Matrona

ON ST. MATRONA, MISTRESS OF NUNS, AT CONSTANTINOPLE,

IN THE FIFTH CENTURY

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY

Matrona, hegumena, at Constantinople (S.)

BY H. D.

[1] Matrona, married to Domitian, If you give credit to the sayings of the hagiographers, St. Matrona is to be counted among the number of those saints whose deeds are worthy of admiration rather than of imitation, and demand to be excused, not praised. For the anonymous biographer, who supplied the material to all her other praisers, as we shall show, hands down this about Matrona. She was born at Perge in Pamphylia, was brought up there, and was joined in marriage to a certain Domitian, from whom she also received one daughter, Theodote. She was already intent on the exercises of all the virtues when she set out with her husband for Constantinople. Having entered the royal city, she began to run about through the churches of the saints, often to spend the whole day and night there, to share her means with the poor, and to lull the goads of the flesh with fitting exercises, roused by the examples of a certain pious virgin Eugenia (c. 2). Up to this point, almost entirely excellent.

[2] clothed in a man's garment, Domitian, however, took these things ill, and nursed sinister suspicions about his wife, so much so that he forbade her access to the sacred assemblies. Having prayed more intently to the holy apostles in their own church, and having heard the counsels of Eugenia her mistress, she resolved to put the most holy duties toward her own family after an immoderate zeal for divine things, and first she handed over her daughter Theodote to be kept by a certain pious woman Susanna (c. 3). Soon, without her husband's knowledge, so as not to be hindered by him, she strove to embrace the monastic life, and in sleep, as it seemed to her, she was taught by the Lord by what means she might attain her purpose and at the same time escape her husband's notice. Her hair shaved off, she put on the habit of a eunuch and betook herself to the monastery of Bassianus, which was one of men. There, falsely claiming to be called Babylas, she was enrolled in the number of the monks, and strove to surpass her companions in every exercise of labours and virtues, so that she was an object of admiration to all (c. 4).

[3] she enters the monastery of Bassianus. Now, when a certain monk Barnabas had detected that her ears were pierced, she was very nearly recognized as a woman, but, casting all her hope on God, she escaped the danger at least for that time (c. 5). But on a certain day Bassianus, warned first by a vision, then by Acacius, archimandrite of the monastery of Abraamius, who had seen a similar vision, and at last also by the words of the gospel found after he had poured out prayer: The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened (Luke 13, 21), summoned Matrona and, addressing her with a severe countenance, rebuked her because she had brought the dangers of temptations into the monastery and had presumed to approach the sacraments with bare head. She, however, humbly disclosed the whole matter to the abbot, and set out her holy desires, her husband's savagery, and the vision also (c. 7, 8). When Bassianus had heard this and understood that she would by no means renounce the monastic life, he instructed her with fitting admonitions, and ordered her to put a fillet on her head on account of the law of nature, and to go out of the monastery in the evening (c. 9).

[4] To escape her husband's notice Meanwhile Theodote, Matrona's daughter, departed this life; at which the mother conceived pleasure rather than grief. And with Susanna indeed, after she had left Bassianus, she lay hidden for some time. But the fame of her deeds was gradually creeping about; and Domitian, after he had gone round the other monasteries, intending to seek his wife again, came also to the house of Bassianus, and knocking at the doors and shouting he demanded that his wife be returned to him. But after he had heard both from Eugenia and from the lying monks that not a woman but a eunuch had put on the sacred habit, and that he had set out for Jerusalem, he returned home grieving (c. 10). Bassianus, however, anxious for Matrona's soul, having heard the counsels of the chief monks, at the persuasion of Marcellus the deacon sent her to Emesa, into the monastery of Hilara, where, kindly received, she was seen to apply herself to the pursuit of the virtues with such eagerness that she was an example to all, and, when the hegumena died, she was set over the convent (c. 11).

[5] she makes for Emesa, Further, while she was living at Emesa, the head of St. John the Baptist was found there, and was solemnly brought into the church with a great concourse of the people. Matrona too was present with the other nuns. When she had received some of the unguent flowing from the sacred head and was sharing it with all, a certain man blind from birth, running past all the others, came up to her, asking that she anoint his eyes. When she had done so, he at once recovered his sight (c. 12). Hence the fame of her holiness grew very greatly, so that it soon reached Domitian's ears. He makes for Emesa, finds the monastery, and strives to approach Matrona. She does not indeed refuse, but asks a truce of seven days; meanwhile, however, she secretly leaves the house and sets out for Jerusalem (c. 13). Domitian pursues his wife, and Matrona barely escapes his notice; pretending that she is going to turn aside to Paneas for only three days, she makes for Mount Sinai. But again, when Domitian had learned of this, he pursues her. The matter being discovered, Matrona changes her habit and withdraws to the parts of Berytus, where she resolves to lie hidden in an ancient shrine of idols (c. 14).

[6] then Berytus, In this hiding-place, while she gave her labour to the nocturnal psalmody, she heard demons psalming against her and uttering foul cries, and she repelled them with the sign of the cross (c. 15). And when she was tormented by hunger and thirst, by the wonderful mercy of God she obtained food and drink in a desert place (c. 16). The devil tries to call her back from her purpose, meeting her first under the appearance of a beautiful woman (c. 17), then of an old woman; and seeing that Matrona took no account of him, he threatens that greater combats are reserved for her in her old age. Then the saint was refreshed by a heaven-sent vision of three men psalming, perhaps angels (c. 18).

[7] where she gathers companions, Now her fame again pervaded the neighbouring places and the city itself, and many came to her; and some gentile women, among whom a certain Sophrone, attached themselves to her, asking that by her help they might be drawn back from the vanity of idols; and these, when with teaching

she had imbued them with Christian teaching, she had them baptized (c. 19). There also clung to Matrona a certain priestess of the idols. When the gentiles learned of this, they ran together to the shrine of the idols which was the saint's dwelling, and threatened to set fire to the building unless the girl returned (c. 20). She, however, insistently demanded to be initiated into the sacred rites of the Christians and to stay with the saint. Matrona, therefore, after she had openly shown that she despised the threats of the impious (c. 21), asked the bishop to send a priest, a deacon and a deaconess (c. 22), to whom she handed over the girl to be taught and baptized. She, brought back to Matrona after baptism and named Euche by her, began to be exercised in divine things with seven others. And whoever met Matrona were deeply moved by her holiness and departed from her with reluctance (c. 23).

[8] with whom, returning to Constantinople, Now, since she feared that Domitian would again follow her tracks, and at the same time she was held by the desire of meeting Bassianus, Matrona's mind was torn by a twofold thought: on the one hand of going away to Alexandria or Antioch, lest she fall into her husband's hands, on the other of returning to Constantinople, so as to enjoy the company of her spiritual father (c. 24). That it was God's pleasure that she should choose the royal city out of the three places she understood from a wonderful vision (c. 25). The sisters, grieving, at first resisted; at last they favour her purpose (c. 26), and after she had entrusted them to two deaconesses appointed by the bishop (c. 27), she boarded a ship with two secular women and one of her daughters, Sophrone, and quickly landed at Constantinople. At once the deacon Marcellus is summoned, to whom Matrona narrates each thing that had happened hitherto (c. 28).

[9] she establishes a monastery Marcellus lays open the whole matter to Bassianus, who orders a dwelling to be hastily prepared for the saint. Then she goes to the monastery of Bassianus with the women whom she had had as companions on the journey, and receives from the father three eulogiae, three girdles and three mantles (c. 29). He also, at Matrona's request, orders the sisters whom she had left at Berytus to be brought to Constantinople, and charges Marcellus to provide them with necessities (c. 30); and at last, after Bassianus had bestowed his blessing on them, Marcellus brought them to Matrona (c. 31). Not long afterwards she became known to a good many, above all to the empress Verina, whom she received with simple affection, yet asked nothing of her (c. 32).

[10] in the Severiana, At the exhortation of Euphemia, wife of Anthemius, Antiochiana, wife of Sphoracius, who was labouring under a grave illness, went to Matrona to be healed by her hands, and at once experienced relief at her touch, and wished to stay with the saint until her complete deliverance (c. 34). Seeing, moreover, that Matrona was living in narrow quarters, and those hired for a price, she offered her one of her estates, whichever she should choose (c. 35). Matrona did not refuse what was offered and, at Marcellus's persuasion, chose the place called Severiana; which Antiochiana at once handed over, and confirmed the gift in writing (c. 36). Hither, then, the saint moved and dwelt, her flock happily growing. Reduced again to straits, she placed her hope perpetually in God (c. 37).

[11] which Athanasia enlarges. And here indeed the hagiographer inserts a not brief history of Athanasia, who brought ample means to Matrona. She, having by chance entered the monastery, was so delighted that she wished at once to take the habit in it (c. 38). Her sister, however, who was accompanying her, was displeased at the matter, nor did Matrona approve that her holy desires should be complied with at once (c. 39), and the deacon Marcellus persuaded her to return home (c. 40). When the son she had died, she returns to the monastery, and learned whatever was done both by Matrona and by the nuns (c. 41). Then she goes back and withdraws to a country house; and when she had heard that money had been stolen from her by her husband, she thought that an honourable occasion was offered her of contriving a separation from him (c. 42). Meanwhile she strove to imitate Matrona in everything (c. 43). At last, after she obtained her husband's consent, she offered herself and her means to Matrona (c. 44). Matrona hesitated to take up the administration of Athanasia's goods (c. 45); but having heard the opinion of Bassianus, she used them in such a way as to spend part of the money on building various houses for the use of the nuns, and to distribute the rest to other monasteries (c. 46). Further, after fifteen years spent holily in Matrona's monastery, Athanasia dies (c. 46).

[12] She dies in extreme old age. Matrona, however, ever intent on her flock, was by no means free from temptations (c. 48); but as the time of her dissolution was at hand, she was refreshed by a vision of the blessed life (c. 49); and when she had shown herself a diligent imitator of her master Bassianus also in ordering the monastery (c. 50), she died at the age of almost a hundred years, on the seventh day of November (c. 51, 52).

[13] The codices We have narrated the Life of Matrona according to the ancient biographer, whose little book, hitherto unpublished, we have obtained in these three codices:

A = Codex of the Bibliothèque Nationale of Paris 1519, of 768 pages, 0m,375 × 0,265, written in double columns in the eleventh century. A menology of November from the 1st to the 13th day Catalogus codicum Graecorum Parisiensium, p. 211, The ancient Life, in which on the 7th day is read, pp. 164 – 188, the Life of St. Matrona. It has the ι ascript. Since it alone has preserved the little book complete, and better handed down than in the others, and since aids for attaining the original writing with certainty are not at all to hand, we have reproduced the sentences of this codex almost everywhere, correcting indeed the corruption of the vowels and false joinings of words; but we have set apart the reading of the other codices, although it is often by no means to be despised.

P = Vatican Palatine codex 80, of 209 folios, 0m,26 × 0,185, written in full lines in the twelfth century. It is filled with three Lives of saints Catalogus codicum Graecorum Vaticanorum, p. 215, of which the third, fols. 181 – 209, is the Life of St. Matrona, which breaks off mutilated in the middle of chapter 41; folios are also lacking between f. 203 and 204 (= c. 27 middle – c. 32 middle). The phrasing often departs from A, mostly shorter, yet in such a way that it differs almost in style alone.

V = Vatican codex 807, of 315 folios, 0m,405 × 0,25, written in double columns in the tenth century. A menology of the whole of November Catalogus codicum Graecorum Vaticanorum, pp. 50 – 53, in which at fols. 58 – 72v is the Life of St. Matrona, acephalous, beginning in c. 15. A recension also different from A, often offering shorter sentences, here and there, though not for the most part, agreeing with P against A.

[14] The metaphrastic Life, The second Life of St. Matrona, which is preserved in many codices, was inserted into the menology of Symeon Metaphrastes on the 9th day of November BHG2 1222; cf. p. 182. This was first published in Latin by Lippomano, and again by Surius, and it alone seems to have been read by all who have hitherto discoursed on our saint Also Chr. Loparev in Vizantijskij Vremennik, vol. IV, pp. 343 – 45. Symeon followed the ancient Life, but often cut it short, and above all relieved it of its longer speeches. For the rest he so clothed it in his own style that you would scarcely recognize the phrasing of the ancient writer, and therefore it is of slighter help for investigating the character of the prototype. These are the codices from which we have reproduced it.

M1 = Vatican 804, of parchment, of 244 folios, 0m,335 × 0,25, written in divided pages in the twelfth century. A menology of November from the 1st to the 16th day Catalogus codicum Graecorum Vaticanorum, pp. 46 – 47. On the 9th day, as also in the following, the Life of St. Matrona is read at fols. 84 – 100v.

M2 = Vatican 810, of parchment, of 222 folios, 0m,35 × 0,225, written in divided pages in the twelfth century. A menology from the 1st to the 16th of November Catalogus codicum Graecorum Vaticanorum, pp. 58, 59. Fols. 74 – 89, the Life of St. Matrona.

M3 = Vatican Ottobonian 427, of parchment, of 222 folios, 0m,34 × 0,25, written in divided pages in the twelfth century. A menology from the 1st to the 18th of November Catalogus codicum Graecorum Vaticanorum, pp. 294 – 95. Fols. 67 – 81v, the Life of St. Matrona.

M4 = Munich 364, of parchment, of 364 folios, written in full lines in the thirteenth century. A menology from the 1st to the 13th of November [I. Hardt, Catalogus codicum manuscriptorum bibliothecae regiae Bavaricae, vol. IV, pp. 70 – 74]. It is written with little accuracy, and therefore we have given only specimens at cc. 1 – 8, 29 – 36. It agrees with M3 in such a way that both are to be referred to one prototype [The fragment which is read in the Jerusalem codex Sab. 33, fols. 239 – 48, Papadopoulos-Kerameus, Ἱεροσολυμιτικὴ βιβλιοθήκη, vol. II, p. 77, is part of the metaphrastic Life].

[15] The shorter Life. Let there be added also a third Life of St. Matrona, which is to be held a βίος ἐν συντόμῳ, excerpted from the ancient Life, and not from the Metaphrast. It has been preserved for us by

B = Codex of the Library of St. Mark at Venice, of parchment, of 332 folios, 0m,35 × 0,265, written in divided pages in the eleventh – twelfth century. A menology from the 1st to the 17th of November. On the 9th day, at fols. 114 – 116, is read the Life of St. Matrona. The one who put together this epitome seems to have read the little book not very carefully, as appears even from the narrative of the finding of the head of St. John the Baptist, where in place of a certain farmer (γεωργός τις τῶν ἐντοπίων, c. 12) he brings in a monk George. For the rest, his exemplar seems to have come closer to P than to A.

[16] Various epitomes. From the same ancient Life proceeded both that which is read in the Slavonic menaea of Macarius Velikija Minei cetii, Nojabr, dni 1 – 12 (St. Petersburg, 1897), pp. 295 – 336 and the epitomes which we have in the synaxaria Synaxarium Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae, p. 205 or Greek menaea on the 9th day of November. The synaxarists, however, add that Matrona came to Constantinople with her husband at the age of fifteen, which is lacking in our copies of the Life. They changed the twenty-five years, of which we shall soon speak, into fifteen, unless I am mistaken; that is, they read ιέ for κέ, an error all too easy. The Sirmondian synaxarium is silent about the journey and the stay at Emesa, not so the printed menaea, which also everywhere write Cassianus for Bassianus, a manifest error on which it is not worth while to dwell. From what has been said it is sufficiently established that, where the question is of weighing the credibility of the Acts of St. Matrona, the ancient Life alone is to be considered.

[17] On a certain Matrona But first some testimonies must be recalled which must be reconciled in some way with the Acts. First of all will be a passage of Sozomen, which has already created some troubles for our predecessors Acta Sanctorum, June vol. IV, pp. 720 – 21; October vol. V, p. 82, concerning the finding of the head of St. John the Baptist. That is, after he had narrated that the sacred pledge had been deposited at Cosilaus near Chalcedon, that the emperor Theodosius wished to take it away, of Sozomen Matrona at first resisting, who was a sacred virgin and accompanied the relics as their minister and guardian, and at last consenting, he adds that that Matrona by no prayers

could be brought to abandon the sect of the Macedonians, to which she was devoted; that she remained in it to the end of her life in the village of Cosilaus, and lived holily and religiously as mistress of sacred virgins Sozomen, Historia ecclesiastica, VII, 21. That Matrona, therefore, had died before the year 450 On the same, Nicephorus Callistus, Historia ecclesiastica, XII, 49. Further, at the year 491, Theophanes the chronographer mentions a certain Matrona, also a mistress of nuns, most tenacious of the orthodox faith: Προετρέπετο, so he says of the bishop Macedonius, and the testimonies of Theophanes. τὰ μοναστήρια πρὸς ἕνωσιν, μάλιστα δὲ τὴν Δίου μονὴν καὶ Βασιανοῦ καὶ τῶν Ἀκοιμήτων καὶ Ματρώνης, ἅτινα μᾶλλον καὶ ἀπέσχιζον τῶν δεχομένων τὸ ἑνωτικὸν Ζήνωνος καὶ ἐξορίας προθύμως ὑπέμενον. Ἐνστάντων οὖν αὐτῶν, συνεῖδε Μακεδόνιος τῇ προαιρέσει αὐτῶν καταλιπεῖν αὐτούς, ἢ διωγμὸν ἐγεῖραι κατ᾽ αὐτῶν. Ματρῶνα δὲ ἡ ὁσία ἔτι ζῶσα καὶ μὴ κοινωνοῦσα σὺν ταῖς σὺν αὐτῇ ἀσκητρίαις διὰ τὸ ἑνωτικὸν Ζήνωνος παράδοξα πολλὰ ἐνεδείξατο, Χρυσοαρίου, διακόνου τῆς ἐκκλησίας, αὐτὴν ἀναγκάζοντος. Καὶ ἄλλη δέ τις Σοφία καλουμένη ἐπίσημος ἐν μοναζούσαις πολλὰ παθοῦσα μεγάλην ὑπομονὴν ἐνεδείξατο Theophanes, Chronographia at the year 5991, De Boor, vol. I, pp. 141 – 42. Anyone will easily perceive that these things were in no way taken from the Life of Matrona. Finally, in the year 536, in the petition of the monks of Apamea, mention is made of a monastery τῆς Ματρώνης, situated certainly in this city Hardouin, Acta conciliorum, vol. II, p. 1389. And this testimony indeed I adduce, lest I seem to have neglected anything; but whether it is to be referred to our Matrona or not, I confess I have not yet perceived.

[18] Who the writer of the life is. That the anonymous author who wrote the Life of Matrona at an uncertain time was a monk of the monastery of Bassianus is suggested clearly enough by the very many things he relates about this monastery and about its spiritual union with the monastery of Matrona (above all c. 51); and also by the fact that he could use as his chief or rather only source the commentary of a certain Eulogia, who had lived with the saint and received many things from her mouth, as he himself declares (c. 50).

[19] The order of times. In order that we may pass a fair judgement on the Acts of St. Matrona, such as the anonymous author put them together, a computation of times must first be made. The biographer expressed very few things by which we might be helped in this matter. He affirms that Matrona died when she had reached about her hundredth year (c. 52), that she embraced the ascetic manner of living at about her twenty-fifth year (ὅτε τὰ ἀσκητῶν πρὸ τῆς ἀσκήσεως ἐπλήρου, c. 2), and that she spent three years under the appearance of a eunuch with men in the monastery of Bassianus (c. 33). Now Bassianus, who presided over this monastery, came to Constantinople under the emperor Marcian (450 – 457), if indeed the source from which the synaxaria drew these things is clear Acta Sanctorum, October vol. V, pp. 79 – 85. Let us suppose that Bassianus arrived in the first year of Marcian (August 450 – August 451), at once gathered monks, and that in the same year Matrona attached herself to them, she who had already for a little while, but scarcely more than a whole year, given herself to the exercises of piety. She was born, therefore, about the year 420, and died in the year 524 or a little before. Three years having passed, she is expelled by Bassianus and makes for Emesa, that is, about the year 453. And in the consulship of Vincomalus and Opilio, that is, in the year of Christ 453, they contend that the head of St. John the Baptist was found at Emesa [Chronicon paschale, Dindorf, vol. I, p. 591; Chronicle of Marcellinus Comes, Mommsen, p. 84], and Matrona could, as is narrated in the life, have been present at the showing. She could also afterwards, as is asserted, have met the empress Verina († 484) (c. 32), and also Euphemia, wife of the emperor Anthemius († 472), and also Antiochiana, whose husband Sphoracius had held the consulship in the year 452. Therefore, if you regard the times alone, it will have to be confessed that the fabric of the narrative does not hang together so badly.

[20] Various difficulties are weighed. But if we weigh each thing narrated, no slight doubts and sinister suspicions arise. That Matrona, deceived by the fallacies of a greater good, left her husband seems probable enough; not so that, with Domitian pursuing her everywhere, she could perpetually escape, above all in the manner in which this is narrated to have happened at Emesa (c. 13) and at Jerusalem (c. 14). Also little pleasing is what is brought forward about the worship of idols at Berytus in the middle of the fifth century Cf. Tillemont, Mémoires, vol. XVI, p. 808. But greater difficulties arise from the passages of Sozomen and Theophanes which we have just adduced. And to speak first of the latter, you may rightly wonder that the praiser of Matrona did not touch at all those things by which, on the testimony of Theophanes, she gained the greatest praise for herself, the more so because they were more recent than her other deeds, and he himself seems by no means to have been ignorant of the storms of those times (ἡ γὰρ καταλαβοῦσα καὶ τότε καταιγὶς τοὺς τῷ Χριστῷ δουλεύειν ἐθέλοντας γνησίως καὶ τῶν ἁγιωτάτων ἐκκλησιῶν ὁ τάραχος … c. 50). That the passage of Sozomen, however, does not belong here at all, since that Matrona had already died when ours had scarcely reached her twenty-fifth year, no one would inconsiderately contend. For on the one hand we have a Matrona, devoted to the Macedonian sect, escorting the newly found head of John the Baptist and gathering a monastery of pious virgins near the royal city; on the other a Matrona, orthodox indeed, but entangled in the disturbances raised under the bishop Macedonius, as Theophanes relates, piously accompanying the head of John the Baptist, also recently found at Emesa, who herself too founded a convent at Constantinople. These things so agree that it is natural to gather that one and the same Matrona was praised both by Sozomen and by our hagiographer.

[21] Sozomen with the Life of Matrona If the Matrona of Sozomen and ours are one, the anonymous biographer must have been a notable fabulist, since he invented a long history at which, by the marks of time, his Matrona could not have been present. I do not deny that similar misdeeds have sometimes been perpetrated by hagiographers. But I would not believe that this one of ours came to such a pitch of dishonesty, since Theophanes too testifies that another Matrona lived at the end of the fifth century, and the anonymous author is not to be thought to have read him. Add that very many things are sought here in vain by which forgers are accustomed to betray their frauds. For, to say nothing of their mostly confusing the times, and not setting out their matters in clear and sincere language such as this man of ours uses, they are accustomed to propose to themselves a definite end, at which at least the principal parts of the narrative aim. But with what purpose that ancient Matrona of Sozomen would have been turned into a younger one does not appear at all. For if you say that the biographer wished to vindicate her orthodoxy, why does he praise her right faith only piecemeal, in the closing part of her life and in common words, and plainly neglect her deeds most suited to the purpose, of which Theophanes heard?

[22] you would try in vain to reconcile. If, then, we wish to reconcile whatever has been handed down, we must believe that there were two Matronas, and that each founded a convent of virgins, the one in the village of Cosilaus, near Chalcedon, the other in the city itself, εἰς τὸν ἅγιον Θωμᾶν ἐπάνω τοῦ ἐμβόλου at first (c. 29), then εἰς τὸν τόπον Σευηριανὰ καλούμενον (c. 36). Not the place itself, to note this in passing, but its neighbourhood is expressed by other little books: μονὴ Εὐτυχίου τῶν Λυκαόνων πλησίον τῶν Ματρώνης [The hegumen of this monastery subscribes to the council at Constantinople under Menas, in the year 536, Hardouin, Acta conciliorum, vol. II, p. 1213] — ἐν τῇ μονῇ αὐτῆς πλησίον τῆς μονῆς τοῦ Μανουήλ Synaxarium Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae, p. 203 — ἐν τῇ μονῇ τῶν Ὑπατίας πλησίον τῶν Ματρώνης Ibid., p. 815. Further, the monastery of Manuel itself was κατὰ τὴν κινστέρναν τοῦ Ἄσπαρος Theophanes continuatus, Bekker, p. 168, which cistern of Aspar is moreover well known Th. Preger, Scriptores originum Constantinopolitanarum, pp. 73, 188, 243.

[23] On the finding of the head of St. John the Baptist Yet it does not at once follow that each Matrona served the most recently discovered relics of St. John the Baptist. Granted that the anonymous biographer did not wish to obtrude false things for true; it is more certain than certain that he carried over into his little book many things which were handed down by word of mouth and had been immoderately enlarged by popular rumour, whether he heard them himself or gathered them from the writings of Eulogia. And since the common people are accustomed to transfer conspicuous deeds from one person to another, above all if they are of the same name Les légendes hagiographiques, pp. 20 – 41, from popular rumour the translation of the head of St. John the Baptist, which was connected with the elder Matrona, began to be narrated of the younger; and since meanwhile a report had been spread of the other finding of the head at Emesa, the biographer recalled not that first one which Sozomen relates, but the most recent, about which alone, as it seems, there was talk at that time.

[24] the finding of the head. Certainly, when that anonymous author was writing, that is, scarcely before the middle of the sixth century, the history of the finding of the head of the forerunner in the city of Emesa, written by Marcellus, was carried about everywhere BHG2 840. Cf. Acta Sanctorum, June vol. IV, pp. 720 – 21. It is surprising, however, that the matter was done very differently, if you listen to our hagiographer, from the way it is set out by Marcellus. I do not wish here to inquire what at last was done at Emesa in the year 453; that a report was spread of the head of St. John found there is most certain, and the biographer could, as has been said, have mixed various things together. There remains, however, if we have spoken rightly, besides other things, that not slight inconvenience, that a certain Marcellus of Emesa plays his part both in the history of the head revealed again and in the deeds of St. Matrona; whence we see our saint entangled by chance and accident in the twin finding of the sacred head, in the former indeed because of the Matrona of the same name, in the latter because of Marcellus of Emesa, whether he took part in the event and consigned it to writing, which pleased Du Cange Traité historique du chef de S. Jean Baptiste (Paris, 1665), p. 29, or again was only of the same name.

[25] The Life of Matrona of uncertain credibility, There will not be lacking those to whom these things seem little likely, and accordingly that very many things were invented by the hagiographer, above all what he relates of Marcellus the deacon, a native of Emesa, lending his help to Matrona in everything. Whether he found these things in Eulogia's commentary or interpolated them we are unable to discern, nor yet what in so great a store of matter deserves credit. That a Matrona who survived up to the beginning of the sixth century founded a monastery of nuns which was intimately united, at least in spiritual matters, with the monastery of Bassianus seems beyond doubt. The rest let the reader weigh with singular caution, unless he wishes to be rash.

[26] The feast of St. Matrona. St. Matrona is said to have died on the seventh of November, on which day it is to be thought that her anniversary commemoration was celebrated by the nuns; in the older synaxaria she is noted on the eighth day Synaxarium Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae, p. 203, in the others on the ninth, on which day too her Life is proposed for reading in the menology of the Metaphrast BHG2 282.

I. THE FIRST LIFE OF ST. MATRONA

Greek text only in the Acta; the English here is translated from the Greek.

Matrona, hegumena, at Constantinople (S.)

Edited from the codices of Paris 1819 (= A), Vatican gr. 807 (= V), Vatican Palatine 80 (= P). — Cf. above, p. 787, no. 13.

Βίος μηνὶ τῶ αὐτῶ ζ᾽ βίος A. καὶ πολιτεία τῆς ὁσίας μακαρίας P. καὶ omits P. ἁγίας omits P. Ματρώνης τῆς Βυζαντίας εὐλόγησον πάτερ adds P. .

The Life and conduct of the holy and saintly Matrona.

[1] The writer's prologue. Αἱ ἡ P. μὲν τοῦ λεγομένου καὶ ὄντος Παραδείσου βίβλοι βίβλος P. [Παράδεισος is one of the names given to the Lausiac History of Palladius, or Λαυσιακῷ. Cf. Butler, The Lausiac History of Palladius, II (Cambridge, 1904), p. 8.] ἀνδρῶν τε καὶ γυναικῶν, τοῦτο μὲν ἐν κοινοβίοις, τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ἐν ἐρημίαις φιλοσοφησάντων, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τῶν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ φωστήρων ἡμῖν παραδεδώκασι παραδέδωκεν P. τὴν πολιτείαν. Προσθεῖναι δὲ τούτοις ἄξιον καὶ τὸν τῆς μακαρίας καὶ ἁγίας (τῆς-ἁγίας) omits P. Ματρώνης ψυχωφελῆ βίον, γυναικὸς τὰ ἀνδρῶν ἁγίων μεταξὺ ἀνδρῶν P, ἁγίων A. ἐγκρατῶν A, P, ἐγκρατῶς? , ὡς μικρὸν ὕστερον ἐροῦμεν, ἐπιδειξαμένης καὶ τὰ omits P. τῶν ἐν ἐρημίαις κατορθούντων ἐν κοινοβίω adds P. κατορθωσάσης ἤδη δὲ καὶ διδαξάσης adds P. · ὡς οὐχὶ τυχοῦσα οὐδὲ ἀποδέουσα, ἀλλὰ καὶ (ἀλλὰ καὶ) εἰ μὴ P. μείζων ἐστὶ τῶν ἐν ἀσκήσει διαλαμψάντων διαλαμψουσῶν P. γυναικῶν, καὶ τοῦτο ἐκ τῆς κατ᾽ αὐτὴν ἁγίας ἀγέλης ἔστι ἔνεστι P. μαθεῖν, ἣν αὐτή τε ἤθροισε καὶ Θεῷ προσήγαγε, ἀριθμῷ τε ὅτι omits P. πλείστην καὶ τῇ (καὶ τῇ) τῆδε P. κατὰ τὴν adds P. ἀρετὴν ἐμμελείᾳ ἐπιμελεία P. κομῶσαν·

[1] The books of what is called, and truly is, the Paradise have handed down to us the conduct of men and women who practised philosophy, partly in coenobia and partly in deserts, and further that of the luminaries in Egypt. It is fitting to add to these also the soul-profiting life of the blessed and holy Matrona, a woman who displayed among holy men the deeds of continent men, as we shall tell a little later, and who achieved the achievements of those who succeed in the deserts; so that she was no ordinary woman nor one falling short, but is even greater than the women who have shone in asceticism; and this one may learn from the holy flock about her, which she herself gathered and brought to God, very great in number and flourishing in its harmonious care for virtue;

ἤρκει τοίνυν αὐτῇ καὶ τοῦτο (κ. τ.) τοῦτο καὶ P. μόνον πρὸς εἰς P. ἔπαινον, ἵνα τις τὸν ἄλλον αὐτῆς ἀνιστόρητον καταλείψῃ βίον, τὸ omits P. τοσαύτην καὶ τοιαύτην ποίμνην συστήσασθαι, ἣν αὔξειν καὶ φυλάττειν φυλάττει A. καὶ ποιμαίνειν οὐκ ἀμφιβάλλομεν· οὐ κεχώρισται γὰρ τῶν ἐνταῦθα καὶ μετελθοῦσα τὸν βίον, πάρεστι δὲ καὶ συμπάρεστιν ἑκάστῃ φιλοσοφούσῃ ψυχῇ καὶ τὸν ἑαυτῆς αὐτῆς P. ζηλούσῃ βίον καὶ λόγον, καὶ μάλιστα νῦν, ὅτε τῶν μὲν ἀγώνων τῆς ἀσκήσεως ἐπαύσατο, γυμνῇ δὲ τῇ ψυχῇ καὶ παντὸς πόνου ἐλευθέρᾳ διατελεῖ καὶ τοῦ μὲν πολέμου τῶν οἰκείων λογισμῶν καθαρεύει, τοὺς δὲ ἡμετέρους λογισμοὺς διὰ τῆς θείας χάριτος ἐκκαθαίρειν δύναται καθαίρειν δυναμένη P. καὶ φαίνεται μὲν παρρησίᾳ μετὰ τῶν ὁμοίως αὐτῇ ἐν παρρησία τῶ Χριστῶ μετὰ τῶν ὁσίως P. πολιτευσαμένων.

this alone, then, would have sufficed for her praise, even if one should leave the rest of her life unrecorded: that she established so great and so fine a flock, which we do not doubt that she increases and guards and shepherds. For she has not been separated from those here, even though she has departed this life, but she is present and stands beside each soul that practises philosophy and emulates her life and word; and above all now, when she has ceased from the contests of asceticism, and continues with her soul naked and free from all toil, and is pure of the warfare of her own thoughts, while she is able through divine grace to cleanse our thoughts, and she appears with boldness among those who have lived as she did.

Διαβαίνει δὲ καὶ πρὸς ἡμᾶς πόθῳ καὶ φρονήσει καὶ προνοίᾳ μητρὸς φιλοστόργου. Δεῖ δὲ ὅμως ὡς οἷόν τε τὰ κατὰ μέρος τῶν κατορθωμάτων αὐτῆς ἐπελθεῖν· ἔστι γάρ, ἔστιν ἐξ ἑκάστου τῶν λεγομένων θαυμάσαι ἀποθαυμάσαι P. μὲν αὐτὴν δικαίως, ὠφέλειαν δὲ οὐ τὴν τυχοῦσαν καρπώσασθαι δι᾽ αὐτῶν. Μικρὸν δὲ ἄνωθεν βούλομαι ἄρξασθαι τῶν κατ᾽ αὐτῆς αὐτὴν P. , ἀλλὰ προσέχετε μετὰ ἀκριβείας μετὰ ἀκρ. omits P. καὶ συναγωνίζεσθε· ὅπου γὰρ λόγος ὁ λόγος P. συνετὸς omits P καὶ omits P εὐσεβής, δεῖ τὸν ἀκροατὴν αὐτὴν adds A. σπουδὴν ἔχειν τῷ λέγοντι, ἵνα ὁ μὲν ἐπιμελῆ ἐπιμελητὴν P. γεωργὸν P, γεοργῶ A. μιμεῖται, ὁ δὲ τὴν ἀγαθὴν γῆν τὴν (τὴν-τὴν) γῆν ἀγαθὴν P. τὰ σπέρματα δεχομένην· εἰ μὴ γὰρ τοῦτο οὕτως γένηται, ὁ μὲν διδάσκων εἰκῇ καὶ μάτην ἔρριψε τοὺς λόγους, ὁ δὲ ἀκροατὴς οὐδὲν τι adds P. πλέον ἐκ τῶν εἰρημένων μαθὼν ἀπῆλθε διακενῆς.

And she crosses over to us too with the longing and prudence and forethought of a loving mother. Yet it is necessary, as far as possible, to go through her achievements one by one; for it is possible, it is possible, from each of the things told both to admire her justly and to reap from them no ordinary benefit. I wish to begin the account of her a little further back; but attend with exactness and strive along with me. For where the discourse is intelligent and pious, the hearer must give his zeal to the speaker, so that the one imitates the careful farmer, the other the good earth that receives the seeds; for if this does not happen so, the teacher has thrown out his words idly and in vain, and the hearer goes away empty, having learned nothing more from what was said.

Ἀλλ᾽ ἐφ᾽ ὑμῶν τὰ κρείττονα πεπεισμένος κρατεῖν κατὰ τὸν μακάριον Παῦλον, εἰ καὶ οὕτως λαλῶ, τῇ συνηθείᾳ τῶν ἱστορούντων ἱστορουμένων P. ἀκολουθήσω, ἄνωθεν ὡς ἔφην τὰ κατ᾽ αὐτὴν διηγούμενος.

But being persuaded that better things prevail among you, as the blessed Paul says, even though I speak thus, I will follow the custom of those who write histories, narrating her affairs, as I said, from the beginning.

[2] Matrona, born at Perge, Ἔστι τις πλατεῖα καὶ πολλὴ περιοικίς περιοίκησις P. , τελοῦσα μὲν ὑπὸ τὴν Ῥωμαίων ἡγεμονίαν, ἐν μεθορίοις μεθορίω P. δὲ τῆς Κιλίκων τε adds P. καὶ Ἰσαύρων κειμένη, Παμφυλία τοὔνομα, τάχα διὰ τὸ πολυάνθρωπον καὶ τὸ ἐκ πάσης γῆς φύλης P. οἰκήτορας ἔχειν οὕτω καλουμένη λεγομένη P. . Ταύτῃ πόλεις (τ. π.) ταύτης τῆς πόλεως P. εἰσὶ τεσσαράκοντα· τούτων μία καλεῖται Πέργη, ἀφ᾽ ἧς ὥρμητο ταύτη (τούτων-ταύτη) τούτων μία αὕτη P. ἡ ἀοίδιμος καὶ μακαρία Ματρῶνα πατρίδα ἐκέκτητο adds P. · τυχοῦσα δὲ τῶν νενομισμένων τροφείων καὶ ἀγωγῆς ἐλευθέρας ὑπὸ τῶν γεννησαμένων, ἐλήλυθε ἐληλυθυῖα P. καὶ εἰς ὥραν γάμου.

[2] There is a broad and extensive country, subject to the rule of the Romans and lying on the borders of the Cilicians and the Isaurians, Pamphylia by name, so called perhaps because it is populous and has inhabitants from every land. In it there are forty cities; one of these is called Perge, from which this celebrated and blessed Matrona came. Having received from her parents the customary nurture and a free upbringing, she came also to the age of marriage.

Καὶ omits P. συνάπτεται ἀνδρὶ ἀνδρὶ συν. P. ὀνόματι Δομετιανῷ, γίνεται δὲ καὶ μιᾶς παιδὸς π. μιᾶς P. μήτηρ, ὀνόματι Θεοδότης (ὀν. Θεοδ.) ἣν συμβολικῶς πως ἐκάλεσεν Θεοδότην P. · Θεῷ γὰρ αὐτὴν ἑαυτὴν P. δέδωκεν πάντα καταλιποῦσα, ὡς αὐτόθεν ἐπιδείξομεν. Καὶ ὅπως μὲν omits P. μετὰ τὸν γάμον ἄτυφός τε καὶ μέτριος γέγονεν, κόσμου μὲν παντὸς καὶ καλλωπισμοῦ, ὡς γε adds P. ἔθος ἐστὶ omits P. κεχρῆσθαι γυναιξὶ φιλοκόσμοις, παντελῶς omits P. ἀμελήσασα, σεμνότητι δὲ καὶ σωφροσύνῃ τοὺς ἑαυτῆς ἐμπρέπειν σπουδάζουσα τρόπους· ὅπως δὲ καὶ τῆς κατὰ τὸ σῶμα ἠμέλει θεραπείας, μήτε λουτρῷ κεχρημένη μήτε τῷ ἀνδρὶ συνάπτεσθαι ἀνεχομένη, τὸ καὶ οἱ ἔχοντες γυναῖκας ὡς μὴ ἔχοντες ὦσιν φρονοῦσα, τὸ omits P. παρὰ τοῦ μακαρίου Παύλου εἰρημένον, διὰ τὸ μῆκος τοῦ λόγου ἐῶ λέγειν πλατύτερον. I Corinthians 7, 29.

And she is joined to a husband named Domitian, and becomes the mother of one child, named Theodote; for she gave herself to God, leaving all things, as we shall show from this very account. And how after her marriage she became unpretentious and modest, wholly neglecting all the finery and adornment which it is the custom of women fond of ornament to use, and zealous to make her manners conspicuous with gravity and chastity; and how she also neglected the care of the body, neither using the bath nor enduring to be joined to her husband, minding that saying of the blessed Paul, that those who have wives should be as though they had none — on account of the length of the discourse I forbear to tell more broadly.

Ἀλλὰ γὰρ τῆς οἰκείας πατρίδος ἀποστᾶσα βουλήσει βούλη P. τοῦ πάντων Θεοῦ καὶ γνώμῃ τοῦ οἰκείου ἀνδρός, ὅντινα συνέκδημον μὲν adds P. καὶ συνοδοιπόρον εἶχεν ἔχειν ἐβούλετο P. , οὐ μὴν δὲ καὶ (οὐ-καὶ) οὐκέτι δὲ P. τῶν καλῶς αὐτῇ μελετωμένων ὁμογνώμονα ὁμόγνωμον P. , φθάνει τὴν βασιλίδα τῶν πόλεων Κωνσταντινούπολιν.

But leaving her own fatherland by the will of the God of all and with the consent of her own husband, whom she had as her fellow-traveller, though not of one mind with her in the things she was nobly practising, she arrives at the queen of cities, Constantinople.

sets out with her husband for Constantinople, Γενομένη δὲ τοίνυν P. ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ βασιλευούσῃ πόλει, πρὸς τὰς τῶν ἁγίων ἔτρεχεν αὐλάς· ἐν αἷς οὐ μεθ᾽ ἡμέραν μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ νύκτωρ διετέλει προσευχομένη καὶ ἀγρυπνοῦσα καὶ νηστείαις ταπεινοῦσα τὸ σῶμα τὸ ς. ταπ. P. , ὡς ἂν πειθήνιον ᾖ τοῖς εὐσεβέσι βουλεύμασι τῆς ψυχῆς. Οὐ γὰρ ὡς adds P. ἐχθρὸν κάκιστον κατὰ τοὺς δυσωνύμους καὶ βδελυκτοὺς βδελλυκτοὺς P. Μανιχαίους τὸ σῶμα ἡγεῖτο, ἀλλὰ τὰς (ἀλλὰ τὰς) τὰς δὲ P. τούτου ἀλόγους ὁρμὰς ἦγχεν ἧγεν P. μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς συνέσεως πρὸς τὸ δέον ῥυθμίζουσα καὶ omits P. πειθομένη τῷ μακαρίῳ Παύλῳ λέγοντι· Τῆς δὲ σαρκὸς πρόνοιαν μὴ ποιεῖσθε τῆς σαρκὸς μὴ ποιεῖσθαι πρόνοιαν P. εἰς ἐπιθυμίας·

Having come into this reigning city, she ran to the courts of the saints; in them she continued not only by day but also by night, praying and keeping vigil and humbling her body with fasts, so that it might be obedient to the pious counsels of the soul. For she did not regard the body as the worst enemy, after the manner of the ill-named and abominable Manichaeans, but she strangled its irrational impulses, regulating them with much understanding toward what is fitting, and obeying the blessed Paul, who says: Make no provision for the flesh, to fulfil its desires;

ὅθεν omits P. οὐ μέχρι δὲ adds P. τούτου ἠρκεῖτο οὐδὲ ᾥετο μέγα εἶναι τὸ ταπεινοῦν τῶ ταπεινοῦντι P. τὸ σῶμα, where through the churches εἰ μὴ καὶ τὴν εἰς τοὺς δεομένους παραμυθίαν κατορθώσειεν· λανθάνουσα οὖν τὸν ἄνδρα ἐπεμελεῖτο τῶν πενήτων τῆς πενίας P. κατὰ τὴν προσοῦσαν αὐτῇ δύναμιν. Romans 13, 14.

whence she was not content with this, nor did she think it a great thing to humble the body, unless she also achieved the consolation of those in need; and so, without her husband's knowledge, she cared for the poor according to the means she had.

Τὸ δὲ μεῖζον, ὅτι ἐν νέῳ τῷ σώματι καὶ σφριγῶντι, ὅτε μάλιστα σφοδρότερον εἴωθεν τὰ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας κύματα διεγείρεσθαι ἐπεγείρεσθαι P. . Ἦν γὰρ πέντε καὶ εἴκοσι ἐνιαυτῶν τότε, ὅτε omits P. τὰ ἀσκητῶν πρὸ τῆς ἀσκήσεως ἐπλήρου, προγυμνάζουσα ἑαυτὴν καὶ προπαρασκευάζουσα εἰς τὸ μέλλον· τῆς δὲ καλῆς ταύτης καὶ Θεὸν θεραπευούσης μελέτης διδάσκαλον εἶχεν τὴν μακαρίαν Εὐγενίαν, she runs about day and night, τὴν οὐκ ὀνόματι μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πράγματι τὸ εὐγενὲς τῆς ψυχῆς δεικνύουσαν ἐπιδεικνυούσης P. καὶ τῷ μὲν σώματι τὸ μὲν σῶμα P. παρθένον, τῇ δὲ καρδίᾳ τὴν δὲ καρτερίαν P. ἀνδρείαν. Μία γὰρ ἦν τῶν ἐν ταῖς παννύχοις ψαλμῳδίαις σχολαζουσῶν καὶ τὰ μαρτύρων διὰ τοὺς μάρτυρας ἐπιδεικνυμένων.

