future.
[15] Then the Elder: I indeed, he said, am not holy, which, relying on God, he bids the disciple open, as many proclaim; but rather, on the contrary, full of sins: for I know myself, and my evil works, which if anyone should see, he would not, I believe, dare to speak with me: for vast is the sea of my impurity: nonetheless, even though I be a man of this kind, since you have demanded of me that the door be unlocked, and have said that I, who am such, am by some called holy, relying on faith I will even effect this, not indeed trusting in my own grace and merits with God, but in his ineffable benignity and goodness toward us, not being ignorant that his grace has dwelt both in a soothsayer and in an ass, not for their dignity and merits, but for the salvation of men. Calling therefore his disciple once and again: Eustratius, he said, Eustratius, make a reverence c. And the disciple bending to his knees, he says: Blessed be the Lord, because to the glory of his name you shall loose the bolt. Then the disciple, rising, and coming nearer to the door, and touching it with his fingertips, immediately opened it.
[16] When father Christopher had beheld this with his eyes, he shuddered indeed, and the hidden ropes for letting down the ladder to be brought forth. and, rapt out of himself, extolled the infinite power of God, and, admiring the grace divinely granted to the holy man, with a huge cry cried out again: Glory to you, O God, who alone in your Saints do wonders: for henceforth this man shall no more be called father Stephen, but holy Stephen, crowned (for he received his name from the thing) with divine power and grace, with which, being furnished, the protodeacon and martyr Stephen did prodigies and great signs among the people. You therefore, O holy Stephen, so bestowed a blessing on the disciple, whereby he might unlock the barred door without its own key, and he unlocked it: if by yourself you had gone thither, it were a wonder if the whole wall with the door had not from terror rushed suddenly into the torrent. Then again to the disciple the Elder: Eustratius, Eustratius, go to the little channel in the upper parts of the cave, there you will find the ropes hidden in such a place, which, having taken, bring with you, that we may go forth hence. Here father Christopher, when he hears that the hidden place had become known to him by the spirit, again pours himself out into the praises of God, and adorns holy Stephen with many encomiums: but the disciple made trial of the command. Prayers therefore being poured out, and father Christopher saluted, the aged Man set himself thence upon the way.
[17] And when at some time after this he had again betaken himself into the desert, He passes through the midst of two robbers, it pleased him once more to take his way through the aforesaid cave; and, divine providence so determining, he fell in with father Christopher on the way by which he was going to the monastery of St. Euthymius. After the prayer therefore, and mutual salutation, having briefly conversed about certain matters, and, when they were to part in body, the prayers being repeated, fortified with them, each pressed on his own way. While therefore father Christopher goes forward, he notices two robbers, and beholds them coming from the Laura, now made nearer to father Stephen: and he was very greatly afraid, lest perhaps they should lay hands on him. And as he looks thither with intent eyes, and not without fear, he sees the bloody men grazing the holy man with their very garments, and pressing on both sides, one indeed on the right, the other on the left; but holy Stephen going through the midst of them and slipping away, divine power covering the eyes of the barbarians with deepest darkness.
[18] who, questioned by Christopher, deny that he was seen by them. And when Christopher perceives them approaching nearer to him, he questions them, now known to him (for he had frequently and most kindly entertained them in his cave): Do you know father Stephen, he said, the elder of this same desert? But they reply: Who that father Stephen is, we have not even heard. Then he: Did you not therefore have him meet you just now? Have you not seen him before this day? They answer: We said once, that he was never seen by us, nor indeed today any monk, except you. Then father Christopher, beckoning with his hand, points out with his finger to the bloodthirsty men the Elder standing on a high hill not far off, and: Have you not seen this monk, he said, who is opposite you, today? For just now indeed he passed through the midst of you. But they, enraged: Where is he, they say, that we may spoil him, and beat him soundly? Then he, pointing again and again with his finger, shows them the hill on which the Elder stood. But their eyes were held, that they should not see him, being darkened by divine power. Being angry therefore at father Christopher himself: You make sport of us, they say, dissembling; who have cultivated peace and love toward you? But when they affirmed with an oath that neither ever before, nor now, when they were questioned, had he been seen by them, father Christopher departed, glorifying God, who adorned his servant with so many favors.
[19] To the Patriarch Elias, carried away into Persia, Not long a time after these things were done, father Christopher himself betook himself to the hesychasterion of the holy Elder, and exhorted him with many words, that both together might set out to the protosymbolus d of the Arabs: but for what cause, and in whose favor, I will here briefly set forth. This holy Stephen, as also father Christopher, was earnestly loved by Domnus e Elias, patriarch of Jerusalem f, whose lot is among the Saints. But this blessed Prelate, Domnus Elias, being denounced by unjust calumnies and iniquitous accusations to the protosymbolus, who most savagely drove him into Persia, cruelly threw him into chains and prisons indeed for a very long time. Hence therefore, occasion being seized, certain men were the authors to father Christopher that he should think of going into Persia, and should bring to the most holy Domnus Elias some solace and help, and should transact concerning his ransom; led not for God's sake, but for their own advantage, which in these matters they would themselves gain.
[20] that he should set out with him, Christopher asks: Caught thus by the fallacious counsels of these men, he set himself to bend the Elder: It is just, father, that both of us set out for the sake of our most holy Patriarch: for you are not ignorant, you are not ignorant, how much he loved us both: and friends are proved in adversities. And you especially, as one who know the bounds of charity,
nay it is fitting that you be an incitement both to us and to others. For although we cannot snatch him from custody; yet certainly we shall at least console him. But to this the Elder says: It is indeed just that we come into a part of the sorrow and labor of our Patriarch, and with all our soul, and with all our strength, contend for him even unto blood: yet to go into Persia for this cause we cannot: for if we go off to plead for him before the magnates, he, on the contrary, tries to lead him away, there will not be given us a place of freely pleading. Wherefore believe me, Calogerus; and here in the solitude, and in our monasteries let us contain ourselves, pleading his cause by vigils and fasts before the Lord and Redeemer of all, Christ, who alone holds a perpetual principate and power, together with the holy Fathers, as prevailing much in grace with him: for I do not doubt that we shall both vanquish the enemies of God, and see our Patriarch loosed from his chains and prison, and returning glad and safe. Therefore let us not take upon ourselves foolish labors, by leaving our good and beneficent God, and taking refuge with hostile and impious tyrants, before whom one is scarcely permitted to speak; for if we do this, the just judge will doubtless rebuke us in the terrible day of judgment.
[21] These things heard from the Elder, father Christopher replies: from a useless journey; There is not, as I see, love in us, but we are deprived of it, nor could we at all keep it entire toward our Patriarch: nonetheless I beseech you, that you depart with me; but if it seem otherwise, I myself set out alone. But the holy Elder gently, by admonitions and learned instructions, sentences being brought forth from Scripture, restrained the man: and when he perceived him the more alien from his opinion, and less obedient to the sacred oracles, he said moreover to him peaceably these things: Behold, before God I say to you, Calogerus; if you shall hear me, you shall remain in your cave, and be at rest; since you cannot profit the Patriarch, seeing you have no confidence and authority with the Protosymbolus; but on the contrary, prevailing very much, as a monk, with the Lord of those that rule, in whose hand is set the heart of earthly kings, stay in your place, and to the utmost of your power strive, night and day supplicating him, and interceding both for the redemption of the Patriarch and of the whole Christian people, that both they and we may be freed from all the snares of the enemies, and from every temptation, both diabolical and human; for you shall rejoice, and give thanks to God, and glory in our humility. But know, if you shall neglect to hear me (which however you will do), that I shall be compelled to announce to you what I would not.
[22] But when he wholly hardened his mind, he foretells death in Persia to the obstinate; being compelled he said: You indeed with Chariton, an evil counselor of yours in this matter, will go off into Persia; and there you will see the Patriarch, and thence hither will never return: but the Patriarch will return to us, and will obtain his own chair, and refresh us with his presence. But you will remain there, nor will you return into Palestine ever, nor in the holy city, nor in the surrounding places will either you behold us with the Patriarch, or we behold you. Then he, not understanding that these things were said of his own death, but thinking him to be prophesying that, a dwelling being fixed in Persia, he would there stay in the monasteries, was much saddened, and with tears said: O holy Stephen, what you mean, I for my part do not understand. Have I given you so great a scandal, that you should assert of me that I am to remain in Persia? Have I, abject and wretched, come to such folly and thoughtlessness, that I should desert the solitary life, and inhabit Persia? What you mean by this, I know not; but I, when I received both from the testimonies of very many that you are a prophet and holy, and just and most upright, and were wont to be called by the very name of holy Euthymius, nay were judged equal to him, did not induce my mind to believe it (as happens) from slight rumor and fame; but afterward, taught by the frequent experiment of my own eyes, I both profess and proclaim you such: but by what reasoning you have declared these things of me, I do not sufficiently grasp: for I do not believe that this your prediction concerning me is to be fulfilled: since not even a thought has ever arisen in me that would call me away from my cave, and impel me to change my soil.
[23] to whom he, being near, at last acknowledges his fault. But the holy Elder replied these things to him: What has been divinely revealed to me, I have spoken obscurely; that, having entered into Persia, you will there remain, nor ever return to us with the Patriarch. But he again did not perceive the enigma, until, the hour of death now imminent, recalling in memory the by no means vain prophecy of the holy Elder, not without huge grief he thus addressed father Chariton standing by him: O Chariton, what has been done to me? You, Chariton, have deceived me; you have brought me hither. Alas me; alas me! St. Stephen had already forewarned of death; for in Persia, he said, you shall remain, nor after this shall you ever return to the Holy city; nor shall you behold us further; but I, mad, did not consider that this prophet and holy one of God, Stephen, was prophesying these things of my death. After he had brought forth these and more than these, and had accused Chariton, and burdened him with many complaints, poured out into the praises of St. Stephen, and begging his help through prayers, he rendered up his spirit to the Lord; and, consummated in peace, was buried in Persia. But the Patriarch, dismissed from Persia with huge joy and gladness of soul, was restored to his own chair; and thus was fulfilled the prophecy of the holy Elder concerning both.
ANNOTATIONS OF D. P.
* perhaps μανδάλιδα?
CHAPTER III.
He heals a woman possessed and a sick woman: in the desert he learns what is being done in the Laura.
Πάλιν, διηγήσατό μοι οὗτος ὁ ἀββᾶς Εὐστράτιος, ὅστις ποτὲ ἐν τάξει μαθητοῦ πρὸς τὸν Γέροντα ὑπῆρχεν, ἡνίκα ἐν τῇ Λαύρᾳ διῆγεν,, νῦν δὲ βασιλικάριος τῆς ἁγίας Χριστοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν ἀναστάσεως, ὅτι ἐν μιᾷ τῶν ἡμερῶν προσῆλθε τῷ Γέροντί τις ἀνὴρ φιλόχριστος, ἔχων θυγατέρα μικρὰν, δεκαέτη ποῦ χρόνον ἄγουσαν, ὑπὸ πνευμάτων ἀκαθάρτων ἐνοχλουμένην, ὥστε ἑαυτὴν ἐν πυρὶ καὶ ὕδασι ῥίπτειν, καὶ ἄνωθεν ἕως κάτω ἀπὸ τειχῶν βάλλειν, καὶ ἐσθίειν κόπρον καὶ θνησιμαῖα, καὶ τὰ πάντα παραφρόνως καὶ ἀνοήτως διαπράττεσθαι. Καὶ προσπεσὼν τῷ ἁγίῳ Γέροντι, παρεκάλει καὶ ἱκέτευε, δάκρυα θερμὰ κρουνηδὸν καταχέων, Ἐλέησόν με, δοῦλε τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἐλέησόν με τὸ θυγάτριόν μου δεινῶς βασανίζεται· δεήθητι οὖν τοῦ Θεοῦ σου, φυγαδεῦσαι ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ τὸν ἀκάθαρτον δαίμονα. Ὁ δὲ Γέρων, μικροῦ περὶ τούτου συγχώρησιν αἰτησάμενος, καὶ μετέπειτα πλεῖστα παρακληθεὶς, εἶπεν τῷ πατέρι αὐτῆς· Ἔασον τὴν παῖδα πρὸς τὸν μαθητὴν ἐν τῷ κελλίῳ, καὶ μεθ᾽ ἡμέρας ὀλίγας ἐλθέ εἰς τὴν ἡμετέραν επίσκεψιν, καὶ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ γενέσθω. Ὁ δὲ πατὴρ ποιήσας καθὼς ἐνετείλατο αὐτῷ ὁ Γέρων, μετ᾽ οὐ πολλὰς ἀφίκετο ἡμέρας, καὶ μετακαλεσάμενός με ὁ Γέρων σὺν τῇ παιδὶ, εἰσήγαγεν ἡμᾶς εἰς τὸ ἡσυχαστήριον, καὶ ἐγερθεὶς επὶ ἐμοῦ καὶ τοῦ πατέρος τῆς παιδὸς ἐποίησε σύναξιν τῆς ἁγίας προσκομιδῆς, καὶ τελειώσας τὴν θείαν λειτουργίαν, ἐχράντισε τὴν παῖδα ἐλαίῳ σὺν ἁγιαστικῷ ὕδατι, καὶ εἶπεν πρός με· Εὐστράτιε, ἐπιδὸς αὐτῇ φαγεῖν. Καὶ ποιήσας ὡς ἐκέλευσε, ὁρῶ αὐτὴν συνετῶς καὶ εὐτάκτως τρώγουσαν· καὶ καταπλαγεὶς επὶ τούτοις, καὶ πληροφορηθῆναι θέλων περὶ τῆς εὐρωστίας αὐτῆς, ἔλυσα τὴν ζώνην, καὶ προσεποιησάμην τύπτειν αὐτὴν· παραχρῆμα ἡ συσχεθεῖσα ἔκλαυσε, καὶ πρὸς τὸν πατέρα ἑαυτῆς ἡτένισε. Πληροφορηθεὶς οὖν ὁ πατὴρ περὶ τῆς ὑγιείας τῆς ἰδίας παιδὸς, ἐπορεύθη χαίρων καὶ εὐχαριστῶν τῷ Θεῷ καὶ τῷ ἁγίῳ Γέροντι.
[25] Πάλιν ὁ αὐτὸς ἀββᾶς Εὐστράτιος διηγήσατό μοι λέγων· Προσῆλθέ μοί ποτέ τις φιλόχριστος ἀνήρ Ἱεριχούντιος περὶ τῆς ἀδελφῆς αὐτοῦ παρακαλῶν καὶ λέγων· Ἀδελφὴν ἔχω, ὀλέθριον καὶ χρόνιον μυστικὸν πάθος ἔχουσαν, καὶ δυσωπεῖ διὰ τῆς ἐμῆς ταπεινώσεως τὴν σὴν εὐλάβειαν, ὅπως ἂν τροπώσῃ τρόπον, ἄχρις ἂν συντύχῃ τῷ Γέροντι. Ἐγὼ δὲ σαφῶς επιστάμενος, ὅτι τὸ παράπαν γυναιξὶ οὐ συνομιλεῖ ἑκουσίως, εἶπον πρὸς αὐτόν. Ὁ Γέρων οὐ συναναστρέφεται γυναίοις, ἀλλ᾽ εἰ κελεύεις, λέγω αὐτῷ, καὶ εὔχεται ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς. Ὁ δὲ ὑπέμεινεν ἱκανὰ προβάλλων δυσωπήματα· Δυσωπήθητι, λέγων, διὰ τὴν ἀγάπην τοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ μηχάνησαι ποικίλως, ὅπως συνομιλήσῃ αὐτῷ, καὶ ἀνάθηται αὐτῷ τὸ πάθος αὐτῆς· οἶδα γὰρ, ὅτι οὐ βδελύσσεται αὐτὴν, τὸν ἑαυτοῦ δεσπότην μιμούμενος, τὸν μὴ βδελυξάμενον τὴν Χαναναίαν, οὔτε τὴν Αἱμοῤῥοοῦσαν, ἀλλὰ χαρισάμενον τῇ ἀφῇ τῶν κρασπέδων τὴν ἴασιν. Δυσωπηθεὶς ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ σπλαγχνισθεὶς ἔφην· Σήμερον ἀμήχανόν μοι ποιῆσαι τοῦτο· ἐπειδὴ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ τοῦ Καλαμῶνός ἐστιν ὁ Πρεσβύτης, ἀλλὰ Θεοῦ κελεύοντος, τῆς τεσσαρακοστῆς πληρωμένης, κατὰ τὸ εἰωθὸς εἰσελθόντος τοῦ ἁγίου Γέροντος εἰς τὴν μονὴν τοῦ Καλαμῶνος ἕνεκεν προσευχῆς, ἀγωνίσομαι δι᾽ ὑμᾶς
αὐτῷ, ἀλλ᾽ ὅταν δηλώσω ὑμῖν, ἀνυπερβλήθως καὶ ἀνεμποδίστως παραγένεσθε αὐθωρὶ εἰς τὸ μοναστήριον.
[26] Παραγεγονότων οὖν, ὥσπερ ἐνετειλάμην αὐτοῖς τροπωσάμενος, ἔπεισα τοὺς πατέρας ἀποστῆναι τοῦ μέσου πρὸς βραχεῖαν ὥραν, καὶ εὐθέως ἄφνω πρόσωπον πρὸς πρόσωπον ὑπήντησαν τῷ ἁγίῳ Γέροντι, ὡς κατὰ ἄγνοιαν ἡ ἀσθενοῦσα γυνὴ, καὶ παραυτὰ προσπεσοῦσα σὺν τῷ ἀδελφῷ αὐτῆς, ἐδυσώπει ἰδιάσαι μετ᾽ αὐτῆς βραχύ. Παρακληθέντος δὲ αὐτοῦ, ἀνήγγειλεν αὐτῷ μυστικῶς τὸ κρυφίον αὐτῆς τάθος, καὶ ἱκέτευον αὐτὸν ἐλεῆσαι αὐτὴν, καὶ διὰ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ συνεργείας ἰάσασθαι αὐτήν. Ὁ δὲ Γέρων εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτήν· Νῦν εὐθέως τι ποιήσασθαί σοι οὐκ ἔχω, ἀλλ᾽ εἰ μόνον τοῦτο, δέξαι τὴν χεῖρά μου, καὶ επίθες αὐτὴν ὅπου ἀλγεῖς, καὶ πιστεύω ἐν τῷ Θεῷ μου, ὅτι κατὰ τὴν ἄφατον αὐτοῦ φιλανθρωπίαν ἰᾶταί σε, ἐπειδὴ προσέφυγες αὐτῷ. Καὶ διαπραξαμένη οὕτως ἡ γυνὴ ἐπανέκαμψεν. Ἑγὼ δὲ μετ᾽ οὐ πολλὰς ἡμέρας ἀπαντήσας τῷ ἀδελφῷ ταύτης, ἐπυνθανόμην λεπτομερῶς περὶ πάντων τῶν λαληθέντων τούτων, περὶ τῆς διαγωγῆς τῆς ἑαυτοῦ άδελφῆς καὶ τῆς τελείας θεραπείας αὐτῆς, καὶ ἰάσεως. Ὁ δὲ ὅρκῳ ἐπληροφόρησέ με περὶ αὐτῆς, καὶ ὤμοσε κατὰ Θεὸν, ὅτι παντελῶς ἰάθη. Ἐγὼ δὲ ἀκούσας ἐδόξασα τὸν Θεὸν, τὸν παντοίοις χαρίσμασι μεγαλύνοντα τὸν ἑαυτοῦ θεράποντα.
[27] Πάλιν ὁ αὐτὸς ἀββᾶς Εὐστράτιος διηγήσατό μοι λέγων. Εἶπέν μοί ποτε ὁ Γέρων· Δεῦρο μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ, τέκνον Εὐστράτιε, ἐπειδὴ βουλόμαι επὶ τὴν κατωτέραν ἀπελθεῖν ἔρημον, ἔντα ἡ θήκη τοῦ μεγάλου Θεοκτίστου, ὅπως λάβωμεν λείψανον ἐξ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀσπασάμενοι καὶ προσκυνήσαντες τὴν ἁγίαν αὐτοῦ θήκην ἁγιασθῶμεν ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ τε, καὶ τῶν σὺν αὐτῷ κειμένων Ἁγίων. Πορευθέντων οὖν ἡμῶν καὶ τὸν τόπον κατανθησάντων, ἔφησαν ἡμῖν τινες πλησιόχωροι Ἄραβες· Οὐδεὶς δύναται εἰσελθεῖν ἔνθα ἐστὶ ἡ θήκη· ἐπειδή ποτε μὲν ὁρῶμεν ἐκεῖ μέγα πῦρ ἀνάπτον, καὶ τὸν τόπον ἅπαντα μαρμαρυγαῖς ἐξαστράπτοντα· ποτὲ δὲ μεγάλης ὀσφραινόμεθα εὐωδίας μύρων εὐοδμοτάτων, μόσχου καὶ νάρδου πιστικῆς, πολυτίμου, ἀγλαιοτέρας ἀποπνεούσης· πολλάκις γὰρ, καθελθεῖν ἐκεῖ καὶ εὔξασθαι πειράσαντες ἐπτοήθημεν· ἔγνωμεν γὰρ, ὅτι προφῆται μεγάλοι κεῖνται ἐκεῖ.
[28] Ὁ δὲ Γέρων ἀγρυπνήσας δι᾽ ὅλης τῆς νυκτὸς, ἕωθεν λαβόμενός με τῆς χειρὸς, κατήγαγε σὺν αὐτῷ καὶ ἀνοίξας τὴν ἱερὰν θήκην, ἔδειξέ μοι τὰ λείψανα τοῦ ἁγίου Θεοκτίστου καὶ τῶν σὺν αυτῷ ἁγίων Πατέρων, ἀκριβῶς μεμαθηκὼς ἑνὸς ἑκάστου τὰ ὀνόματα. Ἔδειξε δέ μοι καὶ τινος ἑτέρου Ἁγίου λείψανα, χωρὶς κείμενα, καὶ εἶπεν· Οὗτος ὃν ὁρᾶς, μέγας ὑπῆρχεν ἀναχωρήτης, καὶ τὴν ἡμέραν τῆς τελευτῆς αὐτοῦ προγνωκὼς, ἀφίκετο πρὸς τοὺς ἐνταῦτα τότε κατοικοῦντας πατέρας, καὶ εἶπεν· Θέλω κατελθεῖν εἰς τὴν θήκην τῶν Πατέρων κάτω· ἀλλὰ παρακέκλησθε συγκατιέναι μοι. Ἡξάντων οὖν αὐτῶν τῇ αὐτοῦ παρακλήσει, καὶ συγκατελθόντων αὐτῷ ἔνθα κατέκειτο τῶν Ἁγίων ἡ θήκη, ἑαυτὸν κατὰ ἀνατολὰς ὑπτίως ἐφαπλώσας, παρέδωκε τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ τῷ κυρίῳ, τῶν τῇδε ἐκδημήσας εἰς αἰωνίου ζωῆς καὶ δόξης ἀπόλαυσιν. Ταῦτα δὲ ἰδόντες οἱ πατέρες ἀνῆλθον δοξολογοῦντες τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ ὑμνοῦτες. Διηγούμενος δέ μοι οὗτος ὁ ὅσιος Γέρων, ἐκτείνας τὴν χεῖρα, ἀφείλατο ἕνα τῶν ὀδόντων τοῦ ἁγίου Θεοκτίστου μετά τινα ὀλίγα λείψανα ἐκ τῶν συγκειμένων αὐτῷ ἁγίων Πατέρων, καὶ ἀνεκάμψαμεν επὶ τὴν ἰδίαν Λαῦραν.
[29] Ἄλλός τις ἀξιόπιστος τῶν ὑψηλῶν γερόντων τῆς μεγίστης Λάύρας, ὀνόματι Δαβὶδ, ἀνὴρ πανάρετος, πολλοὺς ἐκπαιδεύσας τὴν μοναδικὴν πολιτείαν, διηγήσατό μοι λέγων· Ἐπορεύθην ποτὲ λίαν ἕωθεν κυκλῶσαι τὴν Λαῦραν εἰς τὴν ἔρημον μεθ᾽ ἑτέρου τινὸς μοναχοῦ, συλλογῆς χορταρίων ἕνεκεν· ἐναντίον δὲ γεινάμενος τοῦ ἡσυχαστηρίου τοῦ Γέροντος, τοὺς ὄφεις ἐφοβήθημεν, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τὴν τοῦ ἡλίου ἀνατολὴν ἀνεμείναμεν. Ὡς οὖν ἐφάνη τὸ αὖγος, ὁρῶ μὲν τὸν Γέροντα ἐπάνω τοῦ ἡσυχαστηρίου ἐν τῷ επιῤῥιπταρίῳ αὐτοῦ ἐδώδιμόν τι βαστάζοντα, καὶ δορκάδας περιχορευούσας, αὐτοῦ παραβάλλοντος αὐταῖς τὴν τροφὴν, ἣν εἶχε· μία δέ τις ἐν αὐταῖς ὑπῆρχεν ἣ ἁρπαλέως καὶ ἀτάκτως ἐσθίουσα προσήρχετο, ζητοῦσά τι φαγεῖν περισσότερον. Ὁ δὲ πλεονεκτοῦσαν αὐτὴν ἰδὼν, ὀνειδιστικοῖς λόγοις ὕβρισεν, εὐφυῶς πλήττων καὶ λέγων· Τί πλεονεκτεῖς, ταπεινὴ καὶ λαίμαργε; Ἕως τίνος οὐκ ἐᾷς τὴν σὴν ἀταξίαν; Ἄπιθι ἀπ᾽ ἐμοῦ, ὄντως οὐδὲν παρέξω σοι πλέον τῶν ἑταίρων σου· καὶ αὐτὴ ἐπέμεινε φιλονεικοῦσα. Αὐτὸς δὲ, πλησίον τῆς ἀνατολῆς τοῦ ἡλίου πᾶσαν τὴν ἐδωδὴν ταῖς δορκάσι κοινῇ παραθεὶς, μειλιχίως ἔφη πρὸς αὐτὰς· Ἄπιτε χαίρουσαι· ὅσα γὰρ εἶχον δεδαπάνηται. Καὶ ἀπέλυσεν αὐτὰς· ἡμῶς δὲ, επὶ τούτων πάνυ θαμβούμενοι, τὴν ὁδὸν ἡμῶν ἀπεληλύθημεν.
[30] Ἀνήρ τις, μόναχος μέγας καὶ θαυμαστὸς καὶ πρακτικῇ θεωρίᾳ κεκοσμημένος, ᾧ ὄνομα Σέργιος, ἀρχιπρεσβύτης τῆς μεγίστης ἡμῶν Λαύρας, διηγήσατό μοι λέγων, ἐν μιᾷ τῶν ἡμερῶν ἀπίειν μετά τινων πατέρων πρὸς τὸν ὅσιον Στέφανον κατὰ τὴν ἔρημον, ἐν τοῖς κατ᾽ ἀνατολὰς τῆς μονῆς τοῦ Καλαμῶνος ἄντροις τότε διάγοντα· ἐξετέλει γὰρ ἐκεῖ τὴν μεγάλην Τεσσαρακοστήν. Οὗτος τοίνυν, ἐν τῇ πρὸς τῆς βαἳφόρου κυριακῇ, παρεγεγόνει πρὸς ἡμᾶς, ὁμοθυμαδὸν συνηθροισμένους περὶ τὸν ὄρθρον, καὶ ἐπυνθάνετο ἡμᾶς περὶ τῆς ἡμῶν παρωχημένης ἀγωγῆς· γρηγορεῖν δὲ καὶ νηφεῖν ἐκέλευεν, μάλιστα ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τῆς πρὸς Θεὸν ὁμιλίας· Γρηγορεῖτε, λέγων, ἀγαπὴνὶ, καὶ νήφετε· τῷ Θεῷ γὰρ παρεστήκατε προσευχόμενοι· εἰ γὰρ βασιλεῖ επιγείῳ παντοδαπῶς, ἑκατέρωθεν στρατιωτικῆς παρεστηκυίας τάξεως, τὰς τῶν ἀρχομένων φρένας ἐκδειματούσης προσομιλοῦμεν, νήψεως ἂν πολλῆς καὶ καταστάσεως δεόμεθα πρὸς μόνον τὸν κρατοῦντα τὰς ὄψεις τείνοντες, τρόμῳ τε καὶ φόβῳ συνεχόμενοι· πόσῳ μᾶλλον τῷ βασιλεῖ τῶν ἁπάντων, ᾦ παρίστανται μυρίαι ἀγγέλων, καὶ ἀρχαγγέλων στρατίαι, φρίττουσαι παρεστῶτες, ὀφείλομεν νήφειν καὶ πάσης ὑλικῆς καθαρεύειν ἐμφάσεως, καὶ φοβεῖσθαι, καὶ τρέμειν; Εὔχεσθε τοίνυν· μεγάλη γὰρ σήμερον τοῖς πατράσι τῆς Λαύρας ἡμῶν ἐπῆλθε κατώδυνος συμφορὰ καὶ ἀνίας γέμουσα.
[31] Ἣν ἡμῖν πυθομέννοις ἔφη· Τὴν νυκτερινὴν ψαλμωδίαν ἐκτελέσας, ἐξαίφνης ἐν ἐκστάσει περὶ τὸ αὖγος γέγονα, καὶ ὡσεὶ ἐν τῇ Λαύρᾳ βλέπω τινὰς τῶν πατέρων περιπληγότας τὰς κορυφάς. Τὸν δὲ πρεσβύτερον τῶν Σύρων δεδιχασμένον χαλεπώτερον, καὶ ὑπὲρ πάντας ἀλγινώτερον πεπονθότα, καὶ ᾠήθην, ὅτι λοιμὸς ἐκεῖσε θανατικὸς γενήσεται. Μετὰ τοίνυν ἡμέραν μίαν ἀφίκετό τις ἀνὴρ φιλόχριστος, ἐξαγγέλλων ἡμῖν οὕτως· Χθὲς τὴν παρωχηκυῖαν κυριακὴν ἐποιησάμην ἐν τῇ Λαύρᾳ, καὶ οὐκ οἶδά, τι πεπόνθασιν οἱ πλεῖστοι τῶν πατέρων· ἑώρακα γὰρ αὐτοὺς κατηφοῦντας καὶ κεφαλαλγοῦντας, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδένα ἡρώτηκα περὶ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ κατηφείας καὶ ἀλγηδόνος. Μεθ᾽ ἡμέρας οὖν τέσσαρας πληρωθείσης τῆς ἁγίας Τεσσαρακοστῆς, ἐπανήλθομεν επὶ τὴν Λαῦραν σὺν τῷ ἁγίῳ Γέροντι, τὴν σωσίψυχον τῶν βαΐων πανήγυριν ἐκτελέσαντες, καὶ οὕτως τοὺς πατέρας εὑρήκαμεν, ὥσπερ ὁ φιλόχριστος ἀνὴρ ἀνήγγειλεν· μετ᾽ οὐ πολὺ δὲ πρῶτον μὲν ἐτελεύτησεν ὁ πρεσβύτερος τῶν Σύρων, μετ᾽ ἔπειτα δὲ ἐκ τῶν πατέρων πλῆθος, ὥστε καθ᾽ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν δύο ἢ τρεῖς ἐκκομίζεσθαι ἀφ᾽ ὧν ὠνόμασεν ἡμῖν ὁ Γέρων συνοῦσιν αὐτῷ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ.
[32] Ἄλλος δέ τις θαυμασιώτατος γηραιὸς ἐκ τῆς μεγίστης ἡμῶν Λαύρας, ἐπαίνετος καὶ παντοίας φιλοσοφίας ἔμπλεως, ὀνόματι Λεόντιος, ἐξεῖπέν μοι τοιαύτην ἐξήγησιν· Μονασταί τινες τῆς εὐαγοῦς ἡμων συνοδίας ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ διετέλουν περὶ τὸν ἡγιασμένον ἀββᾶν Στέφανον ἐν ταῖς ὡρισμέναις ἡμέραις τῆς καθολικῆς νηστείας. Οὗτοι τοίνυν ὡς ἦγον ἤρεμον ἀγωγὴν, ἐξ ἀπόπτου προσῆλθεν αὐτοῖς ἐκ τοῦ ἰδίου σπηλαίου ὁ Γέρων, καὶ φησιν· Δεῦτε, πατέρες, ἔντευξιν ποιησόμετα, δεῦτε. Οἱ δὲ προθυμότερον ἀναστάντες, τὴν αὐτοῦ προσταγὴν ἐξεπλήρουν. Αὐτοῦ οὖν εὐχομένου σὺν αὐτοῖς, ἀκηκόασι αὐτοῦ τινα τῶν πατέρων τῆς Λαύρας εἰς μνήμην ἀγαγόντος καὶ μακαρίσαντος. Ὅτε δὲ τὴν εὐχὴν πεπλήρωκεν, ἔφησαν πρὸς αὐτόν· Κατέπληξας ἡμᾶς, ὠ πάτερ, ὁπότε ἐν τῇ εὐχῇ μνησθείς τινος τῶν πρεσβυτέρων ἡμῶν, ὡς τόνδε τὸν βίον ἀπολιπόντος. Ὁ δὲ εἶπεν· Καὶ γὰρ οὗτος τῶν τῇδε πρὸς κύριον ἐξεδήμησεν· εὗροι οὖν ἄνεσιν ἐν ταῖς ἀκαταλύτοις σκήναις τῆς δόξης ἐκείνης καὶ ἀγαλλιάσεως. Ἀγασθέντες τοίνυν τῶν εἰρημένων ὑπὸ τοῦ Γέροντος, ἀκριβῶς ἐνέταξεν πινακιδίῳ τὴν ὥραν καὶ τὴν ἡμέραν καὶ τὴν μῆνα, καθ᾽ ὧν ἐγένετο ταῦτα. Μετὰ δὲ τὴν Τεσσαρακοστὴν εἰς τὴν Λαῦραν ἀφικόμενοι, λεπτομενέστερον περὶ τῆς τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου τελευτῆς ἐξηρεύνησαν, καὶ πάντα καθὸ προέφησεν αὐτοῖς ὁ Γέρων, εὑρηκότες, σαφέστερον ὑφηγήσαντο ἡμῖν, τὸν Θεὸν αἰνοῦντες, καὶ τὴν τοῦ Γέροντος χάριν εὐφημοῦντες.
[33] Ἄλλοτε πάλιν κατὰ τὸν ἑαυτὸν καιρὸν τῆς Τεσσαρακοστῆς ἐξαπίνης ἦλθε πρὸς τοὺς συνόντας αὐτῷ πατέρας, καὶ εἶπεν· Ἀνάστητε, πατέρες, ὅπως εὐξώμεθα· καιρός ἐστι προσευχῆς καὶ δεήσεως. Ποιησάμενοι οὖν τὴν εὐχὴν ἡρώτησαν λεγόντες· Τίς ἡ αἰτία τῆς εὐχῆς ἐν τῇ ὥρᾳ ταύτῃ, ὦ πάτερ; Ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς ἔφη· Ἐπειδὴ νῦν γέγονεν ἐν τῇ Λαύρᾳ ἡμῶν τάραχος καὶ θόρυβος μέγας· τινὲς γὰρ ἀρχάριοι, τῆς συνάξεως ἐκτελεσθείσης, ὑπὸ τῶν δαιμόνων ἀπατηθέντες ἠτάκτησαν, καί τινας τῶν γερόντων ῥάβδοις ἔτυψαν, κᾀυτῷ τῷ ὁσίῳ ἡμῶν ἡγουμένῳ, ἀββᾷ Στρατηγίῳ, τὰς χεῖρας κακῶς ἐπέθηκαν, καθυβρίσαντες αὐτὸν, καὶ ἀτιμάσαντες. Ἐκθαμβηθέντες οὖν επὶ τούτοις οἱ πατέρες, ἡξίουν αὐτὸν ἐξειπεῖν αὐτοῖς, πόθεν ἐνόησεν ταῦτα. Ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς ἔφη· Πρὸ ὥρας τεθέαμαι τοὺς πάσης κακίας δημιουργοὺς καὶ τοῖς κακοῖς επιχαιροῦντας, κακίστους δαίμονας, ἐν τῷ ἀέρι φοιτῶντας, ἀγαλλομένους καὶ ὀρχουμένους καὶ ἀλλὴλους προτρεπομένους εὐφραίνεσθαι, φάσκοντας· Εὐφράνθητε, εὐφράνθητε· οὐ γὰρ σμικρὸν εἰργασάμετα σήμερον ἔργον. Διὸ δεῖ ἡμᾶς σκιρτᾷν, καὶ γάννυσθαι, καὶ χορεύειν εὐφρόσυνον χορείαν, ὅτι τοὺς ἁπλουστέρους ἅματε καὶ ἀφρονεστέρους τῶν μοναχῶν τοῦ Σάβα πεπλανηθότες παρωτρύναμεν ἀταξίαν οὐκ ὀλίγην ποιήσασθαι· ἀλλὰ παρεσκευάσαμεν κᾀυτὸν τὸν ἡγούμενον αὐτῶν ῥοπάλοις ἀλγεινῶς πλῆξαι, καὶ καθυβρίσαι δεινῶς, καὶ φόνον ἂν οὐ μέτριον διηγείραμεν· εἰ μὴ τούτου τοῦ κακογήρου Στεφάνου κατέφθασαν αἱ εὐχαί. Ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν γὰρ ἀπεκρούσθημεν, καὶ ἀπεδιώχθημεν.
[34] Ταῦτα μέντοι παρὰ τῶν δαιμόνων ἀκήκοα· ἀλλ᾽ οὖν πιστεύσατε, τέκνα πνευματικώτατα, ἀληθεύοντι, ὅτι οὐ δι᾽ ἡμετέρων ἐντεύξεων ἐπεῖδεν ὁ Θεὸς τοῖς πατρᾶσι, καὶ προφθάσας ἐπεσκέψατο αὐτοὺς, ῥυσάμενος ἀπὸ τοῦ φόνου· οὔτε δι᾽ ἐμὲ τὸν ἀχρεῖον ἀπεσοβήθησαν οἱ δολεροὶ καὶ κακοῦργοι δαίμονες· ἁμαρτωλὸς γάρ εἰμι καὶ πλημμελημμάτων ἀνάπλεως· ἀλλ᾽ ὡς θέλοντες ἀνιάσαι με, ταῦτα περὶ τῶν πατέρων εἰρηκότες ἐφάνησαν, καὶ οἰόμενοι κενοδοξίας ὀξυτάτοις βέλεσι κεντρῶσαί μου τὴν διάνοιαν, τῶν εὐχῶν μου ἐμνήσθησαν. Ἀλλ᾽ οὐδέν με τῶν ἀπατηλῶν αὐτῶν ῥημάτων τῆς πρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον νεύσεως ἐξέστησεν, θείᾳ χάριτι κρατυνόμενον· ὅθεν οὐ δ᾽ ὅλως τούτων πεπίστευκα· ψεῦσται γὰρ ἀεὶ καὶ πλάνοι, καὶ μισόκαλοι τυγχάνουσιν· ἀλλ᾽ ἀποτίμως καὶ αὐστηρῶς ἠμυνάμην, καὶ ἀπεσόβουν αὐτοὺς, καταρώμενος, καὶ ψεύστας αὐτοὺς ἀποκαλῶν καὶ ἀπαταιῶνας. Διόπερ ἀποκριθέντες ἔφησάν
μοι· Εἰ καὶ ἑκάστοτε τοιούτους ἔχεις ἡμᾶς, καὶ ἀπιστεῖς τοῖς ψευδέσιν ἡμῶν ῥήμασιν, ἀλλὰ σήμερον πείσθητι περὶ τῶν μοναχῶν τῆς Λαύρας εἰρηκόσι τὴν ἀλήθειαν. Ἐγὼ δὲ οὐκ επίστευσα, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον καὶ μᾶλλον ἐδίωξα, ἕως θεία τις επιλάμψασα δύναμις, περὶ ὧν ἀνηγγέλκασιν, ἅπασαν ἐδίδαξε τὴν ἀκρίβειαν. Τεθαυμακότες οὖν επὶ τούτοις οἱ πατέρες, αὐτὴν τὴν ὥραν καὶ τὴν ἡμέραν, καὶ τὴν μῆνα ἐσημειώσαντο, καὶ τῆς Τεσσαρακοστῆς πληρωθείσης, ὑπέστρεψαν εἰς τὴν Λαῦραν μετὰ τοῦ Γέροντος, καὶ ἠκριβώσαντο παρὰ τῶν πατέρων τὸν καιρὸν, καθ᾽ ὃν ἐγήγερται ταῦτα, καὶ τὴν αλήθειαν τῆς διοράσεως ἔμαθον, ὑφ ὧν παραλαβόντες διηγορεύσαμεν ὑμῖν, ἵνα τὴν ἀρετὴν τοῦ ἱεροῦ πρεσβύτου ζηλώσητε, θαυμασιολογοῦντες τὴν μεγαλόδωρον θεἳκὴν ἀγαθότητα.
That same father Eustratius, who once discharged the office of disciple to the Elder, when he was in the Laura, but now is basilicarius a of the holy Resurrection of Christ our God, related to me again that on a certain day there came running to the Elder a certain pious man, [He cures a possessed girl by the sprinkling of water and oil after the sacrifice of the Mass.] who had a little daughter, about ten years old, so vexed by unclean spirits that she cast herself into fire and waters, and threw herself headlong from the tops of walls, and ate dung and carcasses, and did foolishly and insanely whatever she pleased. And cast at the feet of the holy Elder, with tears flowing like a torrent, he prayed him in this manner, and supplicated: Have mercy on me, servant of God, have mercy on me; my little daughter is horribly tormented: entreat therefore your God, that he expel the impure demon from her. The Elder for a while excused himself of this matter, and asked pardon: then, entreated by many prayers, he said to her father: Leave the girl with the disciple in the cell, and after a few days come back to visit us; and let that be done which shall be pleasing to God. And the father, doing as the Elder had ordered, after not many days was present; when the Elder, having summoned me, together with the little girl, led us into his hesychasterion; and rising before me and the girl's parent, established a synaxis of the sacrosanct sacrifice; and the divine liturgy being performed, he anointed the girl with oil and lustral water together, and said to me: Eustratius, set before her something to eat. Scarcely had I done what was commanded, when I behold her eating skillfully and orderly; I was amazed at these things, and, wishing to take some sure experiment of her health, I loosed my girdle, and, as if in earnest about to strike her, I threatened blows; but she at once, abstaining from food, burst into weeping, and, her eyes fixed, gazed upon her parent. Convinced therefore by a most certain proof of his daughter's health, the father, glad, and giving thanks to God and to the holy Elder, departed.
[25] The same father Eustratius I heard again, when he said: [A woman, using Eustratius's counsel, meets him as he returns from the desert of Calamon,] There came, he said, at one time to me a certain man of Jericho, an eminent Christian, to act on behalf of his sister, and he said: I have a sister affected with a pernicious and inveterate and hidden evil, who through my humility entreats your piety, that you devise some means whereby she herself may meet the Elder. But I, well knowing how averse he was from the conversation of women, answered: The Elder does not deal with women; but, if you bid, I will announce to him, and he will pray for her. But he pressed on with prolix prayers: By the love, he said, of Christ, beseech him, and by every means bring it about, that she may speak to him, and set forth to him her affliction: for I know that he will not suffer himself to repel her, imitating his Lord, who cast off neither the Canaanite woman, nor her with the issue of blood, but granted health by the touch of his fringes. Entreated by him, and touched with mercy, I answered: Today I can by no means obtain this; because the Elder is now in the desert of Calamon b; but by the grace of God, Lent being ended, when the holy Elder shall come to the monastery of Calamon for the sake of praying, as he is wont, I will do my endeavor for you, that I may meet him; but when I shall signify to you, without delay, and speedily, in that same hour hasten to the monastery.
[26] And when, as I had ordered, studying their affairs, they were present; and she is healed of her hidden malady by the imposition of the hand alone. I persuaded the fathers to withdraw a little from the midst. And immediately, unexpectedly, their face being turned, the sick woman and her brother met the holy Elder as if by ignorance; and soon, prostrate on the ground with her brother, she supplicates that he would hear her a little, the witnesses being removed. When she had entreated him, she opened to him secretly her hidden sickness, and adjured him that he would have mercy on her, and restore to her, by divine help, her former health. But the Elder replied to her: What I may do for you at this very moment, is nothing to me, except this one thing; take my hand, and apply it where you have pain, and I trust in my God that, for his ineffable benignity toward men, he will heal you, since you have taken refuge with him: which done, the woman withdrew. But I, meeting her brother after not many days, inquired minutely about each of the things which have just been said, and about the state of his sister, and her perfect cure and health: and he, giving his oath, affirmed the matter to me, and invoked God as witness of her health wholly restored. Which when I understood, I praised God, who illustrated his servant with every kind of favor.
[27] [Visiting the tombs of St. Theoctistus and his companions, inaccessible to the barbarians,] This other thing besides the same Eustratius related to me, saying: It happened, when the Elder said to me: Come with me, son Eustratius; for I have resolved to go down into the lower desert, where the sepulchre of the great Theoctistus c is seen, that we may obtain some of his sacred remains as relics, and, having kissed and as suppliants venerated his sacred tomb, may be sanctified both by him and by the Saints who lie buried with him. Having set out therefore, we had now come to the place; when certain neighboring Arabs warn us, in these words: To the place where the coffin is, no man can enter: for sometimes we see there a huge and bright fire; and the whole place round about radiant with flashes: but sometimes we perceive thick fragrances of most odorous aromatics, breathing more sweetly than musk and than pure nard of any price: for often, when we tried to go thither for the sake of praying, we grew stiff, astonished: as we knew that great prophets rest there.
[28] He indicates to Eustratius the names of each, and carries off a few relics. But the Elder, when he had kept vigil the whole night, at daybreak, taking me by the hand, led me with him, and, the sacred chest being opened, showed me the relics both of St. Theoctistus and of the Saints d, the Fathers who were there buried with him, being accurately instructed in the names of each. But he showed me also the sacred remains of another certain Saint laid apart, and said: This one, whom you see, was a notable anchorite; and when he had foreknown the hour in which he must die, coming to the Fathers then e dwelling here, In the sepulchre, he said, of the Fathers buried here below f, I desire to descend: I beseech you, that you accompany me. They therefore, as he begged, leading him down, and descending together with him where the burial of the Saints was here situated, he stretched himself out supine toward the east, and, departing from human things, and flying to the fruition of everlasting life and glory, rendered up his spirit to the Lord. Which when the fathers had beheld, glorifying God, and singing songs of praises, they returned. But this holy elder, when he narrated these things to me, stretching out his hand, took one of the teeth of St. Theoctistus, with a few relics of the holy Fathers resting with him, and thus we returned into our Laura.
[29] He is beheld at dawn feeding wild goats. Another of the excellent elders of the most illustrious Laura, worthy of faith, whose name was David, a man adorned with all virtues, and already long since an instructor of many in monastic discipline, related to me these things in this manner: It happened at one time that I went out very early around the Laura into the solitude with another certain monk to gather fodder; and when it was come to where, opposite, the hesychasterion of the elder was situated, we began to fear the serpents badly for ourselves, and for that cause it seemed good to await the rising of the sun. When therefore the dawn had shone, I behold the elder at the place overhanging the hesychasterion carrying something edible in his cloak g, and wild goats leaping about while he cast to them the food which he had. But one among them was there which, eating more greedily, and without keeping order, drew near, to seek whether he had any fodder left. But he, seeing her less content than the others, chided her with somewhat hard words, and gently striking her: Why, he said, wretched and most voracious one, do you gape beyond the rest? How long will you be so disorderly? Away from me; you will assuredly carry off nothing more hence than your fellows: but she pressed on, nonetheless obstinate: But he, when at the rising of the sun he had set before the goats all the provender in common, gently said to them: Go rejoicing; for whatever I had is all consumed; and he dismissed them. But we, not a little amazed at these things, finished our journey.
[30] A certain man, a great and wonderful monk, and conspicuous for practical contemplation, He admonishes his companion Fathers in the desert to reverence during prayer, Sergius by name, archpresbyter of our greatest Laura, affirmed these things to me: I was going, he said, on a certain day, with some fathers, to holy Stephen in the desert, dwelling at that time in caves turned to the east, if you look toward the monastery of Calamon: for there he was passing the great Lent h. This man therefore, on the Sunday preceding that which is called Palm Sunday, had come to us, gathered with one accord about dawn, and inquired of us concerning our past manner of living. And he bade us to watch and be attentive especially in the time of conversation with God: Watch, he said, beloved, and be sober: for you stand before God in prayer: for if we do not address an earthly king, save with a military array standing on both sides, and terrifying the minds of the subjects; then if we have need of so great attention and of composure of body and mind, casting our eyes on him who alone has the command, and being seized with fear and trembling; how much more does it befit us to show ourselves circumspect to the King of all, before whom stand trembling a thousand hosts of Angels and Archangels, and to purge the mind of every image of gross and earthly things, and finally to be afraid and tremble? Pray therefore: for on this day a notable, deadly, and grief-full calamity befell the fathers of our Laura.
[31] When we asked what at last it was, and he signifies a pestilence arisen in the Laura. he added: Having performed the nocturnal psalmody, I was straightway rapt into an ecstasy about dawn; and as it were in the Laura I behold the heads of some of the fathers beaten; but the Presbyter of the Syrians torn more cruelly, and sustaining sharper torments than the rest; and I augured that a lethal contagion would there rage. One day therefore had passed, when
he addressed us: I spent the past Sunday in the Laura; and I know not what most of the fathers have suffered: for I saw them, sad, fix their faces to the ground, and show grievous pains of the head; yet about this consternation and grief I questioned no one. After four days therefore, the holy Lent being completed, we returned into the Laura with the holy Elder, to celebrate the salvation-bearing festivity of Palms; and we found the fathers such as the man devoted to Christ had depicted them to us: and not long after, first the presbyter of the Syrians yielded to fate; then, moreover, so great a multitude of the fathers, that of those whom the Elder had named to us while we were dwelling with him in the desert, two or three were carried out each day.
[32] But another of our greatest Laura, a man plainly decrepit with age (they called him Leontius i), most worthy of all admiration, renowned, and imbued with all the disciplines of wisdom, recounted to me this history. Certain monks of our illustrious congregation, on the days appointed for the universal fast, were staying with the holy Father Stephen in the solitude: To these therefore, He learns of the blessed death of another during prayer. as they led a life removed from all noise, the elder himself came, in a manner in which he could not be seen, from his cave, and: Be present, he said, fathers, we will set up a prayer; be present. They, most promptly rising, obeyed his command. And when he prayed together with them, they hear mention made by him of one of the Laura's fathers, whom he proclaimed blessed. When he had made an end of praying, they said to him: You have struck us, O Father, since amid the prayer you so mentioned one of our presbyters, as if he were already dead. Then he: Indeed it is so, he has already migrated hence to the Lord: may he therefore find rest in the indissoluble tabernacles of that glory and exultation. They, marveling at these things pronounced by the Elder, faithfully committed to their tablets the hour, day, and month in which these things had happened. But returning into the Laura after Lent, they search out every minute thing about the presbyter's death; and, all being ascertained as the Elder had foretold to them, they set forth the whole matter to us more openly, praising God, and celebrating the grace of the Elder.
[33] He learns of the tumults stirred up in the Laura, the demons therefore exulting, Again at another time during the same Lent it happened that he came suddenly to those who lived with him; addressing them with this exhortation: Arise, fathers, that we may pray, this time and these circumstances demand prayer. The prayer therefore being finished, they ask him: What cause, O Father, demanded prayers of us at this hour? He answered and said: Because just now tumults and a huge uproar have been stirred up in our Laura: for certain novices k, the synaxis being finished, deceived by the demons, threw all into confusion, and beat some of the Elders with rods, and impiously laid hands on our holy Hegumen himself, Abbot Strategius, assailing him with reproaches and insults. The fathers, so amazed at these things, pressed on that he would not disdain to tell them whence he had learned it. Answering, he says: I saw before the hour the authors of all the impiety, the worst demons rejoicing uniquely at evils, flitting in crowds through the air, and celebrating dances, and mutually exhorting one another to rejoice, redoubling: Rejoice, rejoice: for no small crime have we today devised. Wherefore it befits us to exult and take delight, and to lead cheerful dances: since among the monks of Sabas, the ruder and the more mentally destitute, we have driven them to stir up tumults by no means small: but we were also about to give their Hegumen himself, not softly combed with clubs, and loaded with atrocious calumnies; and finally to raise up a slaughter not slight; had not the prayers of Stephen, that ill-omened old dotard, forestalled all these things; for by them, repulsed and put to flight, we have been driven off.
[34] These things indeed I heard from the devils: believe therefore, sons most fervent in the Spirit, and vainly casting upon him the temptation of vainglory. me who profess the truth, that it was not by our prayer that God regarded the fathers, and, snatching them from slaughter, provided by forestalling the counsels of the enemies; nor were the crafty and maleficent spirits cast out through me, useless as I am: for I am a sinner, and full of iniquities: but they seem to have said these things of the fathers because they wish to do ill to my soul; and, hoping to transfix my mind with the sharpest darts of vainglory, they made mention of prayers. But nothing of those sayings, however fallacious, moved me from that will by which I incline to the better, confirmed by divine grace: whence I believed none of them at all: for they are liars and impostors, and conspired against all uprightness: but I unworthily and fiercely repelled them, and, cursing them, drove them off, calling them liars and sycophants. Hence it is that they replied to me these things: Although you reckon us almost such, and give no faith to our crafty words, yet today believe that all things are true, whatever have been reported of the Laura's monks. But I thought otherwise, and drove them off more and more, until a certain divine force illumined my mind, and accurately taught me the whole truth of the things which they had announced. The fathers, marveling at these things, note the very hour, day, month, and, Lent being completed, return to the Laura with the Elder, and diligently inquire of the fathers the time in which these things had been stirred up, and thus had the truth of the vision explored; from whom, when we ourselves received it, we communicate it to you, that you may emulate the virtue of the holy Elder, proclaiming the most bountiful goodness of God, admirable to all.
ANNOTATIONS OF D. P.
CHAPTER IV.
He succors disciples in peril; and converses with an invisible Anchorite.
Θεοφιλεῖς τρεῖς ἀδελφοὶ τῶν μεμαρτυρημένων ἐπ᾽ εὐλαβείᾳ Δαμασκὸν, τὴν πανευδαίμονα καὶ λαμπρὰν μητρόπολιν, οἰκητήριον ἔχουσι. Τούτων εἷς ἀποταξάμενος, καὶ ταύτην τὴν μεγίστην Λαῦραν οἰκήσας, διηγήσατό μοι, λέγων· Ὅτι τις, Ἰωάννης ὀνόματι, σημειοφόρος ἀνὴρ, καὶ πολλὰ δείξας θαυματουργήματα, ὡν ἐν πείρᾳ γεγόνασι πολλοὶ φιλαληθέστεροι ἄνδρες, τούτῳ τῷ μακαρίτῃ μαθητεύσας, καὶ μετ᾽ ἔπειτα επίσκοπος τῆς περιφανοῦς καὶ ἐνδόξου πόλεως Χαραχμοβῶν γενόμενος. Ὑψηλὸς ὡς ἀληθῶς ἀπεφάνθη καὶ εὐδοκιμος, καὶ διά τινας χρείας πολιτικάστε καὶ ἐκκλησιαστικὰς πρὸς τὸν σύμβολον Δαμάσκου καὶ πρὸς τὸν κριτὴν πυκνῶς ἀφικνούμενος, οἴκοι πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἐξενίζετο. Πολλὴν δὲ καὶ τῶν λόγων αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν διηγημάτων τὴν ὠφέλειαν καὶ ψυχικὴν εὐεργεσίαν ἐκαρπούμεθα. Μιᾷ δὲ τῶν ἡμερῶν, ἑσπέρας οὔσης βαθείας κᾀπὶ τῆς τραπέζης τῶν τριῶν ἡμῶν ἀδελφῶν σὺν αὐτῷ καθεζομένων, διηγήσατο ἡμῖν τὸ εἰς αὐτὸν παρὰ τοῦ επιστάτου γεγενημένον παράδοξον θαῦμα.
[36] Ἐγένετό μοι φησὶ, ποτὲ τούτῳ τῷ θεοφόρῳ μαθήτευοντι, πορευθῆναι εἰς τὸ μοναστήριον τὸ λεγόμενον Χουράν. Τὴν ὁδὸν ἐξανύσας, κᾀκεῖσε ἐῤῥωμένως καὶ ἀβλαβως ἔφθακα, ἀσθένειά τίς με κατέσχε μεγάλη καὶ επικίνδυνος, ἥτις ἠνάγκασεν επὶ καιρὸν αὐτόθεν μεῖναι, μὴ δυνάμενον εἰς τόπον μου ἀπὸ σωματικῆς κακώσεως καὶ ἀδυναμίας ὑποστρέψαι. Μετ᾽ οὖν χρόνον τινὰ τῆς νόσου ἀνασφήλας καὶ ἀναλαβὼν εἰχόμην τῆς επὶ τὴν Λαῦραν διὰ τῆς ἐρήμου ἀποφερούσης ὁδοῦ ολίγους ἄρτους ξηροὺς σὺν ἐμοὶ εἰληφώς. Καύσωνος δὲ γενομένου σφοδροῦ κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦ θέρους ὑπὸ τῆς ἡλιακῆς ἀκτῖνος, καὶ δίψους δεινῶς ἐτρυχόμην, πολλῷ δὲ μᾶλλον τοῦ τόνου τῆς σωματικῆς ἰσχύος διαλυόμενος ἐδαμαζόμην, καὶ ἐν πολλῇ στενώσει καὶ ἀπορίᾳ ἐτύγχανον, καὶ τὸν Θεὸν καὶ τὰς τοῦ Γέροντος εὐχὰς ἐπεκαλούμην ἕως ἐν τούτοις με ὄντα τοῖς δεινοῖς ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ εὐσπλαγχνία προφθάσασα ὡδήγησέ τινας κατὰ τὴν ἔρημον εὑρηκέναι ποιμένας Ἀραβητας· οἵτινές με θεασάμενοι ἐπυνθάνοντο τί ἂν εἴην κεκτημέννος. Ὡς δὲ τοὺς ἄρτους αὐτοῖς ὑπέδειξα καὶ τὸ δίψος ἀνήγγειλα, τοὺς μὲν ἄρτους πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς ἀπέφερον ὕδωρ δὲ ἀρτίως ὧδε μὴ ἔχειν παντελῶς ἔφησαν ἀλλ᾽ ἀποστελοῦμεν σὺν σοι ὁδηγὸν, ὑποδεικνύντα σοι τὸν τόπον τοῦ νάματος, οὐ μακρὰν πολὺ διακείμενον.
[37] Ἀπέστειλαν οὖν φονικὸν καὶ φοβερὸν Αἰθίοπα, γεναῖον καὶ τρισάθλιον, διαβόλου μηδὲν τῷ τρόπῳ διαφέροντα, ὡς μετὰ ταῦτα ἡ πεῖρα ἐδίδαξε. Μεθ᾽ οὗ διὰ βίαν τοῦ δίψους εξ ἀνάγκης ἐπορευόμην καὶ πορευθέντες ἅμα ἰκανον διάστημα, ἐφίστησί με χειμάῤῥου ῥαγάδι, ὕδωρ εχούσῃ. Καί φησι. Πίνε, ἄνθρωπε τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ μετὰ ἀδείας οὕπερ ἐπιθυμεῖς καὶ χρήζεις ἐμφορήθητι. Ἐγὼ δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ πολλοῦ καμάτου τετρυχωμένος, ὅπερ ἐφόρουν μικρὸν επιῤῥιπτάριον ἀπεθέμην, καὶ πιεῖν μετὰ ἀνέσεως ἐπειρώμην καὶ
ὡς τῇ πηγῇ τὴν κεφαλὴν ὑπέκλινα, ἀθρόον μοι λογισμός τις ἐπεισείη, τὸν ἀλιτήριον ἐκεῖνον Αἰθίοπα πονηρὰ κατ᾽ ἐμου τυρευειν καὶ διενθυμεῖσθαι, καὶ μικρὸν τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀνανεύσας ὁρῶ τὸν τρισάθλιον χειροπληθῆ λίθον κατέχοντα, καὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς βλοσυροὺς καὶ οἱονεὶ ᾑμαγμένους, καὶ ὡς πῦρ φαίνοντας, καὶ βαλεῖν λεληθότως μέλλοντα. Ἐγὼ δὲ ἄφνω διεγερθεὶς, καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τάχα καὶ παρὰ γνώμην ζωπυρῆσάν με· Τί τοῦτο βούλει ποιήσειν, δείλαιε, ἔφησα; Πείρα, εἰ ὅλως δεδύνησαι· ἐγὼ γάρ σου ῥωμαλεώτερος καὶ εἰς ἀλκὴν προθυμότερος. Ὁ δὲ ἅμα τὸν λόγον ἀκούσας τῆς χειρὸς τὸν λίθον ὑποτρέμων ἀπέῤῥιψε, καὶ τὸ επιῤῥιπτάριον χαμαὶ κείμενον κλέψας, μετὰ δρόμου καὶ τρόμου πολλοῦ ᾤχετο.
[38] Ἐγὼ δὲ τῷ Θεῷ εὐχαριστήσας, ἐδεδείην πρὸς τοὺς Ἀραβήτας, ὅθεν ἤμην ἐληλυθὼς, ὑποστρέψαι, καὶ ἐν πολλῇ δειλίᾳ καὶ σκοτώσει λογισμῶν ἐτύγχανον. Τέλος ἔδοξέ μοι διὰ τὸν φόβον αὐτῶν τὴν ἄβατον ἔρημον βάτην ποιήσασθαι, καὶ δι᾽ αὐτῆς εἰς τὴν Λαῦραν, εἰ ὅλως δυνηθείην, ἀποσώζεσθαι. Ὁδεύσας οὖν ἀφ᾽ οὗ ὑπῆρχον τόπου διάστημα, ἠρξάμην περιπλανᾶσθαι ὄρος ἐξ ὄρους, καὶ χείμαῤῥον ἀμείβειν ἀπὸ χειμάῤῥου ἐν σκότῳ βαθεῖ καὶ ἀνοδίᾳ, τοῦ ἡλίου ἤδη δύναντος, καὶ τῆς νυκτὸς ἐπελθούσης. Ἐπὶ πολλὰς τοίνυν ὥρας δαμασθεὶς, καὶ ἀπορίᾳ καὶ ἀθυμίᾳ συσχεθεὶς, Θεοῦ συνεργίᾳ ἀκούω, ὡς ἀπό τινος μακροῦ διαστήματος, φωνῆς πρὸς ἐμὲ φερομένης, καὶ ἐξ ὀνόματος καλούσης, καὶ οἱονεὶ τὴν ὁδὸν διὰ τῆς φωνῆς ὑποδεικνυούσης, θαῤῥεῖν δὲ καὶ μηδὲν δεδειέναι παρεγγυώσης, ἀλλὰ· Ἀββᾶ Ἰωάννη, λεγούσης.
[39] Καὶ μὲν πρῶτα ἐξεπλάγην, καὶ φάντασμα δαιμονίου ἀκηκοέναι ὑπελάμβανον. Εὐχὴν οὖν κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς πεποιηκὼς, καὶ τὸ Πάτερ ἡμῶν πεπληρωκὼς, οὐδὲν ἦττον ἐπεμενεν ἡ φωνὴ γεγωνοτέρα φερομένη, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ σύνεγγυς ἐξακουομένη, καὶ, Ἀββᾶ Ἰωάννη, ὧδε ἔρχου, καὶ μηδὲν δειλία, φθεγγομένη, ὥστε καὶ διακρίναι τὸν φθόγγον δύνασθαι, καὶ τὸν Γέροντα εἶναι τὸν καλοῦντα ὑπειληφέναι. Ἄπιστον οὖν μοι καὶ ἀνακόλουθον τὸ πράγμα ἐδόκει, καὶ πῶς, ἔλεγον, ἐκεῖνον ἄρτι γενέσθαι; καὶ θάμβός με ταῖς ἀληθείαις ἔσχε καὶ ἔκστασις επὶ τῷ παραδόξῳ τοῦ πράγματος, ἕως αὐτὸν ἐν ἀληθείᾳ τὸν θεοφόρον ἑώρακα θαῤῥοποιοῦντα, καὶ πρὸς τὴν εὐθείαν ἐπανάγοντα, καὶ τῆς ἠθισμένης μοναχοῖς εὐχῆς κατάρξαντα, καὶ μετὰ τὸ επιφθέγξασθαι τὸ Ἀμὴν, φησὶ πρός με. Τί εἰ, τέκνον Ἰωάννη, ἐφοβήθης τὸν δείλαιον ἐκεῖνον καὶ φονῶντα τὸν Αἰθίοπα, διχοτομῆσαί σε βουληθέντα; Ὅλως δὲ ἤλγησας, ὅτι σου τὸ επιῤῥιπτάριον κέκλοφεν; Μηδαμῶς σοι μελέτω, πέπεισο δὲ ὅτι κατ᾽ ἐκείνην τὴν ὥραν ἐν ᾗ ὁ ἀλιτήριος ἐπιβαλεῖν σοι τὰς χεῖρας ἤθελεν, δέησιν ὑπὲρ σοῦ τῷ σωτῆρι Χριστῷ προσεκόμισα. Ἀλλὰ χάρις αὐτῷ, πάντοτε τῷ ῥυομένω ἡμᾶς τῶν θηρευόντων. Θάρσει οὖν, καὶ μηδὲν φοβηθῇς, ἀλλὰ πορευθῶμεν εἰς τὸ ἡσυχαστήριον. Τεθηπὼς μᾶλλον ἐξεπλησσόμην, καὶ συνεπορευόμην αὐτῷ γεγηθὼς καὶ ἀγαλλόμενος, ἕως ὅτου τὸ ἡσυχαστήριον αὐτοῦ ἐφθάσαμεν.
[40] Ὃ δέ με πάλιν ἀναγκαῖον εἰπεῖν, οὐ κρύψω· ἐξαγορεύσω δὲ καὶ πρὸς δόξαν Θεοῦ, καὶ ὑμετέραν ὠφέλειαν, ὡς ἐν ἐκείνῃ, ᾗ ἔφην, ἀσθενείᾳ ἦν γενόμενος εἰς τὸ μοναστήριον, τὸ λεγόμενον Χουραν, ἠσθένησα· επιθυμία δέ τις σφοδρὰ καὶ διάπορος ἔσχέ με ἐμπλησθῆναι βρώσεως ἴχθυος ἁλμυροῦ ἐκζεομένου μετὰ σινήπεως, καὶ πολλοῖς διεκείμην ἐμφορεῖσθαι τῆς ἐφέσεως. Διὰ δὲ τὸ ἐκεῖσε μηδὲν τοιοῦτον κατ᾽ ἐκείνῳ καιρῷ γεγονέναι, ἔμεινα τὸ πάθος ἐν ἐμαυτῷ τρέφων καὶ σφοδροτέρως τῇ επιθυμίᾳ φλεγόμενος. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸ σεβάσμιον ἐκεῖνο, ὡς ἔφην, εἰσεληλύθαμεν ἡσυχαστήριον, πρώτης μὲν ἤ καὶ δευτέρας φυλακῆς διαδραμούσης, καὶ τὴν ὀφειλομένην εὐχὴν, κατὰ πατρικὴν καὶ ἀρχαίαν παράδοσιν, πεποιήκαμεν, Καθέζου, ἀββᾶ Ἰωάννη, ἔφη ὁ Γέρων. Ἐμοῦ δὲ καθεσθέντος, αὐτὸς εἰσίει εἰς τὸ ἐνδότερον τοῦ ἡσυσχαστηρίου σπήλαιον, ὅπερ ἐκεῖσε ἐτύγχανε· ἀγνοοῦντι δέ μοι ἐπέστη ὁ σημειοφόρος πατὴρ πίνακα επιφερόμενος ἴχθυν τεταριχευμένον ἔχοντα, μετὰ σινήπεως, καί φησι πρός με· Ἰδοὺ καὶ ἡ επιθυμία σου, άδελφέ· ἠτοίμακα γάρ σοι αὐτὴν ἕως ἀνέλθῃς· ἀλλὰ φάγε, καὶ ἐμπλήσθητι, καὶ μηδεποτε τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀπογνῷς επικουρίας καὶ ἀντιλήψεως. Ἐγὼ δὲ τὸ παράδοξον κατ᾽ ἐμαυτὸν ἐνθυμούμενος, πόθεν ἐν τοιαύτῃ ὥρᾳ τοιοῦτον εὑρεθη παρ᾽ αὐτῷ προσφάγιον, οὐδὲν ἕτερον εἶχον λογίσασθαι, ἢ ὅτι ὁ τοῖς ἁγίοις Ἀποστόλοις καὶ μαθηταῖς ἑαυτὸν επὶ τῆς λίμνης μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν φανερώσας Χριστὸς, καὶ ἀνθρακιὰν καὶ ὀψάριον επικείμενον, καὶ ἄρτον αὐτοῖς ἀληθείᾳ παρεσχηκὼς, αὐτὸς καὶ τῷ θεράποντι αὐτοῦ καὶ μαθητῇ τὴν επιθυμίαν ἐξέφῃνε, καὶ τὸ ποθούμενον ἐκαρποφόρησεν· ἔφαγον οὖν, καὶ ἐκορέσθην, καὶ τὸ πάθος παραμυθησάμενος εὐχαριστήριον αἶνον τῷ Θεῷ καὶ ἐν τούτῳ ἀνέπεμψα.
[41] Ἄλλο γὰρ ὑμῖν ἐξηγορευκέναι θαυμάσιον οὐκ ὀκνήσω· οἶδα γὰρ τὸν φλογερὸν ὑμῶν, ἀδελφοὶ, περὶ τῶν τοιούτων πνευματικῶν διηγημάτων ἔρωτα. Ἐμοῦ ποτε συνδιατρίβοντος τούτῳ τῷ θεοφόρῳ επιστάτῃ κατὰ τὴν ἔρημον μετά τινων ἡσυχαζόντων σποράδην ἑνὸς ἑκάστου ἐν ἰδίῳ σπηλαίῳ, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ επιστάτου ψυχωφελῆ διδασκαλίαν καὶ παράδοσιν, μέγας λιμὸς συνβέβηκεν ἡμῖν, τὸν σωματικὸν κατατραύγων τόνον, καὶ τὰς ζωτικὰς καὶ φυσικὰς ἅμα τε καὶ ψυχικὰς καταπονῶν δυνάμεις. Ἐκβάντες οὖν τῶν σπηλαίων, λιμαγχονούμενοι διηρχόμεθα τὴν ἔρημον, πόας καὶ θάμνους ἀναζητοῦντες πρὸς παραμυθίαν τοῦ λιμώδους πάθους, καὶ πολλὰ κεκμηκότες τὴν ἔρημον ἐμπόνως ψυχαφῶντες ὑπεστρέψαμεν πρὸς τὸν καλόγηρον, τὸ παράπαν μηδὲν εὑρηκότες. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ τὴν ἐσχάτην ἡμῶν ἀπηγγείλαμεν αὐτῷ πείναν, καὶ ὃν ἄγαν ἐμογήσαμεν μόχθον, ἀνὰ πᾶσαν τὴν ἔρημον περιφοιτῶντες, οἴκτῳ διαπύρῳ συσχεθεὶς ἔφη· Αὔριον, τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸ ζῆν παρέχοντος, επὶ τὸν δὲ ἀπιόντες τὸν τόπον εὑρήσετε πεφιλοκαλημένον σέλινον, επιμελῶς γεωργηθὲν, καὶ λαβόντες ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ μὴ ὑπὲρ τὴν χρείαν θεραπευθῆτε, μηδὲν ἐκτίλλαντε, καὶ ἐρημώσαντες. Ἀφιγμένοι τοίνυν τὸν δηλωθέντα ἡμῖν ὑπὸ τοῦ Γέροντος χῶρον, ἀπαραλλάκτως εὑρήκαμεν καθὰ ἀπεφήνατο· καὶ τὴν χρείαν ἡμῶν παρειληφότες, ἀνεκάμψαμεν γεγηθότες, καὶ ἀγαλλόμενοι. Ὑποδειξάντων οὖν ἡμῶν τῷ Γέροντί τινα σέλινα ἐξ ὧν ἐφέρομεν, εὕρηταί τις ῥίζα ἀγνόστως ὑφ᾽ ἡμῶν ἐκρισθεῖσα· ἣν θεασάμενος ὁ επιστάτης, ἄγαν λελύπηται, εἰπών· Οὐκ ἐνετειλάμην ὑμῖν, μηδὲν ἐξαφανίσαι καὶ ἐκριζῶσαι; Ὄντως λελυπήκατέ με λυπην οὐ μετρίαν, ὃ προέφθην ὑμῖν μὴ πεπραχότες. Αὐτοῦ δὲ εἰρηκότος ταῦτα ἐγνώσαμεν, ὅτι τινὸς ἀφανοῦς ἀναχωρητοῦ ὑπῆρχε τὰ σέλινα.
[42] Ἄλλο τε δὲ κατ᾽ ἐκείνου καιροῦ διοδευόντων ἡμῶν τὴν ἔρημον, εἰσήγαγεν ἡμᾶς εἰς σπήλαιον, κᾀκεῖσε τὴν συνήθη εὐχὴν ἐκτελέσαντες, εὑρίσκομεν χόρτον καὶ βοτάνας καὶ ἀνθρώπου τινὸς ἴχνη, δι᾽ ὧν μεμαθήκαμεν ἐκεῖνον τὸν τόπον ἀναχωρητοῦ τινος εἶναι· ἀλλ᾽ οὐδαμῶς ἐπυθόμεθα τὸν θεοφόρον επιστάτην, οὔτε μὴν αὐτός τι ἡμῖν διὰ τούτου ἀπέφῃνεν. Ἐξαλθόντες οὖν τοῦ σπηλαίου θεωροῦμεν παλαιὸν ἄγριον φοίνικα, ἀνδρικῆς ὀργυιᾶς μῆκος ἔχοντα, κᾀκεῖσε μεμενηκότες επὶ βραχεῖαν ὥραν, οὐδένα ἐθέαμεθα, κᾀυτῇ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ εἰς τὰ ἡμέτερα ὑποστρεψάντων ἡμῶν σπήλαια. Μετ᾽ οὐ πολλὰς ἡμέρας ἔδοξέ μοι μεμονωμένος διοδεῦσαι τὴν ἔρημον ἡμέρας. Ὡς οὖν μόνος ἐπορευόμην, ἀκήκοά τινος ὁμιλίας, καὶ κατ᾽ ἐμαυτὸν σκοπήσας ὑπετόπασα, ὅτι δύο ἡρέμα καὶ ἀψοφητὶ ἀποφθέγγονται· καὶ περιβλεψάμενος τῇδε κᾀκεῖσε, οὐδένα ἑώρακα, ἀλλὰ μόνον τὸν σημειοφόρον επιστάτην, καὶ παραυτά με θάμβος κατέσχε ἄῤῥητον, καταστῆσαν ἄναυδον. Εἶτα κελευει με ὁ επιστάτης καθίσαι, καὶ βουλόμενον καθίσαι ἐξ εὐωνύμων αὐτοῦ, λαβόμενος τοῦ κρασπέδου τῶν ἱματίων μου, ἐκέλευσέ με ἐκ δεξιῶν καθίσαι, καὶ μετὰ μικρὸν, πρίν με φθέγξασθαί τι, προεφθακὼς ὁ επιστάτης λελάληκεν· Ἀπελθὲ, τέκνον Ἰωάννη· καὶ οὐδὲν πλέον ἔφη.
[43] Πορευθεὶς δὲ ἐγὼ, κᾀκείνην τελευτήσας τὴν ἡμέραν, διενοούμην κατ᾽ ἐμαυτὸν, θαυμάζων, πῶς τὸν επιστάτην ἑώρακα μόνον, δυοῖν σαφῶς ἀκούσας ὁμιλούντων. Πρὸς τὸν επιστάτην τοίνυν ἀπιὼν, ἐρωτήσων τούτου ἕνεκεν, καὶ προσελθὼν αὐτῷ κατ᾽ ἰδίαν ὑπάρχοντι ἐν τῷ ἑαυτοῦ σπηλαίῳ, καὶ τοῖς ποσὶ αὐτοῦ προσπεσὼν ἐπυθόμην αὐτὸν πολλὰ ἐκλιπαρήσας, καὶ εἰπὼν· Ὄντως οὐ μὴ παρεάσω σε, οὐδ᾽ οὐ μὴ ἐξαναστῶ καταφιλῶν σου τὰ ἴχνη, ἄχρις ἄν μοι φανερώσῃς, τίς σοι συνῆν, ὅτε σοι ἐκεῖ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ καθίζοντι, ἐκ δεξιῶν σου παρ᾽ ἔθος ἐκέλευσάς με καθίσαι, καὶ, Ἄπιθι, τέκνον Ἰωάννη, ἔφης. Καὶ ταῦτά με εἰπόντα τῇ ἡγιασμένῃ αὐτοῦ χειρὶ ἐξαναστήσας με, μάλιστα διαπύρως μεμαθηκέναι τοῦτο επιζητοῦντα θεασάμενος, εἶπεν· Θαυμαστός τις, καὶ μέγας, καὶ ἅγιος ἀναχωρητὴς ἐρημήτης, ἀεὶ τὰς πόας βοσκόμενος, ὑπάρχει, οὕτινός μου συλλαλοῦντος ἠκροάσω, καὶ οὗτος σπηλαῖον κατέστηκεν ἐκεῖνο, ὅπερ πρώην εἰσέδυεν, ἔνθα καὶ τὸν ἄγριον φοίνικα ἑωράκαμεν· κᾀκεῖθεν γὰρ τότε εἰσιόντων ἡμῶν καὶ ἐξιόντων, καὶ επὶ ὥρας ἰκανὰς ἑστηκότων, οὐκ ἀπέστη, ἀλλὰ τῷ φοίνικι ἀοράτως παρεκεκόλλητο, οὐδαμῶς ὑμῖν ὀπτανόμενος, ὡς οὐδέ σοι, ἡνίκα μοι συγκαθεζόμενος συνετύγχανεν. Αὕτη γάρ ἐστιν ἡ πρὸς Θεὸν πρώτη τῶν ἀναχωρητῶν αἴτησις, ἣν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ποιοῦνται εἰς τὸν Θεὸν, ἀπὸ τῶν μοναστηρίων ἐξερχόμενοι, καὶ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἐξιστάμενοι, ἵνα μηδενὶ ὁραθῶσιν, εἰ μὴ ᾧ ἂν βούλωνται. Καταπλαγεὶς οὖν επὶ τούτῳ ἐδόξασα τὸν Θεὸν, τὸν μεγαλύνοντα τοὺς ποιοῦντας τὸ θέλημα αὐτοῦ.
