John in the Well

ON ST. JOHN IN THE WELL, HERMIT IN ARMENIA.

John in the Well, hermit in Armenia (St.)

[1] We found the Greek Acts of this Saint in the Vatican Library in a codex marked with the number 1660 with this title, Life translated from Greek by Sirletus: Life of John the Monk. We obtained the same rendered into Latin by Cardinal Sirletus and preserved in codex 6187 in the same library: we collated both the Greek and Latin copies transcribed from there, and publish them on this day, on which the Greeks in the Great Menaia and in Maximus Bishop of Cythera celebrate his memory with these words: Of our holy Father John who lived in the well. veneration among the Greeks: Memorial of our holy Father John who lived in the well. In the Greek Menologion rendered into Latin by the same Cardinal Sirletus, which Baronius used very extensively in composing his Martyrology, the following is read: And of the holy Father John of the Well: In the manuscript Menaia, which are preserved at the home of Peter Francis Chifflet of the Society of Jesus at Dijon, a long eulogy was copied from the said Acts, but on account of an extracted leaf it could not be had in its entirety; at least we gather from it the use of the Churches in venerating him.

[2] This Life, just as it was taken from the mouth of John himself as he lay dying by the hermit Chrysius, was so written down at his dictation by a Cleric, time and place: but perhaps in the manner of the Greeks with some amplification of events. John lived in the time of the persecution against Christians, but the name of the Emperor is not expressed. In that persecution he hid for some time with his widowed mother in the city of Cybistra. Cybistra is placed by Ptolemy in Book 5 of the Geography, Chapter 7, in Armenia Minor in the Prefecture of Cataonia, and is frequently mentioned by Strabo in Book 12; the Bishop of this same city, Timothy, subscribed to the first Council of Nicaea.

LIFE.

From the Vatican Greek manuscript, translated by William Sirletus, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church.

John in the Well, hermit in Armenia (St.)

FROM MANUSCRIPTS.

CHAPTER I

The youth of St. John, flight into a well: food divinely provided.

[1] There was a certain woman devoted to Christ, at the time when the preaching of the Christian religion was being spread. St. John hides in persecution with his mother: The woman's name was Julia, who had many possessions and two children: one was called John, the other Themistia. At that time there arose a certain man named Pompeianus, who received an edict from the Emperor that if he found any who believed in Christ, he should torture them with various punishments. When that blessed woman Julia heard that this edict was coming to the city of Cybistra, she withdrew into a certain small house: and there she remained with her children, instructing them in the laws of piety. When one of them, whose name was John, was in his thirteenth year, he used to go secretly from his mother at a certain appointed hour to the temple, and send his customary prayers to God. secretly he goes to the temple without his mother: When a certain man had found him praying, he asked: Come, tell me, boy, of what family are you, you who are accustomed to pray to God alone? John said to him: I am the son of a widowed woman who also has a girl: we hide in a small house. But I secretly, at an appointed hour, come to the church without my mother's knowledge, and I find no one with whom to praise God: for the Christians have withdrawn in fear. But I, who am a boy, do not fear the edicts of Princes, but I fear more that heavenly King, who on that day will give me an immortal and eternal prize. he is persuaded by an unknown man to seek the desert: To whom that man said: And what need is there for you, O boy, at this age to resist these difficulties? If you wish to overcome the opposing powers, go into the desert, and separating yourself from men, be there fearing God, and you will live as one of the number of the Angels. For this life is vain and lasting only for a short time; dominion itself passes like a shadow; principality vanishes like smoke: but woe to that man who shall have lost his soul. When John had heard these things, he was pierced in his heart and said to that man: What shall I do? For I have pity on my mother and sister, since she is still an infant, and our mother has spent much so that we might learn our letters, lest our affairs should perish badly. Then he said: It is better for you to seek the things which are in heaven

than not to lose them. John said to him: I will go and bid farewell to my mother, and then I will go out, lest perhaps she grieve for me, thinking her instructions have been despised by me: and if she blesses me well, I will take this as a kind of provision for the journey and depart.