And what is greater, this was in a young and vigorous body, at the age when the waves of desire are especially wont to be stirred up more violently. For she was then twenty-five years old, when she was fulfilling the practices of ascetics before her asceticism, training herself beforehand and preparing for what was to come. And of this fine practice that serves God she had as teacher the blessed Eugenia, who showed nobility of soul not in name only but in deed, a virgin in body, but manly in heart. For she was one of those women who devoted themselves to the all-night psalmodies and performed the rites of the martyrs for the martyrs' sake.

[3] her husband opposing. Τούτων δὲ γινομένων P, γενομένων A. παρὰ τῆς μακαρίας Ματρώνης, πολλή τις λύπη τὸν ταύτης ἄνδρα Δομετιανὸν Δ. τὸν ταύτης ἄνδ. P. κατεῖχεν, εἰς ἀτόπους ἐννοίας ἀπαγόμενον καὶ οἰόμενον τὴν μακαρίαν ἑταιρίζεσθαι διὰ τὸ συχνάζειν αὐτὴν συσχηματίζειν ἑαυτὴν P. ἐν ταῖς παννυχίσιν. Ὅθεν ἀγὼν δὲ adds P. ἀμφοτέροις ἐκ τούτου καθίστατο, Δομετιανῷ μὲν γὰρ omits P. κωλύοντι αὐτὴν ἀπιέναι ἐν ταῖς συνάξεσι εἰς τὰς συνάξεις P. , τῇ δὲ μακαρίᾳ Ματρώνῃ omits P. ἀναγκαζούσῃ αὐτὸν συγχωρεῖν αὐτῇ τοῦτο διαπράττεσθαι άλλὰ γὰρ οὐκ ἥκοντι αὐτῆ adds P. .

[3] While these things were being done by the blessed Matrona, great grief possessed her husband Domitian, who was carried away into unseemly thoughts and supposed that the blessed woman was playing the harlot, because she frequented the all-night vigils. Whence a contest arose from this for both of them: Domitian forbidding her to go away to the assemblies, and the blessed Matrona pressing him to allow her to do this.

Ἐπὶ πολλὰς ἡμέρας πολλοῖς λόγοις πείσασα αὐτόν, τὸν τῶν ἁγίων Ἀποστόλων φθάνει οἶκον· ἐν ᾧ γενομένη καὶ omits P. πάσῃ σπουδῇ συντείνασα (ς. ς.) δυνάμει συντείνουσα P. ἑαυτὴν παρεκάλει αὐτοὺς μετὰ δακρύων· “Συμπαθήσατέ μοι, λέγουσα omits P. , ἅγιοι ἀπόστολοι καὶ φωστῆρες τῆς οἰκουμένης καὶ φ. τ. οἰκ. omits P. , καὶ δυσωπήσατε ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ τὸν δεσπότην Χριστὸν ῥυσθῆναί με ἐκ τοῦ ματαίου βίου τούτου omits P. , ἀξιωθῆναι δὲ δουλεύειν αὐτῷ γνησίως, ὅτι φοβοῦμαι τὴν κρίσιν καὶ δέδοικα τὰς κολάσεις· μή μου παρίδητε, ἅγιοι ἀπόστολοι, τὰς οἰκτρὰς δεήσεις μηδὲ (ἅγιοι-μηδὲ) με P. ἀπώσησθέ με omits here P. ὡς ἀναξίαν, ἀλλὰ omits P. προσαγάγετε κἀμὲ ὡς ἑαυτοὺς αὐτοὺς P. καὶ ὅλον τὸν κόσμον τῷ φιλανθρώπῳ omits P. Θεῷ· καταμαλάξατε τὴν καρδίαν τοῦ ἀνδρός μου, ὅτι αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ κωλύων καὶ ἐμποδίζων με. Παράσχετε μοι βοήθειαν, δέομαι, καὶ (καὶ-καὶ) με P. δωρήσασθε ἀντίληψιν, παρακαλῶ.”

Having persuaded him with many words over many days, she arrives at the house of the holy Apostles; and having come into it and straining herself with all zeal, she besought them with tears, saying: “Have compassion on me, holy apostles and luminaries of the world, and entreat the Master Christ on my behalf, that I may be delivered from this vain life and be counted worthy to serve him genuinely; for I fear the judgement and dread the punishments. Do not overlook my piteous supplications, holy apostles, nor thrust me away as unworthy, but bring me too, as you brought yourselves and the whole world, to God who loves mankind. Soften the heart of my husband, for it is he who forbids and hinders me. Grant me help, I pray, and bestow on me succour, I beseech you.”

Ταῦτα καὶ τὰ τούτοις ὅμοια προσευξαμένης τῆς omits P. μακαρίας, τῆς ἑσπέρας καταλαβούσης καὶ τῶν φυλαττόντων τὸν ναὸν φυλιτὸν οἶκον P. ἐξιέναι ἅπασι κατὰ τὸ εἰωθὸς ἐκβοώντων ἐπιβοώντων P. , ἐν ταῖς παρακειμέναις τῷ οἴκῳ στοαῖς εὑροῦσα τὸ adds P. καταγώγιον Σωσάννης τινός, of Susanna the deaconess γνωρίμου καὶ ἐντίμου adds P. αὐτῆς οὔσης, ἔμεινε παρ᾽ αὐτῇ διὰ τὴν ἐνάρετον αὐτῆς πολιτείαν (ἐνάρ. αὐτ. πολ.) ἀρετὴν ἔμεινεν παρ᾽ αὐτῆ P. · ἥτις ἐν τῷ ἐκεῖ τάγματι τῶν χηρῶν κατελέγετο ἐκ νέας τῆς omits P. ἡλικίας τήν τε omits P. παρθενίαν καὶ τὴν εἰς τὸν Θεὸν πολιτείαν ἀσπασαμένη ἀσπασαμένης P. .

When the blessed woman had prayed these and similar things, and evening had come on, and those who guard the church were calling out to all to go out, as is customary, she found in the porticoes adjoining the church the lodging of a certain Susanna, who was known to her, and she stayed with her on account of her virtuous conduct; this woman was enrolled there in the order of widows, having embraced from her youth virginity and the life devoted to God.

Πρὸς ταύτην τοίνυν μείνασα τὴν ἑσπέραν, τῇ ἐπαύριον ἀπῆλθε ἄπεισι P. πρὸς τὴν ἑαυτῆς διδάσκαλον Εὐγενίαν, περὶ τῶν προκειμένων θερμότερον πάλιν omits P. ποιουμένη τοὺς λόγους· τοῦτο δὲ ἆρα adds P. εἰργάζετο ὁ πολὺς περὶ τὸν Κύριον πόθος καὶ ἡ τῶν τοῦ βίου τούτου τερπνῶν ἐξουδένωσις. Πολλῶν δὲ γνωμῶν προτεθεισῶν καὶ οὔτε τῆς μαθητρίας ἐνδιδούσης οὔτε τῆς διδασκάλου ἀτονούσης, ἐσκοπεῖτο πρὸ πάντων τὰ περὶ τῆς παιδὸς Θεοδότης. Ἡ δὲ μακαρία Ματρῶνα omits P. ἀβραμιαῖόν

Having stayed with her, then, that evening, on the next day she went away to her teacher Eugenia, again speaking more warmly about the matters before her; and this was the work of her great longing for the Lord and her contempt of the pleasures of this life. Many opinions were put forward, and since neither did the pupil give way nor the teacher flag, before all things the matter of the child Theodote was considered. And the blessed Matrona

τι καὶ τῆς φύσεως αὐτῆς ἀνώτερον ὄντως ὄντως ἄν. P. φθεγξαμένη· “Μηδὲν ἐμοὶ καὶ τοῖς ἐμοῖς σπλάγχνοις ἔστω ὄντως ἄν. P. κοινόν, she hands over her daughter Theodote to be brought up. ἔφη, ἀλλὰ Σωσάννα ἡ γνησία λαμβανέτω τὸ ἐμὸν παιδίον λαμβάνει τὸ π. τὸ ἐμὸν P. · ἐμὲ δὲ ἡ ἄσκησις ἐφέλκεται καὶ adds P. τρεφέτω.” Καὶ ταῦτα οὐ μέχρι ῥημάτων λόγων P. ἵστατο μόνον, ἀλλὰ ἀλλ᾽ ἤδη P. καὶ αὐτοῖς τοῖς ἔργοις παρεδίδοτο. Ὅθεν (π. ὅ.) παρεδίδετο P. λαβοῦσα γὰρ adds P. ἡ μακαρία Σωσάννα τὸ παιδίον Θεοδότην, τὴν τῆς μητρὸς τάξιν ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸ ἐπλήρου.

uttering something Abrahamic and truly above her own nature: “Let there be nothing in common between me and my own flesh,” she said; “but let the true Susanna take my child, and let asceticism nourish me.” And these things did not stop at words only, but were handed over to deeds themselves. Whence the blessed Susanna, taking the child Theodote, filled the place of a mother toward her.

[4] burning with desire for the monastic life, Λοιπὸν δὲ φροντὶς ἦν περὶ τοῦ τὸ P. πῶς ἢ ποῦ δεῖ omits P. αὐτὴν μονάσαι ἢ μονάσασαν διαλαθεῖν τὸν ἄνδρα. Ἔλεγεν δὲ ἔλεγε γὰρ P. ἡ μακαρία Ματρῶνα· “Μήποτε πράγματα παράσχῃ ὁ Δομετιανὸς τῇ λαμβανούσῃ με μονῇ καὶ κωλύσῃ με τοῦ σκοποῦ τῆς σωτηρίας μου (καὶ - μου) omits P. .” Ἐν τούτοις τούτω P. αὐτῶν οὐσῶν καὶ βουλευομένων, φανεροῖ αὐταῖς ὁ εὔσπλαγχνος Θεὸς διὰ νυκτερινῆς ὄψεως, τί ὀφείλουσι ποιῆσαι τί ὀφ. π. διὰ ν. ὄψεως καὶ φανερᾶς ἀποκαλύψεως P. . Ἐνόμιζε γὰρ ἡ μακαρία Ματρῶνα κατ᾽ ὄναρ κατ᾽ ὄναρ omits P. φεύγουσα τὸν ἄνδρα ὑπὸ μοναχῶν τινων omits P. διασεσῶσθαι.

[4] For the rest, there was anxiety about how or where she should become a nun, or, having become a nun, escape her husband's notice. For the blessed Matrona said: “Lest perhaps Domitian make trouble for the monastery that receives me and hinder me from the aim of my salvation.” While they were in these straits and taking counsel, the compassionate God reveals to them through a vision by night what they ought to do. For the blessed Matrona thought in a dream that, fleeing her husband, she had been saved by certain monks.

Ἐκ τούτου οὖν συνῆκεν, ὅτι ἐν ἀνδρικῷ μοναστηρίῳ δεῖ αὐτὴν μονάσαι καὶ διαλαθεῖν λαθεῖν P. τὸν ἄνδρα. Καὶ ἀποκειραμένη τὴν κεφαλὴν καὶ εἰς εὐνοῦχον μετασχηματισθεῖσα, εἰς τοὺς ἁγίους Ἀποστόλους σὺν τῇ μνημονευθείσῃ Εὐγενία adds P. ἀπῆλθεν. she feigns herself a eunuch Καὶ εὐξαμένη ἐκτενῶς ἐπῆρεν εἰς τὸ ἅγιον εὐαγγέλιον καὶ κατὰ Θεοῦ πρόνοιαν ἀνέβη (καὶ - ἀνέβη) ἀνῆλθεν P. ἡ περιοχὴ αὕτη. Εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ μαθηταῖς· Ὅστις εἴ τις P. θέλει ὀπίσω μου ἐλθεῖν, ἀπαρνησάσθω ἑαυτὸν καὶ ἀράτω τὸν σταυρὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀκολουθείτω μοι. Mark 8, 34.

From this, then, she understood that she must become a nun in a monastery of men and so escape her husband's notice. And having shorn her head and changed her appearance into that of a eunuch, she went away with the woman already mentioned to the holy Apostles. And having prayed earnestly, she opened the holy gospel, and by God's providence this passage came up: The Lord said to his disciples: Whoever wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Ὢ μακαρίων omits P. καὶ omits P. θείων λογίων λόγων P. δήλωσις, ὢ δήλης καὶ (ὢ - καὶ) omits P. φανερᾶς ἀποκαλύψεως, ὢ πίστεως ψυχῶν Θεοῦ γνῶναι βούλησιν ἰσχυσασῶν· εἰς μηδὲν τοιγαροῦν ὑπερθέμεναι μετὰ τὰς ἀποκαλύψεις ταύτας, εἰς Θεὸν δὲ τὸ πᾶν τῆς ἐλπίδος ἀναθέμεναι καὶ αὐτὸν τῶν πραττομένων λαβοῦσαι παραλαβοῦσαι P. συνήγορον καὶ βοηθόν, ἀπῆλθον· καὶ προῆγεν μὲν (ἀπῆλθον - μὲν) εἶχον τὸ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας· ὡδήγει οὖν P. ἡ μακαρία Εὐγενία, ἠκολούθει δὲ αὐτῇ ἡ μακαρία Ματρῶνα.

O declaration of blessed and divine oracles! O clear and manifest revelation! O faith of souls that had the strength to know the will of God! Delaying, therefore, in nothing after these revelations, but setting the whole of their hope on God and taking him as advocate and helper of what they were doing, they went away; and the blessed Eugenia led the way, and the blessed Matrona followed her.

Ὡδήγει δὲ αὐτὰς ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ χάρις (ὡδήγει - χάρις) omits P. εἰς τὸ τοῦ ὁσίου μακαρίου P. Βασιανοῦ μοναστήριον [Apart from the Life of St. Matrona (which is also the source of the synaxaria on the 9th day of November) very few monuments survive concerning the monastery of Bassianus, which Du Cange diligently reviews, Constantinopolis christiana, vol. II, p. 120.] , ἐν ᾧ λιμὸς (ἐν - λιμὸς) ὅπου δῆμος P. εὐσεβὴς εὐσεβείας ἀποτίκτων P. ἰσχυροὺς τοὺς ἀγωνιζομένους ἀγωνισαμένους P. ἐργάζεται, ὅπου σωμάτων ἀσθένεια ἀσθένειαι P. τὰ κατὰ τῆς φάλαγγος τῶν δαιμόνων τὰ adds P. νικητήρια κομίζεται ὅπου adds P. χρυσός τε omits P. πεπάτηται καὶ εἰς οὐδὲν οὐθὲν P. λελόγισται, ὅπου πενία (ὅπ. π.) πενία δὲ P. μετὰ ἀρετῆς τετίμηται τετίμηται P. .

And the grace of God guided them to the monastery of the holy Bassianus, in which a pious hunger makes the contenders strong, where the weakness of bodies carries off the prizes of victory over the phalanx of the demons, where gold is trodden underfoot and reckoned as nothing, where poverty with virtue is held in honour.

Εἰς τοιαύτην τοίνυν δὲ P. ἀγέλην τιμίαν omits P. ἀγαγοῦσα ἄγουσα P. τὴν ὁσίαν Ματρῶναν omits P. ἡ μακαρία omits P. Εὐγενία τοῖς τῆς εὐσεβείας ἀσκηταῖς ἀγωνισταῖς P. ἐγκαταλέγει, εἰς ἄνδρα μετασχηματισθεῖσαν ὅλην καὶ omits P. ἄνδρὸς τε adds P. φέρουσαν ὄνομα Βαβυλᾶς γὰρ adds P. ἐκαλεῖτο· ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος ὁ γενναῖος τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἱερόμαρτυς Θεοῦ μάρτυς P. , and under the name of Babylas ὁ ἱεροπρεπὴς γέρων ὁ ἱερεὺς P. καὶ ὁ P. τῶν πραέων καὶ μακαρίων παίδων ἀλείπτης [On St. Babylas with the three boys, BHG2 205 – 209; Analecta Bollandiana, vol. XIX, p. 5.] , ἢ ὁ τῶν ἑπτὰ παίδων κατὰ τὸν νόμον παιδευτὴς καὶ συναγωνιστὴς Ἐλεάζαρος, οὕτως καὶ αὕτη ἐν (καὶ μακαρ. - ἐν) ἐπιστάτης καὶ συναγωνιστὴς οὕτως καὶ αὕτη P. ἀσθενοῦντι σώματι τὴν καρτερίαν καὶ τὴν ἄσκησιν κατώρθωσεν κατορθοῦ P. .

To such a precious flock, then, the blessed Eugenia brought the holy Matrona and enrolled her among the ascetics of piety, wholly changed in appearance into a man and bearing a man's name: for she was called Babylas. For as that noble hieromartyr of Christ, the venerable trainer of the gentle and blessed children, or Eleazar, the teacher of the seven children according to the law and their fellow contender, so she too achieved endurance and asceticism in a weak body.

Ἦν γὰρ περὶ μὲν τὸν Θεὸν (μ. τ. Θ.) τ. Θ. μ. P. γνησία, περὶ δὲ omits P. τοὺς σῳζομένους ἑτοίμη ἕτοιμος P. · τοσαύτῃ τοίνυν παρεκβάσει τοσαύτην δὲ παρέκβασιν P. χρησάμενος ἐπανάξω πάλιν omits P. τὸν λόγον εἰς τὸ τοῦ ὁσίου δικαίου P. Βασιανοῦ, ὡς εἴρηται ὡς εἴρηται omits P. , μοναστήριον, ἐν ᾧ τὴν μακαρίαν Ματρῶναν omits P. εἰσελθοῦσαν ὡς ἄνδρα, ἤδη δὲ καὶ ἀγωνιζόμενον ἀγωνιζομένην P. , ἐθαύμαζε τὸ τῶν ἀδελφῶν πλῆθος, λογιζόμενον, ὡς εἰκός, ὅτι εὐνοῦχος ἀνὴρ καὶ τὴν φύσιν ἀσθενὴς οὐκ ἐξισοῦσθαι αὐτοῖς μόνον ἐν τοῖς ἀσκητικοῖς πόνοις ἐσπούδαζεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πλέον τι ἔχειν ἐφιλονείκει, νηστεύων μὲν καρτερικῶς, τροφῆς δὲ μεταλαμβάνων ὀλίγης, θυμοῦ τε δὲ P. κρατῶν καὶ ἐπιθυμίαις μὴ ἀπαγόμενος ἐπαγόμενος τῆ P. , she enters the monastery of Bassianus. προσευχῇ προσκαρτερῶν, τῇ ἀγάπῃ πλουτῶν, πρὸς ὑπακοὴν εὐπρόθυμος πρόθυμος P. , τοῖς δὲ omits P. πόνοις τῆς γῆς ἐγκαρτερῶν καὶ τὸ μεῖζον τούτων τῇ πολεμούσῃ τοῖς ἐγκρατευομένοις πολ. ἐγκρατευόμενος λέγω δὴ τῆ P. ἀκηδίᾳ μὴ χαυνούμενος· καὶ βασκαίνειν μὲν οὐκ εἶχον αὐτῇ — φθόνου γὰρ ἐλεύθερος ὁ τῆς ἀρετῆς ζῆλος — μιμεῖσθαι δὲ ἔσπευδον καὶ ὡς διδασκαλίᾳ μεγίστῃ προσεῖχον τῇ αὐτῆς πολιτείᾳ.

For she was genuine toward God and ready toward those who were being saved. Having made so long a digression, I will bring the discourse back again to the monastery of the holy Bassianus, as has been said, in which the multitude of the brothers marvelled at the blessed Matrona, who had entered as a man and was already contending, reckoning, as was natural, that a eunuch, a man weak by nature, was not only zealous to equal them in ascetic labours, but even strove to have something more: fasting with endurance, partaking of little food, mastering anger and not carried away by desires, persevering in prayer, rich in love, eager for obedience, persevering in the labours of the soil, and, greater than these, not slackening under the listlessness that wars against those who practise continence. And they could not envy her — for zeal for virtue is free of envy — but they hastened to imitate her, and attended to her conduct as to the greatest teaching.

Αὕτη δὲ ἡ πολλὴ σπουδὴ τῆς μακαρίας περὶ τὸν Κύριον περὶ τ. κ. τῆς μακαρίας P. μικροῦ δεῖν αὐτὴν καὶ καταφανῆ καταφανῆναι P. τοῖς συναγωνισταῖς ἀγνοουμένην πεποίηκεν, ἀλλὰ τὴν ὑπόνοιαν ταχέως τῇ τοῦ πνεύματος ἔλυσεν σοφίᾳ, τὸ λαθεῖν διὰ πάντων μηχανωμένη. Ἔστι δὲ τὸ συμβὰν τοιοῦτον.

But this great zeal of the blessed woman toward the Lord very nearly made her manifest to her fellow contenders, unknown as she was; but she quickly dissolved the suspicion by the wisdom of the spirit, contriving to escape notice in everything. What happened was this.

[5] By a certain Barnabas, Κῆπος ὑπάρχει ἄχρι καὶ τῆς adds P. σήμερον τοῖς τοῦ μακαρίου καὶ ὁσίου Βασιανοῦ μαθηταῖς. Ἐν τούτῳ περὶ τὴν ἐργασίαν τῆς γῆς καταγινομένη κατατεινομένη P. ἡ μακαρία Ματρῶνα, ὡς ἔθος ἐστὶ τοῖς adds P. μοναχοῖς, καὶ τῷ σὺν αὐτῇ ἐργαζομένῳ προθυμότερον (τῷ - προθ.) τοὺς σὺν αὐτῆ ἐργαζομένους προθυμωτέρως ἦν P. φερομένη — ἦν δὲ Βαρνάβας ἐκεῖνος ὁ θαυμάσιος, ὁ τῆς αὐτῆς μονῆς μετὰ χρόνον ἡγησάμενος, who was afterwards hegumen, τὸν βίον μέν ποτε τὸν ἐπὶ σκηνῆς (ποτε - σκηνῆς) πρότερον ἐπιεικῆ P. ἐσχηκώς, τότε δὲ δὴ P. τὸν ὅμοιον αὐτῆς αὐτῆ P. τρόπον ἑλόμενος καὶ ἑλόμενον P. περὶ τὴν εὐσέβειαν προθυμούμενος οὗτος γοῦν adds P. , — ἔπαθέν τι ἀνθρώπινον, ἅτε δὴ τοῦ ματαίου προσφάτως καὶ περιέργου βίου ἀποστάς. Καί φησι πρὸς αὐτὴν χαριέντως· “Πόθεν, ὦ omits P. ἀδελφέ, τετρύπηνται τέτρηνται P. ἀμφοτέρων τῶν ὤτων σου οἱ λοβοί; from the traces of ear-rings”

[5] There is a garden, even to this day, belonging to the disciples of the blessed and holy Bassianus. In it the blessed Matrona was occupied with working the soil, as is the custom for monks, and was bearing herself rather eagerly toward the one working with her — this was that wonderful Barnabas who after a time governed the same monastery, who had once led a life on the stage, but then had chosen a manner of life like hers and was eager for piety — and he suffered something human, inasmuch as he had recently withdrawn from the vain and curious life. And he says to her playfully: “How is it, brother, that the lobes of both your ears have been pierced?”

Ἡ δὲ μακαρία Ματρῶνα omits P. συντόμως ἀποκριθεῖσα εἶπεν· “Πέπονθας, ὦ ἀδελφέ, περίεργόν τι καὶ τοῦ ἐπαγγέλματος ἡμῶν ἀλλότριον, δέον σε τῇ γῇ προσέχειν ἢ ἐμοί· πλὴν ἐπειδὴ περὶ τοῦτο τούτου P. ἐπῆλθέν σοι μαθεῖν, ἄκουε. Ἡ πάλαι με κτησαμένη φιλοστόργως περὶ ἐμὲ διακειμένη διὰ πάσης ἦγεν εὐθυμίας καὶ τρυφῆς, ὡς καὶ χρυσίον οὐκ ὀκνῆσαι περιθεῖναί ὄκνει ἐπιθεῖναι P. μοι κατὰ τῶν ὤτων, ὥστε πολλοὺς τῶν ὁρώντων με λέγειν ὅτι κοράσιόν ἐστιν.”

The blessed Matrona, answering briefly, said: “You have suffered something curious, brother, and foreign to our profession, when you ought to attend to the soil rather than to me; but since it has come into your mind to learn about this, hear. She who formerly owned me, being lovingly disposed toward me, kept me in all cheerfulness and luxury, so that she did not hesitate even to put gold on my ears, so that many of those who saw me said that I was a girl.”

Καὶ οὕτως μὲν ἡ ὁσία μακαρία P. Ματρῶνα τὸν μακάριον καὶ ὅσιον Βαρνάβαν τῆς ὑπονοίας ἀπήγαγεν, εἰς ἀγῶνα δὲ καὶ τάραχον οὐ τὸν τυχόντα ταραχὴν οὐ τὴν τυχοῦσαν κατέστ. P. ἐκ τούτου καθίστατο omits P. , εἰς πολλὰς καὶ διαφόρους ἐννοίας τὴν διάνοιαν ἀπάγουσα ἄγουσαν P. εἰς μνήμην τε τῶν λόγων τῆς διδασκάλου Εὐγενίας ἐρχομένη· “Δυσχερὲς γὰρ πρᾶγμα, she is almost recognized. ἔλεγεν ἐκείνη, καὶ ἀδύνατον, γυναῖκα ἐν ἀνδρικῷ ἀνδρείω P. μοναστηρίῳ ἀποτάξασθαι ἢ ἀποταξαμένην λαθεῖν.”

And so the holy Matrona led the blessed and holy Barnabas away from his suspicion; but from this she was set in no ordinary struggle and disturbance, her mind carried off into many and various thoughts, as she came to remember the words of her teacher Eugenia: “It is a difficult thing,” that woman used to say, “and impossible, for a woman to renounce the world in a monastery of men, or, having renounced it, to escape notice.”

Θερμότερόν τε δὲ P. ὅμως ἐκέχρητο ταῖς πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἱκεσίαις λέγουσα· “Ἐγὼ τῆς σῆς ἤκουσα φωνῆς φωνῆς ἤκουσα P. , δέσποτα, καὶ τὸ σὸν περὶ τῆς ἀσκήσεως ἐδεξάμην νεῦμα· ἐπειδὴ δὲ οὐκ ἀντεῖπον, ἠκολούθησα δὲ προθύμως ἀκολουθεῖν κελεύοντι, αὐτὸς χάριτι τῇ σῇ τὰ κατ᾽ ἐμὲ οἰκονόμησον, καὶ μὴ μήτε P. γένωμαι τῶν ἐλπισθέντων ἀλλοτρία, φιλάνθρωπε, μήτε καταλείψω τὸν ἐναρχθέντα μοι δρόμον ἀπλήρωτον, ὅπως μὴ ἀτιμίας ὀνείδη (ὅπως - ὀνείδη) μὴ ἀτονίας ὄνειδος P. παρὰ τοῖς ἀγωνιζομένοις ὑπόσχω· προνόησαι τῆς σῆς ἱκέτιδος ὡς ἀεὶ καὶ [(ὑποσχῶ - καί) ὑποστῶ μὴ γελάση με τῆς κακίας τὸ πονερὸν καὶ μισόκαλον πνεῦμα· προνόησον τῆς σῆς οἰκετίδος P.] εἰς τὸ συμφέρον μοι γνώρισον καὶ τῇ ἐπὶ τούτῳ ὁρμῇ συνέργησον. Οὐδὲν γὰρ omits P. τῶν καλῶν ἄνευ τῆς σῆς ῥοπῆς ἀνθρώποις δυνατὸν κατορθῶσαι, καὶ μάλιστα γυναιξὶν προχείροις προχειροτέραις P. πρὸς τὴν τοῦ κακοῦ ἐκτροπὴν διὰ τὴν ἀσθένειαν οὔσαις.” Καὶ τοιούτοις μὲν λόγοις ὡς εἰκὸς ὡς εἴκος omits P. ἐξεδυσώπει τὸν Θεὸν ἡ γενναία Ματρῶνα.

Nevertheless she made use the more warmly of supplications to God, saying: “I heard your voice, Master, and received your nod concerning asceticism; since I did not gainsay it, but followed eagerly when you bade me follow, do you yourself by your grace order my affairs, and let me not become a stranger to the things hoped for, O lover of mankind, nor leave unfinished the course begun by me, so that I may not incur the reproaches of dishonour among the contenders. Provide for your suppliant as always, and make known to me what is profitable for me, and work together with my impulse toward it. For no good thing can be achieved by men without your inclination, and especially by women, who on account of their weakness are prone to turn aside toward evil.” And with such words, as was natural, the noble Matrona entreated God.

[6] Καὶ οὐ λέγειν μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ βλέπειν ἤδη ἤδη βλέπειν P. τῶν χρηστοτέρων ἐδόκει adds P. τὴν ἔκβασιν. Τοιοῦτος οὕτως P. γὰρ ὁ εὐσεβὴς τὴν διάνοιαν, βλέπει καὶ μὴ παρόντα τὰ μέλλοντα· ἐμοὶ δὲ καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πάλιν ὡς μίαν τῶν προγεγενημένων προγενομένων P. ὁσίων γυναικῶν θαυμάζειν ἐπέρχεται, καὶ omits P. παραλιπὼν οὖν adds P. τὰς πολλὰς μιᾶς μνημονεύσω διὰ τὸ μῆκος τοῦ λόγου, Σωσάννης ἐκείνης, τῆς ἐπὶ σωφροσύνῃ κριθείσης καὶ λαμπρυνθείσης (κρ. κ. λ.) καταδικασθείσης P. , ὅπερ καὶ ἐπὶ ταύτης ἔστιν εἰπεῖν, ὅτι τὸ πᾶν τῆς ἐλπίδος ἐπιτρέψασα τῷ Θεῷ ἀπορρίψασα πρὸς Θεὸν P. καὶ τῇ αὐτοῦ ῥοπῇ δοῦσα τὰ καθ᾽ ἑαυτὴν εἴχετο μὲν τῆς ἀσκήσεως, ἐπεμελεῖτο δὲ καὶ ἀκριβείας ψυχικῆς.

[6] And not only did she speak, but she already saw the outcome of the better things. For such is the one who is pious in mind: he sees the things to come even when they are not present. And for this reason again it comes to me to marvel at her as one of the holy women of former times; and, passing over the many on account of the length of the discourse, I will mention one, that Susanna who was judged and made illustrious for her chastity; and this can also be said of this woman, that, having entrusted the whole of her hope to God and given over her affairs to his inclination, she held fast to asceticism and took care also of exactness of soul.

Ὁ δὲ μακάριος καὶ ὅσιος ἅγιος P. Βασιανὸς ἠγνόει μὲν τὸ σοφὸν τοῦτο τοῦτον P. καὶ θαυμάσιον δρᾶμα ἄνδρα P. , καίτοι τῷ τῆς προγνώσεως χαρίσματι πλουτῶν. Ἔγνω δὲ οὐκ εἰς μακράν· οὐ ποιήσει γὰρ κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ῥῆμα — κατὰ τὴν γραφήν, — ὃ οὐ μὴ ἀποκαλύψῃ τοῖς δούλοις αὐτοῦ τοῖς προφήταις. Then to Bassianus Προφήτης οὖν καὶ ὁ μακάριος Βασιανὸς ἦν omits P. διὰ τὴν πρόγνωσιν· ὅθεν [οἰκονομικῶς ἄχρι οὗ τῶ τῆς

But the blessed and holy Bassianus did not know this wise and wonderful drama, although he was rich in the gift of foreknowledge. But he came to know it before long; for the Lord God will do nothing — according to the scripture — which he does not reveal to his servants the prophets. A prophet, then, the blessed Bassianus too was, on account of his foreknowledge; whence

ἀσκήσεως πόθω τελείως ἡ γενναία Ματρῶνα ἐτελειώθη· ἔγνω δὲ οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν adds P.] ἔγνω δὲ adds P. οὕτως.

he came to know it in this way.

Ἔδοξεν ὁρᾶν καθ᾽ ὕπνον ἄνδρα τινὰ λέγοντα αὐτῶ adds P. τῇ μὲν στολῇ κόσμιον, ἀστεῖον δὲ τῷ προσώπῳ καὶ — ἁπλῶς εἰπεῖν — θειοτέρας τινὸς φύσεως φ. τινὸς P. ἐν αὑτῷ ἑαυτῶ P. φέροντα σημεῖα, λέγοντα αὐτῷ λ. αὐτῷ omits here P. · “Ὁ εὐνοῦχος ὃν ἔχεις ἐν τῷ μοναστηρίῳ σου adds P. οὐκ ἔστιν omits P. εὐνοῦχος, ἀλλὰ θήλειά ἐστιν”, τοῦτο δὲ εἰρηκότα ἕως τρίτου ἕως τρ. omits P. , ἀναχωρῆσαι ἀνεχώρησεν P. .

He seemed to see in his sleep a certain man, orderly in his robe, comely in countenance and — to put it simply — bearing in himself the marks of a more divine nature, saying to him: “The eunuch whom you have in the monastery is not a eunuch, but is a female”; and having said this up to three times, he withdrew.

Ὁ οὖν μακάριος καὶ ἅγιος Βασιανὸς μετὰ ταῦτα ἐνεθυμεῖτο, πῶς τοῦτο διάθηται τὸ πρᾶγμα τῶ πράγματι P. . Οὐδὲ οὐ P. γὰρ ἐβούλετο ἠβούλετο P. θρυληθῆναι θρυλλῆσαι P. τὴν μακαρίαν, κατ᾽ ἰδίαν δὲ ἐσκέπτετο καλέσαι καὶ ἐλέγξαι αὐτήν, τοῦ ἐπιστάτου αὐτῆς παρόντος αὐτοῦ συμπαρόντος P. μόνου.

After this the blessed and holy Bassianus considered how he should deal with this matter. For he did not wish the blessed woman to be talked about, but he thought to call her privately and convict her, with only her overseer present.

Ἀκάκιος δέ τις ἀνὴρ εὐλαβὴς καὶ αὐτὸς ἀρχιμανδρίτης ὑπάρχων omits P. τῆς εἰς τὸ Τρίτον [On the placeλεγομένῳ Τρίτῳ, or Tertium, at Constantinople, see the Synaxarium of St. Isaac on the 30th day of May, Synaxarium Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae, p. 717.] μονῆς τοῦ θεόφρονος Ἀβραμίου [The monastery of Abraamius is one of the most ancient convents of the royal city. Du Cange, Constantinopolis christiana, vol. II, pp. 117 – 18.] , then to Acacius, archimandrite of the Abraamites τῇ αὐτῇ νυκτὶ τὸν αὐτὸν ἴδε adds P. ἄνδρα ἐν τῷ εἴδει τῶ adds P. αὐτῷ σχήματι omits P. εἶδεν omits P. λέγοντα αὐτῷ· “Δήλωσον τῷ ἀδελφῷ σου Βασιανῷ ὅτι εὐνοῦχος ὁ εὐν. P. ὃν ἔχεις οὐκ εὐνοῦχός ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ θήλεια.”

And a certain Acacius, a devout man and himself archimandrite of the monastery of the godly-minded Abraamius at the Tertium, saw in the same night the same man in the same form, saying to him: “Make known to your brother Bassianus that the eunuch whom you have is not a eunuch, but a female.”

Ἕωθεν ἔνθεν P. οὖν ὁ μακάριος Βασιανὸς καλέσας τὸν διάκονον Ἰωάννην, ὃς ἦν καὶ δευτερεύων αὐτῷ καὶ ἐπιστάτης τυγχάνων τοῦ Βαβυλᾶ, διηγεῖτο διηγεῖ P. αὐτῷ τὸ ὅραμα καὶ ἐν ὅσῳ αὐτῶ adds P. διηγεῖτο, ἤδη ὁ ἀποκρισιάριος τοῦ θεοφιλεστάτου Ἀκακίου μηνύεται ἔχων τοὺς λόγους τῆς ἀποκαλύψεως ἐν μυστηρίῳ.

At dawn, then, the blessed Bassianus called the deacon John, who was also second to him and happened to be the overseer of Babylas, and narrated the vision to him; and while he was narrating it, the apocrisiarius of the most God-beloved Acacius is already announced, bearing the words of the revelation in secret.

the matter is laid open by God. Κατὰ τὸ εἰωθὸς γὰρ adds P. ἐπερωτηθεὶς παρὰ τοῦ θυρωροῦ, τίνος χάριν ἐληλύθει ἐλήλυθας P. P. , οὐκ ἠνέσχετο ἀπαγγεῖλαι, φήσας αὐτῷ μόνῳ τῷ ἁγιωτάτῳ Βασιανῷ προστετάχθαι λέγειν τὴν ἀπόκρισιν. Ταῦτα ἀκούσας ὁ ὅσιος ἐκέλευσεν αὐτὸν ἀνελθεῖν καὶ μαθὼν παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ τὴν ἀπόκρισιν ἀπέλυσεν αὐτὸν εἰπών· “Καλῶς, κύρι ἀδελφέ, ὁ Κύριος τὸν μισθὸν τοῦ κόπου δῴη ὑμῖν καὶ omits P. τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Κυρίου Θεοῦ P. γινέσθω.”

Being asked by the doorkeeper, as was customary, for what reason he had come, he would not report it, saying that he had been charged to tell the answer to the most holy Bassianus alone. Hearing this, the holy man ordered him to come up, and having learned the answer from him he dismissed him, saying: “Well, my lord brother; may the Lord give you the reward of your labour, and let the will of the Lord be done.”

Τότε εἰσελθὼν ὁ μακάριος Βασιανὸς ἅμα τῷ Ἰωάννῃ ἐν τῷ διακονικῷ καὶ omits P. εὐξάμενος ἐκτενῶς ἐπῆρεν εἰς τὸ ἅγιον εὐαγγέλιον, καὶ ἀνέβη ἡ περιοχὴ αὕτη αὔτη previously ταύτη P. · “Ὁμοία ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν ζύμῃ, ἣν λαβοῦσα γυνὴ Luke 13, 21. ἔκρυψεν εἰς ἀλεύρου σάτα τρία, ἕως οὗ ἐζυμώθη ὅλον.” Δεξάμενος δὲ οὖν P. καὶ ταῦτα ὡς ἄλλην ὀπτασίαν, προστάσσει κληθῆναι τὴν μακαπίαν· “Καλέσατε, εἰπών εἰπὼν καλέσατε ὧδε P. , τὸν κύριν Βαβυλᾶν.”

Then the blessed Bassianus, having gone with John into the diaconicon and prayed earnestly, opened the holy gospel, and this passage came up: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened.” Receiving this too as another vision, he orders the blessed woman to be called, saying: “Call the lord Babylas.”

[7] Summoned by Bassianus Καὶ δὴ κληθείσης αὐτῆς, ἀτενίσας αὐτῆ adds P. αὐστηρῷ τῷ προσώπῳ εἶπεν αὐτῇ omits P. · “Εἰπέ, ἀδελφή, τί τὸ παρασκευάσαν σε τηλικοῦτον καθ᾽ ἡμῶν τολμῆσαι πρᾶγμα καὶ πειρασμὸν ἡμῖν adds P. ἐπαγαγεῖν ἐπὶ τοσοῦον λανθάνουσαν λανθάνουσα A. χράνον;” Ἡ δὲ καὶ τὸ πληκτικὸν τοῦ λόγου ἀκούσασα καὶ τὸ αὐστηρὸν τοῦ προσώπου θεωρήσασα προσέθηκεν τῷ φόβῳ φόβον καὶ τῇ δειλίᾳ δειλίαν.

[7] And when she had been called, he gazed at her with a severe countenance and said to her: “Tell me, sister, what prepared you to dare so great a thing against us and to bring a temptation upon us, lying hidden for so long a time?” She, hearing the sharpness of the word and beholding the severity of the countenance, added fear to fear and dread to dread.

Ἦν γὰρ καὶ γὰρ ἦν P. δειλιῶσα πάνυ omits P. , ἅμα γὰρ ἤκουσε τῶν καλούντων λεγόντων αὐτῇ omits P. ὅτι “καλεῖ σε ὁ κύρις ὁ ἀββᾶς”, ἐπέγνω ἐν ἑαυτῇ τὰ καθ᾽ ἑαυτὴν καὶ στενάζουσα ἔλεγεν· “Οἴμοι τῇ ἀθλίᾳ, ὅτι ἀπορρίπτομαι ὡς ἀναξία· οἴμοι τῇ ταλαιπώρῳ, ὅτι ἐγνώσθη ὅ εἰμι, καὶ ὅτι ἐγνώσθην ὃ ἤμην οἴμοι ὅτι ἀπορίπτομαι ὡς ἀναξία P. οὐκέτι ὡς ἀδελφὸς τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς διαλέγομαι, οὐκέτι ὡς εὐνοῦχος νοοῦμαι καὶ Βαβυλᾶς φωνοῦμαι, άλλὰ πάλιν γυνὴ ὁρῶμαι καὶ Ματρῶνα καλοῦμαι.”

For she was greatly afraid; for as soon as she heard those calling her say to her, “The lord abba calls you,” she recognized in herself how matters stood with her, and groaning she said: “Woe is me, wretched one, for I am cast out as unworthy; woe is me, miserable one, for what I am has become known, and no longer do I converse as a brother with the brothers, no longer am I thought a eunuch and called Babylas, but again I am seen as a woman and called Matrona.”

and rebuked Εἶτα τὸν ἔλεγχον δεξαμένη, τῷ μὲν παλλίῳ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἐκαλύψατο ἐκάλυψεν P. , τῷ δὲ ἐδάφει ἑαυτὴν πρὸς τοῖς ποσὶν αὐτοῦ ἐφαπλώσασα, ἠρέμα πως καὶ μετὰ πολλοῦ τοῦ φόβου ἀποκριθεῖσα εἶπεν· “Οὐ πειρασμόν, ὧ δέσποτα, ἐπαγαγεῖν τῇ σῇ ποίμνῃ ἦλθον, μὴ γένοιτο, ἀλλὰ φεύγουσα τὸν βίον καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ κατὰ τοῦτο πεποίηκα adds P. .

Then, receiving the reproof, she covered her head with her mantle, and stretching herself on the ground at his feet, she answered quietly and with much fear and said: “It was not to bring a temptation on your flock, master, that I came — far be it — but fleeing the world and the things in it.”

” Καὶ τοῦτο ἀκούσας (καὶ-ακ.) ὁ δὲ φανερώτερον πάλιν P. εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτήν· “Ἔστω, ἐλάνθανες γυνὴ οὖσα ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον χρόνον, καὶ οὐδὲν ἡμᾶς παρέβλαπτεν τοῦτο ἀγνοοῦντας. Πῶς γυμνῇ τῇ κεφαλῇ τοῖς θείοις μυστηρίοις προσήρχου ἐκοινόνης τοῖς μυστηρίοις P. ; πῶς δὲ καὶ τὸ σὸν πρὸς εἰρήνην ἐπεδίδους ἐπεδίδου P. στόμα τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς;”

And having heard this he said to her: “So be it, you escaped notice, being a woman, for so long a time, and this did us no harm, since we did not know it. But how did you approach the divine mysteries with bare head? And how did you give your mouth for the peace to the brothers?”

Ἡ δὲ καὶ adds P. πρὸς ταῦτα εἶπεν ὅτι adds P. · “Ἐν μὲν τῷ καιρῷ τῶν θείων omits P. μυστηρίων ἔσυρον τὸ παλλίον μου ἕως ἡμίσους τῆς κεφαλῆς μου, ἀσθένειαν αἰτιωμένη τῆς κεφαλῆς τῆ κεφαλῆ P. . Τὸ δὲ σύμβολον τῆς εἰρήνης καὶ τῆς ἀγάπης τὴν σφραγῖδα τὴν σφρ. τῆς ἀγάπης P. οὐκ ἔφευγον ἀπέφυγον P. · οὐ γὰρ ἀνθρωπίνῳ στόματι, ἀλλ᾽ ἀγγέλοις Θεοῦ καὶ ἀπαθέσιν ἀνθρώποις κ. ἀ. ἄνθ. omits P. οἰόμην ὡρώμην P. προσάγειν ἐμαυτήν.”

And she said to this: “At the time of the divine mysteries I drew my mantle down to the middle of my head, alleging a weakness of the head. And the token of peace and the seal of love I did not avoid; for I thought that I was offering myself not to a human mouth, but to angels of God and to passionless men.”