Three brethren dear to God, of the number of those whose religion is attested, dwelt at Damascus, that most happy and illustrious metropolis. One of these, when, bidding farewell to the world, he dwelt in this greatest Laura, John, afterward Bishop of Charachmoba, recounted to me these things: That a certain notable man, called John, who also wrought many miracles, of which very many men, most zealous for truth, made trial, had been a disciple to this elder of blessed memory, and afterward was made bishop of the illustrious and glorious city of Charachmoba a. He was held a lofty man, and of approved virtue, as he was, and, on account of certain necessary affairs both civil and ecclesiastical, going frequently to the symbolus b of Damascus, and to the judge, had chosen for himself a lodging at our house. And we received much of profit and spiritual benefit from his discourses and relations. But on a certain day, at late evening, and at the table at which we three brethren were reclining together with him, he recounted to us a prodigy which had happened to him from his master.
[36] Returning from the monastery of Chura and thirsting, he falls in with Arabs; While I was, he said, under the discipline of this divine man, it happened that I set out for the monastery which they call Chura c. Having measured out the journey, I had arrived there strong and whole, when a certain sickness invaded me, both very grievous and full of danger, which forced me to stay there for some time; for I could by no means return to the place from which I had come, such was the affection and weakness of my body. Some time after, therefore, my strength, which the disease had worn down, being repaired and confirmed, I took the way which through the solitude led to the Laura, laden with a few dry loaves d. But the heat growing vehemently worse, as is wont at harvest time, I was wearied by the sun's rays and greatly by thirst,
but more grievously pressed me the loosened firmness of my body's strength; so that I was in many straits and in want of counsel: I therefore invoked God and the prayers of the holy Elder, until divine mercy, forestalling me with its help in these hardships, led thither some Arab shepherds who might find me through the deserts, who, beholding me, kept asking what I had. But when I showed them the loaves, and complained of my thirst, they took away the loaves for themselves; but they said that water was not at all at hand here for them; however, we will send one to teach you the way, and to point out the place where a stream runs down, not very far distant.
[37] [by whom an Ethiopian, given as a guide to the spring, treacherously plots against his life.] They send therefore a truculent and terrible Ethiopian e, a violent man, and plainly unhappy, and, if you regarded his morals, in nothing different from the devil, as experience afterward showed. Him, the thirst burning me, willing or unwilling I followed as guide. When we had gone forward together a fair distance, he sets me at the channel of a torrent, containing water, and says: Drink, man of God, and securely, as much as you please, and as much as you have need, sate yourself. Wearied therefore with toil, I laid down the little cloak f which I carried, and tried to drink at leisure and not at all hastily. Scarcely had I put my head to the spring, when a suspicion was cast into me that that deadly Ethiopian was contriving and devising some sinister thing against me; and, lifting my head a little, I behold the man, the most unfortunate of all mortals, armed with a stone as large as his hand could hold, and with grim and bloody eyes, gleaming like fire, held up for a fatal blow secretly against me. But I, straightway erect, and immediately and beyond my mind inflamed in spirit: For what cause, I said, do you meditate to do this, wretch? Make trial indeed, if you are at all strong: for both in strength I am your superior, and more girded for combat. But he, as soon as he heard this, at once trembling cast the stone from his hand, and, snatching by stealth the cloak which lay on the ground, in haste and with huge trepidation dashed himself away.
[38] Thanksgiving being rendered to God, I feared to return to the Arabs, whence I had gone, and I hesitated, as full of dread as I was destitute of counsel. At length, but he himself, fleeing through pathless ways toward the Laura, what I feared for myself from them, I resolved to make the pathless solitude passable, and through it, if in any way I could, by penetrating to the Laura, to provide for my safety and life. From the place therefore where I had been, having now gone forward some distance, I ran round the mountains one after another, wandering, and while I avoid one torrent, I strike upon another, from this again I fall into the former, and that through deep darkness, and inaccessible places, the sun having now set, and night come on. Through several hours thus, destitute of counsel and of spirits, God helping, I hear a voice, as if borne to me from some far-off distance, and calling me by name, and as it were pointing out the way by its sound; and bidding me be bold, and fear nothing at all, nay saying: Father John.
[39] At first indeed I was troubled, and suspected that I heard a phantasm of a demon. he hears the voice of Stephen calling him, and is received by him, Therefore a pious prayer being set up, as is fitting, and the Lord's Prayer recited, nonetheless the voice persisted and resounded more distinctly, and was heard as if from near, and repeated this: Father John, come hither, and lay aside all fear; so that I could now discern the sound, and conjecture that it was the Elder who called me. The thing seemed to me incredible and by no means coherent: for how, I said, can he have come thus far? And terror indeed seized me and alienation of mind at so paradoxical a chance, until I beheld the divine man himself in person, giving me courage, and leading me back to the right way, and beginning the prayers accustomed to monks. Amen being said, he addresses me: What, son John, could that unhappy and parricidal Ethiopian even terrify you, when he wished to split your head? Did it vex you so much that he stole your cloak? Let that be no care to you at all; for know this, that in the very hour in which that wicked man tried to lay violent hands on you, I supplicated for you to Christ the Savior. But thanks be to him, who never fails to snatch us from those pursuing. Trust therefore, and fear nothing; but let us go to the hesychasterion. Here a greater admiration struck me; glad therefore and exulting I proceeded with him, until we came to his hesychasterion.
[40] But what I must again say, I will not conceal; and by that food which, being sick, he had desired, he is refreshed. but to the glory of God and for your profit I will set it forth: when, tempted by that disease of which I spoke, I had come to the monastery called Chura, I fell sick: then a certain vehement and burning appetite arose in me of eating boiled salt fish with mustard to satiety, and I greatly desired to satisfy the appetite. But since through that time there was nothing there of the kind, I proceeded to indulge within myself this affection, and to burn more uncontrollably with desire. But when we reached that venerable hesychasterion, as I said, the first, or even the second watch being passed, after prayers besides poured out, to which by the ancient custom handed down by the Fathers we were held; Sit, father John, the Elder begins. While I sit, he himself enters into the inner cave of the hesychasterion which was there: when, behold, to me not expecting it, the worker of wonders, the Father, is present, bringing a dish furnished with salt-macerated fish, mustard being added moreover, and: Behold for you, he said, brother, what you desire: for I prepared this for you, against your return. Nay, eat, and sate yourself; and never hereafter distrust the help and aid of God. But while, amazed, I recall within myself whence at such an hour a relish of this kind had been found with him, nothing else occurred to me but that Christ, who appeared to the holy Apostles after the resurrection at the sea, and set before them coals and a relish and bread indeed, the same Christ, I say, had revealed to his servant and disciple my appetite, and had brought what was desired. I ate therefore, and was satisfied; and when I had satisfied my craving, I sang a eucharistic song to God on this head also.
[41] [To disciples laboring with hunger he points out an herb, and rebukes them for a root plucked up.] But indeed I will not be loath to set forth another prodigy to you: for your kindled ardor toward such spiritual narrations, brethren, is manifest to me. While I was at one time with this master full of God in the desert, together with certain who were devoted to the solitary life, according to the salutary institution and custom of the master, each in his own cave apart, a dire famine invaded us, ruining the vigor of the body, and casting down all the vital and natural and spiritual faculties. Having gone forth therefore from our caves, we wander through the solitude, all but killed with hunger, to seek herbs and shrubs for allaying this evil; and, the deserts being surveyed with much labor, and utterly nothing found, hardly drawing breath, we return to the excellent Elder. He, after we had set forth to him the extreme famine by which we were pressed, and how much labor, running round the whole desert, beyond our strength, we had endured, moved with burning compassion, says: Tomorrow, God granting life, going to that same place, you will find celery most beautifully planted and diligently cultivated; from it, as much as you have need, and nothing more, take for your use, plucking up nothing, laying waste nothing. When we came to the place assigned us by the Elder, we found it in all things so constituted as he had forewarned. Snatching thence what was necessary for us, glad and exulting we return. And when we had shown the Elder some celery plants of those which we brought, a certain root was found plucked up by us unawares; which the master, beholding, grieved vehemently, saying: Did I not command you not to destroy anything, or to root anything up? For indeed you have afflicted me with no slight grief, since you kept not what I had cautioned. When he said this, we understood that the celery was of a certain hidden anchorite.
[42] He approaches the cave of the invisible anchorite; But at another time about the same period, when we had a journey through the desert, he led us into a cave: and the accustomed prayer being there made, we found hay and herbs, and the vestiges of some man, whence we gathered it to be the place of a certain anchorite: but we neither questioned the God-bearing master concerning this matter, nor did he himself teach us. Having gone forth from the cave, we behold an old wild palm g which had the thickness of a man's embrace h; and having stayed there a while, we found no one; and on that same day we betook ourselves to our caves. Thence, after a few days, it pleased me for a while to range the deserts solitarily. When therefore I went alone, I overheard a certain conversation, and considering with myself, I suspected that two were there conversing modestly and without noise: then, looking round here and there, I see no one, except only that prodigious Master of ours, and so great a fear at once seizes me that it wholly closed off my voice. The Master then bids me sit down: and when I was about to do so on his left, he, taking me by the fringe of my garment, bade me sit on the right; and a little after, before I said anything, forestalling me, he says: Go, son John; nor did he add anything.
[43] After I had gone thence and passed that day, I began to reflect within my mind, not without admiration, and who that one is, he declares to John. how it could have happened that, although I had manifestly heard two conversing, I had yet seen only the master. To him therefore I betook myself, to explore what the matter was. He was at leisure alone in his cave when I approached; and falling at his feet, beseeching much, I kept asking, and said: I will not indeed let you go, nor rise from the kiss of your footsteps, until you shall be willing to tell me who was there together with you, when, as you sat there in the desert, you bade me, contrary to custom, sit on your right, and soon added: Go, son John. Having said this, he raises me with his consecrated hand; and perceiving well how ardently I longed to know it, he added these things: A certain admirable, great, holy anchorite, plainly alien from human intercourse, and to whom herbs are constantly for food, was he whom you heard conversing with me; and this man furnished that cave which he once entered, where also we saw the wild palm. For as we went in thither, and afterward, when we had stayed some hours, as we went out, he was nowhere absent, but imperceptibly clung to the palm, by no means conspicuous to you, nor even to me, when lately he sat conversing with me. For this is the first petition of anchorites with God, and which from the very beginning, when, having gone forth from the monasteries, they bade farewell to the brethren, they are wont to propose to God, that they be beheld by no one, save when they wish otherwise i. Astonished therefore at this matter, I praised God, who made so great those who wholly depended on his will.
ANNOTATIONS OF D.P.
ANNOTATIONS OF D.P.
CHAPTER V.
To Theodore and Basil, aspiring to a bishopric, he makes manifest their secret desire and its outcome.
Ἦν τις, Θεόδωρος ὀνόματι, θεομάχος δεινὸς, καὶ κενόδοξος, καὶ τρισάθλιος, ὥσπερ ἀπέδειξεν ἡ τῶν πραγμάτων ἔκβασις· σχῆμα καὶ στολὴν μοναχικὴν, οἱονεὶ δειρὰν προβάτου, περιεβέβλητο τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν, ἔσωθεν λύκος ἅρπαξ ὑπῆρχεν, καὶ τὴν γνώμην θηριωδέστατος. Ἐκέκτητο δέ τινα φίλον, Βασίλειον ἐπωνομαζόμενον· ἄγχιστα γὰρ αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ Σπουδαίῳ τῆς ἁγίας Χριστοῦ, τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν, Ἀναστάσεως εἶχε κελλίον. Μιᾷ οὖν τῶν ἡμερῶν τούτῳ τῷ Βασιλείῳ προσῆλθεν ὁ δυσώνυμος Θεόδωρος, ὡς πρὸς αὐτὸν ὑπερβαλλόντως ἀποσώζων ἀγαπητικὴν διάθεσιν, καὶ ἀνακοινούμενος αὐτῷ ἑκάστοτε τὰ μυστικὰ καταθύμια, καὶ, ὃν ὑπέβαλεν αὐτῷ ὁ τῆς κενοδοξίας χαλεπώτατος δαίμων, λογισμὸν ἀπέφηνε, λέγων· Οἶσθα, γνησιώτατε, τὴν προσοῦσάν σοι παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ ἀκραιφνεστάτην ἀγάπησιν ἐξ ἀεὶ, καὶ ἥν σοι φυλάττω φιλίαν· ὅθεν οὐδὲ τὸ ἐνδόμαχόν μου πυρωδέστατον πάθος ἀπό σου ταμιεύσασθαι δεδύνημαι, ἀλλὰ φανερώσων ἥκω. Ἐπιθυμία τις μεγάλη καὶ ἔφεσις ἀφόρητος ἤδη κατατρύχει με δεινῶς τοῦ τῶν Ἱεροσολύμων Θεαδελφικοῦ ἄρξαι θρόνου, τὸν κύριν Ἡλίαν ἐξωθήσαντά τε καὶ διώξαντα τοῦ Ἱεραρχικοῦ προτερήματος. Ἀλλ᾽ εἶθε γνοίην τὸ τούτου ἐκβησόμενον, πρὶν ἂν ἐπιλήψομαι τῆς ἐγχειρήσεως, ἵνα πρὸς αὐτὸ διαπράξομαι· οὐ γὰρ λέληθέν σε ἡ παῤῥησία, ἣν κέκτημαι πρὸς τὸν σύμβολον Φοσάτου, καὶ ἣν ὁ ἐμὸς ἀδελφὸς κατὰ πολὺ μείζονα πρὸς αὐτὸν ἔχει· ἰατρὸς γάρ ἐστι χρησιμώτατος, ὡς οἶσθα, τῇ γνώσει τε καὶ ἐνδοξότητι πολλοὺς ὑπερβαλλόμενος. Παρακεκλήσθω τοίνυν ἡ σὴ πνευματικὴ φιλότης, καὶ συνιέτω μοι επὶ τὴν εὐαγῆ Λαῦραν τοῦ ἁγίου πατρὸς ἡμῶν Σάβα, πρὸς τὸν ἅγιον Στέφανον, τὸν ἐρημήτην, ὅπως ἂν καταμαθωμεν παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἡμετέρου σκοποῦ τὸ ἐσόμενον τέλος.
[45] Τοῦτον οὖν μεθ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ λαβὼν παρὰ προαίρεσιν τῆς ψυχῆς τοῖς παρακλητικοῖς αὐτοῦ λόγοις ὑπήξαντα, ἀφίκετο πρὸς τὸν Γέροντα, ἰδίᾳ διατρίβοντα τότε ἐν τοῖς κατωτέροις τῆς τοῦ Καλαμῶνος ἐρήμου σπηλαίοις κατὰ τὸν τῆς Τεσσαρακοστῆς καιρὸν, καὶ ἀμφότεροι δυσωποῦτες ὁμοῦ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἔφησαν· Τὴν σὴν ἀντιβολοῦμεν ἁγιότητα, πάτερ, προειπεῖν ἡμῖν διὰ ποίαν ἐνταῦθα παραγεγόναμεν αἰτίαν, καὶ τί τὸ ἐξ αὐτῆς ἐκβησόμενον πέρας. Ὁ δὲ θεόφρων Γέρων ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν· Πόθεν ἰσχύω ὁ τάλας καὶ μεστὸς ἀμπλακημάτων γνῶναι τὰ ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ, καὶ προγνῶναι τὰ μέλλοντα; Μονῳ δὲ τῷ Θεῷ ἔοικε ταῦτα, καὶ τοῖς κατ᾽ ἀρετὴν διαφέρουσι, καὶ καθαροῖς, καὶ τῷ καθαρῷ προσεγγίζουσι, καὶ παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ κομιζομένοις τὴν ἄφθονον αὐτοῦ δωρεὰν, καὶ ἀένναον χάριν· ἐγὼ δὲ τούτων παντάπασι οὔκ εἰμι, ἀλλὰ πάνυ ποῤῥωτάτῳ καθέστηκα, καὶ εἰς τοιοῦτον βαθμὸν οὐκ ἐλήλακα. Οὐκοῦν συγχωρήσατέ μοι, ἀδελφοὶ, καὶ μὴ ζητεῖτε παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ τὰ ὑπερόγκα.
[46] Ἐπὶ πολὺ οὖν ἀντιβολήσασιν ἔτι ὁ μετριόφρων Γέρων ἔφη· Ἐπείπερ διετείνατε τὰ ἡμετερα ταῖς ἐκλιπαρήσεσι σπλάγχνα καταφλέγοντες, κᾂν τὴν χρείαν ἀναγγείλατε, μόνον ἴσως ἂν δυναίμην ἐξειπεῖν ὑμῖν τὸ ἐξ αὐτῆς συμβησόμενον. Οἱ δὲ εἶπον· Οὐδὲ σὺ, οὐδὲ ἕτερός τις ταύτὴν παρ᾽ ἡμῶν ἀκούσει πώποτε. Ὁ δὲ ὅσιος Γέρων πρὸς αὐτοὺς πάλιν εἶπεν· Λοιπὸν προθεσμίαν τριῶν ἡμερῶν θεσπίσαντές μοι ἐπάνιτε, κᾀγὼ ὑμῖν διὰ τῆς θείας χάριτος γνωρίσω τὰ ἐσόμενα. Τῆς προθεσμίας οὖν τελεσθείσης, κᾀυτῶν παραγεγονότων, αὐστηροτάτους πρὸς αὐτοὺς αὐθεντικῶς εἶπε λόγους ὁ ἅγιος Γέρων· Ὦ ἄθλιοι καὶ ταλαίπωροι, τὴν ὑμετέραν ἀφέμενοι σωτηρίαν, ταύτην παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ τὴν χρείαν ἐπιζητοῦντες ἀφίκεσθε; Σὺ δὲ, ὦ πάντων ἀθλιώτατε, καὶ ἀγνωμονέστατε Θεόδωρε, εἰς τοιαύτην ἐλήλακας ἀφροσύνην καὶ ἀλαζονείαν, ὥστε σπεύδειν πατριάρχης γενέσθαι; Τούτου χάριν ἐπιδείκνυσαι ταυτηνὶ τὴν ψευδεπίπλαστον εὐλάβειαν, πεισθεὶς τῷ τῶν ζιζανίων σπορεῖ καὶ φθορεῖ τῆς καρδίας διαβόλῳ καὶ τῆς Εὐαγγελικῆς παρακούσας φωνῆς, τῆς λεγούσης Ὁ ὑψῶν ἑαυτὸν ταπεινωθήσεται, καὶ ὁ ταπεινων ἑαυτὸν ὑψωθήσεται. Ἀγνοεῖς, ὅτι οὐδὲν τοῦ τῆς ὑπερηφανείας πάθους ὀλετριώτερον; Οὐκ οἶδας, ὅτι δι᾽ οὗ πὰς ἑαυτὸν ἐπαίρειν βούλεται, δι᾽ αὐτοῦ καταισχυνθήσεται, καὶ πάντων ἀθλιώτατος ἀποδείκυται; οὐκ ἀνέγνως, ὅσα περὶ τῆς ὑψηλοφροσύνης τοῖς διδασκαλοις εἴρηται; Οὐαί σοι, οὐαί σοι, ἐλεεινότατε δεῖ γάρ με καὶ πάντα Χριστιανὸν ἕνεκεν σοῦ ὁλοφύρεσθαι, εἰ μὴ ἀποστῇς τῆς τοιαύτης αἰσχρᾶς ἐνθυμήσεως.
[47] Ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως πέπεισμαι, εἰ καὶ κατάχρεως, ὃς ταῦτά σοι ἐρῶ· παραινεῖν γάρ σε καὶ νουθετεῖν ὁφείλομεν, ὅτι τοῦτό σοι γεγονέναι παραχωρηθήσεται, οὑ διὰ τὴν σὴν ὄντως πρὸς Θεὸν ἀξιότητα, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν ὑμετέραν ἄπειρον ἀπροαξίαν, καὶ ἀμέλειαν, καὶ πλημμέλειαν. Ἐπιτεύξῃ δὲ σὺ τῆς φιλαρχικῆς ταύτης· ἀλλ᾽, ὥς μοι θεόθεν ἀποκεκάλυπται, οὐ μὴ ἴδοις μιᾶς ἡμέρας ἀνάπαυσιν, οὐδέ σοι τὰ πράγματα, ὡς ἐρᾷς κατευθηνθήσεται, καὶ μἑχρι μιᾶς ὅρας οὐ μὴ ἄρξεις τοῦ θρόνου, ὡς ἐφίεσαι, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπικρατήσας αὐτοῦ, επὶ χρόνον βραχὺν τῆς ὑμετέρας παιδείας ἕνεκεν κακῶς ἀποβληθήσῃ, καὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς στερηθήσῃ, καὶ καταισχυνθήσῃ, καὶ πᾶσιν ὕστερον μισητὸς φανήσῃ ἐπειδὴ ὡς λύκος οὐκ διὰ θυρίδος εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησιαστικὴν προεδρίαν εἰσελεύσῃ, καὶ οὐχ ὡς ποιμὴν ψηφισθήσῃ. Ὅθεν ἡ ἀλήθεια νικήσει, καὶ ἐν τῇ οἰκείῳ τάξει σταθήσεται ἡ σελήνη καὶ τοὺς θεσμοὺς αὐτῆς, καὶ ὅρους οὐδαμῶς ἀτεθήσει, τὴν ἁγιωτάτην, φημὶ, ἐκκλησίαν, ἥτις ἐξ ἀεὶ οὐ διαλέλοιπε, πολεμουμένη καὶ νικῶσα· ὥσπερ οὐδέποτε τὴν θάλασσαν τὰ κύματα διαλείπει, οὐδὲ τοὺς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀληθεῖς ἀρχιερεῖς πόλεμος· εἰ γὰρ καὶ παραχωρήσει τὸ θεῖον ἔσεσθαι τοῦτο κατά τινα προνοίας ἄῤῥητον τρόπον, ἀλλ᾽ οὖν ἐπιστρέψει τὸ δικαίωμα τῷ ἰδίῳ τόπῳ.
[48] Ταῦτα ὁ Θεόδωρος ἀκούσας, τὴν κενοδοξίαν προκέκρικεν τῆς σωτηρίας, ὡς ἵππος ἀγέροχος, τῇ δόξῃ γαυρούμενος, ἀχαλινότως κατακρυμνὸν ἑαυτὸν εἰσωθούμενος· οὐ γὰρ τὴν αὐτοῦ διάνοιαν τῷ θείῳ φόβῳ κεχαλίνωκεν· ἐσκοτίσθη γὰρ ἡ ἀσύνετος αὐτοῦ καρδία, καὶ παρασυνεβλήθη τοῖς κτήνεσι τοῖς ἀνοήτοις, καὶ ὡμοιώθη αὐτοῖς, καὶ τῷ πατέρι αὐτοῦ τῷ σατανᾷ τῷ τῆς μεγαλαυχίας ἠττώμενος φρονήματι. Ὃς τὸν κεφαλὴν βεβαρυμένος επὶ τὴν γῆν νενευκυῖαν ἔχων, τρὶς ἐπυνθάνετο, εἰ παρακεχώρηται αὐτῷ τινα χρόνον ὅλως επικραθῆναι τοῦ θεαδελφικοῦ προτερήματος. Γνωρίσαντος οὖν αὐτῷ τοῦ Γέροντος, ἐπανῆλθεν ὁ πανάθλιος, καὶ τὸν σύμβουλον τοῖς δώροις θέλγειν καὶ πείθειν αὐτίκα ἀπήρξατο, καὶ φίλους σὺν τῷ ἀδελφῷ διεγείρειν πρὸς αὐτὸν παρακλήτορας, καὶ οὐ πρότερον ἐπαύσατο, πρὶν ἂν δι᾽ ἐξουσιαστικῆς τυραννίδος τὸν θρόνον παρέλαβε, τὸν ἁγιώτατον πατριάρχην, κύριν Ἡλίαν, ἐξορίσας ἀσεβῶς καὶ ἀθέως.
[49] Μετὰ οὖν τινα βραχύτατον χρόνον, κατὰ τὴν θεόσδοτον τοῦ ἁγίου Γέροντος πρόῤῥησιν πάντα πέπονθεν ὁ ἀλαζὼν καὶ αὐτάδης Θεόδωρος, ἑκουσίως ἑαυτὸν καταβαλὼν εἰς ἁμαρτιῶν βαθύτατον βάραθρον, δικαίαις καθυποβληθεὶς κατάραις καὶ ἀναθέμασι, καὶ κακῶς ἐν Περσίδι τὸν βίον καταλύσας. Ὁ δὲ ἁγιώτατος πατριάρχης, κύρις Ἡλίας, επὶ τὸν ἴδιον θρόνον ἐπανῆλθεν ἐν χαρμοσύνῃ καὶ καλῇ ἐπαναλύσει, καὶ πολυμερῶς τῆς πατριαρχικῆς ἀπέλαυσεν ἀξίας επὶ ἐνιαυτοὺς ἰκανοὺς, καὶ τῶν τῇδε ὁσίως πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἐκδημήσας, τὸν σύγκελλον αὐτοῦ, κύριν Γεώργιον, τοῦ θεαδελφικοῦ θρόνου κατέλειψεν διάδοχον.
[50] Μιᾷ οῦν τῶν ἡμερῶν τοῦ κύρου Ἡλία ἱεραρχοῦντος, καὶ τῆς τοῦ ἁγίου Γέροντος προγνώσεως τελεσθείσης, τινὲς τῶν πατέρων προσελθόντες τῷ Γέροντι, ἐπηρώτων αὐτὸν, λέγοντες· Πῶς, πάτερ ἁγιώτατε, ἀπεκάλυψέ σοι ὁ Θεὸς, ἡνίκα σοί ποτε προσῆλθε πευσόμενος ὁ κακόμνηστος ἐκεῖνος Θεόδωρος, ὅποτε ἀνόμως τῶν Ἱεροσολύμων επισκοπήσας, τὸ ἐκ τῆς ἁρχῆς αὐτοῦ καὶ επισκοπῆς γεγενημένον, καὶ πρὶν αὐτὸν ἐκφράσαι σοι τὸ ζητούμενον;
οὓς τὰ πρῶτα μὲν δυσχεράνας τοιοῦτον αὐτοῖς μυστήριον ἀποφήνασθαι, εἶτα δὲ πλεῖστα παρακληθεὶς ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν, μετὰ πολλῆς μετριοφροσύνης εἶπεν· Ἐκείνου, περὶ οὗ πυνθάνεσθε, ὦ πατέρες, πολλά με δυσωπήσαντος, ἐπείσθην, καὶ εἶπον αὐτῷ μετά τινα προθεσμίαν ὑποστρέψαι πρός με, καὶ εὐθέως ἠρξάμην πρεσβεύειν τὸν φιλάνθρωπον Θεὸν γνωρίσαι μοι διὰ ποίαν ἀφίκετο χρείαν, καὶ τὸ ἐξ αὐτῆς γενησόμενον.
[51] Πρεσβεύσας οὖν, ὡς ἐν ἐκστάσει ἐγενόμην, καὶ θεωρῶ ἐμαυτὸν ὡς επὶ κύριον τῆς δόξης ἐν τόπῳ φωτεινῷ καὶ ὑπερενδόξῳ, οὗ τὸ σέλας ἂν ἐκδιήγητον καὶ τὸ κάλλος ἀμήχανον πᾶσαν ὑπερεκπίπτον αἴσθησίν τε καὶ ἔννοιαν· ὑπῆρχε γὰρ ἐν αὐτῷ πέτρα διαυγεστέρατε καὶ εὐκλεεστέρα καὶ ἐνδοξοτέρα, ἐν ᾗ χῶρος ἦν λεἶόστε καὶ ὁμαλός καὶ εἶπίπεδος καὶ εὐκάθεδρος, καὶ κάτωθεν τῆς πέτρας βλέπω τὸν ψευδώνυμον Θεόδωρον, πολύ θορυβούμενόν τε καὶ κλονούμενον, μοχθοῦντά τε καὶ μέγαν ἀγῶνα προβαλλόμενον ἐπ᾽ αὐτὴν ἀνιέναι, καὶ μετὰ πολὺν ἀνελθόντα μόχθον, οὐ μὴν τῷ ἐπιπέδῳ τε καὶ εὐκαθέδρῳ τῆς πέτρας τόπῳ ἐνιδρυμένον, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν κοίλῳτε καὶ βαθεἶ καὶ εὐολίσθῳ, ἑαυτὸν κατακρημνῆσαι πειρώμενον, καὶ παλάμαις τε καὶ χερσὶ καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς μέλεσι δράξασθαι τῆς πέτρας μηχανώμενον, καὶ ἐαυτὸν ἀνεκπτώτως καὶ ἀνολίσθως κατορθῶσαι τροπούμενον, καὶ παντελῶς οὐκ ἰσχύοντα πρὸς βραχυτάτης μῆκος ὥρας, ἀλλὰ διηνεκῶς ὀλισθαίνοντα, ὅθεν ἄκροις δακτύλοις ἥπτετο, καὶ ἄνεσιν τὸ παράπαν οὐκ ἔχοντα· ὕστερον δὲ πεπτωκότα ἄνωθεν ἕως κάτω, καὶ δεινῶς συντριβέντα.
[52] Θεασάμενος οὖν ταῦτα, διενοούμην συγκρίνων τὰ ὀφθέντα, καὶ παραυτὰ τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ φωταγωγηθεὶς ἐλλάμψει ἐνόησα, ὅτι ἡ μὲν πέτρα τῶν Χριστιανῶν ἐστιν ἡ πίστις· ὁ δὲ επίπεδος αὐτῆς καὶ εὐκάθεδρος λόφος προέδρου καθέστηκε θῶκος· ὁ δὲ τοῦ Θεοδώρου πολὺς κόποστε καὶ μόχθος, καὶ τὸ μέγα κλυδώνιον επὶ τὴν πέτραν καθεστῆναι σπουδάζοντος, πόθος ἦν ἆρξαι πατριαρχικοῦ θώκου, ὃν οὐ κατὰ δικαίαν δηλαδὴ ψῆφον, οὔτε κατ᾽ ἐκλογὴν θείαν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ παραχώρησιν ἐφθακέναι ἴσχυσεν· ἐπειδὴ οὐκ ἐν ὁμαλοῦ τῆς πέτρας, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν τῷ ὀλισθηρῷ καὶ κοίλῳ ἐκάθισε τόπῳ, ᾧπερ οὐδαμῶς βεβαίως επὶ πολὺ ἐφιζάνειν δεδυνήται, ἀλλ᾽ ὕψωθεν χαμαὶ κατέπεσεν, ὅτι ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐκκλησία ἀποδέξασθαι αὐτὸν οὐκ ἀνέσχηται, ἀλλ᾽ ἀποῤῥίψειν αὐτὸν, καὶ τὸν θειότατον ἀποκλύσειν θρόνον τῆς αὐτοῦ βεβήλου καὶ μιαρᾶς δυσωδίας. Τεθαυμακότες οὖν επὶ τούτοις οἱ πατέρες τὴν τοῦ Γέροντος καθαρότητα, δόξαν τῷ κυρίῳ ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ ἀνέπεμψαν.
[53] Ἄλλοτε δὲ αὖθις ὁ πρὸ μικροῦ μνημονευσθεὶς ἀββᾶς Βασίλειος, ὅστις ἦν ποτε φίλος τοῦ ματαιόφρονος Θεοδώρου, ὕστερον δὲ εὐλόγως γεγονὼς ἀντίπαλος διὰ τὴν ἄθεον αὐτοῦ τόλμαν καὶ θρασύτητα αὐτοῦ τελείως ἀποκόψας καὶ ἐκστήσας ἑαυτὸν ἐξ οὕτε τῆς περὶ αὐτοῦ προῤῥήσεως παρὰ τοῦ προγνώστου Γέροντος ἀκήκοεν· οὗτος τοίνυν ὁ Βασίλειος προσῆλθεν τῷ θεοφόρῳ Γέροντι λισσόμενος καὶ λέγων· Πάτερ ἁγιώτατε Στέφανε, ἐκλιπαρῶ σε προφάναι, τίνος ἕνεκεν ἐνταῦθα ἐλήλυθα χρείας, καὶ ὅτι τὸ ἐξ αὐτῆς φανησόμενον· οἶδα γὰρ, οἶδα, ὅτι πᾶν, ὃ ἂν αἰτεῖς τὸν Θεόν σου, δίδοταί σοι. Καὶ πρότερον μὲν ὁ Γέρων παρῃτήσατο, ὕστερον δὲ παρακληθεὶς ὑπὸ τῆς ἀγαθῆς αὐτοῦ καὶ εὐπροαιρέτου διαθέσεως, ᾐτήσατο παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ δύοιν ἡμερῶν διωρίαν, ἧς πληρωθείσης, ἐπανελθόντι φησὶν ὁσιος πρεσβύτης· Ἐπίσκοπος ἐζηθήθης γενέσθαι, καὶ εἰ συμφέρει καταμαθεῖν ζητήσων ἐλήλυθας· διὸ λέγω σοι.
[54] Ὅτι ἡ μὲν επισκοπὴ μεγάλη καὶ ὑψηλὴ καὶ ὑπερκόσμιος καθέστηκε, ὑπερτέραις ἀμειβομένη τοὺς τὸ ἔργον αὐτῆς εἰλικρινῶς καὶ ὁσίως μετιόντας, καὶ τὴν ἐμπεπιστευμένην ὁλκάδα ἐπ᾽ εὔδιον λιμένα σοφῶς ἐξιθύνοντάς τε καὶ διασώζοντας, αἰωνίων ἀγαθῶν ἀντιδόσεσιν. Οὐδὲν τῶν ὄντων τῆς ἀρχιεροσύνης ἄμεινον· ἐπ᾽ αὐτὴν γὰρ τὴν τῶν ἀρετῶν ἀκρότητα ἀναγει τοὺς θεοφρόνως καὶ ἀνεπιλήπτως πηδαλιουχοῦντας τοὺς ἐγκεχειρισμένους ἐκκλησιαστικοὺς οἴακας· ἀλλ᾽ εἴπερ μοι άκούσεις, οὐ μὴ παρέψῃ τοῖς σε επιζητοῦσιν, οὐδ᾽ οὐ μὴ ὑποκλίνῃς τὸν σὸν αὐχένα δέξασθαι τουτονὶ τὸν ἐπαχθέστατον ζύγον, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἐλαφρὸν, ὃν περίκεισαι, διαμένεις ἀεὶ τηρῶν· οὐ γὰρ ἐστί σοι ἐπισκοπῆσαι συμφέρον· ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως επίσταμαι, εἰκαίπερ κεκώλυκά σε, ὅτι πάντως οὐ πεισθήσῃ, ἀλλ᾽ επισκοπήσεις· οὐ γὰρ ὑπὸ ἀνάγκην ὑπάρχεις, καὶ βίαιον ὅρον, ἀλλὰ τῷ αὐτεξουσίῳ τετίμησαι.
[55] Ἀγάσθεὶς οὖν επὶ τούτοις ὁ ἀββᾶς Βασίλειος εἶπεν· Πῶς, ἁγιώτατε πάτερ, θεόθεν μεμαθηκὼς, ὅτι πάντως επίσκοπος γενήσομαι, κωλύεις με τοῦ γενέσθαι παραινῶν; Πρὸς ὅν ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ Γέρων ἔφη· Ὅπερ μοι ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀπεφάνθη, οὐκ ἀπέκρυψά σου, εἰρηκὼς ὅτι οὐδαμῶς ὑπὸ βίαντε καὶ ἀνάγκην καθέστηκας, ἀλλὰ τῷ αὐτεξουσίῳ τετίμησαι, γνωρίασας, ὅτι ὁ βίος οὗτος, ὃν μετέρχῃ, σοὶ μᾶλλον τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς ἐστιν συμφερώτερος. Ἀκηκοὼς δὲ ταῦτα ὁ Βασίλειος ἠξίωσεν αὐτὸν φανερῶσαι, πῶς αὐτῷ περὶ τούτων ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ πεφανέρωται. Καί φησι πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ θεοφόρος· Γεγονὼς ἐν ἐκστάσει ἐμαυτόν τε καὶ σὲ, καὶ μοναχῶν πληθὺν ἐν ἐπηρμένῳ τε καὶ ὄχ᾽ ἐῤῥωμένῳ κάστρῳ καθωραισμένῳ τε καὶ παντοίᾳ πεποικιλμένῳ ὡραιότητι, ἐκλαμπρῷ τε καὶ ἀκαταγωνίστῳ ὁρῶ· ὡς οὖν καθήμενοι ἦμεν ἐν αὐτῶ, ἰδοὺ θύραθεν τοῦ κάστρου ἔρχεται φωνὴ· Δεῦρ᾽ ἴθι πρὸς ἡμᾶς, ἀββᾶ Βασίλειε, δεῦρ᾽ ἴθι βοῶσα.
[56] Παρακεκυφότες δὲ ἄμφω ἐγώ τε καὶ σὺ ἐγνωκέναι, πόθεν γέγονεν ἡ αὐδὴ, θεωροῦμεν θάλατταν σφόδρα κυμαινομένην, ἀνθρώπους τε ἐν αὐτῇ πολλοὺς νηχομένους, καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν ταραχωδῶν κυμάτων κλυδωνιζομένους, καὶ χειμαζομένους, καὶ τούτων τινὰς μὲν καταποντιζομένους, τινὰς δὲ κοπιῶντας, καὶ τοῦ ποθουμένου ἀστοχοῦντας· ἑτέρους δὲ ἐκ τῆς ἀνωφελοῦς ἐκείνης ἐνύλου φύρσεως ἀμογητὶ τοῦ ζητουμένου μετειληφότας. Ἀφ᾽ ὧν τινος βραχέος ὄχλου, ἐξηχεῖτο φωνὴ κράζουσα· Ὀρέγου χεῖρα ἡμῖν, ἀββᾶ Βασίλειε, ὀρέγου. Τῆς φωνῆς οὖν οὕτω δηθὰ κραυγηδὸν ἐξηχούσης, πάντες οἱ σύν σοι τοῦ διαυγοῦστε καὶ ἀσφαλοῦς ὀχυρώματος ἔνδοθεν διατετειχισμένοι διδασκαλικαῖς παραινοῦντες εὐνοίαις ἐκωλύομέν σε τὴν τοῦ περιφανοῦς ἐκείνου ἀκαταμαχήτου κάστρου λαμπρότητά τε καὶ γαληνώτητα μὴ καταλιπεῖν, καὶ πρὸς τὴν σαλώδη πεπορεῦσθαι θλίφιντε καὶ πολύκλονον σύσχυσιν· σὺ δὲ προέσχες τῆς τῶν προσκαλούντων ἀκροώμενος πωνῆς, ὀνομαστὶ φωνούσης· Μὴ ἐγκαταλίπῃς ἡμᾶς, ἀββᾶ Βασίλειε, τοὺς ποιμένα σε καὶ προστάτην ἐπιποθοῦντας· τῆς ἡμετέρας ἐμέλησας νουθεσίας, τῇ ποιμαντικῇ μᾶλλον ἀρχῇ ἐνηδόμενος, καὶ πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἀβιάστως πεπόρευσαι, τὴν τοῦ κάστρου ἐάσας τερπνοτάτην ἀσφάλειαν.
[57] Ἐγὼ δὲ τὴν ὀπτασίαν ταύτην ἀνακρίνας, οὐδὲν κατανοῆσαι πλέον δεδύνημαι, καὶ ὅ τι τὸ μὲν πολύφωτον καὶ περιφανὲς ἀῤῥαγέστατον κάστρον τῆς τοῦ εὐαγοῦς μονήρους βίου ἀρίστης διαγωγῆς εἰκὼν καθέστηκεν· ἡ δὲ πολυτάραχος καὶ κυματώδης θάλασσα τοῦ κόσμου ἴνδαλμάτε καὶ ὁμοίωμα πέφυκεν ἐξεικονίζων τὸν πολυμέριμνον τῶν ἀνθρώπων φυρμὸν, καὶ τὸν τῶν βιωτικῶν πραγμάτων ἀκατάπαυστον χειμῶνα·τὸν δὲ μέτριον ἐκεῖνον σύλλογον, τόν σε πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ἐγκαλούμενον, καὶ τὴν τῶν σῶν χειρῶν ὄρεξιν ἐξαιτούμενον, Χριστιανῶν εἶναι μέρος ὑπετόπασα. Τοὺς δὲ σὺν ἐμοῦ σε ἀκολουθῆσαι κωλύοντας, μοναχοὺς ὑπάρχειν ὑπέλαβον· σὲ δὲ βλέπων ταῖς κλήσεσιν ἐκείνων ἐπιγαννύμενον, λελόγισμαι, ὅτι μᾶλλον αὐτοῖς ἠκολουτηκέναι προαιρεῖς, εἴπερ ἡμῖν τὸ σωτήριόν τε καὶ βέλτιον φιλοστόργως συμβουλεύουσιν, ὅθεν σε συμπορευθῆναι κεκώλυκα, καίπερ σε γινώσκων ἀπειθήσειν μέλλοντα.
[58] Λίαν μέντοι επὶ τούτοις ἀγασθεὶς ὁ Βασίλειος, τῷ τῶν ἀγαθῶν δοτῆρι καὶ ὑπεραίνῳ Θεῷ χαριστήριον ὕμνον ἀνέπεμψε, τὴν ἀξιάγαστον αρετὴν τοῦ Γέροντος ἐγκωμιάσας· ὕστερον γὰρ ταυτησὶ τῆς προοράσεως ἀκριβῶς τελεσθείσης, πολλοῖς αὐτὴν διηγησάμενος, τὴν Ἱεριχὼ διοικεῖν κατήντησε χρείαν, κακεῖθεν πρὸς αὐτὸν τὸν ἅγιον Γέροντα παρεγένετο τῆς φιλοχρίστου πόλεως Τιβεριάδος ὑπάρχων επίσκοπος, ἐμοῦ τότε τοῦ ἀναξίου καὶ ἐλαχίστου τοῦ θεοφόρῳ πρεσβύτῃ μαθητεύοντος, καὶ διακονοῦντος ἐν τοῖς τοῦ Δουκᾶ σπηλαίοις διατρίβοντι· ὃν, ὡς εἰκὸς, ἀσπασάμενος, καὶ πολλὰ λιπαρήσας ἐβίασα μὲν διηγήσασθαι ταύτην τὴν προγραφεῖσαν τῶν θαυμαστῶν διημάτων ψυχωφελῆ ξυνορίδα διὰ τῆς ἰδίας αὐτοῦ φιλαληθοῦς καὶ ἀκιβδήλου γλώσσης πάλιν επὶ ἐμοῦ τοῦ ἀχρείου καὶ τῶν παρόντων, ἧς ἐχόντως ἀκροατὴς γεγονὼς, χάριν τῷ Θεῷ καὶ ἐν τούτῳ προσήνεγκα, τῷ τὴν χάριν αὐτοῦ πλουσίως παρέχοντι τοῖς αὐτὸν ὁλοψύχως ἐν πίστει μεγαλύνουσιν. Fuit quidam, Theodorus nomine, rebellis
There was a certain man, Theodore by name, a dire fighter against God, and vainglorious, exceedingly hateful to God, proud, and, Ambitious Theodore desires the patriarchate of Jerusalem, as the outcome of events taught, most unhappy: in form and monastic habit, as with a sheep's fleece, he had covered his outward appearance, while within a rapacious wolf lay hidden, and concealed a most savage mind. He had a certain friend, surnamed Basil: for he held the cell next to him in the Spudaeum a of the holy Resurrection of Christ our God. On a certain day therefore Theodore b, unworthy of this name, approached this Basil, as if affected toward him with a good will beyond measure; and communicating to him daily his inmost thoughts one by one, and what thought the most hostile spirit of pride had suggested to him, he explained it in this manner: You know, my most candid friend, the most sincere love which I have always shown you, and the friendship which even now I preserve: whence I could not conceal from you even the motions of my mind stirring up in me internal and most bitter wars; nay rather, to open them, I have now come. A huge desire wretchedly tortures me now, and an intolerable longing, that, Domnus Elias being by me driven out and put to flight from the hierarchical dignity, I may obtain the Theadelphic c throne of the church of Jerusalem. But would that I might know beforehand what will come of that business, before I gird myself to attempt it; that so I may accommodate myself in accomplishing it: for it is not hidden from you how much I prevail by favor with the symbolus of Phosation d, and how much more even (for it matters not a little) my brother with the same: for he is, as you know, a most useful physician, and excelling many in knowledge and fame. Let therefore your spiritual friendship allow itself to be entreated, and accompany me into the illustrious Laura of our holy father Sabas, to holy Stephen the hermit, that we may learn from him what outcome the matter which we intend is to obtain.
[45] Having taken therefore this companion (for, against the counsel of his mind, and he goes to consult Stephen about it, he had at length yielded to his exhortations), he came to the Elder, then indeed during Lent attentive to himself alone in the lower retreats of the desert of Calamon; then both together thus set about to beseech him: We pray your sanctity, father, that you set forth to us the cause which has brought us hither; and what its outcome will be. To whom the Elder, endowed with a divine mind: Whence, he said, could I, wretched and full of sins, know the things that are in the heart; whence foreknow the things that are to come? These things assuredly befit God alone; and men of lofty virtue, and pure from crime, and drawing nearer to him who is purity itself, and deemed worthy of his liberal bounty and ever-flowing grace: but in that number I am by no means; but am distant thence by a very long interval, nor to such
a grade have I been advanced. Grant me therefore, brethren, this pardon, and do not ask of me these things, which exceed my strength exceedingly much.
[46] When they pressed on with much prayer, the modest Elder added these things besides: who, the matter being divinely understood, convicts his ambition, Since you persist in burning our inmost parts with entreaties; then, if you tell what you wish, I can perhaps only declare to you what will thence follow. But they: Neither you, nor any other, shall ever hear it from us. Then again the holy Elder to them: Therefore, he says, fix me a term of three days, then return; and I will dispatch for you, by the grace of God, what things are to be. When therefore this space had elapsed and they were present, the holy Elder, according to his authority, rebuked them with these most severe words: O wretched and miserable men, have you come to seek out this matter from me, renouncing your own salvation? But you, O most unhappy of all mortals, and most demented Theodore, could you come to such madness and arrogance, that you strive to become a Patriarch? Do you for this display this masked piety, obeying the sower of tares and the corrupter of hearts, the devil, a despiser of the Gospel voice which says: He that exalts himself shall be humbled; and he that humbles himself shall be exalted? Do you not know that nothing is more pernicious than the vice of a proud mind? Do you not know that by that whereby each strives to raise himself, by that very thing he must be confounded, and shown most abject to the eyes of all? Have you now forgotten whatever things were handed down by the Masters concerning pride? Woe to you, woe to you, most miserable of all that live! for both I and every Christian must mourn your case, unless you desist from this base ambition.
[47] Nor yet does this prevent me from being led, and he foretells that he will indeed obtain his wish; but be shortly cast down. though laden with my own debts, to say these things to you: for we are bound to reprove you, and to remind you, that it will be granted you to attain to it, not indeed for your merits with God, but for your infinite sloth, thoughtlessness, and wickedness. But you shall become possessed of this ambitious wish; but, as it has been divinely revealed to me, there shall not befall you the rest even of one day; nor shall your affairs flow prosperously, as you hope; nor shall you preside over the chair according to your wish even for one hour; but, having obtained it, you shall shortly, for your manner of acting, be cast down in a wretched fashion, stripped of your principate, loaded with insults, and thereafter held worthy of the hatred of all: since, having entered into the ecclesiastical magistracy as a wolf, not through the door, you shall by no means also be reckoned as a pastor. Whence truth shall conquer, and the moon shall stand in its order, and shall by no means pervert its laws and bounds; I mean the most holy Church, which in no past ages has failed, always assailed and always victorious. For as the waves never at any time forsake the sea, so neither do a hostile incursion forsake the genuine Princes of the priesthood. For however much, for some ineffable reason of providence, the divine power shall permit that this come to pass; it will nonetheless bring it about that justice at length obtain its place.
[48] He obtains therefore the pontificate from the Saracens: These things heard, Theodore preferred vainglory to salvation, after the manner of a fierce, proud horse, unbridledly rushing itself into the precipice. For he did not restrain his mind with the bridle of divine fear: For his foolish heart was darkened, and he was compared to the senseless beasts of burden, and made like to them, nay, to Satan his father, he gave himself over, conquered, to the spirit of boasting. Therefore, his head weighed down and fixed to the ground, he asked three times whether it was given him to obtain the Theadelphic primacy at all for some time; which when the Elder had affirmed to him, the unhappy man departed; and without delay began to win over the symbolus with gifts, and to draw him to his side, and to employ with him besides friends who, together with his brother, might plead his cause; nor did he desist before, through the dominating tyranny, the most holy Patriarch Elias being impiously and sacrilegiously banished, he obtained the chair.
[49] and he is again deprived of it, Elias being restored. Scarcely therefore had a very brief time flowed away, when, to Theodore swelling with pride and self-love, according to the divinely inspired prediction of the holy Elder, all things happened, when of his own accord he cast himself headlong into the deepest whirlpool of sins, and, agitated deservedly by the voices of those imprecating and cursing him, at length by an unhappy fate died in Persia. But the most holy Patriarch, Domnus Elias, with joy and an honorable return, sought again his own see by postliminy, and enjoyed the patriarchal dignity for a good many years, and when he hence migrated holily to God, he left Domnus George his syncellus e as successor in the Theadelphic chair.
[50] To the Fathers who ask, St. Stephen declares On a certain day therefore, Domnus Elias administering the patriarchate, and the prophecy of the holy Elder being fulfilled, some of the fathers, coming to him, questioned him, saying: How, most holy father, when that Theodore of unhappy memory, who lately so unjustly presided at Jerusalem, came at one time to explore your mind, did God manifest to you what was done concerning his principate and bishopric, even before he himself had spoken to you what he sought? And when at the beginning indeed he was loath to open such a mystery, yet afterward, entreated by them with much force of prayers, he says: Since that man, O fathers, concerning whom you ask, wearied me with importunate entreaty, I suffered myself to be overcome, and charged the man that after certain days he should return to me: forthwith I set myself to pray to God, benign toward men, that he would reveal to me both for what cause he had come, and what would result from it.
[51] how these things were revealed to him by a vision, A prayer being set up in this manner, rapt into an ecstasy, I behold myself as it were before the Lord of glory, in a place bright and full of infinite magnificence, whose splendor is unspeakable, and whose lofty beauty surpasses all sense and thought: for there was in it a rock brighter, more illustrious, more august than the rest which I saw: and in this, moreover, was a certain place, extended, level, even, firm, and fit for sitting; but at the root of the rock I behold Theodore, of the lying name, tumultuous, agitated, sweating, and struggling earnestly to climb it; and after much labor ascending, but placing himself not where the rock offered a firm and suitable ground for sitting, but where it was eaten away and sheer, and apt to deceive the footsteps, exposing himself to the precipice, and striving with palms and hands and all his limbs to grasp the rocks, and guarding himself from falling and ruin in whatever way he could: and when he could not do this even for the space of the briefest hour, but thence perpetually slipped, where he had applied himself with hooked fingers, and there was now nothing on which he could stand, at last I beheld him fall headlong from on high even to the bottom, and miserably crushed.
[52] When therefore I had contemplated these things, I began to weigh and examine the vision, whose signification he sets forth. and straightway, illumined by the light of God, thus I reasoned: that that rock was the faith of Christians; but by that level and convenient summit is designated the chair of a Prelate; but Theodore's wicked labor and weariness, and his huge struggle to be able to contain himself on the rock, was his desire of obtaining the Patriarchal see, which namely he could seize neither by lawful suffrage, nor by divine election, but only by permission: since he sat not on the level of the rock, but in a sheer and hollow place, where he could by no means stand solidly for long, but was cast down from on high to the ground; because the Church of God did not endure to receive him, but to cast him off, and to purge the most holy throne of his polluted and impure stench. The fathers therefore, looking up to the pure mind of the Elder, praised our Lord Jesus Christ.
[53] Again at another time the abbot of whom I made mention a little before, Basil, with a better mind, seeking something similar, Basil, who once was on familiar terms with the foolish Theodore, but afterward wisely opposed him, by proscribing him from himself and bidding him depart, on account of his audacity and impious presumption; namely from the time when he had heard the Elder foreknowing the future prophesy concerning him; this Basil, I say, came to the God-bearing Elder, praying and saying: Most holy father Stephen, I beseech you, that you dispatch for me for what cause I have come hither; then what it portends: for I know, I know, that whatever you ask of God is given you. And at first indeed the Elder shifted about; yet afterward, suffering himself to be entreated by his good and favorable will, he asked that an interval of two days be given him; after which, when he returned, the holy Presbyter said: You are asked to a bishopric, and for this you now have recourse hither, because you desire to know whether it is expedient: wherefore I declare to you:
[54] The bishopric indeed is huge, and lofty, and set above the dignities of the world, he hears that the bishopric less befits him; honoring, with the heavenly rewards of eternal goods, those who apply themselves to discharging their ministry chastely and entirely, and who prudently direct the ship entrusted to them into a tranquil harbor, and keep it safe. Of all things nothing is better than the supreme priesthood: namely because it raises to the highest summit of virtues those who religiously and holily manage the ecclesiastical governance committed to them. Nevertheless, if you hear me, you will beware of following those who seek you, and of bending your neck to be pressed by this most grievous yoke; but you will proceed to keep forever that light one which you now bear; for it is not expedient for you to act the Bishop. Yet I know; however much I forbid, you will by no means acquiesce, but of your own accord will admit the bishopric: for neither is necessity imposed on you, nor is force offered, but the honor is offered to one willing.
[55] and understands that it is to be admitted by him, from St. Stephen's vision, Wondering therefore at these things, Father Basil says: What am I to say this means, most holy father, that, taught by God that I shall wholly become a Bishop, you yet forbid and exhort that I become not one? To whom the Elder replied: Whatever has been divinely shown to me, I have not concealed from you, when I said that you were led to the honors neither by force nor by necessity, but by your own will, and signified that this life which you now lead is more profitable to you than the Bishopric. Which understood, Basil adjured him that he would explain to him by what means these things had been manifested to him by God. The man full of God answers him: Rapt in spirit, I beheld both myself, and you, and a throng of monks in a lofty and excellently fortified citadel, notable moreover, and adorned with ornaments of every kind, splendid at last and impregnable. And when we had sat down in it, behold, as it were slipping from the gates of the castle, a voice: Come hither to us, come hither, abbot Basil, redoubling.
[56] the tossing of the secular state, the rest of the monastic, Looking round, both I and you, that we might discern whence the cry had come, we behold the sea vehemently agitated, and many men swimming in it snatched away by the turbulent waves, and tossed by a foul tempest; and some of them indeed going under, but some wretchedly wearied, and thence, whither they longed to reach, wholly cast into diverse directions;
others, however, emerged from that sluggish and gross mud, obtaining without difficulty what they sought. From the small number of these a voice was heard of those crying out: Stretch out to us your hand, father Basil, stretch out your hand. And when for a long time the voice thus resounded clamorously, we interceded, as many of us as were shut with you in the most illustrious and safest fortress, exhorting you with wise benevolence, that you should not leave the splendor and security of that illustrious and impregnable citadel, nor cast yourself into the storms of tribulation and manifold tumult. But you preferred to hearken to the voices of those invoking you, addressing you by name: Do not forsake us, father Basil, desiring you as pastor and president; meanwhile heedless of our admonitions, more enticed by the pastoral principate; and you freely betook yourself to them, the most pleasant security of the castle being set aside.
[57] representing: But I, when I had weighed this vision, could inquire nothing further; I conjectured at once that this most splendid, illustrious, most firm citadel represented the excellent institute of the solitary and blessed life; but that the sea, on the contrary, tumultuous and raging with waves, exhibited the appearance and likeness of the world, expressing the perturbation of men agitated by so many cares, and the restless tempest of the affairs pertaining to this life: but the small band of those who called you, and demanded that hands be stretched out to them by you, I thought to be the part of Christians; further, those who beside me strove that you should not follow, I judged to be monks; finally, when I saw you delighted by the invocations of those men, I so determined within myself that you would follow them rather than us, who with our whole heart persuaded you to what was salutary and better. Whence I forbade you to depart with them, although I foreknew that you would not obey.
[58] Struck indeed by these things, Basil directed a eucharistic song to the giver of good things, and to God never sufficiently to be praised, [yet to it, out of compassion for his neighbors, he preferred to draw near, being made Bishop of Tiberias.] extolling the stupendous virtue of the Elder: for this foresight being fulfilled to the summit, and related to many, he undertook the affairs of the church of Jericho to be administered, and thence visited the same holy Elder, being at that time Bishop of Tiberias f, a city beloved of Christ, while I, unworthy and least, then acted as disciple to the God-bearing Elder, and served him while he dwelt in the caves of Duca g; whom, having, as was fitting, saluted, I did not cease to beseech until I prevailed on him to weave again with his truthful and sincere tongue, before me, useless as I am, and those who were present, the twofold series of wonderful narrations profitable to souls, which I have just written; of which having become a hearer, I too on this account gave thanks to God, who copiously offers his favor to those who faithfully magnify him with their whole heart.
ANNOTATIONS.
CHAPTER VI.
He sees things absent; foretells things to come; knows the secrets of hearts.
Ἄλλοτε καὶ ἄλλός τις ἀπὸ τῆς μεγίστης μητροπόλεως Δαμασκοῦ, ἐμφανὴς τῷ γένει, πρακτικῇ θεωρίᾳ ἐνιδρύμενος, καὶ τῆς θύραθεν οὐκ ἀμύητος παιδεύσεως, σοφώτατος ἀνὴρ ἐπ᾽ εὐλαβείᾳ τε καὶ βελτιωτάτῃ μοναχικῇ πολιτείᾳ· καὶ τοιοῦτος ἦν ὑπὸ τῶν ὁσίων πατέρων κρυβδήν τε καὶ διαῤῥήδην μεμαρτυρμένος, τῇ προσηγορίᾳ Μαριανὸς, ἕνεκεν ψυχικῆς ὠφελείας τῷ θεοσόφῳ ἀοκνοτέρως ἐσχόλασε γέροντι Στεφάνῳ, ὃν ἐν μιᾷ τῶν ἡμερῶν ἐν τῷ ἡσυχαστρίῳ αὐτοῦ πεφυκότα, ὡς ἔθος, περί τινος ἐρωτήσας θεωρίας, παλινοστῆσαι βεβούλευται. Αὐτῶν οὖν ἐξανισταμένων, τῶν ἱματίων αὐτοῦ λαβόμενος ὁ θεοχαριέστατος Γέρων ἀνεσείρασέ τε καὶ ἀνεσχέτισε λέγων· Ὁ κύρις Πετρωνᾶς, ὁ σὸς ἀδελφὸς, ἕνεκεν φοινίκων ἐμπορίας ὑπάρχων ἐν τῷ Αὐλῶνι, τῇδε τῇ Ὥρᾳ σήμερον ὑπὸ ὄφεως καιρίως ἐδήχθη, ὥστε λιποψυχήσας τελευτᾷν ἀπίει ἀλλὰ θάρσει, ἀγαπητὲ, θάρσει, ὅτι ὅποτε τὸν Ἰσραελίτην λαὸν τῶν ἐχιδναίων σώσας δηγμάτων, αὐτὸς καὶ νῦν ἔσωσε τοῦτον· καὶ ἰδοὺ ἀνεκτήσατο, καὶ μετὰ τοσόνδε καιρὸν τῇδε ἡμέρᾳ ἐλεύσεται πρός σε ἀσινὴς καὶ ῥωμαλαῖος, αὐτῷ τῷ παιδεύσαντι αὐτὸν καὶ ἰασαμένῳ χαριστείους ἀποδώσων εὐχάς καὶ ταῦτα λαλήσας ἀπέλυσεν.
[60] Ὁ δὲ εἰς τὸ ἴδιον κελλίον ἀφικόμενος, αὐτὴν τὴν ὥραν καὶ ἡμέραν τοῦ διἳππεύοντος μηνὸς ἐσημάνατο. Τῆς οὖν δηλωθείσης ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοσόφου πρεσβύτου ἡμέρας γενομένης, ὁ κύρις Πετρωνᾶς παραγέγονε πρὸς τὸν γνήσιον αὐτοῦ ἀδελφὸν, ἀββᾶν Μαριανὸν, κυρίως καὶ ἀπαραλλάκτως κατ᾽ αὐτὴν τὴν ἡμέραν, ἣν προεφῃνε τὸ θεόφθεγκτόντε καὶ χαριτόπνευστον τοῦ ἁγίου Γέροντος στόμα Θεασάμενος τοίνυν τὸν ἑαυτοῦ προσφιλέστατον ἀδελφὸν ὁ ἀββᾶς Μαριανὸς, καὶ πευσάμενος αὐτὸν περιχαρῶς περὶ τοῦ συμβεβηκότος αὐτῷ ὀφιώδους δήγματος, καὶ λεπτομερῶς παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ ταῦτα πάντα μεμαθηκὼς, ὁμῶς σὺν αὐτῷ ἐκθαμβήσαντι δόξαν τῷ Θεῷ ἀνέπεμψεν, εὐφημῶν δὲ τὴν τοῦ θαυμαστοῦ Γέροντος πανεύφημον χάριν.
[61] Μετὰ δὴ ταῦτα τὴν επίσημον καὶ πανευδαίμονα μητρόπολιν Δαμασκὸν, τὴν φίλην αὐτοῦ πατρίδα, καταλαβὼν ὁ κύρις Πετρωνᾶς, μιᾷ τῶν ἡμερῶν τῆς ἁγίας παγκοσμίου Τεσσαρακοστῆς, πολλῶν τινων ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ τοῦ ἁγίου Σεργίου ναῷ, τοῦ επίκλην Μαξιλλάτου, συνηγμένων, ὡς συνήθως κατ᾽ ἐκεῖνον τὸν καιρὸν ἐκεῖ καθευδόντων, ὅπως εὐκαίρως ἐξαναστῶσι κατὰ νύκτα εἰς θείους ὔμνους, καὶ δοξολογίας, συνόντος αὐτοῖς τοῦ παννευαγοῦς ναοῦ ἱερέως, ἀρχιπρεσβύτου ὑπάρχοντος τῆς αὐτῆς τῶν Δαμασκηνῶν μεγαλοπόλεως, κύρου Γενεθλίου, καί τινων λογάδων ἀνδρῶν ἅμα τῷ ἐμῷ πατέρι καὶ ἀδελφῷ, καὶ ἐμοὶ τῶν πάντων ἀχρειοτάτῳ μικρῷ τε χρόνῳ πεφυκότι πάντων οὖν ἡμῶν ὅμου καθημένων, διηγήγατο ἡμῖν ὁ προηγορευμένος κύρις Πετρωνᾶς, ὅσα πέπονθε διὰ τοῦ ὄφεως ἐν τῷ αὐλῶνι δεινὰ, καὶ τὸ τοῦ διορατικοῦ προβλέμματος τοῦ θεοφόρου Γέροντος περὶ τῶν συμβεβηκότων αὐτῷ τὸ ἐξαίσιον θαῦμα, καὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ προδηλωθεῖσαν ὑπὸ τοῦ Γέροντος τῷ οἰκείῳ ἀδελφῷ εἰς τὴν Λαῦραν ἔφοδον. Ἐγὼ δὲ τούτων προσεχῶς ἀκροασάμενος, καίπερ βραχὺς τῷ χρόνῳ, λήθης βυθοῖς οὐ παρέπεμψα, ἀλλὰ πλειστάκις περὶ αὐτῶν ἑρωτήσας τὸν κύριν Πετρωνᾶν, καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν ἀκούσας διήγησιν, τῷ κυρίῳ ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστῴ εὐχαριστίαν, καὶ δόξαν ἀπεπέμψα.
[62] Ἄλλος δέ τις ἀξίοπιστος καὶ εὐλαβὴς μοναχὸς διηγήσατό μοι λέγων· Ποτὲ οὖν ἑτέρῳ τινὶ τῶν πατέρων τούτῳ τῷ θαυματουργῇ συνηκολούθουν Γέροντι εἰς τὴν τοῦ Ἰορδάνου ἔρημον, οὕτινος επὶ τὰς ὄχθας ἡμῶν γενομένων, λίαν βαθείας νυκτὸς ἀμφεπούσης, τῆς πρώτης τυχὸν καὶ δευτέρας φυλακῆς παρῳχηκυίας, οὐ κατεδέξατο ὁ Γέρων εἰς τὴν τοῦ προδρόμου καὶ βαπτιστοῦ Ἰωάννου εἰσιέναι μονήν. Ἡμῶν δὲ συνεσάντων αὐτῷ, καὶ παρὰ τὰς Ἰουρδανίους ῥοὰς ἀνακλιθέντων, αὐτοῦ δὲ δι᾽ ἡμετέρας συνανακλιθέντος ἱκετείας, ἐγὼ δὲ ἐμαυτὸν προσεποιησάμην καθεύδειν βαθέως, ἱμερόμενος ἰδεῖν αὐτὸν ἐκτελοῦντα τὸν κανόνα τῆς νυκτερινης αὐτοῦ ψαλμωδίας, μάλιστα γαληιῶντος τοῦ αἰθέρος καὶ τῆς σελήνης παμφαοῦς οὔσης καὶ πληθούσης.
[63] Βραχείας τοιγαροῦν ὥρας παρελθούσης, ἀνανεύσας ἡρέμα θεωρῶ τὸν ἅγιον πρεσβύτην τοῖς Ἰορδανίοις ἐμβεβηκότα ῥείθροις, καὶ επὶ τῶν ὑδάτων πεξῶς ὁδεύοντα κατὰ πλάτος άπ᾽ ἄκρων τοῦ ποταμοῦ ἕως ἄκρων, κᾀκεῖσε ἀντικρὺ ἐφθακότα τὰς ἡγιασμένας αὐτοῦ ἐξαπλωκότα παλάμας κᾂκ τούτων ὡς δάδας ἐξαπτομέννας, τηλαυγεστάτην ἐξαστραπτούσας αἴγλην· αὐτοῦ τοίνυν μέχρι τοῦ σημαντῆρος ἐκτείναντος τὴν καθαρὰν πρὸς Θεὸν ὁμιλίαν, ἣν τελέσας καὶ αὖθις πρὸς ἡμᾶς ὑποστρέψας, προσεποιήσατο ἑαυτὸν καθευδῆσαι, καὶ μετ᾽ οὖ πολὺ τοῦ ὕπνου ἡμᾶς ἐξαναστῆσαι ἕνεκεν τῆς συνήθους νυκτερινῆς δοξολογίας. Οὗτος δέ ἑωρακὼς τὸ μέγα τοῦτο θαυματούργημα, πολλοῖς τῶν πατέρων ἀνήγγειλεν, ὑφ᾽ ὧν αὐτὸ τοῦτο τὸ παράδοξον διδαχθέντες, πρεπόντως τοῖς παροῦσι συνετάξαμεν θαύμασιν εἰς δόξαν θαυματοποιοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν, καὶ εἰς πολλῶν ψυχῶν σωτηρίαν· ἥστινος χάριν ἅλλην συνθήσομαι θαυμαστὴν διήγησιν, τὸν τῆς ὑπακοῆς κάρπον κυδαίνουσάντε καὶ ἐξαίρουσαν.
[64] Ἦν τις τῶν γερόντων ἔνδοξος ἀνὴρ, ἀββᾶς Κοσμᾶς καλούμενος, κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς Τεσσαρακοστῆς ἅμα τῷ θεοφόρῳ Στεφάνῳ, καί τις τῶν πατέρων ἐν τοῖς σπηλαίοις τῆς ἐρήμου διατρίβων, ἔχων ἐν τῇ μεγίστῃ Λαύρᾳ τινὰ μαθητὴν ὑπήκοόντε καὶ εὐλαβῆ. Μιᾷ οὖν τῶν ἡμερῶν ἐργαζόμενος τὰ κανίσκια, φεύγων τὴν ἀργίαν, τὴν πάσης κακίας ῥίζαν οὖσαν, καὶ τὸν δεινὸν τῆς ἀκηδίας δαίμονα τοῖς ἐργοχείροις ἀμυνόμενος, ἐδεήθη βαΐωντε καὶ χορταρίων· καὶ παραυτὰ δηλοῖ τῷ ὑπηκόῳ αὐτοῦ μαθητῇ· Διά τινος, λέγων, θέλησον, ὦ ἄριστον τῆς ὑπακοῆς τέκνον, σύν σοι πᾶσαν τοῦ ἐργοχείρου χρείαν κομίσασθαι. Ὁ δέ μηδὲν μελλήσας εὐθέως εἴχετο τῆς ὁδοῦ, καὶ τῇ τοῦ επιστάτου κελεύσει πᾶσαν τὴν χρείαν ἀποφερόμενος, ἑαυτῷ βαρὺ φορτίον επιθέμενος ἀπότε χορταρίων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων. Θέλων τοίνυν ὁ Θεὸς, ὁ τῶν ἀρετῶν αἴτιος, καὶ ταῖς ἀρεταῖς θεραπευόμενος, ἔτι καὶ ἔτι ῥιζῶσαι αὐτὸν τῷ τῆς ὑκακοῆς θεμελίῳ, ὡς προξένῳ τῆς ἄνω ζωῆς καὶ ἀῤῥήτου δόξης ὄντι, ἐπένευσε τὸν ὅσιον Στέφανον επιστῆναί τινι περιοπῇ ἄνωθεν τοῦ ἑαυτοῦ σπηλαίου, ὃς περιβλεψάμενος θεωρεῖ τὸν πειθήνιόν τε καὶ ὑπήκοον μαθητὴν τοῦ ἀββᾶ Κοσμᾶ, καὶ ἄγγελον συνοδοιπόρον λευχειμονοῦντα κάλλοστε καὶ λαμπρόθητα μεγίστην ἔχοντα, επιλαβόμενον αὐτοῦ καὶ επικουροῦντα.
[65] Τοῦτον οὖν πρὸς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ επιστάτην καταντήσαντα, καὶ ἑαυτὸν ἀποφορτώσαντα θεασάμενος ὁ ὅσιος Στέφανος, ἐπυνθάνετο, εἴτις αὐτῷ κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν συνεπορεύετο, καὶ εἴπερ πεφορτωμένος λίαν ἤχθετο. Ὁ δὲ, Δι᾽ ὑμετέρων οὐρανοδρόμων ἐντεύξεων οὐδὲν πέποντα δεινὸν, ἔφη πρὸς τὸν Γέροντα· ἀλλὰ πίστευε, πάτερ ἅγιε, ὅτι τὸ παράπαν βάρος οὐκ ᾐσθόμην, καίπερ βεβαστακὼς φορτίον ἐφόλκιον κατὰ μέσον τῆς ὁδοῦ γενόμενος, εἰ καὶ πρὶν περὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν μικρὸν βεβάρυμαι· ἀλλ᾽ ἐν καθαρᾷ καὶ σώφρονι πολλῇ λογισμῶν γαλήνῃ διεκείμην· οὐ δέ γὰρ τοσοῦτον οἶμαί ποτε τῶν νεφῶν ὑποῤῥαγέντων, καὶ νηνεμίας παντελοῦς ἀμφεπούσης ἐγαληνίασεν ὁ ἀὴρ, ὅσον ἀπὸ παντὸς λογισμοῦ ταραχώδους ὁ νοῦς ὁ ἐμός. Ὅθεν ᾐσθανόμην τοιαύτης πνευματικῆς γλυκύτητος ἐκ τῆς ὑπακοῆς ἀποβλυζούσης, οἵαν οὐδέποτε μέλιτος φύσις τῷ ἐμῷ ἐμπεποίηκε φάρυγγι, ὥστε με ἐμφύεσθαι ἐν τοιαύτῃ ὑποταγῇ καὶ καμάτων ὑπομονῇ διαρκέσαι μέχρις ἐσχάτης ἀναπνοῆς. Ἐπευφρανθεὶς οὖν ταῖς ἀγαθαῖς ἀδελφικαῖς προκοπαῖς καὶ ἀναβάσεσιν, ὁ ἀεὶ τοῖς καλοῖς επιγαννύμενος, θεόφρων Γέρων, ἀνήγγειλε τὴν
ἀγγελικὴν ὀπτασίαν τῷ επιστάτῃ αὐτοῦ, καὶ τοῖς συμπαροῦσιν αὐτῷ, τὴν τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ ἐκθειάζων προκοπὴν καὶ ἀνάβασιν, δόξαντε καὶ εὐχαριστίαν ἀνέπεμπον τῷ Θεῷ, τῷ τοῖς εἰλικρινῶς αὐτῷ λατρεύουσιν ἐξαποστέλλοντι ἀγγέλους ἀγαθοὺς συνοδεύοντας, καὶ τοὺς τῆς ὑπακοῆς υἱοὺς δοξάζοντι.
[66] Ἄλλος δέ τις, ὑπὸ πολλῶν μάλιστα καὶ ὑφ᾽ ἡμῶν τῇ ἀξιοπιστείᾳ μεμαρτυρημένος, ἀπὸ Μοαβήτιδος χώρας ὁρμώμενος ὑπάρχων, συνήθης καὶ φίλος γνήσιος τοῦ οὐρανόφρονος Γέροντος, φημὶ δὴ, τοῦ ἁγίου Στεφάνου, διηγήσατό μοι λέγων, ὅτι διαφόροις θλίψεσι καὶ κινδύνοις δυσφορήτοις καὶ ζημίαις φορολογιῶν περιπεσὼν ἐν τῇ ἰδίᾳ πατρίδι, καὶ μόλις δυνηθεὶς διαδρᾶναι σὺν τοῖς ἐμοῖς ἰδίοις τὴν ἁγίαν πόλιν κατήντησα, πάσηστε τῆς ἐμῆς περιουσίας καταφρονήσας, καὶ τῶν ἀνδραπίδων καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν κτημάτων, καὶ μόνης τῆς ἐμῆστε, καὶ τῶν ἐμῶν σωτηρίας φροντίζων, πάντα καταλιπὼν, τὰς χεῖρας τῶν ἀνόμων ἐξέφυγον. Τῶν δέ ἐμῶν ἀνδραπόδων κατόπιν ὑστερησάντων, καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν δεινῶν φορολόγων συσχεθέντων, καὶ ἐν φυλακῇ κατακλεισθέντων, ἐδυσφόρουν καὶ ἠγωνίων, ἀπορῶν τί δράσαιμι, καὶ φοβούμενος, μήπως αὐτοὺς ἄρδην ἀπεμπωλέσωσιν. Ταῖς οὖν τοιαύταις ψυχοβαρέσι φροντίσι κατατρύχομενος, πίστιν διάπυρόντε καὶ ἀδυστάκτον εἰς τὸν ἅγιον Γέροντα κεκτημένος, ὥρμησα πρὸς αὐτὸν, ὡς πρὸς σωτήριον λιμένα καθορμήσας, αὐτῷ τε προσφυγὼν, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν συμβᾶσαν περιφορὰν διηγησάμενος ἐδυσώπουν τῆς αὐτοῦ θείας τυχεῖν ἀντιλήψεως.