[2] Quickly therefore he went to the said small house, and his mother said to him: he obtains from his mother permission to depart: Where have you been, boy, and filled my mind with sadness, I who, having scorned your father's property, hid you away lest you fall into the hands of that corrupter Pontian? Do you wish to reveal yourself and bring sorrow to my old age? John said to her: I went to the temple of the Lord, and I found a certain one of my fellow students, who wished to keep me there. But I said to him: Unless I first came and informed my mother, I could not do this: but I promised him that I would bring the matter to your knowledge. You therefore first bless me well, and then give me leave, I beg, that I may go there, where if I tarry longer, you may live in peace. Then she said: Go, my son, in peace, and may my God be before your face. Then John, he seeks the desert under the guidance of an Angel: having bid farewell to his mother and sister, and having kissed them, went out, and immediately migrated to a certain desert land. And when an Angel found him walking, he said: Where are you going, O boy? I am seeking, he said, a place where I may rest. Therefore the Angel showed him where he should go. And he completed a day's journey and found a well, and having prayed to God, he looked down, and having fortified himself with the sign of the Cross, having recited prayers: he prayed thus: You who brought Jonah out of the belly of the whale on the third day, and Daniel from the den of lions, and Jeremiah from the mire, and who finally, having drawn Joseph the lover of chastity from the well, appointed him Governor of Egypt; you, I say, Lord, come also now into this well, and I will throw myself into it, unharmed by the help of your name: and let this place be my dwelling: and you nourish me: and I shall never ascend from here until I have completed all the days of my life, which you, Lord, have appointed me to spend on earth. he throws himself into a well of twenty cubits: And when he had prolonged the prayers themselves to the final clause, which is Amen, he threw himself into the well and descended unharmed, and the Angel of the Lord received him. The depth of the well was twenty cubits: in that place he sat and praised the glory of God.

[3] He remains fasting for forty days: When he had completed forty days, neither eating bread nor drinking water, an Angel came to a certain Egyptian man, bringing him food, and likewise another Angel after him, who also similarly had food. Now that Angel came to the Egyptian to test him. And he heard that other Angel speaking thus: Arise, Pharmutes: and bring food to John: from Pharmutes, having received food from the Angel: for these are forty days during which he has neither eaten bread, nor drunk water, nor bent his knee, nor drawn his hands together, but intent, he prays to the Lord; and because that child is, I have not been commanded to bring him food, but I have caused bread to be given him through you, lest perhaps he be elated and the devil tempt him. And when you have given him food, confirm him in the teaching of the Lord. All these things the devil heard: and crying out, he said: Come, with the devil watching: I was thinking that this Pharmutes was called some great man, and that there would be trouble and a contest for me if I wished to deceive him. Now who is this one, whom, if I wish, I will shake as a leaf is shaken by the wind? But what shall I do, since even boys wage war against me? But as long as this boy is tender, I will deceive him with my various arts: for if he begins to be accustomed to be free from idleness and sloth, I will no longer be able to draw him away. But when Pharmutes had received food from the Angel, he went to John, and having prayed to God, he said: John, he is visited: servant of God, whom God himself visits, on account of the endurance of your spirit he has sent you food so that you may be strong. Receive therefore what has been sent to you from God. John answered him: If the Lord had wished to give me food, he would have sent it here to me: but God does not know me, and therefore he has not sent food to me. Pharmutes said to him: I am that Egyptian to whose cave you formerly came. John said: Bless the Lord, and then give me food. Then he said a hymn up to the Amen. he eats the food offered, with the Angel serving: But the Angel received the bread, and under the figure of the Egyptian man gave it to John. And when John had taken the food, he was stronger, and said: Go, servant of God, sit in your cave, celebrating the glory of God, and in your prayers be mindful of me: for the Lord lives who has not forsaken my soul; I will no longer take food from the hand of any man, as long as my spirit is in me, unless the Lord himself visits me and sends me food: for I will not ascend from this pit, nor encounter any man, nor be mindful of human affairs: but this place will be my house while I live, and my tomb when dead: and let God take care of the rest that pertains to me.

[4] Then Pharmutes said to him: Listen, son, and keep patience, he is strengthened against diabolic temptations: lest at some time you be tempted by the devil: for he is the adversary of this warfare, he attacks us every day and suggests sluggishness and wicked thoughts to us, that is, the custom of life, the abundance of money, a mother's pity, longing for a sister, the goodwill of servants, the illustrious deeds of one's family, the pleasantness of equals, bringing these to our mind: by which thoughts the mind itself is suffocated, and the heart grows hard, and the man himself at last becomes barren; then he creeps in again and introduces tears and unjust thoughts, namely anxiety and alienation from the world, the path of desert places, the repose of life, the end of death; by all of which he kills the mind itself and circumvents the hearts of simple men. But you, in all these things be sober, remaining in peace, guarded by the Lord. So far he. John said to him: I beseech you by the glory of the Lord, when God himself remembers you and sends food, do not bring it to me.

*Perhaps, of Pompeianus, as above?

CHAPTER II

Temptations of the demons overcome. Blessed death.