[8] Matrona her deeds Πρὸς ταύτην οὖν omits P. τὴν θαυμαστὴν θαυμασίαν P. ἀπόκρισιν ὁ ἅγιος καὶ μακάριος Βασιανὸς ἐκπλαγεὶς εἶπεν αὐτῇ· “Καὶ διά τί τοιοῦτον ἔχουσα σκοπὸν περὶ Θεὸν π. Θ. omits P. οὐκ ἐν μοναστηρίῳ γυναικῶν εἰσῆλθες;”

[8] Astounded at this wonderful answer, the holy and blessed Bassianus said to her: “And why, having such an aim toward God, did you not enter a monastery of women?”

Ἡ δὲ μικρὸν ἀναπνεύσασα ἀνανεύσασα P. τοῦ φόβου καὶ παρρησίαν λαβοῦσα τοῦ πλείοσιν πρὸς ἀπολογίαν κεχρῆσθαι λόγοις, κειμένη εἰς τὴν adds P. γῆν πρὸ τῶν ποδῶν αὐτοῦ καὶ ὡς Θεῷ τὰ καθ᾽ ἑαυτὴν ἐκκαλύπτουσα ἔφη ἀποκαλύπτουσα εἶπεν P. · “Ἐγώ, δέομαι τῆς ἁγιωσύνης τῆ ἁγιωσύνη P. σου, ἐγενόμην ἑνὸς omits P. ἀνδρὸς γυνὴ καὶ μιᾶς παιδὸς μήτηρ· δουλεύειν δὲ Θεῷ μᾶλλον ἢ γάμῳ καὶ ἁμαρτίᾳ ἁμαρτίαις P. βουλομένη εἰς τὰς παννυχίδας τῶν ἁγίων μαρτύρων ἀπῄειν· ὁ δὲ ἀνήρ μου ἐκώλυέν με ποτὲ μὲν ὑβρίζων, ποτὲ δὲ μαχόμενος καὶ τύπτων, ἔστι δὲ ὅτε καὶ ἀπειλῶν. Ταῦτα ὁρῶσα καὶ πάσχουσα ἐφ᾽ ἑκάστης ἡμέρας adds P. ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ, ἠθύμουν, ἐστέναζον καὶ adds P. , ἔκλαιον, παρακαλοῦσα τὸν Θεὸν νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας τούτου τοῦ P. μὲν τὴν καρδίαν μαλάξαι, ἐμοῦ δὲ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν πληρῶσαι.

She, recovering a little from her fear and taking boldness to use more words in her defence, lying on the ground before his feet and uncovering her affairs as to God, said: “I, I beseech your holiness, became the wife of one man and the mother of one child; but wishing to serve God rather than marriage and sin, I used to go away to the all-night vigils of the holy martyrs; and my husband hindered me, sometimes insulting me, sometimes fighting and beating me, and there were times when he also threatened me. Seeing and suffering these things from him every day, I was disheartened, I groaned, I wept, beseeching God night and day to soften his heart and to fulfil my desire.

Ὅθεν ταῦτα ποιοῦσα καὶ πράττουσα (ὅθεν-πράττουσα) ταῦτα ἐποιούμην καὶ ἐσκεπτόμην P. ἐσκεπτόμην ἐν μοναστηρίῳ γυναικῶν εἰσελθεῖν ἀπελθεῖν P. , ἀλλ᾽ ᾔδειν ὅτι adds P. , εἰ τοῦτο ποιήσω, τὸν ἄνδρα μου οὐ λανθάνω, μὴ λανθάνουσα δὲ θλίψιν καὶ ἑαυτῇ ἐμαυτῆ P. καὶ τῷ μοναστηρίῳ προεξένουν προξενήσω P. · ὁ γὰρ ἀνήρ μου οὐδὲν παρῃτεῖτο τῶν εἰς κακίαν καὶ διαστροφὴν φερόντων ποιῆσαι καὶ ἐμοί, ὡς εἴρηται, καὶ τῷ μοναστηρίῳ.

Whence, doing and practising these things, I thought of entering a monastery of women; but I knew that, if I did this, I would not escape my husband's notice, and, not escaping it, I would bring affliction both on myself and on the monastery; for my husband would shrink from nothing of what tends to wickedness and perversity, both toward me, as has been said, and toward the monastery.

Ἐν τούτοις οὖν οὖσα καὶ ἀθυμοῦσα καὶ σωθῆναι ποθοῦσα καὶ omits P. μεταξὺ δὲ adds P. πολλῶν λογισμῶν πολιορκουμένη, ἐν μιᾷ τῶν ἡμερῶν ἀφυπνώσασα ἔδοξα ὁρᾶν ἑαυτὴν ἐμαυτὴν P. φεύγουσαν τὸν ἄνδρα, τὸν δὲ καταδιώκοντα καὶ ἀπειλοῦντα· μέλλουσαν δὲ φθάνεσθαι ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀνήκεστα πάσχειν, candidly narrates. περιέσωσαν με adds P. ἄνδρες μοναχοὶ καὶ εὐλαβεῖς· καὶ διυπνισθεῖσα συνῆκα ἐν ἑαυτῇ ἐμαυτῆ P. , ὅτι ἐν ἀνδρικῷ μοναστηρίῳ δεῖ με σωθῆναι καὶ ἀποκρυβῆναι τὸν ἄνδρα.

Being in these straits, then, disheartened and longing to be saved, and besieged in the midst of many thoughts, on one of the days, having fallen asleep, I seemed to see myself fleeing my husband, and him pursuing and threatening; and when I was about to be overtaken by him and to suffer irreparable things, monks and devout men saved me; and, awaking, I understood in myself that I must be saved in a monastery of men and be hidden from my husband.

Τότε ἀπελθοῦσα εἰς πρὸς P. τὴν μακαρίαν Εὐγενίαν, διηγησάμην αὐτῇ ταῦτα. Ἡ δὲ Εὐγενία αὕτη ἅμα omits P. καὶ Σωσάννῃ τινὶ προσῆν καὶ ἀφῆκα αὐταῖς τὸ παιδίον μου you would expect ἐπεὶ. ὡς εὐλαβεῖς καὶ θεοφιλεῖς γυναῖκες γυναῖκας A. γνώριμαί μου ἦσαν (τινί-ἦσαν) τις γνώριμοι ἦσαν μοι P. ἐκ τῶν παννυχίδων. Ἤτις ὡς εὐλαβεῖς γυναῖκες ἡ οὖν Εὐγενία P. ἀκούσασα ταῦτα ηὐχαρίστησε τῷ Θεῷ τῷ πάντας σωθῆναι βουλομένῳ.

Then, going away to the blessed Eugenia, I narrated these things to her. And this Eugenia was close also to a certain Susanna, and I left my child with them, since they were devout and God-loving women known to me from the all-night vigils. She, hearing these things, gave thanks to God, who wills all to be saved.

Τότε οὖν ἐσκεψάμεθα ἐσκεψώμεθα P. τὸ μὲν παιδίον Θεοδότην παραθέσθαι τῇ κυρίᾳ Σωσάννῃ, ἐμὲ δὲ μεταμφιασαμένην καὶ σχηματισθεῖσαν μετασχηματιθεῖσαν P. εἰς ἄνδρα εἰσελθεῖν εἰς μοναστήριον ἀνδρῶν omits P. · καὶ ὅπερ ἐσκεψάμεθα, ἔργῳ καὶ adds P. ἐπληρώσαμεν· τὸ γὰρ παιδίον Θεοδότην omits P. παραθέμεναι τῇ μνημονευθείσῃ Σωσάννῃ, εὐθέως omits P. ἀποθεμένη τε adds P. τὴν γυναικείαν στολὴν καὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀποκειραμένη καὶ — ἁπλῶς εἰπεῖν — ἀνὴρ γενομένη καὶ τῷ σχήματι καὶ τῇ προαιρέσει, συνεργίᾳ Εὐγενίας καὶ ὁδηγίᾳ Θεοῦ ς. καὶ ὁδηγία Εὐγενίας P. ἦλθον εἰς τὸ ἅγιον σου μοναστήριον, εύνοῦχος ὁρώμενος καὶ Βαβυλᾶς καλούμενος λεγόμενος P. , καὶ δεχθεῖσα πρόβατον ὑμέτερον ἐγενόμην, εἰ καὶ ἀχρεῖον νῦν καὶ ἀνάξιον ὑμῶν εὑρέθην.”

Then, therefore, we resolved to entrust the child Theodote to the lady Susanna, and that I, changing my dress and taking the form of a man, should enter a monastery of men; and what we resolved, we fulfilled in deed. For having entrusted the child Theodote to the aforementioned Susanna, at once putting off the woman's robe and shearing my head and — to put it simply — becoming a man both in form and in purpose, by the cooperation of Eugenia and the guidance of God I came to your holy monastery, seen as a eunuch and called Babylas; and having been received I became your sheep, even if I have now been found useless and unworthy of you.”

[9] instructed by the admonitions of Bassianus Ἐπακούσας δὲ οὖν P. τοῦ σοφοῦ τούτου καὶ μεγάλου δράματος ὁ ἁγιώτατος Βασιανὸς καὶ θαυμάσας μὲν τὴν σύνεσιν, ἀποδεξάμενος δὲ καὶ omits P. τὴν προαίρεσιν, ψυχαγωγήσας αὐτὴν ῥήμασι omits P. πνευματικοῖς omits P. ἀνίστασθαι ἐκέλευεν, εἶτα καὶ ἐπύθετο παρ᾽ αὐτῇ αὐτῆς P. , ποῖος τοῦ λοιποῦ αἱρετὸς αὐτῇ ἔσται βίος αἱρετώτερος βίος αὐτῆ ἐστιν P. , ὁ μοναχικὸς ἢ ὁ κοσμικός.

[9] Having heard this wise and great drama, the most holy Bassianus, marvelling at her understanding and accepting her purpose, cheered her with spiritual words and ordered her to rise; then he also inquired of her which life would be her choice for the future, the monastic or the worldly.

Τῆς δὲ εἰπούσης ὅτι omits P. ὁ μοναχικός, — τοῦτον γὰρ καὶ ἠγαπηκέναι ἐξαρχῆς ἐξ. ἠγαπ. P. ἔλεγεν καὶ δι᾽ αὐτὸν ἀνδρί, τέκνῳ, περιουσίᾳ ἱκανῇ omits P. ὅλῳ τε τῷ κόσμῳ καὶ τοῖς ἐν αὐτῷ ἀποτετάχθαι — καὶ ἕως θανάτου μὴ ἀποστήσεσθαι αὐτοῦ διαβεβαιουμένης διαρεβαιουμένη P. , γνοὺς ὁ μακάριος τὸ τέλειον καὶ εἰλικρινὲς τῆς προθέσεως (καὶ-προθέσεως) τῆς προαιρέσεως P. αὐτῆς, λέγει αὐτῇ· “Θάρσει, τέκνον καὶ ἀδελφή, ὁ κύριος Ἰησοῦς omits P. Χριστὸς omits P. ὁ ἐκλεξάμενός σε εἰς σωτηρίαν καὶ φωτίσας σου τὴν ψυχήν, ἵνα αὐτὸν οὕτως omits P. ἀγαπᾷς, αύτὸς σε adds P. ἔχει διαφυλάξαι καὶ πληρῶσαί σου τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν εἰς πάντα.”

And when she said the monastic — for she said that she had loved it from the beginning, and for its sake had renounced husband, child, a sufficient fortune, and the whole world and the things in it — and affirmed that she would not depart from it until death, the blessed man, knowing the perfection and sincerity of her resolve, says to her: “Take courage, child and sister; the Lord Jesus Christ, who chose you for salvation and enlightened your soul, so that you love him thus, he himself is able to guard you and to fulfil your desire in all things.”

she is ordered to go out of the monastery. Τούτοις τε καὶ (εἰς-καὶ) omits P. ἄλλοις τε adds P. πλείοσι λόγοις παρακαλέσας αὐτὴν καὶ νουθετήσας καὶ ὡς ἄν τις εἴποι ἀναγεννήσας καὶ ἀναρρώσας τὸν νοῦν (καὶ-νοῦν) omits P. , ἐν ἑνὶ τῶν κελλίων τοῦ μοναστηρίου ἐκέλευσεν ἡσυχάσαι αὐτήν, περιθέσθαι δὲ καὶ ἀνάδεμα ἀνάδημα P. ἐκ

And having exhorted and admonished her with these and many other words, and, as one might say, having regenerated her and strengthened her mind, he ordered her to keep quiet in one of the cells of the monastery, and to put on also a fillet

τοῦ παρατυχόντος ῥακίου ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν (ἐπὶ τ. κ.) omits P. διὰ τὸν νόμον τῆς φύσεως. Καὶ τούτων γενομένων (κ. τ. γ.) omits P. , ἑσπέρας βαθείας καταλαβούσης (β. κ.) δὲ κ. β. P. , ἐπέτρεψεν αὐτῇ ἐξελθεῖν ἐκ τῆς μονῆς (ἐκ. τ. μ.) omits P. , δηλώσας αὐτῇ οὕτως omits P. · “Ἄπελθε, ἀδελφή, καὶ παρά τινι τινῶν P. τῶν γνωρίμων σοι γενομένη ἀνάμενε τὴν παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀντίληψιν καὶ τὴν ἡμετέραν σκέψιν σκέπην P. · οὐ γὰρ περιοψόμεθά σε.”

of whatever rag came to hand upon her head, on account of the law of nature. And when these things had been done, as late evening came on, he allowed her to go out of the monastery, declaring to her thus: “Go away, sister, and, staying with one of those known to you, await the help from God and our consideration; for we shall not overlook you.”

[10] With Susanna Οὕτω δὴ οὕτως δὲ P. χωρισθεῖσαν τότε adds P. τὴν μακαρίαν Ματρῶναν omits P. ἐκ τοῦ μοναστηρίου, τοῦ διακόνου Μαρκέλλου αὐτὴν ἀπαγαγόντος, δέχεται πάλιν τὸ Σωσάννης καταγώγιον· ἀλλὰ γὰρ ὁ ποιῶν Θεὸς τὸ θέλημα τῶν φοβουμένων ἀγαπόντων P. αὐτὸν καὶ συνεργῶν πάντα πάντας A. εἰς ἀγαθὸν τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν αὐτόν, πρὸ τοῦ ἐξελθεῖν τὴν μακαρίαν ἐκ τοῦ μοναστηρίου προσελάβετο τὸ παιδίον αὐτῆς Θεοδότην, ἵνα μὴ τῇ ἀθυμίᾳ αὐτῆς ἀθυμίαν προσθήσῃ καὶ τῇ ταύτης μερίμνῃ ἐκκόψῃ τι τῆς προθέσεως προαιρέσεως P. αὐτῆς· ὅθεν omits P. εὑροῦσα γὰρ adds P. αὐτὴν τεθνηκυῖαν, χαρὰν μᾶλλον καὶ omits P. οὐ πένθος ἔσχεν, ὅτι καὶ αὐτὴ τῆς κατ᾽ αὐτὴν (κ. α.) omits P. φροντίδος ἀπηλλάγη κἀκείνη πρὸ τοῦ τῶν κακῶν τοῦ βίου πειραθῆναι πειραθείη A, πειραθεῖ P. ἀπῆλθεν ἀπαλλαγεῖσα· καὶ ὅσον ἐθλίβετο διὰ τὸ χωρισθῆναι αὐτὴν τοῦ μοναστηρίου, τοσοῦτον παρεμυθεῖτο παρεμυθήσατο P. άποβαλοῦσα τὴν παῖδα. Psalm 144, 19.

[10] So the blessed Matrona, thus separated from the monastery, the deacon Marcellus leading her away, is received again by the lodging of Susanna. But God, who does the will of those who fear him and works all things together for good for those who love him, before the blessed woman went out of the monastery took to himself her child Theodote, so that he might not add despondency to her despondency, nor by her care for the child cut off something of her purpose; whence, finding her dead, she had joy rather than mourning, because she herself was freed of the care for her, and the child had departed, released before she had experienced the evils of life; and as much as she was afflicted because she had been separated from the monastery, so much was she consoled by having lost the child.

Θεοῦ γὰρ ἔργον καὶ τοῦτό ἐστιν τὸ ἐν ἑνὶ μέρει θλιβομένην αὐτὴν δι᾽ ἄλλου ἐπικουφίζειν κουφίζειν P. .

For this too is the work of God, to lighten by another part her who is afflicted in one part.

she lies hidden Ἐκρύπτετο τοίνυν ἡ ὁσία Ματρῶνα omits P. παρὰ τῇ τιμίᾳ omits P. Σωσάννῃ, μᾶλλον δὲ ὁ adds P. Θεὸς ταύτην ἐφύλαττεν διὰ Σωσάννης ὡς θησαυρὸν πνευματικὸν omits P. καὶ πολλὰς ψυχὰς πλουτίζειν καὶ φωτίζειν (πλ. καὶ φ.) φ. καὶ πλ. P. μέλλουσαν μέλλοντα P. . Ἀλλὰ γὰρ αὕτη μὲν ἐκρύπτετο, ἡ φήμη δὲ διήγγειλεν αὐτὴν πανταχόθεν πανταχοῦ P. καὶ πρὸς πᾶσαν ἀκοὴν χωροῦσα καὶ βοῶσα έκήρυττεν, ὅτι omits P. γυνὴ λαθοῦσα θαρροῦσα P. μοναστήριον ἀνδρῶν ᾤκησεν, ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἔλαθεν εἰς τὸ παντελές.

The holy Matrona, then, was hidden with the honoured Susanna; or rather God was guarding her through Susanna as a spiritual treasure that was going to enrich and enlighten many souls. But while she was hidden, rumour announced her on every side, and, going to every ear and crying aloud, it proclaimed that a woman had dwelt unnoticed in a monastery of men, but had not escaped notice altogether.

Ὅθεν ἐλθὼν δὲ P. Δομετιανὸς ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς καὶ adds P. μαθὼν τὰ κατ᾽ αὐτὴν ἔδραμεν ὡς θὴρ ἄγριος omits P. εἰς τὸ τοῦ μακαρίου Βασιανοῦ μοναστήριον μον. τοῦ μακ. B. P. μετὰ τὸ καὶ ἄλλα μοναστήρια περιελθεῖν, by Domitian her husband βίαια κράζων καὶ μεγάλα βοῶν καὶ τὰς θύρας λίθοις κόπτων καὶ λέγων· “Δότε μοι τὴν γυναῖκά μου, δότε μοι τὴν ἐλπίδα μου, δότε μοι τὴν παραμυθίαν μου· οὓς γὰρ (δότε μ. τ. παρ. μ. οὓς γὰρ) ἃ P. ὁ Θεὸς συνέζευξεν, ὑμεῖς μὴ χωρίζετε.”

Whence Domitian her husband, learning what concerned her, ran like a wild beast to the monastery of the blessed Bassianus, after going round other monasteries too, shouting violently and crying out loudly and battering the doors with stones and saying: “Give me my wife, give me my hope, give me my consolation; for those whom God has yoked together, do not you separate.”

Ταῦτα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα τούτοις ὅμοια P. φθεγγόμενος καὶ ὀλοφυρόμενος adds P. διαστρέφων τὴν Εὐγενίαν ὡς ὁδηγὸν αὐτῆς γενομένην καὶ τὰ omits P. μυρία κακὰ διαπραττόμενος, ἤκουεν παρὰ μὲν adds P. τῆς Εὐγενίας· “Ἐγώ ὅτι P. , τίς ἐστιν ἡ γυνὴ ἥνπερ λέγεις, οὐκ οἶδα, ἄνδρα δὲ εὐνοῦχον ἔχοντα ἐπιθυμίαν τοῦ σωθῆναι ὀνόματι Βαβυλᾶν ἤγαγον ἐν τῷ μοναστηρίῳ τούτῳ.”

Uttering these and such things, and perverting Eugenia as having become her guide, and doing countless evil things, he heard from Eugenia: “I do not know who the woman is of whom you speak; but a man, a eunuch, having a desire to be saved, Babylas by name, I brought into this monastery.”

Οἱ δὲ τοῦ μακαρίου Βασιανοῦ μαθηταὶ omits P. ἔλεγον αὐτῷ· “Ἡμεῖς, ἀδελφέ omits P. , γυναῖκα οὐκ ἐδεξάμεθα· τὸ γὰρ μοναστήριον ἡμῶν ἀνδρῶν οὐ γυναικῶν ἐστιν ἀνδρῶν ἐστιν οὐ γὰρ γυναικῶν P. . Εὐνοῦχον δὲ ὀνόματι Βαβυλᾶν ἐδεξάμεθα· καὶ μέχρι μέν τινος ἀρεσθέντα τῇ παρ᾽ ἡμῖν ἠμῶν A. διαγωγῇ μεῖναι, μεθ᾽ ἡμῶν, ὕστερον δὲ κρεῖττόν τι νομίσας νομίζειν P. βουλεύεσθαι ἐπὶ τὰ Ἱεροσόλυμα ἔλεγεν omits P. ἀπέρχεσθαι καὶ adds P. ἐν σπηλαίῳ καθεῖρξαι αὑτόν καθειργνύειν ἑαυτόν P. . Τοῦτον αὐτὸν ἔχοντα τὸν λογισμὸν οὐ πρὸ πολλῶν ἡμερῶν ἀπελύσαμεν. Λοιπὸν δὲ εἴτε ἐν τῇ πόλει ταύτῃ εἴτε ὧδε εἴτε εἰς τὴν πόλιν ταύτην P. ἔμεινεν, εἴτε εἰς τοὺς ἁγίους τόπους, ὡς ἔλεγεν, Θεὸν εἰδέναι μόνον (Θ. ε. μ.) Θεῶ τὸ γνωστὸν P. , ἡμεῖς γὰρ περὶ omits P. τούτου omits P. ἀθῷοί ἐσμεν·

And the disciples of the blessed Bassianus said to him: “We, brother, did not receive a woman; for our monastery is of men, not of women. But we received a eunuch named Babylas; and for some time, pleased with our way of life, he remained with us, but afterwards, thinking to resolve on something better, he said that he was going away to Jerusalem to shut himself up in a cave. Having this very intention, he was dismissed by us not many days ago. For the rest, whether he has stayed in this city or gone to the holy places, as he said, God alone knows; for we are guiltless concerning this;

ὅθεν καὶ σὺ ἐὰν θέλῃς σωθῆναι, ὁ νῦν λιθάζων ἡμᾶς adds P. καὶ ὑβρίζων, δεχόμεθά σε μετὰ χαρᾶς καὶ οὐκ ὀνειδίζομέν σοι τὰς ὕβρεις. Ἐδιδάχθημεν γὰρ ὑπὸ παρὰ τοῦ P. Κυρίου δέχεσθαι τοὺς διώκοντας· καὶ γὰρ αὐτὸς τὸν Παῦλον διώκτην δεξάμενος εὐαγγελιστὴν πεποίηκεν. Οθεν καὶ σέ (ὅ. κ. σέ) σὲ οὖν P. , ἐπειδὴ ἀνὴρ εἶ, κἂν καὶ P. τοιοῦτος ᾖ omits P. , δεχόμεθά σε· ἀνδρῶν γάρ ἐστιν, sought in vain. ὡς εἴρηται, τὸ μοναστήριον τοῦτο καὶ ὀνομάζεται· εἰ δὲ ἀγνοεῖς, ὕπαγε καὶ πᾶσα ἡ πόλις διαβεβαιοῦταί σε περὶ τούτου.”

whence you too, if you wish to be saved, you who now stone and insult us, we receive with joy and do not reproach you with your insults. For we have been taught by the Lord to receive those who persecute us; for he himself, receiving Paul the persecutor, made him an evangelist. Whence we receive you too, since you are a man, even if such a one; for this monastery, as has been said, is one of men and is so named; and if you do not know it, go, and the whole city will assure you of this.”

Ταῦτα δὲ adds P. ἀκούσας ὁ Δομετιανὸς πλέον μὲν omits P. τῷ θυμῷ ἐκεντεῖτο ἐκινεῖτο P. καὶ τῇ ὀργῇ ἐξεκαίετο, μηδὲν δὲ omits P. εὔλογον ἔχων ἔχ. εὐλ. P. ἀποκριθῆναι ἢ ποιῆσαι, διὰ τὸ ἀκοῦσαι εὐνοῦχον εἶναι ὃν ἐδέξαντο καὶ τοῦτον αὐτὸν μὴ εἶναι ἐν παρ᾽ P. αὐτοῖς, ἀνεχώρησεν κεκυφὼς καὶ ἀνιώμενος.

Hearing these things, Domitian was goaded the more by wrath and burned with anger; but having nothing reasonable to answer or to do, because he heard that the one they had received was a eunuch and that this very one was not with them, he went away bowed down and grieving.

[11] with Bassianus's favour, Ὁ δὲ μακάριος καὶ ἅγιος ὅσιος P. Βασιανὸς ἀγῶνα καὶ μέριμναν οὐ τὴν τυχοῦσαν εἶχεν περὶ αὐτῆς, φοβούμενος, πῶς ἣν μήπως ἥνπερ P. παρέλαβεν ἀπὸ Θεοῦ ψυχὴν μὴ ἀπολέσοι ἀπολέση P. . Καὶ εὐθέως omits P. μεταστειλάμενος τοὺς διακόνους αὐτοῦ καὶ τοὺς πρώτους τῶν ἀδελφῶν λέγει αὐτοῖς· “Τί ποιοῦμεν, κύριοι ἀδελφοί, περὶ τῆς χωρισθείσης ἡμῶν ἀδελφῆς; Εἰ γὰρ καὶ γυνὴ ἐδείχθη, ἀλλ᾽ οὖν γε μέλος ἡμῶν καὶ adds P. ἐστι καὶ γέγονεν. Ὅθεν omits P. λυποῦμαι γὰρ adds P. δι᾽ αὐτὴν οὐ μετρίως οὐ μ. δι᾽ αὐτὴν P. καὶ ἀγωνιῶ καὶ — ἁπλῶς εἰπεῖν — σπαράσσονταί μου τὰ ἔνδοθεν, ἐνθυμουμένου ἐνθυμούμενος P. τὰ περὶ αὐτῆς, μήπως ὁ διάβολος ὁ πολυμήχανος ἀμβλύνῃ αὐτῆς τὴν προαίρεσιν, ἢ ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς ἀκούσας τὸ ποῦ ἐστιν παγιδεύσει αὐτὴν καὶ ὁ τοσοῦτος κόπος καὶ ἡ τοιαύτη ἐπιθυμία σβεσθεῖσα ἀπολεῖται.”

[11] But the blessed and holy Bassianus had no ordinary struggle and anxiety about her, fearing lest he should lose the soul which he had received from God. And at once, summoning his deacons and the first of the brothers, he says to them: “What shall we do, lord brothers, about our sister who has been separated from us? For even if she has been shown to be a woman, yet she is and has become a member of ours. Whence I grieve for her not moderately, and am in anguish, and — to put it simply — my inward parts are torn as I ponder her affairs, lest the devil of many devices blunt her resolve, or her husband, hearing where she is, ensnare her, and so great a labour and such a desire be quenched and perish.”

Τότε λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ διάκονος Μάρκελλος· “Μηδὲν ἀθυμήσῃς περὶ τούτου (π. τ.) omits P. , at the persuasion of the deacon Marcellus τιμιώτατε πάτερ, ἀλλὰ τῷ φιλανθρώπῳ omits P. Θεῷ αὐτὴν παράθου καὶ εὔχου ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς, καὶ δυνατός ἐστιν φυλάξαι αὐτήν. Εἰ δὲ συνορᾷ ἡ ἁγιωσύνη σου ἀποστεῖλαι αὐτὴν ἐν μοναστηρίῳ γυναικῶν, ἔστιν μοναστήριον ἐν Ἐμέσῃ ἐν τῇ ἐμῇ πόλει, τὸ τῆς μακαρίας Ἱλάρας, πάνυ καλὸν καὶ ψυχὰς ἁγίων καὶ ἔχον ψ. ἁγίας ἔχων P. καὶ ἐσχηκός, ἐν ᾧ καὶ τὴν ἀδελφήν μου μονάσαι πεποίηκα· εἰς τοῦτο οὖν εἰ δοκιμάζεις ὥσπερ ἔφην εἰπὼν adds P. τέως, πάτερ omits P. , ἀπόστειλον αὐτὴν καὶ τῆς περὶ αὐτὴν αὐτῆς P. φροντίδος μερικῶς ἀπαλλάττεσαι.”

Then the deacon Marcellus says to him: “Do not be disheartened at all about this, most honoured father, but commit her to God, the lover of mankind, and pray for her, and he is able to guard her. But if your holiness sees fit to send her to a monastery of women, there is a monastery at Emesa, in my city, that of the blessed Hilara, very fine, and having and having had souls of saints, in which I have also made my sister become a nun; to this, then, father, send her for the present, and you are partly freed of the care for her.”

Ταῦτα ἀπαλλάττει τοῦτο P. ἀκούσας ὁ ἅγιος ὅσιος P. καὶ ἀρεσθεὶς τῇ καλῇ omits P. αὐτοῦ omits P. συμβουλίᾳ, ἐπέτρεψεν αὐτῷ λέγων· “Ὕπαγε, κύρι ὁ διάκονος κύριε διάκονε P. , ὡς οἶδας, διὰ τὸν Κύριον ποίησον, καὶ πλώἳσον αὐτήν.” Ὁ δὲ διάκονος παραχρῆμα omits P. εὑρηκὼς πλοῖον ἐπὶ τὴν ἀνατολὴν ἀπερχόμενον, ἐμβαλὼν ἀπέστειλεν αὐτήν.

Hearing these things, the holy man, pleased with his good counsel, gave him leave, saying: “Go, lord deacon, do as you know, for the Lord's sake, and put her on board a ship.” And the deacon, at once finding a ship going away to the east, put her aboard and sent her off.

Ἡ δὲ μακαρία Ματρῶνα, having entered the monastery at Emesa, ὡς ὄντως ποθήσασα ἀκολουθῆσαι Χριστῷ, γνησίως μηδ᾽ ὅλως μὴ P. ἀντιλέξασα μήτε μὴν διαστᾶσα διστάσασα P. , ἀλλ᾽ ὡς Θεοῦ πρόσταγμα δεξαμένη τὴν τοῦ ἡγουμένου αὐτῆς πρόσταξιν, ἀπῆλθεν προθύμως omits P. , μηδὲν ἄλλο αἰτησαμένη παρ᾽ αύτοῦ πλὴν τὰς τιμίας καὶ (τ. κ.) omits P. ὁσίας αὐτοῦ εὐχὰς καὶ μικροῦ μικρὰν P. ἄρτου εὐλογίαν. ᾜδει γάρ, ᾔδει ἀκριβῶς καὶ ἐπέπειστο πέπειστο P. , ὅτι ταύτας ἔχουσα συμπλόους συμπλοὺς P. καὶ συνοδοιπόρους πάντα προβαίνειν προβαίνει P. αὐτῇ καταθυμίως καὶ συμφερόντως· ὅπερ Θεοῦ χάριτι καὶ ἐγένετο.

And the blessed Matrona, as one who truly longed to follow Christ genuinely, neither gainsaying at all nor hesitating, but receiving the command of her hegumen as a command of God, went away eagerly, asking nothing else of him but his honoured and holy prayers and the blessing of a small loaf. For she knew, she knew precisely and was persuaded, that having these as fellow voyagers and fellow travellers, everything would go forward for her as she wished and to her profit; which by the grace of God also happened.

Διανύσας διανύσασα P. γὰρ τὸν πάντα πλοῦν ῥᾳδίως καὶ ἀχειμάστως καὶ τῆς τοῦ ἄρτου εὐλογίας μικρόν τι καὶ πάνυ ὀλίγον ἀναλώσασα, ὅπερ καὶ θαῦμα adds P. μέγιστόν ἐστιν καὶ τῆς πίστεως αὐτῆς ἀσφαλὴς ἐναργὴς P. ἀπόδειξις, φθάσασα φθάνει P. τὸ Ἱλάρας μοναστήριον ἐν ὧ γενομένη adds P. καὶ δεχθεῖσα εὐμενῶς omits P. , λέγει ἡ μακαρία ἡ μ. λέγει P. Ματρῶνα omits P. ταῖς ἀδελφαῖς· “Λάβετε, κυρίαι μου, ἐκ τῆς δοθείσης μοι εὐλογίας παρὰ τοῦ ἡγουμένου μου, ὅτι ἡ εὐλογία αὐτοῦ μεγάλη καὶ τιμία (κ. τ.) omits P. ἐστίν. Ἔστι γὰρ ἀνὴρ ἅγιος καὶ ἀγαπῶν τὸν Θεὸν γνησίως καὶ ἀγαπώμενος ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ.” Καὶ δοῦσα αὐταῖς ἐξ αὐτοῦ αὐτῆς P. , ἔλαβεν καὶ αὐτὴ παρ᾽ αὐτῶν. Καὶ ἦσαν ἔκτοτε ἀμφότεραι αἰνοῦσαι καὶ δοξάζουσαι τὸν Θεόν (καὶ-Θεὸν) omits P. .

For having accomplished the whole voyage easily and without storm, and having used up only some small and very little part of the blessing of the loaf, which is a very great thing and a sure proof of her faith, she reached the monastery of Hilara, and having been kindly received, the blessed Matrona says to the sisters: “Take, my ladies, of the blessing given me by my hegumen, for his blessing is great and precious. For he is a holy man, loving God genuinely and loved by him.” And having given them some of it, she also received from them. And from then on they were all praising and glorifying God.

Οὕτως οὖν ἀπελθοῦσα ἡ μακαρία Ματρῶνα εἰς τὸ μοναστήριον, τοσοῦτον τῇ ταπεινώσει καὶ (τ. κ.) omits P. ἀσκήσει καὶ τῇ ἀγαθῇ πολιτείᾳ ἐπέδωκεν ἑαυτὴν καὶ διέλαμψεν ταῖς ἀρεταῖς (καὶ τῇ-ἀρεταῖς) ἔδωκεν καὶ τῆ πολιτεία ἐπέλαμψεν P. , as hegumena ὡς καὶ τὰς ἀδελφὰς θαυμαζούσας τὸν βίον αὐτῆς καὶ διὰ τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς καὶ ἐπιεικεῖς αὐτῆς ἀγῶνας καὶ (ἀγ. καὶ) omits P. τρόπους ἀγαπώσας αὐτὴν διἳσχυριζομένας λέγειν, she is chosen by the sisters. ὅτι μετὰ τὴν τελευτὴν τῆς περιούσης αὐτῶν omits P. ἡγουμένης ταύτῃ ταύτην P. ὑποτάσσειν ἑαυτὰς αὐτὰς P. καὶ αὐτὴν ἔχειν ὁδηγὸν καὶ ἡγουμένην καὶ μητέρα πνευματικήν you would expect βούλονται or something similar. .

So the blessed Matrona, having come to the monastery, gave herself so much to humility and asceticism and good conduct, and shone so with virtues, that the sisters, marvelling at her life and loving her for her good and gentle struggles and manners, declared firmly that after the death of their surviving hegumena they would subject themselves to her and have her as guide and hegumena and spiritual mother.

[12] With the unguent Ἐπειδὴ δὲ τὴν τοιαύτην μεγίστην ἀρετὴν καὶ πολιτείαν (μεγ.-πολιτείαν) omits P. ἔδει βεβαιοῦσθαι καὶ διὰ σημείων, οὐδὲ omits P. τούτων ἀπεστέρησεν αύτὴν ἐστήρησε P. ὁ Κύριος.

[12] And since such very great virtue and conduct had to be confirmed also by signs, the Lord did not deprive her of these either.

Ἐν γὰρ τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ ἐφανερώθη ἡ τιμία κεφαλὴ τοῦ ἁγίου Ἰωάννου τοῦ προδρόμου καὶ βαπτιστοῦ Ἰ. τοῦ β. καὶ προδρόμου P. . Ἐφανερώθη δὲ οὕτως. Γεωργός τις τῶν ἐντοπίων ἐπὶ πολλὰς ἡμέρας ἐθεώρει πῦρ ἀνερχόμενον πυρἀν ἀνερχομένην P. ἐκ τοῦ τόπου οὗ ἦν, ἐν ᾧ (ἐν ᾧ) omits P. καὶ εὑρέθη ἡ ἁγία τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ κεφαλή ἡ κ. ἡ ἁγία τοῦ β. P. . Οὗτος μὴ δυνάμενος γνῶναι τὸ παράδοξον τοῦ σημείου, ἀπελθὼν διηγήσατο τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ ὅπερ ἑώρα.

For at that time the precious head of St. John the forerunner and baptist was made manifest. And it was made manifest thus. A certain farmer of the locals for many days saw fire going up from the place where he was, in which the holy head of the baptist was also found. He, unable to understand the marvel of the sign, went away and related to the bishop what he saw.

Ὁ δὲ ἐπίσκοπος συνεὶς μυστήριόν τι διὰ τῆς πυρᾶς μηνύεσθαι, μηδὲν ἀναβαλόμενος ἀναβαλλόμενος P. ἢ ὑπερθέμενος, παραλαβὼν τὸν

And the bishop, understanding that some mystery was being indicated by the fire, without deferring or postponing anything, taking

πάντα κλῆρον αὐτοῦ ἔξεισιν ἐν τῷ τότῳ (ὅπερ-τόπῳ) omits P. καὶ ποιήσας εὐχὴν ἐπέτρεψεν ἀνορύττεσθαι τὴν γῆν. Καὶ δὴ ἀνορυχθείσης, εὑρέθη ηὑρέτη P. στάμνος τις ἔχουσα τὴν ἁγίαν κεφαλὴν τοῦ προδρόμου (τ. π.) omits P. .

the whole of his clergy, goes out to the place, and having made a prayer he gave orders for the ground to be dug up. And when it had been dug up, there was found a jar containing the holy head of the forerunner.

Τούτου δὲ omits P. γενομένου, ἠκούσθη μὲν ἐν πάσῃ τῃ περιχώρῳ ἐκείνῃ, συνέδραμεν δὲ πᾶσα ἡ omits P. ἡλικία σὺν τοῖς μοναστηρίοις ἐπὶ τῷ μετὰ ψαλμῳδίας καὶ τῆς πρεπούσης τιμῆς εἰσαγαγεῖν αὐτὴν ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν P. .

When this had happened, it was heard in all that surrounding country, and every age ran together with the monasteries to bring it into the church with psalmody and fitting honour.

flowing from the head of St. John the Baptist Τότε δὴ οὖν ἡ ὁσία αὐτὴ καὶ ὄντως τοῦ Χριστοῦ τελεία omits P. δούλη συνεξελθοῦσα ταῖς ἐκ τοῦ μοναστηρίου ἀδελφαῖς, μία ἧν τῶν συναθροισθέντων διὰ τὸ σέβας τῆς ἁγίας τιμίας P. κεφαλῆς. Μύρου δὲ βρύοντος ἐξ αὐτῆς εἰς πίστωσιν πίστιν P. τοῦ συνδραμόντος ὄχλου καὶ βεβαίωσιν τῆς εὑρέσεως αὐτῆς, πάντων ἀρδευομένων τῶν ἐρχομένων P. ἐξ αὐτοῦ εἱς εὐλογίαν ἀρυομένων adds P. , προσῆλθεν καὶ αὐτὴ ἀρύσασθαι. Καὶ δὴ ἀρυσαμένη διαδότις ἀκούσιος ἀκουσίως P. ἐγένετο. Τοῦ γὰρ ὄχλου μὴ συγχωροῦντος αὐτῇ omits P. τὴν διέξοδον, κατὰ μέσου αὐτῶν ἀπειλημμένη κατειλημμένη P. ἠναγκάζετο πᾶσιν ῥογεύειν, πάντων αὐτῇ ἐκβοώντων· “Διάνεμε πᾶσιν διάδος ἡμῖν P. , δούλη Χριστοῦ.” Οὕτως τοίνυν omits P. ποιούσης αὐτῆς καὶ πᾶσιν ἀφθόνως διαδιδούσης (καὶ-διαδ.) omits P. , ἐλθὼν εἷς τυφλὸς ἐκ κοιλίας μητρὸς αὐτοῦ (ἐκ-αὐτοῦ) omits P. παραδραμὼν πάντας, τόν τε ἐπίσκοπον καὶ τοὺς (κ. τ.) τούς τε P. κληρικούς, — πάντες γὰρ οὗτοι ἐρρόγευον ἀκούσας τὴν μακαρίαν διδόναι adds P. , — ἔρχεται πρὸς αὐτὴν ἱκετεύων καὶ δεόμενος (καὶ δι.) omits P. ἐπιχρῖσαι αὐτοῦ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐκ τοῦ μύρου. Ἡ δὲ μακαρία ἐκτείνασα τὰς χεῖρας αὐτῆς ἐποίησεν αὐτῷ, ὡς ἐπεζήτησεν.

Then this holy and truly perfect servant of Christ, having gone out together with the sisters from the monastery, was one of those gathered for the veneration of the holy head. And as unguent gushed from it, for the assurance of the crowd that had run together and the confirmation of its finding, and all were being watered from it for a blessing, she too came up to draw some. And having drawn it, she became an unwilling distributor. For since the crowd would not allow her a way out, being caught in the midst of them she was compelled to dispense to all, all crying out to her: “Distribute to all, servant of Christ.” As she was doing so, then, and distributing to all ungrudgingly, there came one blind from his mother's womb, running past all, both the bishop and the clergy — for all these were dispensing — and he comes to her, supplicating and begging her to anoint his eyes with the unguent. And the blessed woman, stretching out her hands, did for him as he had asked.

to a blind man Ὁ δὲ τυφλὸς omits P. παραχρῆμα ἀναβλέψας ἤρξατο δοξάζειν καὶ (δ. κ.) omits P. εὐλογεῖν τὸν Θεόν, τὸν δεδωκότα αὐτῷ διὰ τῆς μακαρίας Ματρώνης omits P. ἰδέσθαι εἰκόνα ἀνθρώπου καὶ κατανοῆσαι κάλλος Col. 797A ἀνθρώπου οὐρανοῦ P. , ῥυσάμενόν τε δὲ P. αὐτὸν συνεχῶν πτωμάτων καὶ πολλῶν προσκομμάτων, ὦν πρόξενον πρόξενος P. αὐτῷ ἦν τὸ σύντροφον σκότος καὶ ὁ omits P. ἀφεγγὴς βίος.

And the blind man at once recovered his sight and began to glorify and bless God, who had granted him through the blessed Matrona to see the image of a man and to perceive the beauty of a man, and had delivered him from continual falls and many stumblings, of which the darkness he had grown up with and his lightless life had been the cause.

she restores sight. Τοῦτο τὸ θαῦμα μεγάλην μὲν omits P. αὐτὴν κατ᾽ ἐκείνην τὴν ὥραν ἔδειξεν ἀπέδειξεν P. . Πάντες γὰρ ἀλλήλοις ἐπεμβαίνοντες καὶ ἐπ᾽ ἄκρων ὀνύχων ἱστάμενοι ἰδέσθαι αὐτὴν ἔσπευδον ἐσπούδαζον P. . Οὐκ ἔλαττον δὲ καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα παρὰ πάντων ἐθαυμάζετο. Πάντες γὰρ ἔλεγον· “Αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ μετὰ ἀνδρῶν μονάσασα καὶ λαθοῦσα ἐπὶ χρόνον· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο χάριν λαβοῦσα ἰαμάτων παρὰ τοῦ omits P. Χριστοῦ μεγαλύνεται omits P. .”

This miracle showed her great at that hour. For all, treading on one another and standing on tiptoe, hastened to see her. And no less was she marvelled at by all afterwards too. For all said: “This is she who lived as a nun with men and escaped notice for a time; and for this reason, having received the grace of healings from Christ, she is magnified.”

[13] Discovered by Domitian Ὅθεν omits P. ἐκ ταύτης τῆς φήμης φωνῆς P. καὶ Δομετιανὸς τὴν Ἔμεσαν κατέλαβεν· ἐν ᾗ γενόμενος καὶ μαθὼν τὸ μοναστήριον, ἐν ᾧ διέτριβεν ἡ μακαρία, μὴ δυνάμενος εἰσόδου τυχεῖν πρὸς αὐτήν, δηλοῖ αὐτῇ P, αὐτὴν A. διά τινων ἐπισήμων γυναικῶν, παρ᾽ ὧν καὶ τὰ κατ᾽ αὐτὴν ἐγνώκει, ἀξιῶν προσκυνῆσαι αὐτήν, εἰρωνικήν ἡρωδιανὴν P. . τινα ἱκετείαν πλαττόμενος καὶ προσχήματι τιμῆς τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν μηχανώμενος.

