ON SAINT ANINAS THE WONDERWORKER, ANCHORITE IN THE TERRITORY OF EUPHRATESIA.
PrefaceAninas the Wonderworker, Anchorite in the territory of Euphratesia (S.)
[1] Saint Aninas, or Ananias, or Anianus, the Wonderworker, is inscribed on various days in the Greek manuscript Menaea of Milan in the Ambrosian library on the twentieth of February: but in the Parisian Synaxarion of the College of Clermont and in the Menaea preserved in the Convent of the Annunciation of the Virgin on the eighteenth of March: The veneration of S. Aninas among the Greeks: whence we conjecture that the same person is noted in the Arabic-Egyptian Martyrology, of which we recently received a Latin version from Rome, although through the carelessness of the scribe the name has fallen out, and we read only this: Memorial of the holy Prodigious Father. But this memorial is placed in the manuscript of our Chifflet at Dijon on the sixteenth of March, to which the printed Menaea and Maximus Bishop of Cythera agree, usually in these words: Memorial of our holy Father Aninas the Wonderworker. In the Menaea these verses are added:
Aninas the wonderworker, covered by the tomb, Does not conceal along with himself the grace of miracles.
Acts. We do not doubt that Acts of his life and death, along with miracles performed after his death, existed among the Greeks: from which some things are found in the printed Menaea, which our Matthaeus Rader already rendered into Latin in the first part of his Sacred Garden and published, and we give them here. He seems to have lived in the Euphratensian province of Syria, where not far from the river Euphrates there was the episcopal city of Caesarea, also called by others Neocaesarea.
EPITOME OF THE LIFE.
Aninas the Wonderworker, Anchorite in the territory of Euphratesia (S.)
[1] This our holy Father, from his earliest age, inclined to gentleness and the quiet life with no teacher, Lover of quietude strove to lie hidden and devote himself to himself. For at the age of sixteen, having lost both parents, he left everything and sought the solitude: he seeks the solitude: and finding a certain religious man whose name was Maioumas, most devoted to poverty amid few possessions, he attached himself to him, and kept vigil and prayed together with him. Such was the abstinence of both that often for forty days they had nothing to eat from want. And although they lived so strictly and contentedly, they were nevertheless as delighted as if they were living among royal delicacies. But after some time, the instructor and master of this Aninas began to think of departing from him, which he also did. But this most blessed man said to him: Grant pardon, venerable Father, it is not my intention to withdraw from here. For where he had arrived under God's guidance, there he determined to remain.
[2] He went out, however, rather frequently to the interior tracts of the desert, for twenty or thirty days, and afterwards returned to his cell, he has two lions obedient to him: and since he had thoroughly mortified the desires of the body, God in turn granted him that he should have obedient wild beasts. For it was well known to all that two lions were his constant companions wherever he went: and when one of them had got a thorn in its paw, the Blessed one, having extracted the thorn, carefully bandaged and treated the paw. he heals the sick: Now, as fame of him spread everywhere, a great multitude of people, both men and women, who brought sick persons with them, flocked to him: and these, whatever disease they were suffering from, he restored by the grace of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him, by prayers alone.
[3] Giving up therefore his excursion into the inner solitude, he remained in his cell. But water was inconveniently supplied: for it had to be fetched from the Euphrates, which was four or five miles away. And at first it was rarely brought, for there was no need: but when so great a crowd of people gathered, by his prayers he receives a cistern filled with water: it seemed good to the Saint to provide water for the use of the pilgrims. He therefore dug a small cistern, to collect rainwater in it. But when it was too narrow, and the multitude of pilgrims had exhausted the spring, and another crowd was arriving, and the servant was ordered to draw water, and the Saint understood that not even one cup could any longer be filled, since the spring had long been exhausted; raising his eyes to heaven and sighing from the depths of his breast, with a cheerful face he said to the servant: Go, my son, I command you in the name of the Lord to draw and supply water. He obeyed, and o miracle to be marveled at! He found the cistern full and overflowing with water; and when he proclaimed the matter, all beheld the most wonderful deed with their own eyes, and leaping down and drawing the fresh and most limpid water, astonished with amazement, they gave immense praises to God, who adorns those who love Him with such glory.