[67] Ὅστις θεοφόρος καὶ ὅντως συμπαθέστατος Γέρων ταῖς ἐμαῖς πολλαῖς παρακλήσεσι δυσωπηθεὶς, καὶ τὴν ἐμὴν εἰς αὐτὸν πίστιν ἐγνωκὼς, καὶ τὴν εἰλικρινῆ τε καὶ γνησίαν διάθεσιν αἰδεσθεὶς, μᾶλλον δὲ τῇ ἐμῇ συμπαθείᾳ επικαμπτόμενος, καὶ τῇ φιλανθρωπίᾳ νικώμενος, ὑπέσχετο ταῖς αὐτοῦ θείαις προσευχαῖς καὶ λιπαρήσεσι τὸν φιλάνθρωπον καὶ ἐλεήμονα ἐξευμενίσασθαι δεσπότην. Καὶ δὴ τὴν ἱερὰν καὶ ἀναίμακτον θυσίαν ἐπιτελέσας, καὶ δι᾽ αὐτῆς τῶν ἀποῤῥήτων τὴν γνῶσιν μυηθεὶς, ὡς εἰς τὰ ἅδυτα χωρήσας πρόσεισί μοι φαιδρὸς καὶ γεγαννυμένος, ὑπέρλαμπρον ἔχων τὸ πρόσωπον, θαρσεῖν τε καὶ χαίρειν παρακελευόμενος, ὡς παρὰ τοῦ ἐλεήμονος καὶ φιλανθρώπου Θεοῦ τὴν αἴτησιν κομισάμενος, οὑτωσὶ λέγων· Πᾶσαν ἀθυμίαν τε καὶ κατήφειαν ἀποβαλὼν τῷ Θεῷ τὴν πρέπουσαν ἀπόδος εὐχαριστίαν, προσφιλέστατον τέκνον· ἰδοὺ γὰρ διὰ τὴν εἰς ἡμᾶς τοὺς ταπεινοὺς σὴν πίστιν ἡμῖν ὁ Θεὸς ἀπεκάλυψε καὶ γὰρ μετὰ δύο ἡμέρας τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ τῷ προῒ τοὺς σοὺς παῖδας πρός σε ὁ Θεὸς ἀποκαταστήσει ταῖς τοῦ ὁσίου πατρὸς ἡμῶν Νικολάου δεησεσιν· ἀλλὰ δράμε τοῖς σοῖς ἰδίοις τὴν τῶν δούλων ἔλευσιν εὐαγγελισόμενος, καὶ χάριν καὶ ἀνθομολόγεσιν τῷ Θεῷ ἀποδοῦναι σπούδασον.
[68] Πεισθεὶς οὖν τοῖς λόγοις τοῦ μεγάλου Γέροντος, καὶ τὰς εὐχὰς ἐφοδιασθεὶς ἐξῆλθον, τήν τε χάριν καὶ εὐκλεῆ παῤῥησίαν θαυμάζων ἄμα καὶ ἐνθειάζων τοῦ Γέροντος, εὐαγγελισάμενος δὲ τῷ ἐμῷ πατέρι καὶ τοῖς λοιποῖς ἰδίοις τὴν τοῦ θαυμασίου Γέροντος περὶ τῆς τῶν οἰκογενῶν ἀφίξεως πρόῤῥησιν, πίστει βεβαίᾳ φερόμενος, τῇ προορισθείσῃ ὥρᾳ ὑπὸ τοῦ Γέροντος ὁμοῦ εἰς συνάντησιν αὐτῶν ὡρμήσαμεν, καὶ τῆς πόλεως θύραθεν γενόμενος τούτους ἀσινεῖς καὶ ἀπημάντους ἐδεξάμεθα, παραδόξως τῆς τε φυλακῆς καὶ τῶν δεσμῶν λυτρωθέντας· λίαν δὲ αὐτοῖς ἐπευφρανθέντες τῷ Θεῷ χαριστηρίους ὕμνους ἀνεπέμψαμεν, καὶ πᾶσι τὸ ἐξαίσιον θαῦμα διηγούμενοι, τὴν δὲ τοῦ ἁγίου Γέροντος διορατικὴν ἀρετὴν μεγαλύνοντες ἐθαυμάζομεν· οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ εὐγνωμόνως κινούμενοι, πρὸς τὸν Γέροντα Στέφανον ὑπεστράφημεν, τὴν προῤῥηθεῖσαν αὐτοῦ πρόῤῥησιν ἐξαγγέλλοντες πᾶσι τοῖς τῆς εὐαγοῦς Λαύρας πατρᾶσι, κᾳυτῷ τε τὴν πιστὴν ἀνθομολόγησιν κομιζόμενοι, καὶ τὸν Θεὸν δοξάζοντες, τὸν τοὺς ποιοῦντας τὸ θέλημα αὐτοῦ παντοίοις μεγίστοις θαύμασι κοσμίζοντα. Αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.
[69] Ὅτι μὲν ὁ θεῖος οὗτος πρεσβύτης, μεθ᾽ ὧν ἐκέκτητο πλεονεκτημάτων, λέγω δὲ φυσικῶν πρωτερημάτων, καὶ ψυχικῶν ἀριστευμάτων, καὶ πνευματικῶν χαρισμάτων, ἠξίωτο καὶ τοῦ προορατικοῦ χαρίσματος, ἐκ τῶν προλεχθέντων διηγημάτων ἔξεστι μαθεῖν. Ὅτι δὲ καὶ τοῦ διορατικοῦ χαρίσματος ἠξιωμένος ὑπῆρχε, μαρτυρεῖ νῦν λεχθησομένη διήγησις ὑπὸ τοῦ προλεχθέντος ἀξιοπίστου ἀνδρός. Οὗτος γάρ μοι διηγήσατο λέγων· ὅτι πολλὴν πίστιν εἰς τὸν ὅσιον Γέροντα κεκτημένος συχνοτέρως πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐσχόλαζον, ὡς ἐκ τῶν θείων αὐτοῦ διηγημάτων πολλὴν κατάνυξίν τε καὶ ψυχικὴν ὠφέλειαν καρπούμενος. Ἰδὼν δέ με ὁ μέγας ὄντως, καὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀληθῶς γνήσιος δοῦλος, θερμὸν ὄντα περὶ τὴν πίστιν τὴν εἰς αὐτὸν, καὶ πρόθυμον εἰς τὴν τῶν θείων αὐτοῦ λογίων ἀκρόασιν, ὄμματι προορατικῷ τε καὶ διορατικῷ προγνοὺς τὰ κατ᾽ ἐμὲ, ἤρξατο παραινεῖν καὶ συμβουλεύειν μοι τοῖς κοσμικοῖς πράγμασιν, ὡς τοῖς πολλοῖς ἀπωλείας αἰτίοις οὖσιν, ἀποταξάμενον, τὸν ἰσάγγελον καὶ σωσίψυχον μονηρήβιον διέρχεσθαί τε καὶ αἰρετήσασθαι.
[70] Ταῦτα δὲ βουλευσαμένῳ τῷ θεοφόρῳ Γέροντι ἔφην· Ὑπολαμβάνω, πάτερ, ὅτι δυνατόν ἐστι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ τῷ Θεῷ εὐαριστῆσαι σήμερον, ἢ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, καὶ ὅτι αἰρετώτερόν μοι φαίνεται συγκακοπαθῆναι τῷ λαῷ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν πολλῇ θλίψει, καὶ στενοχωρίᾳ ὑπάρχοντι, επικουρῆσαί τε τοῖς δεομένοις, καὶ χηρῶν καὶ ὀρφάνων προΐστασθαι φιλοξενῆναί τε, καὶ τοὺς ἐν ὀδύναις καὶ σωματικαῖς ἀσθενείαις ἐπισκέπτεσθαι, τὴν ἰατρικὴν τέχνην μάλιστα μετιόντι, καὶ αὖθις ταῖς λοιπαῖς ἀρεταῖς ταῖς δυναμέναις ἐν κόσμῳ κατορθωθῆναι ἐμφιλοχωρεῖν, ἢ ἑαυτῷ προσέχειν ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ, καὶ μηδενὶ βοηθῆσαι. Ἔτι δὲ καὶ συλλογισμὸν ἔλεγον· Ὅτι, καθὸ ὁ κύριος ἀπεφήνατο, στενήτε καὶ τεθλιμμένη καθέστηκεν ἡ ὁδὸς, ἡ ἀπαγοῦσα εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν· νῦν δὲ στενωτέρα καὶ θλιβερωτέρα ἡ ἐν κόσμῳ διαγωγὴ, ὡς πάντες μαρτυροῦσι· πολλῆς γὰρ ἀνέσεως εὐμοιροῦντας καὶ ἀμεριμνίας ἀπολαύοντας τοὺς μοναχοὺς καθορῶμεν, τοὺς δὲ ἐν κόσμῳ διατρίβοντας ἐν πολλῇ κακουχίᾳ, καὶ ταλαιπωρίᾳ, καὶ ἐνδείᾳ, καὶ ἐν ἀλλεπαλλήλοις ἀνάγκαις καὶ λύπαις διάγοντας. Πρὸς πίστωσιν δὲ τῶν ἡμετέρων λόγων τεκμήριον ἐναργέστατον, τὸ μὴ εἶναι ἐν τῇ γενεᾷ ταύτῃ τινὰ τῶν μοναχῶν ζημειοφόρον, ἢ προορατικὸν, ἢ περιβοητὸν, καὶ ταῖς θείαις μαρμαρυγαῖς περιλάμποντα, εἰ μὴ μόνην τὴν σὴν ἁγιωσύνην.
[71] Ταῦτα οὖν ἀκούσας, καὶ τῇ ἐμῇ ἀπειρίᾳ συγγνοὺς, εἶπεν· Ὦ τέκνον, θεοθεν κινούμενος, καὶ τῆς σῆς σωτηρίας ἐρώμενος, ἀποτάξασθαι τῷ βίῳ συνεβουλευσάμην, καὶ, εἰ βούλει, ἀποδείκνυμί σοι ἀμφοτέρων τὸ διάστημα, γάμουτε καὶ ἀγαμίας, οὐ μόνον ταῖς τῶν πατέρων χρήσεσι, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς φαινομένοις πράγμασι καταχρώμενος· καὶ ταῦτα εἰπὼν, τῶν δύο βίων τὸ διάφορον δεῖξαι ἐγχειρήσαμενος, ἔδειξε σαφῶς τὸν μονήρη βίον ὑψηλότερον καὶ φαιδρότερον, πολλῶν θεοπνεύσων καὶ θεοσόφων διδασκάλων τὰς χρήσεις προφερόμενος, καὶ σχεδὸν εἰπεῖν, παραυτίκα ἡμᾶς ἀνεπτέρωσε, καὶ πάντων καταφρονεῖν ἐποίησε μονου τοῦ ἰσαγγέλου μονήρους βίου ἐρωμένους, καὶ τὴν ἐν κόσμῳ δικαιοσύνην, ὡς φάσμα ἀδρανὲς, λογιζομένους, καὶ παραχρῆμα ἡμᾶς πέπεικε τὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐλαφρότατον φορτίον, καὶ τὸν χρηστότατον ζύγον ἐπ᾽ ὤμων ἀραμένους, τῷ κόσμῳ καὶ ὡραιότητι τοῦ ἰσαγγέλου βίου τῆς ταπεινώσεως ἐγκαλλωπίζεσθαι πεισθέντων ἡμῶν, καὶ ἠττηθέντων τὴν καλὴν ἦτταν.
[72] Εὐφρανθεὶς ὁ ὄσιος Στέφανος ἓφη· Ἔγνως τῇ πείρᾳ ἀμφοτέρων τὸ διαφέρον; Καὶ αὐτῷ, ναὶ πάτερ, ἔφην, σαφῶς ἔγνωκα, καὶ τῆς ὑμῶν οὐρανίου πολιτείας τὸ ὑπερβάλλον. Ἀλλ᾽ ἔστι δέ μοι μικρὸν αἴτημα τὴν σὴν ἁγιωσύνην ἐξαιτήσασθαι, ἀλλὰ συγγνοὺς τῇ ἐμῇ προπετείᾳ, ἐμοὶ τὸ ἐπιθύμημα καὶ αἴτημα πληρῶσαι παρακλήθητι, τιμιώτατε πάτερ, καὶ συγκαταβὰς τῇ ἐμῇ ἀσθενείᾳ, γνώρισαι τὴν παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ σοι ἐγκεχειρισμένην χάριν, καὶ εἴπερ ἠξίωσαι τοῦ διορατικοῦ χαρίσματος, ὅπως τοῦ πνευματοβλύστου καὶ χαριτοπνεύστου στόματος ἀκούσω, καὶ τὸν Θεὸν δοξάσας, ὑπόπτερος τῇ επιθυμίᾳ γένωμαι, καὶ τῶν θείων χαρισμάτων τὸ παμμέγεθες ζηλώσας, τὸν ὑμέτερον βιον πάσῃ προθυμίᾳ μεταχειρησομαι. Ἐμοὶ δὲ ταῦτα εἰπόντι ἐξ οἰκείας ἀγαθότητος παρακληθεὶς ἔφη· Μέτρα μὲν τελειότητος οὔπω ἔφθασα· ἀνδράσι δέ πεπειραμένοις καὶ παντοίοις χαρίσμασι κατηγλαἳσμένοις συνωμίλησα, καὶ ὄμμασιν αὐτοὺς ἐθεασάμην· πρὸς δέ πληροφορίαν τῆς ὑμῶν ἀγάπης καὶ τοῦτό φημι, ὅτι τοῦ διορατικοῦ χαρίσματος θεόθεν ἠξίωμαι, καὶ πάντων τῶν ὀπτανομένων ἡμῖν, ἢ προβαλλόντων, ἢ ἐντυγχανόντων τούς τε λογισμοὺς, καὶ τῆς ψυχῆς κρύφια πάθη ἐκ μόνης θεωρίας καὶ ὄψεως καταλαμβάνομαι, καὶ πάντων τὰ ψυχικὰ καὶ πνευματικὰ ὑστερήματα επιγινώσκω, καὶ ταῦτα, καθὼς προεῖπον, πρὸς σὴν πληροφορίαν ἀπεκάλυψα. Ἀλλ᾽ ἄγε δὴ, τῷ κόσμῳ καὶ τοῖς αὐτοῦ πράγμασιν ἀποταξάμενος, τῷ κυρίῳ προσελθὲ, καὶ ἕξεις ἡμᾶς εἰς πάντα συνεργοὺς, καὶ ἐν πᾶσι ἀντιλήπτορας. Καὶ μετ᾽ οὐ πολὺ ἀποθρεξάμενος τῷ Θεῷ ηὐχαρίστουν, καὶ τῷ ἁγίῳ Γέροντι, ὅτι τῇ αὐτοῦ παραινέσει συναρίθμιος μοναχοῖς γενέσθαι ἠξιώθην, τῇ χάριτι τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν, Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ᾧ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας.
[73] Ἄλλος δέ τις ἀδελφὸς, τῆς τούτου τοῦ ὁσίου Γέροντος διορατικῆστε καὶ προορατικῆς ἀρετῆς, ὑπὸ πολλῶν ἐπαινουμένης, πειράζων, προσῆλθεν αὐτῷ λέγων· Ἐπειδή τινες οὖκ ὀλίγοι διαβεβαιοῦνται μαρτυροῦντες, θεόσδοτον ἐκτῆσθαί σε χάριν διορατικὴν, Διὰ τοῦτο ἀφικόμην, ὅσιε πάτερ, πληροφορίας τυχεῖν βουλόμενος. Οὐκοῦν παρακλήθητι, καὶ πληροφόρησόν με ἐν τούτῳ τῷ μέρει, ἃς διεπραξάμην γνωρίσας ἁμαρτίας, εἴπερ δύνασαι. Ὁ δέ Γέρων ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν· Μηδαμῶς πείραζε, τέκνον, τῆς ἐμῆς πενιχρότητος, τῆς πολλῶν γεμούσης ἁμαρτημάτων. Ἐπὶ πολὺ δὲ θεασάμενος τὸν ἀδελφὸν παρακαλοῦντα τούτου χάριν, ἔτι πρὸς αὐτὸν ἔφη· Ἐπείπερ διὰ τοῦτο παραγέγονας, ὡς ἔφης, καὶ εἰ ῥάδιόν μοι, παρακέκληκας πληροφορῆσαί σε περὶ ἐμοῦ τοῦ ἀναξίου δούλου τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἐρῶ σοι οὐκ ἐκ τῆς ἐμῆς δυνάμεως ἀλλ᾽ ἐκ τῆς θείας χάριτος, καὶ οὐ μή σε κενὸν ἀποστρέψω, ἀμοιρήσαντα τῆς σῆς ἐφέσεως· ἀλλὰ μόνον εἰπὲ, πόθεν ἄρξεσθαι κελεύεις, ἐξ ἁπαλῶν σῶν ὀνύχων, ἢ ἐκ τῶν μέσων, ἢ ἐκ τῶν τελευταίων; Ὁ δὲ, ὅθεν θέλεις, ἔφη, μόνον εἰπέ.
[74] Ἀνοίξας δὲ τὸ θεόπνευστον αὐτοῦ στόμα ὁ θεοφόρος Γέρων, κατέλεξε καθέπος πάντα αὐτοῦ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα, σημείοιστε καὶ τεκμηρίοις ἓν ἕκαστον αὐτῶν διορίζων, προσεχῶς ἀκροώμενος, επὶ ὥραν ἰκανήν. Πλείστης οὖν πληροφορίας ὁ ἀδελφὸς οὗτος ἀπολαύσας, κλίναστε τὰ γονάτα, ἐδυσώπει τὸν Γέροντα, βοῶν· Εἴα, ἀρκεῖ, ἀρκεῖ, ὦ πάτερ· πεπληροφόρημαι, ὄτι βρύεις θείοις χαρίσμασι. Καὶ ταῦτα φθεγξάμενος ἀνεχώρησε, ὑμνῶν τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ ὁμολογῶν τὴν τοῦ Γέροντος διορατικὴν χάριν, καὶ τὴν πολλὴν ἁγιόθητα. Τούτου δὲ πορευθέντος, ἐκπλαγεὶς επὶ τῇ αὐτοῦ ἀναισθεσίᾳ τε καὶ ἀνοίᾳ ὁ θεοφόρος Γέρων εἶπεν· Ἄρατι ὠφέληται οὗτος, καὶ ποίας ἔτυχε ψυχικῆς ὀνήσεως; Γνοὺς δὲ ὁμολογήσας τὰς ἑαυτοῦ πλημμελείας, ἀναίσθητος ἔμεινε, καὶ τὴν καρδίαν ἀκαταπόνητος, εὐχὴν ἢ σύναξιν μηδαμῶς αἰτησάμενος, Φεῦ τῆς ἀσθενείας ταυτησὶ τῆς ἡμετέρας γενεᾶς· φεῦ τῆς ἡμῶν ἀπροαξίας· φεῦ τῆς ἡμῶν ἀπονοίας. Λίαν ἀσθενὴς καὶ ἐλεεινὸς καθέστηκεν οὖτος· τὸν τοιοῦτον γὰρ δεῖ ταλανίζειν καὶ ὁλοφύρεσθαι. Ἀλλ᾽ αὐτὸς ὁ Θεὸς, ὁ ὑπὲρ τῆς πάντων ζωῆς τὸν διὰ σταυροῦ θάνατον κατὰ ἀνδρικὴν φύσιν ὑποστὰς καὶ τοῦ
προτέρου [*] ἡμᾶς ἐλευθερώσας, καὶ κλέους ὑπερτέρου καταξιώσας, σώσειεν αὐτὁν, καὶ δοίη αὐτῷ, ὡς φιλάνθρωπος, τὴν τῶν πταισμάτων ἄφεσιν.
At another time a certain man from the great metropolis of Damascus, illustrious in race, solid in the exercise of contemplation, and not lightly tinged with profane learning, [He declares to his brother the wound, healing, and return of Petronas, far absent.] a man most learned both in religion and in the most excellent discipline of monks, such as was approved by the holy fathers both privately and publicly, by name Marianus, was not slothfully at leisure for advancing his spirit with Stephen, the elder endowed with divine wisdom. Whom when on a certain day, staying in his hesychasterion, he had consulted after his custom about some speculation, he was thinking to depart. As they were rising therefore, the Elder, most acceptable to God, draws him back, seizing him by his garments, and restrains him, saying: The lord Petronas, your brother, who is now at Aulon a to buy dates, has today at this very hour been struck by the lethal bite of a serpent; so that, his spirit failing, he has already begun to incline to death. But be of good cheer, beloved, be of good cheer; for he who once freed the people of Israel from the bites of vipers, that same one has now also kept this man safe: nay, behold, he is plainly restored, and after so much time, on such a day, whole and strong he will come to you, giving thanks as a suppliant to him who both rebuked and healed him: and having said these things, he dismissed him.
[60] But this man, as soon as he reached his cell, noted that hour and day of the passing month. the truth being confirmed by the event itself; The day was now present which the Elder, imbued with divine wisdom, had assigned, when Domnus Petronas came to his own brother, father Marianus, on the very same and invariable day which that mouth of the holy Elder, inspired by oracle and divine grace, had declared. After therefore father Marianus had beheld his most dear brother, and, exceedingly glad, had asked about the bite inflicted by the serpent, and had learned from him all things and each diligently, together with him, amazed, he gave glory to God, praising the renowned grace of the admirable Elder.
[61] But when afterward the lord Petronas had reached the notable and most happy metropolis, Damascus, his most pleasant fatherland, and Petronas declared it before the Author of this Life himself. on a certain day of the most adorned holy Lent, a huge number of men being gathered in the sacred church of St. Sergius, surnamed Maxillatus b, sleeping there through that time, as was the custom; that they might the more timely rise by night to the divine hymns and praises, the priest of the most holy temple being present with them, and the Archpresbyter of that great city of the Damascenes, Domnus Genethlius, and some excellent men together with my father and brother, and me, the meanest of all, and then of tender age; sitting there together, I say, the aforesaid Domnus Petronas related to us how grievous things he had suffered at Aulon from the serpent; then that excellent prodigy by which the God-bearing Elder had known, by clear foresight, each thing that had befallen him; as also his own coming into the Laura, already before manifested to his brother by the Elder. But I, when I had received these things with attentive ears, though of such tender age, by no means committed them to deep oblivion; but, inquiring the same again and again of Domnus Petronas, and imbued more than once with that very narration, gave glory to our Lord Jesus Christ with thanksgiving.
[62] Another certain worthy and religious monk narrated these things to me: I accompanied, he said, with another one of the fathers, this wonderworking Elder into the desert of the Jordan, St. Stephen, passing the night near the Jordan, to whose banks when we had come, deep night falling, the first and perhaps the second watch being now past, it did not please the Elder that we should enter the monastery of the Precursor c and Baptist John. But while we stayed there together with him, and stretched our bodies beside the Jordan's streams, when he too, moved by our prayers, had done the same, then indeed I, eager to behold him performing the canon of his nocturnal psalmody, feigned to sleep deeply, the sky being then most tranquil, and the moon lit with full orb.
[63] Scarcely therefore had a brief space of time passed, when, gently rising, I behold the holy Presbyter go down into the river Jordan, and from one extremity of the river, as widely as it was extended, walk to the other, grazing the surface of the waves; he crosses it with dry feet; and flames flash from his hands as he prays; and further, when he had come out to the opposite bank, spread out his sacred hands, and torches kindled from them diffuse a most splendid brightness far and wide; while he meanwhile prolonged his chaste converse with God up to the sign of the nocturnal prayers; which being finished, returning again to us, he too pretends to have slept; and not long after rouses us from sleep to the praises to be rendered to God at the accustomed nocturnal time. But he who beheld this great prodigy with his own eyes, opened it to several fathers, from whom, being taught this very marvel, we have inserted it among the present miracles, as is fitting, to the glory of our God who works wonders, and to the salvation of many souls: for whose sake I will here weave in another stupendous history, from which the price of obedience may shine forth the more and be extolled.
[64] A man eminent among the elders (they called him father Cosmas) was during the time of Lent together with the God-bearing Stephen, An obedient monk, an angel accompanying him, and another of the fathers dwelling in the caves of the desert, who had a disciple in the greatest Laura, both obedient and pious. Being therefore occupied one day in making baskets, for the sake of avoiding idleness, which is the root of all wickedness, and the formidable demon of sloth, he had begun to lack palm-branches and stubble. He at once signifies this to his compliant novice, saying: Do not find it grievous, best son of obedience, to bring by someone with you whatever is necessary for exercising the work by hand. He, delaying nothing, immediately takes the way, and, at the president's command, carrying with him all necessary things, lays on himself a heavy bundle of stubble and other things for that use. God meanwhile, the author and cultivator of all virtues, wishing to confirm him more and more on the foundation of obedience, as that which fetches for us the heavenly life and unspeakable glory, inspired Stephen to stand in a higher place above his cave, who, when he had looked round, noticed this compliant and prompt disciple of father Cosmas, and going with him an angel, clothed in white garments, and endowed with the greatest beauty and splendor, supporting and helping him.
[65] This man therefore, when he had come to his master, he feels the labor neither of the way nor of the burden. and had unloaded himself, Stephen, beholding him, asked whether he had had any companion on the way; whether he had not also notably sweated, so heavily laden? But he: By your prayers ever flying to heaven, I bore no trouble, he said to the Elder; nay, I would have you believe this, holy father, that I felt nothing at all of the burden, although already from the middle of the journey laden with this so weighty bundle; for before, at the beginning of the way, I was weighed down a little; but I was in a pure, chaste, and lofty tranquillity of thoughts: for I do not think that, the clouds being removed, and the greatest possible calm of the winds brought in, the air was ever so tranquil as my mind from all disturbing reasoning. Hence it came that I tasted such a sweetness of spirit, welling up from obedience, as the strength of honey could never bring to my throat; so that I am wholly so disposed in mind that in such subjection, and endurance of labors, I would persevere to the last breath. Glad therefore at these fraternal advances, and lofty grade of virtues (as he was never wont not to rejoice in the good things of others), the Elder full of divine wisdom narrated the angelic apparition to his president, and to those who were present with him, and, venerating the brother's progression in virtue and his profit, rendered glory and thanksgiving to God, who destined good angels as companions to those who serve him with a sincere heart, and who deemed the sons of obedience worthy of so great honor.
[66] Another too, of faith approved especially both with many others and with us, sprung from the region of Moab, joined by intimacy and close friendship with the elder endowed with a heavenly mind, Servants left in the power of the barbarians, with holy Stephen, I say, I heard when he said these things of himself: I, while I dwelt in my fatherland, cast into various straits, arduous perils, and losses inflicted by the exactors of tributes, having scarcely a place to escape left me with those who belonged to me, went to the Holy city; and, despising all my riches, my slaves, and other possessions, and my very house, intent uniquely on my own and my people's salvation, all things being left, I escaped the hands of the wicked. But when my servants, who followed more slowly after me, had been seized by the merciless publicans, and driven into custody, this tortured me, and I was greatly anguished, uncertain what to do, and fearing lest they should wholly expose them for sale. Oppressed therefore by such grievous cares, animated by the burning and sure confidence which I had conceived of the holy Elder, I hastened to him, as about to reach a harbor of safety, and, taking refuge with him, having set forth in order all the mischances that had befallen me, earnestly begged that he would not suffer me to be frustrated of his divine help.
[67] Which Elder indeed, carrying God about in his heart, and second to none in sincere affection of compassion, yielding to the importunity of my prayers, and conscious of my confidence in him, and esteeming my right and sincere will toward him; nay, moved especially by compassion for me, and overcome by his kindness, [St. Stephen, entreated by the anxious master, foretold that they would come safe;] undertook that he would make God propitious to me by praying, and by supplicating the benign and merciful Lord. And indeed, when, the sacrosanct and unbloody sacrifice being performed, and through it having obtained knowledge of secret things, he withdrew to the sacristy d, he hastens to me glad and cheerful, his face beyond measure shining; and bids me be secure, and rejoice together, as having obtained from the merciful and benevolent God what I had asked, in these words: Shaking off from your mind all sadness and dejection, render, most beloved son, due thanks to God: for behold, on account of your confidence in us abject ones, God has opened secret things to us: for after two days, on the third day in the morning, God, granting it to the prayers of our holy father Nicholas e, will direct your servants to you. But go quickly, and announce to yours the coming of your servants, and take care that you refer this grace as accepted to God.
[68] Therefore, obeying the commands of the great Elder, and furnished with his auspicious prayer, as with a viaticum, I departed, and admiring at once the benefit and the notable grace of the man with God, and as it were looking up to something divine; and when I had, a happy messenger, related to both my father and the rest of my household the return of the slaves foretold by the Elder, full of sure hope, at the hour appointed by the Elder we all together went forth to meet them, and, having gone out of the city, we received them unharmed and safe, in a wholly stupendous manner freed both from prison and from chains; and, delighted not a little by their happy lot, we sang hymns to God, witnesses of a grateful mind,
and, proclaiming openly to all this singular prodigy, and extolling the Elder's foreknowledge of things to come, we were wholly in admiration: nay, the memory of the benefit urging us, we returned to the elder Stephen, spreading abroad his foretold prophecy to all the fathers of the holy Laura, and rendering him sincere thanks, and praising God, who renders those illustrious with so many and so various miracles who conform themselves to his will. To him be everlasting glory.
[69] But that this divine Elder, besides the excellent gifts which he had obtained (I mean the natural prerogatives, and the eximious faculties of his mind), was adorned also with spiritual gifts, and especially with that whereby he foresaw the future, anyone may gather from the histories just adduced. he persuades the same man to become a monk; But that this too was given him, whereby he perceived and discerned things present, will be testified by the narration, now to be brought forward in the words of that same man of whom I spoke before, wholly worthy of faith. For thus he related to me: Since I had great confidence reposed in the Elder, I was very frequently at leisure for him, as one who from his sacred narrations brought back not a little compunction and profit of soul. But when that eminent and truly genuine servant of God had noticed how fervently I confided myself wholly to him, and how eager I was of his divine discourses, with a provident and perspicacious eye understanding what I was to be, he began to exhort and persuade me that, stripping myself of temporal things—causes indeed why many perish—I should fly to the angelic and salutary solitary life, and choose it for myself before others.
[70] But I, to the Elder suggesting this counsel to me: But I think, I said, Father, that it is no less easy for men to please God even today in the world than in the solitude; and to him doubting whether it were not more perfect to live in the world, and it seems to me more profitable that we come into a part of the calamity and straits in which the people of God now groans, that we may succor the needy, that we may take widows and orphans into protection, and strangers into hospitality, and visit those who waste away with grief and diseases of the body, especially if one be skilled in the medical arts; that, in short, we diligently apply our mind to the other virtues by which life in the world can be rightly ordered, rather than that each be at leisure secure for himself, and profit no one. I added this reasoning besides: that, as the Lord revealed, both narrow and grievous is the way that leads to the kingdom of heaven: now indeed narrower is, as all testify, and more grievous that manner of living which is kept in the world: for we see monks happily obtain a most placid rest, and enjoy a life free from all cares; the secular, on the contrary, in frequent vexation, and miseries, and want, and amid mutual necessities and sorrows, drag out a wretched life. Moreover, to confirm what I have said, I said, it is a most manifest argument that one cannot find anyone in this age among monks either notable for miracles, or foreseeing the future, or celebrated, and shining round with divine splendors, if you except your own sanctity alone.
[71] After therefore he had heard these things, pardoning my inexperience, he said: O son, inspired by the divine power, and studying your salvation, I was the author to you that you should renounce that life; you show the difference of secular and religious perfection, and, if you will so, I will demonstrate the difference which comes between the two, namely marriage and celibacy, and that not only from the oracles of the Fathers, but I will use also those things which we have set before our eyes. Then, setting himself to show the diversity of both conditions, he clearly proved, by the sentences brought forward of very many Doctors mighty in divine spirit and wisdom, that the solitary life is more sublime and illustrious; and wings, I might almost say, he immediately added to us, and forced us to look down on all things, snatched by the love of the one solitary manner of living, and that which the angels keep, and now reckoning the justice of the world as a vanishing spectre; and forthwith impelled us, our shoulders being subjected to the lightest burden of Christ and his most sweet yoke, to glory, conquered and prostrated by no unbecoming defeat, in the honorable and most beautiful humility of the angelic institute.
[72] Glad at this deed, holy Stephen asks me: Asked by the same, he confesses that the secrets of hearts lie open to him. Have you now learned by experience, he said, how much the two differ? To whom I: I have indeed learned manifestly, Father, I said, even how much your heavenly discipline is to be held superior. Yet there remains a small thing which I would have asked of your sanctity. Grant pardon, however, to my petulance, and permit this, that I entreat you to satisfy my desire and request, most venerable Father; and, accommodating yourself to my infirmity, make known to me what grace God has granted you, and whether indeed you are adorned with the gift of discernment f, that I may hear it from that mouth of yours which abounds with spirit and breathes grace, and thus, glorifying God, may be furnished with desire as with wings, and, emulating the height of the divine gifts of grace, may seize your manner of living with all the promptitude of my mind. To me having said these things, not refusing, according to his facility, what was sought, he answered: The bounds of perfection indeed I have not yet attained: but I have dealt familiarly with men exercised, and illustrious in every kind of heavenly gifts, and have beheld them with these eyes: but for the confirmation of your charity I say also this, that I have been divinely endowed with the gift of understanding, and of all whom I either see, or by whom I am questioned, or upon whom I in any way light, I perceive from consideration and sight alone both their thoughts and the secret motions of their soul, and I have thoroughly perceived both the vices of the soul and of the spirit of any persons; and these things indeed, as I forewarned, I have made plain for this reason, that you might securely acquiesce in me and in my counsels. But come indeed, freed from the world and its affairs, take refuge with the Lord, and you will have us as helpers to whatever you will, and defenders in all things. And not long after, returning, I gave thanks to God and to the holy Elder, that, at his exhortation, I was found worthy to be numbered among the monks, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever.
[73] But another certain brother also came to him, to explore the faculty of this Elder, commended by the discourses of many, both of understanding hidden things and of foreknowing the future, Which another too, wishing to prove, and accosts him with these words: Since not a few affirm with their testimonies that it is given you to know all secret things, this has moved me, holy Father, to come hither, altogether desiring to be made more certain of this matter. Give yourself therefore to my prayers, and convince me in this part; indicating to me, if you can, what sins I have committed. To whom the Elder: Do not tempt, son, my slenderness, abounding with many sins. Yet, seeing the brother now for a long time press on with beseeching, he added: Since for this cause, as you just said, you have come hither, that, if I can, I may wholly remove from you every doubt concerning me, the unworthy servant of God; now I will dispatch it, not by my own virtue, but by divine grace, nor will I dismiss you frustrated of your desire: this one thing grant me; whence do you bid me take the beginning, from the tenderest years? Or from the middle age; or from the last? But he: Speak only, he said, from wherever it has pleased.
[74] Then indeed the divine Elder, opening his mouth furnished with the Spirit of God, [he hears indeed all his sins from him; but brings back no fruit of his curiosity.] began to enumerate all his sins in order, and circumscribing each one with its proper signs and marks, and for a full hour easily was attentively heard. Having therefore obtained a most copious assertion of the truth, this brother, bending his knees to the ground, entreated the Elder, crying out: Enough, enough; it is indeed enough, it is enough, father: now this at least is most certain to me, that you teem with divine gifts of grace. And having said this, he departed, praising our God, and the grace of the Elder penetrating all hidden things, and openly professing his huge sanctity. But when this man had now departed, the God-bearing Elder, struck because he had noticed in him no sense of sorrow, no motion of the soul, broke forth into these words: But what did this man profit? Or what remedy of soul did he bear away? Conscious, and having confessed his faults, he stood unmoved, and with a hardened heart, secure only in demanding prayer and sacrifice for himself. Alas the infirmity of our times! alas the negligence! alas our folly! For this man is indeed exceedingly languid, and wretched: for one must reckon such a man wretched, and lament. But may that God, who for the life of all sustained death on the cross according to human nature, and who, having asserted us from our former state into liberty, rendered us worthy of a loftier glory, keep him, and, as he is most loving of the human race, impart to him pardon of his faults.
ANNOTATIONS OF D. P.
the foreknowledge; but by that former is indicated the knowledge of things absent, or of those secret counsels and human thoughts which are held within the mind.
* Perhaps there is wanting ἁμαρτήματος, or something similar.
CHAPTER VII.
Various miracles of St. Stephen.
Ὁ͂ὗτος δὲ ὁ ὅσιος Στέφανος, ὡς περὶ ἄλλου διηγούμενος, ἔφη μοι τάδε, ἅ νῦν ὑμῖν ἐξαγορεύσω· κᾀγὼ πέπεισμαι, ὅτι περὶ αὐτοῦ ἦν ἡ διήγησις, ἀλλὰ τὴν μετριοφροσύνην ἀσπαζόμενος, ἑαυτὸν οὐκ ὠνόμασεν· ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως κᾄνθ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ, κᾄνθ᾽ ἑτέρου τυγχάνει, τὸ παράδοξον τοῦ θαύματος ἐξειπεῖν οὐ παραιτήσομαι πρὸς ὠφέλειαν τῶν ἐντυγχανόντων, μάλιστα παρὰ τῆς ἀψευδοῦς καὶ ἀξιοπίστου τοῦ Γέροντος ἀκούσας φωνῆς, ἧς ἀκροατὴς ἐγενόμην, οὕτως λεγούσης· Ὅτι γέρων τις ἦν κατὰ τὸν αἰγιαλὸν τῆς νεκρᾶς θαλάττης τὴν Τεσσαρακοστὴν ἐκτελῶν, ᾥ τινι δύο προσεληλύθασιν ἐρημῆται, τὰς βοτάνας βοσκόμενοι, τὸν Θεὸν ἱκετεύσαντες μηδαμῶς ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν τὴν τοῦ Γέροντος ἀποκρύψαι ἀρετήν. Τὴν συνὴθη οὖν εὐχὴν ποιησάμενοι, καὶ πνευματικάς τινας ὁμιλίας διεξελθόντες, τὸν γέροντα ἐκεῖνον συμπεριπατῆσαι ἠξίουν οἱ δύο ἐρημῆται, ἕως τοῦ αἰγιαλοῦ τῆς νεκρᾶς θαλάσσης. Ἔνθα παραγεγονότων αὐτῶν, ὁμοῦ λέγουσιν οἱ δύο ἐκεῖνοι τῷ γέροντι· Βουλόμεθα τοίνυν, ὦ πάτερ, τήνδε τὴν νεκρὰν ἐκπεράσαι θάλατταν ἐντεῦθεν ἕως τοῦ ἑτέρου μέρους. Ἀλλὰ παρακλήθητι διὰ τὴν ἀγάπην συνοδεῦσαι ἡμῖν. Ὁ δὲ· Σύγγνωτε τῇ ἐμῇ ἀσθενείᾳ, ὦ πατέρες, ἔφη· ὑμέτερον γάρ ἐστι, καὶ τῶν καθ᾽ ὑμᾶς τελείων, τουτὶ τὸ ἀξίωμα.
[76] Τοῦτον οὖν οὕτως εἰπόντα ἐκ δευτέρου παρακαλοῦντες ἔπεισαν· πεισθέντα δὲ μικρὸν προλαβεῖν ἐκέλευσαν. Σταυρὸν τοίνυν χαράξας, οἷον νομοθέτης Μωσῆς, ἐπὶ τῶν ὑδάτων ἐβάδισεν, τοὺς τάρσους μόνον ἐν τοιαύτῃ πολυβάθει θαλάττῃ βόλους χαλκέους ἔχων. Ὡσεὶ οὖν σαγιτοβόλον, ἢ ὀλίγον πλέον, ἐπὶ τῶν ὑδάτων βαδίζοντα θεασάμενοι ἐκεῖνοι, ἐφώνησαν αὐτῷ ἐνομαστὶ λέγοντες· Στραφοῦ, πάτερ, πρὸς ἡμᾶς, στραφοῦ. Αὐτῷ δὲ στραφέντι πάλιν ἐπὶ τῶν ὑδάτων πέζευοντί φησιν ἡ σελασφόρος τῶν ἀναχωρητῶν δυάς· Πεπληροφόρηκεν ἡμᾶς ἡ ἄφατος τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀγαθότης περί σου, πάτερ ἅγιε, ἀλλ᾽ ἅγε, εὐχὴν ποιησώμεθα, καὶ παράθες ἡμᾶς τῷ κυρίω. Τὴν εὐχὴν οὖν τοῦ Πάτερ ἡμῶν ἐκτετελεκότων, καὶ ἀλλήλους ἀσπατικῶς περιφύντων, ἡ μὲν σημειοφόρος τῶν ἀναχωρητῶν ζυγὴ τῶν θαλαττίων ὑδάτων ἐπέβη, τὸν σταυρὸν τυπώσασα. Ὁ δὲ Γέρων ἑωρακὼς ταῦτα, τὴν ἀπειροδύναμιν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐδόξασε μεγαλειότητα, καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ ἀνέκαμψε σπήλαιον, τὴν τῶν δύο ἀναχωρητῶν θαυμάζων ἁγιότητα· καὶ ταῦτα μὲνὲν ὁ παθοκτόνος καὶ ἰαματοφόρος, ὡς περὶ ἄλλου, εἰς δόξαν τοῦ ὑπερενδόξου Θεοῦ διηγήσατο.
[77] Ὅπερ δὲ πᾶσι γνωστὸν, καὶ ὑπὸ πολλῶν μαρτυρούμενον πεποίηκε θαῦμα, ἐρῶ. Τίς ποτε τῶν πολιταρχῶν καὶ ἐμφανῶν τῆς φιλοχρίστου πολέως Γάζης ἀρξάμενος λωβοῦσθαι, καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς ἱερᾶς νόσου διεφθάρθαι, προσέφυγε τούτῳ τῷ θεοφόρῳ Γέροντι, ἐν τῇ Μεγίστῃ Λαύρᾳ τότε διάγοντι· καὶ προσπεσὼν τοῖς ποσὶν αὐτοῦ, δεήσεις ἰκανὰς προσεβάλλετο, λέγων· Ἐλέησόν με, δοῦλε τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἐλέησόν με, καὶ εὖξαι τῷ Θεῷ σου, τῷ τῶν ἀμηχάνων νόσων ἰατρῷ, ἰάσασθαί με ἐκ τῆς ἱερᾶς ταύτης νόσου· πλείστοις γὰρ προσέφυγον ἰατροῖς, καὶ οὐδείς με τούτων ἰάσασθαι τῆς λωβότητος ἐξίσχυσεν· ἀλλὰ πάντες τὴν ἐμὴν θεράπειαν ἀπέγνωσαν· ὅθεν καταλείψας αὐτοὺς, πρός τινας ὀνομαστοὺς μοναχοὺς πεπόρευμαι, τῆς αὐτῶν δεόμενος βοηθείας· ἀλλ᾽ οὐδέν μοι μᾶλλον ἐκείνων τῶν ἰατρῶν ἔφησαν· ἀλλὰ πάντες τὴν ἐμὴν ἀπηγόρευσαν ἴασιν, λόγοις μόνον τὴν σαρκικὴν τηκεδόνα τὴν τε ψυχικὴν ἀλγηδόνα παραμυθούμενοι. Διὸ τοιγαροῦν ἐγὼ ἀπαραμύθητος καὶ κατώδυνος μόνῳ τῷ Θεῷ, καί σοι προσέφυγον, πεπιστευκὼς, ὅτιπερ ὃ ἂν θελήσῃς ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ σου, γενήσεταί σοι. Οὐκοῦν ἐλέησόν με, καὶ τὴν ἐμὴν ὀδύνην, ἣν ἰατρικὴ τέχνη καὶ πᾶσα ἀνθρωπεία μηχανὴ ἀπεῖπε, τὸν Θεόν σου θεραπευθῆναι δυσώπησον· εἰ γὰρ καὶ ταύτην πατρόθεν κεκληρονόμηκα, καὶ πολλοὶ τῶν ἀγχιστέων ἐσχήκασι, καὶ οὕτως, ὡς ὁρας, Ἅγιε, τοὺς ἄκρους τῶν ποδῶν δακτύλους ἠφάνισμαι, καὶ τῶν τριχῶν τῶν ὀφρύων, καὶ βλεφάρων, καὶ τοῦ ἀνθερεῶνος ἐστέρημαι, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν ὄψιν λελώβημαί τε καὶ βέβρωμαι, ἀλλ᾽ ἀδυνατεῖ τῷ Θεῷ οὐδέν.
[78] Ὁ δὲ Γέρων ἀποκριθείς· Καὶ ἀληθῶς οὐδὲν ἀδυνατεῖ τῷ Θεῷ, φησὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν, ἀλλὰ τὰ πάντα ὑποτάσσεται τῇ παντοκρατορικῇ αὐτοῦ βουλήσει, καὶ τὴν θέλησιν τῶν φοβουμένων αὐτὸν καὶ πίστει δεομέννων αὐτοῦ πληροῖ. Διὸ θάρσει, ἄνθρωπε, θάρσει· ἰαθήσῃ γὰρ καὶ σωθήσῃ, καὶ τῆσδε τῆς φαινομένης τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἀνιάτου περιεχούσης σε νόσου μετ᾽ οὐ πολλὰς ἡμέρας διὰ πολλοῦ τοῦ τάχου καθαρισθήσῃ. Καρτέρησον τοίνυν, καὶ τοῖς ἡμετέροις παράμεινον μαθηταῖς ἐν τῷ κελλίῳ, καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἡμετέραν σχόλασον πενιχρότητα καθ᾽ ἡμέραν ἐν τῷ ἡσυχαστηρίῳ. Ταῦτα μὲν, ἐμπλησθεὶς προβλεπτικοῦ χαρίσματος ὁ θεοφόρος Γέρων, ἔφη. Ὁ δὲ φιλόχριστος ἀνὴρ κατὰ τὴν ἐπιταγὴν αὐτοῦ πεποίηκε, κατ᾽ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν πυκνοτέρως σχολάζων αὐτῷ, τῷ τῶν ὅλων δὐεργέτῃ καὶ μόνῳ σωμάτωντε καὶ πνευμάτων ἰατρῴ, Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ τῷ ἀληθινῷ Θεῷ, ἐκτενεστέρας ὑπὲρ τῆς τελείας ἰάσεως αὐτοῦ καὶ σωτηρίας προσάγοντι δεήσεις, καὶ πᾶν τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ χρίοντι ἐλαίῳ σὺν ὕδατι ἀπ᾽ ἄκρων τριχῶν ἕως τοῦ πέλματος τῶν ποδῶν, ἕως ὅτου οὐρανόθεν ὁ Θεὸς μετ᾽ ὀλίγας ἡμέρας διὰ τῆς τοῦ θεοφόρου Γέροντος πρεσβείας ἐπισκεψάμενος αὐτὸν, τὰ ἐπίδηλα ὑγιεινὰ τεκμήρια ἐνεδείξατο, γνωρίσας τῷ γνησίῳ δούλῳ καὶ θεραπευτῇ περὶ τῆς τελείας αὐτοῦ θεραπείας.
[79] Ὅντινα μετ᾽ ἕπειτα προσκαλεσάμενος ὁ θαυμασιώτατος Γέρων, τῷ Θεῷ προσενέγκας ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ τὴν ὑπερφυῆ καὶ ζωωτόκον, θείαν, καὶ ἀναίμακτον θυσίαν, κάτωθεν τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου βήσσας μεστώσας ὕδατος καὶ ἐλαίου, οἷς ὅλον αὐτὸν ἀλείψας ταῖς ἑαυτοῦ ἀγναῖς παλάμαις, σῶον καὶ ὑγιῆ καὶ κεκαθαρμένον ἀπὸ τοῦ πάθους, πλήν τινων οἰδημάτων ἐν τοῖς μηροῖς καὶ ταῖς κνήμαις λελημμένων, ἀπέλυσεν, ἐκ τοῦ ἁγιαστικοῦ ἐλαίου βραχύ τι ἐφοδιάσας αὐτὸν, καὶ εἰπών· Πορευθῇς ἐν εἰρήνῃ καὶ χαίρων, ὅταν κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν τόνδε τὸν τόπον καταντήσῃς, τῷ ὑποζυγίῳ καταβὰς ἄλειψον ἐν τούτῳ τοὺς μηροὺς καὶ τὰς κνήμας, ὅτι δὴ ἐκεῖθεν ἐλθόντος σου ἐπὶ τόνδε τὸν τόπον, ἀπαῤῥαγήσονται ἐξαιφνῆς, ὅσα ἔχεις, οἰδήματα, καὶ ἀφανῆ γενήσονται· καὶ ὄψει τὴν ἀνέκφραστον τοῦ Θεοῦ δεσπσοτείαν, καὶ τὴν περί σε γενομένην ἄφατον ἀγαθότητα· τελείως γὰρ θεραπευθήσῃ, καὶ καθαρισθήσῃ, καὶ σώοις ποσὶ βαδίσεις. Ταύτην οὖν τὴν ἐντολὴν τοῦ θεοφόρου Γέροντος φυλάξας ὁ φιλόχριστος ἀνὴρ, ἔχρισε τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ μηροὺς καὶ τὰς κνήμας, καταλαβὼν τὸν ὁρισθέντα χῶρον, καὶ μετ᾽ ἔπειτα ἐκεῖθεν ἀπάραντος αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸν ἐφθακότος προδηλωθέντα τόπον, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ θεσπεσίου Γέροντος πρόῤῥησιν διηνοίχθησαν πάντα τὰ τραύματα, καὶ ὑγιεῖς κατεστάθησαν οἱ μηροὶ καὶ αἱ κνἠμαι, καὶ ποσὶν ἐῤῥωμένοις ἐβάδιζεν.
[80] Ὦ τῆς παραδόξου ἀθρόας μεταβολῆς! πολλάκις γὰρ, δύο ἀνδρῶν ἐκατέρωθεν ἐοειδόντων καὶ στηριζόντων αὐτὸν, τοῖς ποσὶ μόγις τὴν γῆν πατῶν ἐπέζευε· διὰ δὲ τῆς τοῦ μεγάλου Γέροντος ἱκετείας ποσὶν ἀτρόμοις καὶ ἰσχυροῖς ὥδευε. Καὶ τί δεῖ με τὰ πολλὰ λέγειν; Ὅλος καθαρὸς, ὅλος ὑγιὴς, ὅλος ὡραῖος ἀπεδείχθη, μηδενὸς ἴχνους, μηδὲ βραχυτάτης οὐλῆς ἑλκούσης ἀπολειφθείσης, εἰς τὰ ἴδια ἀποκατεστάθη γεγηθώς. Τοῦτον ἰδόντες οἱ οἰκεῖοι, καὶ οἱ συγγενεῖς, καὶ οἱ φίλοι καὶ συμπολῖται Γαζαῖοι, πάντες ἠγάσθησαν ἐκθαμβηθέντες περὶ τῷ ξένῳ καὶ παραδόξῳ τοῦ θαύματος· καὶ ἰδοὺ μέχρι τῆς δεῦρο ἡμέρας τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ χάριτι ζῆ, λίαν ὑπάρχων φιλομόναχος, ὅπερ οὐκ ἦν τὸ πρῶτον, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον μισομόναχος, διὰ παντὸς κατακρίνων τοὺς μοναχοὺς, καὶ κατηγορίαις καθυποβάλλων αὐτοὺς ἀλόγοις. Ἔστι δὲ φιλόπτωχος ἅμα καὶ φιλόξενος, ἅπαντας ἐκπλήττων οὐ μόνον τοῖς ἀθρόοις αὐτοῦ βελτίστοις τρόποις, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάσαις ταῖς σωματικαῖς ἀρεταῖς, κάλλειτε καὶ ὑγείᾳ, ῥώμῃτε καὶ ὡραιότητι, ὁμολογῶν τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ χάριν, καὶ κηρύττων τὸ ἔλεος· τήν τε τοῦ ἁγίου Γέροντος οὐ κρύπτων εὐεργεσίαν, ἀλλὰ δὴ καὶ διὰ παντὸς εὐφημῶν αὐτὴν, καὶ τὴν ἀρετὴν ἐκθειάζων· ὅθεν καθ᾽ ἕκαστον ἔτος οὐκ ἔληξεν ἔρχεσθαι πρὸς αὐτὸν, τῷ Θεῷ τε καὶ αὐτῷ τὴν εὐχαριστίαν ἀπονέμων, καὶ τὴν ὀφείλουσαν αὐτῷ παρ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ τιμὴν ἐπιγινώσκων, καὶ εὐλωγίαν τινὰ τῷ Θεῷ τε καὶ αὐτῷ καρποφορῶν πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς ἐν σαρκὶ σωῆς τοῦ ἁγίου γέροντος Στεφάνου, ὃν ὁ Θεὸς ἐδόξασε, καὶ διαφόροις κατεκόσμησε χαρίσμασιν.
[81] Οὗτος γάρ ποτε ὁ θαυμαστὸς καὶ μέγας Γέρων εἶχέ τινα μαθητὴν Σύρον, ἀββᾶν Σάβαν καλούμενον, πρεσβυτηρίου βαθμὸν ἐπέχοντα, χήραν κεκτημένον μητέρα, ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ τριῶν ἡμερῶν ὁδὸν ἀπέχουσαν, ἥτις αὐτῷ πολλάκις ἐδήλου, ποτὲ μὲν εὐεκτοῦσα, ποτὲ δὲ σωματικοῖς συνεχομένη νοσήμασιν, εἰς ἐπίσκεψιν αὐτῆς παραγενέσθαι. Βουλόμενος δὲ τὴν μητρικὴν ἐκτελέσαι μήνυσιν, ἐκωλύετο ὑπὸ τῆς ἀρίστης τού θεοφόρου ἐπιστάτου βουλῆς. Μετὰ οὗν τινα χρόνον τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ ἀῤῥωστίᾳ περικειμένης, καὐτῷ πρὸς ἑαυτὴν ἐλθεῖν συνήθως μηνυσάσης, πορευθεὶς πρὸς τὸν θεοφόρον ἐπιστάτην, εἶπεν· Πανάγιε πάτερ, δεδήλωκέ με ἡ κυρία μου ἡ μεγάλη ἀπιέναι πρὸς αὐτὴν, ἐπειδὴ νόσῳ συνέχεται, ἀλλ᾽ εἰ κελεύει ἡ ὑμετέρα ἐπιστατικὴ ἁγιωσύνη, ἐπινευσάτω, ὅπως ἀπέλθω ἐπισκεψόμενος αὐτήν. Πρὸς τοῦτον δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ θαυμάσιος Γέρων ἔφὴ· Ναὶ τέκνον, πορεύου, καὶ τὴν σὴν εὔφρανον γεννήτριαν.
[82] Ὁ δὲ μαθητὴς ἐπὶ τῇ ταχίστῃ ἐπινεύσει τοῦ ἐπιστάτου θαυμάσας ἔφη· Διὰ τί, πάτερ, διαφόρως αὐτῆς μηνυσάσης παραγενέσθαι, καὶ ἡμῶν αἰτησαμένων τὴν σὴν παρὰ τοῦτο κέλευσιν, οὐκ εἴας ἡμᾶς, λέγων τὴν μὲν ὁδὸν ἀσύμφορον εἶναι, καὶ τὴν ἐπίσκεψιν οὐκ ἀναγκαίαν· τὴν δὲ μητέρα μηδὲν δεινὸν πεπονθέναι, ἀλλ᾽ εὖ ἔχειν, εἰ καὶ ἔνιοτε ἐν ἀῤῥωστείαις διέκειτο, ἠρεμεῖν δὲ ἐν τῇ μεγίστῃ Λαύρᾳ συνεβούλευες ἡμῖν, καὶ τοὺς τοιούτους κατευνάξειν λογισμούς· νῦν δὲ ἀπελθεῖν καὶ εὐφράναι αὐτὴν προθύμως ἐκέλευσας; Ὁ δὲ Γέρων ἀποκριθεὶς ἔφη πρὸς αὐτόν· διὰ τοῦτο προφρόνως ἐκέλευσά σε, ἐπειδὴ βεβαρυμένη λίαν ἐστὶ τοῖς νοσήμασι. Οὐκοῦν πρόφθασον αὐτὴν τάχιστα· μέλλει γὰρ ἐν ᾗ καταλαβεῖς ἡμέρᾳ γνωρίζειν σε, καί τινα διαθήκην ποιήσασθαι πρός σε. Ἀλλ᾽ ὅσα ἂν ἐπηρωτῆσαι βούλει, εὐθέως ἐκτὸς πάσης ὑπερθέσεως λεπτομερῶς αὐτὴν ἐπηρώτησον· ἐπειδὴ τῇ ἐπαύριον ἡμερᾳ οὐκ ἔτι σε γνωρίσει, οὔτε μὴν παντελῶς σοι λαλήσει. Πορευθεὶς οὖν οὗτος ὁ ἀββᾶς Σάβας ὁ τοῦ θεοφόρου Γέροντος μαθητὴς, εὗρε τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ νοσοῦσαν δεινῶς· ἥτις εὐθέως μὲν κατιδοῦσα, χαρμοσύνης ἐπληρώθη, ἐχεφρόνως αὐτὸν γνωρίσασα, καὶ διατιθεμένη αὐτῷ τὰ καταθύμια. Τῇ δὲ ἐπαύριον κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Γέροντος πρόγνωσιν, πάντας ἀγνοήσασα, μετέστη πρὸς τὸν κύριον, τὸν ζωῆς καὶ θανάτου δεσπόζοντα, ᾧ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας.
[83] Ἄλλος δέ τις μοναχὸς, εὐλαβὴς καὶ τῶν ἐν ἀξιοπιστίᾳ μεμαρτυρημένων, διηγούμενός μοι ἔφη οὕτως· Τὸν μονήρη βίον ὁ τάλας ἐγὼ ἐν τῇ εὐαγεῖ μονῇ τοῦ Καστελλίου μετηρχόμην, καί τις
συνυπῆρχεν ἀδελφὸς οὐ προσέχων τῇ αὐτοῦ σωτηρίᾳ, καὶ τῆς μοναχικῆς ἀμελῶν πολιτείας, καὶ τῆς τῶν πατέρων καταφρονήσας ἀγγελικῆς εὐταξίας, ὥστε ἐξώκιλεν εἰς αἰσχροτάτην ἀπόγνωσιν, καὶ τὸ μοναχικὸν παντάπασιν ἀποδύσασθαι σχῆμα ἠθέλησεν· πορευθεὶς γὰρ εἰς τὴν Ἁγίαν πόλιν ἠβουλήθη πορευθῆναι ἐπὶ τὴν ἰδίαν πατρίδα, κᾀκεῖσε τὸ κοσμικὸν περιβάλλεσθαι ἔνδυμα. Ὡς οὖν ἐνόησε περὶ τῆς τούτου ἀπὸ τῆς μονῆς ἀναχωρήσεως ὁ συμπαθέστατος γέρων Στέφανος, διάγων τότε κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς Τεσσαρακοστῆς ἐν τοῖς τοῦ Καστελλίου σπηλαίοις, καὶ μετακαλεσάμενός με ἔφη· Προθυμήθητι ἀδελφὲ, καὶ ἄπιθι, καὶ ἄγαγέ μοι τὸν ἀναχωρήσαντα πνευματικὸν ἀδελφόν σου ἀπὸ τῆς ἁγίας πόλεως· οἶδα γὰρ ὅτι πεισθήσεταί σοι. Ἁπελθὼν οὖν κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Γέροντος προσταγὴν ἤνεγκα πρὸς αὐτὸν τὸν τῆς μονῆς ἀποδράντα ἀδελφόν. Τούτῳ δὲ παραγεγονότι φησὶν ὁ θεοφόρος Γέρων· Διὰ τί, ὦ τέκνον, τῆς σαυτοῦ καταφρονεῖς σωτηρίας, καὶ ταυτησὶ τῆς ἀγγελικῆς ἀποφεύγεις πολιτείας, καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν πρότερον ἔμετον παλινοστῆσαι θέλεις, καὶ τοῖς κοσμικοῖς ἐγυλινδεῖσθαι βορβόροις; Οὐκ οἶδας, ὅσοι γεγόνασιν ἀπὸ τοῦ μοναχικοῦ τάγματος τῆς ἐκκλησίας φοστῆρες καὶ θαυματουργοὶ, καὶ θαυμαστοὶ, καὶ μεγάλοι, καὶ ἀρχιποιμένες;
[84] Τοιούτοις οὖν διδάγμασι καὶ γραφικαῖς νουθεσίαις τοῦτον θεασάμενος μὴ πειθόμενον, ἀλλ᾽ ἔτι τῇ πρὸς τὸν κόσμον ῥοπῇ νεύοντά τε καὶ ἐγκύπτοντα, τοῖς σατανικοῖς ἠττημένον ἐνθυμήμασιν, ἔλαβεν σανίδα μικρὰν, σπιθαμῆς καὶ ἡμίσεως μῆκοστε καὶ πλάτος ἐσχηκυῖαν, καὶ ἀμφοῖν ἡμῶν θεωρούντων, τίθησιν αὐτὴν ἐπὶ πετρώδους τινὸς τόπου τοῦ ἰδίου σπηλαίου, πάνυ κατωφεροῦς καὶ ὁλισθηροῦ πεφυκότος, ὅπη μονονουχὶ οὔτε χνοῦς οὔτ᾽ ἔτι κάρφος ἐπισταίη ἂν, κᾀκεῖ στήσας αὐτὴν ὀρθὴν, καὶ οὐδαμῶς κεκυφυῖαν, φησὶ πρὸς αὐτὴν οὕτως· Εὐλογητὸς κύριος, στῆθι· καὶ παραυτὰ παραδόξως, οἷα ψυχῆς τελοῦσα λόγῳτε καὶ αἰσθήσει τετιμημένης, ἡ ἄψυχος ἅμα καὶ ἀναίσθητος σανὶς ἔστη τῷ λόγῳ τοῦ ἁγίου Γέροντος, ὃς ἅλας κομίσας ἐπέθηκεν αὐτῇ, καὶ οὕτως ἠρτημένη τριῶν ἐπέμεινεν ἡμερῶν. Ἀγασθεὶς τοίνυν ἐπὶ τούτῳ τῷ ξένῳ θαύματι καὶ ἔκθαμβος γενάμενος ὁ ἀδελφὸς, κλίνας τὰ γόνατα, παρὰ τοῦ Γέροντος ᾑτήσατο συγχώρησιν, καὶ ἕνεκεν τῆς αὐτοῦ ὑπομονῆς ἐπικουρίαν καὶ ἔντευξιν. Ἐπευξάμενος οὖν αὐτῷ ἅμα καὶ εὐλογήσας, καὶ σωτηρίοις περιθωρακήσας παραινέσεσιν, ἑδραῖον αὐτὸν καὶ τῇ μοναχικῇ πολιτείαι πάγιον ἀπέλυσεν, καὶ νῦν χαριτι Θεοῦ καὶ εὐχαῖς τοῦ ὁσίου Γέροντος ζῆ καὶ ἐν πολλῇ καταστάσει, καὶ καλῇ πολιτείᾳ διάγει, καλῶς προσέχων ἑαυτῷ καὶ τῇ σωτηρίᾳ ἑαυτοῦ ἐπιμελούμενος.
[85] Ἄλλο δέ σοι μέγα διηγήσομαι θαῦμα· ἀπῆλθον γάρ ποτε σὺν τούτῳ τῷ θαυμασίῳ Γέροντι ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰορδάνην ποταμὸν σὺν ἑτέροις τισὶ τῶν μοναχῶν, κᾀκεῖσε παραγεγονότες ἐπεθυμήσαμεν ἐν τῷ ναῷ τοῦ σωτηριώδους Βαπτίσματος προσεύξασθαι, ἔνθα ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς πᾶσαν τὴν βρότειον οὐσίαν ῥύπου παντὸς ἐγκαθάρας, τὰς τοῖς ὕδασιν ἐμφωλευούσας κατέθλασε δρακοντείας κάρας, καὶ τούτου χάριν παρακεκληκότες τὸν Γέροντα πεπείκαμεν. Ὡς οὖν προσηγγίσαμεν, ἔφημεν αὐτῷ· Εἰ κελεύει ἡ σὴ ἁγιότης, πορευέσθω εἷς ἐξ ἡμῶν ἐπὶ τὴν ἄνω κειμένην τοῦ Προδρόμου μονὴν, τὴν τοῦ ναοῦ ἐνέγκαι κλεῖδα, κᾀυτὸν τὸν παραμονάριον· εἰ μὴ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος ἔλθῃ, τῆς κλειδὸς ἀχθείσης, οὐδὲν ἀνύσομεν· δυσκόλως γὰρ καὶ μόλις ἀνοίγεται ἡ μανδαλὶς, οὐχ ἅπαξ γὰρ ἐπειράθημεν αὐτῆς. Ὁ δὲ σημειοφόρος Γέρων πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἔφη· Οὐκ ἀνάγκη ἡμᾶς, ἀγαπητὰ τέκνα, σκυλθῆναι ἐκεῖ· ἀλλὰ δεῦτε μόνον, καὶ εἴη τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ταῦτα οὖν εἰπόντος αὐτοῦ, ἐπορεύθημεν, καὶ παρὰ τὴν θύραν στάντων ἡμῶν, εὐχὴν πεποιηκὼς, καὶ τρὶς τὰ γόνατα κεκλικὼς, καὶ τὴν πύλην σταυροτύπῳ σημείῳ ἐσφραγικὼς, καὶ τὴν μανδαλίδα ἄκροις δακτύλοις ἁψάμενος, παραχρῆμα τὴν θύραν ἀνέῳξεν
[86] Εἰςβάντες οὖν, καὶ εὐξάμενοι, ἀνεκάμψαμεν, χαριστηρίους τῷ Θεῷ ἀναπέμποντες ὕμνους, καὶ τὴν τοῦ Γέροντος ἐκθειάζοντες χάριν, δι᾽ ἧς πλειστάκις τὰς τοῦδε τοῦ ναοῦ πύλας ἀνέῳξεν, ὥς τινες πιστότατοι διηγήσαντο ἡμῖν· ἀεὶ δὲ, τῆς Τεσσαρακοστῆς πληρουμένης, δι᾽ αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐπάνοδον ἀπὸ τῆς ἐρήμου νυκτὸς ἐποιεῖτο ἕνεκεν εὐχῆς· ὅθεν οἱ κατ᾽ ἐκεῖνον τὸν καιρὸν τοῦ θεοσεβοῦς ναοῦ παραμονάριοι πεφυκότες, πλειστάκις αὐτὸν θεασάμενοι αὐτομάτως εἰσελθόντα νυκτὸς, ᾡήθησαν αὐτὸν εἶναι τὸν ἅγιον Ἰωάννην τὸν πρόδρομον, ἄχρις ἄν τις ἔνδοθεν τοῦ ἀξιοσέπτου ναοῦ κατὰ τὴν θύραν ὑπνώσας τούτου τοῦ ἁγίου Γέροντος κατὰ μὲσον νύκτα ἀνοίγοντός ποτε τὰς πύλας, ἐξανέστη ἔκθαμβος γενόμενος, καὶ οἰόμενος τὸν ἅγιον Ἰωάννην αὐτῷ φανῆναι, καὶ εὐλογηθῆναι παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἐδυσώπει, καὶ περιφὺς τὰ ἴχνη αὐτοῦ ἐγνώρισε τὴν θεοειδῆ αὐτοῦ μορφὴν καὶ εἰδέαν, καὶ τὴν φωνὴν, καὶ τεθαυμακὼς ἐπὶ τούτοις, καὶ πληροφορηθεὶς εἶναι αὐτὸν τῶν ὅσιον Στέφανον, ἐπὶ τοῦτο τῷ Θεῷ δόξαν ἀνέπεμψεν τῷ καταξιώσαντι αὐτῷ τῆς τοῦ Γέροντος τυχεῖν εὐλογίας.
With two holy anchorites having met, This same holy Stephen, as if the discourse were of some other, related to me the things which I am now about to tell you; and I indeed am persuaded that the narration pertained to none but himself; but out of zeal for modesty he kept silent his own name. Whatever it be, whether it regards him or another, I shall not be loath to bring forward the wonderful appearance of the prodigy, for the profit of those to whom it shall have happened to read these things, and this especially because I received it from the truthful mouth of the Elder himself, deserving of anyone's faith, to whom I stood attentive when he said: That there was a certain Elder who passed Lent on the shore of the Dead Sea, to whom two certain hermits came, feeding on herbs alone, having before prayed to God that he would by no means suffer the virtue of the Elder to lie hidden from them. And so, the prayers being finished which were wont to be poured out, and some spiritual conversations being held, both the anchorites pray that Elder to walk with them to the very shore of the Dead Sea. When it was come thither, both alike thus address the Elder: It is in our mind, O father, to cross this dead sea hence to the opposite part. But by your love allow yourself to be brought to go together with us. But he: Pardon, he said, O fathers, my infirmity: for this so great dignity properly befits you, and those like you in sanctity.
[76] he walks upon the waters of the Dead Sea. When he had said these things, assailing him with second prayers, they moved him: when they had now brought him to their opinion, they bade him go before a little. Fortified therefore with the sign of the cross, like another lawgiver Moses, he walked upon the waters, using his soles alone as most sturdy rafts in so great a depth of the sea. These men therefore, beholding him thus proceeding upon the waves, to a spear's throw, or even a little further, calling him by name, cry out, and redouble: Return, father, return to us. But to him returning upon the waters again and walking as if upon solid ground, the illustrious pair of anchorites said: The ineffable benignity of God has confirmed our opinion of you, holy father: but come, let us begin the prayer, and commend us to the Lord. The Lord's Prayer a being finished therefore, after they had embraced one another with mutual salutation, that pair of anchorites, notable for miracles, signing themselves with the cross, departed upon the sea-waves. Which when the Elder had seen, he glorified the almighty majesty of God, and, admiring the sanctity of each anchorite, returned to his cave. And these things, as of another, that dispeller of sicknesses and restorer of healths narrated, to the glory of God who transcends the praises of all.
[77] But now I must recount that prodigy which he wrought, commonly known, and proved by frequent witness. [A noble man of Gaza, laboring with the sacred disease, takes refuge with the Saint,] A certain one of the nobles and most illustrious men of Gaza, a city beloved of Christ, had begun to be ill, and to be tortured by the sacred disease: when he took refuge with this God-bearing Elder, then dwelling in the Greatest Laura: and, fallen at his feet, wearied him with much supplication, saying: Have mercy on me, servant of God, have mercy on me, and entreat your God, the physician of incurable diseases, that he relieve me of this sacred disease: for I had recourse to very many physicians, nor could any of them free me from this plague: but my remedy fled them all; wherefore, dismissing them, I betook myself to certain celebrated monks, begging their help; but these told me nothing more than those physicians; nay all denied me a cure, content to soothe with words alone the wasting of the body and the affliction of the mind. For this cause therefore to God alone, and to you, destitute of all solace, and worn out with grief, I have run, trusting that whatever you shall ask of your God will altogether be done. Have mercy therefore on me, and on my pain, which all medical art and human industry has laid aside, and beseech your God that he make the medicine: for although I received it from my ancestors as it were by inheritance, and many of my kinsmen have labored with it, and thus, as you see, holy Man, the tips of my toes are gnawed away, and the hairs have fallen from my eyelids and eyebrows and chin, and my deformed face is eaten away; yet to God nothing is impossible.
[78] To this the Elder: Indeed, he said, there is nothing which surpasses the power of God: but in his omnipotent will all things are set, and, frequenting him, he is cured: and he himself fulfills the will of those who fear and with faith invoke him. Wherefore, trust, O man, trust; for you shall recover and be freed, and from this very wasting with which you labor, and which appears to men incurable, you shall be cleansed most speedily, not after many days. Patiently therefore endure, and stay with our disciples in the cell, and, frequenting my slenderness, come daily to the hesychasterion. And these things indeed the God-bearing Elder said, full of the grace of foreknowledge. But that man, a lover of Christ, did as he was bidden, frequently presenting himself to him each day, when he poured out prolix prayers to the bestower of all things, and the sole physician of bodies and souls, Christ Jesus, true God, for the perfect restoration of his health and the obtaining of his salvation, anointing his whole body from the crown of the hairs to the sole of the feet with oil together with water; until, a few days after, the God-bearing Elder entreating, God, looking upon him from heaven, gave manifest and salutary signs, his perfect cure being revealed to his most faithful servant and physician.
[79] Then, having summoned him to himself, when the Elder, admirable in every way, had for his health sacrificed the supernatural, life-giving, divine, and unbloody victim, and having obtained perfect health of body, and at the foot of the altar had filled basins with water and oil, and had anointed him wholly with them with his own pure hands, he dismissed him safe and whole, and cleansed of his wasting, if you except certain tumors protruding on the thigh and shins, bestowing on him a little consecrated oil, which he should use on the journey, and admonishing him thus: Go in peace and glad. But when on the way you come to that certain place, dismount from your beast,
and there anoint your thighs and shins; for when, departing thence, you shall reach that other place, at that very moment whatever tumors you have will break out and wholly disappear: and you shall see the inexplicable dominion of God over all things, and the benignity exhibited toward you, which no one could attain in words: for you shall wholly recover and be cleansed, and shall walk with whole and sound feet. This command of the God-bearing Elder the pious man followed, and anointed his thighs and shins as soon as he came to the assigned place; and after, going further thence, he reached the other place, likewise shown before, all his abscesses broke, according to the prediction of the prophetic Elder, and his thighs and shins were restored to their former state, and he ran about with feet made perfectly whole.
[80] and by the very change of his life for the better he is an admiration to all. O sudden and stupendous change! For very often it had happened that, watched and supported on either side by two men, he scarcely moved his steps, treading the ground with his feet; but by the entreaty of the great Elder he obtained this, that he set firm and strong footsteps. And what more? Wholly clean, wholly sound, wholly he appeared comely, no scar, not even the least, no ulcer being left which might exulcerate the flesh, and he departed glad to his own. Which when his household, kinsmen, friends, and fellow-citizens of Gaza beheld, the admiration of so unusual and stupendous a prodigy held all in suspense. And, behold, what is the grace of God, he lives even today eminently zealous for monks, such as he had not been before; for rather he hated them, execrating all monks, and cutting them with insipid calumnies. But now he holds both the poor and strangers in his delights, and astonishes all not only with his excellent morals, in which he abounds, but besides with the gifts of the body, form, health, strength, and excellent beauty, acknowledging the grace of God, and openly professing His mercy: nor indeed does he dissemble the benefit of the holy Elder, but commends it especially and assiduously, and most religiously venerates his virtue: whence each year he never omitted to visit him, that he might exhibit to God and to him the offices of a grateful mind, and protest the veneration due to him from himself, and at the same time bring some gift both to God and to him: which manner he kept, so long as that holy elder Stephen survived, whom God adorned with huge glory, and various gifts from heaven.
[81] A religious, otherwise often restrained from visiting his mother, For this wonderful and illustrious Elder once had a disciple, a certain Syrian (he was called father Sabas), initiated into the priesthood, whose mother was a widow, separated from him by a three days' dwelling, who, as she now enjoyed good, now struggled with ill health, frequently invited him to visit her. But when he had resolved to obey his mother's summons, he was restrained by the most salutary counsel of the God-bearing Elder. And so, some time after, being summoned as usual by his parent, who had relapsed into sickness, he went to the holy prelate, and thus speaks: Most holy father, my great lady signifies to me that she desires me to come thither, because she has fallen into sickness: if therefore it seem good to your sanctity, whom I venerate as my superior, let it grant me to go now to visit her. The wonderful Elder replied to him: By all means, son, set out, and refresh your mother.
[82] The disciple, wondering at so prompt a concession, says: foreknowing the moment of extreme necessity, he seasonably dismisses him. For what is the reason, father, that, though she so often called me to her, and we asked your leave for this, you denied it, alleging the difficult way, and that the visitation was by no means necessary; and that nothing more grievous had befallen my mother, but that she was well; although at times she then lay sick; and you bade us stay secure in the Greatest Laura, and sleep upon such thoughts: but now you command me to go, and to console her so kindly? The Elder answered: This is the reason why I now so bid, that she is now greatly oppressed with infirmities: wherefore go, visit her as quickly as possible: for on the day on which you come to her, she will also recognize you, and bequeath something to you by will. Whatever you desire to know from her, ask her at once without delay; for on the day after your coming she will neither recognize you, nor address you with a single word more. Setting out therefore, this father Sabas, disciple of the God-bearing Elder, found his mother laboring most grievously; but she, as soon as she beheld him, was wonderfully delighted, still even then plainly in possession of her mind, recognizing her son, and consigning to him by will what she wished. But on the following day, just as the Elder had foreknown, recognizing no one, she migrated to the Lord, the arbiter of life and death, to whom be glory forever.
[83] Another certain monk, a religious man and of attested authority, related this to me in these words: Learning of the flight of a despairing monk, he sends one to bring him back; I, wretched, had undertaken the monastic life in the sacred monastery of Castellium b; there was with me a certain brother little solicitous for his salvation, holding of no account the monastic discipline, and so great a despiser of the angelic institute of the fathers, that, fallen into a most base despair, he now resolved wholly to cast off the monks' habit: for, having gone into the Holy city, he meditated further to go off into his fatherland, and there to put on secular garments. When therefore the elder Stephen, most tender in affection of compassion, understood his departure from us, then passing the time of Lent in the caves of Castellium, having called me to him, he said: Come, brother, I now bid you be of a prompt and awakened mind: go, and bring back to me hither this fugitive brother of yours in spirit from the Holy city: he will obey you, I know. I go therefore, and, as I had received in charge, bring to him the brother who had fled from the monastery. When he was now present before him, thus the Elder addresses the man: Why do you make so little of your salvation, O son? Why do you flee from this angelic norm of living? Why do you hasten to return to your former vomit, and to wallow in the filth of the world? You are perhaps ignorant how illustrious lights of the Church have come forth from the monastic order; how wonderful men, how admirable, how great, even princes of pastors?