[13] Whence, from this report, Domitian too reached Emesa; and having come there and learned of the monastery in which the blessed woman was living, and being unable to obtain entrance to her, he makes it known to her through certain distinguished women, from whom he had also learned what concerned her, asking to do her reverence, feigning a sort of ironical supplication and contriving his plot under a pretext of honour.

Ἡ δὲ μακαρία Ματρῶνα omits P. καταμαθοῦσα τό τε σχῆμα τὸ τέχνασμα P. καὶ τὴν θέσιν αὐτοῦ πᾶσαν καὶ γνοῦσα αὐτὸν εἶναι τὸν ἄνδρα αὐτῆς ἐκ τῶν σχημάτων, λέγει αὐταῖς· “Ὑπάγετε, κυρίαι μου, καὶ ἕως ἑπτὰ ἓξ P. ἡμερῶν ἀναμείνατέ με, ἕως οὗ σκέψωμαι, καὶ τότε μετὰ εὐκαιρίας εὐχαριστίας P. συντυγχάνω αὐτῷ ἐπὶ ὑμῶν.” Αἱ δὲ πεισθεῖσαι αὐτῇ, ἀπελθοῦσαι ἀπῆγγειλαν αὐτῷ τὴν ἀπόκρισιν ταύτην.

But the blessed Matrona, perceiving his pretence and his whole design, and knowing from the signs that he was her husband, says to them: “Go, my ladies, and wait for me up to seven days, until I consider, and then at a suitable time I will meet him in your presence.” They, persuaded by her, went away and reported this answer to him.

Καὶ ὁ μὲν Δομετιανὸς omits P. περιέμενεν τὴν ἑβδόμην ἡμέραν, τὴν ὀγδόην ὡς μεγάλην ἑορτὴν omits P. ἐκδεχόμενος ἰδεῖν. Ἡ δὲ μακαρία Ματρῶνα λαθοῦσα πάσας τὰς ἀδελφὰς ἐπὶ τὰ Ἱεροσόλυμα ὥρμησεν, Matrona makes for Jerusalem, οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἐπαγομένη πλὴν ὃ ἐφόρει τρίχινον τριχίνιον P. καὶ ῥάβδον ἐν τῇ χειρὶ μικρὸν τῆς εὐλογίας τοῦ ἄρτου τοῦ ἄρτου omits P. τῆς δοθείσης αὐτῇ παρὰ τοῦ ἁγιωτάτου Βασιανοῦ.

And Domitian waited for the seventh day, expecting the eighth, to see her, as a great feast. But the blessed Matrona, unnoticed by all the sisters, set off for Jerusalem, taking nothing else with her but the hair-cloth she wore and a staff in her hand and a little of the blessing of the loaf given her by the most holy Bassianus.

Παρελθουσῶν δὲ τῶν ἑπτὰ ἡμερῶν, ἦλθον κατὰ τὴν σύνταξιν αἱ γυναῖκες ζητοῦσαι αὐτήν, ἤκουσαν δὲ παρὰ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ὅτι· “Ἀφ᾽ ἧς ἡμέρας συνέτυχεν ὑμῖν, οὐκέτι εἵδομεν αὐτήν· ὅθεν καὶ πολλῇ τινι λύπῃ κρατούμεθα καὶ θλίψει οὐ μετρίᾳ περὶ αὐτῆς, ὡς τοιούτου ἀγαθοῦ στερηθεῖσαι, ἐνθυμούμεναι, ποῖος δαίμων ἰσχυρὸς τὴν omits P. τοιαύτην γενναίαν ψυχὴν ἠδυνήθη διασαλεῦσαι καὶ omits P. ἐξαγαγεῖν omits P. τοῦ οἴκου τούτου.” Ἀπελθοῦσαι οὖν ἀπήγγειλαν τῷ Δομετιανῷ ἅπερ ἤκουσαν.

When the seven days had passed, the women came according to the arrangement, seeking her; but they heard from the sisters: “From the day she met you we have not seen her any more; whence we are held by great grief and no moderate affliction about her, as having been deprived of such a good, pondering what strong demon was able to shake so noble a soul and lead her out of this house.” Going away, then, they reported to Domitian what they had heard.

[14] whom heὉ δὲ τοῦτο μαθὼν πάνυ ἐλυπήθη, οὐκ ἐνέδωκεν δὲ περιεργαζόμενος τὰ κατ᾽ αὐτήν. Ἀκούσας γὰρ γοῦν P. αὐτὴν τοῖς ἁγίοις τόποις παραβεβληκέναι παραβεβηκέναι P. , — ἡ γὰρ φήμη πανταχοῦ φανερὰν ἐποίει αὐτὴν ἐποίησεν P. — μὴ ὀκνήσας πάντῃ μήτε μὴν ἀπογνοὺς εὑρίσκειν αὐτήν, φθάνει τὰ Ἱεροσόλυμα κἀκεῖσε ἐκεῖσε P. παρά τινων θεοσεβουσῶν θεοσεβῶν P. γυναικῶν μαθὼν αὐτὴν εἶναι· ἔλεγον γὰρ αὐτῷ, ὅτι ἡ μὲν ἡλικία αὐτῆς ὑψηλή ἐστιν καὶ ἀναλόγως κειμένη, τὸ δὲ φόρεμα τρίχινον, τὸ δὲ χρῶμα λευκόν, τὸ δὲ πρόσωπον ἱλαρὸν καὶ τερπνόν. Ἐκ τούτων οὖν συνεὶς αὐτὴν εἶναι τὴν μακαρίαν, τὸ ταύτης κατ᾽ αὐτὴν P. καταγώγιον ἐπυνθάνετο. Τῶν δὲ εἰρηκυιῶν εἰρηκουσῶν P. αὐτῷ καταγώγιον μὲν αὐτὴν οὐκ ἔχειν αὐτὴ οὐκ ἔχει P. , κοιμᾶται δὲ ἢ ἐν τῷ Γολγοθᾶ ἢ ἐν τῇ Ἀναστάσει ἢ ἐν τῇ ἁγίᾳ Μαρίᾳ ἢ ὅπου δ᾽ ἂν αὐτὴ τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν ὀψισθῇ ὀψήση P. , pursues λέγει αὐταῖς· “ Ἐάν μοι αὐτὴν ὑποδείξητε, τιμήσω ὑμᾶς ἀξίως.”

[14] He, learning this, was greatly grieved, but did not give up busying himself with her affairs. For hearing that she had visited the holy places — for rumour made her manifest everywhere — not shrinking at all nor despairing of finding her, he reaches Jerusalem; and there he learned from certain God-fearing women that she was there; for they told him that her stature was tall and well proportioned, her garment of hair, her complexion white, her face cheerful and pleasant. Understanding from these things that it was the blessed woman, he inquired after her lodging. And when they had told him that she had no lodging, but slept either at Golgotha or at the Anastasis or at Holy Mary, or in whichever of the churches evening overtook her, he says to them: “If you point her out to me, I will honour you worthily.”

Τότε λέγουσιν αὐτῷ αἱ γυναῖκες· “Ἄπελθε μὲν adds PP. αὐτὸς ἐπὶ τὴν ἁγίαν Ἀνάστασιν· ἡμεῖς δὲ ἀπερχόμεθα εἰς ἐπὶ P. τὴν ἁγίαν Μαρίαν· τὸν στολισμὸν αὐτῆς omits P. εἴπομέν σοι· εἰ μὲν αὐτὸς αὐτὴν εὑρήσεις εὑρεῖς P. , εὖ καὶ καλῶς· εἰ δὲ οὐ adds P. ἡμεῖς, μηνύσομέν μηνύωμεν P. σοι.”

Then the women say to him: “Go yourself to the holy Anastasis; and we are going away to Holy Mary; we have told you her dress; if you find her yourself, well and good; but if we do, we will inform you.”

Οὕτως οὖν διακριθέντων καὶ διανεμηθέντων διανειμαμένων P. τὰς ἐκκλησίας καὶ τῶν μὲν γυναικῶν ἐπὶ τὴν ἁγίαν Μαρίαν ἀπερχομένων, τοῦ δὲ Δομετιανοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν ἁγίαν omits P. Ἀνάστασιν, συναντᾷ αὐτῷ ἡ μακαρία Ματρῶνα· καὶ μὴ ἐκκλίνασα δεξιὰ ἢ ἀριστερὰ κάτω τὸ βλέμμα ἔχουσα διήνυεν ἀσκύλτως omits P. τὴν ὁδὸν αὐτῆς. Ὡς δὲ καὶ ἐγγὺς ἀλλήλων ὡς δὲ κατ᾽ αὐτὰ ἀλλήλοις P. ἐγένοντο, yet he does not recognize her. ὡς δῆθεν λίθον λίθον δῆθεν P. βουλομένη ἐπᾶραι, κύψασα εἰς τὴν γῆν διέλαθεν αὐτόν, καὶ ὁ μὲν ἀντιπαρελθὼν καὶ μὴ ἐπιστήσας τὸν νοῦν, ἀπῄει εἰς ἐπὶ P. τὴν Ἀνάστασιν ζητήσων ζητῶν P. αὐτήν, ἡ δὲ διαλαθοῦσα σοφῇ ἐπινοίᾳ ἤρχετο ἀπὸ τῆς Ἀναστάσεως διαφυγοῦσα αὐτόν· ἀλλὰ γὰρ τοῦτον οὕτως διαλαθοῦσα περιέπεσε ταῖς γυναιξί.

So, the churches having been distinguished and divided among them, and the women going away to Holy Mary and Domitian to the holy Anastasis, the blessed Matrona meets him; and, turning aside neither to right nor to left and keeping her gaze down, she went on her way unmolested. And when they had come near one another, stooping to the ground as though wishing to pick up a stone, she escaped his notice; and he, passing by on the other side and not fixing his mind on it, went away to the Anastasis to seek her, while she, having escaped his notice by a wise contrivance, was coming from the Anastasis, having fled from him; but, having thus escaped his notice, she fell in with the women.

Ἀπερχομένης γὰρ αὐτῆς ἐπὶ τὴν ἁγίαν Σιών, συναντήσασαι αὐτῇ λέγουσι πρὸς omits P. αὐτήν αὐτῆ P. · “Τίς ποτε τοῦ κομητάτου λαμπρὸς ἀνὴρ omits P. καὶ omits P. διὰ σέ, ὡς λέγει, ἐληλυθὼς ἐπιθυμεῖ ἐλήλυθεν ἐπιθυμῶν P. προσκυνῆσαί σε καὶ εὐλογηθῆναι παρὰ σοῦ καὶ περιάγει καὶ αὐτὸς ζητῶν σε καὶ ἡμᾶς δὲ omits P. διὰ τοῦτο ἀπέστειλεν.” Ἡ δὲ μακαρία Ματρῶνα λέγει αὐταῖς· “Εὐχὴν ἔχω εἰς τὴν Πανεάδα Παναιάδα P. καὶ σπουδάζω συνοδίαν εὑροῦσα πληρῶσαι ἐκπληρῶσαι P. αὐτήν, To elude her husband again ἀλλ᾽ ἔνδοτε μοι, παρακαλῶ, ἕως τριῶν ἡμερῶν, καὶ τὸ τηνικαῦτα ἐπὶ ὑμῶν συντυγχάνω αὐτῷ.”

For as she was going away to holy Sion, they met her and said to her: “A certain illustrious man of the comitatus, who has come, as he says, on your account, desires to do you reverence and be blessed by you, and he himself goes about seeking you, and he has sent us too for this purpose.” The blessed Matrona says to them: “I have a vow to Paneas, and I am anxious to find a company and fulfil it; but grant me, I beg, up to three days, and at that time I will meet him in your presence.”

Ταῦτα εἰποῦσα ἡ μακαρία καὶ τὰς γυναῖκας ἀπολύσασα εὐλόγῳ ἀποκρίσει, συνοδίαν εὑροῦσα ἐξώρμησεν ἐπὶ τὸ Σιναῖον Σινὰ P. ὄρος. Ὅθεν αἱ αἱ οὖν P. γυναῖκες εὑροῦσαι τὸν Δομετιανόν, ἀπήγγειλαν αὐτῷ τὴν ἀπόκρισιν τῆς μακαρίας (τ. μ.) omits P. .

Having said these things and dismissed the women with a reasonable answer, the blessed woman found a company and set out for Mount Sinai. Whence the women, finding Domitian, reported to him the answer of the blessed woman.

Ὁ δὲ πεῖραν ἔχων ἀπὸ τῆς εἰς τὸ μοναστήριον ἀποκρίσεως, ὅτι ὑπέρθεσις καὶ χλεύη ἐστὶ ἀποκ. καὶ εἰδὼς ὅτι χ. ἐστὶν καὶ ὑπ. P. τὸ παρ᾽ αὐτῆς δηλωθὲν καὶ ἀλλαχόσε ἀλλαχοῦ P. βουλομένη μετελθεῖν τὰς μὲν γυναῖκας διεκρούσατο, αὐτῷ δὲ ταῦτα ἐδήλωσεν, οὐκ ἐπαύσατο πολυπραγμονῶν καὶ καταζητῶν τὰ ἴχνη αὐτῆς ὥσπερ τις omits P. κύων λακωνικὸς καὶ omits P. εἰς θήραν δεδιδαγμένος μεμελετημένος P. . Καὶ δὴ εὑρηκὼς ἄλλας τινὰς omits P. γυναῖκας λεγούσας αὐτῷ ὅτι· “Εἰ τὴν εὐήλικον γυναῖκα ζητεῖς τὴν τὰ omits P. τρίχινα φοροῦσαν, εἰς τὸ Σιναῖον Σινὰ P. ὄρος ἀπέρχεται”, μηδ᾽ ὅλως οὕτως P. ὀκνήσας μηδὲ τὸ μῆκος τῆς ὁδοῦ παραιτησάμενος κατεδίωξεν ὀπίσω αὐτῆς.

But he, knowing by experience from the answer at the monastery that what she had declared was a postponement and a mockery, and that, wishing to move elsewhere, she had put off the women while declaring these things to him, did not cease busying himself and searching out her tracks, like some Laconian hound trained for the hunt. And having found certain other women who said to him: “If you are seeking the well-grown woman who wears the hair-cloth, she is going away to Mount Sinai,” not shrinking at all nor declining the length of the road, he pursued after her.

Μαθοῦσα δὲ αὐτὸν P. ἡ μακαρία Ματρῶνα κἀκεῖσε αὐτὸν omits P. ἐληλυθέναι, γυναικῶν αὐτῇ μηνυσασῶν μηνυουσῶν P. παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ αὐτῶ P. ἀπεσταλμένων, φόβῳ συσχεθεῖσα πολλῷ, she withdraws to the parts of Berytus. τὴν ἐσθῆτα μεταμφιασαμένη παραγίνεται εἰς τὰ μέρη Βηρυτοῦ Βηρύτου P. , κἀκεῖσε εὑροῦσα ναὸν εἰδώλων ᾤκησεν ἐν αὐτῷ, ἑλομένη μᾶλλον ὑπὸ δαιμόνων ἢ ὑπὸ adds P. θηρίων ἀναλωθῆναι ἢ εἰς τὰς χεῖρας τοῦ ἀνδρὸς αὐτῆς omits P. περιπεσεῖν. Ἔλεγεν γὰρ ὅτι· “δαίμονες Θεῷ δουλεύουσάν με ἀδικῆσαι οὐ δύνανται, θῆρες δὲ τὴν ἀρετήν, εἰ γνησίως [περιπεσεῖν δαίμονες γάρ φησιν οὐ μή με ἀδικήσωσι Θεῶ δουλεύουσαν θῆρες δὲ εἰ τὴν ἀρετὴν γνησίως P.] καὶ εὐλαβῶς μετέρχομαι καὶ adds P. , τιμήσωσιν ἴσως, ὁ δὲ ἀνήρ, εἰ χειρώσηταί με, καὶ δαιμόνων καὶ θηρίων πικρότερος ἔσται.” Οἰκὴσασα οὖν ἐν τῷ εἰδωλείῳ ἐξετέλει ἀπαραλείπτως τὸν κανόνα τῆς ψαλμῳδίας τὸν παραδοθέντα αὐτῇ.

But the blessed Matrona, learning that he had come there too, women sent by him having informed her, was seized with great fear, and, changing her clothing, she arrives at the parts of Berytus; and there, finding a temple of idols, she dwelt in it, choosing rather to be consumed by demons or by beasts than to fall into the hands of her husband. For she said: “Demons cannot wrong me, who serve God; and beasts, if I pursue virtue genuinely and devoutly, will perhaps honour it; but my husband, if he gets me into his power, will be more bitter than both demons and beasts.” Dwelling, then, in the idol-temple, she performed without omission the rule of psalmody that had been handed down to her.

[15] Voices of people psalming in the solitude Ἐν μιᾷ οὖν τῶν ἡμερῶν τὴν νυκτερινὴν ψαλμῳδίαν ποιουμένης αὐτῆς, ἀντέψαλλον οἱ δαίμονες μάλα προθύμως. Ἤκουεν γὰρ πολλῶν ἀνδρῶν φωνὰς ψαλλόντων, εἰς δειλίαν δὲ καταστᾶσα καταστάσης αὐτῆς P. καὶ τῷ σημείῳ τὸ σημεῖον P. τοῦ σταυροῦ ἑαυτὴν τειχίζουσα, πληρώσασα τὴν ψαλμῳδίαν διελογίζετο ἐν ἑαυτῇ λέγουσα omits P. ὅτι· “ὁ μὲν τόπος ἔρημός ἐστιν, ὁ δὲ οἶκος βέβηλος, χωρίον ἐν τῷ τόπῳ τούτῳ οὐκ ἔστιν, παροδῖται τοῖς adds P. ὧδε οὐ παρέβαλον, πόθεν ἄρα αἱ φωναὶ αὗται (πόθεν - αὗται) omits P. ;”

[15] On one of the days, then, as she was performing the nightly psalmody, the demons psalmed against her very eagerly. For she heard the voices of many men psalming; and falling into fear and walling herself with the sign of the cross, having completed the psalmody, she reasoned within herself, saying: “The place is desert, the house profane; there is no village in this place; wayfarers have not come here; whence, then, are these voices?”

Ταῦτα ἔχουσα κατὰ διάνοιαν καὶ λογιζομένη κ. λ. omits P. , ἐξῆλθεν τοῦ εἰδωλείου κατανοῆσαι, πόθεν αἱ φωναὶ ἐκεῖναι ἐγένοντο φωναὶ ἐγίνοντο P. . Ὡς here V begins. δὲ οὐδένα εὗρεν ἢ

Having these things in mind and reasoning, she went out of the idol-temple to observe whence those voices came. But when she found no one, or

εἶδεν (ἢ εἶδεν) ἰδεῖν V. , εἰσῆλθεν πάλιν ἔνδον τοῦ εἰδωλικοῦ ναοῦ· ὅθεν (πάλιν-ὅθεν) omits P, V. ἐπὶ πολλὰς δὲ adds V. ἡμέρας τῶν φωνῶν τούτων γινομένων, διαμείνασα ἄσιτος τρεῖς ἡμέρας παρεκάλεσε τὸν Θεὸν ἐκτενῶς φανερῶσαι αὐτῇ τὴν τούτων τούτου P. αἰτίαν. Ὁ δὲ κύριος καὶ Θεὸς (κ. Θ.) ὁ ταχὺς P, V. ταχὺς εἰς τὸ ἐπακούειν ἀκοῦσαι P. τῶν βοώντων πρὸς αὐτὸν νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας οὐχ ὑπερέθετο δεομένης αὐτῆς omits P. , she understands that they are of demons. ἀλλὰ ταχύνας ἐφανέρωσεν αὐτῇ αὐτὴν V. .

saw anyone, she went back again inside the idol temple; whence, as these voices went on for many days, she remained without food for three days and besought God earnestly to reveal to her the cause of them. And the Lord and God, who is swift to hear those who cry to him night and day, did not delay when she asked, but speedily revealed it to her.

Πληρωσάσης γὰρ γοῦν P. ἐν ἄλλῃ ἡμέρᾳ τὴν ψαλμῳδίαν αὐτῆς adds V. , ἤρξαντο οἱ δαίμονες τραγῳδεῖν ἀσέμνως καὶ ἀτάκτους τινὰς τρ. ἀτάκτως καί τινας ἀσέμνους P. καὶ αἰσχρὰς ἀπολύειν φωνάς, προσάγειν δὲ καὶ πῦρ τῇ θύρᾳ τοῦ ναοῦ. Τῆς δὲ μακαρίας συνεχῶς σφραγιζομένης καὶ ἐπιτιμώσης αὐτοῖς αὐτῆς V. , ἔφυγον ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη σὺν τῷ πυρί· γνοῦσα δὲ τοῦ πονηροῦ εἶναι τὴν ἐνέργειαν, περιεβλέπετο ὧδε καὶ ὧδε κἀκεῖσε P. ἰδεῖν τί γεγόνασιν ἢ ποῦ ἀπέδρασαν ἀπεδράκασι P. , καὶ ἀναβλέψασα εἶδεν τὰ ὄρη ὡσεὶ γνόφῳ τινὶ κεκαλυμμένα.

For when on another day she had completed the psalmody, the demons began to perform indecent tragedies and to let out certain disorderly and shameful cries, and to bring fire also to the door of the temple. And as the blessed woman continually sealed herself and rebuked them, they fled to the mountains with the fire; and knowing that the working was the evil one's, she looked about here and there to see what had become of them or where they had run off to; and looking up she saw the mountains as if covered by a kind of darkness.

[16] Suffering thirst Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα δίψῃ πολλῇ συσχεθεῖσα δίψει δὲ μ. τ. συσχεθεῖσα πολλῆ P, δ. δ. συσχ. μ. τ. π. V. , ἐξελθοῦσα τοῦ εἰδωλείου ὡς ἀπὸ ὀλίγου διαστήματος καὶ εὑροῦσα ὀλίγας adds P. βοτάνας εὐθαλεῖς τε omits P. καὶ δροσεράς, λαβοῦσα τῇ χειρὶ ἐξ αὐτῶν προσέθηκε τοῖς χείλεσι καὶ τῇ γλώσσῃ πρὸς τὸ παραμυθηθῆναι τὴν δίψαν καὶ κουφισθῆναι τὴν ἄγαν ξηρότητα. κ. αὐτὴν τῆς ξηρότητος V. · ἀλλὰ γὰρ ὁ εὔσπλαγχνος καὶ οἰκτίρμων Κύριος τὴν τοσαύτην καρτερίαν omits P, V. καὶ omits P, V. ὑπομονὴν ἑωρακώς, ἀρχαίαν θαυματουργίαν εἰργάσατο, οὐκ ἀχάριστον λαὸν ἑστιάσας, ἀλλὰ ψυχὴν ἀγαπῶσαν αὐτὸν διαθρέψας, οὐδὲ παράδοξον ὄμβρον παραδόξω ὄμβρω V. τὴν τοῦ μάννα ἀφθονίαν ὑετίσας οὐδὲ πετρινὸν (πέριον V) ὕδωρ πηγάσας adds P, V. , ἀλλ᾽ αὐτοσχέδιον τράπεζαν τὸν ἔρημον τόπον αὐτῇ δωρησάμενος·

[16] After this, seized by great thirst, she went out of the idol temple about a short distance, and finding herbs flourishing and dewy, she took some of them in her hand and put them to her lips and tongue to console her thirst and relieve her excessive dryness; but the compassionate and merciful Lord, having seen such great endurance and patience, wrought an ancient wonder, not feasting an ungrateful people, but nourishing a soul that loved him; not raining down the abundance of manna as a marvellous shower, but granting her the desert place as an improvised table;

ξηροῦ γὰρ καὶ ἀνίκμου ἀνημέρου V, ἀνίγμου P. παντὸς τοῦ τόπου ὑπάρχοντος, in a dry place τόπον εὑροῦσα νοτίδος μετέχοντα μετέχοντος V. , Θεὸν ἐπικαλεσαμένη καὶ αὐτὸν adds P. συνεργὸν λαβοῦσα, προσελθοῦσα τῷ τόπῳ ὤρυξε τὴν γῆν ταῖς χερσίν τ. χ. αὐτῆς τὴν γῆν V. , εἶτα πονέσασα πονήσασα P. λίθους ὀξεῖς εὑροῦσα ἀροῦσα P. ὤρυττεν ἐν αὐτοῖς μικρὸν βοθύνιον βόθυνον V. , καὶ omits V. ὅσον αἱ omits V. ἀμφότεραι αὐτῆς χεῖρες αἱ χ. V, χ. αὐτῆς P. κατήρχοντο, τοσοῦτον τῆς νοτίδος ᾐσθάνετο (τος. - ἠσθ.) omits P. .

for, the whole place being dry and without moisture, she found a spot that had some dampness, and calling on God and taking him as helper, she went to the spot and dug the earth with her hands; then, having laboured and found sharp stones, she dug with them a small pit, and as far as both her hands went down, so much did she perceive the moisture.

Εὑροῦσα δὲ μικρὸν ὕδωρ ἀνεχώρησεν εἰκάσασα τὴν ὥραν τῆς ψαλμῳδίας· καὶ τῇ ἐπαύριον τὸν ὀρθρινὸν αὐτῆς κανόνα πληρώσασα, ἐξελθοῦσα εὗρεν τὸ πρὸ μιᾶς ὀρυχθὲν βοθύνιον πεπληρωμένον τοῦ ὕδατος· τότε omits V. κλίνασα δὲ adds V, δὲ τὸ adds P. γόνυ καὶ εὐχαριστήσασα τῷ δοτῆρι τῶν ἀγαθῶν, ἀναστᾶσα συνέλεξεν ὀλίγας βοτάνας, ὁ γὰρ τόπος σὺν τῷ ὕδατι καὶ ταύτας ἐκαρποφόρησεν·

And finding a little water she withdrew, judging it to be the hour of psalmody; and on the next day, having completed her morning rule, she went out and found the pit dug the day before filled with water; then, bending the knee and giving thanks to the giver of good things, she rose and gathered a few herbs, for the place together with the water had borne these too as fruit;

τὰ γὰρ adds P. τοῦ Θεοῦ γὰρ δωρήματα τέλεια καὶ ἀνελλιπῆ ἀνενδεεῖ P. ὑπάρχουσιν καὶ οὐ δέονται καιροῦ πρὸς τελείωσιν· ὅθεν omits P, V. ἀποπλύνασα οὖν adds P, V. ταύτας ἐν τῷ ὕδατι τὸ μὲν ὕδωρ ἀπέλυσεν διὰ τὸ ῥῦπος ῥυπῶδες αὐτὸ εἶναι P. , she is wonderfully refreshed. τὰς δὲ βοτάνας λαβοῦσα εἰσῆλθεν·

for the gifts of God are perfect and lacking nothing, and do not need time for their perfecting; whence, having washed these in the water, she let the water go on account of the dirt, and taking the herbs she went in;

ἀλλὰ γὰρ ὅσον τὸ ὕδωρ διάστημα διάστημα τὸ ὕδωρ P. ἐκ τοῦ βοθύνου διερρεῖτο διέρρει P, V. , τοσοῦτον τῶν adds P. βοτανῶν ἡμέρων καὶ εὐμήκων ἀνεδίδου φοράν· έφ᾽ ἑκάστης οὖν (ἐφ᾽ - οὖν) ἑκάστην γοῦν P. ἐξερχομένη μετὰ τὸν ὄρθρον καὶ τὰς μὲν βοτάνας ἐκλεγομένη καὶ ἀποπλύνουσα, τὸ δὲ ὕδωρ ἀπολύουσα καὶ πάλιν ἀποφράσσουσα ἀποφράττουσα P. διὰ τὸ εὑρίσκεσθαι αὐτὸ καθαρόν, εἰς τὴν συνήθη τῆς μεταλήψεως ὥραν μετὰ τὴν τῶν λυχνικῶν ψαλμῳδιῶν ψαλμωδίαν καὶ V, omits P. συμπλήρωσιν ἐσθίουσα τὰς βοτάνας καὶ ἐκ omits P, V. τοῦ ὕδατος πίνουσα ἐδόξαζεν τὸν Θεὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι τοῖς δωρουμένοις αὐτῇ ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ· ἐχορήγει οὖν αὐτῇ ὁ τόπος ἐκεῖνος ἔκτοτε adds P. ἐξ ἐκείνου ὥσπερ φόρον τὴν ἡμερησίαν τροφὴν πληρεστάτην.

but as far as the water flowed out from the pit, so far did it put forth a crop of cultivated and tall herbs. Every day, then, going out after matins, gathering and washing the herbs, letting the water go and stopping it up again because it was found clean, at the customary hour of taking food, after completing the psalmodies of the lamp-lighting, she ate the herbs and drank of the water and glorified God for all the things given her by him; and so that place supplied her from that time, as a tribute, with her daily food most fully.

[17] By a demonἘπὶ πολὺν δὲ τῆς μακαρίας καιρὸν κατατρυφώσης τῆς adds P, V. τοιαύτης τραπέζης καὶ τῇ συντόνῳ ἀσκήσει προκοπτούσης, οὐκ ἐνεγκὼν ὁ πονηρὸς δαίμων omits P, V. ὁρᾶν αὐτὴν εὐφραινομένην ἐν Κυρίῳ, ἄλλῃ τινὶ μηχανῇ κατ᾽ αὐτῆς ὡπλίζετο (ἄλλη - ὡπλίζετο) ἅλλεται P. · καὶ μετασχηματίσας ἑαυτὸν εἰς γυναῖκα εὐπρόσωπον καὶ σεμνὴν καὶ καλῶς φοροῦσαν, ἐλθὼν πρὸς τὴν ὁσίαν λέγει αὐτῇ P, V, αὐτὴν A. μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς omits P. θωπείας· “Τί ποιεῖς ὧδε, ὦ omits P. δέσποινά μου, νεωτέρα οὖσα καὶ καλὴ τῷ εἴδει σφόδρα (τῷ - σφόδρα) omits P, V. ; οὐκ ἔστιν ὸ τόπος οὗτος ἄξιός σου· εἰδώλων γὰρ καὶ δαιμόνων οἰκητήριόν ἐστιν· δεῦρο εἰς τὴν κυρὰν adds V, κυρῖαν P. Βηρυτόν, under the appearance of a beautiful woman ὅτι πόλις ἐστὶ καλὴ καὶ φιλόξενος καλὴ καὶ φ. ἐστι P. καὶ πάντας συγκροτοῦσα· τὰ γοῦν γὰρ V. ένταῦθα ἐρημία ἔρημα P, V. ἐστίν, ὅτι καὶ P. τὰ ἐπιτήδεια οὐχ εὑρίσκονται· μὴ καί τινες πολλάκις (τ. π.) π. τ. P, ἐλθόντες ὧδε omits P. ὕβριν σοι ποιήσωσιν, ἁμαρτῆσαι θέλοντες μετὰ σοῦ.”

[17] And when the blessed woman had for a long time taken delight in such a table and was advancing in strenuous asceticism, the wicked demon, not bearing to see her rejoicing in the Lord, armed himself against her with another device; and transforming himself into a woman fair of face, grave and well dressed, coming to the holy woman he says to her with much flattery: “What are you doing here, my lady, being young and very beautiful in appearance? This place is not worthy of you; for it is a dwelling of idols and demons. Come to Berytus, for it is a fine city and hospitable and welcoming to all; for things here are a wilderness, since necessities are not to be found; lest perhaps some men, coming here, as often happens, do you outrage, wishing to sin with you.”

Πρὸς ταῦτα ἡ μακαρία ἀγνοοῦσα γνοῦσα V, ἀγνωοῦσα ἡ μακαρία P. ὅτι ὁ πειράζων ἐστίν, ἀποκριθεῖσα εἶπεν· “Λάχανον λάχανα P. ἔχω, ὕδωρ ἔχω, τοῦ δεσπότου μου omits P. Χριστοῦ τὴν omits P. ἀφθονίαν μοι adds P. δωρησαμένου, ἀρκοῦμαι πρὸς omits P, V. τούτοις καὶ omits P. οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἐπιζητῶ.”

To this the blessed woman, not knowing that it was the tempter, answered and said: “I have vegetables, I have water, my Master Christ having bestowed the abundance; I am content with these and seek nothing else.”

Ταῦτα ἀκούσας ὁ δαίμων ἀνεχώρησεν εἰπών· “Ἐγὼ μὲν ὃ οἶδα συμφέρειν συμφέρον P. σοι συμβουλεύω φειδόμενός φειδομένη P. σου, καὶ (συμβουλεύω - καὶ) omits V. συμβουλεύων συμβουλεύουσα P. δὲ οὐκ ἀποστήσομαι· λοιπὸν σόν ἐστιν τὸ δοκιμάσαι καὶ πρᾶξαι τὸ καλόν·”

Hearing this, the demon withdrew, saying: “I advise you what I know to be profitable for you, sparing you, and I will not cease advising; for the rest, it is yours to test it and do what is good.”

καὶ μετ᾽ ὀλίγας ἡμέρας πάλιν ἐλθὼν ὁ πονηρὸς adds P. ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ σχήματι λέγει αὐτῇ· “Φείδομαί σου, she is tempted; δέσποινά μου, ὄντως καὶ συμπάσχω τῇ νεότητί σου καὶ μεριμνῶ καὶ φροντίζω, μήπως τὸ τοιοῦτον κάλλος καὶ ἡ τοιαύτη εὐπρέπεια μαρανθεῖσα ὑπὸ τῆς τοῦ τόπου σκυθρωπότητος ἀπόληται· διό, παρακαλῶ, ἀνάσχου μοι συμβουλευούσῃ P, V, συμβουλευούσης A. σοι τὰ δέοντα καὶ δεῦρο εἰς τὴν κυρίαν κυράν V. μου Βηρυτὸν δεῦρο ἐν Βηρυτῶ P. καὶ εὑρίσκεται καὶ ὁσπῆτιν ὀσπίτιον P, ὀσπίτην V. ἄξιόν σου σοι P. , καὶ πάντα τὰ εἰς τὴν ἀπόκρισιν καὶ ὑπηρεσίαν σου ἐπιτήδεια omits P, V. .”

And after a few days, coming again in the same form, he says to her: “I truly spare you, my lady, and suffer with your youth, and am anxious and concerned lest such beauty and such comeliness, withering under the gloom of the place, should perish; wherefore, I beseech you, bear with me as I advise you what is needful, and come to my lady Berytus, and a dwelling worthy of you is to be found, and all things suitable for your needs and service.”

Ἡ δὲ καὶ omits P. πρὸς ταῦτα ἐν πολλῇ σοφίᾳ καὶ συνέσει εἰποῦσα αὐτῶ adds, V, εἶπεν αὐτῶ P. ὅτι omits P. “οὐ τὸ κάλλος τοῦ σώματος ἐμοὶ περισπούδαστον ἀλλὰ τὸ τῆς ψυχῆς, καὶ εἰ διὸ εἰ καὶ P. τὴν ἔξωθεν εὐπρέπειαν μαράνω μαραίνω V, ἀλλὰ adds P. , τὴν ἔσωθεν ἀνακαινίζω καὶ adds P. ,” ἀπεδίωζεν αὐτὴν κατῃσχυμμένην αὐτὸν κατησχυμμένον P, V. .

And she, answering this too with much wisdom and understanding — “It is not the beauty of the body that I am zealous for, but that of the soul; and if I wither the outward comeliness, I renew the inward” — drove her away put to shame.

[18] then putting on the form of an old woman,Ὅμως οὐκ ἀπέστη ὁ κακομήχανος οὐδὲ οὕτως, πειράζων αὐτή· ἀλλ᾽ ὀλίγιον χρόνον ἐπισχών, σχῆμα γραΐδος ἀναλαβών τινος συρφετῆς σορφετῆς corrected V, τινὸς adds P. καὶ δυσειδοῦς καὶ ὀφθαλμοὺς πῦρ ἀποβάλλοντας ἐχούσης ἐπιρρίπτει ἑαυτήν αὐτῆ P, V. , θρασέως ἀπειλῶν τε καὶ φοβῶν καὶ φθεγγόμενος ἄτοπά τινα καὶ τῆς προαιρέσεως αὐτοῦ ἄξια.

[18] Yet not even so did the evil-contriver depart, tempting her; but, holding off for a little time, and taking the form of an old woman, a vulgar and ill-favoured one, with eyes casting out fire, he throws himself upon her, boldly threatening and frightening her and uttering certain monstrous things worthy of his purpose.

Ὡς δὲ οὐκ ἀπεκρίνατο αὐτῷ οὐδὲν omits P. τὸ σύνολον διὰ τὴν τῶν λόγων αὐτοῦ ἀταξίαν, πλέον ἐκμανεὶς ἐμμανεὶς P. τῇ ὀργῇ καὶ omits P. ἐξαφθεὶς τῷ omits V. θυμῷ omits V. λέγει αὐτῇ· “Τοσούτους λόγους ἀφῆκα πρὸς σὲ τοῖα καὶ περὶ τοῖα καὶ οὐδὲν ἀποκρίνῃ μοι;”

And when she answered him nothing at all, because of the disorderliness of his words, raging the more in his anger and kindled in his wrath he says to her: “So many words have I let go at you, of such kinds and about such things, and you answer me nothing?”

Εἶτα καὶ adds V. τῆς μακαρίας συνήθως τῷ σταυρῷ τειχιζούσης ἑαυτήν, τὰς χεῖρας τῇ κεφαλῇ τῆς κεφαλῆς V. ἐπιθεὶς καὶ τοῖς ὀδοῦσιν αὐτοῦ αὐτὰς P, V. κατεσθίων τε omits P. καὶ σπαράττων σπαράσσων P. , κράζων μεγάλῃ τῇ φωνῇ ἔλεγεν οὕτως· “Ὁ βίᾳ (ὁ. β.) omits P, V. πολλοὺς νικήσας καὶ πολλῶν περιγενόμενος, σὲ οὐκ ἔχω ἡττῆσαι; ἀνάμεινόν με μικρόν· κἂν γὰρ με καὶ γὰρ κἀν V, με κἀν P. ἐν τῇ omits P. νεότητί σου μὴ δυνηθῶ σοι ἀπατῆσαι, the demon holds out threats against her. ἐν τῷ γήρει (σοι - γήρει) ἐν τῶ γήρα P, V. σου τὰ πάντων δεινότερα ἐπάξω σοι (ἐπ. ς.) σοι ἐπ. P. · καὶ νῦν δὲ οὐ μή μου τὰς χεῖρας διαφύγῃς ἐκφύγεις P. , ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν Βηρυτὸν Βηρυτῶν P. ἐπεγερῶ σοι καὶ μάλιστα τοὺς τῷ τόπῳ χαίροντας τούτῳ omits P, V. καὶ τῇ τῶν εἰδώλων λατρείᾳ δεδουλωμένους καὶ διώξω διώξω previously διώξε P. σε ἐξ ὅλης τῆς περιχώρου ταύτης.”

Then, as the blessed woman as usual walled herself with the cross, putting his hands on his head and devouring and tearing them with his teeth, crying with a loud voice he spoke thus: “I who have conquered many by force and got the better of many, can I not defeat you? Wait for me a little; for even if in your youth I cannot deceive you, in your old age I will bring on you things more terrible than all; and even now you shall not escape my hands, but I will rouse Berytus against you, and especially those who delight in this place and are enslaved to the worship of idols, and I will drive you out of this whole surrounding country.”

Ταῦτα καὶ τὰ τούτοις ὅμοια (καὶ - ὅμοια) omits P, V. εἰπὼν ὁ πονηρὸς ἀφανὴς ἐγένετο· καὶ ἕως τούτου (ἕως τ.) ἕως τοσούτου P. ὁ κακόβουλος παρηνώχλησεν αὐτῇ καὶ adds P. , μὴ εὑρὼν δὲ καὶ adds P. ἀπατῆσαι αὐτὴν τὸ omits P. σύνολον omits P. , οὐκ οὐκέτι P, V. ἐτόλμησεν ὀφθαλμοφανῶς παρενοχλῆσαι ὀχλῆσαι P, V. αὐτήν. Ἡ γὰρ τοῦ Θεοῦ χάρις ἐσκέπασεν αὐτήν·

Having said these and similar things, the evil one became invisible; and up to this point the ill-counselling one troubled her, but, finding no way at all to deceive her, he did not dare to trouble her visibly. For the grace of God sheltered her;

ὅθεν καὶ P, V. μετὰ τοὺς τοιούτους omits P, V. πειρασμοὺς χαρὰ αὐτὴν εἶχεν καὶ τὴν τῶν δαιμόνων ἐπιβουλὴν ὀπτασία ἀγαθὴ διεδέξατο· τὰς γὰρ ἐπιλυχνίους εὐχὰς ποιουμένης ποιωμένης P. ἐπέστησαν αὐτῇ ἄνδρες τρεῖς τρες ἄνδρες P, V. · Matrona is refreshed by a vision. εἴτε δὲ ἄνδρες ἦσαν ὄντως P. εἴτε ἄγγελοι, οὐδὲ οὔτε P. τότε ἔγνω οὐδὲ οὔτε P. μετὰ ταῦτα ἀπήγγειλεν here a folio is missing in P. , εἰ καὶ μάλιστα τὸ μὴ οἴεσθαι θείαν εἶναι τὴν ἐπίσκεψιν ἀνόσιόν ἐστι καὶ παντάπασι χριστιανῶν ἀλλότριον. Εἴωθεν γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς συγκατιὼν τῇ ἀσθενείᾳ ἡμῶν σχηματίζειν πρὸς τὸ λυσιτελοῦν τὰς τῶν ἀσωμάτων νοητὰς adds V. ὀπτασίας εἰς ἐνσώμους ἀνθρώπους.

whence after such temptations joy possessed her, and a good vision succeeded the plotting of the demons; for as she was making the lamp-lighting prayers, three men stood by her; but whether they were men or angels she neither knew then nor told afterwards, although it is especially impious, and altogether foreign to Christians, not to think that the visitation was divine. For God, condescending to our weakness, is wont to fashion the visions of incorporeal beings, for our profit, into embodied men.

Ψαλλούσης οὖν αὐτῆς, εἰσελθόντες ἔκλιναν γόνυ κατ᾽ ὄπισθεν αὐτῆς ἐπὶ πολλὰς τὰς ὥρας. Τῆς δὲ μακαρίας δειλιώσης καὶ

While she was psalming, then, they came in and bent the knee behind her for many hours. And as the blessed woman was afraid and

τοῦ ψάλλειν μὴ ἀφισταμένης, ἀλλὰ omits V. ὧδε καὶ ὧδε τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς διανευούσης καὶ omits V. τὸ δρώμενον παρ᾽ αὐτῶν μαθεῖν βουλομένης βουλ. μαθεῖν V, , οὐ μὴν περιστρεφομένης, καὶ τὴν ψαλμῳδίαν τῶν λυχνικῶν ἀναλαβούσης, ἀναστάντες οἱ ἄνδρες ἀπὸ τῆς εὐχῆς καὶ adds V. , εἰρηκότες αὐτῇ· “Εὔχου ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, δούλη Χριστοῦ” ἕως τρίτου, ἀνεχώρησαν καὶ ἀφανεῖς ἐγένοντο.

not ceasing from psalming, but casting her eyes here and there and wishing to learn what was being done by them, yet not turning round, and taking up the psalmody of the lamp-lighting, the men rose from prayer, and having said to her up to three times: “Pray for us, servant of Christ,” they withdrew and became invisible.

[19] With other gentile womenὍμως ἐξ ἐκείνου ἐξ ἐκ. omits V. ἀκουστὸν ἐγένετο τὰ περὶ αὐτῆς ἐν τῇ Βηρυτῷ καὶ πολλοὶ ἐξήρχοντο πρὸς αὐτήν, ἄνδρες τε καὶ γυναῖκες, καὶ μάλιστα τῶν ἐπισήμων γυναικῶν· διέδραμεν γὰρ ἐν ὀλίγαις ἡμέραις ἡ περὶ αὐτῆς φήμη πανταχοῦ πανταχόσε V. .

[19] Nevertheless from that time her affairs became heard of in Berytus, and many went out to her, both men and women, and especially of the distinguished women; for in a few days the report about her ran everywhere.