[4] In order to suppress the triumph of this miracle, the Saint himself began afterwards to carry water from the Euphrates, just as he had been accustomed to do before. Every night, therefore, he had the unceasing labor of fetching water from the Euphrates. And when again at another time a very large crowd was present and the well had dried up completely, this venerable old man, seizing a vessel, hastened to the river. He had not yet advanced a stone's throw when he turned back, so that those who were present supposed he had returned because of bodily infirmity: they ran to him, and when one of them snatched the water jar from his hands, intending to draw water from the Euphrates himself, he noticed and saw that the jar was full of water, and exclaimed in a loud voice: Give glory to God: living water has flowed from the arms of the Father. They ran in competition, and examining the jar, found it full of cold water, and admired beyond measure; they prostrated themselves at his feet, as also the jar, praying that he would no longer undergo such labor of carrying water on their account. For unless, they said, this miracle had happened, you were certainly going to carry water from the Euphrates itself. But that most blessed man in turn also threw himself on the ground and kept calling himself dust and ashes and the vilest little worm.
[5] Then the Bishop of Caesarea, when he learned that water was being carried by the Saint himself, sent a donkey to bear the burden and free the old man. donkeys received from the Bishop, Meanwhile a certain man, oppressed by poverty and debt, came to the holy man and laid his misfortune before him. Since the Saint had nothing to give, and yet did not wish to send him away empty, he said: Sell this donkey and satisfy your creditor. When the Bishop learned of this, he gives to the needy: he donated another and said: I do not give you this beast to use at your own discretion; but so that it may carry water, and when I need it, I shall ask it back from you. A little later another petitioner came, who, seeing from the Saint's poverty that there was nothing to receive, took the donkey. When the Bishop learned of this in turn, he dug a new cistern, which he filled with water by means of the beasts he sent, and ordered the beasts to be returned to him by his servants.
[6] There was at that time in that vicinity a certain very famous Stylite, with whom, at the instigation of demons, another person had a quarrel and fight, so that the Stylite was even struck and injured by a stone: he sends a letter to a Stylite by means of a lion: and the Stylite, provoked, began to wish to avenge the injury, and to descend from his station on the column and take vengeance on the troublemakers. When Aninas, truly a man of God, learned of this by divine revelation, he sent a letter by means of a lion. The Stylite, seeing the lion as letter-carrier, was struck with immense terror. he teaches patience: The disciple received the letter from the lion and handed it to the Stylite: and when he had read it, he obeyed the admonition, and leaving vengeance to God, he wrote back through the lion to Blessed Aninas, that he gave great thanks to God and His servant.
[7] A matron afflicted with a serious illness was making her way to the holy man, and when a barbarian met her on the road, he frees a matron from assault: he attempted to ravish her; but she, by merely invoking the name of the Saint, tamed him and diverted him from his purpose. When he tried to pull out his spear with his open hand (which he had previously fixed in the ground before attacking her), he found that it had already put forth roots, the spear putting forth roots, and astonished by this unheard-of prodigy, he too flew to the holy man: and instructed by him in the Christian law, he received holy baptism, and remained with the holy man and lived most holily. the assailant is converted: The woman, moreover, was healed and returned rejoicing.
[8] Many other deeds surpassing the force of nature the Saint accomplished, which, lest we weary the reader, Renowned for miracles, we pass over, though unwillingly. Having spent, then, ninety-five years in this arena of virtue, and
having never departed from it nor changed his place, he reached the one hundred and tenth year of his age; 110 years old, having uttered many and various prophecies and predictions, all of which the event itself confirmed. At length, having gathered and assembled a great community of Brothers, he selected one who surpassed the rest in virtue: and said: This one God has designated as Pastor in my place: and at the same time he pointed to him with his hand and embraced him, and having blessed them all, he died on the 16th of March. after seven days he departed to the Lord, on the sixteenth day of March.