[84] And when he noticed that this man was in no way moved by such instructions, and by admonitions drawn from Holy Scripture; but was still borne by weight toward the world, and by a miracle he recalls the obstinate one to amendment. and, conquered, succumbed to satanic suggestions; he seizes a tablet not large, a span and a half long and broad, and, both of us looking on, places it in a certain rocky place of his cave, very sheer and slippery, where scarcely down or a straw could stay itself, and there setting it upright, and by no means inclined, he uses these words to it: Blessed be the Lord; stand: and immediately, as if it had been animated, and endowed with reason and sense, so the tablet, void alike of soul and sense, at the words of the holy Elder wonderfully stood, who, bringing salt, laid it upon it, and thus for a whole three days it remained erect. Struck by this new miracle and amazed, the brother, his knees bowed to the ground, begged of the Elder pardon for himself, and help by which he might persevere, and his prayers. Having therefore prayed well for him, and imparted a blessing, he dismissed him armed on every side with salutary exhortations, and confirmed and solid in the monastic discipline: and indeed even now, by the grace of God and the patronage of the holy Elder, he leads a most secure life, and one exact to all the laws of virtue and the institute, notably watchful over himself, and placing the care of his salvation among the first things.
[85] He unlocks the closed church of the Holy Baptism by the sign of the cross, But I will now dispatch to you another singular prodigy: for I was going with this wonderful Elder to the river Jordan with certain other monks; whither when we had come, it pleased us to go into the temple of the salvation-bearing Baptism c for the sake of praying; where our Lord Jesus Christ, cleansing all human substance from every defilement, crushed in the waters the lurking heads of dragons, and for that cause we coaxed the Elder, entreated, thither. And so, when we were now near, we say to the Elder: If it seem good to your sanctity, let one of us go to the monastery of the holy Precursor situated higher up there, to bring the key of the temple, and to lead the paramonarius d: for unless he come, the key being brought we shall accomplish nothing; because the lock is opened with difficulty and hardly; as we have more than once experienced. But the prodigious Elder replied to us: There is no need, most dear sons, of so great inconvenience to us there; but approach hither only, and let the will of God be done. This answer being received, we proceed; but while we stand before the doors, he, a prayer being poured out, and his knees thrice bent, and the door signed in the manner of a cross, touching the lock with his fingertips, immediately unlocked the doors.
[86] After, having entered, we had made an end of praying, we returned, as often at other times. chanting eucharistic hymns to God, and religiously looking up to the grace of the Elder, through which he most often opened the doors of this same church, as we received from most faithful authors: for, Lent being passed, always returning thither from the desert, he passed by night to pray. Whence those who at that time acted as guards of this sacred building, when they had very frequently seen him enter by night, no one opening, thought him to be St. John the Precursor, until someone, sleeping near the door within the venerable temple, this holy Elder opening the doors about midnight, rose up, seized with dread, and thinking St. John to appear to him, prayed to be blessed by him, and, having embraced his feet, recognized his form, breathing something divine, both his countenance and voice, and, amazed at these things, and now certain that it was the very St. Stephen himself, gave glory to God, who had willed to deem him worthy of the Elder's blessing.
ANNOTATIONS OF D. P.
appears: until, approved by the experiment of some years, they were found fit for the solitary life in the Laura.
CHAPTER VIII.
He corrects a fornicating monk; he succors a nun in peril.
Ἄλος δέ τις ἀδελφὸς εξαίσιον διηγήσατό μοι θαῦμα ἐν αὐτῷ γεγονὸς ὑπὸ τούτου τοῦ θαυμασίου Γέροντος, λέγων οὕτως· Ἀδελφὲ πνευματικὲ, βούλομαί σοί τινα διήγησιν ἐξειπεῖν, τὴν ἐμὴν μὲν καταισχύνουσαν κορυφὴν, τὴν δὲ τοῦ θαυμασιωτάτου Στεφάνου ἀγλαΐζουσαν ἀρετήν· μιᾷ γὰρ τῶν ἡμερῶν ἐν τῇ κώμῃ τῇ ἐμῇ ἅμα συνκωμήτιδι διάγων τινὶ, ὑπὸ σατανικῆς ἐβλήθην προσβολῆς ἐρωτικῇ μανίᾳ χαλεπῇ, καὶ τοῖς ἀσελγέσι λογισμοῖς. Ὁ ἀδρανὴς ἐγὼ νῶτα δεδωκὼς, καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ πορνικοῦ δαίμονος ἠττηθεὶς ὡσεὶ φλογεροῖς τρωθεὶς πτερόεσσιν οἰστοῖς περιπέπτωκα τῇ γυναικὶ, πᾶν ἀνθρώπινον ὄμμα λεληθὼς, καὶ τοῦ θείου κατατετολμηκὼς ἀκοιμήτου ὀφθαλμοῦ, καὶ τὸ διορατικὸν τοῦ χαριτοπνεύστου Σ τεφάνου βλέμμα λαθεῖν ἡλπικὼς, τὴν ἐμὴν ἀσχημοσύνην ὁ ἄφρων ἐγὼ καλύψας βαθείᾳ νυκτὶ καὶ κρυφίοις οἴκων μυχοῖς· ἀλλ᾽ ὄντως εἰ καὶ τοὺς πάντας ἔλαθον, ἀλλ᾽ αὐτὸς τῷ πνεύματι ἰδὼν, οὐκ ἡγνόησε· τὴν μεγάλην γὰρ καὶ αἰσχρὰν ἁμαρτίαν πεποιηκὼς, πρὸς τοῦτον τὸν ὅσιον Στέφανον πεπόρευμαι, ἐν τοῖς περὶ τὴν ἡμετέραν χώραν τότε διατρίβοντα μέρεσι· συχνοτέρως γὰρ ἐσχόλαζον αὐτῷ ἐκεῖσε· ἐπειδὴ συνήθης αὐτῷ ἤδη ἐκ πάλαι τῶν χρόνων ὑπῆρχον φίλος γνήσιος, ταῖς πυκνοτέραις αὐτοῦ νουθετούμενος πνευματικαῖς διδασκαλίαις, ὧν ἐν ἐμαυτῷ τὸν κάρπον οὐκ ἐβλάστησα ο ἁμαρτωλὸς καὶ πανάθλιος· ἀλλὰ τὸ ἀθέμιτον πράξας ἁμάρτημα, ἀνερυθριάστως πρὸς αὐτὸν παραγέγονα, νομίζων ὑποκλέψαι τὴν ἐμὴν βεβηλότητα.
[88] Ἀλλὰ τῆς ἐλπίδος ἐξέπεσον· ἤλεγξε γάρ με τῶν νοερῶν αὐτοῦ ὀφθαλμῶν ὁ ἀψευδέστατος ἔλεγχος. Φεῦ τῆς ἐμῆς τότε πικρᾶς αἰσχύνης! ἡνίκα γὰρ τοῦτον τὸν θεοφόρον Στέφανον, ὡς ἔθος, ἡσπασάμην, καὶ λαβεῖν παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ εὐχὰς ᾐτησάμην, εὐθέως τοῖς ζωοσόφοις καὶ φωτοβλύστοις αὐτοῦ λογίοις φωταγωγεῖν με προσκατήρξατο λέγων· Οὐαὶ τοῖς ἀμελεστέροις οὖσι περὶ τὴν ἑαυτῶν σωτηρίαν! οὐαὶ τοῖς μὴ τηροῦσιν τὰς θείας ἐντολάς· οὐαὶ τοῖς μὴ προσέχουσι ταῖς ἐκκλησιαστικαῖς νουθεσίαις· οὐαὶ τοῖς μὴ ἔχουσι πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν τὴν ἀποκειμένην τοῖς ἁμαρτάνουσιν ἄσβεστον γεένναν! Πολλάκις γάρ σε νενουθέτηκα, τέκνον, καὶ κεκώλυκα τοῦ προσκολλᾶσθαι κακοῖς; εἶδον γὰρ, ὅτι φθείρουσιν ἤθη χρηστὰ ὁμιλίαι κακαί. Σὺ δὲ τὰς ἐμὰς παραινέσεις ἀκάρπους πεποίηκας. Οὕτως ἔχρην σε διαπράξασθαι σήμερον, καὶ βεβηλῶσαι τὴν φυχὴν, καὶ τὸ σῶμα, καὶ τοῦτο τὸ ἱερώτατον σχῆμα; Τῶν ὁμοίων σου ὑπάρχει τοῦτο τῶν αἰσχροτάτων πάθος;
[89] Τοιούτοις οὖν αὐτοῦ μακρόθεν προσηνῶς παραινετικοῖς ἐλέγξαντός με ῥήμασιν, ἐνόμισα συνήθως αὐτὸν παραινοῦντα, τὴν ἡμετέραν δὲ ἀγνοήσαντα πλημμέλειαν, καὶ εἶπον πρὸς αὐτόν· Ποῖον, πάτερ, πάθος ᾐνίξω; Ὁ δὲ· Τὸ πορνικὸν,, ἔφη· Κᾀγὼ μὲν ἀναιδῶς ἀπαρνούμενος· Μὴ εἴην, μέ τίδε πεπραχέναι, ἔφην· οὐ πεπόρνευκα, πάτερ. Αὐτὸς δὲ πρᾴως εἶπε πρός με· Τί ἐρεῖς, τέκνον; οὐ πεπόρνευκας σὺ, καὶ ἡ δεῖνα, σήμερον, ἐκείνῃ τῇ ὥρᾳ, ἐν τοιῴδε τόπῳ, μεταξὺ τῶνδε καὶ τῶνδε πραγμάτων; Εἰρηκότος οὖν ἀπαραλλάκτως ἅπαντα τὰ σημεῖα τῆς ἐμῆς ἀσχημοσύνης, ἔμφοβος γενόμενος, αἰδοῖ κατεσχέθην δαμαστικῇ, μηδὲν ἀντερεῖν ἐξισχυκὼς, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τῆς γῆς τὴν κάραν κεκυφὼς, ἀνίας ἀφωνίαν ἐμποιούσης, πυρσῷ κατεστησάμην.
[90] Ἑωρακὼς δέ με ὁ συμπαθὴς πατὴρ οὕτω λυπηρῶς ἐπὶ πολὺ διακείμενον, τοιούτοις παρηγορῶν με λόγοις, ἔφη· Μὴ λυποῦ, ἀδελφέ· κᾀγὼ γὰρ ἀνθρωπός εἰμι ὁμοιοπαθὴς, τῆς ἴσης τέλων * φύσεως· μόνον μὴ ἀπογνῶς· οὐδένα γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς ἀπωθεῖται μετανοοῦντα· ἀλλὰ φιλανθρόπως ἀποδέχεται πάντας· καὶ πειθέτω σε περὶ τούτου ἥτε τοῦ τὴν πατρικὴν περιουσίαν μετὰ πορνῶν διεσκεδακότος ἀσώτου παραβολὴ, καὶ ἡ τοῦ τελώνου· οὐ γὰρ ἀπώσατο πόρνην τῶν πταισμάτων αἰτουμένην τὴν ἄφεσιν, οὔτε τελώνην εὐαγγελιστὴν εἶναι παρῃτήσατο, καὶ διώκτην ἀπόστολον, καὶ πλείονας ἄν σοι ἔντε τῇ παλαιᾷ καὶ τῇ νέᾳ διαθήκῃ τοιούτοις ἐμπεσόντας πάθεσι, καὶ θεόθεν ἰαθέντας διὰ τῆς μετανοίας δέξοιμι, εἴγε βουλοίμην πλατύτερον ποιεῖσθαι λόγον. Ἀλλ᾽ ἰκανούσθω σοι ταῦτα, τέκνον. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐλέγξαί σε παντελῶς ἡβουλόμην, ἵνα μή σε πτύρω, καὶ τῆς ἐμῆς ὁμιλίας ἀποφυγεῖν παρασκευάσω. Ἀλλ᾽ εἶδόν σε μηδαμῶς συνιέντα ἐμοῦ τὸ σὸν ἕλκος ἀνευστυπτικῶν τε καὶ ἀδριμυτάτων ἐμπλάστρων πνευματικαῖς ἐπαοιδαῖς καὶ γριφώδεσι γοητείαις θεραπεῦσαι μηχανουμένου, ἐβιάσθην ἀποκαλύψαι τοῦ πάθους τὸ αἴτιον ὑπὸ πολλῆς διαπύρου κινηθεὶς συμπαθείας, ἵνα τὴν εὐάρμωστον περιποιήσωμεν θεραπείαν· καὶ γὰρ οἱ τῶν σωματικῶν νόσων ἰατροὶ οὐ πρώτερον ἀθεωρήτως παρέχουσι τὰς ἀντιδότους τοῖς κάμνουσι, πρὶν ἂν ἐξείπωσι τῆς νόσου τὸ αἴτιον· ἐλεγχομένων γὰρ τῶν ἁμαρτανόντων, καταργεῖται τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἡ δύναμις, μὴ ἐλεγχομένων δὲ, ὥσπερ γάγγραινα νομὴν λαβοῦσα, ὅλον ἀφανίζει τὸ σῶμα, οὕτως καὶ ἡ ἁμαρτία λαθοῦσα σὺν τῇ σαρκὶ καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν διαφθείρει. Λοιπὸν μὴ ἀθύμει, τέκνον, μή τε τοσοῦτον αἰσχύνου, ἀλλ᾽ αἴτησαι παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν συγχώρησιν· οὐκ ἔν σοι γὰρ μόνῳ τοῦτο πεποίηκε, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν ἄλλοις διαφόροις.
[91] Ταῦτα οὖν λαλήσαντος τοῦ χαριτοπνεύστου Γέροντος, καὶ τὴν ἐμὴν ἐπιστηρίξαντος ἀσθένειαν, ἐπορεύθην, τὴν αὐτοῦ θαυμάζων διόρασίν τε καὶ συμπάθειαν, καὶ παντάπασιν ἐμαυτὸν ἀπέκοψα τῆς ἀδελφῆς ἐκείνης, μεθ᾽ ἧς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐποίησα, καὶ μετέπειτα αἰδοῖ φερόμενος, οὐκ ἐσύχναζον τῷ Γέροντι, ὤσπερ εἴωθα. Αὐτὸς δὲ κατὰ συγκυρίαν αἰφνήδιον ἀπαντήσας μοι· Δια τί οὐ σχολάζεις, τέκνον, τῇ ἐμῇ ταπεινώσει, ἔφη; Ἐμοὶ δὲ εἰρηκότι· Ὑπ᾽ οὐδενὸς κωλύομαι, ἀλλ᾽ ὑπὸ τῆς ἀσχολίας, ἣν περίκειμαι· καὶ εὐχὴν παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ λαβεῖν καὶ συγχώρησιν αἰτησάμενος, ἔφη· Ἐγὼ μὲν συγχωρῶ καὶ ἐπεύχομαί σοι· Ὅπερ δέ σε τῆς ἡμετέρας ἐξιστᾶ μετριότητος, πέφυκε τόδε καὶ τόδε, ὡς οὐχὶ ὑπὸ τῶνδε καὶ τῶνδε λογισμῶν κωλύῃ πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἐληλυθέναι· μὴ ψεύδου, τὰ σαφῆ ἐπιστάμενος φράσαι. Ἐγνωκὼς οὖν τὰ ἡμέτερα μελεδήματά τε καὶ ἐνθυμήματα, ἔφην· Ναὶ, ναὶ ἀληθῶς, πάτερ ἅγιε, ἔφῆς· τούτου γὰρ χάριν τῆς συνήτους ὠφελείας ἀπέχομαι, ἀλλὰ ἀεὶ εὔχου ὑπὲρ τῆς ἐμῆς ἀσθενείας, καὶ θολερᾶς διανοίας, καὶ ὅπως ἐκ ποδῶν ἐκβληθῶσιν ἀπ᾽ ἐμοῦ πάντες οἱ τῆς σωτηρίας ἀντιπάλοι λογισμοὶ. Τὴν εὐχὴν οὖν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν εὐλογίαν λαβὼν, εἰχόμην τῆς ὁδοῦ. Καὶ ὁσάκις ἠλέγχθην, ἀγαπητὲ, περὶ τῶν ἐνοικούντων μοι ἐναντίων λογισμῶν ὑπὸ τούτου τοῦ σημειοφόρου Γέροντος, ἐξειπεῖν ἀμηχανῶ· οὐ πρότερον γὰρ ἐλέγχειν με πέπαυται, ἕως ἄν με πρὸς ἑαυτὸν καθέλκυσε, καὶ τοῦ ὀλεθρίου θηρὸς ἐξέσπασε, καὶ τῷ Θεῷ προσήγωχεν.
[92] Ἄλλος δέ τις θεοφιλέστατος ὑπάρχων πρεσβύτερος ἐκ τῆς ἱερᾶς μοναχικῆς ἀγέλης διηγήσατό μοι, λέγων οὕτως· Μιᾷ τῶν ἡμερῶν ἐγώ τε καὶ ἄλλός τις γέρων ἡγιασμένος μοναχὸς Σύρος ἀπεληλύθαμεν πρὸς τὸν θεοφόρον Στέφανον, διάγοντα τότε ἐν τοῖς τοῦ Δουκᾶ σπηλαίοις· αὐτόντε κατασπασόμενοι, καὶ ἑαυτοῖς καρπωσόμενοι τὴν ὠφέλειαν· Ἐγγισάντων οὖν ἡμῶν, τοῦ ἰδίου σπηλαίου ἀσυνήθως ἐξέδραμεν εἰς τὴν ἡμετέραν ἀπάντησιν, καὶ τὴν τοῦ συνοδεύοντός μοι κεφαλὴν καταφιλήσας, ἑλληνιστὶ προσεφθέγξατο οὕτως· Τελειῶσαι βούλεται ὁ Κύριος τὸν ἱερόν σου δρόμον, καὶ τὸν ἀρετόπλεκτόν σου στέφανον, ᾧ φαιδρῶς ἐστεφάνωσαι, καὶ ἐπομβρῆσαί σοι τὴν χάριν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἄφθονον. Καὶ ταῦτα εἰπὼν, εἰσελθόντων ἡμῶν τὸ σπήλαιον, καὶ εὐχὴν ποιησαμένων, καὶ περί τινων διαλεχθέντων πνευματικῶν λογίων, λαβόμενός μου τῆς χειρὸς ἔφη μυστικῶς· Σπεῦσον, ἀγαπητὸν τέκνον, τὸν γέροντα τοῦτον διαναπαῦσαι, καὶ ἀγώνισαι παντὶ σθένει εἰς πᾶσας θεραπείαν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἄνεσιν, ἵνα σχῇς μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ κλῆρον καὶ μερίδα τῶν οὐρανοδρόμων αὐτοῦ ἐντεύξεων· πίστευε δὲ, τέκνον, τ᾽ ἀληθὲς ἐροῦντι, ὅτι, ἐμοὶ ὑμῶν προσιόντων, παρακύψας θεωρῶ αὐτὸν, τὴν κεφαλὴν ἐστεμμένον λίαν ἐκλάμπρῳ ἀστεροπλέκτῳ διαδήματι, ὅθεν εἰς τὴν ὑμετέραν ἀπάντησιν ἐξέδραμον, καὶ τὴν ἱερὰν αὐτοῦ κορυφὴν ἡσπασάμην. Τεθαυμακὼς οὖν ἐπὶ τούτοις, δοξολογίαν καὶ ἐν τῷδε τῷ Θεῷ ἀνεπεμψα, τῷ παντοίοις στεφανοῦντι τοὺς δούλους αὐτοῦ ἀστερομόρφοις, χαριτοβλύστοις στεφανώμασιν.
[93] Ἄλλος δέ τις εὐλαβὴς μοναχὸς διηγήσατό μοι, λέγων Οὕτως· Ἔστι μοί τις ἀνεψιὸς, ὀνόματι Πατρίκιος, θεοσεβέστατος. Οὗτος μιᾷ τῶν ἡμερῶν τοῦ σωτηριώδους πάσχα ἐκ τῆς ἡμετέρας ἀφικόμενος Μοαβήτιδος χώρας, ἐπεθύμησε ἐν τῇ μεγάλῃ Λαύρᾳ ἡμῶν προσεύξασθαι· οὐκ ἦν γάρ ποτε αὐτῇ τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ ἐπιθέμενος πόδας, καταλαβὼν γὰρ ταύτην σὺν τοῖς ὄχλοις ἐν τῇ ἁγίᾳ πεμπτῇ, καὶ προσευξάμενος, ἐπορεύθη πρὸς τὸν θεοφόρον Στέφανον· τοῦτον δὲ εἰσεληλυθότα, ἀπείρων λαῶν καθημένων, καὶ τῆς φωτιστικῆς διδασκαλίας ἀκροωμένων, ἑωρακὼς ὁ φωστὴρ οὗτος Στέφανος, ὀνομαστὶ φωτοφρόνως ἀποδεξάμενος πρὸς αὐτὸν ἔφη· Εὖ ἥκεις, ἀγαπητὲ, εὖ ἥκεις. Οὐχὶ σὺ εἶ ὁ κύρις Πατρίκιος; Εὖ ἷκται ὁ κύρις Πατρίκιος, καὶ καλὸς Χριστιανός. Τρὶς οὖν εἰπόντος αὐτοῦ οὕτως, καὶ ὀνομάσαντος,, ὃν νοεροῖς μὲν, οὐ σωματικοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἑώρακε πώποτε, οὔτε μὴν αὐτὴν τὴν προσηγορίαν μεμάθηκε, καταπλαγέντες τὴν θεόσδοτον αὐτοῦ χάριν ἐπῃνήσαμεν, δόξαν τῷ Θεῷ
καὶ ἐν τούτοις ἀναπέμψαντες.
[94] Ἄλλος δέ τις, ὀνόματι Θεοδήγητος, πρεσβύτερος τῆς ἁγίας Χριστοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν Ἀναστάσεως, ἐκ τῆς ἱεροτάτης μοναχικῆς ἀγέλης ὑπάρχων, παραδοξότατον διήγησατό μοι θαῦμα λέγων· Μιᾷ τῶν ἡμερῶν ἐγώ τε καί τις ἕτερος προτεθυμήμετα τὸν θεοφόρον κατασπάσασθαι Στέφανον, διατρίβοντα τότε ἐν ταῖς ὑψηλαῖς τῶν κατὰ Κουτηλᾶν ὀρέων κορυφαῖς· πρὸς ἃς βάδην ἡμῶν περιπατούντων, ὤφθησαν δύο νεανίδες τὸ μοναχικὸν ἐνδεδυμέναι σχῆμα, καὶ τὸν ἐρημικὸν διώκουσαι βίον, ἕως τῶν γονάτων φοροῦσαι σάκκους, καὶ μέχρι ποδῶν τὰς τρίχας κομῶσαι, φρικώδεις καὶ καταπληκτικαὶ, τῷ εἴδει ὁμοίαν ἔχουσαι, ποιμένος δίκην ἀκόλουθον, σημειοφόρον μητέρα. Ταύτας οὖν Ἀραβῆταί τινες αἰγονόμοι τοῖς ὄρεσι περιθέουσας ἰδόντες, κατέδραμον οἷα κύνες λυττώδεις καὶ ἄγριοι θῆρας διώκοντες, ἀπειλητικοῖς λόγοις ἐκφοβοῦντες τὰς τοῦ Χριστοῦ λογικὰς ἀμνάδας, ἵνα τῷ φόβῳτε καὶ τρόμῳ κρατηθεῖσαι, τοῦ δρόμου ἀπόσχωνται, καὶ ταῖς ἀνόμοις αὐτῶν ἐμπέσωσι παλάμαις, ἀλλ᾽ ὄντως ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἄῤῥητος προνοητικὴ δύναμις ὑπερνενίκησε, φρικτὴν καὶ παράδοξον ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐργασάμενος τιμωρίαν· τὰς μὲν γὰρ κόρας ἀνέδειξεν ὑπὲρ ταχείας ἐλάφους, καὶ πηδητικὰς δορκάδας προτρέχουσάς τε καὶ προθρώσκουσας· τὴν δὲ γεραιὰν καὶ αἰδέσιμον μητέρα κατά τινα προνοίας ἐξαίσιον τρόπον ἐξολισθῆσαι παραχωρήσασα, φοβερὰν ἐκδίκησιν ἐν τοῖς ἀθέοις πεποίηκεν.
[95] Ὦ τοῦ μεγάλου θαύματος! ὦ τῆς ξένης ἐκπλήξεως! φρίττω καὶ τρέμω, μεμνημένος, ἀγαπητὲ, τοῦ τότε ὀφθέντος θεάματος τὸ μυστήριον· τὴν γὰρ ἁγίαν γραῦν ἐκείνην ἐξολισθῆσαι παραχωρήσασα ἡ ἄφατος πρόνοια τοῦ Θεοῦ, εἷς τῶν ἀνόμων Ἀραβητῶν κατεφθακὼς, τῆς ἱερᾶς κόμης ἐλάβετο, τὸ ἀγνὸν αὐτῆς καταχρᾶναι σῶμα μανικῶς βουλόμενος. Ὡς οὖν, κυνὸς δίκην λυττῶντος, εἶλκε καὶ ἀνθείλκετο, τὸ ὅσιον αὐτῆς στόμα φλογώδους ἀέρος πληρώσασα, τῷ θηριώδει αὐτοῦ προσώπῳ ἐπεφύσησε, καὶ τὰς ὄψεις ἐτυφλωσε, καὶ πηρὸν ὅλον καὶ ἀκίνητον καὶ ἀποπληκτικὸν κατέστησε, καὶ τὴν σωματικὴν ἀποτιναξομένη ἀσθένειαν, γενναίῳ δρόμῳ ταῖς φίλαις θυγατράσι εἵπετο, τὰς μιαρὰς τοῦ ἀσεβοῦς φυγοῦσα χεῖρας. Καὶ τότε οὐκ ἃν ἴδοις τὸν συμπαθῆ Στέφανον νυστάζοντα, καὶ τῆς πρὸς τὴν φίλην τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἀμνάδα τοῦ νοητοῦ Ἀμαλὴκ μάχης ἀμελοῦντα, ἀλλὰ γενναίως πάνυ ἀντιπαρατασσόμενόν τε καὶ ἀντιστρατευόμενον, καὶ τῇ πρὸς τὸν ἄνακτα Χριστὸν τῶν χειρῶν ἐκτάσει τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ἀποτρέποντα, πρὸς ὃν ἐκθαμβούμενος ἐπὶ τῷ παραδόξῳ θαύματι κατελάβομεν, κᾀυτὸν ἀσπασάμενοι, προκατηρξάμετα ἐπερωτῶντες περὶ τοῦ ξένου θεάματος, καὶ λέγοντες· Ἴσως εἶδες, ἅγιε πάτερ, ὅπερ ἑωράκαμεν ἐξαίσιον θαῦμα; Ὁ δὲ· Ναὶ, ἀγαπητοὶ, ἐθεασάμην, ἔφη, καὶ λίαν ηὐφράνθην ἐπὶ τῇ νίκῃ καὶ θαυματουργίᾳ τῆς ἄγνης τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἀμνάδος, ὃν, αὐτῆς πολεμουμένης,, ᾐτουμην τοῖς δυσμενέσι μὴ παραδοῦναι χερσὶ, ἀλλ᾽ ἀναδεῖξαι γενναίαν αὐτὴν τροπαιοῦχον κατὰ τοῦ χαλεποῦ πολεμήτορος· οὐ γὰρ καταισχύνει τοὺς πρόσφυγας αὐτοῦ, ἀλλὰ ῥύεται αὐτοὺς πάσης σατανικῆς προσβολῆς. Εὐχαριστοῦμεν οὖν αὐτῷ διὰ παντὸς τῷ τοὺς δούλους αυτοῦ παντοίοις μεγαλύναντι θαυμασίοις.
[96] Ἡμεῖς δὲ ταῦτα ἀκούσαντες, ἐπιπλεῖον τεθαυμάκαμεν, καὶ αὐτὸν ἡρωτήσαμεν, εἴπερ εἴη ἐπιστάμενος αὐτάς; Αὐτὸς δὲ ἔφη πρὸς ἡμᾶς· Ἐπείπερ ὁ Θεὸς ὑμᾶς τὰς ἁγίας ταύτας ἰδεῖν κατηξίωσε, καὶ μάρτυρας πεποίηκε τοῦ δι᾽ αὐτῶν ἀποτελεσθέντος φρικωδεστάτου θαύματος, μὴ θέλων τοιαύτην ἀρετὴν κατακαλύψαι, ἀλλὰ δι᾽ ὑμῶν στηλιτεῦσαι, καὶ πασὶ γνωστὸν ποιήσασθαι, διὰ τούτου ὑμῖν ἐπερωτήσασι τὸ γένος αὐτῶν ἐξαγορεύσω, ἵνα μᾶλλον καὶ μᾶλλον καθάματητε τῆς σφῶν αὐτῶν ἀρετῆς τὸ μέγεθος. Αὗται τῷ γένει μέν εἰσι Ῥωμαῖαι, εὐγενῶν καὶ πλουσίων καὶ ἀρχόντων ὁρμούμεναι· τοῦ δὲ πατρὸς τελευτήσαντος, ἐνδόξου καὶ μεγιστάνου ἀνδρὸς ὑπάρχοντος, τὰς δύο ταύτας θυγατέρας καταλείψαντος ἐπὶ πολλοῖς καὶ ἀναριθμήτοις κτήμασι, καταφρονήσασα πάντων ἡ μητὴρ, θεόφρων οὖσα γυνὴ, τοῖς βιοτικοῖς ἀποταξαμένη μετὰ τούτων τῶν ἑαυτῆς θυγατέρων γυμνὴ καὶ ἀκτήμων τὸν μονήρη μετῆλθε βίον, καὶ, πόθεν οὐκ οἶδα, περὶ τῆς ἡμῶν ἐλαχιστίας ἀκούσασα, παραγέγονεν ἐνταῦθα καὶ συνέτυχέ μοι, καὶ ταῦτά μοι διηγήσατο· καὶ ἰδοὺ τριάκοντα ἔτη χρόνον ἔχει ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ταύτῃ ἀγγελικῶς τῷ Θεῷ λατρεύουσα σὺν ταῖς ἑαυτῆς ἄγνως παρθενευούσαις θυγαθρᾶσι.
[97] Τούτων δὲ σὺν προσοχῇ ἡμῶν ἀκροωμένων παρὰ τοῦ θεοφόρου Γέροντος, ἀθρόως ἀφικοντο οἱ Ἀραβῆται, ὑποζυγίῳ ἐπιβιβάσαντες τὸν πηρωθέντατε καὶ ξηρανθέντα τρισάτλιον ἐκεῖνον, καὶ πολλὰ παρεκάλουν τὸν Γέροντα περὶ τῆς θεραπείας αὐτοῦ καὶ ῥώσεως, λέγοντες· Πρόφθασον ἡμᾶς, ἅγιε Στέφανε, τοῖς ἴχνεσί σου προσπίπτοντας· πεπόνθαμεν γὰρ σήμερον δυσφόρητον ὑπό τινων παραδραμούσων μοναστριῶν· μία γὰρ αὐτῶν τοῦτον, ὡς ὁρᾷς, ὡς λίθον ἀναίσθητον, αὖον καὶ ἄναυδον κατέστησεν, ἀτάκτως αὐτὴν ἐπηρεάσαι θελήσαντα. Ἐλέησον οὖν αὐτὸν, καὶ πάντας ἠμᾶς, εὐλογημένε, τοὺς σοὺς γείτονας· οἴδαμεν γὰρ, ὅτι οὐ παρακούει σου ὁ Θεός σου εἰς ὅ, τι ἂν αἰτήσεις αὐτόν. Ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς ἔφη πρὸς αὐτούς· Τοῦτον οὐκ ἰᾶται ὁ Θεὸς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, ἐπειδὴ τῆς γνησίας αὐτοῦ δούλης κατεθρασύνθη, καὶ μιᾶναι ἤλπικεν. Ὅθεν ἔπληξεν αὐτὸν πληγὴν ἀνίατον, καὶ οὐ δύναμαι τὸν Θεὸν περὶ τούτου δυσωνπῆσαι· οὐχ ἕξει γάρ ποτε θεραπείαν· Λοιπὸν πορευθέντες παιδεύθητε, ἀφ᾽ ὧν ἐπάθετε, μηκέτι ἅπτεσθαι τῶν χριστῶν κυρίου, μήτε ἐν τοῖς ἀγίοις αὐτοῦ πονηρεύεσθαι· σκεπαστὴς γὰρ αὐτῶν ὑπάρχει, καὶ συνοδίτης, καὶ ὑπέρμαχος. Ταῦτα οὖν αὐτοῦ εἰρηκότος, αὐτοὶ μὲν τεθλιμμὲνοι καὶ κατῃσχυμμένοι ἀνεχώρησαν· ἡμεῖς δὲ, γεγηθότες ἅμα καὶ τεθηπότες ἐπὶ τῷ ξένῳ θαύματι, ἀνεκάμψαμεν, τὰς ἁγίας τοῦ Γέροντος ἐφοδιαθέντες ὁμιλήσεις τε καὶ εὐχάς· καὶ μετ᾽ οὐ πολὺ ἀκηκόαμεν, ὅτι τριῶν μόνον ἑπέζησεν ἡμερῶν ὁ παράνομος ἐκεῖνος, καὶ τὰς πύλας τοῦ ᾅδου ἐπέρασεν εἰς ἄληκτον καὶ αἰώνιον κώλασιν τιμωρεῖσθαι, εἰς σωφρονισμὸν πολλῶν ἐνταῦθα υπὸ τῆς τοῦ κυρίου δικαίας κρίσεως, ᾧ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας.
[98] Ἄλλος δέ τις εὐλαβὴς μοναχὸς διηγήσατό μοι λέγων· ὅτι ποτὲ, τοῦ ὁσίου Γέροντος τὴν ἔρημον περιπολοῦντος, Ἄραβες ἐφιβόλοι ἄνδρες κατ᾽ ἐκείνην τὴν ἔρημον, ὄπου τότε διέτριβεν, ἐδίωκον ἔλαφον· ἥτις ἀτονήσασα καὶ ἀποκαμοῦσα ἀπὸ τῶν θηρευτῶν διωκομένη, τοῖς κόλποις τοῦ ἁγίου Γέροντος προσέφυγεν, οἷά τις λογικὴ τὰ ἴχνη αὐτοῦ καταφιλοῦσά τε καὶ ἐκλιπαροῦσα τῶν τῶν θηρευτῶν ἐλευθερῶσαι δεσμῶν. Πρὸς οὓς ὁ συμπαθέστατος Γέρων ὀνομαστὶ ἔφη παρακαλῶν· Χαρίσασθέ μοι ταύτην, ὦ θηρευταὶ, ἐπειδή μοι προσέφυγε, καὶ τῆς ἐμῆς ἐδεήθη πρὸς ὑμᾶς συνεργίας. Οἱ δὲ τὴν ἔλαφον θεασάμενοι τῷ Γέροντι παρισταμένην, καὶ τὴν ἑαυτῆς κεφαλὴν τοῖς κόλποις αὐτοῦ ἐντεθηκυῖαν, πάνυ κατεπλάγησαν, καὶ αὐτὴν τῷ Γέροντι χαρισάμενοι ὑπέστρεψαν, τὴν τῶν Χριστιανῶν πίστιν ἐπαινέσαντες. Ἐγὼ δὲ παρά τινος μαθητεύσαντος τῷ ἁγίῳ Γέροντι, ἀξιοπίστου πεφυκότος, ταῦτα ἀκούσας, ὕμνον τῷ Θεῷ ἀνέπεμψα.
Another certain brother communicated to me a prodigy no common one, wrought by this wonderful Elder upon himself, speaking in this manner: Of a fornicating monk: Brother beloved in the spirit, there is something which I would tell you; and which both suffuses me with blushing, and contributes not a little to illustrating the virtue of the most stupendous Stephen. When on a certain day I was in a village together with a certain neighbor-woman, a satanic dart struck me with insane love, and with unchaste thoughts. There I, nerveless and inert, turned my back, and, prostrated by the demon of fornication, and pierced with fiery and swift darts, gave myself, conquered, to the woman, hiding from the sight of all mortals; and not revering the watchful eye of God, and trusting that I could elude the gaze, conscious of secret things, of Stephen inspired by divine grace, in the deep night and in the hidden recesses of the house I madly concealed my baseness: but although in truth I was unknown to the rest, yet from him, who already in spirit had beheld me and my doings, I could not be hidden: for after the great and infamous crime committed, I went to this holy Stephen, who was then dwelling in the parts neighboring our region; for I was frequently at leisure for his conversations there; as one who had long since used his close friendship familiarly, very frequently formed by his spiritual instructions, of which I, wicked and most unhappy, brought forth no fruits in myself: but after I had committed the wicked deed, I approached him without any blushing, thinking my impurity to be sufficiently covered.
[88] knowing the hidden sin, But my hope deceived me: for the most evident accusation of the conscious eyes convicted me. Alas what and how great was then my shame! For when I had, as usual, saluted this God-bearing Stephen, and had asked that he would pray well for me, at once, with discourses shedding at the same time life and light, he began to illumine me, and to say: Woe to those who cast off all care of salvation! Woe to those who keep not the divine commandments! Woe to those who set at nought the ecclesiastical counsels! Woe to those who do not hold before their eyes the unextinguished hell reserved for sinners! For how often did I admonish you, son, and caution you lest you join yourself to the perverse? For I knew that good morals are corrupted by evil conversations. You meanwhile brought it about that my exhortations were in vain. Was it thus fitting for you to act today; thus to contaminate both your soul, and body, and this most holy habit? Can it be that this most foul lust falls upon such as you?
[89] While with such admonitions he prolixly and gently rebuked me, I thought he was exhorting me, as he was wont; but that he had learned nothing of my crime; he reproves him as a father; and so I asked of him: What is this lust, father, at which you hint? He: It is harlotry, he said. Then I, shamelessly denying it: Far be it, I said, that I should have done this: I have not fornicated, father. But he with a calm mind: What do you say, he said, son? Have you not fornicated, both you and she, on this day, at such an hour, in such a place, amid these and these acts? And when he pursued the several points of my shamelessness, now become more timid, for shame I was scarcely in myself, since I could reply nothing; but, my head cast down, gazing at the ground, sadness closing off my voice, I was repressed from the base flame.
[90] When the compassionate father perceived that this sorrow had settled deep in my mind, and exhorts him to penance: he consoles me with such words: Do not torture yourself, brother; for I too am a man, subject to the same appetites, of the same nature with you. Beware only of this, that you despair not: for God repels no one who repents; but receives all kindly. Let there be for an example both the parable of that Prodigal, who had wasted his patrimony with harlots, and that of the Publican: he did not disdain even to give the pardon of faults, which she asked, to the sinful Woman; but the Publican he so little turned away from, that he willed him to be a herald of the Gospel; as he also made a persecutor an Apostle, and I could bring you more others from the Old and New Testament, who, fallen into vices of this kind, recovered by penance their lost life and salvation divinely, if it pleased to prolong the discourse. But let these things be enough for you, son: for it was not my intention in any way to rebuke you, lest I frighten you off, or do anything whereby you might become estranged from my company.
But I saw that you were by no means willing to understand, when with the spiritual charms of plasters by no means binding or bitter, and with intricate, so to speak, enchantments, I tried to heal your ulcer: touched therefore with vehement compassion, I could not but open the cause of the disease; that we might apply a fitting remedy: for neither do those who cure the sicknesses of the body inconsiderately offer antidotes to the laboring before they have explained to them the cause of the disease: for when offenders are rebuked, the force of sin is blunted: but when they are not rebuked, as a gangrene, to which you supply nourishment, devours the whole body, so a hidden sin contaminates the soul as well as the body with its plague. But do not lose heart, son, or blush so greatly; but beg pardon of God; for he has done this not in you alone, but in very many others also.
[91] When the Elder, instinct with the grace of God, had said these things, and had supplied strength to my weakness, and often at other times he detects the same man's hidden thoughts. I departed from him not without admiration both of his secret knowledge and of his compassion; then I wholly tore myself away from that sister with whom I had sinned; nor thereafter, overcome by shame, did I dare to visit the Elder so frequently as I had been wont before. But he, meeting me unexpectedly: Why, he said, son, have you desisted from that zeal by which before you were so diligently at leisure for the instructions of my humility? And when I had replied: I am hindered by no other thing than by the occupations which surround me on every side; being asked to pray well for me and to pardon, he answered: I indeed pardon and wish you all good things; but the true cause why you withdrew yourself from our mediocrity was this and that; which take to be said for this reason, that you may not permit yourself to be hindered from our company by thoughts of that kind. Do not lie; since you know the manifest truth, speak it. Well conscious therefore of my miseries and thoughts, I said: It is so, it is wholly so; you have spoken the very thing, holy father; that is the very reason why I ceased to seek my former profits. But commend my weak strength and troubled mind to God, that thence may be expelled, and cease to be a stumbling-block, all apprehensions adverse to salvation. Armed then with his prayer and blessing, I proceeded on my begun journey. But how often that wonderful Elder reproved me for the noxious and inmost feelings of my soul, I am not able to tell, beloved: for he did not desist before he had drawn me to himself, and, snatched from the deadly dragon, had led me to God.
[92] He sees the near death of another, and his head crowned with stars. There was another certain presbyter of the holy flock of monks, most religious, who narrated these things to me in almost the same words: We had set out on a certain day, I and another Syrian monk, a man venerable both for age and sanctity, to the God-bearing Stephen, at that time hiding in the caves of Duca, to salute him and at the same time to seek some spiritual profit for ourselves. And now we were not far off, when he, contrary to custom, ran forth from his cave to meet us, and, having kissed the face of my companion, thus addressed him in Greek: It has seemed good to God to consummate your holy course, and the crown woven of virtues, with which you are gloriously bound, and to rain down upon you his grace, and that most copious. Having said these things, we go into the cave; the prayer being finished, and a pious discourse about certain spiritual matters, he seizes me by the hand, whispering these things secretly: Do your endeavor, beloved son, to do well to this elder, and with all the earnestness you can serve his every service and advantage, that you may both become a sharer of his inheritance, and a partaker of his patronage that penetrates the heavens. But believe me, son, asserting the very thing; when you had now come to me, as soon as I cast my eyes in passing, I saw his head marked with a most shining diadem woven of stars; and that was the reason why I ran to meet you, and kissed his sacred face. At which things I, not a little astonished, broke into the praises of God, who adorns his servants with manifold, starry crowns, breathing wonderful beauty.
[93] Another whom he had never seen, he calls by name. But I heard another certain pious monk narrating: I have a cousin, by name Patricius, a most religious man. On a certain day of the salutary Easter, coming from our region of Moab, he vehemently desired to pray to God in our great Laura: for he had never set foot there: and when on the holy Thursday of the Great Week he had come amid a frequent concourse of men, his prayers being performed, he betook himself to the God-bearing Stephen; whom, when this illustrious Stephen, an infinite multitude of people sitting round, and receiving his instruction full of heavenly light, beheld to have come, his mind divinely illumined, receiving him by name, he said: Welcome, beloved, welcome. Are you not Domnus Patricius? Most welcome Domnus Patricius, and eminently a Christian. When he repeated the same a third time, and called by name one whom he had seen indeed with the eyes of the mind, but never with those of the body, and of whom he had not even heard the name anywhere, struck, we celebrated with deserved praises the grace given him from heaven, and in these things too we transmitted glory to God.
[94] [A mother, a dweller in the desert, with her daughters, returning from converse with St. Stephen,] Besides, another certain man, whose name was Theodegetus, presbyter of the holy Resurrection of Christ our God, of the most holy family of monks, recounted to me this most wonderful prodigy in this manner: It pleased me at one time and a certain other to visit the God-bearing Stephen for the sake of honoring him, who was at that season on the lofty ridges of the mountains adjacent to Cutila; and while we proceed thither with slow step, there come into view two girls clad in monastic habit, and professing the solitary life; a covered to the knees with hairshirts, their hair let down even to the feet, rough, and terrible to look on, and having a mother notable for prodigies of like appearance, who, like a shepherd, followed her daughters. Scarcely had the Arab goatherds noticed these ranging round the mountains, when they fly thither, no otherwise than rabid and furious dogs when they pursue wild beasts, with threatening words terrifying the rational lambs of Christ, that, weakened by fear and trepidation, they might be forced to stay their course, and fall into their most impure hands. But indeed a certain ineffable force of providence conquered, exacting from them terrible and stupendous punishments: for to the girls it showed itself to have given so great agility that they outstripped in running and leaping even the swiftest deer and the lightest wild goats; and the mother, venerable with age, by a singular reasoning of providence, it permitted to escape, and executed a fearful vengeance upon the wicked debauchees.
[95] O huge miracle! O unusual amazement! Even now I wholly shudder and tremble, [It blinds and dries up an Arab, who tried to offer her violence, with a fiery spirit; St. Stephen meanwhile praying for her;] my beloved, as often as I recall the mystery of the spectacle then offered. For after that holy old woman had escaped by the benefit of divine providence never sufficiently to be praised; one of the impious Arabs, having overtaken her, seized her by her sacred hair, furiously burning to offer defilement to her most chaste body. And so while he drags her this way and that, like a rabid dog, she vomited into his beastly face the fiery air with which her sacred mouth swelled divinely, and burned out his eyes, and rendered him dislocated in his whole body, and unmoving, and stupefied; then, the weakness of her aged limbs being shaken off, by a noble course she struggled out of the impure hands of the nefarious man, and reached her most dear daughters. Nor indeed would you see Stephen, so tender toward the evils of others, sleeping at this crisis, and secure of the battle stirred up by the mystical Amalek against the beloved little ewe of Christ; but most strongly resisting, and waging war from the opposite side vigorously, and, his hands spread out to Christ the King, turning the enemies to flight; to whom, terrified by this wonderful deed, we came, and, the offices of courtesy being premised, we began to ask about this unusual spectacle, and to say: Have you perhaps learned, holy father, of the altogether singular miracle which we have just seen? When he: Indeed, he said, beloved; I have beheld it: and I rejoiced greatly at the victory, and the wonderful deed of the innocent lamb of Christ, for whom, as she contended, I prayed that she should not be delivered to hostile hands, but should show herself the noble victress of the hostile warrior: for he confounds not those who take refuge with him; but keeps them immune from every satanic assault. And so we rendered thanks to him, who ceases not to illustrate his servants with things altogether admirable.
[96] These things heard, we were vehemently amazed, and asked whether he knew them? from whom those who had seen the thing learn who she is. Then he: Since God has held you worthy to behold them, and has employed you as witnesses of the prodigy so terrible just now wrought through them, unwilling that such virtue should lie hidden in darkness, but, as if engraved on columns, be commended to posterity through you, and made known to all; therefore, as you inquire, I will set forth their race, that you may more and more thoroughly know their virtue. By race indeed they are Roman; noble, rich, and their ancestors held magistracy: but their father, a man, while he lived, illustrious and a chief man, who left after him both these daughters enriched with opulent and immense riches, being dead, the mother, as one who had God alone before her eyes, riches being despised and the affairs of this life renounced, naked and stripped of all possession, set her mind on this solitary life with this twin daughter. And when she had heard (whence, I know not) of my least self, she came hither to visit me, and set forth what has been said: and behold, in this desert, with each daughter preserving inviolate virginity, serving God in an angelic manner, she has now completed her thirtieth year.
[97] [Arabs come up with a blind and apoplectic companion; for whom the Saint refuses to pray.] While we lend attentive ears to the God-bearing Elder narrating these things, suddenly Arabs are present, bringing that most unhappy man, deprived of eyes and of all his limbs, placed on a beast; and with many prayers they beseech the Elder that he obtain for this man his former health and strength, saying: Succor us, holy Stephen, prostrate at your knees: for intolerable is the evil which has been inflicted on us by certain nuns passing by: for one of them, this man, while he tries too wantonly to lay hold of her, so rendered him, as you see, void of sense, of motion, of voice, like a stone. Come therefore, blessed Man, have mercy on him and on all of us, your neighbors: for we know that whatever prayers you offer to God, he will not suffer them to be void. To whom he replied: That indeed God will never grant forever, since, raging with foolish license against a maidservant truly his, he hoped even to violate her. Whence he struck him with an incurable stroke, which I cannot beg off from God; for he will never recover. But departing hence, learn from what you have just suffered never to touch the anointed of the Lord, nor to do harm to his saints: for he is their protector, and companion, and defender. When he had said these things, those afflicted and suffused with shame withdrew: but we, glad at once and amazed at this unusual miracle, returned, prepared for the journey by the most holy admonitions and pious wishes of the Elder: and not long after we learned that only three
days that wicked man survived, and went to the gates of hell, to give never-ceasing and eternal punishments, for an example to many, whereby they may be taught to fear here for themselves from the just judgment of God, to whom be glory forever.
[98] He frees a hind from hunters. Likewise another pious monk related to me how, when the Elder was once going about the desert, certain Arab hunters were pursuing a hind through the solitude in which he then was, which, growing faint and wearied by the pressing hunters, took refuge in the bosom of the holy Elder, kissing his footsteps, no otherwise than if it were endowed with reason, and beseeching, so to speak, that he would thus free it from the snares of the hunters. To whom the most compassionate Elder, addressing and entreating each by name, said: Grant me this hind, hunters, since it has fled back to me, and implored my help with you. But they, beholding the hind standing by the Elder, and hiding its head in his bosom, were amazed, and, having freely granted it to the Elder, departed, extolling the faith of the Christians. But I, when I had learned these things from a man worthy of faith, and formerly a disciple of the holy Elder, rendered praises to God.
ANNOTATIONS.
CHAPTER IX.
He aids various necessities of bodies or souls; shows hidden monies revealed to him divinely; understands the sin of an absent person from a heavenly vision, and prays off his punishment, and exhorts the author to penance.
Μάρκος, πρεσβύτερος καὶ αὐτὸς ὑπάρχων τῆς Χριστοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν ἀναστάσεως, καὶ ματρωνικάριος, τὸ γένος δὲ Ἀλεξανδρεὺς, διηγήσατό μοι παράδοξον διήγημα, λέγων οὕτως· Ἀνὴρ θεοσεβὴς Αἰγύπτιος παρὰ τοῦ θαυματουργοῦ Στεφάνου ποτὲ τυχὼν εὐεργεσίας, φησίν· ἤμην χαλεπῷ περιπεσὼν οἴκοι χρονίῳ νοσήματι, ὑφ᾽ οὖ τὴν σάρκα τακεὶς, ᾠήθην τοῦτον τὸν βίον ἐπεξελθεῖν, παντελῶς τὴν ὑγείαν καὶ ἀνάπαυσιν ἀπηλπικώς. Ἰδὼν οὖν ἐμαυτὸν σχεδὸν ταῖς τοῦ ᾅδου πύλαις ἐπιστάντα, τὴν πορείαν ἐποιησάμην ἐπὶ τὴν ἁγίαν Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ἐπιθυμήσας ἐν αὐτῇ θανεῖν· συνηκολούθησέ μοι Μαγαρίτης τις, υἱός Μαγαρίτου τῶν αὐτοχθόνων, εἰς τὴν ἄθεον αὐτοῦ θρησκείαν μανίαν ἔχων πολλὴν καὶ δεισιδαίμονα ζῆλον, θερμότερος πυρὸς τὸν ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις τῶν Ἀράβων σηκὸν προσκυνῆσαι βουλόμενος. Ἡνίκα τοίνυν ἅμα τούτῳ τὴν καὶ ἁγίαν καὶ σεβάσμιον κατήντησα πόλιν, ὑπὸ τῆς συνεχούσης με νόσου δεινῶς σμυχόμενος, τοῦ σωματικοῦ διαλυθέντος τόνου, συνεβουλεύετό μοι ἀδελφός τις ἐμὸς πρὸς τὸν ἰαματοφόρον πορευθῆναι Στέφανον, καὶ τῶν ἰαματικῶν αὐτοῦ δεηθῆναι οὐρανοφοίτων ἐντεύξεων.
[100] Εἴξας οὖν τῇ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ φιλοστοργικῇ συμβουλίᾳ συνεπορεύθην αὐτῷ ἐπὶ τὴν Λαῦραν τοῦ ἁγίου Σάβα, ἐπὶ ὑποζυγίου βεβασταγμένος. Συνωδοιπόρησε δὲ ἡμῖν κᾀκεῖσε ὁ Μαγαρίτης μετεωρισμοῦ καὶ θέας τῆς ἐρήμου ἕνεκεν. Τοῦτο δὲ τῆς θείας ἦν προνοίας, μηχανωμένης αὐτοῦ τὴν σωτηρίαν. Ἐλθόντων οὖν ἡμῶν εἰς τὸ ἡσυχαστήριον τοῦ Γέροντος, λαβὼν μήνυσιν ὁ ἀδελφὸς, εἰσήγαγέ με πρὸς αὐτὸν, θύραθεν ἐάσας τὸν Μαγαρίτην. Ἐμοῦ οὖν ἀσπασαμένου τὸν Γέροντα, καὶ τὴν εὐχὴν αὐτοῦ ὑπὲρ τῆς συνεχούσης με νόσου παρακλητικῶς αἰτησαμένου, παραυτὰ πεποίηκεν ἔντευξιν, τὴν ἀναίμακτον προσενέγκας, θυσίαν. Ὦ τοῦ παραδόξου θαύματος! Μέμνημαι, πάτερ, τῆς τότε γενομένης ἀθρόας μεταβολῆς καὶ ξένης ἰάσεως, καὶ καθίσταμαι ἐνεὸς, καὶ ἄλλος ἐξ ἄλλου γίγνομαι. Μάρτυς κύριος, ὁ τότε με διὰ τῶν τοῦ Γέροντος πρεσβειῶν ἐν ἰάσει ἐπισκεψάμενος, ὅτι παραχρῆμα, ὡς ἐν ῥιπῇ ὀφθαλμοῦ ἰάθην, καὶ ὑγιὴς γέγονα, τὴν εὐεξίαν τεκμηριώσαντος ἐν ἐμοὶ τοῦ αἵματος, δίκην ῥεύματος, ἐκ τῆς καρδίας ἀναβλύσαντος, καὶ τὰς ἀρτηρίας καὶ φλέβας ἐμπλήσαντος, καὶ τὸ πρόσωπον, καὶ τὴν σάρκα ὑγιεινῷ καταχρώσαντος ἐρύθρῳ· ἰσχύος δὲ καὶ δυνάμεως ᾐσθάνθην ἐν ἐμαυτῷ, οἵαν ἔσχον οὐδέποτε.
[101] Τοῦτο δὲ τὸ ἐξαίσιον θαῦμα οὐ μόνον ἐμὲ κατέπληξεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν ἀπιστίαν τοῦ Μαγαρίτου εἰς πίστιν μετέβαλεν· ἰδὼν γάρ με ἀθρόως τοιαύτης μεστωθέντα εὐρωστίας, κατεπλάγη λίαν, καὶ προσελθὼν τῷ Γέροντι εἶπεν· Ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν Χριστιανός εἰμι, καὶ πιστεύω εἰς τὸν Χριστὸν, τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος, τὸν αἴροντα τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ κόσμου, καὶ ἀποτάσσομαι τῷ σατανᾷ, καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς ὰγγέλοις αὐτοῦ, καὶ πάσῃ τῇ πόμπῇ αὐτοῦ, καὶ τῇ ματαίᾳ τῶν Ἀράβων θρησκείᾳ. Εἷς Θεὸς ὁ τῶν Χριστιανῶν, ὁ θαυμάσια ποιῶν. Ἀλλὰ ἐλέησόν με, ἅγιε Στέφανε, καὶ εὖξαι δοθηναί μοι δύναμιν καὶ νίκην κατὰ τῶν τυράννων· οἶδα γὰρ , οἶδα, ὅτι ἀπὸ τῆς σήμερον ἀντιπαρατάσσεταί μοι ὁ ἐχθρὸς διὰ τὴν ἐμὴν σωτηρίαν τὴν μιαρὰν αὐτοῦ διαδράντι στρατείαν καὶ συνταξαμένῳ τῷ Χριστῷ, καὶ ἐφοδίασόν με τὰς εὐχάς σου, ὡς ὅπλον ἀήττητον, καὶ δός μοι παρά σου εύλογίαν τινά. Ὁ δὲ ἅγιος Γέρων εὐξάμενος ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ, καὶ εὐλογήσας αὐτὸν, καὶ τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ θεοδιδάκτοις φωτίσας ῥήμασι, δέδωκεν αὐτοῦͅ ληκύθιον μεστὸν ἁγιαστικοῦ ἐλαίου, εἰπών· Εἰς οἵαν ἀνεισέλθῃς πόλιν, ἢ κώμην, ἢ χώραν, ἐπιθὲς ἐν τοῦ ἐλαίου τούτου τῷ μετώπῳ σου, τῷ σημείῳ τοῦ σταυροῦ, καὶ οὐ προσελεύσεται πρός σε κακὰ, καὶ μάστιξ οὐκ ἐγγιεῖ τῷ σκηνώματί σου, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ ἀσπίδα, καὶ βασίλισκον ἐπιβήσῃ, καὶ καταπατήσεις λέοντα καὶ δράκοντα, κᾂν μυρίοις παραστῆς τυράννοις, κᾂν ἀναστησωνται τοσοῦτοι μάρτυρες ἄδικοι κατά σου.
[102] Ἀναχωρησάντων ἡμῶν, ὁ μὲν τὴν τοῦ Γέροντος φυλάξας ἐντολὴν, εἰς ὅσους εἰσίη τόπους, ἑαυτὸν ἐσφραγίζετο, καὶ πρὸς τυράννους ἄρμενος, μαρτύρων δήμου μαρτυρούντων καὶ ἐλεγχόντων αὐτὸν Μαγαρίτην εἶναι, υἱὸν Μαγαρίτου, ἐκ βρέφους ἐν τῇ βαρβαρικῇ ἀνατραφέντα θρησκείᾳ, παραδόξως τῶν ἀνόμων αὐτῶν χειρῶν ἐῤῥύετο, καὶ ἀβλαβῶς καὶ ἀβασανίστως ἀπελύετο, ἕως πρὸς Κύριον τῶν τῇδε ἐξεδήμησεν, τὴν ὁμολογίαν τηρήσας τῆς πίστεως ὀρθοδόξως, δοξάζων τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ εὐχαριστηρίους ὕμνους ἀναπέμπων αὐτῷ, καὶ τὴν τοῦ Γέροντος ἐκθειάζων ἀρετήν. Ἐγὡ δὲ ἐξ ἐνείνου τὸν μονήρη ποθήσας βίον, σὺν τῇ γαμετῇ καὶ τοῖς τέκνοις ἀπεταξάμην τῷ κόσμῳ, ὡς οὐδέ σε διέλαθεν, εὐχαριστῶν τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ τῷ ἁγίῳ Γέροντι.
[103] Ἄλλος δέ τις τῶν μαθητευσάντων τῷ θεοσόφῳ Γέροντι, διηγούμενός μοί τι, τῶν θαυμάτων τοῦ νομοθέτου Μωύσεως οὖχ ἦττόν, φησι· Φοβεροῦ ποτε καύματος θερινοῦ καιροῦ διἳππεύοντος, μετά τινων τῶν πατέρων σὺν τῷ θαυμασίῳ ἐπιστάτῃ ἐπι τὴν ἔρημον ἐπορεύθημεν ἀναφορέας πλήρεις ὑδάτων βαστάζοντες, ὧν δαπανηθέντων, εἰς ἔσχατον ἐληλύκαμεν δίψος, ὑφ᾽ οὗ πάνυ καταπονηθέντες, καὶ σχεδὸν λιποθυμήσαντες, τοῦ ὑδατώδους τόπου σφόδρα ποῤῥωτάτω ὑπάρχοντος, ἠβουλήθημεν όξυτάτῳ χρήσασθαι δρόμῳ, ἴσως ἂν ὀψὲ φθάσαντες ἐμφορηθῶμεν τοῦ νάματος, καὶ τὴν ἀλγηνῶς συνέχουσαν ἡμᾶς δίψαν ἰασάμενοι· ἀλλ᾽ οὐ δ᾽ ἂν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ κατηντήκαμεν τὰ ὕδατα, εἰ καὶ μόνον οὐχὶ γεγόναμεν ὀρνέων ταχύτεροι. Διὸ θεασάμενος ἡμᾶς ὁ φιλόστοργος ἐπιστάτης, καὶ ὑπὸ τοιούτου δεδαμασμένους, καὶ τετηκότας ἀγῶνος, τὴν μὲν φλόγα τῆς δίψης ἀπαύστως ἰχνοτάταις αἰτουμένους αὐδαῖς καὶ προσεπικλήσεσιν εὐσπλαγνίσθη, καὶ ᾤκτειρε, καὶ εἶπε· Μὴ ἀθυμήσετε, πνευματικὰ τέκνα, ὅτι ὁ πάλαι τῷ Ἰσραηλίτι λαῷ διψῶντι διὰ τῆς Μωσαἳκῆς ῤάβδου πηγάσας ἐκ τῆς πέτρας ὕδωρ, αὐτὸς καὶ νῦν ὑμῖν πηγάσει, καὶ δίψωντας ποτήσει ὑμᾶς, καὶ θεραπεύσει ἐκ τῶν πηγῶν τῆς αὐτοῦ φιλανθρωπίας.
[104] Καὶ ταῦτα λαλήσας ἔστη, καὶ καθ᾽ ἑαυτὸν ηὔξατο, καὶ τῷ ἄκρῳ τῆς ῥαβδου αὐτοῦ τὴν γὴν πατάξας, ἐκέλευσεν ἡμῖν ξύσαι. Ἡμῶν οὖν παραδραμόντων, καὶ μικρὸν ταῖς τῶν ὀνύχων ἀκώκαις ξυσάντων, ἔβλυσε νάμα τηλαυγὲς καὶ ποτημὸν, ἐξ οὗ πεπωκότες, καὶ τὴν δίψαν ἀφέντες, τῇ ἐφεξῆς ἡμέρᾳ ἀνεκομίσαμεν, ἐκεῖθεν νέαν πηγὴν ναίουσαν ἐάσαντες. Μετ᾽ οὐ πολλὰς δὲ ἡμέρας τις τῆς ἐρήμου συνήθης ἡμῶν, ἐν τῇ Λαύρᾳ ὄντων, ἀφίκετο, ἀγγέλλων καὶ λέγων· Διὰ τόπον παρῆλθον, ὃν πλειστάκις κατάξηρον ὄντα πεπάτηκα, νυνὶ δὲ ξένην ἐν αὐτῷ πηγὴν εὔρηκα, τερπνὸν ῥέουσαν ὕδωρ, καὶ ἐξέστην ἐπὶ τῷ παραδόξῳ ῥεύματι· ἄλλο δὲ οὐδὲν ὑποτοπάσαι δεδύναμαι, ἢ ὅτι, τινὸς τῶν ἁγίων διψήσαντος καὶ εὐξαμένου, ἐξέβλυσε, καὶ ἐδόξασα τὸν Θεόν· ᾧ καὶ ἡμεῖς οἱ τοῦ θαύματος τρυφηταὶ, καὶ ἐπόπται, καὶ ἵστορες χάριν καὶ δοξολογίαν ἀνεπέμψαμεν, τῷ τοὺς ἁγίους αὐτοῦ θαυματουργοὺς ἀποτελοῦντι.
[105] Ἄνηρ Ἱεροσολυμίτης, ἐλλογικὸς τῶν ἐμφανῶν καὶ ἐντίμων γερόντων, ἀρχιδιάκονος ὑπάρχων τῆς ἁγίας Χριστοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν ἀναστασεως, καὶ δευτεράριος τοῦ σωοποιοῦ Κρανίου, διηγήσατό μοί τινα διηγήματα, ἅπερ αὐτὸς ἰδίοις ἱστόρησεν ὀφθαλμοῖς· φίλος γὰρ συνήθης ὑπῆρχε τοῦ θαυμασίου Γέροντος· καί φησι· Ὅτι τις τῶν ἡμετέρων συγκληρικῶν ἀρχιπρεσβύτερος, Γεώργιος ὄμομα αὐτῷ, ἔσχε πατέρα πολυκτήμονα, χρύσον πλουτοῦντα πολύν. Οὗτος δέ ποτε ἐπὶ τὰ μέρη Δαμασκοῦ ἀποδημήσας, τοῦ βίου πρὸς κύριον ἐξεδήμησε, μηδὲν διαθέμενος· ἦν δὲ πᾶν τὸ χρυσίον αὐτοῦ ὑπὸ τὴν γῆν κεχωσμένον ἐν διαφόροις ἀποκρύφοις κευθμῶσιν, οὓς οὐκ ἐγίνωσκεν ἄλλος, εἰ μὴ μόνος ὁ κρυφίων γνώστης Θεός. Τούτου δὲ τὴν τελευτὴν ἀκούσας ὁ υἱὸς ἀγωνίᾳ καὶ λύπῃ συνείχετο, καὶ οὐ μόνον τὴν πατρικὴν ἀπεκλαύσατο καὶ ἐπένθυνε στέρησιν, καὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ὀδυνηρὰν ὀρφανίαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν τῶν χρημάτων ἀπώλειαν· εἰς οἵαν λογιζόμενος ἔμελλε λήξιν πενίαντε καὶ ταλαιπώριαν. Πολλῶν μὲν οὖν παρηγορούντων αὐτῷ, οὐ παρηγορεῖτο· μεῖζον γὰρ τῆς παρηγορίας ἀμφοτέροθεν εἴχετο κατώδυνον σύνβαμα.
[106] Ὕστερον δὲ ἀρίστῃ φιλικῇ παραινέσει καὶ εὐνοίᾳ πεισθέντι συνεπορεύθην αὐτῷ πρὸς τὸν χαριτόπνευστον Γέροντα, ὃς φιλοφρόνως ἡμᾶς ὑποδεξάμενος, ἐπυνθάνετο, τί ἂν εἴη τοῦ σκυλμοῦ τὸ αἴτιον. Ὁ δὲ θεοφιλὴς Γεώργιος ἐλεεινῶς ὀδυρόμενος, τὴν δίπλην αὐτοῦ πικροτάτην συμφορὰν κατέλεξεν, ἀξιῶν αὐτὸν διδάξαι διὰ τῆς οἰκείας θεοσδότου χάριτος, ποῦ τὸ πατρῶον χρυσίον κεκρυμμένον κατάκειται. Ὁ δὲ Γέρων, ἀγαπητὲ, μὴ κλαῖε, φησὶ, τοῦ πατρός σου τὸν θάνατον· κοινὸν γὰρ τοῦ θανάτου τὸ ποτήριον, καὶ ἡ ὁδὸς ἀπαραίτητος· περὶ δὲ τῶν χρημάτων, εἰ βεβαίας ἕξεις ἐλπίδας εἰς τὸν Θεὸν, τὸν τῆς ζωῆς χωρηγὸν, καὶ προφέα, οὐκ ἐλαττωθήσῃ παντὸς ἀγαθοῦ. Ὁμῶς δὲ πόσα προθυμῇ διδόναι τῷ. Θεῷ, εἰ εὕροις τοὺς πατρικοὺς θησαυρούς; Ὅσα κελεύεις, ἔφη, καὶ προθυμοῦμαι δοῦναι τὸ ἡμισύ. Ὁ δὲ Γέρων· Μὴ τὸ ἡμισὺ, ἀλλὰ μόνον πέντε χρυσίνους ὅρισον τοῖς πτωχοῖς. Τούτους τοίνυν αὐτοῦ τοῖς πένησι ὁρίσαντος, εἶπεν αὐτῷ ὁͅ Καλόγηρος, ποιήσας σύναξιν κᾀκεῖθε μυηθεὶς γνωστικῆς ἐλλάμψεως· Βαθμίδας ἔχετε ἐν τῇ ὑμετέρᾳ αὐλῇ κατὰ τοιόνδε τὸ μέρος ἀνάγουσας· ψηλαφήσας οὖν περὶ τὰς ἄκρας αὐτῶν, ἐκεῖ ἐν τῷδε τῷ τόπῳ εὑρήσεις τινὰ ἱκανά. Λαβὼν δὲ εὐχαρίστει τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ ἀπόδος, ἃ διέστειλαν τὰ χείλη σου.
[107] Ἧμῶν οὖν μετὰ χαρᾶς ἐπανελθόντων, ὁ Γεώργιος οἴκαδε πορευθεὶς καὶ ἀναζητήσας, εὕρεν οὕτως, ὥσπερ ὁ
Γέρων εἶπεν. Μετ᾽ ὀλίγον δὲ καιρὸν ταῦτα δαπανήσας πλεῖστα λίαν ὑπάρχοντα, μηδαμῶς τελέσας τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν, πάλιν αφίκετο πρὸς τὸν Γέροντα, ἐμοῦ συνοδοιποροῦντος αὐτῷ. Εὐμενῶς οὖν ἡμᾶς ὁ Γέρων προσηκάμενος, ἐπύθετο τὴν χρείαν, ἥτις ἡμᾶς τότε εἰς τὴν Λαῦραν ἐλθεῖν κατήπειξεν. Ὁ δὲ Γεώργιος· Ἅγιε πάτερ, ἃ τὸ θεῖον διὰ τῆς σῆς ἁγιότητος ἡμῖν ἀπεκάλυψεν, αἱ πυκνῶς ἐπισυμβαίνουσαι βιωτικαὶ δαπάναι ἀφανῆ κατεσκεύασαν· ἀλλὰ δυσωπῶ τὴν σὴν εὐμένειάν τε καὶ ἐπείκειαν γνωρίσαι ἡμῖν, ποῦ κεῖνται τὰ λοιπά. Ὁ δὲ μειδιάσας ἠρώτα· Ἀπέδωκας τῷ Θεῷ τὰς εὐχάς σου; Ὁ δὲ· οὐχὶ, πάτερ, ἀλλὰ ἀποδώσω. Καὶ ὁ Πρεσβύτης, ὑπὸ τῆς ἐνοικούσης αὐτῷ πολλῆς εὐσπλαγχνίας κινηθεὶς, καὶ τὴν θεἳκὴν ἐκτελέσας λειτουργίαν, καὶ θείᾳ φωταγωγηθεὶς χάριτι, πρὸς αὐτὸν εἶπεν· Εἰς τὸ ὑμέτερον εἰσελθὼν ἐργαστήριον, ἆρον τὴν θυμιάματος θυῖαν· εὑρήσεις δὲ ἐκεῖ θησαυρὸν πολὺν κατακείμενον. Εἰληφὼς τοίνυν εὐχαριστίαν ἀνάπεμψον τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ πλήρωσον, ἅπερ ἐπηγγείλω. Ὁ δὲ κατὰ τὴν θεοδώρητον τοῦ Γέροντος διόρασιν εὑρηκὼς νομίσματα πάμπολλα, μετὰ βραχύν τινα χρόνον δεδαπάνηκεν αὐτὰ, μηδὲν διανείμας πτωχοῖς, ὡς ὑπέσχετο.
[108] Ἐν ἀπορίᾳ δὲ καὶ τῶν ἀναγκαίων γεγονὼς, προσέφυγεν ἔτι τῷ μακαρίῳ Γέροντι, παρακαλῶν αὐτὸν φανερῶσαι, εἴτι τῶν πατρώων κειμηλίων κρυπτὸν ὑπολέλειπται. Ὁ δὲ Γέρων ἕφη πρὸς αὐτόν· Δέδωκας τοῖς πτωχοῖς, ἅπερ ὑπέσχου; Ὁ δὲ εἶπεν· Συγχώρησον, πάτερ, ἐπειδὴ οὐκ ἐποίησα. Ὁ δὲ Γέρων, θαυμαστῶς ἕχων, ἀπέκρίνατο· Ἄγαμαί σε τῆς ἀναισθησίας, Γεώργιε. Πῶς οὐ δέδεικας τοῦτε Ἀνανίου καὶ τῆς Σαπφείρας τὸ ὑπόδειγμα, τῶν κακῷ τιμωρηθέντων θανάτῳ, ὡς ψευσαμένων τῷ Πνεύματι τῷ ἁγίῳ; καὶ τοιγε ἐκείνων τὰ πλεῖστα μὲν προσενηνοχότων, μέρος δέ τι ἐλάχιστον ἀποκρυψαμένων· σὺ δὲ τὸ πᾶν ἀπεκράτησας. Ὕπαγε τοῦ λοιποῦ, ὕπαγε· οὐκ ἠθέλησε γάρ σε τὸ Θεῖον πλούτου περιουσίᾳ κομᾷν. Ἄλλα δὲ πολλὰ θαύματος ἄξια παρὰ τοῦ θαυμασίου Γέροντος τεθέαμαι, ἅπερ διηγησάμην ἂν, εἰ μὴ τὸ μῆκος ἐδεδείην τῆς λέξεως· κόρος γὰρ λόγου πολέμιος ἀκοαῖς· ὅμως δὲ τῶν πλειόνων ἕτι με βιάζετε τὴν πολυλογίαν φυγόντα πάλιν λαλεῖν.
[109] Ἀπειλῆς ποτε διαγράφου τυραννικῶς ἡμῖν ἐπικειμένης, ὁ τηνικαῦτα κρατῶν ἠνάγκασέ με τοὺς φόρους ἀπαιτῆσαι· ἦν δέ τις τῶν ἀδελφῶν ὑπηρέτης καὶ ἀποκρισιάριος τῆς πολιτικῆς κοινότητος. Φόβῳ καὶ τρόμῳ συνέχομαι διεξιὼν ἅμα καὶ ἐννοῶν τὸ ἀγνώστως διὰ τούτου προσγέγονός μοι παράπτωμα· ἀλλ᾽ ἵλεως εἴη μοι ἡ θεαρχικωτάτη δίκη, τῇ ἀγνοίᾳ μου χαρισομένη τὴν ἄφεσιν. Τοῦτον τὸν ἀποκρισιάριον τῆς ἐν χερσὶν ὑπηρεσίας περιφρονήσαντα, καὶ εἰς πολλὰς ἐξσκέλλοντα ἀταξίας, ἠβουλήθην ἐκφοβῆσαι ἕνεκεν τῆς ἑαυτοῦ σωτηρίας, φίλος γὰρ ἦν μοι, καὶ ἐκέλευσα ἁπλωθῆναι αὐτὸν, καὶ λάθρᾳ νενευκὼς μίαν πληγὴν δαρῆναι, ἐχρησάμην πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀπειλητικῇ φωνῇ, ἐπαγγελλόμενος τὸν οἰκεῖον αὐτοῦ ἐξαποτετικέναι διάγραφον. Ὁ δὲ παραυτὰ δραμὼν, τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ ὁμολογίας ἀποστάτης ἐγένετο τῇ ἕξ καὶ δεκάτῃ τοῦ Φεβρουαρίου μηνός· τῆς ἐπελθούσης μοι τότε λυπηρᾶς ἀθυμίας, καὶ λυπηρῶς μένω, μὴ ἐσχηκέναι ἐντεῦθεν ἁμάρτημα.
[110] Μετ᾽ οὐ πολὺν οὖν καιρὸν ὁ διορατικὸς Γέρων ἐπιστέλλει πρὸς τὴν ἐμὴν οὐθενότητα, λέγων· Παρακεκλήσθω ἡ ὑμῶν θεοσέβεια ἕως ἡμῶν γενέσθαι· ἔχομεν γὰρ ἀναγκαῖά τινα ἀνατεθηκέναι αὐτῇ, ἅπερ διὰ συλλαβῶν δεδηλωκέναι ἀμήχανον· τῇ ἓξ καὶ δεκάτῃ γὰρ τοῦ Φεβρουαρίου μηνὸς ἁμαρτίαν μεγάλην ἡμάρτηκας τῷ Κυρίῳ, ὃς ἵλεως γένηται καὶ σοὶ καὶ ἡμῖν τοῖς ἁμαρτωλοῖς ἐν τῇ φοβερᾷ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς κρίσεως. Δεδεγμένος οὖν τὰ ἱερὰ τοῦ Γέροντος γράμματα, ἐπὶ τοῖς εἰρημένοις καταπλαγεὶς, εὐθέως ἀντέγραψα· Κατέπληξάς με, θαυμαστὲ πάτερ, ἐφ᾽ οἶς ἐχάραξας· ἐμαυτὸν γὰρ οὐκ οἶδα τὴν καινοτέραν ταύτην δεδρακότα πλημμέλειαν. Εἰ καὶ ταῖς ἀμπλακίαις ἐξ ἀεὶ βεβυθισμένος καθέστηκα, καὶ ταῖς ἀνομίαις δεδουλωμένος, ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἂν νῦν μὴ ἐρχόμενος πρός σε μεμένηκα, εἰ μὴ ταῖς πολυπλόκοις συραῖς τῶν καιρίων καὶ χρειώδων πραγμάτων πεπήδημαι· ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ἡ σὴ ὑψηλὴ συγκατάβασις, τὸν ἑαυτῆς μιμουμένη δεσπότην, τὸν ἁμαρτωλοὺς ἐληλυθότα ἀνασώσασθαι, δυσωπηθήτω σκυλῆναι πρὸς ἡμᾶς, τοὺς τῷ βορβόρῳ τοῦ βίου ἰλυσπωμένους, καὶ τῇ ὕλῃ τῶν κοσμικῶν φροντίδων βεβαρυμένους, καὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς τῆς διανοίας ἠμαυρωμένους, κᾀκεῖθεν ἑαυτοὺς τυχὸν ἀγνοῆσαι τοὺς τουτονὶ πεποιηκότας τὸ πλημμέλημα, οὓς οὖν ταχὺ κατέλαβε, καὶ σῶσον τὸν ἐμὴν ἐλεεινίαν. Ἔῤῥωσο.