[5] The devil followed, and went to the cave, having the form of one of the servants, By the devil in the likeness of a servant of his mother going to Pharmutes: who attended upon John's mother. And when he had greeted Pharmutes, he threw himself weeping at his feet and said: I pray, man of God, if you have perfectly withdrawn from the calamities of this life, you know all a mother's tender feelings and mercy, you recognize the longing of brothers, the familiarity of servants, the abundance of money, the splendor of family, and good fortune: so therefore, have pity on me, O holy man of God, as one who has himself suffered much. When Pharmutes heard these things and did not recognize it to be a temptation, he began to inquire of him whether he was a military man, or a servant who had departed from a harsh master; or some freeborn man who had suffered tyranny from a powerful man? The devil thus began: I had, he said, a master who was a religious man, and his Lady was also religious. Our master died while he was still a young man, and left our religious mistress with two children: he is interrogated: of whom the elder, who was my master and heir of the property, departed from us, and we do not know what happened to him; whether a spirit led him astray or he became prey of wild beasts. Since our mistress is of a kind disposition, therefore wherever she hears there is a religious man who is observant of God, she is accustomed to go to him with great labor. Now a certain religious man, similar to you, has come, and our mistress sought him out: who said that he had seen the son she was seeking beyond the Jordan: but in what place he had established himself, he did not know at all. With many tears therefore and prayers my mistress sent me to seek him, and to him she also wrote a letter: his name is John, who is nearly in his fifteenth year. Now therefore God himself, on account of the prayers of my mistress, was my guide, and caused me to find you, a man worthy of God, who could tell me where my master has gone.

[6] When Pharmutes saw his tears, moved by pity, by the deceived Pharmutes: he said: Stay here and tomorrow I will show him to you, or he will show himself. The devil stayed there, and throughout the whole night that Egyptian was oppressed by many thoughts, and could not finish his prayers, but was entirely occupied with cares and anxieties. On the next day, very early in the morning, the devil threw himself at the feet of the Egyptian, who took him and led him from that place without finishing his prayers, and brought him to the well in which John was. The Egyptian therefore began to say these things to John: Whatever a man has done, if he has not honored those by whom he was begotten, all is useless to him, and he will depart from this life gaining no fruit, he is persuaded to return to his mother: and all the labors which he has borne in his youth will be counted as nothing. Have you so abandoned your poor mother that she must groan on your account? Are not whatever goods are acquired by you in this place, overthrown there because of your mother's tears? But listen to me and go, and take care of your mother, and distribute your father's property to the poor, and then come here; see, she has also sent a boy with a letter to you. Then John said to Pharmutes: Having suffered such great labors, what is it that you did not recognize him who oppressed your thoughts and diverted your mind and took your senses captive and shook you from your divine prayers? In this matter it was possible to recognize that this very one, whom you mention, was not good; he corrects him with stern warnings: because when he came here, you did not give glory to the Lord, but foolishly called me. Sign yourself with the Cross, take the shield of faith, recover your mind, think about what you have said, and go; and sitting in your cave, collect yourself, lest in some way he boast against you. Then Pharmutes, acquiescing in his counsel and paying attention, and seeing himself disturbed, fell on his face and cried out: Son John, pray to God for me yourself, that I may come to my senses, lest in some way after many labors I perish: I thought I had escaped the deception of that wicked demon. Then John said: Lord,

who searches the heart and tests the mind; grant that he who labored much for the sake of your name may come to his senses, and remove our adversary from us in confusion.

[7] Then the devil said to John: How much you have afflicted your mother and us! and with the demon vainly interrupting: See, I brought the servant of God to you, and you did not listen: I will return from him and your poor mother will be more afflicted at my returning: for I know her spirit will not bear it. John gave him no answer, but said to the Egyptian: Return, and as much as you have humbled yourself from your youth, so much humble yourself, lest in any way you lose your spiritual food. he sends him back to his cave: Then the Egyptian departing said: O John, I have suffered many labors and have fallen grievously: pray to God for me. And John said: Lord, grant that your pearl may not perish, since this man has labored much and showed me how I might come to know you. Then the Egyptian departed weeping, grieving, and saying: O Devil, how much you strove, O how much you deceived me, but making sport of me you mocked me, and an infant boy conquered you. Now I too, being old, will propose a new contest against you, and I will overcome your machinations. You thought through me to bring ruin to that boy, who is a servant of the Lord, but he revealed himself and called me back to the right way.