Καὶ πάντες ἔλεγον ὅτι τοὺς ἐν τῷ ναῷ δαίμονας ἡ πολιτεία αὐτῆς ἡ ἀγγελικὴ καὶ ἡ ἁγνεία ἡ λαμπρὰ μετανάστας omits V. καὶ omits V. φυγάδας κατέστησεν· πολλῶν οὖν συντρεχόντων θεάσασθαι αὐτὴν omits V. καὶ εὐλογηθῆναι παρ᾽ αὐτῆς, συνεξῆλθεν αὐτοῖς καὶ μία τις γυνὴ γυνή τις V. ἔχουσα θυγατέρα θυγατέραν A. ὀνόματι Σωφρόνη Σωφροσύνη V hic et deinceps. · Sophrone, αὕτη τοίνυν omits V. ἡ Σωφρόνη ἰδοῦσα τὴν μακαρίαν Ματρῶναν omits V. καὶ omits V. κατανυγεῖσα, οὐκέτι ἠνέσχετο αὕτη adds V. οὔτε τὴν μακαρίαν Ματρώναν adds V. καταλεῖψαι οὔτε τῇ μητρὶ αὐτῆς omits V. ἀκολουθῆσαι, εἰποῦσα ὅτι “ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν αὕτη μου ἡ ἁγία καὶ μήτηρ ἐστὶ καὶ πατήρ·”

And all said that her angelic conduct and shining purity had made the demons in the temple emigrants and fugitives. And as many ran together to behold her and be blessed by her, there went out with them also a certain woman who had a daughter named Sophrone; this Sophrone, then, seeing the blessed Matrona and being pierced to the heart, could no longer bear either to leave the blessed woman or to follow her mother, saying: “From now on this holy woman is both mother and father to me.”

τῆς δὲ μητρὸς αὐτῆς omits V. πολλὰ ποιούσης καὶ βιαζομένης, she teaches the faith ἵνα κἂν τοὺς ἰδίους τοῖς ἰδίοις V. συντάξηται πρότερον, οὐδ᾽ ὅλως οὐχ V. εἵλετο ἀπελθεῖν· ἐκ ταύτης οὖν τῆς προφάσεως omits V. καὶ ἄλλαι θυγατέρες ἑλλήνων ἐκολλήθησαν τῇ μακαρίᾳ Ματρώνῃ omits V. · αἵτινες ἀπελθοῦσαι πρὸς αὐτὴν προσέπεσον προσέπεσαν V. τοῖς γόνασιν αὐτῆς κλαίουσαι καὶ λέγουσαι· “Ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς, ἁγία μήτηρ, τῆς ματαιότητος τῶν εἰδώλων καὶ τῆς πλάνης τῶν δαιμόνων καὶ omits V. προσάγαγε ἡμᾶς τῷ ὑπὸ σοῦ θεραπευομένῳ Θεῷ.”

And when her mother did much and used force, that she should at least first take leave of her own people, she would by no means choose to go away. From this occasion, then, other daughters of the Hellenes too attached themselves to the blessed Matrona; and they, going to her, fell at her knees weeping and saying: “Deliver us, holy mother, from the vanity of the idols and the error of the demons, and bring us to the God whom you serve.”

Ἃς δεξαμένη ἡ μακαρία καὶ πρῶτον μὲν τὰ ἤθη αὐτῶν τὰ σωματικὰ ἐξομαλίσασα, ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ τοὺς τῆς ψυχῆς λογισμοὺς ἐπιρρώσασα καὶ πρὸς τὴν τοῖς χριστιανοῖς ἀποκειμένην ἐλπίδα εὐτρεπίσασα ἐπὶ πολλὰς ἡμέρας, ἐποίησεν τελειωθῆναι διὰ χρίσματος καὶ βαπτίσματος μυστικοῦ· καὶ σὺν τῇ πρώτῃ εἶχε καὶ αὐτὰς γράμματα δὲ adds V. διδάσκουσα καὶ πᾶσαν γραφὴν ἐπιστένουσα so A, V. καὶ omits V. μάλιστα γὰρ adds V. τὴν τοῦ μακαρίου Δαυῒδ, and has them baptized. ἐποίησεν αὐτὰς τέκνα Θεοῦ γενέσθαι (ἐποίησεν-γενέσθαι) omits V. .

Receiving them, the blessed woman first smoothed their bodily habits, then strengthened the thoughts of their souls and prepared them over many days for the hope laid up for Christians, and caused them to be perfected through chrism and mystical baptism; and together with the first she kept them too, teaching them letters and making them learn every scripture by heart, and above all that of the blessed David; and she made them become children of God.

[20] A certain virgin Ταῦτα τοίνυν ἀκούσασα καὶ ἄλλη τις παρθένος, καὶ αὐτὴ οὖσα ἑλληνίς, ἐπεθύμει ἰδεῖν ἰδέσθαι V. τὴν μακαρίαν Ματρῶναν omits V. καὶ κολληθῆναι αὐτῇ. Τῶν δὲ προσηκόντων αὐτῇ τότε τὰς συνήθεις σπονδὰς omits V. τῶν ματαίων εἰδώλων σπονδῶν V, ἐπιτελούντων, αὐτὴν μὲν κατέλιπον ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ, σεμίδαλιν καὶ οἶνον καὶ ἄλλα, ὅσα ἦσαν ἑτοιμάσαντες τοῖς δαίμοσι, λαβοῦσαν V, λαβοῦσα A. συμφθάσαι αὐτοῖς αὐτοὺς V. , αὐτοὶ δὲ προλαβόντες προετέλουν τοῖς ματαίοις, ἀναμένοντες τὴν παρθένον

[20] Hearing these things, then, another virgin too, she also being a Hellene, desired to see the blessed Matrona and to attach herself to her. And as her relatives were then performing the customary libations to the vain idols, they left her in the house, to take the fine flour and wine and the other things they had prepared for the demons and to join them there, while they themselves went ahead and were performing the rites to the vain idols beforehand, waiting for the virgin.

· καιροῦ δὲ λαβομένη εὐκαίρου ἡ νεᾶνις τὸν μὲν omits V. οἶνον καὶ τὴν σεμίδαλιν καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ πάντα omits V. διέδωκε here P resumes. τοῖς omits P. πένησι, who, having left the idols, βέλτιον κρίνασα χορτασθῆναι πεινῶντας πτωχοὺς ἢ θεραπευθῆναι κωφὰ omits P, V. καὶ omits P, V. ἀναίσθητα εἴδωλα· αὕτη δὲ εὑροῦσα γυναῖκας ἀπερχομένας πρὸς τὴν μακαρίαν, ἠκολούθησεν αὐταῖς·

But the girl, seizing a fitting opportunity, distributed the wine and the fine flour and all the rest to the poor, judging it better that hungry beggars be filled than that dumb and senseless idols be served; and finding women going away to the blessed woman, she followed them;

ἀγνοοῦντες δὲ τὸ δρώμενον παρὰ ὑπὸ P, V. τῆς κόρης, οἱ τὰ βδελύγματα σεβόμενοι προσκυνοῦντες P. ἀνέμενον αὐτήν P, V, αὐτῆ A. · πολλῆς δὲ ὥρας διαδραμούσης καὶ μὴ ἀπελθούσης αὐτῆς adds P. , ὑποστρέψαντες ἐζήτουν αὐτήν· μαθόντες δὲ ἐκ τῶν παρατυχόντων δὲ παρὰ τῶν τυχόντων P, δὲ οἷ παρατυχόντες V. τὸ ὑπ᾽ αὐτῆς γεγενημένον καὶ ὅτι πρὸς τὴν ἐν τῷ ναῷ χριστιανὴν ἀπῆλθεν, had attached herself to Matrona δρομαῖοι κατεδίωκον αὐτήν·

and the worshippers of the abominations, not knowing what had been done by the girl, waited for her; and when much time had passed and she had not come, they turned back and sought her; and learning from those who happened to be there what had been done by her, and that she had gone away to the Christian woman in the temple, they pursued her at a run;

καὶ δὴ αὐτῆς εἰσελθούσης πρὸς τὴν ὁσίαν, αὐτοὶ τῇ θύρᾳ ἐπέστησαν τοῦ ναοῦ καὶ ἑωρακότες αὐτὴν πρὸς τοῖς ἶχνεσι τῆς μακαρίας ἐρριμμένην καὶ ἱκετεύουσαν αὐτὴν προσδεχθῆναι παρ᾽ αὐτῆς, ὡς καὶ ἄλλαι ὡς αἱ ἄλλαι V, ὡς τὰς ἄλλας P. προσεδέχθησαν omits P, V. , προσεκαλοῦντο αὐτὴν ἀπειλούμενοι ἐπαπειλούμενοι P. τὰ πάνδεινα, “δεῦρο” ἔξω λέγοντες, “ἀνοσία, μὴ καὶ σὲ καὶ τὸν ναὸν τὸν νῦν βεβηλωθέντα καὶ τὴν διδάσκαλόν σου πυρὶ ἀναλώσωμεν·

and indeed, when she had gone in to the holy woman, they stood at the door of the temple, and seeing her flung at the footprints of the blessed woman and supplicating to be received by her, as others too had been received, they called her, threatening all dreadful things, saying: “Come out, impious girl, lest we consume with fire both you and the temple now profaned and your teacher;

τίς σοι ὑπέθετο τὸ μάταιον omits P, V. καὶ omits P, V. παράνομον τοῦτο τοῦτο τὸ π. P. δρᾶσαι; with shouts and threats τί τὸ φῶς καταλιποῦσα πρὸς εἰς P. τὸ σκότος ηὐτομόλησας; τί τοσαύτην ὀργὴν ἐξῆψας καθ᾽ ἡμῶν; οὐ δέδιας δειλιᾶς P. , ἀθλία; οὐ φρίττεις τοσαύτην ἀνομίαν ἐργασαμένη; οὐκ ἐνθυμῇ ὅτι ἐξουσίαν ἔχουσιν οἱ θεοὶ καὶ σὲ πατάξαι καὶ τὴν ἐπελθοῦσάν ἀναπειθοῦσαν P, πενθοῦσαν V. σε διδάσκαλον; οὐ λογίζῃ οἷον ποῖον P. διεπράξω κακόν, πτωχοὺς ἀθλίους καὶ δυστυχεῖς προτιμήσασα τῶν μεγίστων καὶ ἐνδόξων ἐνδ. καὶ μεγ. P. θεῶν;

who suggested to you to do this vain and lawless thing? Why, leaving the light, have you deserted to the darkness? Why have you kindled so great a wrath against us? Do you not fear, wretched girl? Do you not shudder, having wrought so great a lawlessness? Do you not consider that the gods have power to strike both you and the teacher who has come upon you? Do you not reckon what an evil you have done, preferring wretched and unfortunate beggars to the greatest and glorious gods?

Φύγε τὴν ἀσέβειαν, ἀπόθου τὴν ἄνοιαν ἀνομίαν P. , ἀνάλαβε λογισμὸν βεβηκότα καὶ ἔμφρονα κατάλιπε τὴν ἀθλίαν διδάσκαλον καὶ τὸ πενθικὸν πένθημον P, V. αὐτῆς σχῆμα. Οὗ γὰρ ἦν ἀξία, τούτου καὶ ἔτυχεν· ἔξελθε, ἔξελθε omits P, V. ἐκεῖθεν, μὴ τάφος ἀπωλείας ὁ τόπος τῆς σωτηρίας γένηταί σοί οὐ μνησικακοῦμέν σοι, ἀθλία, μόνον μὴ adds P. ἀπόστηθι· δυσωποῦμεν δὲ omits P. οὓς παρώργισας, μόνον μὴ ἀπομείνῃς αὐτόθι.”

Flee impiety, put away folly, take up a steady and sensible way of thinking, leave the wretched teacher and her mournful garb. For she has met with what she deserved; come out, come out from there, lest the place of salvation become for you a tomb of perdition; we bear you no grudge, wretched girl, only depart; we will entreat those whom you have provoked, only do not stay there.”

the gentiles demand her back; Ταῦτα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα λέγοντες καὶ τῇ μὲν παρθένῳ ὑπισχνούμενοι πολλὰ καὶ κολακεύοντες ὑπὲρ τὰ adds P, V. πολλά, τῇ δὲ ἁγίᾳ ἐπαπειλούμενοι καὶ ὀνειδίζοντες αυτὴν adds V. ἀνεχώρησαν, ὑποσχόμενοι ἐπὶ τὴν αὔριον καίειν καὶ omits P, V. τὸν ναὸν καὶ αὐτάς·

Saying these and such things, promising the virgin much and flattering her beyond measure, while threatening and reviling the holy woman, they withdrew, promising to burn both the temple and the women on the morrow;

ὅθεν omits P, V. οὐδὲν μέντοι adds P, V. ἄλλο ἤκουσαν οἱ ἄθεοι παρὰ τῆς μακαρίας ἁγίας P. Ματρώνης, εἰ μὴ ὅτι· “Αὕτη δούλη ἐστὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐ adds P. τῶν θεῶν ὑμῶν. Ὁ γὰρ Θεὸς ἡμῶν θεός ἐστιν καὶ adds P. ἰσχυρός, κτίστης οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς, οἱ δὲ ὑμῶν θεοὶ βδελύγματά εἰσιν, ἔργα χειρῶν ἀνθρώπων, γινόμενοι καὶ ἀπογινόμενοι, σηπόμενοι καὶ φθειρόμενοι (σηπ. καὶ φθ.) omits P. καὶ τέλος πυρὶ χρησιμεύοντες.”

whence the godless heard nothing else from the blessed Matrona than this: “She is a servant of the God of your gods. For our God is a strong God, creator of heaven and earth; but your gods are abominations, works of men's hands, coming into being and passing away, rotting and decaying, and at last serving as fuel for the fire.”

[21] whom the girl refuses to follow. Ἔρριπτο δὲ ἡ κόρη πρὸς τοῖς ποσὶν αὐτῆς καὶ μετὰ τὸ ἀναχωρῆσαι τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς παρεκάλει καὶ ἱκέτευεν παρακαλοῦσα (αὺτὴν adds P) καὶ ἱκετεύουσα V, P. “δέξαι με, λέγουσα, δούλη Χριστοῦ, δέξαι με τὴν ἀπολλυμένην δέξαι P. τὴν ἀπεγνωσμένην, τὴν πεπλανημένην, τὴν μέχρι τοῦ παρόντος δουλεύουσαν δουλεύσασαν P. τοῖς ματαίοις, τὴν ἀγνοήσασαν τὸν Θεὸν καὶ τὸν V. σωτῆρα αὐτῆς ἑαυτῆς P. καὶ ἀκολουθήσασαν τῷ ἐχθρῷ καὶ ὀλετῆρι αὐτῆς (καὶ ἀκολ.-αὐτῆς) omits P. , σύναψόν με ταῖς σὺν σοὶ οὖσι καὶ ταῖς ἐν σοὶ οὔσαις P, τοῖς σὺν σοὶ οὐσιν V. προσάγαγέ με τῷ Χριστῷ σου· ὑπόδειξόν μοι τὴν ὁδὸν τῆς ζωῆς καὶ ὁδήγησόν με ἐν αὐτῇ omits V. ἀσφαλῶς· ναὶ δέομαί σου, δούλη Χριστοῦ (ναὶ-Χριστοῦ) omits P, V. , μὴ κληθῶ κριθῶ P. ἀναξία σου δούλη adds P, δούλη Χριστοῦ adds V. μηδὲ μὴ P, V. ξενωθῶ τῆς ἀγέλης σου, μῆτερ ἁγία.”

[21] And the girl had flung herself at her feet, and after the impious had withdrawn she besought and supplicated her, saying: “Receive me, servant of Christ, receive me, the despaired of, the one who has gone astray, who until the present has served the vain idols, who did not know God her saviour and followed her enemy and destroyer; join me to those who are with you and bring me to your Christ; show me the way of life and guide me in it safely; yes, I beg you, servant of Christ, let me not be called unworthy of you, nor be estranged from your flock, holy mother.”

Ταῦτα καὶ τὰ τούτοις ὅμοια (καὶ-ὅμοια) omits V, δὲ P. λέγουσα ἡ παρθένος καὶ εἰς δάκρυα κινήσασα τὴν τε adds P. μακαρίαν Ματρῶναν Ματρώνα ita P, omits V. καὶ τὰς συνελθούσας αὐτῇ ἐλευθέρας, νουθετήσασα αὐτὴν ἐπὶ νουθετηθεῖσαι ὑπ᾽ αὐτῆς ὑπὸ P, πολλὰς τὰς ὥρας καὶ εἰποῦσα ἀκούσασα P. · “Θάρσει, τέκνον, φιλάνθρωπός ἐστιν ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν καὶ omits P. δέχεταί σε μετανοοῦσαν γνησίως·” ἀνέστησεν αὐτὴν ἀνεστάτη ὑπ᾽ αὐτῆς P. καὶ εὐθέως ἡμῖν V. λαβοῦσα αὐτὴν καὶ τὰς ἄλλας adds P. ἀδελφάς, ἐξῆλθεν ἀπὸ omits P. του ναοῦ εἰποῦσα ταῖς ἐλευθέραις· “ Ἀναμείνατε ὧδε, Matrona despises their threats; παρακαλῶ, ἕως τοῦ ἐλθεῖν ἡμᾶς.”

As the virgin said these and similar things and moved to tears the blessed Matrona and the free women who had come together with her, the saint admonished her for many hours and said: “Take courage, child; our God is a lover of mankind and receives you if you repent genuinely”; she raised her up, and at once, taking her and the sisters, went out of the temple, saying to the free women: “Wait here, I beg, until we come.”

Καὶ συναγαγοῦσα ἐξ αὐτοῦ τοῦ τόπου adds P. πλῆθος βοτανῆν ξηρῶν ἐπανῆλθεν καὶ ποιήσασα ἐξ αὐτῶν τρία φορτία, λέγει ταῖς ἐλευθέραις· “Ἔχετε παῖδας δυναμένους δυναμένας A. μοι ποιῆσαι (μ. π.) π. μ. P, V. ἀπόκρισιν;” τῶν δὲ εἰρηκυιῶν εἰπουσῶν P, εἰρηκουσῶν V. ὅτι εἰσίν, προσκαλεσαμένη τρεῖς ἐκ τῶν συνόντων αὐταῖς, λέγει αὐτοῖς· “Ἀπέλθετε ἀπέλθατε P, V. , παρακαλῶ, εἰς τὴν πόλιν καὶ εἶπατε τοῖς ἀθέοις, τοῖς πρὸ βραχέος ἀπειλήσασιν ἡμῖν V. ὑμῖν P, A. ὅτι “ἐδήλωσεν ὑμῖν ἡμῖν V. ἡ χριστιανή ἵνα μὴ κοπωθῆτε βαστάζοντες τὰ ξύλα ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως. Ἤδη γὰρ omits P. ἐγὼ ἡτοίμασα ὑμῖν βοτάνας ξηράς, εὑρίσκετε δὲ καὶ πῦρ. Μηδ᾽ ὅλως οὖν ὑπέρθεσθε (μηδ᾽-ὑπ.) ἀλλὰ μηδὲν ὑπερθῆσθε P. · ἀναμένω γὰρ ὑμᾶς· εἰ δὲ καὶ ἄλλου τινὸς ἆλλότι P. χρεία ἐστὶν omits V. εὐτρεπισθῆναι, προδηλώσατέ μοι κἀγὼ εὐτρεπίζω· σπουδάζω γὰρ ἐν πᾶσιν ἀθλίβους ἀθλίπτους P, V. ὑμᾶς φυλάξαι ποιῆσαι P. , μόνον μὴ ἀμελήσητε μελλήσητε P. .”

And gathering a quantity of dry herbs she came back, and making three bundles of them she says to the free women: “Have you servants who can carry an answer for me?” And when they said they had, calling three of those who were with them, she says to them: “Go, I beg, into the city and tell the godless men who a little while ago threatened us: The Christian woman has declared to you that you should not weary yourselves carrying the wood from the city. For I have already prepared dry herbs for you, and you will find fire too. Do not delay at all, then; for I am waiting for you; and if there is need of anything else to be got ready, let me know beforehand and I will get it ready; for I am anxious to keep you free of trouble in everything; only do not neglect it.”

Ἀπελθόντες οὖν οἱ παῖδες ἐν τῇ πόλει (έν τῇ πόλει) omits P, V. , εἶπον εἶπαν V. τοῖς ἕλλησι τὴν ἀπόκρισιν τῆς omits P, V. ἁγίας omits P, V. . Οἱ δὲ ἀκούσαντες καὶ omits P. θαυμάσαντες omits P. τὸ σταθερὸν omits P, V. καὶ omits P, V. ἀκατάπληκτον τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτῆς omits P, V. καὶ τὸ γενναῖον τοῦ φρονήματος καὶ τὸ σοφὸν τῆς ἐπινοίας, οὔτε τι ἀντεδήλωσαν οὔτε τι omits P, V. ἐπιστρέψαι ὑτοστρέψαι P, ἐπιτρέψαι V. ἐτόλμησαν.

The servants, then, having gone into the city, told the Hellenes the answer of the holy woman. And they, hearing it and marvelling at the steadfastness and undauntedness of her soul and the nobility of her mind and the wisdom of her contrivance, neither sent any answer back nor dared to return.

[22] to a presbyter, a deacon and a deaconess Ἀπελθόντων ἐλθόντων P, ἐξελθόντων V. οὖν δε V. τῶν παίδων καὶ μηδὲν ἀπαγγειλάντων, λέγει ἡ μακαρία ταῖς ἐλευθέραις· “Παρακαλῶ ὑμᾶς, λαλήσατε κελεύσατε λαλῆσαι P, V. τῷ θεοφιλεστάτῳ ἐπισκόπῳ, ἵνα πέμψῃ μοι ἕνα πρεσβύτερον καὶ ἕνα διάκονον καὶ μίαν διακόνισσαν.”

[22] When the servants, then, had gone away and reported nothing, the blessed woman says to the free women: “I beseech you, speak to the most God-beloved bishop, that he may send me one presbyter and one deacon and one deaconess.”

Αἱ δὲ σπουδαίως ἐλθοῦσαι εἰσελθοῦσαι P. εἰς τὴν πόλιν καὶ γενόμεναι εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, διηγήσαντο πάντα τῷ λαῷ τὸν λαὸν V. · ἐμήνυσαν δὲ καὶ τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ τοῦτο αὐτό· καὶ πᾶσα ἡ πόλις ἐθρυλεῖτο (καὶ-ἐθρυλεῖτο) omits P. , ὅτι ἡ χριστιανὴ ἡ ἐν

They, going zealously into the city and coming to the church, related everything to the people; and they informed the bishop too of this very thing; and the whole city was talking of it, that the Christian woman

τῷ ναῷ οἰκοῦσα ἀσκοῦσα V. ἕλληνας ἐπέστρεψεν καὶ πολλοὺς δὲ καὶ ἑτέρους (κ. ἕτ.) omits P, V. ἐπιστρέφει καὶ omits P. πᾶς δὲ adds P. ὁ ὁρῶν αὐτὴν κατανύγεται καὶ ἐπιγινώσκει τὸν Θεόν. Παραχρῆμα οὖν ὁ μὲν ἐπίσκοπος ἀπέστειλεν τοὺς κληρικοὺς καθὼς ἐμήνυσεν ἐδήλωσεν P, V, , ἡ δὲ πόλις σχεδὸν καὶ πᾶσαι αἱ ἐλεύθεραι αἱ μὲν μετὰ βαστερνίων βαστερίνων V. , αἱ δὲ μετὰ δίφρων, αἱ δὲ καὶ πεζεύουσαι ἐξήρχοντο πρὸς αὐτὴν καὶ ὁρῶντες ὁρῶσαι P. αὐτὴν πολλὴν μὲν adds V. ὠφέλειαν ἐκτῶντο καὶ κατανύξεως πλήρης ἐγίνοντο καὶ ὄντως adds P, V. ἐπιγνώσεως Θεοῦ σπινθῆρα ὄντως omits here P, V. ἐδέχοντο. Τίς γὰρ ὁρῶν τὸ τίμιον omits P, V. καὶ omits P, V. ἱεροπρεπρὲς θεοπρεπὲς P. ἐκεῖνο σχῆμα καὶ τὴν P, V. κατατετηγμένην ὄψιν καὶ — ἵνα συνελὼν εἴπω — τὸ νενεκρωμένον αὐτῆς σῶμα οὐ κατενύγετο καὶ πάσης ὠφελείας ἐπληροῦτο καὶ ἄλλος ἐξ ἄλλου ἐγίνετο; ὅθεν omits P, V. πάντες οὗν adds P, V. οἰκοδομούμενοι καὶ δοξάζοντες τὸν Θεὸν ἐπὶ τοῖς γινομένοις δι᾽ αὐτῆς δι᾽ αὐτῆς γενομένοις P, V. θαυμασίοις, ὑπέστρεφον ἐν τῇ πόλει μετὰ χαρᾶς μεγάλης (ἐν-μεγάλης) omits P, V. .

dwelling in the temple had converted Hellenes and was converting many others too, and everyone who saw her was pierced to the heart and came to know God. At once, then, the bishop sent the clergy as she had indicated, and nearly the whole city and all the free women, some in litters, some in carriages, some even on foot, went out to her; and seeing her they gained much benefit and became full of compunction, and truly received a spark of the knowledge of God. For who, seeing that honoured and venerable figure and that wasted face, and — to say it in sum — her mortified body, was not pierced to the heart and filled with all benefit, and became another man from the man he had been? Whence all, edified and glorifying God for the wonders done through her, returned to the city with great joy.

[23] she hands over the girl to be baptized; Ἡ δὲ μακαρία Ματρῶνα (ἡ-Ματρ.) omits P, V. λαβοῦσα δὲ ἡ μακαρία adds P, V. τὴν ἐπιστρέψασαν παρθένον, δίδωσι χεῖρα πρὸς χεῖρα τῷ τε adds P. πρεσβυτέρῳ καὶ τῷ διακόνῳ καὶ τῇ omits V. διακοvίσσῃ, εἰποῦσα αὐτοῖς· “Παρακαλῶ τὴν ἁγιωσύνην ὑμῶν, λάβετε αὐτὴν ταύτην P, V. τὴν ταπεινὴν διὰ τὸ νῦν αὐτὴν ἀποστραφῆναι ἐπιστραφῆναι P, V. ἀπὸ τῆς πλάνης τῶν εἰδώλων καὶ κατηχήσαντες καὶ φωτίσαντες αὐτὴν πάλιν ἀγάγετέ μοι ἐνθάδε omits P, V. .”

[23] And the blessed Matrona, taking the virgin who had turned, gives her from hand to hand to the presbyter and the deacon and the deaconess, saying to them: “I beseech your holiness, take this humble girl, since she has now turned away from the error of the idols, and having catechized and enlightened her, bring her back to me here.”

Καὶ δὴ παραλαβόντες αὐτὴν οἱ κληρικοὶ ἤγαγον εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν καὶ κατὰ τὸ ἔθος τῶν χριστιανῶν κατηχήσαντες αὐτὴν (κατὰ-αὐτὴν) διὰ πάντων τελειώσαντες P, V, αὐτὴν adds V. καὶ βαπτίσαντες ἀπήγαγον τῇ διδασκάλῳ τὴν μαθήτριαν· καὶ ἦν σὺν αὐτῇ μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων τ. π. α. παρθένων V. παρθένων τῶν πρὸ αὐτῆς τ. π. α. παρθένων V. , διὰ πάσης παιδείας πνευματικῆς ἀγομένη· ἐπωνόμασεν δὲ ἡ omits P. μακαρία omits P. τὸ ὄνομα αὐτῆς Εὐχήν· προσετέθησαν δὲ αὐταῖς adds P, ταύταις adds V. καὶ ἄλλαι τινές, ὡς εἶναι τὰς πάσας ὀκτώ.

And so the clergy, taking her, brought her to the church, and having catechized her according to the custom of the Christians and baptized her, they brought the pupil back to her teacher; and she was with her, with the other virgins who were before her, being led through all spiritual discipline; and the blessed woman named her Euche; and some others too were added, so that they were eight in all.

she gathers eight companions; Πολλοὶ δὲ πολλαὶ γὰρ P, πολλοὶ γὰρ V. τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ ἐκ μόνης τῆς θέας τῆς μακαρίας ὠφεληθέντες ὠφεληθεῖσαι P. καὶ omits P, V. πόθῳ θείῳ τρωθέντες τρωθεῖσαι P. , τοῦ ἀμείνονος βίου ἐγίνοντο ἐγένοντο P, V. · ἦν γὰρ τῆς μακαρίας ἐκείνης καὶ ὄντως Θεοῦ δούλης καὶ τὸ σχῆμα αἰδέσιμον καὶ ὁ λόγος εὐπρόσιτος καὶ ἡ συντυχία ὠφέλιμος καὶ ἡ πρὸς ὀλίγον συνδιαγωγὴ καταθύμιος καταθυμία P, V. καὶ — ἁπλῶς εἰπεῖν — καὶ ὁρωμένη ἀκόρεστος ἦν καὶ νοουμένη ἐπιθυμητή.

And many at that time, benefited by the mere sight of the blessed woman and wounded with divine longing, came to belong to the better life; for in that blessed and truly God's servant, the appearance was venerable, the speech approachable, the meeting profitable, a short time spent together delightful, and — to put it simply — when seen she could not be had enough of, and when thought of she was longed for.

Πολλοὶ πολλαὶ P. οὖν κατ᾽ ἐκεῖνον τὸν καιρὸν συντυγχάνοντες συντυγχάνουσαι P. αὐτῇ αὐτῆς V. ἐδυσχέραινον ἀναχωροῦντες ἀναχωρῆσαι ἀπ᾽ P. αὐτῆς, ζημίαν ἡγούμενοι τὸ κἂν πρὸς ὀλίγον στερηθῆναι τῆς αἰδεσίμου αὐτῆς συντυχίας.

Many, then, who met her at that time were vexed at going away from her, thinking it a loss to be deprived even for a little while of meeting one so worthy of reverence.

[24] she forms the plan of moving elsewhere Οὕτως δὲ εὐσεβῶς καὶ ἐντίμως (δὲ-ἐντίμως) omits P, V. ζῶσα ἡ μακαρία Ματρῶνα omits P, V. καὶ ἐνώπιον ἀγγέλων omits P, V. Θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπων εὐοδουμένη, ἐδεδίει καὶ τὸν ἄνδρα, μήπως διὰ τῆς φήμης κἀκεῖσε καταδιώξῃ αὐτήν. Ἐπεθύμει δὲ καὶ τὸν ἡγούμενον αὐτῆς τὸν μακάριον Βασιανὸν ἰδεῖν θεάσασθαι P. · καὶ μεταξὺ τῶν δύο λογισμῶν πολιορκουμένη ἐλογίζετο ἢ τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρειαν οἰκῆσαι ἢ τὴν Ἀντιόχειαν, ἵνα κἂν οὕτω δυνηθείη δυνηθῆ P. διαλαθεῖν λαθεῖν P, V. τὸν ἄνδρα·

[24] Living thus piously and honourably, and prospering before the angels of God and before men, the blessed Matrona feared her husband too, lest through the report he should pursue her there as well. And she desired also to see her hegumen, the blessed Bassianus; and, besieged between the two thoughts, she considered living either at Alexandria or at Antioch, so that even so she might be able to escape her husband's notice;

ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει γὰρ δὲ P. ἐπεθύμει μὲν omits P. οἰκῆσαι καὶ διὰ τὸν ἡγούμενον καὶ διὰ τὸ (τὸ-διὰ) omits P. εἶναι ἐγγὺς μεθ᾽ omits P, V. ὧν ἐμόνασεν ἀδελφῶν, οὐ συνετίθετο δὲ ἑαυτήν ἐν ἑαυτῆ P, ἑαυτῆ V. , ἐνθυμουμένη πάλιν τὸν ἄνδρα· “Εἰ γάρ, φησί, τὴν Ἔμεσαν καὶ τὰ Ἱεροσόλυμα καὶ τὸ ὄρος τὸ τοῦ P. Σινᾶ καταλαβοῦσαν οὐκ ὤκνησεν καταδιῶξαί με, ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει γενομένην, ἐὰν ἀκούσῃ περὶ ἐμοῦ, οὐ πολλῷ μᾶλλον καταδιώξει καὶ διώξει P, V. καὶ τὰ μυρία adds P, V. δεινὰ διαπράξεται;”

for at Constantinople she desired indeed to live, both on account of her hegumen and on account of being near the brothers with whom she had lived as a nun, but she did not consent to it within herself, pondering again her husband: “For if,” she says, “he did not shrink from pursuing me when I reached Emesa and Jerusalem and Mount Sinai, when I am at Constantinople, if he hears of me, will he not much more pursue me and do terrible things?”

ὅθεν omits P, V. ἐν τούτοις οὖν adds V. οὖσα ἡ μακαρία ἐδέετο τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐκτενῶς ἀποκαλύψαι αὐτῇ τὰ συμφέροντα· εἴ τι γὰρ δυσχερὲς αὐτῇ ἢ αὐτὴ δυσχ. ἦν. P. ἐν πράγμασι ἢ ἐν λογισμοῖς ἀπήντα ἃπαντα P. , τῷ Θεῷ αὐτὸ omits P. ἀνετίθετο καὶ παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ τὸ δέον ἐξεδέχετο.

Whence, being in these straits, the blessed woman besought God earnestly to reveal to her what was profitable; for if anything difficult met her, whether in affairs or in thoughts, she referred it to God and awaited from him what was needful.

[25] and from a wonderful vision understands Ἐπὶ πολλὰς οὖν ἡμέρας ἐπικειμένη αὐτῷ καὶ παρακαλοῦσα φανερῶσαι αὐτῇ αὐτὴ φανερωθῆναι P. τὸ omits P, V. συμφέρον omits P, V. , ὕπνῳ κατενεχθεῖσα εἶδεν τρεῖς ἄνδρας εἰσελθόντας πρὸς αὐτὴν καὶ λέγοντας αὐτῇ· “Χάριν σοῦ κυρία adds P. ἦλθομεν ὧδε, ὦ κυρία· εἷς γὰρ ἐξ ἡμῶν γυναῖκά σε ἔχει ἔχει σε V. λαβεῖν.” Ἐδόκει δὲ καὶ αὐτὴ κατ᾽ ὄναρ οὖσα λέγειν αὐτοῖς· “Πόθεν γάρ ἐστε ὑμεῖς καὶ τί τὰ ὀνόματα ὑμῶν;” Τῶν δέ, φησίν, εἰρηκότων αὐτῃ ὅτι ὁ μὲν εἷς ἡμῶν adds P. Ἀλέξανδρος καλεῖται, ὁ δὲ ἕτερος Ἀντίοχος καὶ Κωνσταντῖνος ὁ ἄλλος, ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς καὶ αὐτή· “Ἐγὼ οὐδένα οὐδὲ ἕνα V. λαμβάνω· τῷ Θεῷ γὰρ καθυπεσχόμην ὑπεσχόμην P. ἁγνεύειν, δι᾽ ὃν καὶ τὸν νόμιμόν μου omits P. ἄνδρα ἠρνησάμην.”

[25] Pressing upon him, then, for many days and beseeching him to reveal to her what was profitable, she was overcome by sleep and saw three men coming in to her and saying to her: “For your sake we have come here, lady; for one of us is to take you as his wife.” And she herself seemed in the dream to say to them: “Where are you from, and what are your names?” And when they had told her, she says, that one is called Alexander, the second Antiochus, and the other Constantine, she said to them herself: “I take none of you; for I have promised God to keep chaste, for whose sake I also renounced my lawful husband.”

Πρὸς ταῦτα ἐδόκουν δῆθεν ἐκεῖνοι δυσχεραίνοντες καὶ φιλονεικοῦντες λέγειν πρὸς ἀλλήλους· “Ἐγὼ ἔχω αὐτὴν αὐτὴν ἔχω P. λαβεῖν.” Καὶ ἕκαστος δὲ adds P. αὐτῶν τὸ αὐτὸ ἔλεγεν. Καὶ ταῦτα λέγοντες λαχμῷ τὴν φιλονεικίαν ἔλυον διελύοντο P. . Του δὲ λαχμοῦ εἰς Κωνσταντῖνον πεσόντος, μὴ στέρξαντες στέργοντες P, V. τὸν πρότερον λαχμὸν ὅ τε Ἀλέξανδρος καὶ Ἀντίοχος Ἀντ. καὶ Ἀλ. P, V. ἀνελάγχανον ἐλάγχανον P. πάλιν· ἐπὶ τρίτον τρίτου P. δὲ omits V. λαχόντες λαχόντων αὐτῶν P. καὶ τὸ τρίτον τοῦ κλήρου εἰς Κωνσταντῖνον εἰς Κ. τοῦ κλήρου P, εἰς Κωνσταντινούπολιν V. ἐνεχθέντος, ἡ μακαρία ἐδόκει λέγειν αὐτοῖς· “Κἄν τε ἐλάχετε λαγχάνητε P. κἄν τε μή, οὐδένα ἐξ ὑμῶν λαμβάνω· ἅπαξ γὰρ εἶπον ὅτι τῷ Θεῷ ἐμαυτὴν ἑαύτὴν P. ἀνέθηκα.”

To this they seemed, being vexed and quarrelling, to say to one another: “I am to take her.” And each of them said the same. And saying this they settled the quarrel by lot. And when the lot fell to Constantine, Alexander and Antiochus, not content with the first lot, cast lots again; and when they had cast lots a third time, and the third time the lot had fallen to Constantine, the blessed woman seemed to say to them: “Whether you have won by lot or not, I take none of you; for I have said once for all that I have dedicated myself to God.”

Καὶ ταῦτα καθ᾽ ὕπνον ὕπνους P, V. ἀντιτιθεῖσα διυπνίσθη παραχρῆμα adds P. . Μετὰ οὖν τοὺς ὕπνους συνεῖσα ἡ μακαρία adds P. τῆς ὀπτασίας τὴν δύναμιν, εὐχαρίστησε ηὐχαρίστησε P, V. τῷ Θεῷ τῷ δοτῆρι τῶν ἀγαθῶν (τῷ Θ. τ. δ. τ. ἀγ.) omits P, V. · συνῆκε γάρ ὅτι οἱ τρεῖς ἄνδρες τῶν τριῶν πόλεων, ὥν εἶχε κατὰ διάνοιαν, τὴν σημασίαν σημείωσιν P. ἐδήλουν καὶ omits P, Ἀντιοχείας καὶ Κπόλεως καὶ Ἀλεξανδρείας V. Ἀλέξανδρος μὲν Ἀλεξανδρείας, Ἀντίοχος δὲ omits P. Ἀντιοχείας καὶ Κωνσταντῖνος Κωνσταντινουπόλεως Κπ. Κωνσταντῖνος P, V. .

And as she was opposing these things in her sleep, she awoke. After her sleep, then, understanding the meaning of the vision, she gave thanks to God, the giver of good things; for she understood that the three men signified the three cities she had in mind: Alexander Alexandria, Antiochus Antioch, and Constantine Constantinople.

[26] that she must return to Constantinople. Ἐξ ἐκείνου οὖν τοῦ omits P, V. ὀνείρατος omits P, V. πεισθεῖσα, ὅτι τῶ adds P. Θεῶ ἀρεστόν ἐστιν ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει οἰκῆσαι αὐτήν, ὅλη δι᾽ ὅλου δι᾽ ὅλου omits P, V. τῆς ἐκδημίας τοῦ ὅλου adds V. καὶ τῆς ὁδοῦ ἐγίνετο ἐγένετο P. καὶ ἐφρόντιζεν οὐ περὶ ἑαυτῆς αὐτῆς P, V. , — ἠπίστατο γάρ, ὅτι ὁ φιλάνθρωπος omits P, V. Θεὸς ὁ φανερώσας αὐτῇ εὐαρεστοῦσαν αὐτῶ αὐτῆ P οἴκησιν καὶ προνοῆσαι αὐτῆς ἔχει, — ἀλλ᾽ ἐμερίμνα, πῶς τὰς συνούσας αὐτῇ ἀδελφὰς ἤ ποῦ καταλείψει· οὕτως δὲ μεριμνώσης καὶ φροντιζούσης τῆς μακαρίας Ματρώνης omits P, V. , αἱ omits P. συνήθεις αὐτῇ ἐλεύθεραι παραγίνονται πρὸς αὐτήν, ἐπισκέψεως καὶ ὠφελείας χάριν· καὶ μετὰ τὸ ἱκανῶς συντυχεῖν (καὶ-συντυχεῖν) omits P, V. διηγήσατο οὖν adds P, δὲ adds V. αὐταῖς τήν τε omits P. ἐπιθυμίαν αὐτῆς καὶ τὴν ὀπτασίαν τὴν παρὰ τοῦ omits P. Θεοῦ·

[26] Persuaded, then, by that dream that it was pleasing to God that she should live at Constantinople, she became wholly taken up with the departure and the journey; and she was anxious not about herself — for she knew that God, the lover of mankind, who had revealed to her a dwelling well-pleasing to him, was able also to provide for her — but she was concerned how, or where, she would leave the sisters who were with her. And as the blessed Matrona was thus anxious and concerned, the free women who were accustomed to her came to her for the sake of a visit and benefit; and after they had conversed sufficiently, she related to them both her desire and the vision from God;

αἱ δὲ ἐλεύθεραι, The pious women, grieving, ἅτε omits P. ἀγαπῶσαι αὐτὴν καὶ δυσαποσπαστοῦσαι δυσαποστατοῦσαι P. αὐτῆς, λυπηθεῖσαι λέγουσιν αὐτῇ· “Ἡμεῖς μέν, ὧ δέσποινα θεοφιλεστάτη, εἰ τοῦτο γένηται γενήσεται P. , τί πρότερον θρηνῆσαι οὐκ οἴδαμεν, τὴν ἐρημίαν τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν ἢ τὴν ἀγαθήν σου καὶ ἐπωφελῆ συντυχίαν· πρὸς τίνα γὰρ τοῦ λοιποῦ ἐλευσόμεθα καὶ παραμυθίαν εὑρήσομεν ἢ πρὸς ποίαν ἄλλην μητέρα ἐξελευσόμεθα, ἵνα παραμυθηθῶμεν ὡς τέκνα παρακληθῶμεν P. , ἢ πρὸς ποίαν διδάσκαλον δραμούμεα, ἵνα ἐξ αὐτῆς διδαχθῶμεν τοῦ μὲν προσκαίρου omits P, V. καὶ omits P, V. ματαίου καταγελᾶν καταφρονεῖν P. βίου, τῆς δὲ μελλούσης καὶ μενούσης ζωῆς μηδὲν προτιμᾶν; τίς ἡμᾶς σοῦ στερουμένας κουφίσει ἡμᾶς adds V. τοῦ λοιποῦ τῶν συνεχουσῶν ἡμᾶς omits V. θλίγψεων; τίς καθάπερ σπόγγῳ τῷ λόγῳ τὰς πολιορκουμένας πολιορκούσας P. ὑπὸ omits V, ἡμᾶς P. ἀθυμίας, σοῦ μὴ οὔσης, διᾶραι περιαρεῖν P, περιᾶραι V. δυνηθείη δυνηθῆ P, V. ; τίς ἡμᾶς ἡμῖν P, V. διαλέξεται V, διαλέξηται A, διαλεχθήσεται P. περὶ φιλανδρίας, περὶ φιλοτεκνίας καὶ οἰκουρίας θεοφιλοῦς; τίς ἡμᾶς παιδαγωγήσει πρὸς πράξεις ἀγαθὰς καὶ πρὸς πᾶν ἔργον ἀγαθὸν omits P, V. Θεὸν θεραπεῦον;

and the free women, inasmuch as they loved her and could hardly be torn from her, being grieved, say to her: “We, most God-beloved lady, if this happens, do not know what to lament first, the desolation of our souls or your good and profitable converse; for to whom shall we come for the rest and find consolation, or to what other mother shall we go out to be consoled, or to what teacher shall we run, to be taught by her to laugh at the temporary and vain life and to prefer nothing to the life that is to come and abides? Who, when we are deprived of you, will lighten us for the rest of the afflictions that hold us fast? Who, when you are not here, will be able, as with a sponge, to lift away with her word the despondency that besieges us? Who will discourse to us about love of husband, about love of children, and about God-pleasing care of the house? Who will train us for good deeds and for every good work that serves God?