[111] Ὁ δὲ τοιούτοις ἀντιγράφοις ἠμείβετο, καί φησι· Τὴν συνέχουσάν με τοῦ γήρως ἐποίκτιστον ἀδυναμίαν οὐκ ἀγνοεῖς, θεοφιλέστατε· Ὅμως δὲ εἰ καὶ τῷ γήρᾳ συνέχομαι, ἀλλάγε τάχιον οὐκ ὀκνήσω ἐλθεῖν τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ βοηθείᾳ νευρούμενος. Μετ᾽ ὀλίγας οὖν ἡμέρας παραγενόμενος, ἰδίᾳ καὶ χωρὶς εἶπε πρός με· Τῶν θείων γραφῶν καὶ διδασκαλικῶν παραινέσεων ἐπί σου καθ᾽ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν ἀναγινωσκομένων, ὡς τῆς ἐκκλησίας γνησίου τέκνου τυγχάνοντος, καὶ τῶν συνοδικῶν κανόνων κωλυόντων πάντα κληρικὸν τοὺς ἐξουσιαστικοὺς μετέρχεσθαι νομούς (οὐ γὰρ δεῖ τά θεῖα τοῖς ἀνθρωπίνοις καταμίγνυσθαι, καὶ τὰ οὐράνια τοῖς γηΐνοις συμφύρεσθαι, καὶ τὰ πνευματικὰ τοῖς σαρκικοῖς, καὶ τὰ ἱερατικὰ τοῖς κοσμικοῖς συγχέεσθαι) ὤφειλες ποιῆσαι, ὅπερ πεποίηκας; ἁμαρτίαν γὰρ μεγάλην ἐνώπιον Κυρίου ἥμαρτες, ἐκείνῳ τῷ ποτε ἀδελφῷ δοὺς ἀφορμὴν τῆς Χριστιανότητος ἀφιστασθαι, καὶ τὴν ἰδίαν ψυχὴν ἀπολέσαι, ὑπὲρ ἧς ὁ Χριστὸς ἀπέθανε.
[112] Λέγω δή σοί τι παράδοξον, ἵνα γνοὺς τοῦ τραύματός σου τὸ μέγεθος τὴν ἁρμόζουσαν ἐπιζητήσεις θεραπείαν· ὥσπερ γὰρ τῶν σωματικῶν παθημάτων πολλαὶ διαφοραὶ διαφόροις θεραπείαις καὶ φαρμακοποσίαις περιποιούμεναι· οὕτω καὶ τῶν ψυχικῶν νοσημάτων ὑπάρχουσιν ἄλλοις ἄλλως νοητοῖς φαρμάκοις θεραπευόμεναι. Πρὸ ὀλίγου διαφανούσης τῆς ἁγίας κυριακῆς ἐγενόμην ὡς ἐν ἐκστάσει, καὶ θεωρῶ ἐμαυτὸν ἐν τῇ ἁγίᾳ Ἀναστάσει. Ἐκεῖ οὖν εἰσελθὼν, καὶ τὸ ζωοδῶρον τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου προσκυνήσας σημεῖον, ἐπορεύθην κατὰ τὸν τύπον εἰς τὸ ἅγιον Κρανίον, καὶ βλέπω τὸν θεοφόρον μητροπολίτην τῆς πανευδαίμονος Ἑμίσης λευχειμόνως ἑστῶτα, καὶ δύο ἀγγέλους ἀσπροφοροῦντας ἑκατέρωθεν· σὲ δὲ παντελῶς μὴ ἰδὼν, πρὸς αὐτοὺς εἶπον· Ποῦ ἐστιν ὁ ἐμὸς φίλος δευτέραριος; Οἱ δὲ ἱταμῶς καὶ ὀργίλως ἀπεκρίθησαν· Ἑκεῖνον ἀπολεῖ Κύριος καὶ πάντα τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ, ἐπειδὴ τῇ ἓξ καὶ δεκάτῃ τοῦ Φεβρουαρίου μηνὸς διὰ τῶν χειρῶν αὐτοῦ ψυχὴ Χριστιανὴ ἀπώλετο, τὴν πίστιν ἡμῶν ἀθετήσασα.
[113] Ἑγὼ δὲ· Μὴ, κύριοι, ἔφην, μὴ ἔστω τοῦτο· ἀλλὰ πρεσβεύσατε τὸν ἐπὶ ταύτῃ τῇ ζωοποιῷ πέτρᾳ τῷ σταυρῷ προσηλωθέντα, καὶ λύτρον ἑαυτὸν δόντα τῷ θανάτῳ ὑπὲρ τῆς ἡμῶν ἁπολυτρώσεως; καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν τῷ τῆς θεαρχικῆς αὐτοῦ πλευρᾶς ἐκρεύσαντι θείῳ αἵματι ἐκπλύναντα, ἵλαον αὐτὸν γενέσθαι, καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ σῶσαι. Καὶ ἄρας τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς μου πρὸς Κύριον, ἔντευξιν καὶ ἱλασμὸν ὑπέρ σου πεποίηκα, εἰπών· Φιλάνθρωπε καὶ πολυέλεε Κύριε, ὁ μὴ θέλων τὴν ἀπώλειαν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἐπιστροφὴν καὶ τὴν ζωὴν· ὁ τῶν Νενευἳτῶν δεξάμενος τὴν μετάνοιαν, καὶ τοῦ Ἐζεκίου τὸν κλαυθμὸν, καὶ τοῦ Μανασσῆ τὸν στεναγμὸν, καὶ Δαβὶδ τὴν ἐξομολογίαν, καὶ Πέτρου τὰ δάκρυα, καὶ τὸν ἐπὶ σταυροῦ λῃστὴν διὰ πιστοῦ ῥήματος σώσας, καὶ αὐτῷ τὴν εἴσοδον τοῦ παραδείσου δωρησάμενος, πρόσδεξαί μου ταύτην τὴν αἴτησιν ὑπὲρ τοῦ δευτεραρίου, καὶ χάρισαί μοι αὐτὸν, εἰ καὶ ἀνάξιός εἰμι χάριτος· ἀλλ᾽ οὖν διὰ τὸ ἀδιήγητον τῶν οἰκτιρμῶν σου βάθος, καὶ τὸ τῆς σῆς εὐσπλαγχνίας ἄφατον πέλαγος, καὶ τῇ τῶν παρόντων ἁγίων ἀγγέλων καὶ τούτου τοῦ σου πανευαγοῦς ἀρχιερέως πρεσβείᾳ, σῶσον αὐτὸν, καὶ σαγήνευσον πρὸς ἑαυτὸν, καὶ ἄξιον ταύτης τῆς ἱερᾶς ἀπέργασαι στάσεως, ὅτι πάντα δύνασαι, καὶ παρορᾶς ἁμαρτήματα ἀνθρώπων εἰς μετάνοιαν· καὶ πρέπει σοι ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων.
[114] Καὶ ταύτην τὴν αἴτησιν ἐμοῦ περί σου πεποιηκότος, καὶ, Ἰδού, ἐχαρίσατό σοι αὐτὸν, οἱ ἅγιοι ἔφησαν ἄγγελοι· ἀλλ᾽, ὦ ἀγαπητὲ δευτέραριε, μετανόησον, καὶ τὴν καρδίαν σου τοῖς δάκρυσι ἀπόπλυνον· οὐ γὰρ διὰ τὴν ἀξίαν μου ὁ Θεὸς ἐφανέρωσέ μοι ταῦτα· ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν σὴν σωτηρίαν. Οὐκοῦν κλαῦσον, καὶ ἐξευμένισαι τὸ Θεῖον, καὶ καρποφόρησον καρποὺς ἀξίους τῆς σῆς λειτουργίας, καὶ ἄγνισόν σου τὴν καρδίαν· ἐὰν γὰρ μὴ οὕτω ποιήσῃς, ἔτι παροργίσεις τὸν Θεόν. Ἐγὼ δὲ λίαν ἐπὶ τῇ τοῦ Γέροντος παραινέσει κατανυγεὶς καὶ κλαύσας πικρῶς, εἶπον· εὔχου, ὦ πάτερ, εὔχου, καὶ ἐκτενέστερον ὑπὲρ τῆς ἐμῆς ἀθλιότητος εὔχου, ἵνα τύχω παρὰ Κυρίου τῆς τῶν ἡμῶν ἁμαρτημάτωντε καὶ ἀγνοημάτων ἀφέσεως᾽ οὕτω δὲ καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα σαφῶς ἰδὼν, καθ᾽ ὧν ὁ ἀρχιδιάκονος καὶ δευτεράριος ἐξηγήσατο, κᾀγὼ ἀκριβῶς συνεγραψάμην.
I heard also another certain monk of religious life, and presbyter of the Resurrection of Christ our God, An Egyptian, from an incurable disease and matronicarius a, Alexandrian by race, when he unrolled to me this history, truly wonderful, as I shall now tell: A man of Egypt, devoted to the divine worship, after he had obtained a certain benefit from Stephen the wonderworker, narrated the matter thus to me: I had fallen at home into a grievous and long disease, which had so worn down my body that, wholly despairing of health and rest, I now thought nothing nearer than that I should depart from this life. When therefore I perceived myself almost standing at the gates of hell, I undertook a journey to holy Jerusalem, desiring to die in it. There had joined himself to me as companion a certain Magarite b, son of another of the native Magarites, addicted even to madness to his impious superstition, and burning to venerate the Jerusalem temple of the Arabs with a desire hotter than fire. After therefore I had reached with him the Holy and venerable city, the firmness of my body being loosened by the disease with which I labored, almost failing, a certain brother of mine was the author to me that I should go to Stephen, the bestower of health, and beg his salvation-bearing and heavenly patronage.
[100] And so, obeying the counsel of my friend the brother, having mounted a beast, St. Stephen sacrificing, he is healed: I hastened to the Laura of St. Sabas together with him; and the Magarite also accompanied us thither, out of desire of inspecting and contemplating the solitude. But this indeed was the counsel of divine providence, contriving his salvation. When therefore it was come to the Elder's hesychasterion, the signal being received, the brother introduced me to him, the Magarite being left at the door. When I had saluted the Elder, and as a suppliant had asked his prayers for driving away the evil with which I was tortured, he immediately set about to pour them out, offering the unbloody sacrifice. O miracle to be astonished at! I remember, father, the sudden change then made in me, and the unusual healing; but here I stick dumb and speechless, and scarcely am sufficiently master of myself. The Lord is witness, who looked upon me, being entreated to restore my former health through the Elder, that at that very time, as in the twinkling of an eye, I was cured and wholly healed, the blood betraying the best constitution of the body, which like
flowing water welled up from my heart, and filled the arteries and veins, and purpled my face and the rest of my flesh with a healthy ruddiness: but so much strength and vigor did I feel in me as I had never before that day experienced.
[101] But this excellent miracle not only struck me; by which miracle the Magarite is converted; and, furnished with blessed oil, but moreover turned the unbelief of the Magarite to the faith: for when he saw me suddenly so strong and vigorous, it is a wonder how greatly he was amazed; and running to the Elder, he thus addressed him: Henceforth I am a Christian, and believe in Christ the Son of the living God, who takes away the sin of the world; and to Satan and all his angels, and all his pomp, and the vain superstition of the Arabs I renounce. He alone is the God of the Christians, who does wonders. Do you now, holy Stephen, have mercy on me, and by praying bring it about that virtue be given me, and victory over the tyrants. For I know, I know, that the enemy from this day, on which for the sake of salvation I flee from his impure camps to Christ, will declare wars against me. Furnish me with your prayers, as with impenetrable arms, and permit me to obtain something of a blessing from you. But the holy Elder, a supplication being made for him, and words added praying good things, and documents drawn from God, gave him a little flask full of consecrated oil, adding these things: Into whatever city, village, or region you enter, anoint your forehead with this oil in the manner of a cross, and evil shall not come to you, and the scourge shall not draw near your tabernacle; but you shall walk upon the asp and the basilisk, and shall trample the lion and the dragon; even though you stand before a thousand tyrants, and as many wicked witnesses rise up against you.
[102] he is kept inviolate among the Saracens. After we departed thence, he, mindful and keeping the command laid on him by the Elder, wherever he came, fortified himself with that seal, and, armed against the tyrants, while by the public testimonies and informations of the people the Magarite is affirmed among them to be the son of a Magarite, brought up from a boy in the barbaric religion, was by a wonderful means snatched from the hands of those impious men, nor suffered any damage or torment, until from hence he journeyed to the Lord, the profession of the orthodox faith being kept, glorifying God with hymns to be sung, witnesses of the grace received, and humbly venerating the sanctity of the Elder. But I from that time, being inclined to the solitary life, with my wife and children, as you are not ignorant, giving thanks to God and to holy Stephen, bade farewell to the world.
[103] To fathers laboring with thirst in the desert, Another of those who lived under the discipline of this Elder, so illustrious in the understanding of divine things, explaining to me a miracle in no way inferior to those which Moses the lawgiver produced, thus says: When at harvest time a terrible heat once lay upon us, we were going with some fathers, and the wonderful Master, into the desert, laden with jars full of water; which being emptied, the matter had come to extreme thirst, laboring miserably with which, and almost failing, since a watery place was very far off, we wished to urge on our course as much as our strength could bear, if perhaps, even if late reaching thither, it might befall us to be satisfied with cold water, and to quench the thirst miserably burning us; but that day we did not find water; though we had been well-nigh swifter than birds. Wherefore when the pious Master saw us broken and faint with such effort, and, with failing voices and imploring help, complaining without intermission of the burning of thirst, he felt his inmost parts moved, and, taking pity on us, said: Do not, sons most beloved in spirit, cast down your minds; for he who once, when the Israelite people failed with thirst, drew out waters from the rock by the Mosaic rod, that same one will now make them well up, and will give drink to you thirsting, and from the fountains of his benignity will bring forth refreshment.
[104] And having said these things he halted, and prayed silently within himself, he makes a fountain of water well up. and, striking the ground with the top of his staff, bade us dig it. As we ran up therefore, and furrowed the earth with our hooked nails, a clear and drinkable spring leaped forth, which being drunk, and our thirst driven away, on the morrow, leaving there the fountain just now stirred up and flowing, we returned. But a few days after, a certain man came from the desert who, when we were in the Laura, had been on familiar terms with us, and announcing said: I have just passed through a place which I have very often walked through parched: but now I found a fresh fountain running down in it with a pleasant flow, so that I was scarcely master of myself, on account of this stupendous stream; nor could I conjecture otherwise than that it had welled forth, drawn out by some one of the Saints entreating for thirst; and so I praised God. Him we too, most sweetly refreshed by this miracle, and inspectors and witnesses of it, celebrated with grace and joint praise, who constitutes his Saints the effecters of works so wonderful.
[105] A man of Jerusalem, eminent among the illustrious and venerable elders, Of the hidden gold of his deceased father, George when he acted as archdeacon of the holy Resurrection of Christ our God, and also deuterarius c of the Life-giving Calvary, related to me certain deeds which he had himself seen with his own eyes: for he had been joined to the Elder by familiar intimacy. He thus began: There was a certain archpresbyter of our clergy, his name was George, whose father was opulent and rich with much gold. But he, having gone abroad into the parts of Damascus, no will being made, departed from life to the Lord. But all the weight of gold he had buried under the earth through various and hidden hiding-places, known to God alone, the inspector of all secret things. When the son learned of his death, he began to struggle with huge grief and sadness: nor did he weep and lament only his lost father, and his mournful bereavement; but also his lost riches, considering what an hereditary portion was destined for him, namely want and misery. Whatever many consoled him, he heard nothing: for a misfortune greater than consolation pressed the man on both sides.
[106] Yet afterward, when he had now begun to hearken to the excellent counsels and benevolence of his friends, pointed out by Stephen, we took our way together to the Elder, instinct with the grace of God, who, receiving us kindly, asked what ailed him. But the pious George, wailing miserably, set forth his twofold and truly most bitter calamity, praying that he would not find it grievous to teach him, by the grace which he had received from God as his own, where the paternal gold lay hidden. When the Elder: Do not weep, beloved, he said, over your father's death: for the cup of death is common, and a way not to be prayed off: as regards the money, if you place firm confidence in God, the author and nourisher of life, you shall not lack any good. Nevertheless what do you resolve to give to God, if indeed you shall discover the paternal treasures? Father, said he, whatever you shall command; even the half I will gladly bestow. Then the Elder: Not the half, but only five gold pieces destine for the poor. Which when he had assigned to the needy, the good Elder added, the sacrifice being performed, and taught by the spiritual illumination drawn thence: There are in your court steps, offering an ascent toward such a part: if therefore you search about their uppermost parts, in such a place you will find some things which may be of use. But when you have received them, give thanks to God, and render what your lips have distinguished.
[107] he finds it; afterward he asks that another be pointed out to him; When we had returned thence with joy, George betook himself straight home, and, searching, found all things as the Elder had said. But the very great riches being soon consumed, and the promises in no part fulfilled, again, I accompanying him, he went to the Elder. He, when he had kindly admitted us, asks what cause had so quickly then recalled us into the Laura. To whom George: Holy father, what the divine power revealed to us through your sanctity has wholly gone away into the necessary uses of life, frequently occurring. But I adjure both your benignity and gentleness, that you indicate to us where the rest lie hidden. But he, smiling, asks: Have you rendered to God what you had vowed? When this man: Not yet, he said, father; but I will render it. Then the Elder, moved by that tenderness of heart which was proper to him, after the divine service was performed, illumined by heavenly grace, said to him: When you shall have entered your workshop, take the mortar of incense; there you will find a notable treasure laid up. When you have obtained it, remember to refer it as received to God, and to discharge the faith which you gave. But he, when, according to the knowledge of hidden things divinely granted to the Elder, he had dug out a huge sum of coins from the darkness, in a short time afterward had wasted it all, bestowing nothing on the beggars, contrary to what he had promised.
[108] [and again another; but because he had not given the promised alms, the third time he is sent away empty.] And when he labored with the want even of necessary things, he had recourse again to the blessed Elder, beseeching that, if anything of the paternal goods was anywhere still laid up, he would be willing to assign it to him. But the Elder: Have you given, he said, what you had promised to the needy? Then he: Pardon, my father; for I have not given it. To which the elder, wondering, replied: I marvel indeed at your hardness, George. Could it be that, at the example of Ananias and Sapphira, you did not tremble, who, because they had lied to the Holy Spirit, were punished with an unhappy death? And they indeed, when they had brought the greatest part of the money, withdrawing some little; whereas you meanwhile withdrew all? Be gone from hence now henceforth, be gone; for God does not wish you to grow proud by the affluence of riches. There are also not a few other stupendous things which I saw wrought by this admirable Elder, and which I would here recount, did I not fear the prolixity of the narration: for satiety of speech is odious to the ears. Yet you press me on, that, verbosity being set aside, I should bring forward some of the many.
[109] [An archdeacon, by too severely chastising an apocrisiarius, gives the cause of apostasy;] When at one time the threat of a levy was tyrannically forced upon us; he who then ruled compelled me to exact the tributes: but there was as under-minister and apocrisiarius d of the city community a certain one of the brethren. I am seized with fear and trembling, while I narrate and at the same time recall the fall which through him, unwitting, I committed. But may the supreme justice of God be propitious to me, and mercifully pardon my ignorance. This apocrisiarius, when he discharged the parts of the office imposed on him too drowsily, and stumbled into many errors, for the sake of his salvation (for he was dear to me) it pleased me to terrify: and I order the man to be stretched out for scourges, having secretly signified that they should inflict only one stroke, and I thunder against him with a threatening voice, announcing that punishments would presently be exacted for his wrongly administered levy. But he, taking flight at once, on the sixteenth of February fell away from the Christian confession. From the time this deadly mischance had befallen me, I was in perpetual sickness of mind, lest perhaps I had thence contracted some sin.
[110] Nor was it done long after, when to me, summoned by St. Stephen who am a man of nothing, the Elder, the arbiter of hidden things, sent one to say in his words: Let your piety deign to come to us here: for there are things which we would communicate with it, wholly necessary, which cannot be dispatched by letters: for on the sixteenth of the month
of February you sinned a great sin against the Lord, whom I wish clement to both you and us sinners in the dreadful day of judgment. Having received therefore the sacred letters of the Elder, astonished at what has been said, I immediately wrote back thus: The things which you sent written to me have struck me, admirable father: for I had not known that I was the author of this recent crime. Although I have always been sunk in sins, and most basely enslaved to iniquities; yet I have deferred to come to you now for no other cause than that I am held bound by the entangling shreds of the necessary affairs of the time. Nay rather let your deep humility, after the example of its Lord, who of his own accord descended to save sinners, not disdain to come hither to us, wrapped in the filth of this life, and oppressed by the mass of secular cares, and having the eyes of the mind darkened; and hence perhaps it is that they do not recognize themselves guilty of this fault; whom you therefore anticipate as soon as possible, and relieve my misery. Farewell.
[111] To such an answer he replied by other letters, and said: How worthy of compassion is the weakness of my old age, he is convicted of sin; most beloved of God, is not hidden from you; yet nonetheless, however heavy with age, I will do my endeavor that, God supplying strength, I may come at the first opportunity. When therefore after a few days he was present, privately and the witnesses being removed, he said to me: Since the divine Scriptures and the exhortations of the doctors are recited each day, you, as a true son of the Church, hearing; and since it is provided by the canons of the councils that no cleric should undertake secular prefectures (for it is not fitting to confound divine things with human, nor earthly with heavenly, nor the things of the flesh with those of the spirit, nor to mingle priestly things with secular) was it at last just for you to do what you did? You committed a great crime in the sight of God, when you gave to that brother an occasion both of deserting the Christian religion, and of precipitating his soul, for which Christ died, into destruction.
[112] It is a wonderful thing indeed that I say to you, that, recognizing the enormity of your wound, you may think of finding a fitting remedy: for as the many and various kinds of diseases of the body on account of which he seemed as it were repelled from the ministry; are cured by various medicines and potions; so also the evil affections of the soul must be met, one in one way, another in another, by spiritual pharmaka. Lately, the holy Lord's day dawning, I was as it were rapt into an ecstasy, and saw myself at the holy Resurrection e. Having entered therefore thither, and venerated the life-giving sign of the Word of God, according to the prescribed form I proceed to the holy Calvary f; and I behold the God-bearing Theodore g, metropolitan of the most happy city of Emesa, standing in white apparel, and two angels on either side clothed in white h garments: but seeing you nowhere, I asked them: Where is my friend the deuterarius? But they answer austerely and indignantly: The Lord will destroy him and all his house; because on the sixteenth day of February through his hands a Christian soul, our faith being spurned, perished.
[113] But I: Far be it, I said, O Lords, far be it that this ever befall: but entreat him who on this very life-giving rock was fixed by nails to the cross, and himself offered as a ransom, by which he might redeem us, to death, and, the divine blood being poured out from his sacrosanct side, washed all the earth, that he suffer himself to be appeased, and save his soul. Then, my eyes lifted to the Lord, I set myself to entreat and render God propitious to you, and to say: Most benign and most merciful Lord, who willest not the death of men, but that they be converted and live; who didst regard both the penance of the Ninevites, and the weeping of Hezekiah, and the groaning of Manasseh, and the confession of David, and the tears of Peter; and who by singular grace didst will the Thief on the cross, delivered from destruction by a faithful promise, to enter paradise; hear the prayers which we pour out for the deuterarius; give him to me, though I be unworthy of the gift; but surely for the unspeakable abyss of thy compassions, and the ineffable sea of thy clemency, overcome both by the intercession of the holy angels here standing by, and of this thy most holy Prelate, make him safe, and enclose him in thy nets, and make him worthy of this sacred station; for thou canst do all things, and dissemblest the sins of men for the sake of penance; and to thee is due glory forever and ever.
[114] he is granted to him for penance. Thus I had prayed, when the holy Angels: Behold, they say, God has granted him to you. Nevertheless do penance, O beloved deuterarius, and wash your heart with tears: for not on account of my merits did God reveal this to me, but for your salvation. Weep therefore, and appease the angry power, and gather worthy fruits of your sacred ministry, and purge your soul: for, if you do otherwise, you will again provoke God to anger. But I, greatly pricked by the Elder's exhortation, and bitterly weeping, said: Pray, O father, pray, and pray without intermission for my misery, that I may obtain of the Lord pardon both of my faults and of my ignorances. And these things I, as I clearly learned from those which the Archdeacon and deuterarius narrated, so committed accurately to writing.
ANNOTATIONS OF D. P.
CHAPTER X.
Leontius, the author of the Life, becomes a disciple of St. Stephen, and is freed by him from diseases of soul and body.
Ταῦτα μὲν δὴ ἅπαντα παρὰ πολλῶν συλλεξάμενος ἀξιοπίστων ἀνδρῶν, συνεγραψάμην ὁ πενιχρὸς ἐγὼ καὶ χαμαίζηλος Λεόντιος, ἅδε ἱστορικῶς τεθέαμαι, καὶ ὧν αὐτήκοος ἐγενόμην, συγγραψόμενος ἥκω. Ἑσχάτως γὰρ τούτῳ τῷ Γέροντι πρὸ τῆς ἐνθένδε ἱερᾶς αὐτοῦ μεταστάσεως τετραέτη χρόνον ἐμαθήτευσα· πῶς δὲ καὶ ποίῳ πρόπῳ, συντετμημένως ἐρῶ.
[116] Τὴν πατρώαν καταλιπὼν πόλιν, τὴν πανευδαίμονα Δαμασκὸν, τὴν ἁγίαν Ἱερουσαλὴμ κατήντησα κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦ σωτηριούδους πάσχα. Λυθείσης οὖν τῆς πανηγύρεως, τὴν μεγίστην Λαῦραν τοῦ ὁσίου πατροὶ ἡμῶν Σάβα κατέλαβον, κᾀκεῖσε τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀποκειράμενος, παραδέδωμαί τινι τῶν πατέρων τῆς αὐτῆς Λαύρας ὑπὸ τοῦ ἡγουμένου διακόνῳ ὑπάρχοντι, ὅπως ἐκδιδάξῃ με μοναχικὴν πολιτείαν. Παραμείναντος οὖν μου ἐπὶ μίαν ἑβδομάδα, ἢ καὶ σμικρῷ πλεῖον, ἰδιώτου, καὶ λίαν τῶν θείων γραφῶν ἀπείρου τυγχάνοντος, αὐτίκα προκατήρξατο τιτρώσκειν με τοῖς κακίστοις αὐτοῦ βέλεσιν ὁ τῆς βλασφημίας ὀλέθριος δαίμων· ὑφ᾽ οὗ νοερῶς καὶ ἀοράτως τιτρωσκόμενος ὠδυνόμην, ὀδυρόμενος, ὡς τοὺς ἀσελγεῖς λογισμοὺς καὶ αἰσχρὰς ἐπιθυμήσεις ἐκ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ψυχῆς ἀναφυεσθαι μόνης οἰόμενος. Ὁπηνίκα δέ με ἀγωνιῶντα καὶ λυπούμενον ἴδεν ὁ δεινὸς πολεμήτωρ, πολὺ μειζόνως ἔσπευδε τὰ τῆς θλίψεως καὶ ἀγωνίας κατ᾽ ἐμοῦ διεγείρειν ἀλλεπάλληλα κύματα, μάλιστα γνοὺς τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν πάληστε καὶ μάχης οὔπω μεμυημένον ὑπαρχοντα· οὐ γὰρ ἔφερέ με, τῆς αὐτοῦ στρατείας καὶ ὑπηρεσίας ἀποδράντα, καὶ κατ᾽ αὐτοῦ στρατεύεσθαι ἐπιχειρισάμενον· ἀλλὰ παντελῶς οὐκ ἀφών με μιᾶς ὥρας ἔχειν ἡσυχίαν καὶ ἄνεσιν, ὥστε με ἐπέλασε, καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν τῆς ἐμαυτοῦ σωτηρίας ἀπόγνωσιν φυσικοὺς ὑποβάλλων λογισμοὺς, ἐμαυτὸν ἀποκτεῖναι παροτρύνων.
[117] Ὅθεν ἐπένθουν, καὶ πολλὴν κατέχεον δακρύων ῥοὴν, τὴν ἐμὴν ταλανίζων ἀπόνοιαν, ἧς ἐκτραπῆναι βουλόμενος, νηστείᾳ καὶ δίψῃ, ἀγρυπνίᾳ τε καὶ χαμευνίᾳ λίαν ἐμαυτὸν ἐδάμαζον, εὐχόμενος ῥυσθῆναι τούτων τῶν χαλεπῶν ἐνθυμήσεων· ἄμεινον ᾠήθην ἐγκρατείᾳ τήξει σωματικῇ χράσται, ἢ βλασφημεῖσθαι ὑπ᾽ ἐμοῦ τὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ πανάγιον ὄνομα. Ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲν ἐντεῦθεν τάλας ἐγὼ ἐξήνεγκα κέρδος, ἐκτήξας μου τὴν σάρκα πᾶσαν, τοῖς ἀνέμοις συμφερόμενος, ὡσεὶ καλάμη κατάξηρος· ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον καὶ μᾶλλον ἐπολεμούμην ὑπὸ τοῦ παγκάκου δαίμονος, καὶ πλειοτέραις ἐνέπιπτον ἀνίαις καὶ θλίψεσι, μόναις ταῖς τῶν δακρύων ῥοαῖς παρηγορῶν μου τὰ πολύκλονα τῆς ψυχῆς πάθη καὶ βαθέα τραύματα. Οὔτε γὰρ τοσοῦτον ἐκεῖνος ὁ τοῖς λῃσταῖς
περιπεσὼν τετραυμάτισται, ὅσον ἐτραυματιζόμην ταῖς δαιμονικαῖς προσβολαῖς, καὶ ταῖς τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων τε καὶ τῶν βλασφημιῶν πυκναῖς ἀκίσιν, ὑφ᾽ ὧν πολλάκις νυττόμενος κατὰ τὸν συνήθη τῆς ψαλμωδίας καιρὸν, μεμονομένος στιβαρῶς καὶ ἀφειδῶς ἐπάτασσον τῇ γῇ τὴν κάραν, εἴπως ἀλγήσας, διὰ τοῦ ἄλγους βραχείας μετάσχω γαλήνης λογισμῶν, καὶ ἀτάραχόν μου τὴν εὐχὴν ἐκτελέσω.
[118] Ἀλλ᾽ ἐξέπιπτον τῆς ἐλπίδος, καὶ ἀνηνύτως ἐκοπίων· καὶ πεισάτω πάντας ὑμᾶς ἡ ἀλήθεια, ὅτι πλειστάκις, ἐν κρημνώδεσιν ἐμβεβηκὼς χώραις, ἐσκεπτόμην ἐμαυτὸν ὕψωθεν χαμαὶ κατὰ κορυφὴν ἀποῤῥίψαι· προῃρούμην γὰρ φόνῳ τοῦ βίου κακῶς ὑπεξελθεῖν, ἢ ζῆν τῆς θεοσεβείας καὶ ἀρίστης πολιτείας ἐκτός. Τὸ αὐτὸ δὲ καὶ λάκκῳ παρεστηκὼς ἐφρόνουν ποιεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ μάχαιραν κατέχων, ἐμαυτὸν κατὰ γαστέρα ἐκκενθῆσαι προεθυμήθην· διενοούμην γὰρ τὰ βέβηλα καὶ ἄπιστα τῶν ἀθέων πάθη, καὶ τὸν τῶν αἱμοβόρων λῃστῶν, καὶ φιλοπόρνων, καὶ πάντων κακίας ἐχομένων ὅμιλον ὑπὲρ ἐμὲ διάγειν, καὶ βιοῦν καλῶς, ὥστε καὶ τοὺς τοιούτους ἐμακάριζον ἀφρόνως ἐρῶν, ὅτι εἰ καὶ τοιοῦτοι τυγχάνουσιν, ἀλλά μου πρὸς Θεὸν διαφέρουσιν, ὑπὲρ τὸν Ἄζωτον ἐκεῖνον ἀζώτως λογιζομένου καὶ βιοῦντος, καὶ ταῖς ἀκαθάρτοις ἐνθυμήσεσι τὴν θείαν ἐν ἐμοὶ ἀχρειοῦντος εἰκόνα· αὐτῷ γὰρ τῷ βλασφήμῳ σατανᾷ ἐξισώθην, ὅθεν καὶ τὴν ἀποκειμένην αὐτῷ, καὶ τοῖς ὑπηρέταις αὐτοῦ, ἀπεξεδεχόμην αἰώνιον κόλασιν· ἧς γένοιτο πάντας ἡμᾶς ῥυσθῆναι. Καὶ οὕτως διέμεινα διετῆ χρόνον, παρὰ τρεῖς ἢ τέσσαρας μῆνας, ἕως τῆς ἐμῆς καρδίας ὁ τόνος ἐξέλιπε, καὶ μέρος τῆς ὄψεως ὑπὸ τῆς τῶν πολλῶν δακρύων θερμότητος ἐξεκάη.
[119] Τότε τοιγαροῦν τῆς συνεχούσης με τῶν ἐναντίων λογισμῶν ἀπαλλαγῆναι καμίνου σφοδρῶς ἐπιθυμῶν, ἄλλον ἐκομισάμην ἐπιστάτην, τὸν κατὰ καιρὸν ἐγκαταλείψας, καίπερ ἐκάστοτε νουθετούμενος ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ πνευματικῶς διδασκόμενος. Μιᾷ δὲ τῶν ἡμερῶν τοῖς ψυχωφελέσι πατερικοῖς ἐντυγχάνων βιβλίοις, εὗρον περιοχὴν τοῦ ἀββᾶ Ζήνωνος, περί τινος ἐξαγγελοῦσαν ἀδελφοῦ, ὅτι, τι τῶν τοιούτων καὶ αὐτὸς πεπονθὼς, ἐπορεύθη πρός τινα ἅγιον γέροντα, καὶ τὸ ἴδιον ἐξαγορεύσας πάθος, ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ, τῶν ψυχῶν καὶ σωμάτων ἰατροῦ, παραυτὰ αὐτοῦ τελείας ἐπέτυχε θεραπείας, ἧς κᾀγὼ τυχεῖν ἐφιέμενος, πρὸς τὸν ἅγιον Στέφανον ἐπορεύθην, ἐξ ἀκοῆς, οὐκ ἐξ αὐτοπτικῆς πείρας, εἰς αὐτὸν πίστιν κεκτημένος, λαβὼν παρὰ τοῦ ἐμοῦ ἐπιστάτου μήνυσιν. Ἐλθὼν οὖν πρὸς αὐτὸν τὸν ἅγιον Στέφανον, καὶ τῆς τῶν κατ᾽ ἐμὲ διηγήσεως ἀρχὴν ποιησάμενος, εὐθέως ὑπὸ σατανικῆς ὑποβολῆς αἰδοῖ κατεσχέθην, σιωπῇ τὸ ἐμὸν ἐμφραττούσῃ στόμα, καὶ φραγμὸν αὐτῷ δραστυκώτατον ἐμβαλούσῃ. Τοῦτο γὰρ ὁ δολομήχανος ἐχθρὸς ἐμηχανήσατο, ἵνα παρὰ τοῦ φωστῆρος Στεφάνου κενὸς φωταγωγίας καὶ σωτηρίας ὑποστρέψω.
[120] Ἀλλ᾽ ὄντως οὐ παρεχώρησεν ἡ θεία χάρις, ἀλλὰ διὰ τῆς τοῦ σοφοῦ Γέροντος κηδεμονίας προέφθασεν· αὐτίκα γάρ με φιλοφρόνως ὑποδεξάμενος πρὸς ἐμὲ μέν φησίν· Ὧδε κάθου, τέκνον· πρὸς δὲ τοὺς τότε παρακαθημένους αὐτῷ μαθητὰς δακτυλοδεικτῶν, ἔλεγεν· Καλῶς κεῖται οὗτος ὁ ἀδελφὸς· ἀλλ᾽ ἀγνοεῖ. Ἀναχωρησάντων δὲ τούτων, ἰδιαζόντως ἐπυνθάνετο· Διὰ ποίαν αἰτίαν ἐλήλυθας ὧδε, λέγων; Πρὸς ὃν ἐγὼ ἔφην· Ὦ πάτερ, διὰ τί σοι, πάντα τὰ κατ᾽ ἐμὲ σαφῶς εἰδότι, ἐξαγορεύσω; Ὁ δὲ· Κᾂν, ὡς ἔφης, γινώσκω, φησίν· ἀλλ᾽ ὑμέτερον καθέστηκε, τέκνον, τοῦ δημοσιεῦσαι τὰ αἴσχιστα τῶν δαιμόνων μυστήρια, καὶ πονηρὰ σπέρματα, καὶ φθαρτητὰ ζιζάνια, ἵνα τὴν σὴν κατιδὼν μετριοφροσύνην καὶ βελτιωτάτην ἀναιδείαν ὁ καρδιογνόστης καὶ τὸν νοῦν ἀνθρώπων ἐπίστάμενος, καὶ πάντα γινώσκων πρὸ γενέσεως αὐτῶν Θεὸς, δωρήσηταί σοι τὴν ἴασιν· ἀλλ᾽ ἐγὼ οὐκ ἐπειθόμην, τοῖς τῆς αἰδοῦς κεκρατημένος δεσμοῖς. Ὕστερον δὲ βιασθεὶς ἄκρως ἀπὸ τοῦ Γέροντος, μετρίας αἰνιγματικῆς ἐπελαβόμην ἀρχῆς.
[121] Ἰδὼν δέ με ἔτι τὴν γλώτταν τῷ τῆς αἰσχύνης φόβῳ δεδεμένον, τρανωτέρωστε καὶ λευκοτέρως τὰ κατ᾽ ἐμὲ σαφηνίζων, παραδόξως διηγήσατο, ὡς εἰς τὰ βαθέα τῆς ἐμῆς ψυχῆς τε καὶ καρδίας ταμιεῖα εἰσδὺς, καὶ τὰ ἐκεῖ λεπτωμερῶς ἐξερευνήσας. Καὶ τοιαύταις με ὑποστηρίζων διδασκαλίαις ἔλεγεν, σοφῶς νουθετῶν· Τέκνον, οὐ δεῖ σε αἰδεῖσθαι τοὺς δαιμονιώδεις ἐκφάναι λογισμούς· τούτους γὰρ εἰ ἀπὸ σεαυτοῦ ἐξέφανας, ἄμεινον ἦν· πάντως γὰρ καὶ διὰ τῆς ἐξαγορεύσεως ταχείας ἔμελλες ἐπιτεύξασθαι θεραπείας· εἴπερ γὰρ καὶ ἐξ ἀρχῆς εἰπεῖν αὐτοὺς ἠβουλήθην, οὐκ ἂν διὰ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ συνεργίας καὶ χάριτος ἐξηπόρησα· ἀλλὰ, τὸ συμφέρον σοι σκοπῶν, ἐπεθόμην αὐτομάτως ἐξομολογήσασθαι τὰ ἐγκάρδια· θεασάμενος δέ σε ἀκαίρως ἐρυθριῶντα, καὶ σιωπῇ κατασχεθέντα, βραχέως ἐξαγγεῖλαι ἐβιάσθην, ἵνα τὰ τῆς γλώσσης δεσμὰ λύσας, εὐπόρευτον ἀπεργάσομαί σοι τὴν ἐξομολόγησιν· Θάρσει τοίνυν, ὦ τέκνον, οὐ γὰρ σὺ μόνος τοῦτο πέπονθας· τοιαῦτα δὴ πάσχειν εἰώθασιν οἱ τῆς σατανικῆς αὐλῆς ἀποικιζόμενοι· οὐ δὲ γὰρ τῆς τούτων πείρας ἄπειρος γέγονα. Λοιπὸν τοὺς ἐμφωλεύοντάς σοι ἐξάγγειλαι λογισμοὺς, καὶ μὴ αἰδοῦ τὴν ἐμὴν ἀχρειότητα· αἰδοῦ δὲ μᾶλλον, αὐτοὺς ἀποκρύπτων, ἐκεῖνον τὸν παντεπόπτην ὀφθαλμὸν, ᾧ πάντες γυμνοὶ καὶ τετραχηλισμένοι παραστήσθαι μέλλομεν.
[122] Ταῦτα προσεχῶς ἀκούσας τοὺς ἐμοὺς βλασφήμους ἐξαγορεύειν λογισμοὺς ἀπηρξάμην, πᾶσαν ἀποσεισάμενος τὴν βλαβερὰν ἀλάλειαν· Ἐξαγορεύοντα δέ με τὰ συνεχόμενά με ἔλκη ὁ συμπαθὴς Γέρων γραφικοῖς τε καὶ διδασκαλικοῖς θεραπεύειν ἐμηχανᾶτο ποικίλοις φαρμάκοις· ἀλλὰ τὴν τῶν πνευματικῶν λόγων πειθανότητα ὑπερέβη μου τὸ πάθος, ὡς μέγατε καὶ μείζονος θεραπείας δεόμενον· Ὅπερ γνοὺς ὁ συμπαθὴς Γέρων, τὴν τῶν σοφῶν αὐτοῦ λόγων κατευνάσας ὁρμὴν, ἔφη πρός με· Πορεύθητι, τέκνον, ὅτι τῇ νυκτὶ ταύτῃ ὑπέρ σου πάννυχον ἀγρυπνίαν ἐκτελέσω, καὶ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ γενέσθω. Αὐθωρεῖ οὖν περὶ τὴν τοῦ ἡλίου δύσιν ἀναχωρήσας καὶ κοιμηθεὶς, περὶ τὸ αὖγος ἀνείην, τὴν βελτίω ἀμοιωθεὶς ἀλλοίωσιν, ἀνεκλαλήτου χαρμονῆς ἀνάμεστος, καὶ καθαρὸς τὴν διάνοιαν ἀπὸ πάσης μιαρᾶς ἐνθυμήσεως· ὅσης δὲ ᾐσθανόμην λαμπρότητος, ἐξειπεῖν ἀμήχανον· μαρτυρεῖ ἡ ὄντως ἀλήθεια· βεβαίᾳ ἐῤῥιζώθην πίστει εἰς τὸν Θεὸν καὶ ἀγάπῃ πολλῇ.
[123] Πρὸ τούτου δὲ οὐ προσιέμην τοῖς ἀχράντοις μυστηρίοις, οὔτε τὰς θείας καθορᾷν εἰκόνας προεθυμούμην, ἀλλ᾽ ἢ βεβιασμένος. Ἐν ἐκείνῃ δὲ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐφιέμην ἐκάστοτε τῆς ζωοτόκου καὶ ὑπερφεροῦς θείας μεταλαμβάνειν δωρεᾶς, καὶ τὰς ἁγίας ἐν εἰλικρινείᾳ περιπτύσσεσθαι εἰκόνας. Σωματικὴν δὲ ἀνελαβόμην δύναμιν ὑγιῆ καὶ ῥωμαλέαν· Ὅθεν ἐμαυτὸν τοιοῦτον καὶ ἐν τοιαύταις ἰδὼν ἀνελπίστοις καὶ παραδόξοις ἀθρόοις μεταβολαῖς, ψηλαφᾷν ἐκείνους τοὺς βλασφήμους λογισμοὺς ἐπειρόμην, καὶ πάντας ἐκ ποδῶν τῆς ἐμῆς ἀποβληθέντας ψυχῆς εὕρηκα, καὶ μάρτυς ὁ Θεὸς, ὅτι παντὶ σθένει ἠγωνιζόμην, τινὰ τῶν προτέρων κατὰ νοῦν λογίσασθαι ἐνθυμήσεων, καὶ οὐδαμῶς ἠδυνάμην εὑρεῖν παντάπασιν· ὡς εἴτις μονονουχὶ ἀπάθης, καὶ ἄσαρκος, θείῳτε καταυγάσματι περιλαμφθεὶς, καὶ ἀποπλασθεὶς νεύματι. Καὶ παραυτὰ, κατ᾽ οὐδὲν παραβαλλόμενος, ἀφικόμην πρὸς τὸν Γέροντα, εὐαριστῶν τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ τὴν εὐεργεσίαν αὐτοῦ ὁμολογῶν· Θεασάμενος οὖν με οὗτος ὁ πραῢς, μειλιχίως μειδιῶν, καὶ σοφῶς διαχεόμενος, ἔφη πρός με· Τί ἔνι, τέκνον; ἀνέσφηλας; ὑγιὴς γέγονας; Οὐκοῦν ἀνάπεμψον τῷ Θεῷ χαριστήριον ὕμνον, καὶ λάτρευσον αὐτῷ πιστῶς καὶ σωφρόνως· Καὶ πλείοσιν ὑποστηρίξας διδασκαλικαῖς παραινέσεσι καὶ σωτηρίοις ἐντάλμασι, ἀπέλυσέ με γηθόμενον.
[124] Μετ᾽ οὐ πολλὰς ἡμέρας πάλιν ὀἳστεύειν με τῆς βλασφημίας ὀλεθρίοις βέλεσιν ὁ χαλεπὸς πολεμήτωρ ἀπήρξατο, οὐκ εἰς τὸν δεσπότην Θεὸν, ἀλλ᾽ εἰς τὴν δέσποιναν τὴν Θεομήτορα Παρθένον· Αὐτίκα δὲ δρομέως ἐπὶ τὴν ἰαματικὴν ἐξέδραμον πηγὴν, καὶ τὸ νέον πάθος ἐξηγόρευσα. Ὁ δὲ θεόσοφος Γέρων διδασκαλικοὺς τρόπους παρέδωκέ μοι, λέγων· Οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλως τοὺς τοιούτους ἀποδιώκειν λογισμοὺς, ἀλλ᾽ ἢ τῇ αὐτῶν καταφρονήσει, καὶ ταῖς ἐκτενέσι προσευχαῖς· ἀλλ᾽ ἐπειδὴ ὁρῶ σε πρὸς τοιοῦτον ἀδυνατοῦντα πόλεμον, ἐγερθεὶς ἐπίθες τὴν χεῖρά σου τῷ ἐμῷ τραχήλῳ. Ἀναστάντος οὖν μου, τοῦ ἀσθενοῦς καὶ πένητος, καὶ τὴν παλάμην μου τῷ ἡγιασμένῳ αὐτοῦ αὐχένι ἐπιθέντος, ἔφη πρός με· Ὁ Θεὸς ἐξ ἐμοῦ ἀπαιτήσει ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ φοβερᾷ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς κρίσεως τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ταύτην, ἣν ἐντεῦθεν προσκτήσασθαι νομίζεις, ἐπεὶ ἄκοντός σου καὶ ἀγωνιῶντος οἱ τοιοῦτοι δαιμονιώδεις λογισμοὶ ταῖς σαῖς ἐπισπείρονται διανοίαις. Λοιπὸν μηκέτι περὶ τούτων λόγον ποιοῦ ἢ φροντίδα· καὶ οὕτω τρὶς εἰπὼν, ἐκέλευσέ με καθεσθῆσαι, καί φησιν· Ἐπειδήπερ, τέκνον, ἡ ψυχή σου ἐπὶ τοῖς τοιούτοις λογισμοῖς ἀγωνιᾷ καὶ ἄχθεται, οὐκ ἔχεις ἁμαρτίαν.
[125] Ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἔφην· Πάτερ, οὐκ οἶδεν ὁ δαίμων, ὅτι οὐ προσάπτεταί μοι ἁμαρτία ἐκ τῶν τοιούτων ἐπιθυμήσεων, ἐπειδή ἀσχάλλω καὶ λυποῦμαι; Ὁ δὲ θεοφόρος Γέρων· Ναί, φησιν, σαφῶς οἶδεν ὁ δαίμων. Πρὸς ὃν εἶπον· Καὶ τί κερδῆσαι προσδωκᾷ ταῦτα ποιῶν, καὶ τίνος ἕνεκεν διαμένει καθ᾽ ἡμῶν ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις ποιούμενος πόλεμον; Ὁ δὲ Γέρων ἀποκριθεὶς ἔφη· Ἐάν σοι ἐκφράσω τινὸς χάριν κατά σου τὴν τοιαύτην διεγείρει μάχην ὁ δαίμων, καὶ τί κερδῆσαι προσδοκᾷ ταῦτα ποιῶν, ὃ καί σε παθεῖν οὐκ ἀμφιβάλλω, ὁμολογεῖς τὴν ἀλήθειαν; Κᾀγὼ δὲ· Ναὶ, πάτερ, ἔφη, ὁμολογῶ. Ἔλαβον γὰρ κατ᾽ αὐτὸν πνευματικὴν ἀναίδειαν τοῦ μηκέτι βραχύ τι παρ᾽ αὐτῶν ἀποκρύψαι. Ὁ δὲ ἔφη· Ταῦτα διαπράττεται ὁ κάκιστος δαίμων, σπεύδων τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἀγαγεῖν εἰς ἀπόγνωσιν τῆς ἑαυτοῦ σωτηρίας· Εἰπέ μοι, οὐ πολλάκις, βαστάζων μάχαιραν, ἑαυτὸν τρῶσαι ἠθέλησας; Οὐ πολλάκις, ἀκρωρείᾳ κρυμνώδει ἐφεστηκὼς, ἢ λάκκῳ βαθυτάτῳ, ἔλεγες· Ἐμαυτὸν ἀποῤῥίψω, καὶ κακῷ τελευτήσω θανάτῳ, καὶ μηκέτι ζήσω, τοιαύτας εἰς τὸν Θεὸν λογιζόμενος βλασφημίας; Οὐ πολλάκις· εἴθε ὤφειλον ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ εἶναι, καὶ τοῖς κοσμικοῖς ἐγκυλινδεῖσθαι πράγμασι, καὶ τῷ θεοσεβεῖ λαῷ κακουμένῳ συγκακουχεῖσθαι, καὶ μὴ μονάσαι καὶ τῷ Χριστῷ ζῆν εὐσεβῶς συντάξασθαι, καὶ τῆς συνταγῆς ψεύστης γενέσθαι, ἢ βλάσφημος φανῆναι, ἔλεγες; Ὑποστρέψω οὖν εἰς τὸν κόσμον, καὶ τουτὶ τὸ μοναχικὸν ἀποδύσομαι σχῆμα, καὶ ἔσομαι ὡς εἷς τῶν ἁπάντων, καὶ μὴ βιῶν οὕτως διαμείνω· οὐ γάρ μοι γέγονεν ὄφελος, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ζημία καὶ ὄλεθρος· ἀλλὰ τά δε τῶν κατά σε ἁπλουστέρωντε καὶ ἀδρανεστέρων, εἴπερ γὰρ ἄν τις * εὐτελῆ τινα δύναμιν κεκτημένος εἴη, οὐ δώσων ὦτα τοῖς δαίμοσιν, ἠττηθεὶς ὑπὸ τοιούτων ἀραχναίων λογισμῶν καὶ ἐνθυμήσεων, εἰ καὶ ἀνιᾶται καὶ βαρεῖται δεινῶς ὑπὸ τῆς τηλικαύτης ἐναντίας προσβολῆς, καὶ ταράττεται κατὰ τὸν τῆς προσευχῆς καιρόν.
[126] Ἐγὼ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς ἔφην· Ναὶ, πάτερ ἅγιε, ὡς εἴρηκας, οὕτως ἔπαθον. Ἀλλ᾽ ὑπερεύχου τῆς ἐμῆς μετριότητος, ὅπως καὶ τούτων λυτρωθῶ, ὅπως καὶ τῶν προτέρων λελύτρωμαι. Ὁ δὲ ὑπομειδιάσας ἔφη· Καὶ ἑτέραν ὑπέρ σου ποιήσῳ ἀγρυπνίαν, καὶ ἐπεὶ πέποιθα τῷ Θεῷ, ὅτι καὶ τούτων ῥυσεταί σε· ὡς καὶ ἐγένετο· ἐνώπιον γὰρ Κυρίου τῆς δόξης ἐρῶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν, ὅτι διὰ τῆς τοῦ Γέροντος θεοπειθοῦς πρεσβείας τῇ τοῦ Χριστοῦ συνεργίᾳ καὶ χάριτι οὐκ ἔτι μέχρι τῆς ἐνεστώσης ὥρας ἔκτοτε
ὑπὸ τῶν τοιούτων λογισμῶν ἐνωχλήθην. Τῆς οὖν τοιαύτης ἐλευθερωθεὶς ὀχλήσεως, καὶ ἀνέσεως τυχὼν ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ διὰ τοῦ Γέροντος, πρὸς αὐτὸν φοιτᾷν ἐπεθύμησα, καὶ πολλὰ δι᾽ ἐμαυτοῦ τε καί τινων τῶν τῆς Λαύρας αἰδεσίμων Γερόντων παρακαλέσας αὐτὸν μετὰ πέντε μηνῶν διάστημα σὺν Θεῷ δέξασθαί με μαθητὴν, παρεσκεύασα, ἔχοντα τότε μαθητὰς ἐν τῇ Λαύρᾳ, καὶ κελλίον ἄποθεν τοῦ ἡσυχαστηρίου αὐτοῦ πρὸς ὑποδοχὴν τῶν πάντοθεν ἐρχομένων ξένων.
[127] Εἰσῆλθον δὲ πρὸς αὐτὸν τριταίῳ δαμαζόμενος πυρετῷ ἀπὸ ἡμερῶν πεντήκοντα· περὶ οὗ τῇ πρώτῃ εἰσβολῇ ἐνοχλῆσαι αὐτῷ, αἴδους ἄξιον ἡγησάμην. Τῇ δὲ ἐπαύριον, ἥτις ἡ πυρεκτικὴ περίοδος, τὸν παροξυσμὸν πτοηθεὶς τοῦ πυρετοῦ καὶ τὴν φλογερὰν αὐτοῦ βάσανον, ἄκων ἀπεκδυσάμην τὴν αἰδὼ, καὶ ἀνερυθριάστως προσῆλθον τῷ Γέροντι, ἀξιῶν αὐτὸν ἔντευξιν ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ ποιήσασθαι, ἐν πίστει λέγων· Πάτερ ἅγιε, ἐλέησόν με· δεινῶς γὰρ ὑπὸ τοῦ πυρετοῦ κολάζομαι, καὶ αἴτησαι τὸν Θεὸν δωρήσασθαί μοι τὴν ἴασιν· πιστεύω γὰρ, ὅτι, εἰ μόνον θελήσεις ὑπερεύξασθαί μου, ἰαθήσομαι· θέλημα γὰρ τῶν φοβουμένων αὐτὸν ποιήσει Κύριος. Παρακληθεὶς οὖν ἔφη· Ἐγὼ μὲν, ὦ τέκνον, ὑπέρ σου ἀγρυπνίαν καὶ δέησιν ἐκτελέσαι οὐ παραιτήσομαι· ὁ δὲ παντοδύναμος Θεὸς ἰάσεταί σε. Ὥσπερ καὶ ἐγένετο, αὐτοῦ τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν ἐκπληρώσαντος· τῇ γὰρ ἐφεξῆς ἡμέρᾳ ἐῤῥωμένος ἀνέστην, πολλὴν κεκτημένος ῥώμην, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς πυρεκτικῆς φλογὸς σεσωσμένος· καὶ οὕτως διὰ τῶν τοῦ Γέροντος ἐντεύξεων τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ χάριτι ἐπὶ χρόνον πολὺν δυνατὸς τῷ σώματι καὶ ὑγιὴς ἄνευ πυρεκτικῆς καὶ παντοίας νοσώδους ὀχλήσεως διήρκεσα, εὐχαριστῶν τῷ Θεῷ καὶ τῷ Γέροντι.
[128] Τούτῳ μιᾷ τῶν ἡμερῶν ἐπὶ τὰ σπήλαια τοῦ Καλαμῶνος πορευθέντι κατὰ τὸ σύνηθες ἐκτελέσαι Τεσσαρακοστὴν παρηψάμην ἕνεκεν ὑπηρεσίας· ὕδωρ γὰρ ἐκόμιζον αὐτῷ, καὶ κυάμους ὀλίγους ἐξέζεον, καὶ τὴν ἔφοδον τῶν προσηλύτων ἐμήνυον. Ὕστερον οὖν μιᾷ τῶν ἡμερῶν ἐκείνων περὶ τὴν τοῦ ἡλίου δύσιν ἐξίη εἰς τὴν ἔρημον, καταλιπών με μόνον ἐν τῷ σπηλαίῳ, ἔχοντα ὀλίγους κυάμους καὶ ὀλίγους φοίνικας καὶ ὕδωρ, τοὺς ἑσπερινοὺς ψάλμους ἐκτελέσαντα. Μονωθεὶς οὖν τῆς τοῦ διδασκάλου κηδεμονικῆς προστασίας, ὡς ἀπροσαξίας γέμων καὶ πολλῆς ἀμελείας περὶ τὴν ἐμαυτοῦ σωτηρίαν, ὑπὸ γαστριμαργικῆς ἐκρατήθην μανίας καὶ σατανικῆς ὑποβολῆς καὶ ἐνεργείας, καὶ ἀναστὰς τὴν δυσκάθεκτον καὶ ἀναιδῆ γαστέρα τῆς αὐτοσχεδίου τροφῆς ἐνέπλησα· καὶ ταύτην ἐμπλήσας, περὶ ἐγκρατείας ἠρξάμην φιλοσοφεῖν, ὑπὸ τοῦ συνειδότος κατακρινόμενόστε καὶ ἐλεγχόμενος· ὡς κλεψιμαίῳ τρόπῳ παρὰ γνώμην τοῦ ἐπιστάτου βεβρωκὼς, καὶ τῆς μοναχικῆς ἱερᾶς εὐταξίας ἐκπεπτωκώς· οὔτέ ποτε γὰρ ᾔδειν τοιούτῳ γαστριμαργίας πτώματι περιπεσὼν, ὅπερ τοὺς αὐτῷ περιπίπτοντας τῆς ἐπουρανίου δόξης καὶ βασιλείας ἀποστερεῖ,, ὡς καὶ τὸν διαβάντα τὸν θαλάττιον σάλον Ἰσραηλίτην λαὸν τῆς εἰς τὴν γῆν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας εἰσόδου ἀπεστέρησεν. Ὅθεν μετανοήσας, κατὰ νοῦν ἐσκεψάμην προσπεσεῖν τῷ Γέροντι, καὶ παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ αἰτῆσαι συγχώρησιν· ὃ καὶ πεποίηκα· καταλαβόντος γὰρ αὐτοῦ ἐκ τῆς ἐρήμου, δραμὼν, καὶ τὸ πρόσωπόν μου τοῖς ἴχνεσι αὐτοῦ ἐπιθεὶς, ἅπαξ μόνον πρὸς αὐτόν· Ἥμαρτον, συγχώρησόν μοι, πάτερ, ἔφην· Ὁ δὲ καλὸς παιδευτὴς, τῷ πνεύματι διαγνοὺς τὴν ἐμὴν ἁμαρτίαν, ἔφη πρός με· Τί ἔνι, τέκνον; κλέπτης ἐγένου; οὕτως ἔχρην σε κεκλοφέναι καὶ φαγεῖν ἀμηνυτί; Είς τοῦτο ἐξελήλυθας μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ; Ἀγνοεῖς, ὅτι κλέπτης ἐστὶν ὁ τρώγων λάθρα τοῦ ἑαυτοῦ ἐπιστάτου; Οὐκ οἶδας, ὅτι παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ μεγάλη ἁμαρτία καθέστηκε τοῦτο; ἀλλ᾽ αὐτὸς συγχωρήσει σοι, ὁ μόνος ἔχων τὴν ἐξουσίαν ἀφιέναι ἁμαρτίας· καὶ τοῦ λοιποῦ, θέκνον, ὅτ᾽ ἂν θέλεις, εἰπέ μοι μόνον, καὶ ἐμπαραθέτως ἔσθιε χαίρων. Καὶ ἀναστήσας με, καὶ σοφῶς παραινέσας, καὶ εὐλογήσας ἀπέλυσεν.
[129] Μετὰ ταῦτα οὖν ἄλλοτε πυρεκτικῇ περιπεπτωκὼς, νόσῳ, προσφυγὼν τῷ Γέροντι, ἠξίωσα αὐτὸν ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ ἀγρυπνίαν ἢ σύναξιν ἐκτελέσαι. Αὐτὸς δὲ· Καλόν σοι παιδευθῆναι μικρὸν, εἶπεν, καὶ ταῖς τῆς ὑπομονῆς χώναις δοκιμασθῆναι· ἀλλ᾽ ὑπόμεινον, ὅμως δὲ ὑπέρ σου ποιῆσαι ἔντευξιν οὐ παρήσω. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ἔφη· οὐκ οἶδα δὲ ταῖς ἀληθείαις, εἰ πεποίηκεν, εἰ οὐ· ἐπειδή με χρονίως ἐδάμασε ἡ πυρεκτικὴ νόσος, ἕως ὅτου διέλυσέ μου τῆς σαρκὸς τὸν τόνον, καὶ ὅλον με εἰς ἀδυναμίας βόθρον κατήγαγε, καὶ τότε διὰ τῆς τοῦ Γέροντος πρεσβείας ἡ ἄφατος τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπία προέφθασε, καὶ χεῖρα θεραπείαστε καὶ βοηθείας ἐκτείνασα, εἰς ἄκραν εὐεξίαν ἤγαγεν, καί με ξενισμοῦ καὶ ἐκπλήξεως παραδόξου ἐμπλήρωσε, καὶ ἀναστὰς εὐθέως ῥώσεως καὶ προθυμίας γέμων, ἔξω μικρὸν μετεωρίσθην· καὶ μετ᾽ ἔπειτα βιβλίον λαβὼν, ἐκαθέσθην ἀναγνῶναι, ὅπερ ἦν μοι τὸ πρὶν ἀδύνατον· Ἀδελφοὶ δέ τινες αὐτῇ τῇ ὥρᾳ, ὲμοῦ ἀναγινώσκοντος, ἐκ τοῦ ἡσυχαστηρίου παραγεγόνασι, συγχαίροντές μοι καὶ εὐαγγελιζόμενοι λέγοντες· Νῦν ὁ ἐπιστάτης ὑπέρ σου πεποίηκε σύναξιν· καὶ παραυτὰ ἔγνωκα, ὅτι δι᾽ αὐτῆς, τελείας ἔτυχον ἰάσεως, καὶ τῷ Θεῷ ηὐχαρίστησα, καὶ ἐξεθείασα τὴν παῤῥησίαν τοῦ Γέροντος.
And all these things indeed, as I had collected from men worthy of faith, I, the poor and abject Leontius, wrote down: Leontius of Damascus, the author of the life, but what I myself saw in person, and heard with these ears, I now begin to explain: for the last four years, which preceded his sacred migration from this world, I spent in the discipline of this holy Elder: but in what manner this came about, I will briefly relate.
[116] Having left my native city, most happy Damascus, about the time of the salutary Easter I went to holy Jerusalem. The celebration of the feast being over, he becomes a monk, and is vehemently tempted, I set out to the Greatest Laura of our holy Father Sabas, and, my head being shorn there, I was handed over to a certain one of the fathers of the same Laura, who under the Abbot exercised the ministry of a deacon, to be imbued with monastic discipline. But when I had stayed there for one week, or a little more, raw, and in the divine letters altogether a stranger and pilgrim, the hostile spirit of blasphemy began to assail me with its most pernicious darts and to wound me. Wounded by whose inner wound of the soul, not open to the eyes, I was tortured, and wept, thinking that unchaste thoughts and obscene desires came from none but my own mind. But when the hostile enemy perceived that I was anguished and cast down in spirit, he much more obstinately did his endeavor to stir up in my breast alternate waves of grief and inner combats, especially because he was not ignorant that I was by no means exercised in this kind of wrestling and fighting with him: for he could not bear this, that, deserting his camp and service, I prepared to war against him: but not suffering me to rest or breathe even for one hour, and suggesting reasons born to lead to the despair of salvation, he was now little short of impelling me to lay violent hands on myself.
[117] I grieved therefore, and poured out much force of tears, weeping over my madness, which, to shake off, I vexed myself with hunger, thirst, vigils, and lying on the ground, and to an inconsolable sadness, beseeching God that it might befall me to be freed from these troublesome thoughts: for I reckoned it better, my body being destroyed, to preserve continence, than that any contumely should be brought by me upon the most holy name of God. Nor yet, though I thus wholly wore out my flesh, did I, wretched, thence have any profit, driven about by the winds like a dry reed: but more and more I was assailed by the worst demon, and sunk in more frequent cares and torments of soul; one solace amid so many most grievous perturbations of mind and deep wounds were the streams of tears. For not so many stripes were laid on him who had fallen among robbers, as the diabolical assaults, and the thick daggers of sins and blasphemies, laid on me; for, pierced by them again and again through the accustomed time of psalmody, when I was alone, I grievously and hardly dashed my head against the ground, if in any way through the pains struck in I might attain even a brief peace of thoughts, and run through my prayers undisturbed.
[118] But my hope deceived me, and I had vexed myself in vain. Nay, I solemnly assert to you all, and finally is driven to despair: that, very often having climbed steep places, I thought to cast myself headlong thence: for I reckoned it more desirable to depart badly from this life by a violent death, than to lead it destitute of piety and of the best discipline. This same thing, when I stood by a well, I meditated to do; nay, I even wished to drive a snatched sword through my belly: for I judged the crimes of the impure and perfidious throngs of atheists and bloody robbers, gluttons, and men marked with every crime, to be inferior to mine, and that they even lived honorably (if I attended to myself); so much so that I foolishly proclaimed them blessed; because, even if they were such, yet before God they differed from me, who surpassed that Prodigal in base thinking and living, and overspread the divine image in me with obscene phantasms: for I equaled myself to blasphemous Satan, and therefore, hanging over him, I expected the eternal punishment for him and his followers; which indeed may God avert from us all. And in this state I remained for two years, save three or four months, until my strength forsook my mind, and the heat of abundant tears, scorching the keenness of my eyes, blunted it in great part.
[119] Then therefore, vehemently longing to be freed from the furnace of adverse thoughts by which I was consumed, at length however he resolves to manifest all to St. Stephen; I took to myself another master, leaving that one for a while, although I was daily admonished by him and instructed in spirit. But when on a certain day I had lighted upon the salutary books of the Fathers, I found a passage of father Zeno a, where it is narrated of one of the brethren, that, himself having suffered something of the kind, he had betaken himself to a certain holy elder, to whom, after he had set forth his sickness, he obtained through him a complete healing from God, the physician alike of souls and bodies; which I too, desiring to obtain, to holy Stephen, in whom from hearing, not from the experience of my own eyes, I had begun to have hope reposed, having received a letter from my master, I took my way. And so when I had come to holy Stephen, and had begun to explain my affairs, shame straightway invades me, Satan suggesting it, stopping my mouth with silence, and casting a most narrow barrier before it. For this the cunning enemy sought, that from Stephen, who illumines all, I might depart void of light and salvation.
[120] But indeed divine grace so little permitted this, but hindered by excessive shame, that through the diligence of the most skillful Elder it rather forestalled it: for at once receiving me most kindly: Sit here, he said, son; then to the brethren who sat by, his finger pointed at me, he said: In the best state are this brother's affairs; but he himself knows it not. But they having departed, he questions me privately: For what reason, he said, son, has brought you hither? To whom I: O father, what need is there for me to tell you this, who have all my affairs perceived? When he: Although, he said,
I know them, as you say; yet it is yours, son, to lay open the most base mysteries of the demons, and the evil seeds and pernicious tares; that God, the inspector of human hearts and souls, to whom all things are known before they come to pass, your humility and most honorable shamelessness being perceived, may benignly restore you to health. But I, constrained by the bonds of shame, could not be persuaded. At last, compelled by the greatest force by the Elder, I made a beginning of the narration sufficiently involved and timid.
[121] But when he noticed my tongue still hindered by bashful fear, he is animated by words by the same, knowing the secrets of his heart, he himself, expressly and candidly bringing forth all my affairs, wonderfully recounted them, as if he had entered into the inmost recesses of my mind and breast, having searched out most minutely what was there hidden: then, to give me courage, wisely imbuing me with such precepts, he said: You ought not, son, to be ashamed to betray diabolical suggestions: for it had been better if you had manifested them yourself: because, even through the declaration, you were altogether about to obtain prompt health: for even if I had wished to tell them from the beginning, I could not indeed but do it by God's help and grace; but attending to what is more expedient for you, I bade you of your own accord confess the secrets of your mind: but when I saw you blush so importunately, and grow dumb, I was compelled to run over them myself in passing, that, the restraints of your tongue being loosed, I might open to you an easy way to confessing. Come therefore, trust, O son: for this has not befallen you alone: such things assuredly all are wont to suffer who migrate from the satanic court: nor indeed have I not experienced the temptation of matters of this kind. But whatever of thoughts lie hidden in you, set forth, and fear not my vileness; but rather blush before that eye which sees all things, while you hide them, before whom we shall all one day stand naked and open.
[122] These things being duly perceived, I began to bring forth whatever of blasphemy had presented itself to my mind, removing all noxious silence. and is cured by prayer, While I lay bare the ulcers with which I burned, he, compassionating, with all kinds of remedies applied and worthy of so great a physician, strove to bring healing; but my disease eluded the force of spiritual discourses in persuading, which, as it was grievous, so demanded a graver cure. The Elder, grieving, understood this, and, the impulse of his exquisite reasonings being laid aside, said to me: Go now, son, for I will spend this night for your sake in vigil; and what God shall will, shall come to pass. At that same hour therefore I withdrew thence to bed, and again was present about dawn, sadness b by a happier change being bidden to depart, filled with ineffable joy, and my mind purged of every impure thought: but how much light I felt poured upon me, I am not able to tell: the truth itself is assuredly witness that I struck deep roots both in firm faith toward God and in much charity.
[123] Before, I neither approached the undefiled mysteries, nor did it please me to look upon the divine images, unless necessity urged: in soul and body: but on that day I desired again and again both to partake of the gifts of the life-giving and excellent mystery, and to embrace the sacred icons with sincere affection. But to my body too its strength returned whole and solid. Whence when I perceived myself so, and so wonderfully and beyond hope suddenly changed, I tried to recall to mind those blasphemous thoughts, and found them all removed from the midst; and God is my witness that I applied all my effort to recall the former ideas to mind, nor could I at all attain anything; no otherwise than as if one, stripped both of the wicked inclination and of the flesh, and surrounded with divine light, and turned by his will to another thing. Then straight by a direct way I hastened to the Elder, to give thanks to God, and to acknowledge his beneficence in me. When the sweet man saw me, gently smiling, and modestly cheered: What is it, he said, son? Have you been relieved of your disease, or made whole? Come therefore now, pay a eucharistic song to God, and worship him further faithfully and soberly. Thus, formed and refreshed with many wise admonitions and salutary precepts, he dismissed me.
[124] Nor many days after did the hostile enemy begin anew to assail me with the deadly darts of blasphemy, no longer against the Lord God, but against the Lady, the Mother of God, the Virgin. and again he has recourse for another temptation, which he is taught to despise, But I straightway ran at full course to the salvation-bearing fountain, and there set forth the fresh sickness. There the Elder, skilled in divine things, brought forward learned sentences to me, and said: It cannot otherwise come to pass that thoughts of this kind be driven away, than both by contempt of them and by assiduous prayers: but, since I see you inferior to such an adversary, rise, and lay your hand on my neck. To me rising, weak and helpless, and holding my right hand laid upon his sacred neck, he thus said: May God in that terrible day of judgment exact from me the fault which you think you have hence contracted: since, you being unwilling and struggling, these diabolical suggestions are intermingled with your thoughts. But henceforth have no account of them at all, nor solicitude. Which when he had repeated a third time, he bade me sit down, and said: Since, son, your mind resists thoughts of this kind, and is afflicted by them, no fault cleaves to you.
[125] To whom answering I said: Father, does not the demon know that no sin is contracted by me from such thoughts, and what the devil intends by such temptations; because I am anguished and saddened by them? Then the God-bearing Elder: Indeed, he said, the demon manifestly understands this. I replied: And what gain does he hope, when he does these things; or to what end does he so obstinately press on war against us in such matters? The Elder answered: If I shall tell you why the demon stirs up such a battle in you, and what profit he expects from this deed, which I doubt not that you too perceive, will you confess the truth? But I: By all means, I said, Father, I will confess. For I have put on spiritual shamelessness against him, so as to conceal nothing in the least about those matters henceforth. When he: This the worst demon contrives, he said, to induce a man to cast away the hope of his salvation. Come; have you not often, a sword being snatched up, wished to strike yourself? Have you not often, standing on a steep summit, or over a very deep well, said: I will cast myself headlong, and die by an unhappy death, nor live longer, revolving in mind such blasphemies against God? Have you not often exclaimed: Would that I were in the world, and involved in secular affairs, and were vexed with the vexed pious people, and had never thought of solitude, nor devoted myself to living religiously for Christ, so as thus to cheat my vow, and be found a blasphemer! I will therefore return to the world, and lay aside this monastic garment, and join myself to the multitude, nor go on to live thus any longer: since through this I have brought myself no profit, but rather damage and destruction. And these things indeed are of those which have been done by you too simply and slothfully. For truly he would have some virtue in himself, no small one, who, by no means yielding to thoughts and affections of this kind, as to spiders' webs, would not lend his ears to the demons; although it should befall him to be saddened by such a hostile assault, and grievously oppressed, and disturbed in the time of prayer.
[126] I subjoined: So plainly the matter stands, holy Father; as you have said, so has it befallen me. But for my slenderness pray, that, as I have been freed from the former, so I may also come forth free from these. He smiled, and: For your sake, he said, I will keep yet other vigils; and he is freed, and admitted as a disciple, for I trust in God that from these too he will render you safe. As also it came to pass: for in the sight of the Lord of glory I truly assert this, that by the efficacious intercession of the Elder with God, through the helping grace of Christ, I obtained this, that from that time to this very hour thoughts of that kind have never made me any trouble. Freed therefore from this perturbation, and having obtained from God through the help of the Elder a tranquil mind, I began to seek his company; suing for this both through myself and through some venerable Elders of the Laura, at length after an interval of five months, God helping, I obtained that he should admit me among the disciples whom he then had in the Laura, and a cell apart from the hesychasterion for the lodging of the strangers flowing in from everywhere.
[127] he is healed of a fever. But I came to him, worn already for fifty days by a tertian fever; on account of which I judged it to be of a man of little modesty to be troublesome to him at the very first entrance. But on the morrow, on which the fever ought to recur, dismayed by its approach and its burning torture, forgetful of shame, even unwilling, I approached the Elder without blushing, beseeching him to commend me to God with prayers, saying with confidence: Holy father, have mercy on me: for a grievous fever exercises me; pray God to restore my health for his goodness: for I trust, if you will but do this for me, that I shall be healed: for the Lord will do the will of them that fear him. Overcome therefore by this prayer, he answered: I will not indeed find it grievous, O son, to repeat vigils and prayers: but almighty God will heal you. Which also came to pass, as soon as he had discharged his pledge. For on the following day I rose from bed strong, with wholly firm strength, and made immune from the febrile burning: thus by the grace of God, the Elder entreating, I remained for a long time strong and sound in body without any discomfort either of little fever or of any sickness whatever, giving thanks to God and to the Elder.
[128] The same is rebuked for eating out of season; On a certain day, when after his custom he betook himself to the caves of Calamon, there to pass Lent, I was joined to him for the sake of service: for I brought water, and cooked for him a few beans, and signified the arrival of newcomers. Afterward therefore during those days at sunset he ran out into the desert, leaving me alone in the cave, with a few beans and dates and water, reciting the evening psalms. And so, destitute of the diligent care of the master, as I was full of sloth and carelessness in the things regarding my own salvation, I was snatched away by a certain lust of the gullet and by a satanic assault and impulse; and rising, I filled my greedy and importunate maw with the prepared food, and, my belly now full, I began to discourse of temperance, my conscience accusing and reproving me, as one who had secretly, without consulting my superior, taken food, and had violated the sacred institutes of the monks: for, when I ran into such a vice of the belly, I had never known that those fallen into it are deprived of the heavenly glory and kingdom; just as he also shut out the people of Israel, after the waves of the sea were overcome, from entering into the land of promise. Wherefore, moved with penance, I resolved in my mind to fall at the Elder's knees, and to beg pardon; which also I did: for when he came from the desert, running forward, my face cast down at his footsteps, only once to him: I have sinned, I said; Pardon me, Father. But now the excellent teacher,
having my sin perceived in spirit, receives me with these words: What is this, son? Have you turned thief? Was it thus fitting for you to steal, and to feast secretly? Was it for this you went out with me? Or do you not know that he is a thief, whoever secretly, without his superior, eats food? Did you not know how great a crime this is reckoned before God? But he will give you pardon, whose alone it is to forgive sins. But henceforth, whatever you wish, son, tell only me, and, leave being given, eat securely. Then raising me, he wisely admonishes, and, having prayed well for me, dismisses me.