[8] After these things the devil left him for a space of time, and betook himself to a crowd, he is attacked by the devil in the person of his mother: and from afar began to cry out as if he were that boy's mother: O son, how much labor I suffered to raise you! How many letters I taught you, being very eager, and lest you should destroy yourselves, I shut myself up with you in a cell! How did you not have pity on me? At least have pity on your sister. Have you thus suffered me, deserted by you yourself in my old age, to be tossed about? Me, I say, a widow without children, and forsaken by all? Have you forgotten that you nursed at my breasts? Have not my inner feelings moved you? Not the pleading of your sister? Not the familiarity of the household? Not the company of your peers? Not, finally, your father's estate? But have you thus lost your mind and gone off to solitude? The same devil, assuming the appearance of his mother, approached near the well and cried out, saying: My son John, let pity for me, an old woman and your mother, touch you, who has labored much on your account. Have pity on your poor sister, who used to call you father. Remember your father's goods and come to your senses from the drunkenness of the evil demon. O what a wicked spirit you have! O wicked and evil spirit, in what way was I troublesome to you, that you should act so powerfully against me as to tear my son from me? In the same way, assuming the appearance of his sister, of his sister: he cried out saying: Have pity on me, who am bereft of a father and deprived of all help, and having no one, I am afflicted by all. These things he said, and the demons who were with him, as servants, and of the servants: added: Woe to us, for we are without a master. Ascend, we beg you, and have pity on us and on our mistress, and recover your goods, and entrust them to managers, and set governors over them, and give alms to the poor, and establish bequests for those of your servants who are older: and when you have done these things well, return here. But if not, take all of us and have us with you below, so that we too may die together with you.

[9] again of the mother indignant at receiving no response: When all these things had been said, John gave no answer, but celebrated the glory of God. And when the Devil himself saw that no answer was given to him from which he could deceive him, he began to say: Will you not answer me, son? Do not my tears move you, nor do you pity my wretched old age? Since I know that I have led no public life? And now like some wild beast I have traversed the whole desert. At least deign me with your voice, O son. And while he said these things, crying out greatly, all the demons cried out, so that there was a great howling and lamentation. And he, still assuming the appearance of the mother, leaning over the well, cried out and said: Let me throw myself down, that I may see his delicate limbs so wasted by hunger. And when he had given a space of time, thinking some answer would come from him, and none was given; thereafter calling all to himself, he said: Come, bring me ropes, so that each of us may lower one. And when this began to be prepared, then one of the demons said: When you have all descended, who will be able to lower me? And the Devil was angry at him, because he had revealed his plan: Let him, he said, no longer be with us, but let him go and feed on human flesh. he is bitten by the devil in the form of a dragon slipping into the well: Then the wicked spirit cried out: O John, have pity on me and free me from this Prince. When therefore he had refuted his thoughts, he became a dragon, and gnashing his teeth hurled himself down, and embraced John, and seemed to eat his flesh and cut off his limbs, and again to vomit them up before his eyes: and yet he could not turn him from his prayers. When therefore much time had passed, and he could not turn him from his purpose; then crying out, he said: Woe to me, that wishing to gain one, I have lost the world. I will therefore leave this one and go to others and draw them to me, lest in any way my royal house be left empty. Then John, having overcome him, adjured him with an oath not to come to that place again, but he compels him to swear that he will not return there: nor to any other who wished to dwell there. And when the demon had sworn as he wished, that wherever he heard his name he would never enter that place, but would go as far away as heaven is from earth; so he dismissed him.

[10] John lived in that well for ten years, and the time came having remained there ten years, he is visited by Chrysius: when he was to depart from this life: and I, Chrysius, while I was in the forest of the Baratenses, where I had spent thirty years in that land, was brought by an Angel to that desert to give burial to John. And so I was brought down into that well, and John embraced me and addressed me thus: Great joy has been brought to me by your presence, O Chrysius, since from boyhood you have endured many struggles. And having prayed to God, I bound him with an oath to relate his training from his youth, and he narrated all these things. he narrates his life to him: For three days I was there, and the earth itself was raised up from the depths, and we saw each other, and I greeted him. And when a certain stone was placed there at the well, and he had instructed me to place that stone over the mouth, he greeted me and gave up his spirit. he dies and is buried by him: And I placed the stone as he had instructed me, and dug the earth with my nails and placed it on my cloak and gathered it to the mouth of the well. And immediately a certain great palm tree sprang up there, a palm soon grows: which was full of fruit. When I saw this, I celebrated the glory of God: who repays the reward of labors; and again I was brought by a cloud to the place where I had lived before, and I summoned a pious man and Cleric and asked him to write these things for the refreshment of those souls the Life is written down: who have hope in God, and by the memory and grace of the holy man, which God bestows on those who fear him, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.