Ταῦτα πάντα omits P, V. λογιζόμεναι, πάσης λύπης καὶ (λ.κ.) μὲν P, V. ἀθυμίας πληρούμεθα, ὡς καὶ omits P, V. πάσης παραμυθίας στερούμεναι καὶ adds P. · favour her purpose. κωλῦσαί σε δὲ omits P. οὐ δυνάμεθα, ἐπειδὴ ὁ Θεὸς adds P, V. τῇ ἐπιθυμίᾳ σου omits P. σύμψηφος ἐγένετο ὁ omits P, V. Θεός omits P, V. ·

Reckoning all these things, we are filled with all grief and despondency, as being deprived of all consolation; but we cannot hinder you, since God has become of one vote with your desire;

ὅμως ἡ μήτηρ τοῦ ἀπὸ ἐπάρχων ἀπεπάρχωνV. Ἡλία Ἡλίου P. καὶ ἡ μήτηρ τῶν σχολαστικῶν so A, P, V; it is plain that names have fallen out. ἀπέρχονται ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει πρὸς τὰ τέκνα αὐτῶν καὶ omits P, V. . εἰ κελεύει ἡ ἁγιωσύνη σου, λαλοῦμεν αὐταῖς περὶ καὶ διὰ τῶν τιμίων εὐχῶν σου καὶ αὗται (διὰ-αὗται) omits V, P, V. περισῴζονται omits V. καὶ omits V. ἡ θεοφιλεία σου

yet the mother of the ex-prefect Elias and the mother of the scholastici are going away to Constantinople to their children; if your holiness bids, we will speak to them about it, and through your precious prayers both they are kept safe and your God-belovedness

ἀπέρχεται μετ᾽ αὐτῶν.”

goes away with them.”

[27] and they advise the bishop; Ταῦτα εἰποῦσαι αἱ ἐλεύθεραι καὶ omits P, V. ἐπιτραπεῖσαι παρὰ τῆς μακαρίας, σπουδαίως ἔρχονται εἰς τὴν πόλιν καὶ λέγουσιν αὐταῖς περὶ τῆς μακαρίας (τ.μ.) αὐτῆς P. · αἱ δὲ ἀκούσασαι, ὡς εἶχον τάχους ἐξῆλθον πρὸς τὴν μακαρίαν προτρέψασθαι αὐτήν, δεδιῶσαι δεδειοῦσαι P, δεδειῶσαι V. , μὴ ὑπέρθηται καὶ ζημιωθῶσιν τὴν ἐξ αὐτῆς βρύουσαν σωτηρίαν omits P, V. καὶ omits P, V. ὠφέλειαν·

[27] Having said these things and received leave from the blessed woman, the free women go zealously into the city and speak to those women about the blessed woman; and they, hearing it, went out as fast as they could to the blessed woman to urge her on, fearing lest she should put it off and they be deprived of the salvation and benefit gushing from her;

ἐπαινεσάσης ἐπινευσάσης P, V. οὖν τῆς μακαρίας συμπλεῖν συμπλέειν P. αὐταῖς, συμβουλύεται μετ᾽ αὐτῶν, ὥστε τὰς ἀδελφας ἐλθεῖν ἐλθῆναι P. πρὸς τὸν θεοφιλέστατον ἐπίσκοπον· αἱ δὲ ἐλεύθεραι οἰκειωσάμεναι τὸ πρόσταγμα πρᾶγμα P, V. , εἰσδραμοῦσαι εἰς τὴν πόλιν μηνύουσι ταῦτα τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ·

the blessed woman, then, having assented to sail with them, takes counsel with them that the sisters should go to the most God-beloved bishop; and the free women, making the instruction their own, ran into the city and informed the bishop of this;

ὁ δὲ ἐπίσκοπος μὴ ὑπερθέμενος τὸ σύνολον, he sends two deaconesses here, προσκαλεσάμενος τὰς adds P. δύο διακονίσσας, μαρτυρουμένας ἐπὶ σεμνότητι βίου καὶ πολιτείᾳ ἀκριβεστάτῃ, πέμπει αὐτὰς πρὸς τὴν μακαρίαν Ματρῶναν ὁσίαν P, μακαρίαν V. ἐπὶ τῷ παραλαβεῖν τὰς συνούσας αὐτῇ ἀδελφάς, εἰπὼν πρὸς αὐτάς· “Βλέπετε, ἀδελφαί omits P, V. , πῶς φυλάττετε ἃς ὑποδέχεσθε παρὰ τῆς ὁσιωτάτης γυναικὸς ἀδελφάς, μήπως ἃς ὁ θεὸς ἠλευθέρωσεν ἐλευθέρωσεν A, ἐλ. δι᾽ αὐτῶς P, V. ἀπὸ τῆς πλάνης τῶν εἰδώλων, διὰ καὶ adds P, V. τῆς ματαιότητος τοῦ βίου ὑμεῖς ῥᾳθυμοῦσαι καὶ omits P. ἀμελοῦσαι omits P. ἢ omits P. μὴ omits P, V. βιοῦσαι omits P. προσηκόντως καθηκόντως P, V. παραδῶτε παραδώσητε V. τῇ ἀπάτῃ τῆς ἀνομίας καὶ μέλλετε εὐθύνας ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν δοῦναι τῷ Θεῷ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ κρίσεως (καὶ-κρίσεως) omits P, V. .”

and the bishop, not delaying at all, summoning two deaconesses, attested for gravity of life and most exact conduct, sends them to the blessed Matrona to take the sisters who were with her, saying to them: “See, sisters, how you guard the sisters whom you receive from the most holy woman, lest you, being slack and negligent through the vanity of life, or not living fittingly, hand over to the deceit of lawlessness those whom God has freed from the error of the idols; and you will have to give account for them to God on the day of judgement.”

Ταῦτα ἀκούσασαι αἱ φεοφιλεῖς διακόνισσαι ἐξελθοῦσαι σὺν ταῖς ἐλευθέραις πρὸς τὴν μακαρίαν ὑπεδέξαντο τὰς μνημονευθείσας ἀδελφάς· to whom Matrona commits her sisters. ἡ δὲ μακαρία Ματρῶνα omits P,V. παραδιδοῦσα διδοῦσα P. αὐτὰς ἔλεγεν ταῖς διακονίσσαις· “Ἀδελφαὶ καὶ μητέρες πνευματικαί, (ἀδελφαὶ-πνευμ.) omits P, V. ὑμῖν καὶ τῷ Θεῷ ταύτας ψυχὰς τὰς ψ. τ. P, V. παρατίθημι· γίνεσθε αὐτῶν μητέρες σώματι σωματικαὶ V. καὶ μητέρες πνευματικαὶ adds P, V. πνεύματι καὶ ὅσον χρόνον ἔχετε αὐτάς, ἐπιμελεῖσθε τῆς σωτηρίας αὐτῶν, ἴνα τελείας καὶ ἁπροσκόπους καὶ καθαρὰς (καὶ ἀ. κ. κ.) omits P, V. τῷ αὐτῶ P. ἐκλεξαμένῳ Χριστῷ omits P. παραστήσητε ἐν ἡμέρᾳ κρίσεως (ἐν ἡ. κ.) omits P. .” Ταῦτα εἰποῦσα καὶ καταφιλήσασα αὐτὰς ὡς μήτηρ φιλόστοργος καὶ νουθετήσασα ὡς διδάσκαλος ἀγαθός, ἀπέλυσεν αὐτὰς omits V. σὺν ταῖς διακονίσσαις ἀπελθεῖν.

Hearing this, the God-loving deaconesses went out with the free women to the blessed woman and received the aforementioned sisters; and the blessed Matrona, handing them over, said to the deaconesses: “Sisters and spiritual mothers, to you and to God I commit these souls; be their mothers in body and in spirit, and as long as you have them, take care of their salvation, so that you may present them perfect and blameless and pure to Christ who chose them, on the day of judgement.” Having said these things and kissed them as a loving mother and admonished them as a good teacher, she dismissed them to go away with the deaconesses.

[28] With the freeborn women Τότε αἰ ἑλεύθεραι ἑκεῖναι γυναῖκες omits P, V. παραλαβοῦσαι τὴν μακαρίαν Ματρῶναν omits P, V. ὡς μέγα τι κειμήλιον καὶ σωτηρίας αἰτίαν καὶ μίαν ἀδελφὴν τῶν συνουσῶν συνοικουσῶν P. αὐτῇ, ἥτις καὶ πρώτη ἠκολούθησεν αὐτῇ ἀγαπήσασα αὐτὴν καὶ adds P. τὴν αὐτῆς πολιτείαν, οὕτως τῆς μακαρίας θελησάσης, and Sphrone ὀνόματι Σωφρόνην Σωφροσύνην V, and so further on. , μετὰ σπουδῆς ἀπέπλευσαν ἀπέπλευσεν P. τῆς Βηρυτοῦ Βηρυτῶν P, Βηρυτίων V. πόλεως καὶ γαληνῶς τὸν πάντα ἅπαντα P. πλοῦν καὶ παραδόξως διανύσασαι ἔφθασαν διὰ τάχους τὴν βασιλεύουσαν πόλιν omits P. .

[28] Then those free women, taking the blessed Matrona as a great treasure and a cause of salvation, and one sister of those who were with her, who had also been the first to follow her, having loved her conduct, named Sophrone — the blessed woman so wishing — sailed away with haste from the city of Berytus, and having accomplished the whole voyage calmly and marvellously, they reached the reigning city speedily.

Ὁ γὰρ φανερώσας αὐτῇ τὸν τόποv τῶν σκαμμάτων καὶ ὑποδείξας διὰ νυκτερινῆς ὄψεως τὴν ὑποδεχομένην ὑποδεξαμένην P. αὐτὴν πόλιν τὴν πόλιν τὴν ὑποδ. αὐτὴν V. , ἐχαρίσατο αὐτῇ καὶ πλοῦν ἀτάραχον καὶ ταχύν· καὶ προσορμίσασα εἰς τὴν ἁγίαν Εἰρήνην [On the various sacred places at Constantinople dedicatedτῇ ἁγίᾳ Εἰρήνῃ cf. Du Cange, Constantinopolis christiana, vol. II, pp. 147 – 149; Synaxarium Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae, 272, 417, 426, 631, 638, 818, 840, 878; Pregger, Scriptores originum Constantinopolitanarum (Leipzig, 1907), p. 262. The passage seems to be understood of the old Saint Irene.] μηνύει τῷ διακόνῳ Μαρκέλλῳ ἑαυτήν· she lands at Constantinople. ὅστις ἀκούσας εὐθέως omits P. παραγίνεται πρὸς αὐτήν (ὅστις-αὐτὴν) omits V. .

For he who had revealed to her the place of her contests and had shown her through a vision by night the city that was to receive her, granted her also an untroubled and swift voyage; and having put in at holy Irene, she makes herself known to the deacon Marcellus; and he, hearing of it, at once comes to her.

Ἰδοῦσα δὲ αὐτὸν ἡ μακαρία προσεκύνησεν αὐτὸν αὐτῶ P. σὺν τῇ Σωφρόνῃ ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν (ἐπὶ τὴν γ.) omits P, V. . Ὁ δὲ τίμιος omits P, V. διάκονος λέγει αὐτῇ· “Πόθεν ἦλθες, κυρία ἀδελφή ἀδελφὲ V. ; διὰ τί δὲ καὶ παραγέγονας καὶ τί τὸ παρασκευάσαν σε καταλιπεῖν τὸ μοναστήριον, εἰς ὃ ἀπεστάλης ἐν ὧ ἀπεστ. μοναστηρίω P, V. , καὶ φθάσαι τὰ ἐνταῦθα;”

Seeing him, the blessed woman did him reverence on the ground together with Sophrone. And the honoured deacon says to her: “Whence have you come, lady sister? And why have you come, and what led you to leave the monastery to which you were sent and to reach these parts?”

Τῆς δὲ μακαρίας πρὸς ταῦτα ἀπολογουμένης καὶ λεγούσης ὅτι· “ Οὐ κατὰ λειποταξίαν ἦλθον, τίμιε omits V. , πάτερ omits V. , ἀλλὰ κατὰ ἐπιθυμίαν τοῦ τιμίου καὶ ἀγίου μου ἠγουμένου καθ᾽ ἐπιθ. τοῦ ἠγουμένου P, V. καὶ ἵνα εὐλογηθῶ παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ,” κατανυγεὶς ὁ omits P. διάκονος ὀνομαστοτάτη V. ὑπεδέξατο άπεδέξατο V. αὐτήν.

And as the blessed woman made her defence to this, saying: “Not by desertion have I come, honoured father, but according to the desire of my honoured and holy hegumen, and to be blessed by him,” the deacon, pierced to the heart, received her.

Τότε ἠ μακαρία διηγήσατο αὐτῷ omits P. πάντα τὰ συμβεβηκότα αὐτῇ καὶ πῶς μὲν ἀπολυθεῖσα παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ εὐθέως εἰς τὸ μοναστήριον ὠρθοπόδησεν, πῶς δὲ καὶ ὁ Δομετιανὸς κατεδίωξεν αὐτὴν καὶ πῶς omits P. δι᾽ αὐτὸν ἀναγκασθεῖσα τοῦ μοναστηρίου ἐξῆλθεν ἐῆλθον P. , πῶς δὲ καὶ τὰ Ἱεροσόλυμα καταλαβοῦσα φθάσασα P, V, μικροῦ δεῖν καὶ ἐνέπεσεν εἰς τὰς ξεῖρας αὐτοῦ καὶ omits P, V, πῶς δὲ adds P. πάλιν εἰς τὸ ὄρος τὸ τοῦ P. Σινᾶ γέγονεν καὶ [πῶς] δὲ adds P. τὴν καὶ P, omits V. Βηρυτὸν ᾤκησεν, πῶς δὲ ὀνομαστὴ ὀνομαστοτάτη V. ἐκεῖ ἐκεῖσε V, omits P. γέγονεν καὶ omits P. V. πῶς δὲ adds P, V. δι᾽ αυτῆς αὐτὴν P. πολλοὶ πολλαὶ μὲν P, πολλοὶ μὲνV. κατενύγησαν, πολλοὶ πολλαὶ δὲ καὶ ἐσώθησαν, πῶς δὲ πάλιν καὶ ἐκ ποίας αἰτίας παραγέγονεν ἐν omits P. τῇ βασιλευούσῃ πόλει, καὶ ἁπλῶς εἰπεῖν οὐδὲν τῶν πεπραγμένων αὐτῆς αὑτῆ ἀπέκρυψεν αὐτόν αὐτῶ V. , οὐκ ἐπιδεικτιῶσα ἐπιδεικτιοῦσα , — μὴ γένοιτο (μ. γ.) omits P. , ἀλλότριον γὰρ τοῦτο τό πάθος τῆς ἁγίας ἐκείνης ψυξῆς, — ἀλλὰ πείθουσα αὐτον μὴ κατὰ λειποταξίαν ἐληλυθέναι, ἀλλὰ κατὰ κατ᾽V. ὀπτασίαν καὶ ἐπιθυμίαν παραγεγονέναι.

Then the blessed woman related to him all that had befallen her: how, dismissed by him, she went straight to the monastery; how Domitian pursued her, and how, compelled on his account, she left the monastery; how, having reached Jerusalem, she very nearly fell into his hands; and how again she came to Mount Sinai and lived in Berytus; how she became famous there, and how through her many were pierced to the heart and many too were saved; how again, and for what cause, she had come to the reigning city; and, to put it simply, she hid from him none of her doings, not making a display — far be it, for that passion was foreign to that holy soul — but persuading him that she had come not by desertion, but had arrived in accordance with a vision and a desire.

[29] Bassianus Ταῦτα ἀκούσας ὁ διάκονος Μάρκελλος ἀνελθὼν διηγήσατο ἀνήγγειλεν τῶ᾽ ἁγίῳ ἁγιωτάτω P, V. Βασιανῷ πάντα, φήσας ὅτι omits V. ὁ κύριος κύριςP, V. Βαβυλᾶς ὁ εὐνοῦχος παραγέγονεν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀνατολῆς ἔχων μεθ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ καὶ ἕνα ἀδελφόν· ἀκούσας δὲ ὁ ἅγιος Βασιανὸς omits V. καὶ omits P. λυπηθεὶς πάνυ, λέγει τῷ διακόνῳ· “Καὶ τί ἦλθεν πάλιν;”

[29] Hearing these things, the deacon Marcellus went up and related everything to the holy Bassianus, saying that the lord Babylas the eunuch had come from the east, having with him also one brother; and the holy Bassianus, hearing it and being greatly grieved, says to the deacon: “And why has he come again?”

Καὶ ὁ διάκονος λέγει omits V. · “Εὐλογηθῆναι παρὰ τῆς ἁγιωσύνης σου παραγέγονεν.” Εὐχαριστήσας οὖν τῷ Κυριῳ ὁ μακάριος καὶ τὸ σύνηθες αὐτῷ αὐτοῦ V. ῥῆμα omits P. φησας· “Εὐλογητὸς Κύριος”, μικρὸν ἐπισχὼν λέγει τῷ διακόνῳ· “Ἄπελθε, τέκνον, μὲν P, omits V. , καὶ περίβλεψαι ὁσπήτιον, ἐν ᾧ ὀφείλει μένειν, καὶ τὸ ἐνοίκιον αὐτοῦ ὁ Θεὸς φροντίζει καὶ ἡμεῖς· δοὺς δὲ καὶ omits P, V. τὸν ναῦλον ἀνάφερε αὐτοῦ ἀναφέρει αὐτὸν P, ἀναφέρεις αὐτὴν V. καὶ αὐτὸν ἐν αὐτῷ.”

And the deacon says: “He has come to be blessed by your holiness.” Giving thanks, then, to the Lord, and saying his customary word, “Blessed is the Lord,” the blessed man, after waiting a little, says to the deacon: “Go, child, and look for a lodging in which he is to stay, and God and we will take care of its rent; and having paid the fare, bring him up into it.”

Ὅθεν ἀπελθὼν ὁ διάκονος καὶ πάντα ποιήσας καθὼς προσετάγη (καὶ αὐτὸν-προσετάγη) omits P, V. , εὑρηκὼς δὲ καὶ δίαιταν πάνυ ἐπιτήδειον (δὲ-ἐπιτ.) οὖν ὁ δ. πάνυ ἐπιτ. δίαιταν P, V. εἰς τὸν ἅγιον Θωμᾶν εἰς τὰ Ἀνθημίου (Ἀνθιμίου V) P, V. , ἐπάνω τοῦ ἐμβόλου, δέδωκεν ἀρραβῶνα. Καὶ λαβὼν τὴν κλεῖδα, καὶ κατελθὼν κ. κ.) καταβὰς P. παρὰ θάλασσαν ἀνήνεγκεν ἤνεγκε P. τὴν μακαρίαν Ματρῶναν ἅμα τῇ συνούσῃ αὐτῇ ἀδελθῇ (ἅμα-ἀδελθῆ) omits P, V. . Παρακαλέσασαι δὲ καὶ omits P, V. αἱ ἐλεύθεραι αἱ συμπλεύσασαι συμπλεύουσαι V. αὐτῇ, συνανῆλθον μεθ᾽ αὐτῆς εἰς τὸ μοναστήριον, with her companions she meets ἵνα εὐλογηθῶσιν ὑπὸ ἀπὸ V. τοῦ ἁγίου ὁσίου P. γέροντος· τῶν δὲ εἰσελθόντων (γερ. τ. δ. εἰς.) omits P, V. , θεασάμενος δὲ adds P, V. τὴν μακαρίαν Ματρῶναν omits V. ὁ ὅσιος Βασιανὸς γέρων P, V. καὶ τὰς σὺν αὐτῇ ἐλευθέρας, ταῖς μὲν ἐλευθέραις εὐχαρίστησεν ηὐχαρίστησεν P, V. ἐπευξάμενος καὶ εἰπών· “Ὁ κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς (Ἰ. Χ.) omits P, V. δώῃ ὑμῖν (δ. ὑ.)ὑ. δ. P, V. τὸν μισθὸν τῆς συμπαθείας τῆς ς. τ. μ. V. , ὅτι συμπαρελάβετε αὐτὴν μεθ᾽ ἑαυτῶν καὶ οὐκ εἰάσατε ἐάσατε P. αὐτὴν θλιβῆναι ἐν omits P, V. οὐδενί omits P, V. ,”

Whence the deacon, going away and doing everything as he had been ordered, and finding a very suitable dwelling at St. Thomas, above the portico, gave a pledge for it. And taking the key and going down to the sea, he brought up the blessed Matrona together with the sister who was with her. And the free women who had sailed with her, having asked it, went up with her to the monastery, to be blessed by the holy old man; and when they had come in, the holy Bassianus, beholding the blessed Matrona and the free women with her, thanked the free women, praying over them and saying: “May the Lord Jesus Christ give you the reward of your compassion, because you took her along with you and did not let her be afflicted in anything,”

τῇ δὲ μακαρίᾳ Ματρώνῃ κειμένῃ εἰς τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ εἰπεῖν εἶπεν P, V. · “Ἀνάστηθι, τέκνον omits P, V. , τί δὲ omits P, V. πάλιν θέλεις; τί δὲ καὶ ἦλθες (δὲ κ. ἦλ.) ἀνῆλθες P. ὧδε here a folio is missing in P. ;” Ἀπολογησαμένης δὲ τῆς μακαρίας καὶ εἰπούσης ὅτι “εὐλογηθῆναι ἦλθον ἀπὸ τοῦ ἁγίου σου στόματος στομ. σου V. , and asks for his blessing. πάτερ omits V. ἅγιε omits V. ”,

and to the blessed Matrona, lying at his feet, he said: “Rise, child; what do you want again? And why have you come here?” And as the blessed woman made her defence and said: “I have come to be blessed by your holy mouth, holy father,”

ἐπερωτήσας καὶ περὶ τῆς συνούσης αὐτῇ ἀδελθῆς καὶ μαθὼν πόθεν ἐκολλήθη αὐτῇ, ἐνεὸς ἐννεὸς V. γενόμενος καὶ σύνδακρυς ὁ μακάριος καὶ ὄντως ἅγιος, ἐπισχὼν μικρὸν προστάσσει προστάσει V. τῷ διακόνῳ ἐνέγκαι τρεῖς εὐλογίας καὶ τρία ζωνάρια καὶ τρία παλλία·

having asked also about the sister who was with her and learned whence she had attached herself to her, the blessed and truly holy man, struck dumb and in tears, after waiting a little orders the deacon to bring three eulogiae and three girdles and three mantles;

καὶ ἐνεχθέντων αὐτῶν omits V. , three eulogiae, girdles and mantles each εὐξάμενος ἐπὶ πολλὰς ὥρας καὶ σφραγίσας αὐτὰ δέδωκεν αὐτῇ εἰπών· “Ὕπαγε, τέκνον omits V. , καθέζου καὶ σῷζε ψυχάς, ἃς ὁ Κύριος πέμπει σοι, φυλάττουσα ἑαυτὴν καὶ τύπον προτιθεῖσα τοῖς σῳζομένοις τῶν σωζομένων V. τὴν οἰκείαν διαγωγήν, ἵνα, ἅπερ διδάσκῃς διὰ λόγων, ταῦτα διὰ τῶν ἔργων ἐν σοὶ πληρούμενα βλέπωσιν αἱ παρὰ σοῦ διδασκόμεναι· δούλην δὲ μὴ δέξῃ παρὰ γνώμην δεσπότου αὐτῆς ἢ τῆς adds V. δεσποίνης διὰ τοὺς ἱεροὺς omits V. κανόνας.”

and when they had been brought, having prayed for many hours and sealed them, he gave them to her, saying: “Go, child, settle down and save the souls which the Lord sends you, guarding yourself and setting forth your own manner of life as a pattern for those being saved, so that what you teach by words, those taught by you may see fulfilled in you through works; but do not receive a slave woman against the will of her master or mistress, on account of the sacred canons.”

[30] Bassianus bestows on her, Τοῦτο δὲ νομίζω ὅτι omits V. οὐκ ἀνθρωπίνῃ φρονήσει καὶ σοφίᾳ (φ. κ. ς.) κινήσει V. ὁ μακάριος καὶ ἅγιος Βασιανὸς πεποίηκεν, ἀλλὰ θείᾳ ἐνεργείᾳ κρατυνθείς κρατηθεὶς V. . Τὸ γὰρ ἐν ἐκστάσει αὐτὸν γεγονέναι καὶ διασῦραι μικρὸν καὶ ἐξαίφνης ζητῆσαι ἐπιζητῆσαι V. τὰς προειρημένας εὐλογίας σὺν τοῖς ζωναρίοις δείκνυσιν ἀναμφιβόλως θεῖον εἶναι τὸ πρᾶγμα· καὶ γὰρ ἡ μακαρία οὐ διὰ τοῦτο ἦν ἐλθοῦσα οὔτε τι τοιοῦτον ἐπεζήτησε παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ, ὅμως δεξαμένη ἡ μακαρία Ματρῶνα adds V. τὴν τῶν ζωναρίων καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν

[30] This, I think, the blessed and holy Bassianus did not by human prudence and wisdom, but strengthened by divine working. For his having come into ecstasy, and drawn a little breath, and suddenly asked for the aforesaid eulogiae with the girdles, shows beyond doubt that the thing was divine; for the blessed woman had not come for this, nor had she asked anything of the kind from him; yet, receiving the

τῶν δοθέντων αὐτῇ εὐλογίαν V, εὐλογιῶν ὩΑ. παρὰ τῶν ἁγίων αὐτοῦ χειρῶν καὶ τὴν σφραγῖδα τοῦ λόγου ἐκ τῶν μακαρίων αὐτοῦ χειλέων καὶ ἐκπλαγεῖσα τὸ ξένον καὶ παράδοξον τοῦ πράγματος, ἀναθαρρήσασα ἀναθαρσήσασα V. λέγει αὐτῷ· “Τίμιε καὶ ἅγιε πάτερ (τίμιε-πάτερ) omits V. , ἔχω, δέομαί σου, ἐν τῇ πόλει Βηρυτῷ ἄλλας ἐπτὰ ἀδελφάς· τί κελεύεις περὶ αὐτῶν ἵνα γένηται;” Καὶ μαθών παρὰ adds V. τίνι αὐτὰς παρέθετο, προστάσσει τῷ διακόνῳ Μαρκέλλῳ δοῦναι τῷ ἀγαγόντι τὴν μακαρίαν Ματρῶναν omits V. ναυκλήρῳ τὸ adds V. ναῦλον καὶ τὸ ἀνάλωμα αὐτῶν ὄντων ἐν Βηρυτῷ (τῶν-Β.) omits V. καὶ ἐντείλασθαι αὐτῷ ἀποκομίσαι αὐτὰς διὰ τάχους ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει ὲν Κπόλει omits V. .

blessing of the girdles and of the other things given her from his holy hands, and the seal of the word from his blessed lips, and amazed at the strangeness and marvel of the thing, taking courage she says to him: “Honoured and holy father, I have, I beg you, seven other sisters in the city of Berytus; what do you order to be done about them?” And learning to whom she had entrusted them, he orders the deacon Marcellus to give the shipmaster who had brought the blessed Matrona the fare and their expenses while they were at Berytus, and to charge him to bring them speedily to Constantinople.

and the daughters whom Matrona Τούτου οὕτως γενομένου καὶ τῶν ἐλευθέρων γραψασῶν ἐν τῆ adds V. Βηρυτῷ δι᾽ αὐτοῦ τοῦ ναυκλήρου τῷ τε ἐπισκόπῳ καὶ τοῖς προσήκουσιν αὐταῖς, ἐπὶ τὸ (καὶ-τὸ) τοῦ V. ἀποστεῖλαι αὐτὰς ἀνυπερθέτως καὶ τοῖς προσείκουσιν αὐταῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐπὶ τὸ adds T. συνάρασθαι εἰς τὸ πλωἳσθῆναι αὐτὰς διὰ τάχους, λέγει ὁ ἁγιώτατος Βασιανὸς τῷ διακόνῳ Μαρκέλλῳ omits V. · “Λάβε αὐτάς, τίμιον omits V. τέκνον omits V. , καὶ ἀπάγαγε εἰς τὸ μητᾶτον ὅπερ εὐτρέπισας, had left at Berytus, καὶ παρακαλῶ σε διὰ τὸν Κύριον· φρόντιζε αὐτῶν ἐπιμελῶς, εἰδώς, ὅτι, ἐὰν αὐτῶν ἀμελήσῃς, ἁμαρτίαν ἔχεις μεγίστην omits V. , ὥσπερ οὖν adds V. καί, ἐὰν φροντίζῃς, μιστὸν μέγα μέγαν V. παρὰ τοῦ Κυρίου ἕξεις omits V. · καὶ εἴ τι V, ἔτι A. ἐὰν ἔχωσιν οἱ ἀδελφοὶ πρὸς τροφήν, πέμπε καὶ αὐταῖς V, αὐτὰς A. καθ᾽ ἡμέραν· καὶ omits V. μὴ μόνον δὲ adds V. περὶ τῆς τροφῆς φρόντιζε αὐτῶν πεπονημένως, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ ἑκάστου πράγματος.” Ταῦτα τοίνυν omits V. εἰρηκὼς ὁ ὅσιος Βασιανὸς καὶ (ὁ-καὶ) omits V. δοὺς εὐλογίας καὶ omits V. ταῖς ἐλευθέραις, ἀπέλυσεν αὐτάς αὐταῖς V. .

When this had been done thus, and the free women had written to Berytus through the shipmaster himself, both to the bishop and to their relatives, that they should send them without delay and help to have them shipped speedily, the most holy Bassianus says to the deacon Marcellus: “Take them, honoured child, and lead them away to the lodging which you have prepared; and I beseech you for the Lord's sake, care for them diligently, knowing that, if you neglect them, you have a very great sin, just as, if you care for them, you will have a great reward from the Lord; and if the brothers have anything for food, send some to them too every day; and care for them painstakingly not only about food, but also about every matter.” Having said these things, then, the holy Bassianus, giving blessings to the free women too, dismissed them.

[31] to the pious women and Marcellus Αἱ δὲ ἐλεύθεραι παρακαλέσασαι τὸν διακόνον Μάρκελλον omits V. συνῆλθον τῇ μακαρίᾳ ἐν τῷ μητάτῳ· καὶ ποιήσας εὐχὴν ὁ διάκονος καὶ ἀποκαταστήσας τὴν μακαρίαν ἐκεῖσε, ἐφρόντιζεν αὐτῶν ἔκτοτε ἐξ ἐκείνου V. εἰς πᾶσαν χρείαν. Μετὰ οὖν τὸ τὸ οὖν V. ἀποκαταστῆναι τὴν μακαρίαν ἐν τῷ κελλίῳ (ἐν τ. κ.) omits V. , ἀπῆλθον αἱ θεοφιλεῖς adds V. ἐλεύθεραι πρὸς τὰ τέκνα αὐτῶν· οὐ γὰρ καὶ οὐ V. πρότερον ἐμήνυσαν ἑαυτὰς τοῖς φιλτάτοις τέκνοις V. αὐτῶν τέκνοις omits V. , ἕως οὗ ἀποκατεστάτη ἡ μακαρία ἁγία Ματρῶνα V. ἐν τῷ μητάτῳ αὐτῆς (ἐν-αὐτῆς) omits V. καὶ ἔμαθον αὐτό τὸ μετάτον αὐτῆς V. · τοσαύτην γὰρ ἔσχον ἔσωζον V. πρὸς αὐτὴν στοργὴν καὶ οὕτως αὐτὴν ᾑδοῦντο καὶ διὰ πάσης τιμῆς ἦγον, ὡς καὶ προτιμῆσαι τὴν αὐτῆς ἀποκατάστασιν τῆς τῶν ἰδίων τέκνων συντυχίας, λογισάμεναι ὅτι “τὰ μὲν τέκνα καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα δυνάμεθα ἰδεῖν, ἀφ᾽ οὗ διὰ τῶν εὐχῶν αὐτῆς ἐσώθημεν, ταύτην δὲ εἰ μὴ ἀποκαταστήσωμεν πρότερον καὶ μάθωμεν τὸν οἶκον αὐτῆς, ὕστερον ζητεῖν αὐτὴν ἔχομεν καὶ ἡ ζημία πολλή· ὁ γὰρ μηνύσων αὐτὴν οὐδαμοῦ.”

[31] And the free women, having asked the deacon Marcellus, went together with the blessed woman to the lodging; and the deacon, having made a prayer and settled the blessed woman there, cared for them from then on in every need. After the blessed woman had been settled in the cell, then, the free women went away to their children; for they did not make themselves known to their dearest children before the blessed woman had been settled in her lodging and they had learned where it was; for they had such affection for her, and so revered her and held her in all honour, that they put her settlement before meeting their own children, reckoning: “The children we can see afterwards too, since through her prayers we have been kept safe; but her, if we do not first settle her and learn her house, we shall have to seek afterwards, and the loss will be great; for there is no one anywhere who will point her out.”

Τῆς δὲ μακαρίας Ματρώνης οὔσης ἐν τῷ μητάτῳ καὶ τὰς συνήθεις τοῦ παραδοθέντος αὐτῇ κανόνος ψαλμῳδίας ἐκτελούσης, ἔφθασαν ἕφθασεν V. τὰ γράμματα ἐν τῇ Βηρυτῷ καὶ ἀπεδόθησαν τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ· ὅστις μηδὲν μελλήσας μελήσας V. μηδὲ ὑπερθέμενος προσέταξεν ταῖς διακονίσσαις παραδοῦναι τῷ ναυκλήρῳ ἅσπερ εἰλήφασι παρὰ τῆς μακαρίας ἀδελφάς, πρότερον αὐτὸς παραγγείλας αὐτῷ μετὰ πάσης ταπεινοφροσύνης καὶ (τ. κ.) omits V. θεραπείας ἀποσῶσαι αὐτάς· ἐμβαλλόμενός τε παραχρῆμα κελλαρικά τινα τῶν συμπλευσασῶν ἐλευθέρων τῇ μακαρίᾳ καὶ αὐτοῦ δὲ τοῦ ἐπισκόπου, ἀπέλυσεν τῆς Βηρυτοῦ ἀπέπλευσεν τῆς Βηρυτίων V. καὶ φθάσας τὴν βασιλίδα πόλιν τῶν πόλεων V. μηνύει τῷ διακόνῳ, ὅτι ἤδη ἔφθασαν αἱ ἀδελφαί· ὁ δὲ διάκονος Μάρκελλος ἀναγαγὼν τῷ μακαριωτάτῳ Βασιανῷ περὶ αὐτῶν καὶ μαθών, εἱ βούλοιτο αὐτὰς ἐλθεῖν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἑαυτὸν V. καὶ εὐλογηθῆναι πρότερον, ἐπιτραπεὶς παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ κατελθὼν πρὸς τῇ θαλάσσῃ εἰς τὸ πλοῖον ἀνήνεγκεν αὐτάς.

And while the blessed Matrona was in the lodging and performing the customary psalmodies of the rule handed down to her, the letters reached Berytus and were delivered to the bishop; who, without delaying or postponing, ordered the deaconesses to hand over to the shipmaster the sisters whom they had received from the blessed woman, having himself first charged him to bring them safely with all humility and attentiveness; and he, at once taking on board certain provisions from the free women who had sailed with the blessed woman and from the bishop himself, set off from Berytus, and having reached the queen city he informs the deacon that the sisters have now arrived; and the deacon Marcellus, having referred to the most blessed Bassianus about them and learned whether he wished them to come to him and be blessed first, and having been permitted by him, went down to the sea to the ship and brought them up.

Καὶ ἐλθουσῶν αὐτῶν, εὐλόγησεν αὐτάς, εἶτα παραινέσας αὐταῖς αὐτὰς V. πολλὰ ἀπὸ τῶν θείων γραφῶν (ἀπὸ-γραφῶν) omits V. πείθεσθαι κατὰ πάντα τῇ μακαρίᾳ Ματρώνῃ καὶ φυλάττειν τὰς ἐντολὰς αὐτῆς ἀπαραλείπτως omits V. , he has them brought to Constantinople. δοὺς αὐταῖς εὐλογίας ἀπέστειλε αὐτὰς adds V. πρὸς τὴν ἡγουμένην αὐτῶν omits V. .

And when they had come, he blessed them; then, having exhorted them much from the divine scriptures to obey the blessed Matrona in all things and to keep her commandments without omission, and giving them blessings, he sent them to their hegumena.

[32] When many others come to Matrona Ὅθεν omits V. ἐν τούτοις οὔσης τῆς μακαρίας καὶ εὐχαριστούσης τῷ Θεῷ τῷ κατευθύναντι μὲν τὴν πρόθεσιν τοῦ ἡγουμένου αὐτῆς πρὸς αὐτήν, διασώσαντι δὲ καὶ ἃς ἀπείληφεν ἀδελφὰς παρὰ πρόθεσιν ἀνθρωπίνην, διέτρεχεν καθ᾽ ὅλης τῆς πόλεως ἡ περὶ αὐτῆς φήμη καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἁπάντων στόμασι περιβόητος ἦν· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἠδύνατο κρυβῆναι τὸ τηλικοῦτον θαῦμα καὶ πάντας εἶχε προθυμία καὶ ἴσος εἷς V. ὁ ζῆλος ἦν ἐν τοῖς πᾶσι, τίς πρῶτος πρῶτον V. τοῦ ἑτέρου θεωρήσας αὐτὴν μαθεῖν δυνηθῇ παρ᾽ αὐτῆς τί πλασαμένη ἢ τί σοφισαμένη ἠδυνήθη corrected, previously ἠδύνη V. εἰς τοιοῦτον ἀκριβὲς εἰσελθεῖν μοναστήριον ἢ πῶς εἰσελθοῦσα διέλαθεν μέχρι τούτου τοσούτου V. .

[32] Whence, while the blessed woman was in these circumstances and giving thanks to God, who had directed the purpose of her hegumen toward her and had also kept safe, beyond human expectation, the sisters she had received back, the report about her ran through the whole city and she was renowned in the mouths of all; for so great a wonder could not be hidden, and eagerness possessed all, and the zeal was equal in all, as to who before the other should behold her and be able to learn from her by what pretence or what contrivance she had been able to enter so strict a monastery, or how, having entered, she had escaped notice so long.

Πάντων οὖν προστρεχόντων καὶ ὠφελουμένων παρ᾽ αὐτῆς, ἀκούσασα καὶ omits V. ἡ μακαρία Βερίνα ἡ Αὐγούστα [Verina, wife of the emperor Leo I (457 – 474), died in the year 484. Theophanes, Chronographia, De Boor, vol. I, p. 129.] , ἡ τοῦ μακαρίου Λέοντος γυνή, then the empress Verina. θεοφιλὴς οὖσα καὶ τιμία (κ. τ.) omits V. , ἦλθε πρὸς αὐτὴν here P resumes again. ἐπὶ τῷ καὶ omits P. εὐλογηθῆναι καὶ μαθεῖν τὰ κατ᾽ αὐτήν· διηγησαμένης δὲ οὖν P, V. αὐτῇ omits V. τῆς μακαρίας, πῶς τε εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸ μοναστήριον καὶ ποίῳ τῷ σχήματι καὶ πῶς μετὰ τὸ σχρῆμα adds P. μετὰ τοσοῦτον χρόνον ἀπεκαλύφθη τῷ ἁγιωτάτῳ Βασιανῷ τὰ περὶ αὐτῆς ἡ δὲ βασίλισσα adds V. , θαυμάσασα τὸ μέγεθος τοῦ ἐπιχειρήματος καὶ ἀποδεξαμένη τὸ ἀνδρεῖον τοῦ omits V. φρονήματος omits V. παρεκάλει αὐτὴν εὔχεσθαι ὑπέρ τε αὐτῆς ὑπ. ἑαυτῆς V, ὑπ. τ. ἑαυτῆς P. καὶ τῶν παιδίων παίδων P. καὶ τοῦ βασιλέως·

As all, then, ran to her and were benefited by her, the blessed Verina Augusta too, the wife of the blessed Leo, being God-loving and honoured, hearing of it, came to her to be blessed and to learn her story; and when the blessed woman had related to her how she had entered the monastery and in what guise, and how after so long a time her story had been revealed to the most holy Bassianus, marvelling at the greatness of the undertaking and approving the manliness of her mind, she besought her to pray for her and for her children and for the emperor;

δεδωκυῖα δὲ αὐτὴν adds P, V. ἡ μακαρία εὐλογίας βρεκτάς, οὐδὲν ᾐτήσατο παρ᾽ αὐτῆς τὸ σύνολον, καὶ μάλιστα προσδοκώσης τῆς βασιλίσσης ἐξαιτηθῆναί τι παρ᾽ αὐτῆς, καίτοι ἐνοικίου ἐν οἰκίω P. μενούσης τῆς μακαρίας καὶ μηδὲν μηδενὸς adds P. V. εὐπορούσης ἐμπορούσης P. · ὠφεληθεῖσα οὖν ἡ μακαρία Βερίνα [ἡ ] Αὐγούστα ὑπερεκπερισσοῦ ἐκ τοῦ μήτε αἰτηθῆναί τι παρ᾽ αὐτῆς μήτε αἰδεσθῆναι τοιαύτας εὐλογίας δοῦναι τῇ omits V. βασιλίσσῃ, ἀνεχώρησε παραθεμένη αὐτῇ ἑαυτήν καὶ τὸ παλατιον αὐτης adds P. .

and the blessed woman, having given her soaked eulogiae, asked nothing at all of her, and that above all when the empress was expecting something to be requested of her, although the blessed woman was living in rented quarters and was well off for nothing. Benefited, then, beyond all measure by having nothing requested of her and by her not being ashamed to give such eulogiae to the empress, the blessed Verina Augusta withdrew, having commended herself to her.

[33] At the exhortation of Euphemia Εὐφημία δέ τις, γυνὴ Ἀνθίμου Ἄνθιμος rather Anthemius, emperor of the West in the years 467 – 474. γενομένη τοῦ ποτε βασιλεύσαντος ἐν Ῥώμῃ, συνήθης γενομένη ἐξ ἐκείνου τῇ μακαρίᾳ, ὡς πείρᾳ παρειληφοῦσα παρειληφυῖα P, V. τὰς δι᾽ αὐτῆς γινομένας γενομένας A. εὐεργεσίας, ἀρρωστούσης τοίνυν adds V. τότε κατ᾽ ἐκεῖνον τὸν καιρὸν τὸ κατ᾽ ἐκείνου καιροῦ adds P, V.; τῆς adds P, V. Ἀντιοχιανῆς γυναικὸς Σφαιρακίου [so A, Σφαρακίου V, to be written Σφωρακίου, cf. Synaxarium Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae, 72.] [Sphoracius was consul in the year 452. Mommsen, Chronica minora, vol. III, p. 533.] τοῦ πατρικίου, Σφαιρακίου Σφαρακίου V, Σφορακίου P. δέ δὴ P, omits V. φημι, τοῦ τὸν πάνσεπτον καὶ πάντερπνον ναὸν τοῦ μεγάλου καὶ (πάνσεπτον-καὶ) εὐκτήριον οἶκον τοῦ P, V. καλλινίκου μάρτυρος Θεοδώρου [Τὸν δὲ ἅγιον Θεόδωρον τὰ Σφωρακίου ἔκτισεν Σφωράκιος πατρίκιος ἐν τοῖς χρόνοις Ἀρκαδίου καὶ Θεοδοσίου τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ. Patria Constantinopoleos, II, 30; Preger, c., p. 225. Cf. Du Cange, Constantinopolis christiana, vol. II, p. 139; Synaxarium Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae, pp. 197, 272, 469.] οἰκοδομήσαντος, ἀνῆλθε ἀπῆλθεν P. πρὸς αὐτὴν ἐπισκέψεως χάριν·

[33] A certain Euphemia, who had been the wife of Anthimus, who once reigned at Rome, having become familiar with the blessed woman from that time, as one who had received by experience the benefits done through her — when at that time Antiochiana, wife of Sphaeracius the patrician, was sick (Sphaeracius, I mean, who built the all-venerable and all-delightful church of the great and gloriously victorious martyr Theodore) — went up to her for the sake of a visit;

καὶ ὡς ἔθος ἐν ταῖς συντυχίαις γίνεται γίνεσθαι P. καὶ μάλιστα τῶν ἀρρωστούντων, διηγουμένης τῆς Ἀντιοχιανῆς τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς νόσου αὐτῆς καὶ καταμεμφομένης καταμεμφονένη P. τοὺς ἰατρούς, Antiochiana, wife of Sphoracius, ὅτι δή, πολλὰ ἀναλωσάσης ἀναλώσασα P. εἰς αὐτούς, ὠφεληθῆναι παρ᾽ αὐτῶν οὐκ ἠδυνήθη τὸ παράπαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον τὴν νόσον αὐτῆς προελθεῖν ἐκ τῆς ἀφυΐας αὐτῶν, συμπαθῶς τῶ ἡ Εὐφμία πρὸς αὐτὴν διατεθεῖσα λέγει αὐτῇ· “Καὶ τί χρείαν ἔχεις, κυρία μου πατρικία, ἀναλίσκεσθαι εἰς omits P, V. ἰατρούς, τοὺς τοῖς (om. P) ἰατροῖς τοῖς P, V. λαμβάνειν μὲν δυναμένους δυναμένοις P, V. , ὠφελεῖν δὲ μὴ εἰδότας εἴδοσιν P, V. καὶ οὐ μᾶλλον προσέρχῃ τῷ ἀγαθῷ omits P, V. Θεῷ τῶ ἀγαθῶ adds V. τῷ omits V. ἀδαπάνῳ omits V. ἰατρῷ;

and, as is the custom in meetings and especially those of the sick, when Antiochiana was relating the cause of her illness and blaming the physicians, because, having spent much on them, she had been unable to be benefited by them at all, but her illness had even gone on to the worse from their lack of skill, Euphemia, disposed compassionately toward her, says to her: “And what need have you, my lady patrician, to spend yourself on physicians, who are able to take but do not know how to help, and why do you not rather come to the good God, the physician who costs nothing?