[129] At another time after this, when I had a fever, taking refuge with the Elder, and, at another time falling back into a fever, he is healed. I besought him that he would deign to keep vigil and to sacrifice for me. But he: It is good, he said, for you, if you be exercised a little, and proved in the furnace of patience: do you bear it patiently; yet I will not omit to commend you to God. And thus indeed he had said; but I did not know for certain whether he had done it or not: since a persistent and long fever clung, until it drained my little body of strength, and sank me wholly into the whirlpool of weakness. But then, by the Elder's patronage, the ineffable benignity of God forestalled me, and, reaching out a healing and helping hand, brought me back to perfect health, and filled me with admiration and incredible amazement. And immediately rising, full of strength and spirits, I for a while caught the air outside; then, snatching a book, I set myself to reading, which before I had by no means been able to do. But certain brethren at that very hour in which I was occupied in reading came from the hesychasterion, congratulating me, and announcing prosperous things: Now, they said, the Master has offered sacrifice for your sake. Then I understood at once that through it I had obtained whole health; and I gave thanks to God, and looked up to the Elder's powerful patronage with him.
ANNOTATIONS OF D. P.
CHAPTER XI.
He sets forth things absent, hidden, future; and converses with a secret anchorite; whose form and life he then briefly explains.
Μετὰ οὖν ταῦτα, τοῦ ἡλίου δύνοντος, ὑπὸ τοῦ κελλίου ἐπὶ τὸ ἡσυχαστήριον τοῦ Γέροντος πορευόμενος, ἐν ἡμέρᾳ σαββάτου τοῦ Ἰουλίου μηνὸς διἳππεύοντος ἐν θεριναῖς ὥραις κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν ἀκούω βροντῶν καταῤῥηγνυμένων, καὶ ἀστραπὰς ἐξαστραπτούσας ὁρῶ, μικρᾶς νεφέλης κατὰ τὴν ἔρημον τῆς νεκρᾶς ταλάσσης διαπετασθείσης· καὶ τεθηπὼς λίαν ἐπὶ τοῦ παραδόξου τοῦτε ἀκούσματος τοῦτε θεάματος, τὸ ἡσυχαστήριον τοῦ Γέροντος κατέλαβον, καὶ πατάξαντός μου λίθῳ τὴν θύραν, ἀνέῳξέ μοι ὁ ἅγιος Γέρων, ἔκλαμπρον ἔχων τὸ πρόσωπον καὶ ἀγαλλιώμενον, καί φησι πρός με· Ἔγνως, ὦ τέκνον, διὰ τί γέγονεν ἡ βροντὴ αὐτή; Ἐμοῦ δὲ εἰπόντος· Οὐχὶ, τάτερ. Ἀποκριθεὶς ἔτι πρός μέ φησι· Πληροφορήθητι, τέκνον, ὅτι ἀναχωρητής τις καὶ ἐρημοπολίτης, πλησίον τῆς νεκρᾶς θαλάσσης περιπολεύων, διψήσας ἐζήτησεν ὕδωρ, καὶ μὴ εὑρηκὼς ἠνιάθη, καὶ ἔκλαυσε, καὶ δέησιν πεποιηκότος αὐτοῦ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν, κατὰ τὴν ἀνέκφραστον αὐτοῦ ἀγαθότητα ἐκέλευσεν, καὶ ἦλθεν ἡ νεφέλη, καὶ τὸν ἑαὐτοῦ θεράποντα κυδαίνων ἐβρόντησε, καὶ τὸν ὑετὸν ἐξαποστείλας, τὴν δίψαν τοῦ δούλου αὐτοῦ ἰάσατο. Πολὺ δὲ θεορῶν με ἐπὶ τούτοις ἐκπλαγέντα, ἐδευτέρωσε τὸν λόγον καὶ ἐτρίτωσε, διαβεβαιούμενός μοι τὸ θαῦμα. Καὶ μεθ᾽ ἡμέρας πέντε μετὰ τῶν συμμαθητῶν ἐπὶ τὴν νεκρὰν ἐπορεύθην θάλατταν ἕνεκα συλλογῆς καλάμων, προσταχθεὶς ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ τὰ ὀμβρικὰ σημειώσασθαι ἴχνη, ὅπως ἀδυστάκτου τύχοιμεν πληροφορίας. Ἐλθόντες οὖν εἰς τὸν σημανθέντα τόπον ὑπὸ τοῦ Γέροντος, καὶ εὐρόντες οὕτω, ὥσπερ εἶπεν ἡμῖν, ὑπεστρέψαμεν, χάριν τῷ Θεῷ ἐξομολογοῦντες, καὶ τοῦ θαυμασίου Γέροντος τὴν διόρασιν ἐκθείαζοντες.
[131] Καὶ ἄλλοτε διορατικῷ λαμπόμενος ὄμματι ἐξαίσιον ἡμῖν εἶπεν πρᾶγμα, διατρίβων τότε ἐν τοῖς τοῦ Καστελλίου σπηλαίοις κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς τοῦ ἁγίου πατρὸς ἡμῶν Σάβα μνήμης, παρόντος τοῦ ἐλλογιμωτάτου καὶ ἐναρέτου ἀββᾶ Εὐσταθίου, τοῦ νυνὶ ἐπισκόπου ὑπάρχοντος τῆς φιλοχρίστου πόλεως Λύδδης, εἰς ἐπίσκεψιν ἐληλυθότος. Ἡμῶν οὖν περὶ τὴν ἑσπέραν ὀλίγην ἐσθιόντων ὀπώραν, ἐξαίφνης ἡ τοῦ Γέροντος ὄψις ἐφάνη, δίκην ἡλίου καταλάμποντος ἐρευθραίνουσα. Ἡμῶν ἀτενιζόντων αὐτῷ, ἔφη πρὸς ἡμᾶς· Ὑμῖν ἐρῶ, ὅτι κεῖται ἐνταῦθα παρὰ τῇ θύρᾳ τοῦ σπηλαίου κάλπη κεκρυμμένη χαμαί· καὶ εἰ βούλεσθε πληροφορηθῆναι, σκάψατε, καὶ εὑρήσετε αὐτήν. Παραυτὰ δὲ ὁ ἀββᾶς Εὐστάθιος ἀναστὰς, ἄνευ σμινύης ταῖς χερσὶν ὀρύττειν ἀπήρξατο. Ἀτονήσαντος δὲ αὐτοῦ ταχέως, λέγει πρὸς ἡμᾶς ὁ θεσπέσιος Γέρον· Οὔτε πίστιν, οὔτε ὑπομονὴν ἔχετε, ταπεινοί. Εὐθέως οὖν συνορύττειν αὐτῷ ἐπελαβόμην. Σκάψαντες οὖν ὁμοῦ καὶ βαθύναντες τὸν τόπον, καὶ μηδὲν εὑρηκότες, δυσπιστίᾳ συνεσχέθημεν, καὶ παύσαθαι τοῦ σκάπτειν ἠβουλήθημεν. Ὅθεν ταρασσομένους ἡμᾶς θεασάμενος ὁ Πρεσβύτης, διαχυθεὶς μικρὸν καὶ ὑπομειδιάσας ἔφη· Στίξατε ὁλίγον ἔτι, ὀλιγόπιστοι· μικρὸν οὖν κατὰ τὴν προσταγὴν τοῦ Γέροντος σκάψαντες, εὕρομεν κάλπην παλαιὰν, ἐσχηκυῖαν μηδέν. Εὑρεθείσης δὲ αὐτῆς ὑπεισῆλθεν ἡμῖν δυσπιστίας λογισμὸς, ὑποπτεύοντες τὸν Γέροντα κατακρύψαντα αὐτὴν, καὶ ἕτερόν τινα, καὶ γνωρίσαντα αὐτῷ· ἄχρις ἂν ἠρώτησα αὐτὸν, καὶ πληροφορίας τυχεῖν ἠξίωσέ με, λέγων· Μάρτυς ἡ ὄντως ἀλήθεια, ὅτι οὔτε ἔκρυψα αὐτὴν, οὔτε ποτέ τις ἀνήγγειλέ μοι περὶ αὐτῆς, οὔτε μὴ τὸ παράπαν ἐνόησα, ὅτι κεῖται ἐκεῖ ἕως αὐτῆς τῆς ὥρας, ἐν ᾗ ἔφην ὑμῖν. Τότε δὲ τότε κατενόησα σαφῶς, ὅτι διορατικῷ διωραἳσμένος καὶ καταυγασμένος ὄμματι, τοῦτο ἐγνώρισε, καὶ ἐδόξασα τὸν Θεὸν, τὸν δοξάζοντα τοὺς δούλους αὐτοῦ.
[132] Οὗτος ὁ θεοφόρος Γέρων ἐληλύθει τότε πρὸς ἡμᾶς, τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ φοιτητὰς ἐπισκεψόμενος ἐν τῷ κελλίῳ. Βουληθέντος δὲ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸ ἴδιον ἐπαναδύσαι ἡσυχαστήριον, συνεπορεύθην αὐτῷ. Καταντήσαντες οὖν τὸ ἡσυχαστήριον, τὴν συνήθη πεποιήκαμεν εὐχὴν, καὶ μετέπειτα καθεσθέντων ἡμῶν ἐν τῷ ἐνδοτέρῳ τοῦ Γέροντος κελλίῳ ἤτοι σπηλαίῳ ἐπὶ βραχυτάτην ὥραν, αἰφνήδιον ἤρξατο ἀναπέμπειν τῷ Θεῷ δοξολογίαν καὶ ὕμνον, λέγων· Πρός με, ἰδοὺ, δὴ ἀγγελικὴ παρουσία ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ ὥρᾳ ἐπεδήμησε. Πρὸς ὃν καταπλαγεὶς· Πόθεν δῆλον, ὦ πάτερ; ἔφην. Ὁ δὲ πρός με, Ὦ ὀλιγόπιστε, οὔτε τὸν ἄγγελον ὁρᾷς, κᾂν τῆς εὐωδίας οὐκ ὀσφραίνῃ; Ἐγὼ δέ· Οὐδαμῶς, ὦ πάτερ, ἔφην. Ὁ δέ με διαλογιζόμενον, καὶ δυσπιστοῦντα εἰς τὴν ἀγγελικὴν ὀπτασίαν ὶδὼν, τὴν ὀφθεῖσαν αὐτῷ, σχετλιαστικῶς ἐταλάνισε λέγων· Ἀβάλαι σοι, ταπεινὲ, ἀβάλαι, καὶ τρὶς ἀβάλαι! Ἕως τίνος οὕτως διαμένεις παχὺς καὶ ἀδρὸς καὶ ἄπιστος, ἕως οὕτως; Ταῦτα ἀπεφθέγξατο πρός με· ἐξαίφνης ὠσφράνθην εὐωδίας, οἵας ὠσφράνθην οὐδέποτε μόσχου, καὶ νάρδου, καὶ μύρου παντὸς εὐοδμοτέρας, καὶ προσηνεστέρας καὶ ἀσμενεστέρας. Ταύτης οὖν ἐκβλυσάσης, ἐκ δευτέρου πάλιν ὁ Καλόγηρος λέγει Καὶ νῦν ἄρα τῆς ἁγίας ἀγγελικῆς οὐκ ὠσφράνθης εὐωδίας, οὔδε πληροφορίας ἔτυχες; Ἐγὼ δὲ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἔφην· Ναὶ, πάτερ, ὠσφράνθην, καὶ ἐπίστευσα. Ὁ δὲ πρός μέ φησι· Γίνου λοιπὸν πιστὸς καὶ μὴ ἄπιστος. Ὡς οὖν τότε δεινότατος ὑπάρχων καὶ πονηρότατος, βουληθεὶς περὶ ταύτης τῆς ξένης εὐωδίας πολυπραγμονῆσαι, καὶ σαφῶς ἀκριβεύσασθαι, προσεποιησάμην ἐκτὸς τοῦ ἡσυχαστηρίου πορεύεσθαι, καὶ ἰδεῖν, μὴ καὶ τάχα ἀπὸ τῆς Λαύρας ἐλήλυθε τῆς εὐωδίας ἐκείνης ἡ ἡδυτάτη πνοὴ ἀπὸ μοσχάτου θυμιάματος καπνιθεῖσα· εἰ καὶ ἀνόμοιος ἦν, ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως ἕνεκα πληροφορίας μείζονος, τάδε περιειργασμαι· ἀλλ᾽ οὐδενὸς ὄντως, εἰς τὰς ἐμὰς ῥίνας ἦλθεν ὀσμή· οὔτε γὰρ παντάπασιν ὥρα θυμιάσεως ἦν· ὅθεν ἐπὶ τούτοις λίαν τεθαυμακὼς δόξαν ἀνέπεμψα τῷ Θεῷ,
[133] Τιτθίδα πατράδελφον εὐλαβῆ καὶ φιλόθεον ἔχω· αὕτη δέ ποτε, ὥσπερ καὶ δρᾷν πολλάκις εἴωθε, τὴν ἁγίαν Ἱερουσαλὴμ εὐχῆς ἕνεκεν κατέλαβε σύν τινι θεραπαίνῃ, ἣν καὶ τοῦ δουλικοῦ ζύγου θεόφρων οὖσα τυχεῖν ἐλευθερίας ἠξίωσεν. Ἀμφότεραι οὖν ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις τὴν ἁγίαν τοῦ σωτηριώδους πάθους πανήγυριν ἐκτελέσασαι, κᾀκεῖθεν ἐπὶ τὸ Σιναῖον πορευθεῖσαι, ἅγιον ὄρος, ὡς ἠθισμέναι ἦσαν, καὶ τὰ ἐκεῖ θεῖάτε καὶ σεβάσμια ἀσπασάμεναι, ὑπέστρεψαν εἰς τὴν ἁγίαν πόλιν. Κατὰ δὲ τὴν ὁδὸν ἠ ἐμὴ θεία νόσῳ περιπέπτωκε. Καταλαβοῦσαι δὲ τὴν ἁγίαν πόλιν, καί τινας ἡμέρας ἐκεῖ διαρκέσασαι, τὴν παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ σωτηρίαντε καὶ ἴασιν ἀπεκδεχόμεναι, οὐδὲν μᾶλλον ἤνυσαν, τῆς νόσου μηκυνομέννης, καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον ἀεὶ τρεπομένης, τῆς θεἳκῆς δηλαδὴ προνοίας τοῦτο συμφερόντως βραβευούσης. Ἑαυτὴν τοίνυν ἰδοῦσα ἡ ἐμὴ θεία ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ βαρυνομένηντε καὶ τρυχομένην, καὶ τὴν νόσον ἀκμάζουσαν, καὶ ταῖς τοῦ θανάτου θύραις ἐγγίζουσαν, ὡς ᾤετο, μεταπέμπεταί με μετά τινος τῶν πατέρων.
[134] Ἐγὼ δὲ μαθὼν, παραυτὰ παρὰ τοῦ Ἐπιστάτου λαβὼν παράθεσιν, κατέλαβον πρὸς αὑτήν. Ἡ δέ με κατιδοῦσα ἔφη· Πίστευέ μοι, τέκνον, οὐχ ἁπλῶς, οὐδ᾽ ὡς ἔτυχε, σκυλῆναί σε ἐνταῦθα προτεθύμημαι· ἀλλὰ διὰ Θεόν, καὶ καλὸν καὶ σωτήριον ἔργον· μὴ ἀνιῶ λοιπὸν, τὴν σὴν πρὸς μικρὸν ἐάσας Λαῦραν, καὶ σκυλμὸν ὑπομείνας· ἀλλὰ σκοποῦ πρὸς τὸ σύμφορον τοῦ πράγματος πέρας. Ἀκούω γὰρ, ὅτι ἡ τῶν ᾧδε ἐπικρατοῦσα ἐξουσία τυραννεῖ καὶ δυσπραγεῖ καὶ ἀδίκως διοικεῖ καὶ τὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐκπορθεῖ καὶ ἐξαρπάζει, μάλιστα τῶν ἀσθενῶν καὶ παροίκων καὶ ξένων ὑπαρχόντων, καὶ παρ᾽ οἷς ἀφορμήν τινα εὕροι· πρὸ ἡμερῶν γὰρ ξένος τις προσήλυτος, ὥσπερ ἤκουσταί μοι, ἐν αὐλῇ τινος τῶν ἠνταῦθα Χριστιανῶν ἐτελεύτησε, πολλοὺς ἐγκαταλείψας κληρονόνους τῆς αὐτοῦ περιουσίας, καὶ τούτων τηνικαῦθά τινος μὴ παρευρεθέντος, ἀφορμὴν εὑρὼν ὁ τυραννῶν, ὅσα ἐγκατέλειπε, ἐξέσπασε χρήματα, καὶ οὐ ταύτῃ μόνον τῇ κακίᾳ ἠρκέσθη, οὐδὲ ἕως ᾧδε ἔστησε τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἀκόριστον πλεονεξίαν, ἀλλ᾽ ὀφθαλμοφανῶς ἄνευ δέους καὶ συστολῆς καὶ τὰ τῶν φιλοχρίστων ἐξήρπασε χρήματα, παρ᾽ οἷς διῆγεν ὁ τελευτήσας ξένος, φιλοφρόνως ξενισθείς· πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ἔθετο αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐν φυλακῇ, σιδηρᾶς τοῖς ποσὶν αὐτῷν ἐπιβαλὼν πέδας. Κᾀγὼ τοίνυν ἐνταῦθα τῶν ἐμῶν συγγενῶν μεμονωμένη, τινὰ ἐγκαταλείψω κληρονόμον, εἴπερ ὁ Θεὸς ἐπινεύσειε τῇ νόσῳ ταύτῃ παραλαβεῖν τὴν τάλαιναν καὶ ἀθλίαν ψυχήν μου. Οὐδενὸς γὰρ ἕνεκεν ὁμῶς λυποῦμαι, ἀλλ᾽ ὑπὲρ ταύτης τῆς ταπεινῆς κόρης· φοβοῦμαι γὰρ, μήπως ἀδίκως ληφθῇ χάριν τῆς ἐμῆς ὑπηρεσίας συνακολουθήσασά μοι, καὶ περὶ τούτων πάλιν τῶν φιλοχρίστων παρ᾽ οἷς ἐξενίσθην. Διὸ δυσωπήτητι, τέκνον, καὶ ἄγαγέ μοι Ἄραβας λογάδας
ἄνδρας καὶ ἀξιοπίστους, ἵνα μαρτυρῶμαι αὐτοὺς, ὅτι οὐδὲν ἐνταῦθα τὸ παράπαν κέκθημαι, καὶ ὅτι ἡ κόρη αὕτη ἐλευθέρα καὶ ἀδέσποτος ὑπάρχει, καὶ παράμεινον ἡμῖν, ἄχρις ἂν ἴδῃς τὸ ἐκβησόμενον τοῦ νοσήματος τούτου, τοῦ δεινῶς καὶ σφοδρῶς κατέχοντος, καὶ γνωρισθῇς, ὅτι υἱὸς εἶ τοῦ ἐμοῦ ἀδελφοῦ.
[135] Ἀνούσας ἂν ταῦτα παρὰ τῆς ἐμῆς θείας, συμφέρον εἶναι ἐσκότησα παραμεῖναι αὐτῇ· καὶ διαποιήσας ἡμέρας ἱκανὰς ἠδημόνησα, καὶ τῆς πόλεως ἐξελθεῖν ἐπεθύμησα, καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν Λαῦραν ὑποστρέψαι· ἀλλ᾽ ἐμαυτὸν κατακρίνας κατέσχον, καὶ παρέμεινα ἔτι, καὶ χρονίσας ἠκηδίασα αὖθις καὶ ἐραθύμησα, καὶ ἀναχωρῆσαι ἠθέλησα ἀλλ᾽ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐμοῦ συνειδότος ἐκωλύθην πάλιν, καὶ τοῦτο δὶς καὶ τρὶς πέπονθα ἐπὶ τῶν λογισμῶν ἀγχόμενος καὶ πολεμούμενος. Τελευταῖον δὲ ἀδημονήσας συνεῖδον πρὸς τὸν ἐμὸν Ἐπιστάτην ἀπελθεῖν, καὶ ἐπερωτῆσαι αὐτὸν, εἰς τί μέλλει λήξειν τὸ πρᾶγμα, εἴτε εἰς ὑγείαν, εἴτε εἰς θάνατον. Ἀλλ᾽ εἴθε ὄφελόνγε τοῦτο ἐξ ἀρχῆς ποιήσασθαι, καὶ μὴ οὕτως ἐν μέσῳ κοσμικῶν ἐν ἀμελείᾳ καὶ ἀπροσεξίᾳ βιῶσαι ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον καιρόν.
[136] Ἦν τότε ὁ νυνί τοῦ θεαδέλφου θώκου ἐπιλημμένος τοὺς οἴακας, κύρις Θωμᾶς ἐν τῇ πόλει τῶν νοσούντων ἐπιμελούμενος, ὡς χρησιμώτατος ὢν ἰατρὸς, λόγῳτε καὶ πείρᾳ κεκοσμημένος, καὶ κατὰ Θεὸν βιοτεύων τὴν τῶν ἁγίων Κοσμᾶτε καὶ Δαμιανοῦ πολιτείαν ἐκμιμούμενος, διάκονος ὑπάρχων. Τούτῳ οὖν τῷ μακαριωτάτῳ καὶ θαυμασιωτάτῳ ἀνδρὶ θαῤῥήσας, οὓς εἶχον λογισμοὺς, ἀνεθέμην, καὶ τὴν ἐμὺν θείαν ἐν ἐσχάτοις ἐάσας κινδύνοις, ἐπὶ τὴν Λαῦραν νυκτὸς ἐπανἠλθον. Ἐκεῖσε οὖν περὶ τὴν δευτέραν ὥραν τῆς ἡμέρας ἐφθακὼς, ὠρθοδρόμησα πρὸς τὸν ἐμὸν Ἐπιστάτην, λίαν ἐσπευσμένος διὰ τὴν ἐμὴν θείαν. Τὸ ἡσυχαστήριον δὴ καταντήσαντός μου, καὶ κατὰ τὸ σύνηθες τρὶς μηνύσαντός μου διὰ μικροῦ λίθου, ἀνέῳξέ μοι ὁ Γέρων, καὶ πρίν τι τὸ σύνολον φθέγξομαι, ἔφη πρός με, τὴν θύραν τῇ χειρὶ κατέχων· Εὖ ἥκεις, ὦ ἐμὸν τέκνον, εὖ ἥκεις· μὴ ἀθύμει· οὐκ ἀποθνήσκετο γὰρ ἡ θεία σου ἐν τῇ ἀῤῥωστίᾳ ταύτῃ. Ἐγὼ δὲ πρὸς αὐτὁν εἶπον· Τοῦτο καταμαθεῖν παρά σου ἦλθον, ὦ πάτερ. Ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς ἔφη· Ναὶ οἶδα, οἶδα, ὅτι τούτου χάριν ἐλήλυθας. Οὐκοῦν πεπληροφορημένος ἔσο, τέκνον, ὅτι ἐν τῇ νόσῳ ταύτῃ οὐ τελευτήσει. Μὴ οὖν ἀθυμήσῃς, μήδε λυπηθῇς, μήδε σαυτὸν ταῖς φροντίσι καταπονήσῃς, καὶ ματαίαις ἀθυμίαις. Καὶ ταῦτα τρὶς εἰπὼν, πρὶν ἤ με τὸ παράπαν λαλῆσαι πρὸς αὐτον, ἤρξατο λέγειν τὸ Πάτερ ἡμῶν, καὶ πληρώσας τὴν εὐχὴν, εὐμενῶς καὶ φιλοφρόνως ἀπεδέξατο.
[137] Ἡμῶν οὖν καθεσθέντων, ἠρώτησα αὐτὸν πάλιν, πολυπραγμονῶν καὶ ἀκριβευόμενος σαφῶς εἰδέναι, εἰς τί ἂν λήξει τῆς ἐμῆς θείας τὸ νόσημα· ἐπειδὴ ἡ καρδία μου λίαν ἦν καιομένη ἐν ἐμοὶ· οὐ γὰρ ᾤμην, ὅτι καταλαμβάνω τὴν Λαῦραν, ἄχρις ἂν τελευτήσῃ· ὅθεν τρὶς ἀκούσας παρὰ τοῦ Γέροντος, ὅτι οὐκ ἀποθνήσκει, οὐκ ἐπαυσάμην, ἀλλ᾽ ἠρώτησα αὐτὸν ἔτι, λέγων ἄκρας καὶ βεβαίας τυχεῖν πληροφορίας· Ἀξίωσόν με, πάτερ, ὅτι οὐκ ἀποθνήσκει ἡ θεία μου ἐν τῇ νόσῳ ταύτῃ· ἐγὼ γὰρ αὐτὴν οὐ μόνον ἀπειπάμην καὶ ἀπήλπισα, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄλλοι πολλοί. Ὀ δὲ ἔφη πρός με· Ἔτι ἐρωτᾷς περὶ τούτου, ὀλιγόπιστε; Οὐκ ἐπιστοφόρησά σε; Οὐ πολλάκις εἶπόν σοι, διδασκαλικοὺς ὑποθέμενος τρόπους, μάλιστα περὶ τῆς ἀπιστίας, ἥτις ἐκ δύο τινῶν συμβαίνει, ἔκτε τῆς τῶν πραγμάτων ἀπειρίας, καὶ ἐκ τῆς ἀπροσεξίας, τοῦ κακοῦ πολεμήτορος διαπαντὸς ὑποβάλλοντος ἐνθυμήσεις, καὶ ἐν τῷ καθαρῷ σίτῳ ζιζάνια ῥυπαρὰ ἐπισπείροντος; Διὸ τοιγαροῦν πρὸς θεραπείαν τῆς σῆς ὀλιγοπιστίας πορεύθητι πρὸς τὸν ἀρτοκόπον, καὶ αἴτησαι παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ μίαν προσφορὰν ποιήσασθαί σοι· οὐ γὰρ ἔχει σήμερον ἐν ἐτοίμῳ· ἐπειδὴ τετάρτη τῆς ἑβδομάδος ἐστιν ἡ παροῦσα ἡμέρα.
[138] Ἀπελθόντος οὖν μου, καὶ ἀπειληφότος τὴν προσφορὰν αὐθωρὸν, ὁ θεοφόρος Γέρων προσήνεγκεν αὐτὴν, καὶ πᾶσαν τελέσας τὴν μυσταγογικὴν λειτουργίαν προσῆλθε γεγανυμένην ἔχων θέαν καὶ χάριτος πεπληρωμένην καὶ ἔκλαμπρον, λάμποντι πυρὶ παραπλήσιον, καὶ εἶπε πρός με· Οὐκ εἶπόν σοι, ὀλιγόπιστε, ὅτι οὐκ ἀποθνήσκει ἡ θεία σου ἐν τῇ ἀῤῥωστίᾳ ταύτῃ; Ἀποσόβησον ἀπό σου πᾶσαν δυσπιστίαν, καὶ κακόβουλον γνωμήντε καὶ διάθεσιν, καὶ μηκέτι προσθεὶς ἐπερωτῆσαί με περὶ τούτου τοῦ πράγματος. Πεπιστευκὼς τοίνυν τοῖς χαριτοπνεύστοις αὐτοῦ λόγοις, τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ κατεφίλησα, καὶ τὰς παλάμας,, μεγάλως εὐχαριστῶν τῷ Θεῷ ὑπὲρ τούτου, καὶ αὐτῷ θεοφόρῳ Γέροντι· Διαποιήσας δὲ ἀκαταπύκτως καὶ ἀταράχως τὸ ὑπόλοιπον τῆς ἡμέρας ἐκείκης, τῇ ἑξῆς ἐπορεύθην τὴν θεόθεν διὰ τοῦ σοφοβλύστου· στόματος γνωρισθεῖσαν τοῦ Γέροντος τῇ προφιλεστάτῃ μου θείᾳ εὐαγγελισόμενος αὐτῇ, καὶ καταλαβὼν αὐτὴν ἐν τοῖς τελευταίοις κινδύνοις οὐκ ἐδυσφόρησα, ἀλλ᾽ αὐτὴν παρηγορήσας, μεθ᾽ ἡμέραν, ἢ τάχα καὶ δύο, εἰς τὴν Λαῦραν ὑπέστρεψα τῇ καλῇ ἐλπίδι τῶν θεορήμων λόγων τοῦ Γέροντος τρέφων τε καὶ καταῤῥυθμίζων τὴν διάνοιαν. Ἡ δὲ θεία μου μετ᾽ οὐ πολλὰς ἡμέρας ἀνακτισαμένη, ἐπὶ τὴν ἰδίαν ἦλθε πόλιν, καὶ χάριτι Χριστοῦ ἄχρι τῆς σήμερον ἐν εὐρωστίᾳ καὶ ὕώμῃ διηνεκεῖ, τῷ Θεῷ χαριστήριον ἀναπέμπουσα ὕμνον.
[139] Ἠκολούθησά ποτε τούτῳ τῷ Γέροντι ἐπὶ τὰ σπήλαια τοῦ Δουκᾶ σὺν ἑτέροις τισὶ πατέρων τῆς τε μεγίστης ἡμῶν Λαύρας καὶ τῆς τοῦ Σουκᾶ κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς Τεσσαρακοστῆς τοῦ ὁσίου πατρὸς ἡμῶν Σάβα. Ἔσχον δὲ πλησίον τοῦ σπηλαίου τοῦ Γέροντος μικρὸν σπήλαιον, ἐν ᾧ διάγων, ἑώρων καθ᾽ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν τὸν Γέροντα τοῦ ἰδίου σπηλαίου ἐκβαίνοντα, καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν ἀκρορίαν τοῦ ὄρους βλέποντα, καὶ βυσσόθεν τῆς καρδίας κατανυκτικῶς στενάζοντα, καὶ ἁπάντως τὸν Θεὸν δοξολογοῦντα. Οὐδὲν ἓνεκα τούτου πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐποιησάμην ῥῆμα. Τῆς Τεσσαρακοστῆς οὖν πληρωθείσης, δυσωπηθεὶς ὁ Γέρων, ἡνίκα ὲπὶ τὴν κορυφὴν τοῦ ὄρους ἀνελθεῖν ἠβουλήθη, παρέλαβεν τοὺς πατέρας, ἐάσας με σὺν ἄλλῳ τινὶ τῶν πατέρων ἐν τοῖς σπηλαίοις κάτω. Ὡς οὖν ἐγύρευον ὁμοῦ, εὗρον σπήλαιον, ἔχον ξηρὸν χόρτον καὶ τόπον εὐκάθεδρον καὶ ἴχνη τινὸς ἀνθρώπου, ὃν ἀνιχνεύοντες οἱ πατέρες περιεφοίτων οὐκ ἄνευ τοῦ Γέροντος, καὶ πολλὰ ἐζητηκότες, οὐδένα εὑρεῖν ἐξίσχυσαν. Ὁ δὲ Ἐπιστάτης προσεποιήσατο ἑαυτὸν ἐπί τινα χρείαν ἰδιαζόντως πορεύεσθαι, εἰπὼν αὐτοῖς· Προλάβετε μικρὸν, ὦ πατέρες· ἰδοὺ γὰρ φθάνω ὑμᾶς.
[140] Οἱ δὲ προπορευθέντες, ἐφ᾽ ἱκανὴν ὥραν ἐξεδέξαντο αὐτὸν, καὶ βραδύναντα ᾠήθησαν τῷ ἀναχωρητῇ προσωμιληκέναι· διὸ ἀναζητοῦντες αὐτὸν ὑπέστρεψαν, ὀνομαστὶ καλοῦντες, τοῦ ἀναχωρητοῦ τυχεῖν παραδοκοῦντες. Τῶν δὲ φωνῶν αὐτῶν καὶ τῶν κραυγῶν ἀκούσας ὁ Ἐπιστάτης, ἀνέδραμεν εἰς ἀπάντησιν αὐτῶν, φοβηθεὶς, μήπως μάθωσι τὸ αὐτοῦ μυστήριον. Οἱ δὲ ἰδόντες αὐτὸν, παρεκάλουν λέγοντες· Διὰ ποίαν αἰτίαν ἐβράδυνας, Πάτερ; Τάχα τῷ ἀναχωρητῇ συνέτυχες; Είπὲ ἡμῖν. Ὁ δὲ πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἔφη· Σύγγνωτέ μοι, πατέρες, καὶ λοιπὸν μὴ ποιήσητε πρός με περὶ τούτου πεῦσιν. Οἱ δὲ φιλοσοφήσαντες τὸ σιγηλὸν ἤσκησαν, εἰκάσαντες, ὅτι προσετάχθη ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀναχωρητοῦ μὴ φανερῶσαι αὐτοῖς τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ.
[141] Καταβάντες δ᾽ οὖν ἐκ τοῦ ὄρους, ἠξίωσαν τὴν ἡμετέραν ταπείνωσιν περὶ τούτου ἐρωτῆσαι τὸν Γέροντα. Ἐγὼ δὲ πεισθεὶς ἠρώτησα αὐτὸν, πολλὰ γονυπετήσαστε καὶ ἀντιβολήσας. Ὁ δὲ ἔφη πρός με. Τέκνον, ἐπειδή σε ποθον ἔχοντα διάπυρόντε καὶ θερμὸν ὁρῶ, καὶ συχνῶς ἐνοχλοῦντά μου περὶ τούτου μαθεῖν, ἄκουσον· πολὺν διετέλεσα καιρὸν ὑπὸ λογισμῶν ἀκοιμήτων ἐνδιαθέτως σφυζόμενος, κελευόντων με καὶ λεγόντων, ὅτι ἀναχωρητής τις ἐν ταῖς τοῦ ὄρους κορυφαῖς σπήλαιον οἰκεῖ, γνήσιος τοῦ Θεοῦ λάτρης καὶ ἅγιος· ἀλλ᾽ ἀνάβηθι εἰς τὸ ὄρος, καὶ ζήθησον, ὅτι εὐφρανθήσεσθαι μέλλεις συνομιλήσας αὐτῷ. Ἐντεῦθεν γὰρ ἐν τῇ Τεσσαρακοστῇ, ὅτε ἐν τοῖς τοῦ ὄρους ἀκροτηρίοις ἱστάμην, πολλὰ ἀνεστέναζον κάτωθεν ἐκ τῆς καρδίας εὐχόμενος τυχεῖν τῆς τοῦ ἀναχωρητοῦ πνευματικῆς ὁμιλίας.
[142] Καὶ τῆς Τεσσαρακοστῆς πληρωθείσης, ἠβουλήθην σὺν δυσὶν καὶ τρισὶν τῶν πατέρων μόνον ἀνελθεῖν ἐπὶ τὸ ὄρος ἄνω, καὶ τὴν ἔφεσίν μου ἐν τῷ ἀναχωρητῇ ἀποπληρῶσαι· Ἀλλ᾽ ἰδὼν τοὺς πατέρας ἅπαντας ἠδέως ἔχοντας συμπορευθῆναι ἡμῖν, συμπαρέλαβον αὐτοὺς, καὶ ἀναβάντες ἐψηλαφήσαμεν τὸ ὄρος, καὶ εὑρηκότες σπήλαιον καὶ ἴχνη τινὸς ἀνδρὸς, ἐξεδράμομεν ἀκολουθοῦντες τοῖς ἴχνεσι, καὶ πολλὰ ἀνιχνεύσαντες ἅμα, οὐδενὸς ἐπετύχομεν. Τότε δὴ προσεποιησάμην ἐμαυτὸν ἀπιέναι χρείας ἕνεκεν ἀναγκαίας, καὶ παραυτὰ σμικρὸν ἰδιαζόντως αναζητἠσας τὸν ἀναχωρητὴν, εὗρον αὐτὸν καὶ ἔγνων εὐθέως, ὅτι μὴ βουλόμενος ὁ Ἅγιος ὀφθῆναι πολλοῖς, καὶ ὑπ᾽ αὐτὸν ὀχληθῆναι, οὐκ εὐφράνῃ με τὸ πρότερον σὺν τοῖς πατράσιν ὑπάρχοντα, καὶ μετὰ τὴν εὐχὴν ἀσπασάμενος αὐτὸν, καὶ συνομιλήσας αὐτῷ, λίαν ἐπετέρφθην καὶ ἠγαλλιάθην ἐπὶ ταῖς οὐρανοφρόσιν αὐτοῦ πνευματικαῖς διαλέξεσι. Πάλιν δὲ ἐγὼ ὁ μέτριος τὸν ἐπιστάτην ἠρώτησα, λέγων· Καὶ ποδαπὸς τυγχάνει, ὦ πάτερ, ὁ ἀναχωρητὴς οὗτος τῷ τε εἴδει καὶ μεγέθει καὶ ἡλικίᾳ; Ὁ δὲ ἔφη· μεσοπολιὸς ὑπάρχει, οὐ πολὺ ἀσθενὴς, εἰ καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς πολλῆς ἀσκήσεως ἡ σὰρξ ἐξέλειπεν· ὀστέα γὰρ ἔχει χονδρὰ καὶ μεγάλα· Ἔστι δὲ καὶ λίαν εὐμεγέθης, καὶ εὐειδὴς, γύμνος, μόνην τὴν τοῦ σώματος αἰδὼ περιεζωσμένος δερματινῷ λεντίῳ· λαχνιεὶς δὲ, τριχόδης ἀνὴρ, καὶ δασύς· ἔχει δὲ καὶ τριάκοντα χρόνους ἀναχωρήσας. Καταπλαγεὶς οὖν ἐπὶ τούτοις, καὶ πολὺ θαυμάσας, χαριστήριον ὕμνον Θεῷ ἀνέπεμψα.
He learns of water divinely granted to a thirsting hermit; After these things, when I was hastening from my cell at sunset to the Elder's hesychasterion, on the Saturday of the passing month of July, in summer time, along the way I hear thunder resound, and see lightnings flash, a little cloud being spread over the desert of the Dead Sea: while I marvel within myself at these things both heard and seen, I come to the Elder's hesychasterion; to me knocking at the door with a stone the Elder opens, with a gleaming face and like one exulting, and says to me: Do you know, son, what that thunder meant? Not indeed, I said, Father. He answered: Know, son, that a certain anchorite and dweller of the solitude adjacent to the Dead Sea had run about to find water anywhere to quench the thirst by which he was pressed, but, it being by no means found, he broke into sadness and weeping, and, a supplication being made to God, he commanded, of his ineffable goodness, and a cloud came, and, glorifying his servant, thundered, and, rain being brought on, allayed the thirst of his servant. But when he perceived me much moved and amazed at these things, he redoubled the same words a second and a third time, to affirm to me the truth of the miracle. But after five days I went to the Dead Sea to gather reeds together with my fellow-disciples, being bidden to observe the signs of the rain, that the truth of the matter might be made plain to us without difficulty. And so after we had come to the place assigned by the Elder, and had found the matter to be so as he had told us, we returned, both confessing the grace of God, and venerating the admirable foresight of the Elder.
[131] At another time also, illumined with an all-seeing eye, he told us a singular thing, and that a water-jar lay hidden buried before the doors of the cave. when he was then dwelling in the caves of Castellium on the days on which the memory of our holy Father Sabas is celebrated, there being present the plainly eminent Abbot, illustrious for his virtues then, but now Bishop of Lydda a, a city beloved of Christ, Eustathius, who had come to visit him. When therefore toward evening we had supped a little of fruit, at once the Elder's face, kindled like the shining sun, gleamed; and while we fix our eyes upon him: I say, he said, to you, that hidden here in the ground beside the door of the cave lies a basin; and if you wish to know the matter thoroughly, dig, and you will find it. Abbot Eustathius rises straightway, and without a mattock begins to throw out the earth with his hands, and, that ardor of his soon slackening, the wonderful Elder thus rebuked us: You have neither faith nor patience, wretches. I too therefore began at once to dig together with him. Now we had both together thrown out the earth, and had penetrated deep into the place, when, nothing being discovered, incredulity arose in us, and it pleased to leave off the digging. Wherefore the Elder, perceiving us troubled, and, his brow somewhat cleared, smiling, said: Endure yet a little, O you of little faith. The earth being therefore thrown out, at the Elder's command, a little deeper, we lighted upon an ancient basin, and containing nothing. But when we found it, a doubt came upon us, and a suspicion, whether either he himself had hidden it there, or some other, who had signified it to him: until I questioned him, and he deigned to make us secure, saying: The truth itself is assuredly witness that I neither hid it, nor did anyone give me indication of it, nor did I even think that it lay hidden there, before this hour in which I indicated it to you. Then indeed I manifestly perceived that, led and illumined by the perspicacious gaze of his mind, he had attained this; and I praised God, who glorifies his servants.
[132] This Elder had at one time come to visit us his disciples in the cell, [To a disciple he offers an angelic presence to be known from the fragrance of odor.] and when he wished to return to his hesychasterion, I joined myself to him as companion. When we reached the hesychasterion, we poured out the accustomed prayers, and then, as we sat a while in the cell, or inner cave of the Elder, he began unexpectedly to sing praises and a hymn to God, and to say: To me, behold, an angelic visitation has assuredly descended at this very hour. To whom I, struck: Whence know you this, I said, Father? To whom he: O of little faith, do you neither see the angel, nor perhaps even smell the fragrance? But I: By no means, my Father, I said. Then, understanding well that I hesitated and did not believe the angelic apparition made to him, he dissolves into pitiable weeping, saying: Alas, you unhappy one! alas, and thrice alas! How long will you go on to be so gross and hard and incredulous; how long will you be so? He had said; and immediately I perceived a most sweet odor, such as neither musk, nor nard, nor any odoriferous and pleasant and sweet-smelling unguent ever seemed to me to breathe out. Which being exhaled, the excellent Elder again thus said to me: Have you not even yet now perceived the holy and angelic fragrance; can you not yet be brought to believe? To whom I: By all means, Father, both I perceive and believe. Then he thus subjoins: Be henceforth believing, and be not incredulous. As therefore I was then most malignant and worst, wishing to inquire more curiously into that so strange odor, and to explore it evidently, I found a cause to go out of the hesychasterion, and to look about whether perhaps from the Laura the most pleasant breath of that fragrance had been wafted from musky incense; although it was plainly dissimilar, yet I did this, that I might look into whatever it was more deeply and more certainly. But in truth no breath of any odor was borne to my nostrils: for it was not at all the hour of incense b then. Whence, greatly admiring these things, I gave glory to God.
[133] I have a nurse, my father's sister, pious and loving God. The aunt of Leontius at Jerusalem, being sick, summons him. She at one time, as she was often wont to do, had come to holy Jerusalem for the sake of prayer with a certain maidservant, whom the religious matron had freed from the yoke of servitude and endowed with liberty. Both therefore at Jerusalem pass the holy solemnity of the Lord's Passion; but thence they set out to the holy Mount Sinai c, according to their custom: and when they had saluted the sacred and venerable places there, they returned to the holy City: but on the way my aunt fell into sickness. When they reached the holy city, and stayed there some days, expecting health and recovery from God, they profited nothing, the sickness being drawn out at length, and always turning for the worse; which was done, namely, by divine providence for our benefit. My aunt therefore, feeling herself daily weighed down and failing, and the disease growing strong, and now near, as she thought, to the threshold of death; bids me to be summoned with one of the fathers.
[134] I, as soon as I learned it, leave being received from the Master, betake myself to her. to whom he betakes himself: When she saw me: Believe me, she said, son, neither for a light cause, nor rashly, did I wish you to undertake this labor of coming to me; but for the sake of God, and of an illustrious and salvation-bearing work: but do not wear yourself out, if, your Laura being for a while left, you feel some discomfort; but have before your eyes the useful end of the business. For I hear that the magistrate ruling here administers his affairs tyrannically, perversely, and unjustly, overthrows men from their fortunes, and especially the weak, the inhabitants, the strangers, and those with whom he has found some opportune occasion, of their goods. For some days ago, as was related to me, a certain stranger died in the court of a certain Christian here, having appointed many heirs of his wealth; but none of them appearing here at that time, occasion being seized, the tyrant seized whatever riches he had left; nor indeed was he content with this crime, nor did his insatiable avarice stop here; but openly, without any fear or measure, he plundered the goods of the Christians with whom the deceased guest, most kindly entertained, had dwelt: and moreover cast them, bound with iron fetters, into custody. And I therefore, destitute of my kinsmen here, will name some heir, if indeed it shall seem good to God to call to himself out of this infirmity this wretched and afflicted soul. For nothing so tortures me as this wretched girl: whom I fear lest, for the service shown to me in my company, they seize contrary to right and law; and then also the Christians who received me into hospitality. Wherefore give yourself to my prayers, son, and bring me chosen Arab men endowed with authority, that I may employ them as witnesses that I possess nothing at all here, and that this virgin is free and subject to no master; then stay with us till you shall have seen the outcome of this disease, which grievously and vehemently exercises me; and thus show yourself a genuine son of my brother.
[135] After I had learned these things from my aunt, I judged it more advisable not to depart from her; but, not a few days being passed there, I began to repent of the deed, and now I thought to go from the city and return to the Laura: but, that counsel being soon condemned, I restrained myself, and remained: and after a fairly long time, idleness and weariness again crept in, and it pleased me to set out: but my conscience again restrained me. And the same befell me, pressed and assailed by thoughts, a second and a third time. At last, restless in mind, I resolved to go to the Master, and to ask of him what at last the matter would come to, to health or to death. But would that I had done this from the beginning, and had not led an idle and slothful life so long in the midst of seculars!
[136] There was then a deacon, who has now undertaken the government of the Theadelphic throne, Domnus Thomas d, on whom the care of the sick in the city lay: Thomas the Patriarch being consulted, he has recourse to the Laura; for he was a most skillful physician, illustrious alike in learning and experience, and instituting a life emulous of the discipline of the holy Cosmas and Damian. Trusting therefore to this most blessed and most excellent man, I set forth the counsels I had, and, my aunt being left in extreme perils, by night I sought the Laura again. When I had come thither about the second hour of the day, by a direct course I hastened to my Master, greatly hurried for my aunt's sake. When I reached the hesychasterion, and gave the signal, as was the custom, thrice with a little stone, the Elder opens to me, and, holding the door with his hand, before I had said anything at all, said to me: Most welcome, O my son, most welcome: do not torture yourself; for your aunt will not die of this infirmity. But I: This very thing, I said, I have now come to learn from you, O father. He subjoined: I know indeed, I know that you have come for this cause. Therefore know for certain, son, that she will by no means be extinguished by this disease. See therefore, do not lose heart, nor vex yourself with grief, or solicitude, or foolish anxiety. Which when he had said a third time, before I made one word, he began to recite the Our Father, and, the prayer being completed, kindly and amicably admitted me.
[137] After we had sat down, I asked him again, [and there learns from St. Stephen that his aunt would not die of this disease; and hesitating,] with all eagerness and diligence manifestly seeking to know it, wherein at last my aunt's sickness would end: since my heart was greatly burned: for I scarcely thought I could reach the Laura but that she had expired. Whence, when I had now thrice heard from the Elder that she would not die, I yet did not acquiesce: but, that I might obtain the highest and most solid certainty, I inquired again, saying: Do not find it grievous, my father, to pronounce it to me openly, that this disease of my aunt is not fatal: for not I alone said and felt her to be sinking; but very many others. Then indeed he: Do you ask even this, O of little faith? Have I not asserted it to you enough, that you may have faith? Have I not often, examples of the Doctors being brought forward, dealt with you especially concerning incredulity; which arises from these two, namely from ignorance of things, and from sloth, the most wicked enemy perpetually suggesting thoughts, and intermingling impure tares with the pure seed? Wherefore, that a remedy for your slow faith may be applied, go to the baker, and ask him to make you one host; for he has none ready; since this day is the fourth of the week e.
[138] And when I had gone, and had received the host baked at that same hour, the holy Elder offered it, by the Sacrifice of the Mass he is confirmed in faith. and, the sacrifice of the Mass being completed, he comes to me with a face composed to gladness, and full of all beauty, and so ruddy that it approached the splendor of a bright fire: and thus begins: Did I not tell you, O of little faith,
that your aunt would not perish from this infirmity? Shake off therefore at length from your mind all obstinate hardness in believing, and the perverse opinion and affection, and question me of this matter never again hereafter. And so, persuaded by his discourses inspired by divine grace, I kissed his feet and hands, giving thanks earnestly to God and to the God-bearing Elder for this matter. And when I had stayed there the rest of that day with a serene and undisturbed mind, on the morrow I departed to announce to my most beloved aunt herself the (prophecy) divinely revealed through that mouth of the Elder, welling with heavenly wisdom. Nor did it trouble me that I found her in the last extremity; but, having consoled her, after perhaps one day or two, feeding and serening my mind with the best hope conceived from the Elder's oracles, I returned into the Laura. But my aunt, after not many days restored to health, departed to her own city, and to this very day, by the grace of God, enjoying perpetual health and strength, pays a hymn of thanksgiving to God.
[139] I once followed this Elder with certain other fathers, both from our greatest Laura, Going to see a hidden anchorite, he ascends the mountain; and from that which is called of Suca f, about the time of the Lent of our holy Father Sabas, to the caves of Duca. But I had a narrow cave, neighboring the Elder's cave, in which dwelling, I saw the Elder each day going out of his cave, and fixing his eyes on the mountain's summit, bringing forth groans sad from the depth of his heart, and glorifying God in every way. I made no word to him of this matter. Lent therefore being finished, the Elder, being asked, when he wished to ascend to the mountain's peak, took the fathers with him, me being left below in the caves with one of the fathers. While therefore they go about together, they light upon a cave furnished with dry hay, and a place fit for sitting, and the vestiges of a certain man, whom the Fathers ran about seeking, not without the Elder; and when they had searched much and diligently, they could find no one. Then the Master feigned, as if for the cause of some necessity, to withdraw, and: Go before a little, he said, O fathers: now, behold, I will be with you.
[140] being questioned about him, he will not answer: But they, having gone forward, waited for him easily an hour, and thought that, delaying, he was holding conversations with that anchorite. Wherefore they returned, to seek him, calling him by name, led by a false hope that they would find the anchorite together. But, their voices and cries being heard, the Master ran to meet them, fearing lest they should perhaps attain his secret business. Whom, when they saw, they began to pray, saying: For what cause have you delayed us so long, Father? Were you perhaps with the anchorite? Tell us this indeed. To whom he: Pardon me, fathers; and move me no question of this matter hereafter. But they diligently kept silence, suspecting that it had been provided by the anchorite that he should indicate nothing about him to them.
[141] yet he confesses to Leontius that he was divinely admonished to seek him, When therefore they had descended from the mountain, they ask my humility that I should question the Elder about this. I complied, and with much supplication and adjuration tried to extract it from him. He answered me in this manner: Since I see you, son, borne with an eagerness both importunate and fervid, and assiduously troublesome to me, that you may understand this; hearken: It is now long since I am agitated by nocturnal thoughts impelling me with great affection and thus admonishing me: A certain anchorite dwells in a cave on the top of the mountain, a true worshipper of God and holy; ascend therefore into the mountain, and seek him: for you will rejoice when you shall have dealt with him. And hence it is that in Lent, when I stood on the mountain's peak, I groaned much, desiring and praying from my inmost heart that a spiritual conversation with the Anchorite might befall me.
[142] But Lent being ended, it pleased me, with only two or three fathers, at length having met with him; and what sort he found him, he sets forth. to ascend again to the higher parts of the mountain, and to fulfill my desire concerning the anchorite: but when I perceived that all the Fathers wished to accompany me, I took them with me; and while we ascend, and survey the mountain, we find a cave and the vestiges of a certain man; we run forward immediately pursuing the vestiges; and when much had been sought together by all, no one was found. There I feigned to go away a little, as for something necessary; and straightway, intent alone for a while on seeking the anchorite, I found the man, and understood at once that the Saint, unwilling to appear to many, or to be troubled by them, had withdrawn from me before, when the fathers were present together, his most pleasant sight. Then, after prayer, having saluted him, and begun a conversation, I was so wonderfully delighted that I could scarcely contain myself, at his heavenly discourses concerning spiritual matters. But I, a poor man, questioned again my superior, and said: And of what sort, O Father, is that anchorite; of what form, of what stature, of what age? He approaches, he said, old age, not very feeble; although his body is attenuated by frequent maceration: for his bones are hard and vast; but his stature is very tall, and his form excellent; only about the shameful parts of his body is he girt with a leather zone g, for the rest naked; but a hairy, long-haired, and shaggy man: and he has acted the anchorite altogether thirty years. At these things, astonished, and fixed in long admiration, a hymn being sung, I gave thanks to God.
ANNOTATIONS OF D. P.
* There is wanting, I believe, προφητείαν, or something similar.
* Perhaps θεοῤῥήτων.
CHAPTER XII.
He appears to one absent; he recounts and rebukes the hidden temptations and errors of his disciples.
Ἄλλην δὲ διηγήσομαι ὑμῖν διήγησιν οὐκ ἄκοσμον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάνυ τὴν οὐρανόφρονα καὶ πνευματικὴν γνώμην τε καὶ διάθεσιν τοῦ Γέροντος τούτου, καὶ τὴν μεγάλην ἀρετὴν, καὶ θεόςδοτον χάριν ἀποδεικνῦσαν, καὶ παρεστῶσαν· ἀεὶ γὰρ συμπαρῆν τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ φοιτηταῖς, τῷ πνεύματι ζέουσαν περὶ αὐτῶν ποιούμενος φροντίδα, τῆς σφῶν αὐτῶν προνοούμενος σωτηρίας, καὶ ἐκτενεῖς ἐντεύξεις ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ποιούμενος, καὶ σωματικῶς ἀπὼν, τὸν βίον αὐτῶν ἐπίστατο· καὶ τοῦτο οὐχ ἁπλῶς μαρτυρῶ, ἀλλ᾽ ἐξ ἑμαυτοῦ ἀσφαλεστάτῃ πείρᾳ μαθών. Ἐμοῦ γάρ ποτε μαθητεύοντος τῷ μακαρίῳ τούτῳ ἅμα τισὶν ἑτέροις, ἐπῆλθέ μοι σωματικὴ ἀσθένεια πολλὴ, πόῤῥοθεν τοῦ ἡσυχαστηρίου τοῦ Γέροντος ἐν τῷ κελλίῳ διάγοντι, ὥστε με μὴ ἐκτελέσαι ἐπὶ πλείστας ἡμέρας τὸν νυκτερινὸν κανόνα μετὰ τῶν ἐμῶν συμμαθητῶν, ἀλλ᾽ ἡμερικῶς τὸ ἥμισυ αὐτοῦ, ἢ καὶ τάχα τὸ δίμοιρον. Πολλὴν γὰρ ἐκ τῆς ἀδυναμίας προσεκτησάμην ἀμέλειαν, καὶ ῥαθυμίαν, ὑφ᾽ ἧς πολλάκις ἡττώμενος ἀπέῤῥιπτον ἐμαυτὸν χαμαὶ, οὐχ ὑπνῶσαι βουλόμενος, ἀλλὰ τυχεῖν βραχείας ἀναψυχῆς καὶ ἀνέσεως. Λεληθότως δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ ὕπνου κλεπτόμενόστε, καὶ ἁρπαζόμενος ἐκοιμώμην, ἄχρις ἂν οἱ ἀδελφοὶ ἐξύπνιζόν με τὸ αὖγος, τοῦ καιροῦ τῆς πρωἳνῆς πρώτης ὥρας ἐπιστάντος. Ἐνίοτε δὲ κᾀγὼ αὐτὸς ἐξεγειρόμην, τοῦ ἐνδομυχοῦντος
εὐκτικοῦ λογισμοῦ παροτρύνοντος, καὶ τὴν συνέχουσάν με ἀδυναμίαν, καὶ ἀνομαλίαν ἐκτεινάσσοντος· ἐφ᾽ αἷς ἠγωνίων πολὺ, καὶ ἠνιώμην, μάλιστα κρατούμενος ὑπὸ τῆς ἀμελείαστε καὶ χαυνώσεως, καὶ ἀπλήρωτόντε καὶ ἀτέλεστον τὴν νυκτερινὴν ψαλμωδιάν ἀπεργάζομενος, ὡς εἷς τῶν εὐπλουστέρωντε καὶ ῥαθυμωτέρων ἀρχαρίων, εὖ εἰδὼς, ὅτι εἰς ἐσχάτην ψυσχῆς ἀπώλειάν τε καὶ ὄλεθρον ἀπελαύνει τῆς ψυχῆς ἡ ἀμέλεια, καὶ τοῦ σώματος ἡ ἄνεσις.
[144] Μιᾷ οὖν τῶν ἡμερῶν ἐκείνων, τῆς θερινῆς ὥρας διἳππευοῦσης, ἐν αἰθρίῳ τόπῳ καθεύδων, ἐπὶ τὴν ἐμὴν πενιχρὰν κοίτην μετὰ τῶν ἀδελφῶν τὸ δίμοιρον τοῦ κανόνος πεποιηκὼς, καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν λογισμῶν ἐξεγειρόμενος ἀναπληρῶσαι τὸ ὑπόλοιπον, καὶ πάλιν ὑπὸ τῆς χαυνώσεως νικώμενος, ὑπὸ βαθέως ἡρπάγην ὕπνου, ὥσπερ εἴωθα. Ὡς οὖν ὕπνωσα ἐπὶ μίαν ὥραν, ἢ καὶ μικρῷ πλεῖον, θεωρῶ τινα φρικώδη λίαν, καὶ φοβερὸν, καὶ καταπληκτικὸν, εἰςελθόντα διὰ τῆς τοῦ κελλίου σμικροτάτης θύρας, ἀντικρύ μου οὔσης, καὶ ἐπ᾽ ἐμὲ ἐρχόμενον· Ὡς δὲ εἶδον αὐτὸν, ἄγαν ἔξυπνος ἐγενόμην, τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἀποκαλύψας, καὶ παραυτὰ τὸν φίλον ἐπιστάτην ἔγνων, τὸν ὡς ἀληθῶς ἅγιόντε καὶ φιλάνθρωπον· παρέστη γὰρ τοῖς ποσί μου, τὸ σταυρόμορφον αὐτοῦ ἱερὸν βαστάζων σκῆπτρον, καὶ τὸ μικρὸν ἐπιῤῥιπτάριον ἐπὶ τῶν ὤμων ἔχων, κᾀμοὶ προσεχῶς ἀτενίζων, καὶ μονονουχὶ τῷ σχήματι ἐξυπνίζων με, καὶ κελεύων μὴ πάννυχον ἀπανθίζειν ὕπνον, καὶ ὀργίλως μοι φαινόμενος διὰ τὴν ἐπικρατήσασάν μου ἀπροσεξίαν τε καὶ ἀμέλειαν. Οὐ μὲν τοίγε τὸ παράπαν ἐλάλησέ μοι, ἀλλ᾽ ἵστατο σιωπῶν, καὶ κατηφὲς ἐνδεικνύμενος ἦθος, ὡσαύτως οὐδὲ ἐγὼ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀπεφθεγξάμην, ὡς οἰόμενος αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ κελλίου ἐληλυθότα τὴν ἐμὴν ἐξυπνίσαι καὶ διαναστῆσαι νωθρότητα, οὔτε δὴ κατὰ τὸ σύνηθες ἔκλινα αὐτῷ γόνυ, μεγάλῃ κεκρατημένος ἐρυθριάσει τε, καὶ αἰδοῖ.
[145] Ἀλλ᾽ οὖν ὅμως ἐγερθεὶς παραχρῆμα, μικρὸν ἄποθεν τῆς κλίνης μου ἔστην κατὰ ἀνατολὰς, καὶ τῆς δοξολογίας ἀπηρξάμην τοῦ κανόνος κατὰ τὴν σχηματισθεῖσάν μοι τοῦ Γέροντος ἔφεσίντε καὶ κέλευσιν, καὶ τῆς ἐμῆς περὶ τοὔτου φροντίδος ἀπαλλαγὴν σπουδάζων ποιήσασθαι, μάλίστα τοῦ ὄρθρου φανέντος, καὶ τὴν τοῦ ἡλίου μηνύοντος ἀνατολύν. Ἐδεδείην γὰρ, μήπως οἱ ἀδελφοὶ ἐξαναστάντες προτρέψωνταί με τὴν πρώτην εὐχὴν τῆς ἡμέρας συνεκτελέσαι αὐτοῖς. Θεασάμενός με τοίνυν ὁ ἅγιος Γέρων λίαν προθυμούμενον, πᾶσαν τὴν τῆς νυκτερινῆς ψαλμωδίας ἀκολουθίαν ἀποπληρῶσαι ἅμα ταῖς συνήθεσι γονυκλισίαις, πλησιάσας ἔστη ἐκ δεξιῶν μου, τῇ ἱερωτάτῃ αὐτοῦ ὑπερειδόμενος βακτηρίᾳ, τὴν κατήφειαν ἐκείνην μεταβαλὼν εἰς εὐφροσύνην, καὶ χαρμωνὴν, καὶ διάχυσιν, καὶ ἐθάρσυνέ με, καὶ ἐσπευσμένον κατήπειγε, τὴν προθυμίαν μου προθυμοτέραν ἀποτελῶν τοῖς σχήμασι. Μετὰ τοιαύτης οὖν ζεούσης σπουδῆς καὶ ἀγῶνος πολλοῦ νηφόντως τε καὶ τλημόνως ψάλλωντε καὶ εὐχόμενος, καὶ κατανεύωντε καὶ ἀνανεύων, ἔχον τὰς ὄψεις πρὸς τὸν ἐπιστάτην, ἐκ δεξιῶν μοι τοῖς ἱματίοις προσθήγοντα, τέλειόν μου τὸν κανόνα πεποίηκα, πρὶν ἀνατεῖλαι τὸν ἥλιον, ἅμα τῷ Τρισαγίῳ ὕμνῷ καὶ τῇ αὐτοῦ εὐχῇ.
[146] Κατὰ τὸ ἔθος δὲ τῆς τελευταίας εὐχῆς τοῦ κανόνος ἔπιλαμβανόμενόν με θεασάμενος ὁ Ἐπιστάτης, πάνυ γεγηθὼς ἐπανῆλθε διὰ τῆς τοῦ κελλίου θύρας, τὴν ἐπάνοδον ποιούμενος, * πρὸς αὐτὸν νουνεχῶς ἀτενίζων, ἧς ἐπελαβόμην εὐχῆς, ἠβουλήθην παρεάσαι, συντυχεῖν αὐτῷ ἐφιέμενος· ἀλλ᾽ ὡς κατὰ τῆς θύρας ἔνδοθεν καταλαβεῖν αὐτὸν ἐλπίσας, ἀνεσχετίσθην, ἄχρις ἂν τὴν μετὰ χεῖρας εὐχὴν ἐκτελέσω· ἧς ἐκτελεσθείσης, ἔδραμον κατόπισθεν αὐτοῦ, μεταμέλῳ πυρποληθεὶς ἀπείρῳ, αἰδούμενος ἅμα τὸν Θεὸν καὶ τὸν Ἐπιστάτην, ὅτι με βαθεῖ κατακυλισθέντα ὕπνῳ διεγείρων ἐληλύθει, καὶ οὐδ᾽ ὅλως ἠσπασάμην αὐτὸν, προσπεσὼν κατὰ τὸ ἔθος τοῖς ἴχνεσιν αὐτοῦ· ἀγνώμων φανεὶς, καὶ παχύτητα διανοίας περικείμενος. Ὅθεν τῆς μεταμελείας τὴν φλόγα σβέσαι βουλόμενος, ἅπαν ἐμπόνως ἐψηλάφηκα τὸ κελλίον, καὶ εὑρηκὼς μηδένα, ἐπὶ τὰς πύλας ἔδραμον. Ὦ τῆς ἀτυχίας! Εὗρον γὰρ αὐτὰς ἀραρότως ἀποκεκλεισμένας. Ἐν ἀπορίᾳ δὲ κατασταθεὶς, ἐξύπνισα τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς, ἕνα ἕκαστον πυνθανέμενος, εἴπερ εἴη θεασάμενος τὸν Ἐπιστάτην, καὶ μηδὲν πλέον ἀκούσας παρ᾽ αὐτῶν ἀλλ᾽ ἢ τὸ, Οὄτε ἀπὸ ἡμερῶν ἱκανῶν ὤφθη ἐνταῦθα ὁ Ἐπιστάτης, οὔτε ὅλως εἰ παραγέγονεν οἴδαμεν· ἐν τῷ ἡσυχαστηρίῳ αὐτοῦ πέφυκεν, ὡς οἶσθα, καὶ σύ· ἐξένισας ἡμᾶς, ἀῦελφὲ, καὶ κατέπληξας ἀθρόως, οὕτως ἀναζητήσας τὸν ἡμέτερον Ἐπιστάτην.
[147] Πολὺ πλέον δὲ ἐγὼ ἐπὶ τούτοις τεθηπὼς, οὐδενὶ παρ᾽ αὐτῶν ἀπεκάλυψα τὸ μυστήριον τῆς ὀπτασίας, ἀλλὰ σὺν αὐτοῖς τὴν πρώτην εὐχὴν τῆς ἡμέρας τετελεκὼς, εὐθέως καὶ παραυτὰ πρὸ πάντων πρὸς τὸν Ἐπιστάτην ᾠχόμην εἰς τὸ ἡσυχαστήριον. Μηνύσαντος δέ μου κατὰ τὸ σύνηθες, ἀνέῳξε τὴν θύραν, καὶ τὴν εὐχὴν τοῦ Πάτερ ἡμῶν ἀποπληρώσας, καθίσας, ἐκέλευσέ με καθισθῆναι, μειδιῶν καὶ λέγων πρός με· Διὰ τί, τέκνον, ἐνταῦθα ἐλήλυθας ἄρτι; Πρὸς ὃν, μικρὸν παρασιωπήσας, ἔφην· Πότε σὺ παραγέγονας ἐν τῷ κελλίῳ, πάτερ, καὶ πότε ὑπέστρεψας; Ὁ δὲ πάλιν διαχεόμενος ἔφη· Πίστευέ μοι, πνευματικώτατον τέκνον, ὅτι τοῦ ἡσυχαστηρίου σωματικῶς οὐκ ἀπέστην, εἰ καὶ πνευματικῶς συμπαρήμην σοι, ὥσπερ ἑώρακας. Μὴ ἀμέλει λοιπὸν τῆς σαυτοῦ σωτηρίας, μὴ ἀμέλει, τέκνον, οἰόμενος τὴν ἐμὴν ταπείνωσιν ἀγνοεῖν τὰ κατά σε· εἰ γὰρ καὶ τὰ κρύφια μόνῃ τῇ ὄντως ἀληθείᾳ γνωστὰ τυγχάνει· ἀλλ᾽ οὖν καὶ ἡμῖν δίδωσι κατὰ χάριν εἰδέναι, οὐ διὰ τὴν ἡμῶν ἀξιότητα, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν ὑμῶν σωτηρίαν. Ὅθεν οὐδὲν διαλήθει με παντελῶς τῆς ὑμῶν διαγωγῆς· ἀλλὰ καὶ εἴπερ ἤθελον καταλέξαι πάντα τὰ ὑμῶν μυστήρια, δυναίμην ἂν διὰ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ συνεργίας. Ἀλλ᾽ ὡς μὴ βουλόμενος ἐλέγξαι ὑμᾶς, καὶ εἰς αἰσχύνην ἀγαγεῖν, οὐ δημοσιεύω τὰ καθ᾽ ὑμᾶς, διότι καὶ αὐτὸς ἄνθρωπός εἰμι ὁμοιοπαθὴς ὑμῖν, καὶ τῆς αὐτῆς τελὼν ἀσθενείας.
[148] Ἄλλο δέ σοι ἐρῶ, ἐπειδὴ μαθητὴς καθέστηκας, καὶ δεῖ τινα δι᾽ οἰκονομίαν θάῤῥειν μαθηταῖς. Ἐπέρχεταί μοι ὥρα πολλάκις, ἐν ᾗ καὶ τὴν μυστικὴν τελῶν θυσίαν, πλειόνων τῶν ἐν τῇ Λαύρᾳ πατέρων διαγόντων μυθησαίμην ἂν, καὶ εἴποιμι καὶ λεπτομέρως καταλέξαιμι τὰ αὐτῶν, εἴπερ βουληθείην. Οὐκοῦν ἄπιθι, καὶ τοῖς σοῖς συμφοιτηταῖς εὐάγγειλον, μηδὲν ἀποκρύπτων, ἀλλὰ φανεροποιῶν, πῶς με κάτιδες· ἐπειδήπερ εἰσὶ καὶ αὐτοὶ δυσπιστίαν νοσοῦντες, κατὰ σέ. Τὸ δὲ γνῶσον σαφῶς, ὅτι ταῦτά σοι λαλεῖν ἀνάγκην ἕχω· ἐπειδὴ λόγον ὑπέρ σούτε καὶ ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ἀπαιτοῦμαι ἐν τῇ φρικώδει ᾑμέρᾳ τῆς κρίσεως, ὅταν ὁ Κύριος τῆς δόξης ἔλθῃ κρίναι ζῶντας καὶ νεκροὺς, καὶ ἀποδοῦναι ἑκάστων τῶν βεβιωμένων τὰς ἀμοιβὰς, ὃς καὶ πάντων τῶν αἰτουμένων αὐτὸν ἐν ἀληθείᾳ ποιεῖ τὸ θέλημα, οἰκονομῶν ἐκάστῳ τὰ κάλλιστά τε, καὶ συμφερώτατα· πολλάκις γὰρ αἰτηθεὶς ὑπό τινος, ἢ αὐτὸς πρὸς Κύριον οἰκεῖαν βουληθεὶς ποιήσασθαι δέησιν ἕνεκεν ἀποκαλύψεως μυστικῶν πραγμάτων διὰ τῆς ἀναιμάκτου μυσταγωγικῆς ἱερουργίας, οὐκ ἀπεστράφην ἄγνωστος τῆς ζητήσεως, καθαραῖς αὐτὸν δυσωπήσας ἐντεύξεσι, καὶ εἰπών· Κύριε καρδιογνῶστα, ὁ ἐπιστάμενος τὸν νοῦν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὁ πάντα γινώσκων πρὶν γενέσεος αὐτῶν, εἰ ἄρεστόν σοί ἐστι καὶ καλὸν ἐνώπιόν σου, φανεροποίησόν μοι, ὅπερ αἰτοῦμαι παρά σου, ὅτι τὰ ἅπαντα δύνασαι καὶ ἀδυνατεῖ σοι οὐδέν. Πίστευέ μοι, τέκνον πιστότατον, ὅτι παραυτὰ πᾶν ὅπερ ἂν σύμφερον εἴη καὶ σωτήριον, ἐκομισάμην παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ, ὡς οὐδέ σε διέλαθεν, ὅτε πρὸ ὀλίγων μηνῶν περὶ τῆς σῆς θείας ᾐτήσω, οὐδὲ πολλοὺς ἑτέρους.
[149] Μεγάλως δὲ τεθαυμακὼς ἐπὶ τούτοις καὶ κατανυγεὶς ἠρξάμην ἐξυφαίνειν ἐγκωμίων πλοκὰς καὶ ἐπαινετικοὺς στεφάνους τῇ ἱερᾷ τοῦ Γέροντος περιτίθεσθαι κορυφῇ, δοξολογίας καὶ χαριστηρίους ὕμνους ἀναπέμπων τῷ Θεῷ. Ὁ δὲ πραείᾳ τῇ φωνῇ καὶ μετρίῳ φρονήματι ἔφη· Τί με θέλεις οὐ δικαίως ἐπαινέσαι, τέκνον· οὐκ ἐμὸς ὁ ἔπαινος, ἀλλὰ τοῦ πάντα ἐν πᾶσιν ἐνεργοῦντος Θεοῦ, τοῦ πατρὸς τῶν φώτων, καὶ δωθῆρος τῶν ἀγαθῶν· ὅπερ γὰρ ἔφην πλειστάκις, τὸ αὐτὸ λέγω καὶ νῦν, καὶ λέγων οὐ παύομαι· ὅτι μόνῳ τῷ Θεῷ πρέπει ὁ ὕμνος καὶ ὁ ἔπαινος καὶ τὰ θαύματα καὶ πᾶσα δόξα καὶ τιμὴ, τῷ ποιοῦντι μεγάλα, καὶ θαυμάσια, οὗ τῆς μεγαλειότητος οὐ μόνον αἱ λόγου μετέχουσαι φύσεις ὑπάρχουσι διαπρύσιοι κήρυκες καὶ ἐπαινέται, ἀλλὰ καὶ αἱ ἄλογοι, καὶ ἀναίσθητοι, αἵτε παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ λαβοῦσαι τὸ εἶναί τε καὶ γενέσθαι· ὥσπερ γὰρ οὐ τῆς κυθάρας, ἀλλὰ τοῦ κυθαριστοῦ τυγχάνει τὸ ἐγκώμιον, ὡς ἐξ ἀναισθήτουτε καὶ νεκρᾶς οὐσίας εὐφυεστάτοις δακτύλοις τεχναζομένουτε, καὶ ἀποτελοῦντος εὔλυρον μουσικὴν συμφωνίαν τε καὶ ἁρμονίαν, καὶ διὰ τῆς ἡδυτάτης φωνῆς τέρποντος τοὺς ἀκούοντας, οὔτε μὴν κιννύρα, χορδαίτε, καὶ κόλλοπες καὶ ζυγὸς καὶ πλήκτρον τοὺς μισθοὺς κομίζονται, ἀλλ᾽ ὁ ἐπιστημόνως κεχρημένος αὐτοῖς, καὶ δι᾽ αὐτῶν τέρπνον ἐργασάμενος μελῳδίαν· ἐπειδὴ καὶ ἄνευ μουσικῶν ὀργάνων ὁ ἀοιδὸς εὔμουσον ἰσχύει ἀποτελεῖν λύραν, καὶ εὔφωνον τραγῳδίαν· οὕτως μόνου τοῦ Θεοῦ καθέστηκεν ὁ αἶνόςτε καὶ ἔπαινος, καὶ οὐκ ἐμοῦ, τοῦ ξήρου καὶ νεκροῦ καὶ ἀκάρπου ξύλου, τοῦ πικρίας γέμοντος.
[150] Ἔστω τις βασιλεὺς πάντα τὸν στρατιωτικὸν αὐτοῦ συναθροίσας ὅμιλον, καὶ τὸν λεπτὸν δῆμον βουλόμενος ῥογεῦσαι χρήματα, καὶ πάντας τοὺς ὑπὸ χεῖρα φιλοτιμήσασθαι· ἐπὶ τοῦ βασιλικοῦ προκαθεσθεὶς θρόνου, κελεύσει τὰς σακέλλας πετασθῆναι, καί τινας τῆς παρεστώσης ἀπείρου τε καὶ ἀμυθήτου πληθύος, πρὸς αὐτὸν μόνον τὸ ὄμμα φερούσης, προσκαλεσάμενος, διανομέας καταστήσει. Τίνι ἂν, εἰπέ μοι, προσαφθήσεται εὐχαριστία τε, καὶ ὁ ἔπαινος; τοῖς κατὰ χάριν τὴν νομικὴν ἐμπιστευθεῖσιν, ἤ τῷ πάντων κυρίῳ καὶ βασιλεῖ, τῷ τα πάντα χαρισαμένῳ, κᾀυτοὺς οἰκονομικῶς ἐμπιστεύσαντος; Τί τούτων πάντως φήσεις ὑπάρχειν τὴν ἕπαινον; Εἰ γὰρ καὶ κατὰ χάριν εὐφημοῦνται, ἀλλὰ τοῦ βασιλέως ὑπάρχει ἡ εὐφημία, τοῦ φύσει γὰρ ἐνδόξου πέφυκε τῶν κατὰ χάριν δοξαζομένων τὸ κλέος· ἡ γὰρ θεόθεν ποριζομένη μοι χάρις, αὕτη οὐκ ἐμοί δέδωται, τῷ ἁμαρτωλῷ καὶ γυμνῷ παντοίας ἀρετῆς καὶ βίου σεμνότητος, ἀλλὰ τῇ θεοσεβεῖ, καὶ πιστῇ συνειδήσει τῶν εἰς ἐμέ τε πιστευόντων, καὶ εἰς τουτὶ τὸ ἅγιον σχῆμα, ὅπερ ταῖς ἐμαῖς ἠχρείωσα κακίαις. Ἔστι γάρ, ἔστιν, ὅτε καὶ ἐν ἀναξίοις ἐνεργεῖ, καὶ πνεῖ ἡ θεία χάρις, οὐ δι᾽ αὐτοὺς, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν τῶν προσιεμένων ὠφέλειαν· ὥστε ὁ ἐμὲ τὸν ἀνάξιον ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις ἐγκωμιάζων, ἐκπίπτει τοῦ δέοντος. Ὁ δοξάζων τοίνυν, τὸν Θεὸν δοξαζέτω· καὶ ὁ ἐπαινῶν, αὐτὸν ἐπαινείτω, καὶ ὁ εὐχαριστῶν, αὐτῷ εὐυχαριστείτω· ᾧ πρέπει δόξα, μεγαλοπρέπεια, καὶ εὐχαριστία εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. Ἀμήν. Θαυμάσας οὖν καὶ ἐν τούτοις τὴν πολλὴν ταπείνωσιν αὐτοῦ καὶ εὐλάβειαν, καὶ τοὺς ἀξιογράφους λόγους ἐν ἐμαυτῷ φυλάξας ἀνεχώρησα, δοξάζων τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ τὴν θεόπνευστον αὐτοῦ ἐκθειάζων διδασκαλίαν, καὶ χάριν, ἡς οὐδὲν ἀπέκρυκτε τὸ θεῖον τῆς ἡμῶν τῶν μαθητῶν λατραίας διαγωγῆς. Φανερὸν
δὲ τοῦτο ἔκτε τῆς εἰρημένης καὶ τῆς νυνὶ λεχθησομένης διηγήσεως.
[151] Ἐφιλονεικήσαμέν ποτε ἐγὼ, καὶ ἄλλος μαθητὴς, καὶ ὀνειδιστικοῖς λόγοις ἀλλήλους καθυβρίσαμεν, ὥστινες ἀσθενεῖς τυγχάνοντες· Ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως πρὸς βραχεῖαν ὥραν ἡ φιλονεικία διέμεινε· φλὸξ γὰρ ἦν, καὶ ἐσβέσθη, καὶ βράσμα βραχὺ, καὶ κατέπαυσεν ὑπὸ τῆς πνευματικῆς δρόσου τῆς φιλαδελφικῆς εὐμενείας διὰ τῶν θεοπειθῶντος Ἐπιστάτου εὐχῶν καὶ ἐντεύξεων, πρὸς ὃν καταλλαγέντες, καὶ μετ᾽ ἀλλήλων εἰρηνεύσαντες, ἅμα τοῖς λοιποῖς συμφοιτηταῖς ὲπορεύθημεν τῶν ψυχωφελῶν αὐτοῦ ἀκοῦσαι παραινέσεων ὀψὲ σαββάτου, καὶ βουλόμενοι μετὰ τῶν πατέρων τὴν παννυχίδα τῆς ἁγίας κυριακῆς ἐκτελέσαι· καὶ ἐλθόντων ἡμῶν πρὸς αὐτὸν, καὶ εἰς ἀκρόασιν τῶν ἱερῶν αὐτοῦ διδαγμάτων καθεσθέντων, ἤρξατο διδάσκειν καὶ νουθετεῖν ἡμᾶς περὶ ἀγάπης· Ἰδὼν δὲ ἡμᾶς ἀμελῶς τοῖς σοφοῖς αὐτοῦ προσέχοντας λόγοις, ἠγανάκτησε καὶ εἶπεν· Μέχρι τίνος, ὦ ταπεινοὶ, καὶ πάντων ἐλεεινότατοι, ἐπ᾽ ἀμφετέραις σχολανεῖτε ταῖς ἀγνοίαις, καταφρονοῦντες τῆς ὑμετέρας ζωῆς καὶ σωτηρίας, δοκοῦντες ὅτι διαλανθάνει με ὁ ὑμέτερος βίος; Εἰ βούλεσθε, κᾀγὼ τριαμβεύσω τὰ μυστήρια ὑμῶν πάντα, ὧν τὸ πλῆθος παραιτησάμενος εἰπεῖν, ἵνα μὴ καταισχύνω ὑμᾶς, μέρος τι λέγω διὰ τὴν ὑμετέραν ὠφέλειαν.
[152] Καὶ οὕτως εἰπὼν, δακτυλοδεικτῶν με, τοῖς λοιποῖς συμφοιτηταῖς φησιν· Ὁ ἐλεεινὸς οὗτος, καὶ πανάθλιος ἐφιλονείκησε σήμερον μετ᾽ ἐκείνου τοῦ ὄντος αὐτῷ παραπλησίου ἐλεεινοῦ καὶ παναθλίου, καὶ κακῶς ἀλλήλους ἐσφενδόνησαν μωραῖς ὕβρεσιν καὶ ὀνείδεσιν· ἐκεῖνος γὰρ ὑπὸ τοῦδε καὶ τοῦδε πολεμεῖται, καὶ οὖτος ἐπὶ τοῦδε καὶ τοῦδε ἡττᾶται, καὶ ὁ ἄλλος τοῖόνδε, καὶ τοῖον λογισμὸν ἔχει· καὶ ἁπλῶς ἕνα ἕκαστον δεικνύων εἴλεγχε κατὰ πρόσωπον πάντων. Ἀλλὰ δὲ καὶ πολλὰ λέγειν ἠπείλει τῷ σχήματι, ἀλλὰ ὑπὸ τῆς συμπαθείας κεκρατημένος ἐφαίνετο, λέγων· Ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν, τῶν ἀγαπητῶν τέκνων, δέομαι τοῦ σωτῆρος, τοῦ ὑπὲρ τῆς τοῦ κάσμου ζωῆς καὶ σωτηρίας σταυρόντε καὶ θάνατον ὑπομείναντος, ἵνα τὰς ἡμῶν ψυχὰς σώσῃ ἀπὸ πάσης σατανικῆς ἐπιβουλῆς, καὶ ἐνεργείας. Καὶ οὕτως εἰπὼν, τὰς χεῖρας εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀνέσχεν, καὶ εὐλογήσας ἡμᾶς, καὶ τὴν σφραγίδα τοῦ τιμίου σταυροῦ ἐφοδιάσας, εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἀπέλυσεν. Ἡμεῖς δὲ πορευθέντες, μετὰ πολλῆς κατανύξεως τὴν ἀγρυπνίαν μετὰ τῶν πατέρων ἐξετελέσαμεν, τὸν Θεὸν δοξολογοῦντες, καὶ τὴν τοῦ Γέροντος ἀρετὴν ἐκθειάζοντες.
[153] Ἄλλοτε ἐγὼ καὶ ἄλλοι δύο τῶν μαθητῶν ἀπελθόντες πρὸς τὸν ἐπιστάτην εἰς τὸ ἡσυχαστήριον, ἐκαθέσθημεν συνήθως ἀκροώμενοι τῶν φωτιστικῶν αὐτοῦ διδασκαλιῶν, καὶ ὡς ἀτενίζοντες ἦμεν πρὸς αὐτὸν, φησὶ πρός τινα τῶν σὺν ἡμῖν. Διὰ τί δεινῶς ὑπὸ σατανικῶν ἐνοχλούμενος λογισμῶν, τέκνον, οὐκ ἐγνώρισάς με ἕως τοῦ νῦν; Ὁ δὲ μετὰ ὥραν· Συγχώρησον, ὦ πάτερ, ἔφη, καὶ εὖξαι ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ. Ὁ δὲ Γέρων εἶπεν· Δημοσίευσον οὓς ἔχεις λογισμοὺς, ἵνα σὺν θεῷ θεραπεύσω αὐτούς· μετὰ γὰρ τὸν κανόνα τῆς νυκτερινῆς ψαλμῳδίας ὁρῶ κατ᾽ ὄναρ μέγαν δράκοντα καὶ ἐρεμνὸν, φρικώδεις ἔχοντα φοινικοέντας καὶ δαφοινοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς, κατατρέχοντά σε καὶ κεχῃνότα, καὶ καταπιεῖν ἀπειλοῦντα, σὲ δὲ δακνόμενον, καὶ φεύγοντα, καὶ πρότερον μὲν τῆς βοηθείας μου μὴ δεόμενον, ἐγγὺς ὑπάρχοντος· ὕστερον δὲ φοβηθέντα, καὶ πρὸς τὸ θαναθωθῆναι ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ, ἤδη κατεχομένου, ἐλεεινὰς δεητικῶς ἀφιέντα φωνὰς, καὶ λέγοντα· Ὄρεγέ μοι χεῖρα, Ἐπιστάτα, ὄρεγε χεῖρα, καὶ φθάσον με, πρὶν θάνω, καὶ ἔκσπασόν με τοῦ καταδιώκοντός με, καὶ χαλεπωτάτου θηρός. Ἐγὼ δὲ τῆς δεήσεώς σου ἀκηκοὼς, τῷ τῆς συμπαθείας κέντρῳ νυγεὶς, ἀνέστην, καὶ λαβὼν, ὅ πρόχειρον εὐρέθη, ἐπιτηδειότατον ὄργανον, καιρίως αὐτὸν ἐτραυμάτισα, ὅμως δὲ θανατηφόρον πληγὴν οὐ δέδωκα, οὐχ ἑκὼν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπειδὴ τετραυματισμένος φυγών με δρομέως ἥρπυσεν ἐπὶ τὸ ἑαυτοῦ φωλεὸν, καὶ ἄφαντος γέγονε, λύπην ἐγκαταλιπών μοι δεινὴν, τὴν κακίστην αὐτοῦ μὴ καταθλάσαντι κεφαλήν· ὅθεν φοβοῦμαι, ὅτι φονεῦσαι αὐτὸν βουληθεὶς, ἀγριώτερον μᾶλλον ἀπειργασάμην κατά σου· ὥσπερ γάρ τις λέων ἐπὶ ποίμνην προβάτων ἐπελθὼν, ύπο τοῦ ποιμένος δεινῶς ἀπελασθεὶς, θηριωδέστερος γίνεται, καὶ μανικῶς ὡρμώμενος ἁρπάζει τὰ πρόβατα· οὕτω καὶ ὁ νοητὸς θὴρ, ὅταν μὴ συντριβῇ τὴν κάραν, ὅταν μάχηται, ἐπὶ πλέον λυττᾷ, καὶ μαίνεται.
[154] Ταῦτα οὖν ἀκούσας ὁ ἀδελφὸς ἔφριξεν, καὶ τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ τοῖς ἴχνεσιν ἐπιθεὶς τοῦ Ἐπιστάτου ἔφη· Συγχώρησόν μοι, ὦ πάτερ, τῶν παρῳχηκότων μου πταισμάτων τὸ πέλαγος, καὶ περιτείχισόν με ταῖς σαῖς πρὸς τὸ Θεῖον προσευχαῖς, ἐπαγγελλόμενον ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν ποιήσασθαι διορθώσεως ἀπαρχήν. Ἕνεκεν γὰρ τούτου παρεγενόμην πρός σε, ἵνα τοὺς ἐμοὺς ἀποκαλύψω σοι λογισμοὺς, οὓς οὐκ ἀπέκρυψεν ἀπό σου ὁ τῶν κρυφίων ἐταστὴς Θεός. Παρακαλῶ τοίνυν μικρὸν ἰδιάσαι σὺν ἐμοὶ, ἵνα σὺν Θεῷ καὶ πάλιν ἀπ᾽ ἐμοῦ μαθὼν, ἀποδιώξεις αὐτούς. Ὁ δὲ μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἰδιάσας, καὶ γνοὺς ὃν ἔσχεν ὁ μαθητὴς σατανικὸν πόλεμον, καὶ τὰς ἐνθυμήσεις τὰς πονηρὰς, ὡς σοφὸς ἐθεράπευσεν ἰατρὸς ταῖς ἑαυτοῦ εὐχαῖς τε καὶ πνευματικαῖς βοηθείαις, καὶ μεθ᾽ ἡμῶν εἰς τὸ κελλίον ἀπέλυσεν αὐτὸν, σῶον καὶ ὑγιῆ. Τὴν τελείαν δὲ αὐτοῦ θεράπειαν ἀνήγγειλεν ἡμῖν ὁ ἀδελφὸς, καθομολογῶν τῷ Θεῷ χάριν καὶ τῷ ὑμετέρῳ Ἐπιστάτῃ. Ὕστερον δὲ μεθ᾽ ἡμέρας ὀλίγας λαβὼν μήνυσιν παρὰ τοῦ Ἐπιστάτου, ἐπὶ τὴν Ἁγίαν ἀνεχώρησε πόλιν. Ἐν αὐτῇ δὲ μικρὸν αὐτοῦ διαποιήσαντος χρόνον, ὡς ἔφη ἡμῖν ὁ Ἐπιστάτης, συνηγμένοις παρ᾽ αὐτῷ· ἴδον ἔτι τὸν σκοτεινὸν δράκοντα ἐκεῖνον, τρέχοντα κατόπισθεν ἐκείνου τοῦ ταπεινοῦ ἀδελφοῦ, κᾀυτὸν ἐφθακότα, καὶ ἀλγηνῶς τετρωκότα· εὗρε γὰρ αὐτὸν μονωθέντα τῆς ποιμενικῆς προστασίας, ὡς λύκος πρόβατον ἐν ἐρήμῳ πλανώμενον. Ταῦτα οὖν τοῦ Γέροντος εἰπόντος, μετ᾽ οὐ πολλὰς ἡμέρας ὁ ἀδελφὸς ἐκεῖνος εἴχετο ποῤῥωτάτης ὁδοῦ, ἣν πρόην ἔσχε κατὰ νοῦν, κᾀκεῖσε χρονίως διέμεινεν, ἕως τῆς τῶν τῇδε τοῦ Γέροντος μεταστάσεως, μεθ᾽ ἣν παρεγένετο, πῶς, καὶ ποίαν πολιτείαν, οὐκ οἶδα· ὁ Θεὸς οἶδεν, ὁ ἐμβατεύων καρδίας, καὶ νεφροὺς, ᾧ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. Αμήν.
[155] Φύματα ἐν τοῖς ὤμοις καὶ ἐν τῷ αὐχένι τοῦδε τοῦ ἁγίου Γέροντος ἐφύησάν ποτε οὐ μεγάλα, καὶ τούτων κατεφρόνει σεμνυνόμενος, ἐφ᾽ οἷς ἡ σὰρξ ἐδαμάζετο. Ἰδόντες δὲ αὐτὸν οἱ πατέρες διακείμενον οὕτως, ἱκανὰ προβάλλοντες δυσωπήματα ἔπεισαν αὐτὸν περιποιήσασθαι αὐτά. Πεισθέντος δὲ αὐτοῦ, καὶ τοῖς τῆς ὑπακοῆς ὑπείξαντος θεσμοῖς, ἐσχόλαζεν αὐτῷ τις τῶν πατέρων Σύρος ἔμπειρος, δίς τῆς ἑβδομάδος ἢ τάχα καὶ τρὶς χρίων φαρμάκοις δριμυτάτοις τὰ φύματα. Ἐν μιᾷ δὲ τῶν ἡμερῶν ἐκείνων τοῦτου περιποιουμένου τὸν Γέροντα, ἐμοῦ παρόντος, εἰσέρχεταί τις μοναχικὸν περιβεβλημένος σχῆμα· ἦν γάρ ποτε καθίσας ἐν τῇ μεγίστῃ ἡμῶν Λαύρᾳ, καὶ ἐσχολακὼς οὐχ ἅπαξ τῷ Γέροντι· ὃν θεασάμενος, κλίνας τὴν κεφαλὴν κατεφίλησε τὰς χεῖρας, καὶ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ. Ἀντασπασάμενος δὲ αὐτὸν ὁ Γέρων, ἐπυνθάνετο λέγων· Ποῦ τὸν τοσοῦτον καιρὸν διῆγες; Οὐ γὰρ ὤφειλες ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ χρονίσαι μοναστηρίου ἐκτὸς, ἐπειδὴ καθάπερ ὁ ἰχθὺς, ἔξωθεν τοῦ ὕδατος χρονίζων τελευτᾷ· οὕτω καὶ ὁ μοναχὸς, ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ βραδύνων, νοητὸν ἀποθνήσκει θάνατον, οὐχ ἥττονα τοῦ φυσικοῦ· ὃν καὶ σὺ πέπονθας ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ περιπεσὼν ἁμαρτίαις, καὶ βραδέως τραυματισθεὶς καὶ ἡμιθανὴς, μᾶλλον γὰρ ὁλοθανὴς γεγονώς. Μαρτυρῶ γὰρ ἐνώπιον τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ πάσης τῆς κτίσεως, ὅτι κακῶς ἐβιώσω τὸν καιρὸν τοῦτον ἔνθα ἦς.
[156] Ὁ δὲ ἀδελφὸς ἀρνούμενος, ἔφη· Τὸν καιρὸν τοῦτον παρῆλθον οὐ κακῶς· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐβλάβην, καίπερ χρονίσας τῆς Λαύρας ἐκτός. Ὁ δὲ Γέρων, Πνεύματος ἁγίου ἐμπλησθεὶς, ἔφη πρὸς αὐτὸν ἑλληνιστὶ, τὴν ὄψιν ἔχων ἴσην ταῖς τοῦ ἡλίου μαρμαριγαῖς· Τί ἔνι, ταπεινὲ, καὶ τρισάθλιε; Οὐκ ἤρκησέν σοι τῶν φορτικῶν σου πλημμελημάτων ἡ πληθύς; Ἀλλὰ θέλεις ἐπεισάξαι βάρει βάρος ἕτερον, μὴ ἐξομολογούμενος τὰς ἁμαρτίας σου, μηδὲ εἰς μετάνοιαν ἐρχόμενος; Τί πεποίηκας, εἰπέ μοι, ἐν τῇ πόλει τῇδε; καὶ τί πέπρακας ἐν τῷ χωρίῳ τῷδε; καὶ τίνα τὰ πεπραγμένα σοι ἐν τῇ κώμῃ τῇδε; Τὰ σαπρὰ ὄντως, ἐπήγγειλα ἂν, ὅσα εἰργάσω φαῦλα· εἰ μὲν καλῶς οἶδα τὴν ἀσθένειαν, ἣν ὁμοίως περίκειμαι κᾀγὼ, ὥσπερ καὶ τὰ ὀνόματα τῶντε πόλεων καὶ τῶν χωρίων. Ὁ δὲ ἀδελφὸς, λίαν αἰδεσθεὶς, ἐκπλήξει τε, καὶ φόβῳ συσχεσθεὶς, ἐγονυπέτησε, τῶν πταισμάτων αὐτοῦ ποιούμενος τὴν ἐξομολόγεσιν, καὶ τὴν τῶν εὐχῶν τοῦ Γέροντος χορηγίαν αἰτούμενος, καὶ σωφρονεῖν τὸ λοιπὸν παρεγγυώμενος. Ὁ δὲ Γέρων πολλὰ παραινέσας αὐτὸν, καὶ εὐλογήσας, ἀπέλυσε δοξάζοντα τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ τὴν αὐτοῦ θεάρεστον ἀρετήν.
Leontius having fallen into slothfulness from bodily infirmity, But I now begin another narration for you, not inelegant, nay of such a kind as to demonstrate the heavenly and spiritual mind and affection of this Elder, his arduous virtue, and the grace largely poured into him by God, and as it were to exhibit it to be beheld with the eyes: for he was always present to his disciples, embracing them with fervent spirit and care, having their salvation uniquely at heart, and assiduous in the prayers undertaken for their sake; nay even when he was absent in body, he yet had their life clearly perceived: nor do I bring this forward by simple testimony, but taught by most certain experience through myself. For when I lived under the discipline of this Saint together with certain others, a huge languor of body drained my strength, while I dwelt in a cell far from the Elder's hesychasterion; so that for very many days I performed of the nocturnal canon with my fellow-disciples not more than a part, either the half, or, at most, perhaps two thirds: for from much weakness there crept in sloth and idleness, overcome by which I frequently cast myself on the ground, not to take sleep, but to catch a little breathing and rest. But, gradually seized by sleep and wholly snatched away, I slept, until my brethren, about dawn, the time of the first morning hour now pressing, awoke me. But sometimes, the memory of prayer inwardly instigating my mind, and goading the weakness by which I was held, and the irregularity, I awoke of myself: by which evils indeed I was much anguished and grieved, especially when sloth and torpor came on and I had performed the nocturnal psalmody neither wholly, nor in the manner that was fitting, as one of the more comfortable and remiss novices; since I well knew that by sloth and indulgence of the body the extreme destruction and ruin of the soul is fetched.
[144] It happened therefore in those days, in summer time, that I fell asleep in a light place, on my poor little bed, after I had sung with the brethren two of the three parts of the canon; he assists by night in spirit, then was roused by my thoughts to complete what remained; and again, broken by slothfulness, was sunk, as I was wont, in deep sleep. I had scarcely slept one hour or a little more, when I see a man altogether horrible and terrible, and plainly striking, enter through the very narrow door of the cell, which was opposite me,
and approach me. When I had beheld him, my eyes being opened, I wholly awake, and immediately recognize my beloved and truly holy and benign Master: for he stood at my feet, carrying his sacred staff, which was formed in the manner of a cross a, and, his cloak drawn tight and cast over his shoulders, and contemplating me with a grave brow, and by his very appearance almost shaking sleep from me, and forbidding me to take it the whole night, and, on account of the folly and sloth now implanted and dominant in me, like one angry. Yet he said nothing to me, but silent, and showing a somewhat sad countenance, stood by; as neither did I bring forth against him any word: for I thought that he had come from his cell for this, to rouse me from my lethargy and drive me to rise: and I did not even bow my knee to him, as the custom bore; so great was the blushing and shame with which I was suffused.
[145] Yet immediately rising from sleep, I stood a little from my bed toward the east, and animates him to continue the canon interrupted by sleep: and began the canon of divine praise, according to the will and command of the Elder shown to me, and also because I hastened to be freed from the care of that office, especially since the dawn now appeared, and foretold the sunrise: for I feared lest, when the brethren had risen, they should call me to perform with them the first prayers of the day. When the holy Elder noticed me so eagerly discharge the whole office of the nocturnal psalmody, together with the accustomed genuflections, coming nearer, he stood on my right, leaning on his most holy staff, the former sadness being changed into gladness and joy and cheerfulness; and he gave me courage, and impelled me as I strove, sharpening my diligence by his various appearance. And so with this fervent zeal, and huge effort, diligently and patiently both singing and praying, and having my eyes, whether I bent my head this way or that, always fixed on the master, so near to me on the right that he rubbed my garments, together with the hymn Trisagion b and its prayer c I completed my whole canon, before the sun had risen.
[146] But the Master, when he saw me begin the last prayer of the canon, and at its end he disappears; very glad, prepared to withdraw through the little door of the cell, feigning that he was returning by the way he had come; to whom I, solicitously attentive, thought to pass over the begun prayer out of desire to meet him; but when I hoped to catch him within the door, I restrained myself until I had run through the whole prayer which I had in hand: which being completed, I ran after him, kindled with unadvised penance, blushing before God and the Master, because he had come to rouse me, roused from the deep sleep into which I had fallen; and I had shown him no reverence, cast at his feet, as was the custom, whereby indeed I betrayed how ungrateful I was, and how dull of mind. Whence, desiring to extinguish the ardor of penitence, I surveyed the cell in every direction, and, no one being found, I ran to the door. O unfortunate thing! I found it well bolted. Uncertain and anxious what to do, I awoke the brethren, questioning each; whether they had seen the Master; But I heard from them nothing else than: Neither for many days has the Master appeared here, nor do we know whether he has come here at all: he keeps himself in his hesychasterion, as you yourself also know. You have troubled us, brother, and startled us suddenly, when you so seek our Master.
[147] But I, much more amazed at these things, opened the mystery of the vision to none of them; [and to him coming the next day he declares that he knows the secrets of his disciples;] but, the first prayer of the day being performed with them, immediately and quickly I hastened to the Elder in the hesychasterion, all things being set aside. And the accustomed signal being given, he opened the door, and, the prayer Our Father being recited, sitting, bids me sit by, and smiling says: Why have you come hither now, son? To whom I, when I had been dumb a little: When did you come into the cell, Father; and when did you return? He answers, full of joy: Believe me, son most beloved in spirit, I did not depart from the hesychasterion in body, although in spirit I was present to you, as you saw. Do not henceforth neglect your salvation, do not neglect it, son, thinking that anything which pertains to you lies hidden from my humility: for although indeed to the truth alone in itself even unknown things are known; yet these too he lays open to us through grace, not for our merits, but for your salvation. Whence nothing at all escapes me of those things which you do. Nay rather, if I wished to tell all your secrets, by God's help I could. But since I do not wish to reprove and confound you, I do not divulge yours: for I too am a man subject to the same passions equally as you, suffering the same infirmity.
[148] I will tell you another thing, since you are my disciple, and it befits a master to confide certain things to his disciples with moderation. and especially at the time of the Sacrifice to be taught of hidden things: It happens to me frequently that, at the time when I make the mystic oblation, I could relate and tell and bring forth one by one all the affairs of very many of the Fathers who are in the Laura, if I had a mind. Go now therefore; and carry the glad news of this matter to your fellow-disciples, concealing nothing, but making plain in what manner you have seen me: since they too labor with hard faith, likewise as you: yet hold for certain that I had need to open this to you; for both for you and for them an account will be exacted from me in the dreadful day of judgment, when the Lord of glory shall come to judge the living and the dead, and to render to each his due, according as he acted in life; who also fulfills the will of all who ask him in truth, distributing to each both the best things and the most profitable: for often, when either I had been asked by someone, or had myself begged of the Lord by familiar prayer the revelation of secret things through the unbloody sacrifice of the Mass, I did not depart ignorant of the thing sought, when I had invoked him with these chaste sighs: Lord, arbiter of hearts, who beholdest the mind of men, who knowest all things before they are done, if it be pleasing to thee and good in thy sight, make me understand what I ask of thee; for thou canst do all things, and nothing is impossible to thee. Believe me, most faithful son, whatever at last is expedient and salutary, I have obtained from him, as it did not lie hidden from you, when a few months ago you asked about your aunt, nor from many others.
[149] Struck and goaded by huge admiration of these things, I began to weave a web of praises, of which matter, however, there is no praise for himself; and to set crowns of praises on the sacred head of the Elder, rendering glory through hymns to God and thanks. But he, with gentle words and modest prudence: Why do you wish, he said, to praise me undeservedly, son; the praise is not mine, but God's, who works all things in all, the father of lights, and the bestower of good things: for what I have so often said, the same I say even now, nor will I cease to say, that to God alone belong the hymn, and praise, and admiration, and all glory and honor, who does great and wonderful things, of whose greatness not only the partakers of a rational nature are eloquent heralds; but even those void of understanding and sense, and which received from him both that they are and that they were: for as praise is attributed not to the lyre, but to the lyre-player, as one who, from a thing lacking sense and dead, tried with most skillful fingers, draws out a musical concert and a modulated harmony, and delights the hearers with a most sweet sound; nor indeed do the musical instrument, the strings, the pegs, the yoke or plectrum bear the reward; but he who skillfully used these, and stirred up with them a pleasant melody; (since even without musical instruments a singer can neatly modulate both lyric and tragic songs:) so of God alone are the praises and heralding proper; nor do they pertain to me, who am indeed a dry and dead and barren wood, and full of bitterness.
[150] Suppose some king, who, having called together his whole army and the promiscuous people, but as to a king beneficent to his own through his ministers, it is due to God. wishes to bestow gifts, and to affect his subjects with honors: when he has sat on the royal throne, let him bid the purses be opened, then from the infinite and innumerable multitude standing by, its eyes fixed on him alone, let him appoint certain distributors called to him. Come, upon whom will the giving of thanks and the praises fitly fall? Upon those to whom through grace the distribution was committed; or upon the lord and king of all, who has given all things, and entrusted to them by prudent reasoning the partition? Will you at last say that honor is owed altogether to these? For although they too are praised in proportion to the favor granted them, yet the praise is proper to the king: since all the glory of those who are exalted through the grace done to them returns properly to him who is worthy of it by nature. Add that the grace which is divinely conferred on me is not granted to me, a sinner, and stripped of all virtue and honesty of life; but to the religious and faithful conscience of those who repose confidence in me, and in this holy habit, which by my sins I have made useless. For it happens, it truly happens, that the divine grace acts and breathes even in the unworthy, not for their sake, but for the profit of those who have recourse to them: so that he who adorns me, unworthy, with such eulogies for such things, offends against equity. And so let him who glorifies, glorify God; let him who praises, praise him; let him who gives thanks, give them to him to whom belong honor, and glory, and thanksgiving forever. Amen. Looking up therefore here too to his deep humility and piety, and keeping with me words worthy of the pen, I departed, glorifying God, and venerating his divinely inspired doctrine and grace, from which the divine power concealed none of those things which pertained to our hidden conduct as disciples: which is plain both from the narration adduced and from that just now to be adduced.
[151] Leontius, for a hidden quarrel with a brother I once quarreled, I and another disciple, and we cut one another with contumelious words, being both weak: but yet the contention held a short time: for it was a flame which, as it had blazed up, was extinguished, and a sudden fervor which grew quiet by the spiritual dew of fraternal love, through the prayers and intercessions of the Master, powerful with God, to whom, being reconciled, and peace made on both sides, together with the rest of our fellow-disciples we went, to receive his salutary exhortations toward the Saturday evening, desiring also to celebrate the vigil of the holy Lord's day with the fathers. When it was now come to him, and we had sat down to hear his precepts, he begins to teach and admonish us concerning charity: but when he noticed us attending drowsily to his wise discourses, being vexed he said: How long, O wretched and most unhappy of all, will you labor d with a twofold ignorance, forgetful alike of your life and salvation, thinking that what you do lies hidden from me? If you wish, I too will triumph over your secrets,
of all, of which passing over much in my zeal, lest I confound you, I bring forward some part for your profit.
[152] he reproves them publicly. Having thus spoken, his finger pointed at me, he thus addresses the rest of the fellow-disciples: That wretched and most unfortunate man quarreled today with that wretched and unhappy one who sits near him as neighbor, and they assailed one another with mad taunts and reproaches: for that one was assailed by this and this; but this one was overcome by this and this; but another had such and such a thought; and, declaring each one by one, he reproved them before all. Nay, he was doing so as if he were now about to bring forward much more into the midst; but he seemed overcome by compassion, when he thus subjoined: I will pray the Savior for you, my beloved sons, who for the life and salvation of the world bore alike the cross and death, that he would keep our souls from all satanic snares and assault. And having said these things, he lifted his hands to heaven, and, having prayed well for us, dismissed us to the temple, armed with the sign of the venerable cross. We, departing with much compunction, completed the vigils with the fathers, glorifying God, and revering the virtue of the Elder.
[153] When at another time I and two others of the disciples were going to the hesychasterion to the Master, He learns of the grievous temptation of another in a nocturnal vision, to hear his precepts full of heavenly light, we sat down after our custom; and as we hung upon his mouth, he thus addressed one of those who were with us: What is the cause, son, that, infested by satanic thoughts, you have thus far signified nothing to me? But he, delaying a while: Pardon, he said, O Father; and pray for me. To whom the elder: Say, come, the thoughts which you have in your mind, that I may bring a remedy to them, God helping: for during my rest, after the canon of the nocturnal psalmody, I saw a huge and black dragon, with bloody eyes breathing slaughter, rushing upon you, and with gaping jaws threatening to swallow you; and I saw you bitten and sucked, and at first indeed not imploring my help, though I was near; but afterward, terrified, and near to being slain by it, which now held you, uttering pitiable cries as a suppliant and saying: Reach out your hand to me, Master; reach out your hand, and forestall me, before I die, and snatch me from the most ferocious beast pursuing me. But I, when I heard your prayers, pricked by the goad of compassion, rose, and, snatching a most fit instrument which fell into my hands, seasonably inflicted a wound on it, yet not deadly; not that I would not do it; but because, having received the stroke, fleeing me, it immediately crept into its den and disappeared, leaving me a most bitter grief, because I had not crushed its most pernicious head: wherefore I fear lest, by trying to kill it, I have made it more savage against you: for as a lion rushing into a flock of sheep, if it be vigorously driven off by the shepherd, comes forth more ferocious, and, driven into rage, snatches away the sheep; so also that beast, the spiritual one, while its head is not crushed, while it is provoked, kindles its wrath and rages much more uncontrollably.
[154] The brother shuddered hearing these things, and his face cast down at the master's feet: [and then indeed he heals him confessing; but a little after sees him again in peril.] Spare, he said, me, O father; take away the ocean of my past faults, and surround me with your prayers to God as with walls; since I promise to bring forth henceforth the fruit of correction: for I came to you for this very thing, that I might open to you my thoughts, which God, the searcher of secret things, willed not to lie hidden from you. I beseech you therefore, deal a little with me, the witnesses being removed, that, understanding them again by divine help, even from me, you may drive them away. Then he, withdrawing apart with him, and not ignorant of what war of Satan, and what depraved motions of soul the disciple sustained, checked them, as an experienced physician, both by his prayers and by spiritual aids; and sent him back with us safe and sound to the cell. And the brother announced to us his perfect healing, referring the received grace to God and to our President. Then, when it had been so signified to him by the Master, after a few days he betook himself into the Holy city. Nor indeed had he been there long, when the Master said to us, gathered before him: I saw again that black dragon pressing on the footsteps of that unhappy brother, and overtaking him and miserably devouring him: for it found him destitute of pastoral protection, as a wolf a sheep wandering in the desert. Not long therefore after the Elder had said these things, that brother took up the very long journey which he had before in mind, and there remained until the Elder's death; after whom he returned, by what means, or by what norm of living, I know not; God knows, who searches hearts and reins, to whom be glory forever. Amen.
[155] There had once arisen to the holy Elder over his shoulders and neck swellings, He reproves a monk for a life ill led outside the monastery: which, when, dissembling, he despised them, altogether ruined his body. The Fathers, when they saw him thus affected, at length by continual prayers persuaded him to apply some remedy to this evil. When he complied and composed himself to the laws of obedience, a certain Syrian of the fathers, an experienced man, bestowed his labor on him, who twice or thrice a week anointed the tumors with most biting medicines. But it happened in those days, when this man was curing the Elder, I being present, that a certain man entered clad in monastic habit: for he had once dwelt in the greatest Laura, and had been present more than once at the Elder's instructions; whom, when he beheld, his head bowed, he kissed his hands and feet: the Elder salutes him in turn, then thus questions him: Where have you stayed so long a time now? for it did not befit you to cling outside the monastery so long in the world: because as a fish, if it be long detained out of the waters, dies; so a monk, if he draw out delays in the world, incurs a spiritual death, no less grievous than the natural: this you too have suffered, fallen into so many sins among secular men, and long since wounded and half-alive, nay plainly dead: for I call the Lord to witness, and whatever is created, that you lived ill during the time you were there.
[156] But the brother, denying it, answered: That time was not ill passed: for I suffered no damage, although I was very long absent from the Laura. to him denying it, he enumerates the several sins. Then the Elder, filled with the Holy Spirit, and his face gleaming like the sun: What is this, he said, addressing him in Greek, wretched and most unhappy? Was the multitude of your so grievous crimes not enough for you? Do you wish to add burden to burden; neither confessing your sins, nor returning to penance? Tell me; what did you commit in that city? What in that region? Then what things were perpetrated by you in that village? Foul things indeed I have just told, whatever crimes you have committed; since I know well the infirmity to which I too am equally subject, just as the names of the cities and places. But the brother, greatly blushing, and seized at once with amazement and dread, fell at his knees, made confession of his sins, begged the aid of the Elder's prayers, and promised to conduct himself better henceforth. But the Elder, having again exhorted him much, and imparted a blessing, dismissed him, celebrating God, and the virtue received from God, with deserved praises.
ANNOTATIONS OF D. P.
* Here there seems to be wanting ἐγὼ δὲ.
CHAPTER XIII.
Inspired by the Holy Spirit, he exhorts his disciples to compunction, and to attention and fervor in prayer and psalmody.
Ἄλλοτέ τινων ἐκ τῶν πατέρων ἐν σαββάτῳ περὶ τρίτην ἢ τετάρτην ὥραν τῷ θεοφόρῳ Γέροντι παρακαθημένων, καὶ τῶν ψυχωφελῶν αὐτοῦ ῥημάτων ἀκροωμένων, ὀλίγον συνακούσας,
τινὰ χρείαν ἐν τῷ σπηλαίῳ ποιῆσαι ἀνέστην· ἐν τοῖς σπηλαίοις γὰρ τοῦ Καλαμῶνος διετρίβομεν;, Τεσσαρακοστῆς τότε οὔσης· Ὡς οὖν ἐνήργουν, θεοπνεύστου χάριτος αἰσθανθεὶς ὁ Γέρων ἐν ἑαυτῷ πνευούσης καὶ λαλούσης, ἐφώνησέ με λέγων· Λεόντιε ταπεινὲ, δευρ᾽ ἴθι, καὶ κάθισον παρ᾽ ἐμοί. Ἐγὼ δὲ, Ναὶ, πάτερ, ἰδοὺ ἔρχομαι, ἔφην. Ὁ δὲ πάλιν μετ᾽ ὀλίγον ἐφώνησεν· Ἐλθὲ ἐκεῖθεν, Λεόντιε ταπεινὲ, καὶ τὸ αὐτὸ τρίτον ἔφη· Ὠς λέγω σοι, ἐλθὲ ἐκεῖθεν, Λεόντιε ταπεινὲ, καὶ ἐλεεινὲ, καὶ ἃ μετὰ χεῖρας ἔχεις ἀνόητα, ἄφες ἄρτι· οὐ γὰρ ἃ δύναμαι λαλεῖν, ἐπέρχεταί μοι καὶ πάντοτε· οὐ γὰρ ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ λαλῶν. Εὐθέως δὲ καὶ παραχρῆμα ὅσα εἴχον μετὰ χεῖρας ἀφιέμενος, ἁπῆλθον πρὸς αὐτὸν, καὶ θεωρῶ τὴν ὄψιν αὐτοῦ κατανύξεως, καὶ ἀγαλλιάσεως μεστὴν, καὶ οὐκ ἐοικυῖαν πυρὶ, οἵαν πλειστάκις εἶδον αὐτὴν ἐν τῇ ἐπιφοιτήσει τῆς θείας χάριτος ἐν αὐτῷ· εὐλαβείᾳ γὰρ τότε πολλῇ, καὶ φαιδροτάτῃ πρᾳΰτητι καθαγλαἳσμένη ἐφάνη μοι· ὅθεν νιφάδων ἀνετώτεραι, καὶ δροσερῶν ψεκάδων ἠρεμώτεραι, καὶ μαργαριτῶν λαμπρότεραι, καὶ παντὸς γλυκέως καρποῦ προσηνέστεραι ἀπὸ τοῦ γλυκεροῦ τούτου στόματος αὐτοῦ προΐεσαν αἱ θεοδίδακτοι παραινέσεις, καὶ διδαχαὶ τὸ βάθος αὐτῷ τῶν φρενῶν κιχάνουσαι, ἐξ ὧν ἠδυνήθην, καίπερ οὐ δοχεῖον διανοίας κεκτημένος καθαρὸν, μέρος τι καρπώσασθαι κατανύξεως, νύττον με ἐφ᾽ ἡμέρας ἱκανὰς σεμνῶς πολιτεύεσθαι, καὶ τὰς ἐμὰς ἁμαρτίας ὀδύρεσθαι, καὶ τῷ Θεῷ χαριστηρίους ἀναπέμπειν ᾠδάς.
[158] Καὶ ἄλλοτε ἐν ἑτέρᾳ Τεσσαρακοστῇ ἐν τοῖς Καστελλικοῖς σπηλαίοις ἐμοῦ συνόντος, ἔδοξέ μοι περὶ τὸ μεσονύκτιον ἀπὸ τοῦ σπηλαίου μου πορευθῆναι πρὸς αὐτόν. Ὁ δέ με κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν τῷ σπηλαίῳ αὐτοῦ πλησιάσαντα κατανοήσας, ὀξέως, οὐκ οἶδα πῶς, ἀποπέμπεται πρός με φωνήν, λέγουσαν· Λεόντιε, μὴ ἔρχου ἐπ᾽ ἐμὲ, μὴ ἔρχου, οὐκ ἄγω σοι ἀρτίως σχολήν· ταύτης οὖν τῆς φωνῆς ἀκούσας, ᾠήθην, ὅτι βλέπων ὀπτασίαν τινὰ, ἢ ἐν θεωρίᾳ ὢν ἐκώλυσέ με ἐλθεῖν πρὸς αὐτὸν, ὅπερ οὐ πεποίηκέ ποτε· καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ ἴδιον ἀνέκαμψα σπήλαιον, δοξάζων τὸν Θεόν.
[159] Ὁ θεοφόρος οὗτος Γέρων, ἀεὶ νουθετῶν τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ φοιτητὰς, τοῦ λέγειν οὐκ ἠτόνει· μιᾷ γὰρ τῶν ἡμερῶν ἐν ᾗ προσεληλυθότος αὐτῷ, ἤρξατο ἱερῶν διδαγμάτων βρύειν πηγὰς, λέγων· Πρόσεχε ἑαυτῷ, τέκνον, πρόσεχε ἑαυτῷ, καὶ τῆς αὐτοῦ μὴ ἀμέλει σωτηρίας, οὐκ ἔστιν γὰρ, οὐκ ἔστιν ὁδὸς μείζων τοῦ προσέχειν ἑαυτῷ καὶ καθαρῶς λατρεύειν Θεῷ ἐν σχήματι μοναχικῷ καὶ λογισμῶν γαληνότητι, καὶ ἀψευδεῖ τυπεινώσει, καὶ εὐλαβείᾳ ἀνυποκρίτῳ, καὶ τὴν ἀγάπην εἰλικρινῆ πρὸς πάντας φυλάττειν, καὶ σπλάγχνα συμπαθείας ἔχειν. Οὐ γὰρ δεῖ μόνον βλέπειν πρὸς ταύτην τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν· πολλάκις γὰρ ὑποκρίνεται, ἄσκεσιν δὲ ψευδῆ ἐπιδείκνυται, ἐντεῦθεν ἀνθρωπίνην θηρωμένη δόξαν, καὶ ἔπαινον· ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὰς ψυχικὰς κινήσειστε καὶ διαθέσεις, πρὸς τὰς ἐν κρυπτῷ τελουμένας ἀρετὰς, πρὸς εὐαρέστησιν τῆς θείας ἀγαθότητος· ὅταν γὰρ ταῦτα φυλάξει ὁ μόναχὸς, τότε πληρωθήσεται δηλαδὴ ἐν αὐτῷ ὁ τοῦ μακαρίου Συμεῶνος μακαρισμός.
[160] Αὐτοῖς τοίνυν τοῖς πράγμασι σπεῦδε, τέκνον, προσπελάζειν τῷ Θεῷ· μὴ μόνον τοῖς λόγοις ἐν ταῖς προσευχαῖς βαττολόγει, μή δε ψάλλων πρόσεχε τῷ πλήθει τῶν ψαλμῶν, ἀλλὰ τῇ σωφροσύνῃ τῶν λογισμῶν καὶ τῇ νήψει τοῦ νοῦ· οὐ γὰρ τῷ ἀριθμῷ τῶν ψαλλομένων, ἀλλὰ τῇ τοῦ ψάλλοντος συνειδήσει προσέχει ὁ Κριτής. Ὅταν τοίνυν παραστῇς προσευχόμενος, μὴ λογίζου ἑαυτὸν εἶναι ἐν τῇ γῇ, ἀλλὰ πτέρωσον τὸ σῶμα σὺν τῇ ψυχῇ, καὶ πετάσθητι, καὶ ὑπέρβηθι τὸν ἀέρα, τὸν αἰθέρα, τοὺς οὐρανοὺς, τοὺς ἀγγέλους, τοὺς ἀρχαγγέλους, θρόνους, καὶ κυριότητας, ἄρχας τε, καὶ ἐξουσίας, καὶ τὰς δυνάμεις ἐκείνας τὰς φοβερὰς, κατενώπιον δὲ τοῦ θρόνου τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ δοξολόγει αὐτὸν ἐν καθαροῖς ὕμνοις μετὰ φόβου καὶ τρόμου, ὅσον χωρεῖ ὁ σὸς νοῦς· εἰ μὴ γὰρ οὕτω ποιήσεις, οὐχ ἵλεον αὐτὸν καταστήσεις, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον αὐτὸν παροργίσεις, καὶ τὸν προφητικὸν ἐκεῖνον θρῆνον ἀκούσεις· Οὐαὶ τῷ ποιοῦντι τὸ ἔργον τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀμελῶς, ἅμα τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ λέγοντι· Οὐαὶ ὑμῖν, Φαρισαῖοι, ὑποκριταί.
[161] Ἔχε τοίνυν τὸν νοῦν σου, τέκνον, ὅλον γρηγοροῦντα καὶ νήφοντα· ἀντιποιοῦ δὲ τῆς ἀρετῆς, καὶ μὴ δῷς ἧτταν τοῖς πάθεσιν· εἰ γὰρ καὶ μὴ τοιοῦτοι πεφύκαμεν, καὶ οὕπω χάριν τοιαύτην εἰλήφαμεν, ὥστε ἔχειν ἡμᾶς ἀεὶ κεκαθαρμένην τὴν διάνοιαν, διὰ τὴν ἐπικρατήσασαν ἡμῶν ἀπροσεξίαντε, καὶ ἀμέλειαν, ἀλλὰ μὴ ἐμμείνωμεν, ἀγαπητὲ, μὴ ἐμμείνωμεν, ἀλλ᾽ ὑπὲρ τῆς τῶν παρελθουσῶν ἀμελειῶν ἀφέσεως τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ δεηθῶμεν Θεοῦ, καὶ πήξωμεν ἐναρέτου βίου ἀρχὴν, καὶ ἀντιστρατευσώμεθα τοῖς τοῦ διαβόλου πονηροῖς, ὑπουργοῖς ἤτοι λογισμοῖς, καὶ ὀργισθῶμεν αὐτοῖς· Τούτου γὰρ χάριν δέδωται ἡμῖν τὸ θυμικόν· καλῶς λοιπὸν χρησώμεθα αὐτῷ· Ὀργίζεσθε, φησὶ, καὶ μὴ ἁμαρτάνετε, ὁ θεοφάντωρ Δαβίδ. Ὀργίλως οὖν ἀντιστῶμεν, καὶ μὴ ὑποχωρήσωμεν τοῖς νοητοῖς ἡμῶν ἐχθροῖς, οἵτινές εἰσιν οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς διανοίας γεννώμενοι πονηροὶ λογισμοί· οἱ γὰρ οἰκειακοὶ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου εἰσὶν οἱ ἐχθροὶ αὐτοῦ, ὡς ὁ Δεσπότης φησίν· οὓς, εἰ θελήσομεν, ἐκ ῥιζῶν ἀποσπάσομεν, τὰ ἐναντία τοῖς ἐναντίοις ἐκτίλλοντες. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ μύλος ἀλήθει πᾶν τὸ ἐν αὐτῷ βαλλόμενον, σίτον, κριθὴν ἢ ὀρόβους, ἤ τι τῶν λοιπῶν χειρόνων, καὶ βελτιόνων· οὕτως ἐστὶ καὶ ὁ νοῦς μύλος ἀεικίνητος· ἐὰν γὰρ προφθάσας ἐμβάλῃς αὐτῷ καρποὺς ἀγαθοὺς, ἤτοι λογισμοὺς, ποιήσεις ἄλευρον καθαρόν· ἐὰν δὲ καρποὺς πονηροὺς, βρῶσιν συνάξεις φθορᾶς. Οὐκοῦν ἀεὶ νίκα τῷ ἀγαθῷ τὸ κακὸν, ὅπως ἰδών σε ὁ Θεὸς κατὰ τῶν ἰδίων ἀγωνισόμενον λογισμῶν, ἐξαποστελεῖ ἐπί σε τὴν χάριν αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὴν δωρεὰν, καὶ ἀνακαινίσει σε καὶ ὅλον ἐκτελέσει καθαρὸν, καὶ ἄρχοντά σε καταστήσει τῶν οἰκείων σου λογισμῶν. Κατὰ γὰρ τὴν ἀναλογίαν τοῦ πόθου σου, καὶ τοῦ κόπου, καὶ τῆς σπουδῆς ἐπιφοιτᾷ ἐπί σε. Διὸ ἀγωνίζου καὶ σπεῦδε, ἵνα τελείαν κτήσῃ αὐτήν.
[162] Τῶν δεδηλωμένων δὲ τῆς ψαλμῳδίας ὡρῶν μηδαμῶς ἀμέλει, μήδε τῶν ἀγρυπνιῶν, μάλιστα ἐπὶ τῶς πατέρων, τῆς ἁγίας κυριακῆς ἐπιφωσκούσης, ἐφεστάναι, τῆς ἐκκλησίας μὴ ἐξιὼν, χρείας ἀναγκαίας ἐκτός· ἐκεῖ γὰρ κομίζεται ὁ μοναχὸς κατὰ τὴν ἀναλογίαν τῆς καρτερικῆς αὐτοῦ σπουδῆς πάσης τῆς ἑβδομάδος τὸ βραβεῖον, καὶ τὸν ἀντάξιον στέφανον. Τινὲς γὰρ τῶν προλαβόντων πατέρων ἅγιοι καὶ ἀξιόπιστοι μεμαρτυρήκασι, λέγοντες, ὅτι μεγάλαις ἐπαναβαίνει προκοπαῖς καὶ ὑψηλαῖς ἀναβάσεσι ὁ τλημόνως ἐνιστάμενος ταῖς ἀγρυπνίαις τῆς ἁγίας κυριακῆς· καὶ τούτων τις μαρτυρίαν θαυμαστὴν καὶ ἔνδοξον ἐμαρτύρησε, λέγων· Ἐν τῇ καρτερικῇ βάσει τῆς ἁγίας κυριακῆς ἱστάμενος μετὰ τῶν πατέρων, ποτὲ πρὸ τῶν ᾠδῶν ἐν ταῖς ὥραις τῶν ἐπακουστῶν τοῦ ἁγίου εὐαγγελίου ἐν ἐκστάσει γίνομαι, καὶ θεωρῶ δύο ἀγγέλους λευχειμονοῦντας τοῦ ἱερατείου ἐξιόντας, καὶ τοὺς ἑστῶτας ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ πατέρας περιἳόντας, κατὰ τάξιν ἀκολούθως ἕνα ἕκαστον ἀσπαζομένους, καὶ εὐλογίας αὐτοῖς διανέμοντας· οἱ πάντα τὸν ναὸν ἐφεξῆς κυκλώσαντες, πάλιν εἰς τὸ ἱερατεῖον ἀνέκαμψαν, ὅθεν ἐξέβησαν, καὶ γεγόνασιν ἀφανεῖς καὶ ἕτερος τῶν συγκαθημένων ταυτηνὶ διαβεβαιούμενος τὴν ὀπτασίαν, ἴσην ἡμῖν διηγήσατο, λέγων· Ὅτι κᾀγὼ ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῖς καιροῖς, καθὼς οἶδεν οὗτος ὁ ὅσιος Πατὴρ, ἐν ἐκστάσει γεγονὼς, ἴδον πολιοὺς ἄνδρας ἱεροπρεπεῖς ἐκ τοῦ ἱερατείου προμολοῦντας, οἱ στεφάνους ἐν τοῖς κόλποις ἔχοντες, καθεξῆς τῶν εὑρεθέντων ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τότε πατέρων ἑνὸς ἑκάστου τὴν ἱερὰν κορυφὴν ἐστεφάνωσαν, καὶ οὕτω πᾶσαν διελθόντες τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἐπὶ τὸ ἱερατεῖον ἐπανῆλθον, καὶ ἀφανεῖς ἐγένοντο.
[163] Ἄλλος δέ τις μοναχὸς ξένος ὑπὸ μακρᾶς παραγεγονὼς γῆς, ᾤκησεν ἐν τῇ Λαύρᾳ ἡμῶν ταύτῃ, καὶ σχολάζων τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ καὶ ταῖς ἀγρυπνίαις σὺν τοῖς πατράσι καθ᾽ ἑκάστην κυριακὴν ἐδίσταζεν εἰς αὐτούς, καὶ κατέκρινε βλέπων αὐτοὺς ἐν ταῖς προειρημέναις ἀγρυπνίαις ὑπὸ τοῦ νυσταγμοῦ νικωμένους καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν κατακύπτοντας, καὶ, παρὰ βραχὺ καταπίπτοντας λέγων· Ἐπειδὰν οὕτως ἀγρυπνοῦσιν οὗτοι, οὐκ ὤφειλον ἀγρυπνεῖν· οὐκ ἔστι γὰρ χρεία τῆς ἀγρυπνίας ταύτης· οὗτος διηγήσατο ἡμῖν λέγων· Ἱστάμην ποτὲ ἐν τῇ ἀγρυπνίᾳ τῆς ἁγίας κυριακῆς δισταγμὸν ἔχων εἰς αὐτήν· Ὡς οὖν οὕτως ἤμην, ὑπὸ τοῦ ὕπνου ἁρπαγεὶς, ὁρῶ πολιόν τινα μοναχὸν ἱεροπρεπῆ, καὶ λίαν εὐειδῆ θύραθεν εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν εἰσιόντα, καὶ ἑνὶ ἑκάστῳ τῶν πατέρων παριστάμενον, κᾀυτὸν πραέσι λόγοις ἐξυπνίζοντα, ὃς παραστάς μοι τῷ δυσπίστῳ τρυχομένῳ βαρεῖ νυσταγμῷ, ἔφη· Ἀνάστα, ἄθλησον καὶ σὺ μετὰ τούτων τῶν ἀθλητῶν. Καὶ οὕτως εἰπόντος αὐτοῦ, ἐγὼ μὲν ἐξυπνίσθην· αὐτὸς δὲ γέγονε ἀφανής.
[164] Καὶ ταύτας μὲν ὁ ἅγιος γέρων Στέφανος τὰς πατρικὰς ἐξηγούμενος ὀπτασίας, τὴν ἡμετέραν ἐνουθέτει ἀχρειότητα. Ἑτέραν δὲ μαρτυρίαν παρ᾽ ἑτέρου τινὸς ἀξιοπίστου ἀκούσας περὶ τῆς αὐτῆς ἀγρυπνίας, οὐκ ἀπρεπὲς ἡγησάμην ἀκολούθως καὶ αὐτὴν ἀναγράψασθαι. Ἦν τις πρὸς ἡμᾶς μοναχὸς, μέγας ἡσυχαστὴς, ὀνόματι Ἰωσὴφ, τὸ γένος Ἐμεσινός. Ἐγένετο δὲ οὗτος ἐπίσκοπος θεάρεστος· ἔσχεν δὲ ἀδελφὸν ὀνόματι Θεόδουλον, περὶ τὴν μοναχικὴν πολιτείαν ἀμελῆ· οὐκ ἐκαρτέρει γὰρ τὸ παράπαν ἐν μοναστηρίῳ, ἀλλὰ χώραν ἐκ χώρας ἤμειβε, καὶ περιεπλανᾶτο· ἐπεσκέπτετο δὲ πολλάκις τὸν ἑαυτοῦ ἀδελφὸν, ἡνίκα δὲ διῆγεν ᾧδε, πρὶν ἢ ἐμπιστευθῆναι τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν, καί τινας ἡμέρας ὀλίγας πρὸς αὐτὸν πονήσας, σχολάζων τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ, πάλιν ἐπανίει. Οὗτος οὖν ἐπισκεψάμενος ποτε τὸν ἴδιον ἀδελφὸν, τὸν ἀββᾶν Ἰωσὴφ, κατὰ τὸ σύνηθες ἐσχόλαζε τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ, καὶ ἅμα τοῖς πατράσιν ἐξετέλει τὴν ἀγρυπνίαν. Ὡς οὖν ἵστατο, διανοούμενος καὶ λέγων πρὸς ἑαυτόν· Φεῦ, φεῦ τῆς ἐμῆς ματαιότητος! Ὅλον μου τὸν βίον ἀσώτως, καὶ ἀτάκτως βιῶ, οἱονεί τις ἀγύρτης, καὶ πλανήτης ἐκ τόπου τόπον ἀμείβων, καὶ μονῆς ἀνταλλάσσων μονὴν, καὶ ἀλόγως ζῶ, τὸν ἐμὸν ἀποκτηνώσας νοῦν, ἀπαραλλάκτῳ τῇ κτηνώδει ὡμοιώθην ζωῇ· ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως ἐσθ᾽ ὅτε καὶ τὰ κτήνη ἔχειν στάσιν, καὶ τοπικὴν σχέσιν· ἐγὼ οὐ μόνον τῆς θεοείδους ἀκτῖνος ἐμαυτὸν ξένον κατέστησα, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς ἀλόγους φύσεις ὑπερβὰς, οὐκ ἔχω βίου στάσιν, ἀχρειώσας τὸ μοναδικὸν σχῆμα. Καὶ ὤφειλον τέως τὸν βραχὺν καιρὸν, ὃν τῷ ἀδελφῷ μου παραμένω, νηφόντως τῆς ἐμαυτοῦ σωτηρίας ἐπιμελεῖσθαι, μάλιστα παραινούμενος, καὶ ταῖς ἀδελφικαῖς μου φωταγωγούμενος εἰσηγήσεσι καὶ νουθεσίαις· καρτερήσω κᾂν ἐν τῇ ἀγρυπνίᾳ ταύτῃ, καὶ μὴ ἀποστῶ τῆς ἐκκλησίας, ἕως ἂν ἀπολύσῃ.
[165] Καὶ οὕτως δρᾷν ὑπεσχημένος, φησὶ, πολλάκις ἐπολεμήθην τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἐξελθεῖν ἀναγκαίας ἄνευ σωματικῆς χρείας· ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ εἴξα τῷ δεινῳ πολεμήτορι, ἀλλὰ γενναίως ἀντέστη αὐτῷ ἐν τῇ θεοπρεπεῖ ἀγρυπνίᾳ ἐκείνῃ· ἐπιδραμούσης δὲ τῆς δυσμαχήτου ὥρας ἐκείνης τῶν ἐπακουστικῶν ὕμνων τοῦ ἁγίου εὐαγγελίου καὶ τῶν ἐφεξῆς, ὑπὸ γλυκέος ἡρπάγην ὕπνου, καὶ βλέπω δύο τινὰς ἀσπροφοροῦντας, καὶ τοῦ ἱερατείου ἐκδραμόντας, ὧν ὁ
μὲν εἶχε πρόχοον λευκὴν ὡσεὶ χιόνα, καὶ χειρόμακτρον ὑπὲρ τὸ γάλα λευκαῖνον· ὁ δὲ λεβήτιον ὑπέφερεν ἀργύρεον, ἐκλάμπρους ἀπαστράπτοντα μαρμαρυγὰς, ἀμφότεροι δὲ κατὰ τάξιν ὀρδίνως τοὺς εὑρεθέντας ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ πατέρας προετρέποντο νίψασθαι, εἶς μὲν ὑποκρατῶν τὸ λεβήτιον, ὁ δὲ ἄλλος ἐπιδιδοὺς ἀγλαώτατον χιοναῖον ὕδωρ, φωτὸς ἀποπέμπων αὐγάς· καὶ μετέπειτα τὸ χειρόμακτρον ἀπομάξασθαι· Τῶν δὲ πατέρων νιπτομένων, ἀπὸ μὲν τοῦ σπῖλος καὶ κηλὶς ὀλίγη λίαν ἀπεκλύζετο, ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ σμικρῷ πλεῖον· τὸ δὲ χειρόμακτρον δι᾽ ὅλων ἧλθεν ἄῤῥυπον τὰς χεῖρας αὐτῶν ἀπομάξαν. Ὅτε, διερχόμενοι τῆς ἱερᾶς τῶν ἀγρυπνούντων πληθύος, ἔφθασαν ἕως ἐμοῦ, τοῦ τάλανος καὶ ῥυπαροῦ, στυγνῇ καὶ πάνυ μετρίᾳ τῇ φωνῇ ἐφθέγξαντο πρός με λέγοντες· Καὶ σὺ νίψαι καὶ καθαρίσθητι, προτρεπόμενοι· Ἐγὼ δὲ τὰς ἐμᾶς μιαρὰς ἐξαπλώσας παλάμας, τῷ καθαρῷ ἐκείνῳ ἀπενιψάμην ὕδατι. Ῥύπος δὲ πολὺς καὶ ἄμετρος, καὶ δυσωδία λίαν ἀφόρητος ἀπεπτύσθη ἀπ᾽ ἐμοῦ, ἣν οὐκ ἐξίσχυσα φέρειν ἀμογητί· ἐξεφαίνετο γάρ μοι ἅπας ὁ ναὸς ἐσκοτωμένος, καὶ δυσωδίας ἀνάμεστος Ἐπὶ τούτοις οὖν ἐξυπνισθεὶς, ἄγαν ἔκθαμβος ἐγενόμην καὶ ἔντρομος, δοξάζων τὸν Θεὸν, τὸν μόνον ἔχοντα ἐξουσίαν ἀφιέναι ἁμαρτίας. Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν οὗτος ὁ ἀββᾶς Θεόδουλος ἡμῖν διηγήσατο. Ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ τὸ προκείμενον ἐπανέλθωμεν, πρὸς τὸ πέρας τὸν σκοπὸν ἐλαὺνοντες.
When at another time on the Saturday, about the third or fourth hour, certain of the fathers sat by the God-bearing Elder, [Suddenly by the inflowing of the Holy Spirit he is impelled to instruct his disciples:] and gave heed to his salutary discourses, after I myself had for a while attended with the rest, I rose to dispatch something necessary in the cave: for we were dwelling at that time, namely during Lent, in the caves of Calamon. As therefore I was intent on the work, the Elder, feeling the grace of God breathing in him and speaking, cried out to me, saying: Wretched Leontius, come hither, and sit here by me. But I: Very well, I said, Father; I will be present at once. But he a little after cries again: Hasten hither, wretched and unhappy Leontius; and says the same a third time: Wretched and lamentable Leontius, come hither, when I bid, and leave now the trifling things which you have in hand: for the things which I can now say do not always occur to me: for it is not I who speak. Immediately therefore, all things by which I was detained being set aside, I approach him, and behold his face overflowing with compunction and joy, no longer like fire, as I had very often seen it, the grace of God flowing in: for it seemed then to shine to me with much piety and most pleasant sweetness: hence, more abundant than falling snow, gentler than dripping dew, brighter than pearls, and sweeter than any savory fruit, the admonitions and precepts divinely delivered from that sweet mouth of his, which opened him a way to the inmost recesses of souls, flowed forth. Of which, although the receptacle of my mind was not thoroughly purged, yet it was permitted me to gather some part of compunction, which urged me for very many days to keep discipline in earnest, and to bewail my sins, and to sing thanks to God.
[158] Likewise at another time, when I was with him in the caves of Castellium during another Lent, at other times too he suffers divine things. it pleased me to run out from my cave to him about midnight: but he, when he perceived me on the way approaching nearer to his cave, suddenly, by what means I know not, sends this cry to me: Do not come to me, Leontius, do not come; I have not now leisure to deal with you. When I had heard these things, I conjectured that he had for this reason been unwilling to permit me to approach him (which he had never done), because either he was enjoying some apparition, or was fixed in contemplation; and, glorifying God, I retraced my way to my cave.
[159] Never did this divine Elder, while he was assiduous in admonishing his disciples, He exhorts his own to the zeal of solid virtues, remit anything of the earnestness of speaking: for on a certain day, when I had come to him, he began to send forth the fountains of sacred doctrine, saying: Attend to yourself, son; attend to yourself; and see that you cast not away the care of your salvation: for there is not, there is not a loftier way than to watch over oneself, and in the monastic habit, in a tranquil peace of cares, in humility not feigned, and sincere piety, to serve God chastely, to keep a genuine charity toward all, and to bear bowels of mercy: for one must not attend only to what appears outwardly; for that often deceives, and displays a spurious virtue, which in this life catches at the esteem and praises of men; but to the motions and affections of the soul, but to the virtues exercised in secret, but to the good pleasure of the divine goodness: for if a monk observes these things, then indeed it is not doubtful that the felicity of blessed Simeon is to be fulfilled in him.
[160] By those things therefore, son, strive to approach nearer to God; to the attention and fervor of prayer; do not insist only on heaping up words in prayer: nor, while you sing, attend to the multitude of the psalms, but to the continence of the thoughts and mind; because the Judge considers not the number of the things sung, but the conscience of him who sings. When therefore you stand before him to pray, do not think yourself to be on earth; but with your mind lift up your body, and by flight transcend the air, the ether, the heavens, the Angels, Archangels, Thrones and Dominations, Principalities and Powers, and those dread Virtues; and before the throne of his glory, with fear and trembling, as much as your mind can grasp, adore him with holy hymns: for unless you do so, you will not render him propitious, but rather provoke him to anger, and you will hear this mournful lament of the Prophet: Cursed be he who does the work of God negligently a, together with the Gospel saying: Woe to you, Pharisees, hypocrites.
[161] Be therefore, son, of a vigilant and sober mind: [to the continual mortification of the passions, and to occupying the mind with holy thoughts.] follow virtue, and do not succumb to lusts: for although we be not such by nature, nor have ever received such grace as to be always of a purified mind, since sloth and carelessness domineer over us; yet let us not delay in it, beloved, let us not delay; but let us pray off our past negligences before the excellent God, and begin to lead a life from virtue; let us resist the depraved suggestions of the devil, which namely he uses as ministers, and let us show ourselves angry at them: for to this end the faculty of being angry is implanted in us. But it must be used rightly: Be angry, says David the interpreter of God, and sin not. Let us therefore angrily resist, nor yield to our spiritual enemies, which are the evil thoughts rising up in our mind: for a man's enemies, as the Lord says, are those of his household; which, if we will, we shall root out utterly, plucking out contraries by contraries. For as a mill grinds whatever is put in, whether it be wheat, or barley, or vetch, or anything else worse or better; so our mind is a certain spiritual mill, and is perpetually turned: for if you promptly put grain into it, that is, good thoughts, you will make pure flour; but if evil grain, you will gather corrupt food. Overcome therefore evil in good, that, when God shall behold you fighting against your own thoughts, he may send down to you his grace and gifts, and renew you, and cleanse you wholly, and constitute you lord of your thoughts: for he will come to you in one way and another, according to the diverse reason of your desire, labor, and diligence. Strive therefore, and be busy about your affairs, that that reason may be in you as perfect as possible.
[162] But at the hours assigned to psalmody and vigils b, especially among the fathers, the sacred Lord's day being at hand, by no means neglect to be present at once, not going out of the temple, save for a necessary cause: for there the monk acquires the prize of the whole week and a crown answering to his noble endeavors. [to performing rightly the psalmody of the Lord's day; during which angels are seen to go round,] For some of the ancient Fathers, venerable for sanctity and authority, wished this to be attested, saying that he who patiently assists at the vigils of the holy Lord's day comes forth to virtue by great advances and lofty ascents. But wonderful and illustrious is that testimony which one of them delivers in these words: It happened to me, when I persevered in the constant frequenting of the holy Lord's day with the fathers, that at one time before the hymns c which are sung at the hours d to conciliate attention to the holy Gospel, I was rapt into an ecstasy; and I beheld two angels clothed in white garments, going out of the sanctuary, who went round the fathers standing in the temple, benignly saluting each in order, and distributing among them eulogiae e, who, the circuit through the temple being finished, returned again to the sanctuary, whence, having gone forth, they disappeared. But another of those sitting by, this apparition being confirmed, narrated to us a similar one in this manner: And I at the same times, as this holy Father knows, rapt into an ecstasy, saw grey-haired men, notable for a certain holy gravity, come forth from the sanctuary, who, having crowns in their bosom, in order crowned the sacred heads of the several fathers, as many as were then present in the temple; and thus, having gone through the whole church, they returned to the sanctuary, and vanished.
[163] Likewise another certain pilgrim monk, who had come hither from a far region, and the venerable Elder to rouse the drowsy. dwelt in this our Laura, and, being at leisure for the temple and vigils every Lord's day with the fathers, had begun to think ill of them, nay to condemn them, when in the aforesaid vigils he saw them overcome by sleep, and nodding toward the ground, and all but sinking down, thus arguing within himself: When these men so watch; what need was there for them to keep vigils? For such vigils are useless. This man narrated to us and said: I stood once at the vigil of the holy Lord's day, thinking not rightly of it; and so therefore I was disposed in mind, when, seized by sleep, I beheld a certain venerable monk, an Elder, and of a very liberal countenance, enter the temple from without, and stand by each of the fathers, and rouse them with gentle words; who, when he stood by me, oppressed with deep sleep: Rise, he said; and contend with these athletes; which when he had said, I indeed awoke; but he ceased to appear.
[164] And recounting these visions of the fathers, the holy elder Stephen instructed us, unprofitable as we are; A monk of remiss life is pricked by the same, but since I have heard also another testimony concerning the same vigils from another man worthy of faith, I thought it would not be foreign to the purpose if I here subjoined it. There was among us a certain monk, an eminent cultivator of solitude, by name Joseph, an Emesene f by nation. But this man was a bishop acceptable to God; and he had a brother, Theodulus by name, to whom the monastic discipline was little at heart: for he could by no means contain himself in any monastery; but a station
changing his station he wandered restless; but he visited his brother not rarely, when the latter dwelt here before the bishopric was entrusted to him; and for a few days laboring with him and frequenting the church, he returned again. This man therefore, visiting once his brother, father Joseph, betook himself to the temple after custom, and was present at the vigils together with the fathers: when he stood there, musing, he thus argued within himself: Alas, alas my vanity! I lead my whole life according to lust and disorderly; running from place to place, from monastery to monastery, like a certain wanderer or vagabond; nor am I led by reason, but, my mind growing brutish, I reproduce the incorrigible life of cattle: nay, cattle sometimes keep a certain fixed manner of acting, and an affection fixed to certain places; but I not only have gone far off in diverse directions from the ray of divine light, but, having passed beyond even the natures lacking reason, I have nothing stable in life, thus dishonoring the monastic form which I profess. And I ought certainly before now, at least for a while, while I stay with my brother, to have entered upon a diligent reckoning of my salvation, especially with fraternal examples and admonitions exhorting me and bearing the torch before me. Truly it is fixed for me now to persevere in this vigil, and not to move my foot from the church until an end be put to it.
[165] But after I had resolved to act thus, he said, I was very often induced to go out of the temple, no necessity of the body requiring it; yet I did not yield to the troublesome adversary, but resisted him in that sacred vigil with a huge spirit: and, bravely persevering, he sees an Angel minister water for washing the hands. but that hour being passed, which it is so difficult to endure, when the hymns preceding the holy Gospel are sung, and those which follow g, I am seized by a sweet sleep; and I see two men bearing white garments run out of the sanctuary; of whom one carried a water-vessel white like snow, and a towel whiter than milk; but the other bore a silver basin, emitting bright rays; and each, going by order h in succession, exhorted the fathers who were then in the church to wash, one indeed supporting the basin, but the other reaching most clear, snowy, and gleaming water, and then a towel with which they might wipe themselves. While the fathers wash, this one washed off the very little that was of defilement and filth, that one somewhat more: but the towel, when they had wiped their hands with it, became wholly clean. When they had now come to the sacred multitude of those keeping vigil, coming even to me, wretched and filthy, they address me with a somewhat sad and lowered voice, and exhort me, saying: Wash you too, and cleanse yourself. Then I, stretching out my impure hands, put them into that clean water; and I spat out very much and immoderate filth, and a stench so grievous that I could scarcely bear it: for the whole temple seemed to me to be darkened, full of a heavy exhalation. Thereupon awaking, I was shaken with huge fear and dread, proclaiming the glory of God, whose alone it is to forgive sins. And these things indeed that father Theodulus related to us. But let us return to the matter, and pursue our purpose to the end.
ANNOTATIONS OF D. P.
CHAPTER XIV.
Offices toward the neighbor; the sum of his exhortations; and his greatest compassion even toward brute animals, and even the vilest insects.
Στέφανος, οὗ ἕνεκεν ἡμῖν ὁ λόγος, ἡμᾶς οὐ μόνον τοὺς μαθητὰς ἐνουθέτει, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς προσερχομένους αὐτῷ ἔκτε τῆς μεγίστης ἡμῶν Λαύρας, καὶ πάντοθεν τῆς γῆς μοναχῶντε, καὶ λαἳκῶν προσερχομένων· ἐδίδασκε γὰρ ἐκ τῆς θεοσδότου αὐτοῦ σοφίας, καὶ γνώσεως χρήσεις προσφέρων γραφικάστε, καὶ διδασκαλικάς· ἐπὶ μνήμης γὰρ ἐφύλαττεν τὰ πλεῖστα ἐκ τῆς γραφῆς εἰ καί τις ἄλλος. Ἐθεράπευε γὰρ πάντας, καὶ ἰάσατο οὐ μόνον ἀπὸ ψυχικῶν παθῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ σαρκικῶν· χάριν γὰρ ἔσχεν ἡ σεβασμία αὐτοῦ θέα, καὶ κατάνυξιν πολλὴν, καὶ πραὺς ἦν ὁ λόγος αὐτοῦ τοὺς ἐναντίους εὐφυῶς ἀποδιώκων λογισμούς. Ἐμοῦ ποτε συγκαθεζομένου τινὶ τῶν πατέρων παρ᾽ αὐτῷ, τὸ χαριτόπνευστον αὐτοῦ καὶ σοφόβλυστον ἀνοίξας στόμα, τὸ λαλήσαν δικαιοσύνην, καὶ τὰ λόγια τοῦ Θεοῦ μελετήσαν, ἤρξατο κρουνηδὸν προσφέρειν ἱερὰς πανσόφους διδαχάς. Ἐμοῦ δὲ πολλῷ κινηθέντος πόθῳ, καὶ λαβόντος σχάρτην, καὶ κάλαμον, ἰδιαζόντως τοὺς σοφοὺς αὐτοῦ ἐντάξαι λόγους, ἐτράπη εἰς ἑτέρας χρήσεις προβαλλόμενος Πατέρων ἁγίων, καὶ λέγων οὕτως·.
[167] Ὁ πενθῶν ἑαυτὸν, ἀκηδίαν οὐκ οἶδεν· ἐν καιρῷ γὰρ ἀκηδίας οἱ βιασταὶ στεφανωθήσονται· οὐδὲν γὰρ οὕτως στεφάνους προξένει, ὡς ἀκηδία μοναχῷ ἑαυτὸν βιαζομένῳ. Ὁ μεριμνήσας ἔξοδον ψυχῆς τῆς ἑαυτοῦ, μυσάττεται κόσμον, καὶ ὡς σκύβαλα ἡγεῖται αὐτόν. Μακάριος μοναχὸς, ὡς πάσης ἀτιμίας καὶ ἐξουδενώσεως ἑαυτὸν ἄξιον λογίζεται. Μακάριοι οἳ πεινῶντες θλίψεις, καὶ διψῶντες ἀτιμίας, ὅτι κορεσθήσονται τρυφῆς ἀκορέστου. Ἀνὴρ σιωπητικὸς φιλοσοφίας υἱός· ὁ δὲ γλωσσώδης οὐ κατευθυνθήσεται ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Ὁ ἐπιγνοὺς παραπτώματα, ἐκράτησε γλώσσης· ὁ δὲ πολύλογος οὐκ ἐκφεύξεται ἁμαρτίας. Ἀκούσατέ μου, ἀκούσατε, πάντες οἱ κακοὶ, οἱ τὰ ἀλλότρια λογοθετοῦντες πλημμελήματα· Εἰ ἀληθὲς, ὡς καὶ ἀληθὲς, ὅτι ἐν ᾧ μέτρῳ μετρεῖτε, ἀντιμετρηθήσεται ὑμῖν· ὡς γὰρ ἐλεοῦμεν, ἐλεηθησόμεθα, καὶ ἐν ᾧ κρίματι κρίνετε, κριθήσεσθε· πάντως ἐν οἷς ἂν μεμψώμεθα τὸν πλησίον, ἐν αὐτοῖς περιπεσούμεθα, καὶ ἄλλως οὐκ ἕστιν, εἴτε σωματικοῖς, εἴτε ψυχικοῖς· αὐτὸ γὰρ τὸ πάθος πάσχουσιν, ἐν ᾧ τὸν πλησίον καταψέγουσι.
[168] Κόρος βρωμάτων πορνείας μητὴρ, ἐγκράτεια δὲ κοιλίας, ἀγνείας μητήρ. Ὁ μετὰ γαστριμαργίας καὶ κόρου τὸν τῆς πορνείας δαίμονα νικῆσαι φιλονεικῶν, ὅμοιός ἐστι τῷ μετὰ ἐλαίῳ σβεννύοντι ἐμπυρισμόν. Φεύγει ἰχθὺς ἄγκιστρον, καὶ φιλήδονος ψυχὴ ἀποστρέφεται ἡσυχίαν· Μὴ παρόντος φωτὸς, τὰ πάντα σκοτώδη, καὶ μὴ παρούσης ταπεινοφροσύνης τῷ μοναχῷ, τούτου ἡ ἄσκησις ματαιότης γίνεται. Ὁ τὰ ἔσω τεταπεινωκὼς, ὑπὸ χειλέων οὐ κλέπτεται· ὃ γὰρ οὐκ ἔχει ὁ θησαυρὸς, οὐ προφέρει ἡ θύρα. Ἐφ᾽ ὅσον ἡ ὀζωδία τῆς ἀκολασίας ἐστὶ φιλικῶς ἐμφωλεύουσα ἐν καρδίᾳ μοναχοῦ, ὀσμὴ μύρου ἀγνείας οὐκ εὐωδιάζεται. Τί ἐστὶ γαστριμαργία; Πορνείας μητὴρ, ὕλη διανοίας, ῥύπος σώματος. Τί ἐγκράτεια; Γαστρὸς χαλινὸς, ψυχῆς ἀνάψυξις, ἁγιασμοῦ πολίτευμα. Τί πορνεία; Λαιμαργίας κύημα, ἀναίσθητος λογισμὸς, ἀπογνώσεως ὁδηγὸς, καὶ καταγνώσεως χειραγωγός. Τί ἐστὶ σωφροσύνη; Ἀνδρείας στήλη, αἰσχρῶν λογισμῶν περιτομὴ, ἔργων ἔνεργος, καὶ ἐγκρατείας σύνεργος, καὶ ἀκόρεστος προσευχή. Τί φιλαργυρία; Εἰδώλων φιλία, ἀκόρεστος μανία, πολυμέριμνος κακία.