κατεπίδος καὶ ἐπιδίδως P. οὖν omits P. ἑαυτὴν πρὸς τὴν νῦν ἐπιστᾶσαν ἐπισπᾶσαν A, ἐν adds P. τῇ πόλει ἡμῶν θαυματουργὸν καὶ ἁγίαν γυναῖκα· αὕτη γὰρ αὕτη omits P, V. , ἵνα τὰ κατ᾽ αὐτὴν ὡς adds V. ἐν βραχεῖ (ἐν βρ.) omits P. διηγήσωμαί σοι, πόθον ἔχουσα θεῖον καὶ τὸν ἄνδρα φεύγουσα φυγοῦσα P. σοφῇ ἐπινοίᾳ εἰς ἄνδρα εὐνοῦχον μετασχηματισθεῖσα εἰς τὸ τοῦ μακαρίου Βασιανοῦ μοναστήριον τριετῆ χρόνον πεποίηκεν καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα γνωσθεῖσα γνωρισθεῖσα V, omits P. δι᾽ ἀποκαλύψεως θείας adds P, V. , μηκέτι δυναμένη ἀνδράσι συνοικεῖν, εἰς μοναστήριον γυναικεῖον γυναικῶν P, V. εἰς ἀνατολὴν ἀπεστάλη· εἶτα τοῦ ἀνδρὸς κἀκεῖσε ἐκεῖσε P, V. καταδιώξαντος αὐτήν μετὰ τὸ παρελθεῖν adds P. , φεύγουσα εἰς αὐτὸν P, omits V. πολλοὺς τόπους, δι᾽ ὀπτασίας θείας θειοτέρας P, V. ἐπανῆκεν τοῖς adds P, V. ἐνταῦθα· καὶ ἵνα συνελοῦσα P, V, συνελθοῦσα A. εἴπω σοι, διὰ τὴν καθαρὰν καὶ ἄμεμπτον αὐτῆς πολιτείαν καὶ τὸν οὐράνιον καὶ ἀγγελικὸν αὐτῆς βίον [(τὴν-βίον) τὸν ἄμεμπτον αὐτῆς βίον καὶ τὸν ἀγγελικὸν αὐτῆς τρόπον καὶ P; τὸν ἄπεμπτον βίον καὶ V.] ἰάσεις πολλὰς omits P, V. πεποίηκε καὶ πεπλανημένους ἐπέστρεψεν καὶ πολλοὺς εὐεργέτησε καὶ εὐεργετεῖ μέχρι τοῦ παρόντος· πρὸς ταύτην οὖν ἐπείχθητι καὶ ταύτῃ ἐμφανίσθητι μηδὲν ἐνδοιάζουσα ἐνδυάζουσα V. καὶ

Commit yourself, then, to the wonder-working and holy woman who has now come to our city; for she — to relate her affairs to you briefly — having a divine longing and fleeing her husband, by a wise contrivance changed her appearance into a eunuch man and spent a period of three years in the monastery of the blessed Bassianus; and afterwards, being made known through a revelation and no longer able to dwell with men, she was sent to a women's monastery in the east; then, as her husband pursued her there too, fleeing to many places, she came back here through a divine vision; and, to tell you in sum, on account of her pure and blameless conduct and her heavenly and angelic life she has performed many healings and has turned back those who had gone astray and has benefited many, and benefits them to the present. Hasten, then, to her and present yourself to her, without hesitating at all, and

πάντως ἐλευθερωθήσῃ ἀπαλλαγήση P. ἐκ omits P. τῆς συνεχούσης σε ἀσθενείας νόσου P. .”

you will surely be freed from the illness that holds you.”

[34] takes refuge with her Ταῦτα ἀκούσασα καὶ μαθοῦσα (κ. μ.) omits P, V. ἡ Ἀντιοχιανὴ ἡ τοῦ Σφαιρακίου σύζυγος καὶ (ἡ τοῦ-καὶ) omits P, V. εὐχαριστήσασα πλεῖστα omits P, V. τῇ Εὐφημίᾳ, παρεκάλει αὐτὴν σὺν αὐτῇ ἀπελθεῖν πρὸς τὴν μακαρίαν Ματρῶναν omits P, V. ·

[34] Hearing and learning these things, Antiochiana, the wife of Sphaeracius, thanking Euphemia very much, besought her to go away with her to the blessed Matrona;

καὶ δὴ συνθέμεναι ἀλλήλαις, τῇ ἑξῆς ἀμφότεραι παραγίνονται πρὸς αὐτήν· καὶ εὑροῦσαι αὐτὴν ψάλλουσαν τὰ ὀρθρινά, ἀνέμειναν, ἕως οὗ κατέπαυσε· καὶ μετὰ τὸ καταπαῦσαι αὐτὴν καταπαῦσαν P, V. τῆς ψαλμῳδίας προσκυνήσασαι αὐτῇ αὐτὴν P, V. συνεκαθέσθησαν ἅμα· τῆς δὲ συντυχίας πλατυτέρας γενομένης γινομένης P. καὶ τὰ εἰωθότα λεγούσης καὶ ὠφελούσης αὐτὰς τῆς μακαρίας καὶ πρὸ τῶν σωμάτων τὰς ψυχὰς ἰατρευούσης μᾶλλον, ἠρέμα πῶς και πιστῶς [(καὶ ὠφ.-πιστῶς) omits P: (πρὀ-πιστῶς) πρῶτον τὰς ψυχὰς αὐτῶν ἰατρευούσης ἠρέμα πιστῶς V.] ἡ Ἀντιοχιανὴ Ἀντιοχειανὴ P. λαβομένη τῆς χειρὸς τῆς μακαρίας (τ. μ.) αὐτῆς P, V. ἐπέτηκεν κατὰ τοῦ πονοῦντος αὐτῇ omits V. τόπου·

and having agreed with one another, on the next day they both come to her; and finding her psalming the morning office, they waited until she stopped; and after she had stopped the psalmody, having done her reverence they sat down together; and as the converse grew more extended, and the blessed woman was saying the accustomed things and benefiting them and healing their souls rather before their bodies, Antiochiana, gently somehow and faithfully, taking the hand of the blessed woman, laid it upon the place that pained her;

ἀγνοούσης δὲ τῆς μακαρίας τὴν αἰτίαν, λέγει αὐτῇ ἡ Ἀντιοχιανή· “Τῇ ἁφῇ σου, that, with hands laid on her, δέσποινά μου καὶ omits P. δούλη τοῦ Χριστοῦ, χρῶμαι πρὸς βοήθειαν τοῦ συνέχοντός με πάθους· καὶ χρωμένη ἐλπίζω μη ἀποτυχεῖν· ἤδη γὰρ ᾐσθόμην σὺν Θεῷ τῷ ἁγίῳ (σὺν Θ. τ. ἁ.) omits V, ////////// P. τῆς omits P. εὐεργεσίας.”

and as the blessed woman did not know the reason, Antiochiana says to her: “I use your touch, my lady and servant of Christ, for help against the passion that holds me; and using it I hope not to fail; for already, with the holy God, I have perceived the benefit.”

Μετριάσασα οὖν πρὸς ταῦτα λέγει αὐτῇ ἡ μακαρία· “Ἐγώ, κυρία μὲν P. V. , ἁμαρτωλὸς ὑπάρχω· καὶ οἵα ἐγώ, καὶ ἡ ἁφή μού ἐστιν· ὁ δὲ κύριος ὁ κ. δὲ P. Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς ὁ ἐπισκεψάμενος τὴν πενθερὰν τοῦ Πέτρου καὶ ἀπαλλάξας αὐτὴν τοῦ omits P. πυρετοῦ καὶ σὲ ἐπισκέψεται καὶ ἀπαλλάζει ἀπαλλάξοι V. σε τοῦ ἐνοχλοῦντός σοι συνέχοντός σε C. πόνου·” τῆς οὖν ῥώσεως καὶ ὠφελείας παραυτὰ τῆς οὖν παρ. ὠφελείας P. V. αἰσθομένη ἡ Ἀντιοχιανὴ Ἀντιοχειανὴ P. ἔμεινε παρ᾽ αὐτῇ, τὴν δὲ Εὐφημίαν Εὐφήμειαν A. παρεκάλεσεν ἀπελθεῖν ἀνελθεῖν P. εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτῆς εἰποῦσα αὐτῇ· “Ἕως τελείας ἀποκαταστάσεως μου (μου ἀποκ.) P, V. μενῶ παρὰ τῇ (παρὰ τῇ) omits P. ἰατρῷ μου.”

Moderating her at this, the blessed woman says to her: “I, lady, am a sinner; and such as I am, such is my touch too; but the Lord Jesus Christ, who visited Peter's mother-in-law and freed her from the fever, will visit you too and free you from the pain that troubles you.” Perceiving at once, then, strength and benefit, Antiochiana remained with her, and she besought Euphemia to go away to her house, saying to her: “Until my complete restoration I will stay with my physician.”

[35] To enlarge the buildings Μεινάσης οὖν αὐτῆς adds P. παρ᾽ αὐτῇ, ἐζήτουν οἱ εὐνοῦχοι αὐτῆς παρὰ τῆς θυρωροῦ τῆς μακαρίας ὁσπήτιον, ἐν ᾧ τὰ ζῷα στήσωσιν στήσονται P. καὶ τὸ βαστέρνιον ἀποθῶνται· τῆς δὲ λεγούσης αὐτοῖς ὅτι omits P, V. · “Πλὴν τούτου ἐν ᾧ οἰκοῦμεν ὁσπητίου ὁσπίτιον P, V. οὐκ ἔχομεν ἄλλο omits P, V. καὶ αὐτοῦ δὲ τούτου τὸ omits P. ἐνοίκιον διδοῦμεν δίδομεν P, διδόαμεν V. · πόθεν γὰρ ἡμῖν ἄλλο ὁσπήτιον ξέναις οὔσαις καὶ μῆδὲ τῶν ἀναγκαίων εὐπορούσαις;”

[35] As she stayed with her, then, her eunuchs sought from the doorkeeper of the blessed woman a lodging in which to stable the animals and put away the litter; and when she said to them: “Apart from this lodging in which we live we have no other, and even for this very one we pay rent; for whence should we have another lodging, being strangers and not well off even for necessities?”

ἀπελθόντες οὖν adds V. οἱ εὐνοῦχοι ἀπήγγειλαν ἀνήγαγον V. τῇ δεσποίνῃ αὐτῶν ἃ ἤκουσαν· ἡ δὲ Ἀντιοχιανὴ Ἀντιοχειανή P. ἀποδεξαμένη τὴν εὔνοιαν τῶν παίδων παιδαρίων P, V. αὐτῆς καὶ θαυμάσασα θαυμάζουσα V. τὴν ἐπαινετὴν πτωχείαν καὶ τὴν μακαριστὴν πενίαν [(πτωχείαν-πενίαν) πενίαν καὶ τὴν μακαρίαν πτωχείαν P, καὶ ὥσπερ εὑρήματι adds P, V; προσδραμοῦσα τῶ πράγματι adds P.] , λέγει τῇ μακαρίᾳ Ματρώνῃ omits P, V. · “Ἤκουσα, δέσποινά μου omits P. , ὅτι ἐνοικίου ἐν οἰκίω P. μένεις μάτην προσδραμοῦσα τὸ πρᾶγμα adds V. , καὶ πάνυ ἐλυπήθην.”

the eunuchs went away and reported to their mistress what they had heard; and Antiochiana, approving the goodwill of her servants and marvelling at the praiseworthy poverty and the blessed want, says to the blessed Matrona: “I have heard, my lady, that you live in rented quarters, and I was much grieved.”

Τῆς δὲ μακαρίας εἰπούσης ὅτι omits V. “ἐνοικίου ἐν οἰκίω C. μὲν μένω, ὁ θεὸς δὲ καὶ ὁ ἡγούμενός μου omits P, V. φροντίζει περὶ αὐτοῦ ὡς ὥσπερ P. καὶ περὶ ἡμῶν,” πάλιν λέγει αὐτῇ ἡ Ἀντιοχιανή Ἀντιοχειανὴ P. · “Μή, ὄντως σοι, κυρία, παρακαλῶ, μὴ ἔσται σοι τοῦτο τοῦτο ἔστω P, τ. ἔ. σοι V. οὕτως, ἀλλ᾽ ἐκ τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ παροχῶν εἰσί μοι προάστεια πολλὰ καὶ καλά· ἓν ἐξ αὐτῶν μου adds P. λάβε ὑπὲρ τοῦ adds V. λύτρου τῆς ἁμαρτωλοῦ ἁμαρτωλῆς P, V. μου ψυχῆς καὶ οἴκησον ἐν αὐτῷ εἰς σωτηρίαν ψυχῶν πολλῶν μελλουσῶν πολλῶν ψυχῶν τῶν μελουσῶν P. διασῴζεσθαι διὰ σοῦ διὰ σοῦ σώζ. P, V. καὶ ἐμοῦ αὐτῆς· καὶ οἵου ἂν ἀρεσθῇς προαστείου, offers one of her estates; ἐγὼ ποιῶ τὰς δωρεὰς καὶ τὰς δ. οὗ (ἂν adds V) ἀρεσθεὶς ποιῶ P, V. παραχρῆμα εἰς τελείαν σε δεσποτείαν (ς. δ.) δ. ς. P. εἰσάγουσα.”

And when the blessed woman said: “I live in rented quarters, but God and my hegumen take care of it, as also of us,” Antiochiana says to her again: “Do not, truly, lady, I beseech you, let this be so for you; but from the gifts of God I have many fine suburban estates; take one of them for the ransom of my sinful soul, and dwell in it for the salvation of many souls that are to be saved through you, and of myself; and whichever estate pleases you, I make the deed of gift at once, putting you into full ownership.”

[36] Marcellus persuading, Ταῦτα ἀκούσασα ἡ ὁσία Ματρῶνα καὶ ἐκ τῶν λόγων τὴν πρόθεσιν αὐτῆς omits V. καταμαθοῦσα καὶ συνεῖσα, ὅτι ἐπιθυμεῖ δοῦναι αὐτῇ αὐτῆ δ. V. τόπον τόπιον P. εἰς ἀφιέρωσιν Θεοῦ καὶ εἰς λιμένα ψυχῶν, συνθεμένη λαμβάνειν μεταστέλλεται τὸν διάκονον Μάρκελλον καὶ εἰποῦσα αὐτῷ τὰ τῆς ὐποθέσεως ἐγχειρίζει ἐγχειρεῖ V. αὐτῷ τὸ πρᾶγμα·

[36] Hearing these things, the holy Matrona, perceiving her purpose from her words and understanding that she desired to give her a place for consecration to God and as a harbour of souls, agreed to accept; she sends for the deacon Marcellus, and having told him the matter, puts the business into his hands;

παραλαβὼν δὲ ὁ διάκονος τοὺς προσταχθέντας ὑποδεῖξαι αὐτῷ παῖδας π. ὑπ. αὐτῷ P, V. τὰ προάστεια, ἔρχεται εἰς τὸν τόπον, ἐν ᾧ ἀνῳκοδόμητο ἀνωκοδόμηται P, V. τὸ μοναστήριον τῆς ὁσίας, Σευηριανὰ [If the place calledΣευηριανὰ got its name from Severus the patrician, adoptive brother of the emperor Constans (642 – 668) (Patria Constantinopoleos, III, 108, Preger, p. 251), the Life of Matrona must have been written not before the end of the seventh century. But the matter is quite doubtful, since various places or buildings of the city seem to have been named after another Severus too, whoever he was. Cf. Preger, p. 354.] καλούμενον καλούμενος V. , καὶ ῥοδωνιᾶς ῥωδονιὰ V. τυγχάνων (τὸ-τυγχ.) τῆς ὁσίας Σευηριανῆς τὸ μοναστήριον P. , ἀρεσθεὶς δὲ τῇ θέσει τῆς θέσεως V. τοὺ τόπου καὶ διὰ τὸ εἶναι ἐγγὺς αὐτοῦ καὶ (τῇ-καὶ) τῶ θεοσδότω τόπω διὰ τὸ καὶ εἶναι ἐγγὺς αὐτοῦ P. ἄλλα μοναστήρια καὶ μάλιστα τοῦ μακαρίου τὸ τοῦ ἁγίου P. Βασιανοῦ, a place in the Severiana is chosen. ἐν ᾧ καὶ ἀπετάξατο, εἶναι δὲ αὐτὸ καὶ τοῦ τείχους ἔσωθεν, ἐλθὼν ἀπήγγειλε ἀνήγγειλαν P. τῇ μακαρίᾳ Ματρώνῃ καὶ τῇ φιλοχρίστῳ Ἀντιοχιανῇ Ἀντιοχειανὴ P. , ὅτι ὁ μὲν τόπος πάνυ πεποίηται (πεπ. πάνυ) P, V. καλῶς καὶ ἡ θέσις αὐτοῦ ἐπιτηδεία ἐστίν, χρῄζει δὲ ἐπιμελείας πολλῆς καὶ adds P, V. ·

and the deacon, taking the servants who had been ordered to show him the estates, comes to the place in which the monastery of the holy woman had been built, called Severiana, which happened to be a rose garden; and pleased with the situation of the place, and because there were near it other monasteries too, and especially that of the blessed Bassianus, in which she had also renounced the world, and because it was within the wall, he came and reported to the blessed Matrona and to the Christ-loving Antiochiana that the place was very well made and its situation suitable, but that it needed much attention;

ταῦτα τοίνυν omits P, V. εἰρηκότος τοῦ διακόνου, εὐθέως omits P, V. τὰς δωρεὰς ποιήσασα εἰς τὴν μακαρίαν Ματρῶναν Ματρώνα P. καὶ ὑπογράψασα ἐν αὐταῖς ἡ Ἀντιοχιανὴ Ἀντιοχειανὴ P. τὸν μὲν χάρτην δέδωκεν αὐτῇ· ἐπὶ νομῆς δὲ ἐποίησε τὸν διάκονον Μάρκελλον εἰς πρόσωπον τῆς μακαρίας, συνταξαμένη δὲ καὶ τὰς ἐπιμελείας τὴν ἐπιμελείαν P. ποιεῖν, καὶ χάριν ὑπὲρ τῆς ὑπομονήσεως A, P, V, ἐπινεμέσεως? τῷ διακόνῳ ὁμολογοῦσα, ἀπῆλθεν ἐρρωμένη τὴν ψυχὴν καὶ τὸ σῶμα· οὐ μὴν δὲ ὃ (δὲ ὃ omits V. ὑπέσχετο διεψεύσατο, ἀλλὰ καὶ (δὲ-καὶ) omits P, καὶ omits V. τὴν προσήκουσαν διακόσμησιν δέδωκεν τῷ τόπῳ

when the deacon had said these things, Antiochiana at once made the deeds of gift to the blessed Matrona, and, having signed them, gave her the document; and she put the deacon Marcellus into possession in the person of the blessed woman, having arranged also that he should take care of it; and acknowledging her thanks to the deacon for his patience, she went away strengthened in soul and body; nor did she falsify what she had promised, but gave the place also its fitting adornment;

ἔνθεν οὖν καὶ adds P. ἐκ ταύτης τῆς προφάσεως ἡ μακαρία Ματρῶνα τὸ μοναστήριον μαναστήριον A. ἐν τούτῳ τῷ τόπῳ· ἔσχεν καὶ ποίμνην λογικὴν συνεστήσατο omits P. , ἥτις καὶ μέχρι τοῦ παρόντος Θεοῦ συνεργίᾳ καὶ ταῖς ὁσίαις (τ. ὁς.) ἁγίαις P. αὐτῆς εὐχαῖς ἕστηκεν ἀγωνιζομένη κατὰ τὸν παραδοθέντα δοθέντα P. αὐτῇ παρ᾽ αὐτῆς adds P, V. κανόνα ἀκλινῶς·

from this occasion, then, the blessed Matrona had the monastery in this place; and she established a rational flock, which even to the present, by the cooperation of God and her holy prayers, has stood contending unswervingly according to the rule handed down to it;

εἰς τελείαν οὖν δεσποτείαν εἰσελθοῦσα τοῦ προαστείου, ἐπιτραπεῖσα παρὰ τοῦ ἡγουμένου αὐτῆς τοῦ ἁγιωτάτου ἁγίου P. Βασιανοῦ — οὐδὲν γὰρ omits P. παρὰ γνώμην αὐτοῦ ἠνείχετο διαπράξασθαι καὶ adds V. — καταλιποῦσα τὸ μισθωσιμαῖον μητᾶτον, μεταβαίνει εἰς τὸ νόμιμον τῆς ἀσκήσεως στάδιον, συνούσης αὐτῇ τῆς ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ βίου (τ. β.) omits P, V. εἰρημένης Εὐγενίας, τῆς αὐτῆς Εὐγενείας P. εἰς πᾶσαν ἀγαθὴν πρᾶξιν συνεργησάσης συνεργησάση P. αὐτῇ ἐξ ἀρχῆς·

having entered, then, into full ownership of the estate, with the permission of her hegumen, the most holy Bassianus — for she would not endure to do anything against his judgement — leaving the hired lodging, she moves to the lawful stadium of asceticism, there being with her the Eugenia spoken of earlier in this life, who had worked together with her in every good deed from the beginning;

οὐκ ἀργὴ δὲ οὐδὲ ἄκαρπος ἐγένετο ἡ μετάβασις αὐτῆς, Hither she solemnly leads ἀλλὰ κηροὺς ἅψασα καὶ ψαλμῳδίαν ἡσύχιον καὶ (ἡς. κ.) omits P, V. ἠρεμαίαν ἐκτελέσασα ἐπιτελέσασα P. μετέβη εἰς τὸν δωρηθέντα αὐτῇ τόπον· οὕτως δὲ ἡ μακαρία τῆς ἐν Βηρυτῷ Βιρητῶ P. ὀπτασίας τὸ πέρας δεξαμένη, τὸ σκάμμα τῆς ἀσκήσεως ἀνέῳξεν ἠνέωξεν V. καὶ τὸν νυμφῶνα τῆς σωτηρίας ὑπέδειξεν (καὶ-ὑπ.) omits P, V. , πολλὰς ἐν αὐτῷ νυμφευσαμένη τῷ Χριστῷ ψυχάς, νόμιμος Κωνσταντινουπόλεως οἰκήτωρ γενομένη κατὰ τὴν omits V. τῆς ἀποκαλύψεως φανέρωσιν.

and her move was not idle nor fruitless, but having lit candles and performed a quiet and gentle psalmody she moved to the place given her; and so the blessed woman, having received the fulfilment of the vision at Berytus, opened the arena of asceticism and showed the bridal chamber of salvation, wedding many souls in it to Christ, having become a lawful inhabitant of Constantinople according to the manifestation of the revelation.

[37] sisters, twelve in number. Εἰσεκόμισε δὲ σὺν αὑτῇ εἰς τόνδε τὸν τόπον omits V. καὶ omits V. οἶκον δώδεκα δεκαδύο P. ἀδελφάς· ταῖς γὰρ ὀκτὼ προσετέθησαν καὶ ἄλλαι τέσσαρες. Ἐνταῦθα οὖν ἀποκατασταθεῖσα βουλήσει Θεοῦ ἡ μακαρία διέλαμπεν μὲν τῇ πολιτείᾳ ὑπερφυῶς, προέκοπτε δὲ καὶ τῇ φήμῃ ὑπερβαλλόντως· ἐπεδίδου δὲ ὁσημέραι τὸ ποίμνιον αὐτῆς αὐξανόμενον αὐξούμενον V. καὶ μεγαλυνόμενον εἰς πλῆθος καὶ τῇ μὲν ἀγάπῃ τοῦ Θεοῦ πλατυνόμενον, τῇ δὲ χωρήσει τοῦ τόπου στενοχωρούμενον· καὶ ὁ μὲν τόπος οὐδὲ εἰς τὸν τοῦ ὕμνου ὕπνου P. καιρὸν ἐπήρκει, ὁ δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ φόβος ἔπειθεν ὡς ἄνεσιν φέρειν τὴν στένωσιν.

[37] She brought with her into this place and house twelve sisters; for to the eight four others had been added. Being settled here, then, by the will of God, the blessed woman shone surpassingly in her conduct, and advanced exceedingly in her fame; and her flock grew daily, increasing and becoming great in number, widened by the love of God but straitened by the capacity of the place; and the place did not suffice even at the time of the hymn, but the fear of God persuaded them to bear the narrowness as ease.

Ὁρῶσα δὲ ἡ μακαρία τὴν ποίμνην αὐτῆς αὐξανομένην αὐξούμενον V. καὶ εἰς πλῆθος ἐπιδιδομένην, ἔχαιρεν μὲν καὶ ἠγάλλετο ἡγαλλιᾶτο V. , ἐδέετο δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς λέγουσα· “Σὺ αὐτήν, she places her hope in the Lord. κύριε omits P. , συνήγαγες ὡς εὔσπλαγχνος, σὺ αὐτὴν omits V. καὶ φύλαξον ὡς ἅγιος· ὁ γὰρ omits P, V. πόθος ὁ σός, δέσποτα, προσεκαλέσατο πάσας, ὁ φόβος ὁ σὸς διατηρήσει διατηρήσαι (?) A. τὰς omits P. πάσας· καὶ omits P, V. ὥσπερ τῶν ψυχῶν αὐτῶν προενοήσω προενόησας P. , οὕτως καὶ τῶν σωμάτων αὐτῶν μὴ ἀμελήσῃς. Ὁρᾷς, κύριε omits P, V. , τὴν στένωσιν στενωχωρίαν P, V. , βλέπεις τὴν πενίαν, πάντα ἐπίστασαι, πάντας πάσας P. ἡμᾶς παραμύθησαι παραμύθησον P. ὡς ἀγαθὸς καὶ φιλάνθρωπος (ὡς-φιλ.) omits, P V. .”

And the blessed woman, seeing her flock increasing and growing in number, rejoiced and exulted, but besought God night and day on its behalf, saying: “You, Lord, gathered it as compassionate; do you also guard it as holy; for your longing, Master, called them all; your fear will keep them all; and as you have provided for their souls, so do not neglect their bodies either. You see, Lord, the narrowness, you behold the poverty, you understand all things; console us all as good and a lover of mankind.”

Καὶ ἡ μὴν μακαρία Ματρῶνα omits P, V. τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀντίληψιν ἐπικαλουμένη αἰτουμένη P, V. ἐν τούτοις (ἐν τ.) καὶ ἀπεκδεχομένη εἰς τοῦτο P. ἦν· ὁ δὲ ποιῶν τὸ θέλημα (τὰ θελήματα V. τῶν φοβουμένων αὐτὸν

And the blessed Matrona was thus engaged, calling on the help of God; and he who does the will of those who fear him

Θεὸς ἡμῶν adds V. καὶ μὴ βραδύνων εἰς τὸ εἰσακούειν ἀκούειν P. αὐτῶν κατὰ τὴν ἄψευστον αὐτοῦ ὑπόσχεσιν τὴν λέγουσαν· “Ἔτι λαλοῦντός σου (σου λαλ.) P. ἐρῶ, ἰδοὺ πάρειμι,” ἐπήκουσε τῶν δεήσεων τῆς δεήσεως V. αὐτῆς καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν κατὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ φωνὴν (φ. αὐτοῦ) P. αἰτουμένῃ προσετίθει αἰτουμένης παρέσχεν προστιθεὶς P. αὐτῇ πάντα πλουσίως καὶ ἀφθόνως τὰ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ. Isaiah 58, 9.

— God, who is not slow to hear them, according to his unlying promise which says: “While you are still speaking I will say, Behold, I am here” — heard her supplications, and, as she asked for the kingdom of heaven according to his word, he added to her all the things in the world richly and ungrudgingly.

[38] Having entered the monastery by chance, Τῇ γὰρ ἐτησίῳ τῆς ἀθλήσεως adds P. ἑορτῇ τοῦ καλλινίκου μάρτυρος Λαυρεντίου Διομήδους P. πανδημεὶ τῆς πόλεως συνδραμούσης εἰς τὸν ἅγιον αὐτοῦ οἶκον [On the various churches of the royal city dedicated to St. Lawrence read Du Cange, Constantinopolis christiana, vol. II, p. 127; Synaxarium Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae, pp. 424, 667, 716, 882. The feast of St. Lawrence was kept on the 10th day of Augustἐν τῷ Τρικόγχῳ, πλησίον τοῦ Καπετωλίου.. Ibid., p. 882.] — ἡ γὰρ σύναξις αὐτοῦ omits P. μεγάλη γίνεται καὶ ἐνδόξως ἐπιτελεῖται διὰ τὸ ταύτην κατ᾽ αὐτὴν P. τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκ τῶν ἁγίων αὐτοῦ λειψάνων μῦρον εὐῶδες εὐωδέστατον V. ἀναδίδοσθαι εἰς τιμὴν omits P, V. καὶ omits P, V. δόξαν τῆς μαρτυρίας αὐτοῦ — ἐν ταύτῃ οὖν omits P. μετὰ πάντων συνέδραμον καὶ δύο ἀδελφαὶ, τῷ μὲν τρόπῳ εὐσεβεῖς, τῷ δὲ γένει περιφανεῖς, ἐπὶ τὸ μετασχεῖν τοῦ ἁγίου μύρου.

[38] For at the yearly feast of the gloriously victorious martyr Lawrence, when the city ran together in a body to his holy house — for his synaxis is great and is celebrated gloriously, because on this day a fragrant unguent is given forth from his holy relics to the honour and glory of his martyrdom — on this feast, then, there ran together with all the others two sisters, pious in manner and illustrious in birth, to partake of the holy unguent.

Καὶ δὴ μετασχοῦσαι, ὡς καὶ omits P. πάντες, τῆς (ὡς-τῆς) ἅπαντες P. εὐλογίας, μετὰ τὴν πλήρωσιν συμπλήρωσιν P. τῶν ἁγίων omits P, θείων V. μυστηρίων καὶ τὴν ἀπόλυσιν τῆς θείας omits P, V. συνάξεως διὰ μιᾶς τῶν παρακειμένων τῷ omits P. μοναστηρίῳ omits P. ὁδῶν διερχόμεναι ἤκουσαν φωνὴν ψαλμῳδίας ἐκ τῶν οἰκημάτων φερομένην· καὶ ξενισθεῖσαι τῷ ξένῳ τῆς ἀκοῆς — ᾔδεισαν γὰρ τὸν τόπον προάστειον ἀλλ᾽ οὐ μοναστήριον οὐ προάστειον ἀλλὰ μοναστήριον V. εἶναι — ἐπυνθάνοντο ἐκ τῶν ἐν adds P. τῷ τόπῳ παροικούντων, Athanasia, a noble woman, τίνες εἰσὶν οἱ ταύτην ποιούμενοι τὴν omits P. ψαλμῳδίαν omits P. ·

And having partaken of the blessing, as all did, after the completion of the holy mysteries and the dismissal of the divine synaxis, as they were passing through one of the streets lying beside the monastery, they heard the sound of psalmody coming from the buildings; and astonished at the strangeness of what they heard — for they knew the place to be a suburban estate and not a monastery — they inquired of those dwelling in the place who were those performing this psalmody;

τῶν δὲ εἰρηκότων αὐταῖς τὰ περὶ τῆς μακαρίας καὶ adds P. , ὡς εἶχε τὰ κατ᾽ αὐτὴν διηγησαμένων, ἀποβᾶσαι τῶν φερόντων τοῦ φέροντος P, V. αὐτὰς βαστερνίων, εἰσῆλθον πρὸς αὐτήν· θεασάμεναι δὲ τὸ σεμνὸν ἐκεῖνο σχῆμα καὶ ἀγγελικὸν καὶ θαυμάσασαι τὸ ξένον καὶ ἐνηλλαγμένον ἐνηλαγμένον V. τοῦ στολισμοῦ σχῆμα adds V. , ἔμειναν παρ᾽ αὐτῇ πολλὰς ὥρας, ὠφελούμεναι καὶ νουθετούμεναι·

and when they had told them about the blessed woman and related her story as it was, alighting from the litters carrying them, they went in to her; and beholding that grave and angelic figure and marvelling at the strangeness and difference of the dress, they stayed with her many hours, being benefited and admonished;

καὶ τοσοῦτον ᾠκοδομήθησαν ἐκ τῶν ἁγίων αὐτῆς λόγων καὶ τοῦ περικειμένου ταῖς ἀδελφαῖς ξένου σχήματος, ὥστε τὴν μίαν ἐξ αὐτῶν, Ἀθανασίαν ὀνόματι, πόθῳ θείῳ τρωθεῖσαν εἰπεῖν τῇ ἀδελφῇ αὐτῆς· “Ἄπελθε, κυρία μου ἀδελφή ἀδ. μου V. , ἄπελθε omits P, V. εἰς τὸν οἶκόν σου μετὰ καλοῦ· ἀπὸ γὰρ τῆς ὥρας ταύτης ταύτης τῆς ὥρας P, V. καὶ μήτηρ καὶ πατὴρ π. καὶ μήτηρ P. καὶ ἀδελφή μου ἡ ἁγία αὕτη ἐστίν· τί γὰρ ἔχω κερδῆσαι τοῦ λοιποῦ ἐκ τοῦ βίου τούτου τοῦ ματαίου; longs to stay in it, εἰ δὲ καί omits P. τι δόξω δόξω τι P. κερδαίνειν ἢ καὶ P. βασιλεύειν, οὐ μετὰ ταῦτα πάντα πάντοθεν adds P. θάνατός ἐστιν; οὐ τέφρα δὲ omits P, V. καὶ κόνις γενήσομαι; οὐχὶ σήμερον ὑπὸ παίδων καὶ εὐνούχων δορυφορουμένη μετὰ μικρὸν τάφῳ παραπεμπομένη ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν καταπατήσομαι; οὐ τὴν δόξαν ἀτιμία διαδέχεται διαδέξηται P. καὶ τὸ περίβλεπτον κάλλος ἀμαυροῖ νόσος (ἀμ. νόσος) εἰσδεχθεὶς ἀμορφία P. ; ἄπιθι οὖν, ἄπιθι omits P, V. , παρακαλῶ, ἄπιθι ἐν εἰρήνῃ (ἄπ. ἐν εἰρ.) omits P, V. καὶ ἐμοὶ συγχώρησον θρηνῆσαι πενθεῖν P. τὰς ἁμαρτίας μου.”

and they were so edified by her holy words and by the strange habit worn by the sisters that one of them, named Athanasia, wounded by divine longing, said to her sister: “Go away, my lady sister, go away to your house in peace; for from this hour this holy woman is mother and father and sister to me; for what have I to gain for the rest from this vain life? And even if I seem to gain something or to reign, is not death after all these things? Shall I not become ash and dust? Shall I not, who today am escorted by servants and eunuchs, in a little while be sent off to the tomb by them and trodden upon? Does not dishonour succeed glory, and does not disease darken conspicuous beauty? Go away, then, go away, I beseech you, go away in peace, and allow me to lament my sins.”

[39] and scarcely by her sister, Ταῦτα λέγουσα εἰποῦσα P, V. ἡ omits P, V. τιμία omits P, V. καὶ μακαρία Ἀθανασία, εἰς δειλίαν καὶ μέριμναν τὴν ἀδελφὴν αὐτῆς ἤνεγκεν ἐνέβαλεν V, κατέστησεν τὴν ἀδ. ταύτ. P. ὡς ἀναγκασθεῖσαν εἰπεῖν αὐτῇ· “Οὐχὶ οὐκ P, V. ἐγγύας ἐγγυὰς P. δέδωκα τῷ ἀνδρί σου περὶ omits V. σοῦ omits V. ; οὐ προειδὼς τάχα τὸ omits P. ; τί ἤμελλες ποιεῖν ὁ ἀνήρ σου omits V. διεκώλυέν σε προελθεῖν; τί σοι ἐγένετο ἐξαίφνης; τί με σπεύδεις πειρασμῷ περιπεῖραι; πῶς ἔχω ἀπελθεῖν ἐκτός σου; τί δὲ καὶ ἀπελθοῦσα ἀπολογήσομαι ὑπὲρ σοῦ; ἔχε τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν σου ἔνδον omits P, V. καὶ omits P, V. φύλαττε τὴν πρόθεσίν σου ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ σου (ἐν-σου) omits P, V. · οὐκ ἐπιτρέπω σε ἀποτρέπω σε P, ἐπ. σοι τοῦ V. ἀποστῆναι τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ τούτου ἐγχειρήματος ἐπιχειρήματος P, V. , εἰ καὶ φορτικόν ἐστι πολὺ καὶ omits P, V. δυσβάστακτον omits P, V. καὶ δυσκατόρθωτον· μόνον νῦν omits P. ἐλθὲ μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ καὶ adds P. · ἀπάλλαξόν με πραγμάτων καὶ omits P, V. φροντίδων omits P, V. · διάθου τὸν οἶκόν σου καλῶς omits P, V. · πεῖσον τὸν ἄνδρα σου πρότερον omits V, (πεῖσον-πρότερον) omits P. , καὶ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ σοῦ σκοποῦ μὴ ἐκστῇς.”

[39] Saying these things, the honoured and blessed Athanasia brought her sister into fear and anxiety, so that she was compelled to say to her: “Did I not give pledges to your husband for you? Was it not perhaps foreseeing this that your husband was hindering you from going out? What has happened to you suddenly? Why do you hasten to pierce me with temptation? How can I go away without you? And what defence shall I make for you when I have gone away? Keep your desire within, and guard your purpose in your heart; I do not permit you to depart from this good undertaking, even if it is very burdensome and hard to bear and hard to accomplish; only now come with me; free me from troubles and cares; set your house in order well; persuade your husband first, and do not depart from your good aim.”

Ταῦτα καὶ τούτων πλείονα (κ. τ. πλ.) omits P, V. λέγουσα παρεκάλει καὶ τὴν μακαρίαν Ματρῶναν ἐπιτρέψαι αὐτῇ ἐπανελθεῖν οἴκαδε εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτῆς P. · ἡ δὲ μακαρία μετὰ μεταξὺ P. ἀμφοτέρων καθεζομένη καὶ τοὺς λόγους ἀμφοτέρων ἑκατέρων V, δεχομένη (καὶ-δεχομένη) omits P. καὶ τῆς μὲν τὸ ταχὺ τῆς μεταβολῆς θαυμάζουσα καὶ τὸ θερμὸν τῆς πίστεως προαιρέσεως P, V. μακαρίζουσα, τῆς δὲ τὸ εὔλογον τῆς παραινέσεως ἀποδεχομένη ἀποδεξαμένη P, V. καὶ τὸ ἀναγκαῖον τοῦ πράγματος ὁρῶσα, εἶπεν τῇ μακαρίᾳ Ἀθανασίᾳ·

Saying these and more things than these, she besought the blessed Matrona too to allow her to return home; and the blessed woman, sitting between them both and receiving the words of both, marvelling at the quickness of the change of the one and blessing the warmth of her faith, while approving the reasonableness of the other's exhortation and seeing the necessity of the matter, said to the blessed Athanasia:

“Ὕπαγε τέως, by Matrona herself τέκνον, εἰς τὸν οἶκόν σου μετὰ τῆς ἀδελφῆς σου καὶ δοκίμασον σεαυτὴν καὶ τέως δὲ V. τῷ ἀνδρί σου μὲν σεαυτὴν τῶ ἀνδρί σου δὲ τέως P. μὴ φανερώσῃς τὴν βουλήν σου· καὶ ἐὰν ἐπιμένῃ ἐπιμείνη P. ἐν σοὶ ὁ λογισμὸς οὗτος, τὸ τηνικαῦτα τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ γένηται γίνεται P, V. · ὁ γὰρ τοῦ Θεοῦ πόθος, τέκνον, σπόρῳ ἔοικεν εὐθέως μὲν ἀνατέλλοντι, οὐκ εὐθέως δὲ καρποφοροῦντι· ὥσπερ δὲ οὖν V, γὰρ P. ὁ σπόρος ἐν οἵᾳ δήποτε χώρᾳ καταβαλλόμενος ἀνατέλλει χόρτον, οὐκ ἐν ἑκάστῃ δὲ τελεσιουργεῖται, οὕτως καὶ adds P, V. ὁ λόγος ὁ omits P. τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν οἵᾳ δήποτε ψυχῇ εἰσερχόμενος τὴν μὲν οἰκείαν οἰκ. μὲν P, V. θέρμην ἐντίθησιν, οὐ παρ᾽ ἑκάστῃ δὲ διαμένει διαμένει P. φυλαττόμενος, ἀλλ᾽ εἴτε χρόνῳ σβέννυται, εἴτε μερίμναις βιωτικαῖς omits P, V. συμπνίγεται εἴτε ῥᾳθυμίᾳ μαραίνεται·

“Go for the present, child, to your house with your sister, and test yourself, and do not reveal your plan to your husband; and if this thought remains in you, then let the will of God be done; for the longing for God, child, is like seed that springs up at once but does not bear fruit at once; and as seed, cast in whatever ground, sends up grass, but is not brought to completion in every one, so the word of God, entering whatever soul, puts its own warmth into it, but does not abide guarded with each, but is either quenched by time, or choked by worldly cares, or withered by slackness;

ὅθεν omits P, V. οὐδὲ οὖν adds P, V. ξένον, τέκνον, οὐδὲ παράδοξον, εἰ καὶ σὺ ἐνταῦθα ὧδε P, V. ἐλθοῦσα καὶ τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸν σπινθῆρα δεξαμένη δεξαμένην V. εὐθέως τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν τῆς ἀσκήσεως ἔσχες ἔχεις ἀλλ᾽ V. , οὐδὲ πάλιν πολλῆς οὐ πολλῆς |||||||| P. ἀποδοχῆς ἀξία τυγχάνεις· διὸ οὐδὲ ἐμπιστεῦσαί σε δεῖ νῦν σοι νῦν δεῖ P, πιστεῦσαι σε νῦν δεῖ V. , ἕως καὶ τὸν χρόνον adds P. μαρτυροῦντά σε σοι P, V. παρέξεις· νεωτέρα γὰρ εἶ καὶ τὸ πῦρ τῆς σωματικῆς ἐπιθυμίας καιόμενον ἐν σοὶ φέρεις, ἐπανθεῖ δέ σοι ἀκμὴ ἀγμὴ P, ἀγμὴν V. καὶ τὸ τῆς σωματικῆς πλάσεως διαπλάσεως P. κάλλος· πλούτῳ κομᾷς πολλῷ omits P, V. , ἀνδρὶ νῦν προσωμίλησας, τὸ γένος περίβλεπτον ἔχεις, περιουσίαν μεγάλην κέκτησαι, τὸ σωμάτιόν σῶμα P. σου τρυφερόν τρυφερώτερον V. ἐστιν καὶ ἀσθενέστατον ἀσθενέστερον P, V. , πάντῃ ὑπὸ δουλίδων καὶ παίδων ἐξυπηρετεῖσαι ἐξυπηρετῆ V, (ὑπὸ-ἐξ.) σπουδὴ λοιπὸν ὑπὸ παίδων ὑπηρετούμενον P. · ἡ δὲ ἄσκησις, τέκνον omits P, V. , ὑπηρετοῦντός ἐστιν omits P, V. , οὐχ ὑπηρετουμένου χρίζει adds P, ἐστιν adds V. .”

whence it is nothing strange, child, nor marvellous, if you too, having come here and received the spark of the love of God, at once had the desire for asceticism; nor again are you on that account deserving of much acceptance; wherefore neither must one trust you now, until you provide also the time that bears witness to you; for you are young and carry the fire of bodily desire burning in you, and the bloom and the beauty of bodily form flower upon you; you abound in much wealth, you have now joined a husband, you have an illustrious family, you have acquired a great fortune, your little body is delicate and very weak, you are served in everything by slave girls and servants; but asceticism, child, belongs to one who serves, not to one who is served.”