[169] Τί ἀκτημοσύνη; Φιλαργυρίας ἐκρίζωμα, ἀνεπίφθονος θησαυρὸς, ὀξύδρομος ἀγωνιστὴς, ἀμέριμνος βίος. Τί ἐστὶ λύπη; Ἀκηδίας σύμφυτος, αἰσχρῶν λογισμῶν κρατὴρ, σκώληξ σαρκός. Τί χαρά; Λύπης ὀλεθρία, ἱλαρότητος εὐφρασία, ψαλμῳδίας ἀγαλλίωμα. Τί ἐστὶν ὁργή; Νόσος γλώττης, πυρετὸς βράσσων, ὕβρεων δοχεῖον, μητὴρ θηρίων ἰοβόλων. Τί πάλιν ἀκηδία; Ἀτονία νοὸς, ψαλμῳδίας μίσος, τόπων ἐκ τόπου μετάβασις. Τί ὑπομονή; Ἀκηδίας διακοπὴ, θανάτου μέριμνα, σταυροῦ μελέτημα, καθηλωμένος πόθος, τυπτόμενος χρυσός. Τί κενοδοξία; Συντυχίας φαντασία, ἐπαίνων δουλεία, πολυσχημάτιστος βασκανία. Τί μακροθυμία; Φρονήσεως ὅπλον, σαγήνη ἀχείμαστος, λιμὴν σωτηρίας, ἐλπιζομένων ἔσοπτρον, κακοχουμένων βραβεῖον. Τί πάλιν ἡ περιφανεία; Πολύμορφος φαντασία, ἅλυσις τῶν κακῶν, τὸ τριφάρμακον κέρας τῶν παθῶν, καταλαλιᾶς ῥίζα. Τί ἐστὶ πλεονεξία; Ἄγγος φιλονεικίας, ἀληθείας ἐναντία, ἀγάπης ἐχθρὰ, πολυπραγμοσύνης ἀπληστία, αλαζονεία ψυχῆς.
[170] Ἀγαθὸς ὀ πλοῦτος τῶν ἀρετῶν, ἁδελφοὶ, σφαλερὰ δὲ ἡ ἁμαρτία,
καὶ ἄλλως οὐκ ἔστιν. Ἀειθαλὴς ὁ βίος τῶς ἀσωμάτων. Πκαῢς καὶ ἀνεξίκακος μοναχὸς ἐπιτεύξεται τῶν ἀκηράτων· Ἀὴρ μὲν σώματα τρέφει, συνετοὺς δὲ ἡ ἀρετή. Ἀρχὴ πράξεως ἀγαθῆς, τὸ γνῶναι τὸν Κύριον. Αὔλιζε ἐν τῇ γνώσει, καὶ πλησιάσεις Θεῷ. Ἀρετὴ ἔμφρονος συνίσταται, ἄφρονος δὲ καταλύεται. Βέβαιον οὐδὲν ἐν βίῳ, εἰ μὴ τὸ τῆς ψυχῆς κέρδος. Κέρδος μὲν ψυχῆς εὐσέβεια εἰς Θεόν. Βῆμα δικαστῶν ἐτάζει τοὺς ἄφρονας, συνετοὺς δὲ καὶ ἀπόντας δοξάζει. Βίος ἀνθρώπου ἐν τελευτῇ αὐτοῦ δείκνυται, πρὸ μὲν τελευτῆς οὐδὲν σταθερὸν ἐν βίῳ. Βουλεύου εἰρηνικὰ, καὶ σβέσεις τὰ πολεμικά. Γέλως ἀνθρώπῳ ἐκ μεταφορᾶς πένθεος; ἐν γέλωτι δὲ ἀσυνέτων μέμικται παρανομία. Γενοῦ φίλος διαπαντὸς, καὶ φεύξῃ κατηγορίαν. Γενοῦ δὲ ἀκριβὴς ἐν γλώσσῃ σου, καὶ οὐ δῷς τὸν βίον σου εἰς ὑστεροβουλίαν. Γένος ἐλευθέρων ἠσυχίαν ἀσπάζεται· βάλλει γὰρ πράγμασιν ἀνὴρ ἀπειράγαθος. Δίκας φεῦγε, κᾂν τὸ δίκαιον ἕξῃς· οὐ γὰρ τόσον τὸ κέρδος, ὅσον ἡ ζημία. Δόξα φιλοσοφούντων, ἡ τῶν καθυβριζόντων πέφυκεν ἀπαιδευσία. Οἱ μαθητευόμενοι τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν, παντοτε χρήσουσιν ὀλίγων τῶν προωδευκότων, ἕως ἂν ῥιζωθῶσιν εἰς τὸν φόβον τοῦ Θεοῦ.
[171] Ταῦτα δὲ καὶ πλείονα τούτων προσέφερε ὁ ἅγιος Στέφανος, ὑποδεινύων βίους πατέρων ἀξιομιμήτους, ἐγκελευόμενος ἡμῖν, καὶ λέγων· Ζηλωταὶ ἀεὶ γίνεσθε, ἀγαπητὰ τέκνα, τῶν ἐναρέτων ἀνδρῶν· ἄνδρας γὰρ οὐρανόφρονας ἐθεασάμην, μεθ᾽ ὡν ὑμῖν ἅμα σχοίην μερίδα καὶ κλῆρον ἐν τῇ τῶν οὐρανῶν βασιλείᾳ· Μέμνημαι γὰρ τῆς ἐνθέου ἐκείνων πολιτείας, καὶ σεμνότητος, ἤθουστε πρᾳέος, καὶ ἀκτήμονος καὶ ταπεινόφρονος· καὶ οὕτω σώφρονί τινι μανίᾳ πρὸς ἔρωτα τῆς μιμήσεως τοῦ βίου αὐτῶν ἐλαυνόμενος φέρομαι, καὶ σὺν ἐμοὶ σπεύδω τοὺς ἐμοὺς πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐφελκύσασθαι. Μεγάλοι γὰρ ἦσαν ἐρημίται, καὶ ἀσκηταὶ, καὶ ἄνθρωποι τοῦ Θεοῦ. Καὶ ἐν τοῖς μοναστηρίοις ἄλλους εἶδον τούτων οὐκ ἐλάττονας τὴν πολιτείαν· τοὺς πλείονας δὲ ἐν τῇ Μεγίστῃ ἡμῶν Λαύρᾳ, ἐν οἱς δύο τινες ἦσαν θαυμαστοὶ καὶ ἔνδοξοι, ὧν ὁ μὲν ἐκ μόνης τῆς θέας ὄμματι διορατικῷ τὸν βίον τοῦ ἀνθρώπου καὶ τὴν πολιτείαν ἐπίστατο· πολλάκις γὰρ ὑπὸ τοῦ πατέρων τῆς Λαύρας ἀσπαζόμενος, ὡς αἰδεσιμότητι κεκοσμημένος, οὓς μὲν τοῖς νοεροῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἐθεώρει τῆς ἑαυτῶν σωτηρίας ἀμελοῦντας καὶ κακῶς διάγοντας, αὐστηρῶς καὶ ἰταμῶς ἀπεστρέφετο, καὶ εὐχὴν ἀπαιτούμενος, ἔλεγε πρὸς αὐτούς· Αἱ πράξεις ὑμῶν εὔχωνται ὐπὲρ ὑμῶν· ἐναντιουμένων γὰρ τῶν ἔργων ὑμῶν, αἰ εὐχαί μου οὐδὲν ὠφελήσουσιν ὑμᾶς· ἐπιμελεῖσθε λοιπὸν ἑαυτῶν· οὓς δ᾽ αὖ κατὰ Θεὸν βιοτεύοντας ἐν σώφρονι βίῳ καὶ θεαρέσταις διαγωγαῖς ἐθεώρει, τούτους εὐμενῶς ἀντασπαζόμενος ἐπεθάρσυνε, λέγων· Καλῶς, καλῶς ἵστασθε· λοιπὸν σκοπεῖτε, μὴ πέσητε· ὑπομείνατε ἕως τέλους, ἵνα σωθῆτε· ὁ γὰρ ὑπομείνας εἰς τέλος, οὖτος σωθήσεται. Ὁ δὲ Θεὸς τῶν ἁπάντων στήριξαι ὑμᾶς, καὶ δοίη ὑμῖν χάριν, καὶ ὑπομονὴν εἰς πᾶν ἔργον ἀγαθόν.
[171] Ὁ δὲ ἄλλος γέρων ἦν ὑψηλὸς καὶ θαυμάσιος· οὗτος γὰρ προγνοὺς τὴν ἐνθένδε μετάστασιν αὐτοῦ, πρὸ πριῶν ἡμερῶν τῆς ἑαὐτοῦ τελευτῆς, καταβὰς ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ, καὶ εἰς πάντα τὰ ἐν τῇ Λαύρᾳ ἡμῶν κελλία εἰσεληλυθὼς, τοὺς πατέρας ἠσπάσατο, λέγων ἑκάστῳ· Βούλομαι ἐπὶ τὴν νεκρὰν θάλασσαν ἀπελθεῖν, καὶ μετὰ τριῶν ἡμερῶν διάστημα θεωρεῖτέ με. Οἱ δὲ νομίσαντες αὐτὸν ἀληθεύοντα περὶ αἰσθητῆς λέγειν θελάσσης, ἐξενίζετο δ᾽ ὅμως ἐπί τῷ ἀσυνήθει αὐτοῦ ἀσπασμῷ καὶ ἐπισκέψει ἐνὸς ἑκάστου κελλίου. Ὅλους οὖν τοὺς πατέρας ἀσπασάμενος, ἐπὶ τὸ κελλίον αὐτοῦ ἀνέκαμψε, καὶ ἔφη τῷ μαθητῇ αὐτοῦ. Βούλομαι, τέκνον, ἕνεκέν τινος ἀναγκαίας χρείας ἐπὶ τρεῖς ἡμέρας ἰδιάσαι ἄποθεν ἀνθρώπου παντὸς, μηδενὶ συνομιλῶν, μή τέ σοι, μή τέ τινι ἄλλῳ· ἀλλ᾽ ὁπότ᾽ ἂν ἡ τρίτη ἡμέρα ἐπέλθῃ, εἴσιθι εἰς τὸν ἐνδότερον δόμον τοῦ κελλίου· ἐκεῖ γὰρ ἐγκλείω ἐμαυτόν. Ὁ δὲ μαθητὴς ἔφη· Ὡς κελεύεις, πάτερ. Ὅπερ δὲ ἐποίει, ἑαυτὸν ἐγκλείσας μέχρι τῆς τρίτης ἡμέρας, μόνος ἐπίσταται ὁ τῶν κρυφίων ἐταστὴς Θεός. Ἐλθούσης οὖν τῆς προθεσμίας, εἰσέβη πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ μαθητὴς, καὶ εὗρεν αὐτὸν κατὰ ἀνατολὰς ἡπλωμένον, καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ παραδεδωκότα· καὶ παραυτὰ τοῖς πατράσιν ἐγνώρισεν τὸ ξένον μυστήριον. Οἱ δὲ καταπλαγέντες ἐπὶ τῷ ἀκούσματι, κατὰ τὴν ἐπικρατήσασαν συνήθειαν συνηθροίθησαν, καὶ τὸν ἅγιον γερόντα κηδεύσαντες ἐν ὁσίων θήκαις κατέθηκαν, δόξαν καὶ εὐχαριστίαν τῷ Θεῷ ἀναπέμποντες, τῷ ζωῆς καὶ θανάτου δεσπόζοντι.
[173] Οὐ τοῖς δυσὶ δὲ μόνοις τούτοις συνέτυχον, ἀλλὰ καὶ διαφόροις ἔντε τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ Λαύρᾳ, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἐρήμοις καὶ μοναῖς, οὓς ὁ οὐρανὸς ἐδέξατο, καὶ τοῖς Ἀβραμίοις κόλποις ἐνανέπαυσεν ἐν χώρᾳ ζώντων, καὶ ἐν παραδείσω τρυφῆς, ἔνθα καταλάμπει τὸ ἀνέσπερον φῶς διαπαντὸς, ἔνθα καὶ ὑμεῖς σπεύσατε κατοικῆσαι, μιμησάμενοι τοὺς καλοὺς ἀγῶνας τῶν θεαρέστως βεβιωκότων ἀνδρῶν, καὶ τῶν νῦν βιοῦντων· πέπεισμαι γὰρ, ὅτι καί εἰσί τινες σήμερον ὁσίως καὶ εἰλικρινῶς πολιτευόμενοι· οὐ γὰρ διέλειπεν ὁ Θεὸς ἔχων γνησίους δούλους κατὰ γενεὰν καὶ γενεὰν, εἰ καὶ πάνυ ἐν τούτοις τοῖς ἐνεστῶσι καιροῖς ἠλαττώθη ἡ μοναχικὴ πολιτεία μετα δέκα ἔτη ἀπὸ τοῦ μεγάλου σεισμοῦ, καὶ ἔτι κατὰ βραχὺ καὶ βραχὺ ὀλιγωτήσεται, διὰ τὸ πληθυνθῆναι τὴν ῥαθυμίαν, καὶ ἀμέλειαν. Ἀλλὰ ἀγωνίσασθε τοῖς ὀλίγοις συναριθμηθῆναι· ἐπειδὴ τὸ τίμιον πανταχοῦ ὀλιγώτερον πέφυκε· μολύβδου γὰρ πολυταλάντου κρείσσων ὀλίγος χρυσὸς, καὶ γνόφου βαθυτάτου σμικροτάτη φωτὸς ἀκτὶς, καὶ δυσωδείας πολλῆς, εὐωδίας βραχεῖα πνοή.
[174] Ἁεὶ δὲ νουθετῶν καὶ διδάσκων ὁ Γέρων σφραγίδα ἱερῶν αὐτοῦ λόγων ἐποιεῖτο τὴν περὶ συμτάθειαν ἐντολήν· συμπαθὴς γὰρ ἦν, ὡς οὐδεὶς ἄλλος τῶν βρωτῶν φημι· καὶ τὴν συμπάθειαν αὐτοῦ εἴδειεν ἂν οἱ πείραν εἰληφότες αὐτῆς οὐ μόνον ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπων, ἀλλὰ καὶ πετηνῶν καὶ τετραπόδων· ἰδίαις γὰρ χερσὶ παρέβαλε τὴν τροφὴν τοῖς ψάροις, καὶ τοῖς κόραξι, καὶ ταῖς περιστεραῖς, καὶ ταῖς δορκάσιν. Ἐν αὐτοῖς πολλάκις τοῖς κόλποις αὐτοῦ ἤρχοντο γὰρ οἱ ψάροι καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς ὤμους αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν, καὶ τὰ γόνατα αὐτοῦ. Ἐφιλονείκουν δὲ καὶ ἐπολέμουν ἀλλήλους, παρατιθέντος αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐδωδὴν, ἧς ἐμφορηθέντες, καὶ ὕδατος κορεσθέντες, πάλιν ἀγαλλόμενοι ἐπέτωντο ἡρέμα, τοῦ Γέροντος, ὡσεὶ μαθηταῖς, κελεύοντος.
[175] Τοῖς μύρμηξι δὲ καὶ τοῖς μικροῖς ζωυφίοις σεμίδαλιν, καὶ σισάμιν, καὶ ἄλφιτα παρετίθη· συνεπάθη δὲ περισσότερον τοῖς ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ μαύροις ἀκάκοις σκώληξιν· οὐδὲν γὰρ μονονουχὶ ἔλιπεν αὐτῷ ἀπὸ παντὸς ἀγαθοῦ, τοῦ ὄντος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, καίπερ περὶ ταῦτα φροντίδα καὶ σπουδὴν μὴ ἔχοντα παντελῶς· ἤδει γὰρ τὴν ἀψευδῆ ὑπόσχεσιν τοῦ Δεσπότου εἰπόντος· Ζητεῖτε πρῶτον τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν, καὶ πάντα ταῦτα προσθεθήσονται ὑμῖν. Ἐμάχετο δὲ ἡμῖν πολλάκις, τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ, περὶ τῶν μαύρων σκωλήκων παραγγέλλων, μὴ φονεύειν αὐτοὺς, καίτοίγε ἐκτὸς τοῦ ἡσυχαστηρίου νυκτὸς καταπατοῦσιν αὐτοὺς ἀκουσίως· καὶ ὠνείδιζεν ἡμᾶς ἕνεκεν τούτου, εἰδὼς ἅπερ ἀγνοοῦντες ἐποιοῦμεν· Οὐκ ἔχετε, λέγων, συμπάθειαν, ἐλεεινοί. Ἀγνοεῖτε δὲ, ὅτι ὁ μὴ ἔχων συμπάθειαν σχετικὴν περὶ τὴν κτηνώδη φύσιν, οὔτε εἰς ἄνθρωπον κέκτηται; Οἶδεν ἡ ἀλήθεια, ὅτι πλειστάκις ἐν καιρῷ ἀκρίδος ἐπὶ τὴν ἔρημον ἀπερχόμενος νυκτὸς, καὶ περὶ τὸν ὄρθρον εἰς τὸ ἡσυχαστήριον ἐλθεῖν βουλόμενος, ἡνίκα κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν ᾐσθόμην ἀκρίδων κρυμωθεισῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ ψύχους, ἐκαθεξάμην φειδοῖ αὐτῶν, ἐκδεχόμενος τὰς τοῦ ἡλίου αὐγάς. Ἐπτοούμην γὰρ, μήπως ἄκων ἀδικήσω αὐτάς· εἶθ᾽ οὕτω δὲ χαίρων εἰχόμην τῆς ὁδοῦ. Ὡς οὖν ἀληθῶς ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοφόρου ἡμῶν Ἐπιστάτου φωταγωγούμενοι ἐδιδασκόμεθα.
Holy Stephen, in whose favor I write these things, imbued not only us his disciples with his admonitions; He instructs whoever come to him, but as many as came to him, whether from our Greatest Laura, or from anywhere on earth, whether monks or laymen: for he instructed them by the sentences of the Scriptures and of the Doctors, brought forth from the wisdom and doctrine divinely given him; for most things he himself, if ever any other, held in memory from the sacred Letters: for he cured all, and took away from them not only the sicknesses of soul, but also of body: for his venerable appearance bore before it much both grace and compunction; his speech was gentle and modest, with which he skillfully refuted the reasons objected to him. I sat once by him with one of the fathers, when, opening that mouth of his inspired with divine grace, and welling with doctrine, and which both spoke justice and meditated the judgments of God, he began to bring forth fluently and copiously the sacred documents full of all erudition: and when I was moved with huge desire and eagerness, and took paper and pen, to receive his illustrious arguments in writing, turning to other sentences to be drawn from the holy Fathers, he thus continued:
[167] exhorting to diligence, silence, that no one be judged, He who bewails himself knows not sloth: for those who, when it creeps on, do violence to themselves, shall be crowned: for nothing else so hastens such notable crowns as sloth to a monk struggling with himself. He hates the world, and holds it for dung, whoever has the going-out of his soul at heart. Blessed the monk, when he has reckoned himself worthy of all disgrace and contempt. Blessed are they who hunger for afflictions, and thirst for insults; for they shall be satisfied with inexhaustible delights. A silent man is the son of wisdom; but a man full of tongue shall not be directed on the earth. He has learned to bridle his tongue who understands its lapses: but the man of many words shall not escape sins. Hear me, hear, all you wicked, who inquire into others' faults: if that be true, as it is most true, that in what measure you have measured, it shall be measured to you again (for according as we have been merciful, we shall obtain mercy: and with what judgment you have judged, you shall be judged), we shall altogether fall into the same things in which we have carped at our neighbor; nor can it be otherwise, whether in bodily things, or in those which pertain to the spirit: for they incur the same vice in which they condemn their neighbor.
[168] temperance, humility, Satiety of foods is the mother of unchastity; but continence of the belly is the mother of chastity. He who, given to the gullet and the belly, strives to overcome the spirit of fornication, is like one who tries to extinguish a fire with oil. The fish avoids the hook, and the lustful soul flees rest. If the light fails, all things are dark; if humility be wanting to a monk, all his labor is vanity. He is not despoiled by the lips who is humble in mind: for what the treasury does not contain, the door does not bring forth. As long as in the heart of a monk the stench of lust is fondly cherished, so long the fragrance of the unguent of chastity will not smell sweet. What is the pleasure of the belly? The mother of luxury, the dregs of the mind, the defilement of the body. What is temperance? The bridle of the belly, the recreation of the mind, the administration of sanctity. What is impurity? The offspring of intemperance, the dulling of the mind, the leader of despair, the conductress of damnation. What is sobriety? The column of fortitude, the circumcision of base thoughts,
the efficacy of works, the aid of continence, perpetual prayer. What is avarice? The servitude of idols, an insatiable fury, an anxious misery.
[169] and the other virtues, What is poverty? The extirpation of avarice, a treasure safe from envy, an unencumbered combatant, a life without cares. What is sadness? The kinswoman of laziness, the mixing-bowl of obscene thoughts, the worm of the body. What is gladness? The destruction of sadness, the honorable joy of cheerfulness, the exultation of psalmody. What is anger? A disease of the tongue, a burning fever, a receptacle of reproaches, the mother of serpents darting poisons. What again is sloth? A languor of the mind, an aversion from psalmody, a running from place to place. What is patience? The cutting-off of torpor, the care of death, the meditation of the cross, an affection crucified, gold beaten. What is vainglory? The imagining of prosperity, the servitude of praises, a manifold fascination. What is equanimity? The armor of prudence, a net without tempest, the harbor of salvation, the mirror of hoped-for goods, the reward of the afflicted. What again is splendor and a lofty condition? A manifold illusion of fancy, a chain of evils, a most poisonous cup of the passions, the root of detraction. What is the love of possessing? A vessel of contention, an enemy of truth, a foe of charity, an insatiate mass of cares, the elation of an insolent mind.
[170] Good are the riches of virtues, brethren; but sin is deceitful; and the flight of the opposite vices: nor can it be otherwise. The life of incorporeal spirits perpetually flourishes. A gentle and patient monk will obtain immortal things. The air indeed nourishes bodies, but virtue the sensible. The beginning of a good work is to know the Lord. Abide in knowledge, and you will become nearer to God. Prudent virtue stands firm, imprudent is dissolved. Nothing in life is solid, except the gain of the soul: but the gain of the soul is piety toward God. The tribunal of judges questions the foolish, but praises the wise, even absent. The life of a man appears in his death; for before death nothing in life is stable. Persuade peaceful things, and you will extinguish wars. From the removal of grief is born laughter to a man; but with the laughter of the foolish is mingled dissolution. Be always benign, and you will avoid slanders. Weigh your words with accurate examination, and do not commit your life to late penance. The class of the free embraces rest: for a man immoderately rich is overwhelmed with affairs. Flee lawsuits, even when justice has stood on your side: for there arises not so much of gain as of loss. The absurdity of those reviling ought to be the glory of those who philosophize. The disciples of the heavenly kingdom will always have need of such small advances, until they have struck firm roots in the fear of God.
[171] These and many other things holy Stephen discoursed, [and the imitation of the holy Fathers; of whom he knew one by the discernment of spirits,] examples of the Fathers worthy of imitation being brought forward, inculcating on us and saying: Be always emulous, most dear sons, of men illustrious in virtues: for I have seen men endowed with a certain heavenly mind, with whom would that I might have a part together with you, and a lot in the kingdom of heaven! for I still remember their divine manner of living, their severity, their sweet, poor, humble manner of acting: and thus, agitated by a certain prudent madness, I am snatched into the love of imitating them, and I strive to draw my own with me into the same: for they were excellent hermits, ascetics, men of God. I have seen others too in the monasteries, but most in our Greatest Laura, in nothing inferior to these, if you regard their life, among whom two were worthy of admiration and heralding above the rest: and the first of them indeed, from a single glance, looked into the state and conduct of a man with a penetrating keenness: for often, when he was saluted by the fathers of the Laura as one notable for singular veneration, those whom he observed with the eyes of his mind to neglect their salvation and ill order their life, he austerely and hardly turned away from; and, asked by them to pray for himself, he replied these things: Let your actions pray for you; for my prayers will profit you nothing, so long as your works are opposed; provide further for yourselves. But those whom, on the contrary, he noticed to live and converse rightly according to the will of God, saluting them in turn kindly, he animated, saying: Well, well have you stood: but see that you fall not; persevere to the end, that you may be saved: for he who shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved. And may the God of all confirm you, and bestow grace and perseverance in every good work.
[172] and celebrated another by his foreknown death, most tranquilly received: But the other of those two was an altogether eminent and wonderful elder: for he, when he foreknew his migration from this life, three days before his death went down into the temple; then, going to the little cells, as many as were in our Laura, he saluted the fathers, and to each: I depart, he said, now to the Dead Sea; and after three days you shall see me. But they thought that he, as he was sincere and candid, spoke of the sensible sea: yet his unusual salutation seemed wonderful to them, and also that he went to each one's cell. And so, when he had bidden farewell to all the fathers, he returns to his cell, and says to his disciple: I wish, son, for a certain necessary cause to spend these three days here alone, far from any human company, and to communicate neither with you nor with any other; but when the third day is present, then return, and enter into the innermost cell, for there I will shut myself up. But the disciple: I will do, he said, as you bid, father. What he did meanwhile, shut up until the third day, God alone knows, who searches all secret things. The appointed time was now elapsed, when the disciple enters to him; and finds him stretched out toward the East, after he had now rendered his spirit to the Lord; and immediately signifies to the fathers this unexpected mystery: struck by which news, after their custom they gathered into one place, and the just rites of the holy elder's funeral being performed, they laid him in the sepulchres a of the Saints, praising the Lord God of life and death with thanksgiving.
[173] what sort there are even now; but the number is daily diminished. Nor did it befall me to deal with those two only, but with various others too, both in our Laura and in the deserts and monasteries, who, now received into heaven, rest in the bosom of Abraham, in the land of the living, in the paradise of pleasure, where a perpetual light shines, knowing no setting; where do you too strive at some time to fix a dwelling, having imitated the glorious contests of the men who both have lived acceptable to God and who even now live: for I hold it persuaded that there are even today some who lead a holy and chaste life: for genuine servants of God will not cease to be from generation to generation; although the monastic discipline has greatly grown faint in these our times after the ten years from the great earthquake b; and it will decline gradually even more, on account of the incoming torpor and sloth. But strive to be reckoned among the few: for what is rarer is everywhere of great price: for a little gold much surpasses lead, and the thinnest ray of light the thickest darkness, and however little a fragrance of good odor a huge stench.
[174] But as often as the Elder exhorted his own and taught them, he closed his sacred admonitions, as with a seal, with the commendation of compassion: He commends the affection of compassion, even toward all animals, for so great was, in my judgment at least, this virtue in him, as in no mortal: those who had experienced it knew it, not men only, but also birds and quadrupeds: for to starlings, crows, doves, wild goats he heaped food with his own hands. Into his very bosom starlings not rarely flew, on his shoulders, on his head, on his knees they sat: but when he set forth food, there was among them a dispute and a fight, until, sated with food and water, again modestly, when the Elder commanded it to them, as to disciples, glad they flew away.
[175] and diligently takes care that no injury be done to them. But to ants and insects he offered wheat, sesame, and flour; but he pitied beyond measure certain dark and harmless worms which are in the desert. For scarcely anything of the earthly goods was wanting to him, even though he bestowed on gathering them neither any care nor labor: for he knew that sure promise of the Lord, when he said: Seek first the kingdom of heaven; and all these things shall be added to you. But he often contended with us his disciples, forbidding concerning those black worms, that we should not kill any, crushing them even outside the hesychasterion inconsiderately by night: and for that cause he carped at us, himself knowing what we did unwitting: Ah, unhappy ones, he said; there is no mercy in you. Do you not know that if to anyone the affection of a compassionate mind toward irrational natures be wanting, it will also be wanting to him toward men? The truth is conscious that I very often, at the time when the locusts c are seen, having gone out into the desert by night, that I might be in the hesychasterion about dawn, halted out of compassion, wherever I found them stiffened with cold along the way, and stayed there until the sun's rays shone; for I feared lest I should perhaps have harmed them unwillingly; and thus then glad and secure I pursued my begun journey. And thus in truth we were taught by the precepts of our divine Master.
ANNOTATIONS OF D. P.
c. Pliny
in book 11, chapter 29, relates that toward the end of spring there come forth from the eggs those which they had laid in autumn time. Others assign them a double brood; and say too that at the rising of the Pleiades in the month of May there are born those which ought to be born at the rising of the Dog-star: and some have held that they do not fly by night on account of the cold. Which though it be not true, since they migrate over the sea from province to province by a continued journey sometimes of several days, yet that they are said at other times to be true is gathered even from this passage.
CHAPTER XV.
The vision of St. Stephen concerning the glory prepared for St. Theoctistus; the cure of a sick man; the vision of a disciple concerning the glory destined for St. Stephen; the apparition of Angels; the prediction of death; and at length the most pious death of St. Stephen; and a chronological summary of his life.
Πάσχα προαγγέλλουσα πανήγυριν· ἦν γάρ * τις τῶν συμμαθητῶν εὐλαβὴ ὀνόματι Θεόκτιστος, ὃν καὶ ἠγάπα λίαν ὁ Ἐπιστάτης διά τε τὴν πρᾳότητα αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὴν τοῦ βίου καθαρότητα· ἦν γὰρ τὸ γένος Γαζαῖος, ἀγάπηντε καὶ ταπείνωσιν πολλὴν ἔσχεν· ὅθεν τοῖς μάρτυσι συναρίθμιος ὤφθη,, καὶ τῶν ἀκηράτων ἠξίωται στεφάνων. Τοῦτον οὖν λαβὼν μεθ᾽ ἑαυτὸν, ὡς καὶ διαπαντὸς, μετὰ τὸ γηράσαι αὐτὸν, εἰώθει ποιεῖν, ἐξέβη εἰς τὸν χείμαῤῥον τῆς ἀνατολικῆς ἐρήμου τῆς τοῦ ἁγίου Εὐθυμίου μονῆς· ἐκεῖσε δὴ τότε τὴν Τεσσαρακοστὴν ἐκτελῶν, ἴδεν ὀπτασίαν περὶ τοῦ συνόντος αὐτῷ μαθητοῦ Θεοκτίστου, ἣν αὐτῷτε καὶ ἄλλοις μαθηταῖς ἐξηγόρευσε, λέγων· Τὸν κανόνα τῆς νυκτερινῆς ψαλμῳδίας ἐκτελέσας, ἐγενόμην ἐν ἐκστάσει, καὶ θεωρῶ περικαλλῆ, παμμεγέθη ναὸν, ἐκλάμπροις ἐξαστράπτοντα φρικτωρίαις, καὶ δὴ νώτοις ὡραιοτάτοις ὀρόφοις, καὶ ποικίλαις μουσικαῖς ψηφίσι, καὶ στιλβούσαις μαρμαρικαῖς λεπτουργίαις, καὶ στύλοις χρυσοκεφάλοις, καὶ παντὶ θεοπρεπεῖ κόσμῳ κεκαλλωπισμένον· ἦν γὰρ ἐν αὐτῷ ἀγαλλίασις ἀνέκφραστος, καὶ τερπνότης ἀμήχανος, καὶ λαμπρότης ἐκδιήγητος.
[177] Ὡς οὖν ἱστάμην ἐν αὐτῷ, τοῖς εὐφροσύνοις ἐκείνοις ἀμαρύγμασιν ἐπιγαννύμενος, βλέπω τουτονὶ ἐμὸν φίλον μαθητὴν, ἀββᾶν Θεόκτιστον, εἰσερχόμενον ἐν ἀγαλλιάσει καὶ δοξολογίαις καὶ θεοπρεπέσιν ὕμνοις, πρὸς ὃν καὶ ἔφην γεγηθώς· Καὶ σὺ, τέκνον γλυκύτατον, εἰσελήλυθας ᾦδε; Εὖ καὶ καλῶς ἥκεις. Ὁ δὲ ἔφη· Ναὶ πάτερ, ἠξίωσέ με ἡ ἄπειρος τοῦ Θεοῦ εὐσπλαγχνία τῆς ὑπερενδόξου εἰσόδου ταύτης· ταύτην γὰρ τὴν ξένην ὅρασιν ἐν ὑμῖν ἐξηγήσομαι σὺν Θεῷ· τὸν ναὸν καὶ τὴν ἐν αὐτῷ φαιδρότητα, τὴν ἐπουράνιον βασιλείαν καὶ τὴν ἐν αὐτῇ διαιωνίζουσαν χαρμονὴν πάντως οἴεσθε, ἧς ἀξιωθήσεται οὗτος ὁ κάλλιστος καὶ θεάρεστος μαθητὴς Θεόκτιστος χάριτος τοῦ ὑπεραγάθου Θεοῦ. Οὕτω μὲν ὁ θεόσοφος πρεσβύτης, τὴν μακαρίαν τοῦ ἰδίου μαθητοῦ λῆξιν ἀξιωθεὶς ἰδεῖν, εἶπε. Τοῦτο δὲ καὶ μαρτυρεῖτε ἅπαντες, ἀληθῆ γεγονέναι τὴν ὀπτασίαν, οὐ διὰ τὴν ἀρίδηλον αὐτοῦ ἀγνὴν πολιτείαν μόνον, ἀλλ᾽ ὅτι καὶ τῷ τελευταίῳ κατῄρθη μαρτυρικῷ βαπτίσματι, ὃ δευτέροις οὐ προσομιλεῖ ῥύποις· ἔστι γὰρ τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ τῶν πατέρων, τῶν ἀναιρεθέντων ὑπὸ τῶν βαρβάρων ἐν τῇ μεγίστῃ Λαύρᾳ τοῦ ἁγίου πατρὸς ἡμῶν Σάβα, ὧν τὴν διήγησιν ἀνεγράψατο ὁ πανάρετος ἀββᾶς Στέφανος, τῆς ἡμῶν Λαύρας τὸ καύχημα.
[178] Μετὰ δὲ τὴν ὀπτασίαν ταύτην ἄλλοτε κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς ἁγίας Τεσσαρακοστῆς ἕχων μεθ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ τὸν μνημονευθέντα θεῖον Μάρτυρα, ἐπορεύθη ἐπὶ τὴν ἔρημον τοῦ Καλαμῶνος ἅμα τισὶ τῶν πατέρων. Τούτων δὲ διαγόντων ἐκεῖ, δύο τινὲς ἀδελφοὶ πνευματικοὶ, ἐρημικὰς πόας καὶ βοτάνας καὶ φάρμακα κακὰ βεβρωκότες, ὁ μὲν ἔλαττον, ὁ δὲ πλεῖον, κατοξέλει * δυσεντερικῷ κατεσχέθησαν πάθει, ὥστε αὐτὰ σχεδὸν τὸν πολλὰ φαγόντα, καὶ πλείω κεκινδυνευκότα τὰ ἔγκαταπροχωρῆσαι ἐν μιᾷ νυκτὶ, καὶ ἀπελπισθῆναι ὑπὸ τῶν περὶ αὐτόν. Εὐχὴν οὖν ποιησάμενος ὁ Γέρων, καὶ λαβόμενος αὐτὸν τῆς χειρὸς, ἔφη. Ἀνάστα, τέκνον, ὅτι ὁ τὴν θυγατέρα τοῦ Ἑκατοντάρχου καὶ τὸν Λάζαρον ἐκ τῶν τοῦ ᾅδου στυγνῶν δόμων ἀναγαγὼν, τῷ λόγῳ ζωοποιἠσας αὐτοὺς, λιταῖς τῆς ἀφράστως τεκούσης αὐτὸν ἠλέησέν σε, καὶ ὡς ἐξ ᾅδου ἀνήνεγκεν. Ὁ δὲ παραχρῆμα ἠγέρθη ὑγιὴς, εὐχαριστῶν τῷ Θεῷ καὶ ταῖς τοῦ Γέροντος εὐχαῖς. Ζῇ δὲ καὶ οὗτος χάριτι Χριστοῦ, ταῦτα μεγαλοφώνως ὁμολογῶν.
[179] Ἦν δέ τις, ὀνόματι Κοσμᾶς, τῶν τοῦ Γέροντος μαθητῶν· οὗτος πρὸ ὀλίγων ἡμερῶν τοῦ τέλους τῆς αὐτῆς Τεσσαρακοστῆς ἦλθεν ἐπισκεπτόμενος τὸν Ἐπιστάτην, καὶ τρεῖς ἡμέρας συμπαραμείνας αὐτῷ, συνέτριψεν, ἀναγγέλλων ἡμῖν, τοῖς συμμαθηταῖς, ἐωρακέναι φρικτὸν ἐνύπνιον· Ἐν ᾧ πολλοὺς, φησὶν, εἶδον οὐρανομήκεις ναοὺς, λίαν ἐκπρεπεῖς, κίοσι θεοφεγγέσιν ἐνιδρυμένους, καὶ παντοίοις ἀγλαοῖς ποικίλμασι πεποικιλμένους, καὶ τούτων ἄνωθεν ἐπὶ τὰς ὑψηλὰς κορυφὰς οἰκοδόμους τινὰς δραστικῶς οἰκοδομοῦντας ἐν κάστρῳ εὐτειχίστῳ ᾠκοδομημένον ἀσφαλῶς, ἐφ᾽ οἷς λίαν ἐμοὶ καταπλαγέντι καὶ ἐκθαμβηκότι οἱ ἐργάται φησίν· Τί ἔστηκας, ἄνθρωπε, τεθηπώς; Πρὸς οὓς ἔφην· Δικαίως τέθηπα καὶ ἐκπέπληγμαι· ἐπειδὴ κάστρον εἶδον τοιοῦτον, οἷον οὐκ ὤφθη πώποτε. Οἱ δὲ εἶπον· Καὶ ἀγνοεῖς, τίνος ἐστίν; Τοῦ σου γὰρ ἐπιστάτου, ἀββᾶ Στεφάνου, καθέστηκεν· ἀλλ᾽ ἔτι ὀλίγαι ἡμέραι παρελεύσονται, καὶ ἡ μετὰ χεῖρας γωνία, ἣν ὁρᾶς, εἰς ἄκρον ὑψωθήσεται· ὅλον γὰρ τὸ τεῖχος ἀπήρτισται παρὲξ αὐτῆς. Καὶ ταῦτα ἰδὼν καὶ ἀκούσας, ἔξυπνος ἐγενόμην.
[180] Μετ᾽ οὐ πολλὰς δὲ ἡμέρας τοῦ συμμαθητοῦ, ταῦτα θεασαμένου, ἐξειπόντος ἡμῖν, παρεγένετο ὁ ἅγιος Γέρων μετὰ τοῦ μαθητοῦ, ἀββᾶ Θεοκτίστου, τῆς Θεσσαρακοστῆς πληρωθείσης,, ἐν τῇ ἑμέρα τῆς ὑπερθέσεως, καὶ τὴν ἁγίαν ἑβδομάδα πᾶσαν, καὶ τὴν ἀναστάσιμον ἡμέραν ἐτέλεσε πάνυ ὑγιαίνων καὶ ἐνεκτῶν. Πρὸ τοίνυν τριῶν ἡμερῶν τῆς νέας κυριακῆς ἦλθέ τις ἀδελφὸς, αἰτούμενος παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ ὑπὲρ ἑαυτοῦ ποιήσασθαι σύναξιν. Ὁ δὲ ταύτην ὁλοψύχως ἐκτελέσας, κατανυκτικῇ καὶ πρᾳείᾳ φωνῇ πρὸς τὸν αἰτησάμενον ἔφη· Ὄντως, ἀδελφὲ, ὡς νομίζω, οὐκ ἔτι ὁ Στέφανος μετὰ ταύτην τὴν σύναξιν ἑτέραν ἐκτελεῖ· καὶ τοῦτο εἰπὼν ἀπέλυσεν αὐτόν. Τῇ δὲ ἐπαύριον, ἥτις ἦν πέμπτη πρὸ δύο ἡμερῶν τῆς νέας κυριακῆς, ἤρξατο νοσεῖν· ἔπειτα δὲ ἀφίκετο πρὸς ἡμᾶς. Ἡμῶν οὖν τῶν μαθητῶν παρὰ τὸ μεσονύκτιον ἀποτελούντων τὸν νυκτερινὸν κανόνα τῆς δευτέρας, ἦλθεν ὁ πρὸ μικροῦ μνημονευθεὶς ἀββᾶς Κοσμᾶς, καὶ κατεπείγων ἡμᾶς, εἶπεν· Δεῦτε, δεῦτε, ὦ φίλοι συμμαθηταὶ, προφθάσατε τὰς τελευταίας τοῦ Γέροντως λαβεῖν εὐχάς· ἰδοὺ γὰρ, παραδίδωσι τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτου τῷ Κυρίῳ.
[181] Ἐπὶ ταύτῃ δὲ ταραχθέντες οἱ μαθηταὶ τῇ ἀγγελίᾳ· Καὶ πόθεν δῆλον, εἰπέ, πρὸς αὐτὸν ἔφημεν. Ὁ δὲ εἶπεν· Γρηγορῶν μόνος ἐν τῷ μυχοτάτῳ κελλίῳ, ἀκήκοα τοῦ Ἐπιστάτου ἠρεμαίᾳ φωνῇ τισιν ὁμιλοῦντος, καὶ ἐγκελευομένου τῇ ἐμῇ ταπεινώσει, καὶ λέγοντος· Δεῦρο ἐκεῖθεν, ἀββᾶ Κοσμᾶ, δεῦρο, τιμίας εὐτρέπισον καθέδρας, καὶ φιλοφρόνως ὑπόδεξαι τούτους τοὺς κοσμιωτάτους ἀνδρας. Πρὸς ὃν κλονηθεὶς ἕφην. Τίνες εἰσὶν οἱ ἄνδρες οὗτοι, πάτερ; Ὁ δὲ εἶπεν· Τοὺς λευχείμονας τούτους, φημί. Ἀναστὰς οὖν παραυτὰ τὸ κελλίον ὅλον ἐψηλάφησα νυκτομαχῶν· ἦν γὰρ βαθεῖα νὺξ, καὶ σκοτία, τῆς κανδήλης a ἀποσβεσθείσης, καὶ μηδένα εὑρηκὼς, πάλιν ἠρώτησα αὐτόν· Ποίους ἄνδρας ἐρεῖς, οὐκ οἶδα, πάτερ. Ὁ δὲ εἶπεν· Οἷς προσωμίλουν πρὸ ὥρας. Ἐπὶ τούτοις δὲ τοῖς λόγοις ταραχθεὶς ἐγὼ ὁ πανάθλιος, ᾠήθην αὐτοὺς ἀγγέλους εἶναι, ἐλθόντας ἀφελέσθαι τὴν ἡγιασμένην αὐτοῦ ψυχὴν, καὶ μετὰ τιμῆς καὶ δόξης πρὸς τὸν αὐτῆς δημιουργὸν ἀγαγεῖν.
[182] Ὁρμήσαντες δὲ ταχεως, καὶ τὴν κανδήλαν ἅψαντες, ἔμφρονα θεωροῦμεν καὶ νήφοντα λίαν τὸν Γέροντα, ὅθεν οὐκ ἀπείπαμεν αὐτὸν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ζῇν αὐτὸν ἠλπίσαμεν ἔτι. Ὡς οὖν ἐν τούτοις ἦμεν, ὀλίγον πρὸς τὸν Ἐπιστάτην ἰδιάσας προσῆλθον αὐτῷ, καὶ εἶπον· Πληροφόρησόν με, πάτερ, εἰ πορεύεις πρὸς ὃν ἠγάπησας Χριστὸν ἐν τῇ ἀῤῥωστίᾳ ταύτῃ. Ὁ δὲ καθ᾽ ἑαυτὸν καθεζόμενος ἔφη· Ναὶ, ναὶ, πορεύομαι πρὸς τὸν Κύριον, τέκνον. Ἔπειτα δὲ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ κέκυφεν ἱερὰν κεφαλὴν ἐπὶ τὴν κλίνην, τὸ Θεῖον καθ᾽ ἑαυτὸν δοξολογῶν, καὶ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν εὐχόμενος. Εὐθέως δὲ παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ πληροφορίαν εἰληφὼς περὶ τῆς ἀποβιώσεως αὐτοῦ, ἔδραμον, ἀπαγγέλλων τοῖς ἐμοῖς πνευματικοῖς ἀδελφοῖς. Οἱ δὲ τοὺς πατέρας συνήθροισαν αὐθωρεῖ· τούτων δὲ ὁμοῦ συναχθέντων, οἱ μὲν καρπούμενοι τὰς ἁγίας αὐτοῦ ἐντεύξεις ἀνεχώρουν, οἱ δὲ τὴν ὥραν τῆς θεοτιμήτου αὐτοῦ ἐξόδου ἀπεκδέχοντο μένοντες. Ὁ δὲ τοὺς μὲν ἀμειβόμενος εὐλογίαις καὶ εὐχαῖς, τοὺς δὲ λόγοις βιαίοις καὶ ἰταμοῖς· Οὐ καλῶς καθέξῃ, λέγων, καίπερ μὴ οὕτους δοκῶν, ἀπέλυε· τοῖς δὲ παραμένουσιν αὐτῷ ἐνετέλλετο, λέγων· Νουνεχῶς προσέχετε ἑαυτοῖς.
[183] Εἶτα οὖν ἀπὸ τῆς πρωἳνῆς ὥρας μέχρι τῆς ὀγδόης ποτὲ μὲν ἀνακλινόμενος, καὶ καθ᾽ ἑαυτὸν εὐχόμενος, ποτὲ δὲ καθεζόμενος, προσεῖχεν ἑκάστῳ τῶν παρακαθημένων αὐτῷ· καὶ πάλιν ἐκλίνετο, καὶ αὖθις ἀντεκλίνετο, λυπηρὰς ἐκ βαθους τῆς καρδίας ἀναπέμπων στοναχὰς, ἐῤῥωμένον καὶ σταθερὸν κτήμενος τὸν νοῦν, καὶ παντελῶς ἀνύποστον. Ἐν ὅσῳ δὲ οὕτω διέκειτο, ἐν τοσούτῳ συνήλθεν τῶν πατέρων ἡ πληθὺς, πρὸς οὓς ἐνοχλούμενος· Ἔξιτε, ὦ πατέρες, ἔλεγε, καὶ ἄφετέ με μικρὸν ἰδιάσαι. Οἱ δὲ μὴ πείθομενοι τὸ παράπαν οὐκ ἐχωρίζοντο, ἐφιέμενοι καὶ μέχρις ἐσχάτης ἀναπνοῆς ἀπολαῦσαι τῆς μακαρίας αὐτοῦ ψυχῆς. Δύνοντος δὲ τοῦ ἡλίου, ἡ ἄδολος αὐτοῦ γλῶσσα κατεσχέθη· κινήσει δὲ χειλέων μόνῃ καὶ διανοίᾳ ἐδόξαζε τὸν Θεὸν, ὥσπερ ὁ φιλαληθὴς ἡσυχαστὴς, ἀββᾶς Ἰωσὴφ, ὁ γεγονὼς ἐπίσκοπος, πάνυ γὰρ ἦν πλησίον τοῦ Γέροντος, μεμαρτύρηκε, καί φησιν· Ἐτεκμηράμην σαφῶς τὸν Γέροντα λέγοντα τὴν εὐχὴν τῆς ἀναφορᾶς, καὶ προσεφωνήσατο, ἀμὴν, εἰπόντος αὐτοῦ τὸ πέρας αὐτῆς. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ὁ ἀββᾶς Ἰωσήφ. Ὁ δὲ Γέρων τὸ ἀγνὸν αὐτοῦ τρίτον ἀνοίξας στόμα, παρέδωκε τῷ Κυρίῳ τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ τὸ ἡγιασμένον, καὶ ἐν εἰρήνῃ ἐπὶ τὸ ταυτὸ ἐκοιμήθη, καὶ ὕπνωσε χαίρων καὶ ἀγαλλόμενος τῇ ἐφεξῆς ἡμέρᾳ τῆς νέας κυριακῆς κατὰ τὴν α᾽ ὥραν τῆς νυκτός. Ἐταφη δὲ Ἀπριλίου μηνὸς δευτέρᾳ ἡμέρᾳ, τρίτῃ, ἔτους ἀπὸ κτίσεως κόσμου στ σ π στ᾽, τοῦ ὁσίου πατρὸς ἡμῶν καὶ ἡγουμένου Βασιλείου καὶ πάντων τῶν τῆς Λαύρας μοναχῶν συνηγμένων, ἐν ταῖς θήκαις τῶν ὁσίων πατέρων ἡμῶν καὶ ἡγουμένων, ἔνθα κατάκειται τὰ ἀξιόσεπτα λείψανα τοῦ ἁγίου Ἰουάννου τοῦ ἐπισκόπου καὶ ἡσυχαστοῦ.
[184] Ἐξεδήμησε δὲ πρὸς Κύριον πολυετοὺς ἀπολαύσας θεαρέστου ζωῆς· ἔζησε γὰρ ἑξήκοντα ἑννέα καλὰς ἐτῶν περιόδους, ἀφ᾽ ὧν ἑννέα μὲν ἐν τῇ φιλοχρίστῳ αὐτοῦ κώμῃ οἴκοι διήρκεσε· δεκαετὴς δὲ παρεγένετο εἰς τὴν μεγίστην ἡμῶν Λαῦραν σὺν τῷ αὐτοῦ πατραδέλφῳ μεθ᾽ οὗ δεκαπέντε ἐνιαυτοὺς ἐν πάσῃ ὑπακοῇ καὶ ὑποταγῇ διῆξε. Ἐν ὀκτὼ δὲ ἔτη διαφόρους διακονίας ἐποίησε, ὧν τέσσαρες μὲν ἐμπεπίστευται τὴν κανοναρχικὴν λειτουργείαν, δύο δὲ τὴν ἀρτοκοπικὴν, καὶ χρόνους μὲν ἕνατε καὶ ἕνα τήν τε ἡγουμεναρχικὴν, καὶ τὴν ξενοδοχικήν. Ἔπειτα δὲ πέντε ἔτη Χριστῷ ἡσύχασεν ἐν τῷ κελλίῳ μὴ προἳὼν παντάπασιν, ἀλλ᾽ ἢ τοῖς
σάββασι καὶ ταῖς κυριακαῖς, ἐπιγράψας τῷ τηνικάδε τῇ φλιᾷ τῆς κέλλης οὕτως· Διὰ τὸν Κύριον συγχωρήσατέ μοι, κύριοι πατέρες, καὶ μή τίς με ἐνοχλείτω παρεκτὸς σαββάτου καὶ κυριακῆς ἐν τῷ ἡσυχαστηρίῳ· τριακοστὸν ἕβδομον ἄγων ἔτος, τὸν ὑπόλοιπον χρόνον τῆς ζωῆς αὐτοῦ ἐν ὁσιότητι τῷ Θεῷ προσομιλῶν ἐξήνυεν, καὶ μονώτατος μὲν πέντε καὶ δέκα ἐνιαντοὺς διεποίησε, ἐκτελῶν τὰς τρεῖς Τεσσαρακοστὰς ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, ἐνδεδυμένος τὰ τρίχινα, ὡς ἀνωτέρω γέγραπται, κύκλῳ τῆς νεκρᾶς θαλάσσης περιφοιτῶν, τῶν καλάμων καὶ τῶν ἀγρίων φοινίκων ἐσθίων τοὺς ἀκρέμονας, ὲνίοτε δὲ καὶ κυάμους ὀλίγους ἔτρωγεν. Ὕστερον δὲ ἐδέξατο μαθητὰς τῆς αὐτῶν σὺν Θεῷ προνοούμενος σωτηρίας, δεδωκὼς αὐτοῖς κελλίον εὐάρμοστον τοῦ ἡσυχαστηρίου αὐτοῦ πάνυ μακρὰν ὄντος. Τοὺς δὲ λοιποὺς ἕπτα καὶ δέκα χρόνους μετά τινων τῶν τῆς Λαύρας προκρίτων γερόντων τὰς αὐτὰς ἐτησίους τρεῖς Τεσσαρακοστὰς ἐξετέλει, συμπαραλαμβάνων τινὰ τῶν μαθητῶν. Τότε δὲ τὰ τρίχινα οὐκ ἐνεδεδύσκετο διά τε τοὺς σὺν αὐτῷ πατέρας, καὶ τοὺς πολλαχόθεν παρ᾽ αὐτῷ παραγινομένους, ἵνα μὴ τοιοῦτο περιβεβλημένος σχῆμα φανῇ. Κύαμοι δὲ καὶ φοίνικες ὀλιγώτατοι κατ᾽ ἐκείνους τοὺς καιροὺς ἦν ἡ ἀποτροφὴ αὐτοῦ οὐδαμῶς γὰρ σίτου καὶ οἴνου, καὶ ἐλαίου ἀπεγεύετο, οὔ τέ τινος τῶν λοιπῶν βρωμάτων.
[He beholds Theoctistus his disciple, afterward a martyr, in a most beautiful palace,] Meanwhile the fast of Forty days was at hand, which foreannounces the salvation-bearing festivity of Easter. But there was among the fellow-disciples a certain pious one, whose name was Theoctistus, and whom our Master, both for his mild disposition and for the candor of his life, loved among the few: for he was a Gazene by race, endowed with notable charity and lowliness of mind; whence he was seen to be reckoned among the Martyrs, and obtained immortal crowns. Him therefore taking with him, as also he was always wont to do, from the time he had grown old, he went off to the torrent of the eastern desert, where is situated the monastery of St. Euthymius a. While he there passes Lent, a vision was offered him concerning the disciple who was then present, Theoctistus, which he set forth both to him and to others in this manner: I had completed the canon of the nocturnal psalmody, when I was rapt in spirit, and beheld a temple most elegant and most spacious, gleaming with a most resplendent light and striking a certain sacred awe, with most magnificent panels and roof, and with various pebbles of mosaic [b] work, and shining marble most artificially wrought, as also with columns which were notable for golden capitals, furnished at last with all ornaments worthy of God: for there was in it an inexplicable exultation, an incredible delight, an unspeakable splendor.
[177] While I was there, and gladly enjoyed that most pleasant sight, he beholds through a vision, whose truth the event proved. I see this my most dear disciple, father Theoctistus, enter, walking with great gladness, and chanting praises and divine hymns; whom, rejoicing: You too, I said, have you been admitted hither, sweetest son? Welcome and prosperously come. When he: So it is, Father; the immense mercy of God has deemed me worthy of this most glorious entrance. But this new vision I will, God helping, explain among you: That temple, and whatever pleasantness was in it, judge altogether to be the heavenly kingdom and its everlasting gladness, with which this most illustrious and holy disciple Theoctistus will be endowed by the benefit of the good God. Thus indeed this Elder, full of divine wisdom, and found worthy to whom the blessed lot of his disciple should be revealed, declared. But you too all are witnesses that this vision was true, not only on account of the manifest sanctity of his life, but also because he was purged by the supreme baptism of martyrdom, which admits no second defilements: for he is of the number of the Fathers slain by the barbarians in the greatest Laura of our holy Father Sabas, of whom a man excelling in all virtue, father Stephen, the great glory and ornament of our Laura, composed the history [c].
[178] He cures a brother in peril from dysentery. At another time after this vision he set out to the solitude of Calamon, the said Martyr of God accompanying him, with certain fathers, about Lent. While they dwell there, two certain brethren in spirit, who had eaten the herbs and plants of the desert and pestiferous poisons, one less than the other, were seized with most acute torments of the bowels and a flux of the belly, so much so that he who had taken in more came, on a certain night, into the graver peril of pouring out his intestines, and those who were present now cast away all hope of his life. The Elder therefore, prayers being poured out, taking him by the hand: Rise, he said, son; for he who brought back the Centurion's daughter and Lazarus from the sad seats of the lower regions, recalled to life by his command, that same one, at the entreaty of her who ineffably bore him, has had mercy on you, and as it were snatched you from hell. But he immediately rose up sound, ascribing this benefit to God and to the Elder's prayers. He even now, by the grace of Christ, surviving, professes these things with a loud voice.
[179] There was among the Elder's disciples one called Thomas: The glory prepared for him in heaven is indicated to a disciple. this man, a few days before the end of the same Lent, came to visit his Master, and, having stayed with him three days, dwelt among us, and narrated to us his fellow-disciples that a terrible dream had been offered him: In which, he said, I saw very many temples, raised to heaven with elegant structure, propped by columns gleaming with divine light, and adorned with an illustrious variety of ornaments of every kind; but above, on the highest summits of them, some builders in a castle girt with most strong walls, diligently and securely constructing the edifice. At which things I, astonished and terrified, the workmen accost with these words: Why do you stand astonished, good man? To whom I: Deservedly, I said, I am astonished and amazed; since I contemplate such a castle, the like of which has never been seen. When they: And do you not know whose this is? Namely it is being set up for father Stephen, your president; but a few days more are yet needed, in which this corner, which we have in hand, as you see, may rise to its summit; for after that the whole wall will be finished. And having seen and heard these things, I awoke.
[180] Nor long after the time when the fellow-disciple had told us these things, as he had seen them, He himself celebrates his last synaxis; and falling into sickness, the holy Elder came with his disciple, father Theoctistus, Lent being completed, on the day of dismissal d, and went through the whole holy week, and the feast of the Resurrection, quite sound and well. Three days therefore before the New Sunday e, a certain brother is present, and prays him to be willing to make the sacred rites for him at the altar: which when he had performed with his whole soul, with a voice breathing piety and sweetness he thus addresses him by whom he had been asked: Truly, brother, after this synaxis, as I think, Stephen will never any more celebrate any other: which said, he dismissed him. On the next day, which was the fifth weekday, and the third before the New Sunday, he began to be sick; then he came to us. While therefore we the disciples are at leisure for the nocturnal canon of the second weekday about midnight, there runs up the father Cosmas mentioned a little before, who, bidding us hasten: Come, come, he said, O beloved fellow-disciples, make haste, that you may receive the Elder's last blessing: for now, behold, he renders his spirit to the Lord.
[181] Dismayed by this announcement, the disciples: And whence know you this, he is visited by the heavenly ones. tell us, we said. He answers: I was keeping vigil alone, when in the inner cell I heard the Master conversing in a low voice with some persons; and calling my slenderness, and saying: Come hither, father Cosmas, come hither; set here more honorable seats, and receive most kindly these most adorned men. Troubled, I: Who, I said, are those men, Father? These I call the white-robed, he replies. Rising therefore at once, I feel through the whole cell, groping and struggling with the darkness (for it was deep night and gloom, the candle f being extinguished); and when I found there was no one, I again question him: What men you mean, I do not indeed grasp, Father. When he: Those I meant, with whom I spoke an hour ago. Struck by which words, I, most wretched, conjectured that they were those Angels who had come to take up his holy soul, and to bring it hence with honor and glory to its creator.
[182] Hastily therefore flying thither, and a candle being lit, we found the Elder in the best possession of his mind, and very lively; whence we did not greatly fear for him; nay rather, hope of a yet longer life shone. He foretells his death to his disciples, While we are there, I approach him apart, alone conversing a while with him alone, and: Tell me candidly, I said, my Father, whether from this disease you are to migrate to Christ, whom you have loved. But he, composing himself to sit: So it is, he said, so it is; to the Lord, son, I set out. Then he reclines his sacred head upon the bed, glorifying within himself the divine power, and commending us to it with prayers. I, made more certain of his death from himself, straightway ran to announce it to my spiritual brethren; they summon the fathers at the same hour. The assembly being made, some, enriched by his holy intercession, withdraw, others, staying, await his precious departure in the sight of God. But he indeed rewards some with blessings and prayers; but some he dismisses with violent and harsh words (You live ill, he says, though you seem otherwise): but to those who remained with him he inculcated this: Attend carefully to yourselves.
[183] Thereupon from dawn to the eighth hour, now reclined, he prayed within himself, now sitting he gazed upon each of those sitting by; and again now to this, now to that side he let himself down, drawing sad sighs from his deep breast, keeping a noble and constant and wholly unconquered mind. and peacefully expires. Meanwhile, while he lies in that state, the fathers, coming up one after another in great number, stood round, at whom he, taking it ill: Go out, O fathers, he said; leave me to myself a while. But they, hearing nothing, by no means moved from the place, resolved to enjoy his blessed soul to the last breath. As the sun set, his tongue, always ignorant of all deceit and fraud, began to be hindered: by the motion of his lips alone, and with his mind, he glorified God; as that solitary most loving of truth, Father Joseph, afterward made bishop (for he was nearest to the Elder), testified, when he said: I observed manifestly the Elder recite the prayer of aid g, and, it being run through to the end, he added, Amen. Thus far Father Joseph. But the Elder, opening his most pure mouth a third time, rendered his blessed spirit to the Lord, and in peace slept in that very thing, and, rejoicing and exulting, rested the day after the New Sunday about the first hour of the night. But he was buried on the second day of the month of April, of the year from the creation of the world six thousand two hundred and eighty-six h, our holy father and hegumen Basil and all the monks of the Laura being gathered, in the sepulchres of our holy fathers and hegumens,
where lie the venerable relics of St. John, bishop and Silentiary i.
[184] But he migrated to the Lord after he had enjoyed a life pleasing to God for many years: A chronological summary of his life. for he lived full periods of sixty-nine years k; of which nine indeed he passed at home in his Christian village; but at ten years old he came to our Greatest Laura with his paternal uncle, with whom he lived fifteen years in all obedience and submission. But for eight years he discharged various ministries, of which for four he acted as canonarch l, for two as artocopus m, then for one as hegumenarch n, likewise for one as xenodochus o. Then for five years he was at leisure for Christ solitary in a cell, never going out, save on Saturdays and Sundays [p], inscribing on the front of his cell during that time: Pardon me for the Lord's sake, my lord fathers, and let no one be troublesome to me in the hesychasterion except on Saturday and Sunday. In the thirty-seventh year of his age, he spent the remaining time of his life on holy converse with God, and fifteen years indeed he passed most remote from all human intercourse, observing three [q] Lents in the desert clad in a hairshirt, as is written above, and dwelling mostly around the Dead Sea, he fed on the tops of reeds and wild palms [r], sometimes on a few beans. Thereupon he received disciples, on whose salvation, God helping, he diligently applied himself, assigning them a very convenient cell far distant from his hesychasterion. But for the remaining seventeen years he underwent those three annual Lents with certain chief fathers of the Laura, taking with him one of his disciples. Yet the hairshirt, both on account of the fathers who were with him, and on account of those who from everywhere had recourse to him, he did not wear, lest they should see him clothed in this habit; at which time beans and very few dates were his food: for bread, or wine, or oil, or other eatables he by no means tasted.
ANNOTATIONS OF D. P.
p. On which all, as many as were in the Laura, came together alike to the nocturnal psalmody and the daytime liturgy in the church, even those whom we call in Greek hesychasts, from their quiet stay in cells, in Latin silentiaries, from that law of silence which they had enjoined on themselves.
q. Besides the great one, as it is here called in number 30 and elsewhere; that is, that which the fathers, about to celebrate it as common to all Christians, were wont to withdraw to the desert places to keep immediately after the Octave of the Epiphany, as was shown on the Life of St. Euthymius, number 9: whence we have here, number 31, that about Palm Sunday they returned to their monasteries and Lauras; the other, the Lent of St. Sabas, is noted in number 139; so called, because either the feast of St. Sabas fell in it, or it took its beginning on his vigil: of which see Quaresmius in the Elucidation of the Holy Land, book 1, chapter 54. In the following chapters he circumscribes the Lent of the Nativity by 40 days for the Greeks; for the Jacobites, Chaldeans, Nestorians by 25 days. Whence it appears that in all Palestine there was fasting at this time, which we call Advent. What the third Lent here was, I detect by no certain indication. Two more celebrated in summer in Palestine Quaresmius relates: the first called of the Apostles, which most began, and even now begin, from the second weekday after Trinity Sunday, to be prolonged up to the feast of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul. The second is called of the Assumption, from the beginning of August up to the feast: concerning which last there may be consulted a treatise, under the name of Anastasius Bishop of Caesarea, published by Cotelier, volume 3 of the Monuments of the Greek Church, from page 432: where, from page 438, it is treated of
of the fasts from St. Nicon; and page 439, the universal fasts of Christians are gathered from the divine writings. See also the notes of Cotelier, column 645. Which of these two Lents celebrated in summer is here indicated, it would be easy to determine: if the miracle of the fountain, which is here related from number 103, were established to have happened on occasion of a Lent to be kept in the desert: for it happened at harvest time, which in Palestine is reckoned in the month of July, as we have from number 130. To these four chief fasts of the Palestinians, others add two lesser Lents of three or five days, namely of the Exaltation of the holy Cross, and of Jonah or of the Ninevites before Sexagesima Sunday. Yet the last the Greeks reject as an abominable superstition. The author of the Commentary on ecclesiastical Writers and writings, most recently printed, volume 1, relates from another that the Typicon must be denied to St. Sabas: as though one argument of the supposititiousness of this work is that in it there is treatment of three Lents, prevailing among the Greeks, as is there asserted, far after the times of St. Sabas, only in the eleventh century. The same treats of these; referring the reader to his next Dissertation on the various Anastasii Sinaitae, and their writings, promising to teach that these three Lents were scarcely heard of among the Greeks before the tenth century, and at length were suppressed in the eleventh. Which if he so understands, as though they were not even used by the monks before that time, he is plainly convicted of falsity from this text of the Life: but whether, to whom, and when they began to be extended to others, is a matter of another disquisition and time: which will be able to furnish matter for illustrating the Acts of St. Sabas on the 5th of December.
r. Ἀκρέμων from ἀκρὸς, highest, and κρεμῶ, I hang, so that by τοὺς ἀκρέμονας here are signified the tops of the branches, or what hangs from them. Yet Suidas and Hesychius expound ἀκρέμονας as βλαστοὺς or κλάδους; that is, shoots, shrubs, branches: in which sense I think it is here taken. For in number 41 of this Life too, when hunger pressed the brethren who were with St. Stephen in the desert, they ran through the desert, πόας καὶ θάμνους ἀναζητοῦντες πρὸς παραμυθίαν τοῦ λιμώδους πάθους, seeking herbs and shrubs or bushes for the solace of hunger: so much so that those were their food, and grew in the deserts. To which signification the passage in the Acts of the holy Sabaite Martyrs, number 25, letter a, seems to be restored: where θάμνους is thought to be nothing but the food of fire.
* read δὲ.
* perhaps κατόξει?
EPILOGUE.
Οὗτος ὁ βίος τοῦ θεοσόφου Στεφάνου, ὃν κατ᾽ ἀξίαν ἐπαινεῖν οὐκ ἔχω, θεωρίαν ἐπαρκαὶ γλῶτταν ἱκανὴν μηδαμῶς κεκτημένῆ κ;ος· ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν γὰρ τῶν μητρικῶν μαστῶν ἀγνὴν παρθενίαν ἐτήρησε, μηδέποτε προσομιλήσας γάμοις. Ἀνὴρ θαυμαστὸς, λίαν ταπεινόφρων γεγονὼς, καὶ διαπαντὸς καθαροῖς δάκρυσιν ἀποπλύνων καὶ θεοειδεστέραν τὴν ψυχὴν ἀπεργαζομενος· πρᾷος δ᾽ ἦν καὶ μειλίχιος, μηδένα μισῶν, μηδένα ἀποστρεφόμενος· εὔσπλαγχνος, φιλόπτωχος, φιλέντολος, φιλόξενος, εγκρατὴς, ἀβάσκανος, δίκαιος, ἀνδρεῖος, ἄκακος, εἰρηνοποιὸς, σοφὸς, τὸ σῶμα καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν ὅλως καθαρὸς, παντοίαις ἀρεταῖς ἐκεκόσμητο. Τῇ ἀγάπῃ ἔζεεν, τὴν εἰρήνην ἠσπάζετο, ἔριδα καὶ φθόνον καὶ βασκανίαν ἀπεβάλλετο. Πᾶσαν φληναφίαν ἄκαιρον, καὶ λόγον ἀργὸν ἀπεκρούετο· πλεονεξίαν οὐκ εἶχε, τὴν ῥίζαν τῶν κακῶν, φιλαργυρίαν κατέπατει, τὸν λογισμὸν καλῶς ἐκυβέρνα, τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν καὶ τὸν θυμὸν ἐχαλίνου· ἀπάθειαν γὰρ σαρκὸς καὶ ψυχῆς θεόθεν δι᾽ ἀσκήσεως ἐκομίσατο τὸ σιγηλὸν ἤσκει, τὴν ἐγκράτειαν ἐποθει, τὴν ἡσυχίαν ἐδίωκεν· ἐν τῇ θεογνωσίᾳ διαπαντὸς ἀνεπόλει, τὴν νέκρωσιν τῶν παθῶν ἐμελέτα, μόνου τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐμερίμνα· αὐτὸν ἐδόξαζεν ᾠδαῖς ἀσιγήτοις, καὶ ὕμνοις καὶ ψαλμοῖς ἐκτενέσι· καὶ οὕτως ἀγγελικῶς βιοτεύων ὑπερηφανίας ἐκράτησεν, καὶ ταπείνωσιν ἄκραν ἐκτήσατο. Πᾶν δὲ ἀγαθον ἐποίει, καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς καλοῖς ἐπετέρπετο.
[186] Τῇ συμπαθείᾳ δὲ μᾶλλον τῶν ἄλλων διέπρεπέ τε καὶ διέλαμπεν. Ἀεὶ δὲ ταῖς ἀλλοτρίαις συμφοραῖς κατετρύχετο, τοῖς ἀσθενοῦσι συνηθένει, τοῖς ἀλγοῦσι συνήλγει, τοῖς πενομένοις συνεπένετο, τοῖς λυπουμένοις συνελυπεῖτο, μετὰ κλαιόντων ἔκλαιεν, μετὰ πενθούντων ἐπένθει. Διὸ πάντας καθ᾽ ὅλου τοὺς προσιόντας αὐτῷ φιλοφρόνως ὑπεδέχετο, τοὺς νοσοῦντας ἰᾶτο, τοὺς ὀδυνωμένους, καὶ κακῶς πάσχοντας παρεμυθεῖτο τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ ψυχωφελέσι καὶ ἱεροῖς λογίοις, τὴν ἀνίαν τῶν ἀνιωμένων ἀπέτεμε τῇ πνευματικῇ μαχαίρᾳ, καὶ τὰς καρδίας αὐτῶν εὐφροσύνης ἐνεπίπλα· τοὺς ἀδικουμένους παρηγορῶντε καὶ παραινῶν, ἀγαπᾷν τοὺς ἀδικοῦντας παρεσκεύαζεν, τοὺς ἀλλήλων μακρὰν διεστῶτας εἰρηνικῶς συνῆπτεν· τοὺς ἐμπίπτοντας πειρασμοῖς ὑπομένειν ἐδίδασκε, καὶ εὐλογεῖν πάντων τῶν συμβαινόντων ἕνεκεν· πάσας τὰς σωματικάστε καὶ πνευματικὰς αἰτήσεις τῶν αἰτούντων ἐξετέλει· οὐδενὸς κατεφρόνει, πάντας ἐπίσης συμπαθῶς ὑπεδέχετο καὶ ἐτίμα, τοὺς χριστιανοὺς οὐ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ Ἀγαρήνους· βρώματα δὲ αὐτοῖς δαψιλῆτε καὶ ποικίλα παρετίθη.
[187] Πάντων γὰρ ἀπορῶν, οὐδενὸς ὑστερεῖτο, καὶ ἀκτημοσύνην ἐσχάτην ἔχων, τὸ πᾶν ἐκέκτητο, ὑπὸ πάντων ἀποστολικῶς διακονούμενος. Ὅθεν τοῖς πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐρχομένοις θαρσικῶς, καὶ τῇ πλουσιοδώρῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀγαθότητι πεποιθὼς, ἔλεγεν· Κέκτημαι δένδρον ἀειθαλὲς, καὶ τοῖς καρποῖς ἀείκομον, καὶ παντὸς ἀγαθοῦ χορηγὸν, σκέπον καὶ τρέφον, καὶ εὐφραῖνον πάντα παραγενόμενον πρὸς τὴν ἐμην ταπείνωσιν. Τί δέ ἑστι τὸ δένδρον, ἐρωτώμενος, πρὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν τὴν χεῖρα ἐκτείνων, ἔλεγεν· Ὁ βρέξας τῷ μάννα τῷ Ἰσραὴλ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, ὁ ἐκ πέτρας ἀκροτόμου διψῶντι λαῷ πηγάσας ὕδωρ, ὁ θρέψας Ἠλιοὺ διὰ κόρακος, ὁ τροφεὺς καὶ χωρηγὸς τῆς ζῶῆς ἡμῶν, ὁ πολὺς ἐν ἐλέει καὶ οἰκτιρμοῖς, ἡ ὄντως πηγὴ τῶν αἰωνίων ἀγαθῶν.
[188] Διὸ τοίνυν, ὦ μακάριε Στέφανε, τὰς σὰς ἀναμέρος οὐκ ἄν ποτε δυνηθείην ἐξειπεῖν ἀρετάς· πᾶσαν γὰρ ἐν ἑαυτῷ συλλαβὼν φέρεις τὴν ἀρετὴν, δι᾽ ἧς οὐρανοπολίτης ἀπεφάνθης, τῶν αἰωνίων ἀπολαύων ἀγαθῶν, ἔνθα πάντων τῶν εὐφραινομένων ἡ κατοικία καὶ φωνὴ ἑορταζόντων, καὶ ἦχος ἀγαλλίασεως, ἧς καὶ ἡμᾶς καταξιωθῆναι, μηδαμῶς λίποις, Ἅγιε, τὸν σὸν πρεσβεύων Θεὸν, τοῖς ἡμετέροις πλημμελήμασιν ἵλεων καταστήσας αὐτὸν, τὸν μόνον ἀγαθὸν καὶ φιλάνθρωπον κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν, ᾧ πρέπει δόξα, τιμὴ, καὶ προσκύνησις ἅμα τῷ Πατέρι, καὶ τῷ παναγίῳ Πνεύματι εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. Ἀμήν.
This was the life of Stephen, endowed with divine wisdom, whom I indeed am altogether, as one strong neither in letters enough nor in fit elegance of speech, The virtues of St. Stephen, unequal to adorning according to his merits. For from his very mother's breasts he kept his virgin candor inviolate, never setting his mind on marriage. He was an admirable man, most vile to himself, ever cleansing himself with pure tears, and doing this uniquely, to form in his soul the likest possible image of God: but he was also placid and sweet, hostile to none, turning from none; merciful, a lover of poverty and obedience, hospitable, continent, envying none, just, brave, candid, peaceful, learned, most pure in body and soul, adorned with every kind of virtues. He glowed with charity, cultivated peace; he sent far away quarrels, hatred, envy; he assailed all untimely trifles and inept discourses: there was in him no desire of possessing or increasing; he trod down avarice, the root of all evils; he exercised a wonderful command over his thoughts; he had cast a bridle on concupiscence and anger: and by much exercise of virtues he had obtained this from God, that he seemed to have lost all sense both of body and of soul: he observed silence, was zealous for continence, followed quiet, was wholly in the consideration of divine things and the mortification of the passions, intent on God alone, whom he praised without intermission with assiduous canticles and hymns and prolix psalms; and, having emulated the angelic life in this manner, pride being prostrated, he had come forth to the lofty summit of humility. Whatever was right and honorable, in it he exercised himself, and in it alone he delighted.
[186] But there excelled and shone in him above all things the affection of compassion; by others' evils he was always tortured; his singular mercy, with the infirm he was infirm, with the afflicted afflicted; sick with the sick; with the sad, sad; with the weeping he wept; he mourned with the mourning. Hence that benignity with which he was wont to receive those coming to him from anywhere. He healed the sick, consoled the oppressed and ill-treated with his salutary and holy counsels; he cut off the sadness of the grieving with the spiritual sword, and filled their hearts with joy: those who had suffered injury, by soothing and persuading, he led to the love of those who had inflicted it; he peacefully reconciled the minds of those disagreeing among themselves with inveterate hatred. If any had fallen into temptations, he exhorted them to patience, and to blessing God for all things that befell. Whatever he was asked, whether it were bodily or spiritual, he brought to effect. He despised no one; he received all with equal benevolence and held them in esteem, not only Christians, but even Agarenes; and he set before them dishes both sumptuous and various.
[187] For though he had nothing, yet nothing was wanting to him, his huge confidence in God. and in the utmost want he possessed all things, all ministering to him, as of old to the Apostle. Hence that habitual saying which, relying on the most munificent benignity of God, he confidently used to those who turned aside to him: I have a tree perpetually green, and always laden with fruits, and supplying all good things; it shades, feeds, refreshes, whoever comes to my slenderness. But being asked what that tree was; his hand lifted to heaven: It is he, he said, who rained manna on Israel in the desert; who from the hard flint drew out for the thirsting people a fountain of waters; who fed Elijah by a raven [a]; who both conferred life and by nourishing preserves it; who is great in mercy and compassions; who is truly the fountain of eternal goods.
[188] The Author implores the Saint's aid. Wherefore, O blessed Stephen, to pursue your virtues one by one, however much I might wish, I could never: for, having embraced all virtue in yourself, you carry it about, through which you have been proved a citizen of the heavens, rejoicing in everlasting goods; where is the dwelling of those rejoicing together; where the voices of those keeping festival; where the sound of exultation; of which, that we too may be found worthy, cease never, holy man, to entreat your God, until you shall have rendered him propitious to our sins; who alone is good and most loving of men, the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom are due glory, and honor, and adoration, with the Father and the most holy Spirit forever. Amen.