[40] and by the deacon Marcellus Ταῦτα καὶ τὰ τούτοις ὅμοια (καὶ-ὅμοια) omits P, V. λέγουσα ἡ μακαρία Ματρῶνα πείθειν ταύτην omits P. οὑκ ἠδύνατο· ἡ γὰρ ἐπιθυμία τῆς ἀσκήσεως καὶ ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀγάπη ἀντιλέγειν μὲν παρεσκεύαζε παρεσκεύασεν V. τῇ διδασκάλῳ, συντίθεσθαι δὲ πρὸς εἰς P. πάντα ἑτοίμην εἶναι τὴν μακαρίαν adds P. Ἀθανασίαν ἐνῆγεν ἀνῆγεν P. · μεταστειλαμένη οὖν δὲ P. ἡ μακαρία τὸν διάκονον Μάρκελλον, διηγήσατο αὐτῷ τὰ adds P, V. περὶ αὐτῆς· ὁ δὲ διάκονος πολλὰ παραινέσας (π. π.) τὰ αὐτὰ (ταῦτα V) μὲν εἰρηκὼς πρὸς P, V. τὴν Ἀθανασίαν καὶ ἕτερα δὲ (om. V) προστεθηκὼς P, V. ἐπευξάμενος αὐτῇ δὲ καὶ αὐτίκα P, καὶ adds V. , εἰπὼν “Ὁ Θεὸς ὁ ἅγιος ὁ ἐνθείς ἐνθήσας V. σοι τὸν λογισμὸν τοῦτον καὶ θερμάνας σου τὴν καρδίαν, ἵνα ἀγαπήσῃς αὐτὸν ὁλψύχως omits P, V. , αὐτός σου καὶ τὸν πόθον πλρώσει καὶ τὸν δρόμον τελειώσει”, is persuaded to go home again. ἔπεισεν αὐτὴν ἀπελθεῖν ἐξελθεῖν P, V. ἀπὸ omits P, V. τοῦ μοναστηρίου·

[40] Saying these and similar things, the blessed Matrona could not persuade her; for the desire for asceticism and the love of God prepared her to contradict her teacher, while it led Athanasia to be ready to agree to everything. The blessed woman, then, sending for the deacon Marcellus, related to him the matter concerning her; and the deacon, having exhorted Athanasia much and prayed over her, saying: “The holy God, who put this thought in you and warmed your heart so that you love him with your whole soul, he himself will both fulfil your longing and complete your course,” persuaded her to go away from the monastery;

ταῦτα δὲ οὐκ ἐναντιούμενοι τῇ ἀγαθῇ omits P, V, αὐτῆς ἑαυτῆς V. προθέσει omits P, V. καὶ omits P, V. σπουδῇ ἔλεγον οἱ μακάριοι, ἀλλὰ δοκιμάζοντες αὐτῆς τὴν προαίρεσιν καὶ φοβούμενοι, μὴ ἐπισφαλῶς ἐναρξαμένη οὐκ ἰσχύσῃ πληπῶσαι ὡς νεωτέρα· ἦν γὰρ δέκα καὶ ὀκτὼ ἐτῶν δέκα καὶ … ἐνιαυτῶν P. . Οὕτως οὖν ἡ μακαρία Ἀθανασία πεισθεῖσα σὺν τῇ ἀδελφῇ αὐτῆς ἀνεχώρησε τότε.

and the blessed ones said these things not opposing her good purpose and zeal, but testing her resolve and fearing lest, having begun precariously, she should not have the strength to fulfil it, being young; for she was eighteen years old. So then the blessed Athanasia, persuaded, withdrew at that time with her sister.

[41] Her only son having died, Οὐ μὴν δὲ omits P, V. τοῦ οἰκείου σκοποῦ ἀπέστη οὔτε τι omits V. τῆς ἀγαθῆς omits P, V. προθυμίας ἠλάττωσεν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπεμελεῖτο μὲν ἀκριβείας ψυχικῆς ψυχῆς; what follows cannot be read in P. , ἠσκεῖτο δὲ καὶ omits V. γυμνασίᾳ σωματικῇ πρὸς ταπεινοφροσύνην ἐθιζομένη, εὐχομένη συνεχῶς, στενάζουσα συνεχέστερον καὶ omits V. τὰς ἁμαρτίας αἰτιωμένη· ἀλλὰ γὰρ [(εὐχομένη-γὰρ) πρὸς (?) ὀλιγοσιτείαν εὐτρεπιζομένη εὐχομένη καὶ συχνῶς στενάζουσα συνεχ. τὰς ἁμ. αἰτ. τῆς ματαιότητος τοῦ βίου (?) καταμεμφομένη ἀλλὰ καὶ P.] ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ καλλίσῃ omits P, V. καὶ omits P, V. ἀγαθῇ μέλέτῃ καὶ ψυχωφελεῖ γυμνασίᾳ οὔσης τῆς μακαρίας Ἀθανασίας, τὸ μονογενὲς αὐτῆς καὶ πρωτότοκον παιδίον ἀποθνῄσκει· καὶ

[41] Yet she did not depart from her own aim nor diminish anything of her good eagerness, but she took care of exactness of soul, and exercised herself also in bodily training, accustoming herself to humility, praying continually, groaning more continually, and accusing her sins; but while the blessed Athanasia was in this most beautiful and good practice and soul-profiting training, her only-begotten and firstborn child dies; and

μήτε θρηνήσασα πολὺ ἢ πενθήσασα ἀσέμνως, οἷα ἔθος γυναιξὶν πάσχειν φιλοτέκνοις, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπιδακρύσασα μικρὸν καὶ ὅσον τὸ τῇ φύσει προσῆκον omits V, ὅσον τῆς φύσεως P. δειχθῆναι ἐν αὐτῇ, μήτε τι omits P. ἄνανδρον ἢ adds P. ὑπομείνασα ἢ ποιήσασα, ὀλίγων δὲ adds P. ἡμερῶν διελθουσῶν, ἔρχεται πάλιν εἰς τὸ μοναστήριον, μηδὲν ὅλως omits P, V. εἰς οἰκείαν ὑπηρεσίαν ἐπαγομένη, οὐκ οἶνον εὐώδη, οὐκ ἄρτον καθαρόν, οὐκ ἰχθύν, οὐ πλουμάκιον, οὐ ταπήτιον, οὐκ ἄλλο τι ὧν ὁ P. εἰώθει κεχρῆσθαι ὡς adds P, V. γυνὴ περιφανὴς καὶ ὡς adds V. πλουσία, ἀλλὰ τῇ σκληρᾷ διαίτῃ αὐτῶν ἀρκεσθεῖσα καὶ τῇ εἰς ἔδαφος κακοπαθείᾳ καρτερήσασα καὶ τῷ here P breaks off mutilated. ἀνελαίῳ λαχάνῳ καὶ τοῖς ἰσχαδίοις στοιχήσασα καὶ τὴν τῆ A, V. τῶν ψιάθων τραχύτητα τραχύτητι A, V. ἀντὶ τῆς τῶν πλουμακίων τρυφερότητος ἐνέγκασα· οὐδὲ γὰρ αὐτοῦ εὐπόρει ηὐπορει V. τὸ σεμνὸν ἐκεῖνο καὶ omits V. τίμιον omits V. καὶ θεοφιλὲς σύστημα τῆς μακαρίας Ματρώνης Ματρῶνας V. , in the monastery ἀλλὰ τῇ κατὰ Θεὸν τῆ adds V. πενίᾳ πλουτοῦν καὶ τῇ ἀγάπῃ πλατυνόμενον τὴν στενοχωρίν καὶ omits V. πενίαν omits V. ὡς ἄνεσιν καὶ omits V. τρυφὴν omits V. ἐκαρτέρει·

neither lamenting much nor mourning in an unseemly way, as women who love their children are wont to suffer, but weeping a little, as much as it was fitting for nature to be shown in her, and neither enduring nor doing anything unmanly, after a few days had passed she comes again to the monastery, bringing nothing at all for her own service, no fragrant wine, no fine bread, no fish, no cushion, no rug, nor any other of the things which a distinguished and rich woman was accustomed to use; but she was content with their hard diet, and endured the hardship on the ground, and kept to the vegetable without oil and the dried figs, and bore the roughness of the mats instead of the delicacy of the cushions; for that grave and honoured and God-loving community of the blessed Matrona was not well off even for that, but, rich in poverty according to God and widened by love, it endured the narrowness and poverty as ease and luxury;

ποιήσασα οὖν καὶ ποιήσασα V. τρίτην ἡμέραν καὶ πάντα ῥᾳδίως καὶ δίχα πόνου παντὸς ἐνέγκασα καὶ μήτε ψαλμῳδίαν νυκτερινὴν ἢ ἡμερινὴν ἀργήσασα καταμαθοῦσά τε δὲ V. πῶς αἱ ἀδελφαὶ συνάγονται εἰς τὴν ὥραν τῆς ψαλμῳδίας, πῶς κλίνουσι γόνυ, πῶς ἐγείρονται, πῶς ἐνάρχονται, πῶς ἀμετεωρίστως ἱστάμεναι ψάλλουσι, πῶς δὲ καὶ ἡ μακαρία Ματρῶνα ἀπὸ ἑσπέρας ἕως τῆς ψαλμῳδίας τοῦ omits V. ὄρθρου omits V. οὐ κλίνουσα τὸ σῶμα πρὸς ἄνεσιν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν καθεδρίῳ ξυλίνῳ καθημένη τὴν τοῦ ὕπνου χρείαν ἐπλήρου καὶ μετὰ τὴν ψαλμῳδίαν καὶ τὸν πολὺν κόπον τῆς στάσεως τῷ αὐτῷ σχήματι διέμενεν διαμείνει V. , she stays for three days, πῶς δὲ πάλιν αὐτὴ ἡ μακαρία, ὑπνουσῶν τῶν μοναζουσῶν, τὰς χεῖρας ἐκπετάζουσα πρότερον εἰς προσευχὴν καὶ δακρύουσα ἅμα ἀφύπνιζεν αὐτὰς εἰς τὴν ὥραν τῆς ψαλμῳδίας καὶ πάντα ποιοῦσα καθ᾽ ὁμοιότητα τοῦ ἡγουνένου αὐτῆς τοῦ ἁγιωτάτου Βασιανοῦ, πάντα ταῦτα (π. τ.) τ. π. V. καταμαθοῦσα ἀπῆλθεν εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτῆς.

having spent, then, three days and borne everything easily and without any toil, and having been idle in neither the nightly nor the daily psalmody, and having learned how the sisters gather at the hour of psalmody, how they bend the knee, how they rise, how they begin, how they stand and psalm without distraction, how too the blessed Matrona, from evening until the psalmody of matins, did not lay her body down for rest, but sitting on a wooden stool fulfilled the need of sleep, and after the psalmody and the great toil of standing remained in the same posture, how again the blessed woman herself, while the nuns were sleeping, first spreading out her hands in prayer and weeping at the same time, woke them at the hour of psalmody, and did everything in the likeness of her hegumen, the most holy Bassianus — having learned all these things, she went away to her house.

[42] and withdraws to a country house, Καὶ προφασισαμένη τρυγητόν, — ἦν γὰρ ὁ καιρὸς ἐπιτήδειος, — καταλιποῦσα τὸν ἄνδρα ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ, ἐξῆλθεν εἰς τὸ προάστειον αὐτῆς κἀκεῖσε τὴν ἐπαινετὴν μίμησιν ποιουμένη καὶ τὴν τρίτην καὶ ἕκτην καὶ ἐνάτην ποιησαμένης καὶ τὴν ἕκτην καὶ τὴν ἐννάτην V. καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ πάντα καθ᾽ ὁμοιότητα τοῦ μοναστηρίου ἐκτελοῦσα, μηνύεται ἐκτελούσης δηλοῦται V. αὐτῇ παρὰ τῆς μειζοτέρας αὐτῆς, τῆς καὶ τὰ πράγματα αὐτῆς adds V. τὰ κινητὰ διακρατούσης, ὅτι Καλλοπόδιος Καλόδιος V. ὁ παῖς διαρρήξας ὄπισθεν τὸ μουζίκιον so A, μουζάκιον V. καὶ omits V. βαλλάντιον χρυσίου χρυσίον V. κεκλοφὼς κέκλοφεν καὶ V. ἀφανὴς ἐγένετο.

[42] And making the vintage her pretext — for the season was suitable — leaving her husband in the house, she went out to her suburban estate; and there, as she was making the praiseworthy imitation and performing the third and sixth and ninth hours and all the rest in the likeness of the monastery, it is made known to her by her stewardess, who also had charge of the movable goods, that Callopodius the servant, having broken open the chest from behind and stolen a purse of gold, had disappeared.

Ταῦτα τοῦτο V. ἀκούσασα ἡ μακαρία omits V. Ἀθανασία καὶ τῷ Θεῷ τὸ πᾶν ἀναθεῖσα, where the money ὠς εἶχεν σπουδαία ἦλθεν ἀνῆλθεν V. εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτῆς·

Hearing this, the blessed Athanasia, referring everything to God, came with all speed to her house;

τὸ δὲ χρυσίον τοῦτο κατ᾽ ἐπιτροπὴν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς αὐτῆς ὁ παῖς ἀπεσύλησεν· κακοδάπανος γὰρ ὢν καὶ μὴ ἀρκῶν ἑαυτῷ, τῆς τιμίας omits V. καὶ omits V. θαυμαστῆς Ἀθανασίας ἐν τῷ προαστείῳ οὔσης, εὑρηκὼς εὐκαιρίαν, παρασκευάζει τὴν μειζοτέραν τ. μ. in marg. V. ἄκουσαν καὶ παρὰ τὸ ἔθος προελθεῖν τῆς omits V. οἰκίας omits V. · τῆς δὲ διὰ τὴν βίαν τοῦ προστάξαντος ἕως τοῦ πυλῶνος πυλεῶνος V. κατελθούσης, προστάσσει τῷ παιδὶ διαναρρήξαντα ἀναρρήξαντα V. τὸ σκευρίον σκευρὶν V. τὸ ἀπαντοῦν ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ βαλλάντιον ἐπάραντα κατελθεῖν· τοῦ οὖν παιδὸς ἐπ᾽ ὤμων ἔχοντος τὸ χρυσίον τὸ κεκλεμμένον τὸ κεκλ. χρυσίον V. καὶ ὄπισθεν ἐξέχοντος κατερχομένου ἐν τοῖς σκαλίοις καὶ τοῦ δεσπότου αὐτοῦ ἐπακολουθοῦντος ὄπισθεν ἀκολουθοῦντος V. , ἀπαντήσασα αὐτὸν ὑπαντήσασα V. ἡ μειζοτέρα καὶ omits V. ἐξ ὑποψίας κρίνασα τὸ δρασθέν, she hears had been stolen from her by her husband. ἐπέσχεν μὲν τὸν παῖδα καὶ ἐπέβαλε ἐπέβαλε δὲ V. τὴν χεῖρα εἰς τὸ φερόμενον βαλλάντιον· εἶτα τοῦ δεσπότου omits V. αὐτοῦ omits V. ὄπισθεν ἐγκράξαντος ἀκολουθοῦντος ἐγκράζοντος V. , ἀφῆκε τὸν παῖδα· καὶ ὁ μὲν κατελθὼν μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ μέχρι τοῦ πυλῶνος πυλεῶνος V. τῷ δεσπότῃ τὸ χρυσίον ἀποδέδωκε.

now the servant had carried off this gold by the instruction of her husband; for, being a spendthrift and not having enough for himself, while the honoured and wonderful Athanasia was at the suburban estate, finding an opportunity, he caused the stewardess, against her will and contrary to custom, to go out of the house; and when she, because of the force of the one who ordered it, had gone down as far as the gate, he orders the servant to break open the chest, take up the purse that came to his hand, and come down; as the servant, then, was coming down the stairs with the stolen gold on his shoulders, sticking out behind, and his master following, the stewardess met him and, judging from suspicion what had been done, held back the servant and laid her hand on the purse being carried; then, as his master cried out from behind, she let the servant go; and he, going down with him as far as the gate, gave the gold back to his master.

Ἡ δὲ ἀνελθοῦσα, τὴν φαύλην πρᾶξιν ἐφανέρωσεν ἐφώρασεν V. . Ἐπανελθοῦσα οὖν ἡ μακαρία Ἀθανασία ἀπὸ τοῦ προαστείου ἀ. τ. π. omits V. καὶ καταμαθοῦσα παρὰ τῆς μειζοτέρας αὐτῆς τὸ γεγενημένον, ἀταράχως τὸν παῖδα μεταστειλαμένη ἠρώτησεν αὐτόν, διὰ τί τοῦτο ἔδρασεν. Τοῦ δὲ εἰρηκότος αὐτῇ εὐθέως τὸ πᾶν τῆς ὑποθέσεως καὶ ὅτι τὸ V. κατ᾽ ἐπιτροπὴν τοῦ δεσπότου αὐτοῦ τοῦτο πεποίηκεν δεσπότου πάντα πεποιηκέναι V. , ὡς ἀνεύθυνον μὲν τοῦτον ἀπέλυσεν, πρόφασιν δὲ εὑροῦσα εὔλογον τοῦ πρὸς τὸν omits V. ἄνδρα χωρισμοῦ τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς κλοπῆς ἰδίαζεν ὡς ἀποστρεφομένη αὐτόν.

And she, going up, disclosed the base deed. When the blessed Athanasia, then, returned from the suburban estate and learned from her stewardess what had happened, sending for the servant without agitation she asked him why he had done this. And when he had at once told her the whole of the affair, and that he had done this by his master's instruction, she dismissed him as not answerable; and, finding a reasonable pretext for separation from her husband, she made the cause of the theft her own ground, as one turning away from him.

[43] In food and her whole manner of living Καὶ μεταστειλαμένη τὸν διάκονον Μάρκελλον, πεσοῦσα εἰς τοὺς πόσας αὐτοῦ παρεκάλει αὐτὸν ἐκ τῆς εὐλογίας ἧς μεταλαμβάνουσιν αἱ ἀδελφαὶ πέμπεσθαι αὐτῇ· τοῦ δὲ Μαρκέλλου omits V. ἀνανεύοντος καὶ λέγοντος ὅτι· “Οὐ δύνασαι τὴν τοιαύτην δίαιταν βαστάσαι, οὖσα τρυφερὰ καὶ ἐθισθεῖσα ἐδέσμασι ποικίλοις καὶ ἐλαιώδεσι κεχρῆσθαι”, τῶν εὐνούχων αὐτῆς μαρτυρούντων αὐτῇ καὶ omits V. λεγόντων omits V. , ὅτι ἀφ᾽ οὗ εἰς τὸ προάστειον γέγονεν, οὐ λουτρῷ παρέβαλεν, οὐ τὸ σηρικοῦν αὐτῆς ἱμάτιον ἀπεδύσατο, οὐκ εἰς κλίνην ἐκοιμήθη, ἀλλὰ ταπήτιον μόνον ἐν τῷ ἐδάφει τιθεῖσα ὕπνου ὕπνοι V. ἐν αὐτῷ ὃ ἐδόκει ὑπνοῦν ὑπνεῖν V. , οὐ τροφῆς συνήθους μετέσχεν, ἀλλὰ λιτῆς καὶ ἀπερίττου, ἀποδεξάμενος τὸ καρτερικὸν αὐτῆς καὶ ἑωρακὼς τὸν εὐσεβῆ λογισμὸν ἐπιμένοντα αὐτῇ, ὑπέσχετο πέμπεσθαι αὐτῇ·

[43] And sending for the deacon Marcellus, falling at his feet she besought him that some of the blessing of which the sisters partake should be sent to her; and when Marcellus refused and said: “You cannot bear such a diet, being delicate and accustomed to use varied and oily foods,” and her eunuchs bore witness for her, saying that from the time she had been at the suburban estate she had not visited the bath, had not taken off her silken garment, had not slept on a bed, but, putting only a rug on the floor, slept on it what sleep she seemed to sleep, and had not partaken of her customary food but of plain and simple fare, he, approving her endurance and seeing the pious thought remaining in her, promised that it should be sent to her;

καὶ ἐλθὼν πρὸς τὴν μακαρίαν Ματρῶναν, she strives to imitate the nuns. ἀπήγγειλεν αὐτῇ πάντα omits V. τὰ κατὰ τὴν μακαρίαν Ἀθανασίν· ἡ δὲ μακαρία Ματρῶνα ἔχαιρεν μὲν ἀκούσασα τὰ κρείττονα ἀκούουσα τὸ κρεῖττον V. καὶ omits V. τελεώτερα omits V. περὶ αὐτῆς, ἐδεδίει δὲ πάλιν, μήπως τροπὴν δεξαμένη ἐξ ἐπηρείας διαβολικῆς ἢ ἐκ περιστάσεως βιωτικῆς ἀποκνήσασα ὀλιγωρήσῃ· καὶ εὐθέως μὲν adds V. μετὰ τῶν συνουσῶν αὐτῇ ἀδελφῶν εἰ προσευχὴν καὶ δέησιν (εἰς - δέησιν) εἰς δεήσεις V. ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς ἐξανέστη· οὐ διέλιπε δὲ ἀπὸ τότε μεμνημένη καὶ παρακαλοῦσα τὸν Θεὸν στερεωθῆναι αύτῆς τὸν λογισμὸν καὶ φυλαχθῆναι αὐτὴν omits V. ἐν τῇ αὐτῇ ἀγαθῇ καὶ τιμίᾳ (ἀγ. κ. τ.) omits V. προθέσει·

and coming to the blessed Matrona, he reported to her all the things concerning the blessed Athanasia; and the blessed Matrona rejoiced on hearing the better and more perfect things about her, but feared again lest, undergoing a change from diabolical spite, or shrinking back because of some worldly circumstance, she should grow negligent; and at once she rose up with the sisters who were with her in prayer and supplication on her behalf; and from then on she did not cease remembering her and beseeching God that her thought be made firm and that she be kept in the same good and honoured purpose;

ὅθεν ἔκτοτε (ὅθ. ἔκτ.) omits V. ἐπέμπετο αὐτῇ κατὰ τὴν ἐνάτην ἐννάτην V. ὥραν ἐκ τοῦ ἀνελαίου λαχάνου καὶ ἐκ omits V. τῶν ἰσχαδίων· ἐπὶ πολὺν δὲ χρόνον χορηγουμένη καὶ τῇ διαίτῃ ταύτῃ ἀρκουμένη, εἰς συναίσθησιν ἐλθοῦσα, ἐλογίσατο εὐσεβὲς εἶναι τὸ καὶ ταύτην ἀμείψασθαι τὰς ἀδελφάς· καὶ ἀποστείλασα ὀλίγα νομίσματα εἰς ἀρτοπρατεῖον παρεσκεύασεν χορηγεῖσθαι τὴν μακαρίαν Ματρῶναν καθ᾽ ἑκάστην ἄρτους ὀλίγους χορηγηθῆναι τῆ μακαρία Ματρώνη ὀλίγους ἄρτους εἰς V. εἰς παραμυθίαν τῶν ἀδελφῶν.

whence from then on there was sent to her at the ninth hour some of the vegetable without oil and of the dried figs; and having been supplied for a long time and being content with this diet, coming to a sense of it, she reckoned it a pious thing to repay the sisters for this too; and sending a few coins to a bakery, she arranged for the blessed Matrona to be supplied each day with a few loaves for the consolation of the sisters.

She sends loaves to the sisters. Τότε ἡ μακαρία Ματρῶνα εὐπορήσασα πρὸς τὸ (πρὸς τὸ) πρῶτος V. χορηγεῖν ταῖς συνούσαις αὐτῇ ἀδελφαῖς ἄρτους, ηὐχαρίστησε πολλῷ πλέον τῷ Θεῷ — αὐτὸν γὰρ ἠπίστατο πάντων τῶν ἀγαθῶν αἴτιον εἶναι omits V. — καὶ omits V. ἔσπευδεν δὲ adds V. καὶ αὐτὴ ἀξία τῶν δωρουμένων αὐτῇ ἀγαθῶν omits V. παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ εὑρεθῆναι φανῆναι V. · ἐπέπειστο γὰρ ἀκριβῶς, ὅτι ἡ τῶν πλειόνων 〈χορηγία πλειόνων V, omits A. 〉 τιμωριῶν πρόξενος γίνεται τοῖς ταῖς V. μὴ ἀξίως τῶν προσταγμάτων αὐτοῦ πολιτευομένοις πολιτευομέναις V. .

Then the blessed Matrona, being well provided to supply loaves to the sisters who were with her, gave thanks to God much the more — for she knew him to be the cause of all good things — and she hastened to be found herself worthy of the good things given her by him; for she was persuaded precisely that the supply of more things becomes the cause of more punishments for those who do not live worthily of his commandments.

[44] Her husband at last consenting, Τῆς οὖν μακαρίας Ματρώνης εὐχομένης ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς ἀνενδότως ἀν. ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς V. καὶ αὐτῆς δὲ τῆς Ἀθανασίας ἀξίαν τῶν εὐχῶν τὴν καρδίαν ἑαυτῆς παρασκευαζούσης, πλέον τῳ Θεῷ προσετίθετο καὶ ὁ τῆς ἀσκήσεως πόθος μειζόνως ἐν αὐτῇ ἐνέκειτο ἔκειτο V. καὶ τῷ ἀνδρὶ ἐνοχλοῦσα καθ᾽ ἐκάστην (καθ᾽ ἑκ.) omits V. ἀπολῦσαι αὐτὴν οὐκ ἐνεδίδου, ὁτὲ μὲν λέγουσα συνοικεῖν σοι V. · “Οὐ δύναμαί σοι συνοικεῖν συνοκεῖν σοι V. , φαύλῳ ὄντι τὴν προαίρεσιν καὶ λάγνῳ καὶ πρὸς πράξεις ἀθεμίτους ὡρμημένῳ,” ὁτὲ δὲ καὶ ὑπισχνουμένη διδόναι αὐτῷ χρυσίον πολὺν εἰ βουληθείη εὐγνωμόνως omits V. ἀπολύειν αὐτὴν adds V. ·

[44] While the blessed Matrona, then, prayed for her unremittingly, and Athanasia herself prepared her heart to be worthy of the prayers, she attached herself more to God, and the longing for asceticism lay more greatly in her; and troubling her husband every day, she did not give up, that he should release her, sometimes saying: “I cannot live with you, base as you are in your purpose and lustful and bent on unlawful deeds,” and sometimes promising to give him much gold if he would graciously release her;

φοβουμένη γάρ, μὴ ἐάσασα αὐτὸν ἀναχωρήσοι ἀμέσως καὶ omits V. ὑποπέσοι τῇ τοῦ Κυρίου ἀποφάσει τῇ omits V. λεγούσῃ· Matthew 5, 32. ὅστις ἐὰν ἀπολύσῃ τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ παρεκτὸς λόγου πορνείας, ποιεῖ αὐτὴν μοιχευθῆναι — τὸ γὰρ ἐπὶ γυναικὸς εἰρημένον καὶ ἐπὶ ἀνδρὸς εἴρηται, — και ἀναχωρήσασα δὲ οὐ τὸ τυχὸν (οὐ τὸ τ.) omits V. πρᾶγμα τῷ ὑποδεχομένῳ αὐτὴν μοναστηρίῳ παράσχοι, ἐκείνου ἐπιζητοῦντος αὐτήν, ἀσκόπως καὶ adds V. καταλεῖψαι αὐτὸν οὐκ ἠνείχετο ἠνέσχετο V. · ὅθεν ἐπινεύσει καὶ (ὅθ. ἐπ. καὶ) omits V. συνεργίᾳ οὗν adds V. τοῦ δεσπότου ἡμῶν omits V. Ἰησοῦ omits V. Χριστοῦ πολλῷ καιρῷ νουθετήσασα αὐτὸν ἐποίησεν (νουθ.- ἐποίησεν) ἔπεισεν V. αὐτὸν συνθέσθαι τῷ ἀγαθῷ αὐτῆς σκοπῷ.

for fearing lest, leaving him, she should withdraw directly and fall under the sentence of the Lord which says: whoever puts away his wife, except for the cause of fornication, makes her commit adultery — for what is said of the wife is said also of the husband — and lest, having withdrawn, she should cause no small trouble to the monastery that received her, with him seeking her, she would not endure to leave him without consideration; whence, by the assent and cooperation of our Master Jesus Christ, having admonished him for a long time, she made him agree to her good aim.

Καὶ τούτου γενομένου, πάντοθεν ἑαυτὴν καὶ ἀπὸ παντὸς πράγματος ἀπαλλάξασα καὶ τοῖς μὲν τῶν ἀνδραπόδων ἐλευθερίαν δωρησαμένη καὶ οἰκήσεις καὶ ἀναλώματα παρασχοῦσα, τοῖς τούς V. δὲ πρὸς τὸν ὅμοιον αὐτῆς ζῆλον καὶ τρόπον προτρεψαμένη, λαβοῦσα ἑαυτὴν καὶ τὰ ἑαυτῆς πάντα, ἔρχεται ἐν τῷ μοναστηρίῳ εἰς τὸ μοναστήριον V. πρὸς τὴν μακαρίαν Ματρῶναν καὶ ἀποθεμένη αὐτὰ πρὸς τοῖς ἴχνεσιν αὐτῆς καθ᾽ ὁμοιότητα τῶν ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσιν ἀποστόλων omits V. , ἱκέτευεν αὐτὴν λέγουσα· “Δούλη Χριστοῦ καὶ μῆτερ ἁγία, ἰδοὺ καὶ ἐμὲ ἔχεις καὶ τὰ ἐμά ἤδη καὶ ἐμὲ καὶ τὰ ἐμὰ ἔχεις δούλη Χριστοῦ καὶ μήτηρ ἁγία V. · ἀφιέρωσον καὶ ἐμὲ καὶ ταῦτα τῷ Θεῷ καὶ omits V. διοίκησον ἡμᾶς τῇ προσούσῃ σοι σοφίᾳ· μὴ οὖν omits V. τῇ περιουσίᾳ

And when this had happened, freeing herself on every side and from every affair, and granting freedom to some of the slaves and providing them with dwellings and expenses, and urging others to a zeal and manner like her own, taking herself and all her goods, she comes into the monastery to the blessed Matrona, and, laying them at her footprints in the likeness of those in the Acts of the apostles, she supplicated her, saying: “Servant of Christ and holy mother, behold, you have both me and mine; consecrate both me and these to God, and administer us with the wisdom that is in you; do not, then,

προσέχουσα, τῆς σωτηρίας μου ἀμελήσῃς, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς μιᾶς μίαν A, V(?). τῶν πενεστέρων ἀδελφῶν κἀμοῦ καμοὶ V. ἐπιμελήθητι καὶ πρόσεχε· ὁ γὰρ ὄγκος τῶν χρημάτων τὸ φορτίον τῶν πταισμάτων βαρύτερον κατεργάζεται.”

attending to my fortune, neglect my salvation, but care for me and attend to me as to one of the poorer sisters; for the bulk of riches makes the burden of faults heavier.”

[45] The administration of her goods Ἡ δὲ μακαρία Ματρῶνα καὶ τὴν πρόθεσιν αὐτῆς ἀποδεχομένη καὶ τὸ βαρὺ τῆς διοικήσεως παραιτουμένη λέγει αὐτῇ· “Ὁ Θεὸς ὁ καλέσας σε, τέκνον, εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦτον καὶ κατευθύνας σου τὴν καρδίαν καταφρονῆσαι πλούτου καὶ omits V. κόσμου καὶ δουλεύειν αὐτῷ, δυνατός ἐστι καὶ φυλάξαι σε διαφυλάξεσαι V. μεθ᾽ ἡμῶν ἕως τῆς omits V. ἐσχάτης σου ἀναπνοῆς ἀναπ. σου V. · τὰ δὲ χρήματα, παρακαλῶ σε, τέκνον μου adds V. , αὐτὴ διοίκησον αὐτὰ ὡς οἶδας καὶ ὡς ὁ Θεὸς ἀποκαλύπτει σοι, ἢ ἄλλῳ δυναμένῳ ὑπουργῆσαι τῇ ἀγαθῇ σου προαιρέσει ἐγχείρισον αὐτά ταῦτα V. · ἐγὼ γὰρ — ὁμολογῶ σοι, — δέδοικα τὰς πολλάς μου ἁμαρτίας, μήπως μὴ V. οὐχ εὑροῦσα διοικῆσαι αὐτά, ὡς εὐαρεστεῖται ὁ adds V. Θεός, τῷ φορτίῳ μου φορτίον ἐπιβάλω.”

[45] And the blessed Matrona, both accepting her purpose and declining the weight of the administration, says to her: “God, who called you, child, into this house and directed your heart to despise wealth and the world and to serve him, is able also to guard you with us until your last breath; but the money, I beseech you, child, administer it yourself as you know and as God reveals to you, or hand it over to another who is able to serve your good resolve; for I — I confess to you — fear my many sins, lest, not finding how to administer it as God is well pleased, I should add a burden to my burden.”

Τῆς δὲ μακαρίας Ἀθανασίας πρὸς ταῦτα πάνυ λυπηθείσης καὶ μετὰ δακρύων ἱκετευούσης αὐτὴν καταδέξασθαι τὴν διοίκησιν αὐτῶν καὶ δικαιολογουμένης εἰκότως καὶ λεγούσης ἁρμοδίως ὅτι “Εἰ σὺ ἡ τοσαῦτα ἔτη δουλεύσασα τῷ Θεῷ καὶ τὰ ἀρεστὰ αὐτῷ πράξασα καὶ τὴν ἐκ τῆς πολιτείας παρρησίαν ἔχουσα παραιτῇ τὴν τούτων διοίκησιν, Matrona at first refuses; πῶς ἐμοὶ τὴν so A. πάντων ἀνθρώπων (διοίκ.- ἀνθρ.) omits V. ἁμαρτωλοτέραν καὶ μέχρι τοῦ παρόντος ἐν τοῖς κακοῖς ἀναστραφεῖσαν πλεονεξίαις τε καὶ ἀνομίαις δουλεύσασαν καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τὸ ὄμμα τῆς ψυχῆς ἐσκοτισμένον ἔχουσαν ἐπιτρέπεις τὴν αὐτῶν διοίκησιν;”

And as the blessed Athanasia was greatly grieved at this, and with tears supplicated her to accept the administration of them, pleading reasonably and saying fittingly: “If you, who have served God for so many years and done what is pleasing to him and have the boldness that comes from your conduct, decline the administration of these things, how do you entrust their administration to me, more sinful than all men, who until the present have lived in evils and served greed and lawlessness, and for that reason have the eye of my soul darkened?”

Ταῦτα δικαιολογουμένη καὶ ἁρμοδίως φθεγγομένη πείθει τὴν μακαρίαν Ματρῶναν οἰκειώσασθαι τὴν φροντίδα αὐτῶν· καὶ εὐθέως omits V. μεταστειλαμένη τὸν διάκονον Μάρκελλον ἀνήγαγε δι᾽ αὐτοῦ πάντα ταῦτα (π. τ.) omits V. τῷ ἁγιωτάτῳ Βασιανῷ· ὁ δὲ καὶ V. δηλοῖ αὐτῇ οὕτως· “Ὃ δοκεῖ σοι δοκιμάζεις V. , τέκνον, τοῦτο καὶ (τ. κ.) omits V. ποίησον· κύριος δὲ ὁ κύριος V. ὁ Θεὸς (ὁ Θ.) omits V. συνεργήσει σοι πρὸς πᾶν ἔργον ἀγαθόν.”

Pleading these things and speaking fittingly, she persuades the blessed Matrona to make the care of them her own; and at once, sending for the deacon Marcellus, she referred all these things through him to the most holy Bassianus; and he declares to her thus: “What seems good to you, child, do that; and the Lord God will work together with you for every good work.”

[46] then on buildings to be constructed Τότε ἡ μακαρία Ματρῶνα omits V. δεξαμένη τὴν ἐπιτροπὴν μετὰ εὐχῆς μετὰ εὐχ. τὴν ἐπ. V. τοῦ μακαρίου γέροντος καὶ omits V. συμβουλευθεῖσα ὑπὸ τοῦ διακόνου Μαρκέλλου τειχίζει μὲν adds V. ὅλον τὸ μοναστήριον αὐτῆς, κτίζει δὲ καὶ τριώροφον τριόφορον V. οἶκον καὶ τὴν μὴν πρώτην στέγην εἰς κοιμητηρίου οἰκον κοιμητηρίων κατασκευὴν V. τῶν τελευτώντων τελευτουσῶν V. ἀδελφῶν ἀπεκλήρωσεν, κατὰ μίμησιν τῶν ἐν τῷ μοναστηρίῳ τοῦ μακαρίου Βασιανοῦ, εἰ καὶ καὶ εἰ V. μικρὸν σκοτεινότερος ὁ κάτω οἶκος διὰ τὴν θέσιν τοῦ τόπου τοῦ τόπου θέσιν V. ἐστίν.

[46] Then the blessed Matrona, receiving the commission with the prayer of the blessed old man, and advised by the deacon Marcellus, walls her whole monastery, and builds also a three-storeyed house; and the first storey she allotted as the burial house of the sisters who die, in imitation of those in the monastery of the blessed Bassianus, even if the lower house is somewhat darker on account of the situation of the place.

she spends part, Τὴν δὲ δευτέραν εἰς εὐκτηρίου χειμωνικοῦ θέσιν ἀπεχώρισεν, καὶ τὴν τρίτην ὁμοίως εἰς εὐκτηρίου καλοκαιρινοῦ, καὶ αὐτὰ μέντοι κατὰ τὸν τύπον τῶν εὐκτηρίων τῶν ἐν τῷ μοναστηρίῳ τοῦ ἡγουμένου αὐτῆς· ἅπερ omits V. καὶ εἰσι χάριτι Θεοῦ τοῦ δεσπότου Χριστοῦ V. μέχρι τοῦ παρόντος ἱστάμενα καὶ τὴν οἰκείαν διαγγέλλοντα εὐπρέπειαν καὶ τῆς μὲν μακαρίας Ματρώνης τὴν ἐπίνοιαν καὶ σπουδὴν (κ. σπ.) omits V. κηρύττοντα διηνεκῶς, τῆς δὲ μακαρίας Ἀθανασίας τὴν καρποφορίαν ἐπισφραγίζοντα εἰς τὰς μελλούσας γενεάς.

The second she set apart as the site of a winter oratory, and the third likewise as that of a summer oratory, and these too according to the pattern of the oratories in the monastery of her hegumen; which by the grace of God stand to the present and proclaim their own comeliness, and continually herald the contrivance and zeal of the blessed Matrona, and seal the fruitfulness of the blessed Athanasia for the generations to come.

distributes the rest to monasteries. Μετὰ δὲ οὖν V. τὸ ἀπαρτισθῆναι τὸν νῦν ὁρώμενον ἐν τῷ μοναστηρίῳ κόσμον τὰ περισσεύοντα τῶν χρημάτων τοῖς πέριξ τῶν μοναστηρίων μοναστηρίοις V. ἐρρόγευσεν ἐρώγευσεν V. , διακόνῳ πρὸς τὴν τοιαύτην διακονίαν τῷ τιμίῳ διακόνω V. χρησαμένη Μαρκέλλῳ. Μετέσχεν δὲ τῶν τῆς μακαρίας Ἀθανασίας χρημάτων καὶ ἡ τοὺς φωστῆρας τῶν ἀναχωρητῶν φέρουσα ἔρημος καὶ τὰ Ἱεροσόλυμα καὶ ἡ Ἔμεσα καὶ Νέμισσα V. καὶ ἡ Βηρυτὸς καὶ ἁπλῶς εἰπεῖν πᾶσα ἡ ἀνατολή, ἵνα ἐκ περάτων γῆς ὡς omits V. οἶμαι ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς ἀναστάσεως μαρτυροῦντας τῇ μεγαλοψύχῳ αὐτῆς εὐποιΐᾳ εὔπ. αὐτῆς V. ἕξει ἡ μακαρία Ἀθανασία.

And after the adornment now seen in the monastery had been completed, she dispensed the surplus of the money to the monasteries round about, using the honoured Marcellus as deacon for such a ministry. And there partook of the money of the blessed Athanasia the desert, which bears the luminaries of the anchorites, and Jerusalem and Emesa and Berytus and, to put it simply, the whole east, so that from the ends of the earth, as I think, on the day of the resurrection the blessed Athanasia will have witnesses to her magnanimous beneficence.

[47] Athanasia in her purposeΟὕτως τὸ μοναστήριον τῆς μακαρίας Ματρώνης τὸν πρέποντα κόσμον ἀπέλαβεν καὶ τοῖς λοιποῖς μοναστηρίοις ἐξωμοιώθη. Οὕτως ἡ μακαρία Ματρῶνα τῶν πολλῶν δακρύων αὐτῆς καὶ καμάτων δ. καὶ καμ. αὐτῆς V. τὴν ἀντάμειψιν ἄμειψιν V. ἐδέξατο, τοῦ δεσπότου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ (Ἰ. Χ.) omits V. δυσωπηθέντος τοῖς πόνοις τοὺς πόνους V. καὶ τοῖς ἱδρῶσιν τοὺς ἱδρῶτας V. αὐτῆς. Διὰ γὰρ τοῦτο καὶ τὰ περὶ τῆς μακαρίας Ἀθανασίας συμπεριειλήφαμεν τῇ διηγήσει, ἵνα δείξωμεν καὶ τὴν μακαρίαν Ματρῶναν omits V. δεηθεῖσαν τοῦ omits V. Θεοῦ πολλὰ καὶ πολλάκις καὶ τὸν omits V. Θεὸν δωρησάμενον αὐτῇ οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν ὑπὲρ τὰ πολλά.

[47] Thus the monastery of the blessed Matrona received its fitting adornment and was made like the other monasteries. Thus the blessed Matrona received the recompense of her many tears and toils, the Master Jesus Christ being moved by her labours and sweats. For this reason we have also included in the narrative the matters concerning the blessed Athanasia, to show that the blessed Matrona besought God much and often, and that God before long granted her beyond the many things.

lives holily Οὕτως καὶ ἡ μακαρία Ἀθανασία τὰς ἄρκυς τοῦ βίου διαφυγοῦσα, ἐμόνασεν αἰσίως omits V. καὶ μονάσασα τὸν δρόμον ἐπλήρωσεν οὕτως adds V. καὶ τὸν ἄνδρα σοφῶς ἀπατήσασα ἤσκησεν καὶ τὸ τῆς ἀσκήσεως ἔργον ἐτελείωσεν. Οὕτως τὸν Θεὸν ἀγαπήσασα τῇ ἀγάπῃ τὸ πέρας ἐπέθηκεν· οὕτως τὴν ἀκτημοσύνην ποθήσασα βασιλείαν οὐρανῶν μετὰ τὸ τέλος εὕρατο ηὕρατο V. · οὕτως τὸν ἄπληστον πλοῦτον καὶ κάτω συρόμενον σκορπίσασα τὴν πτωχείαν τοῦ Κυρίου ἠγάπησεν καὶ — ἵνα συνελὼν εἴπω, — αὕτη ἐξ ὑπερβαλλούσης εὐλαβείας, ἵνα μὴ τὰ ὀνόματα τῶν βδελυκτῶν θεῶν διὰ τοῦ οἰκείου στόματος αὐτῆς παρενέγκῃ, παρῃτεῖτο τοὺς τῶν ἁγίων καὶ καλλινίκων μαρτύρων ἀγῶνας ἀναγινώσκειν, καίτοι τιμῶσα τοὺς μάρτυρας πλέον πάντων· τοῖς γὰρ λάρναξι τῶν ἐνδόξων αὐτῶν λειψάνων προστιθεῖσα τὴν ὄψιν, τὰ ὦτα, τὸ στῆθος καὶ πᾶν μέλος αὐτῆς συνεχῶς προσαγιάζεσθαι πρὸς τὸ ἁγιάζεσθαι V. ὑπερβαλλούσῃ ἀγάπῃ κατησπάζετο αὐτούς (ὑπερβ. - αὐτοὺς) omits V. ·

Thus the blessed Athanasia too, having escaped the nets of life, became a nun happily, and having become a nun fulfilled her course; and having wisely deceived her husband she practised asceticism and completed the work of asceticism. Thus, having loved God, she put the crown on her love; thus, having longed for poverty, she found the kingdom of heaven after her end; thus, having scattered the insatiable wealth that drags downward, she loved the poverty of the Lord; and — to say it in sum — she, out of exceeding reverence, so as not to utter the names of the abominable gods with her own mouth, declined to read the contests of the holy and gloriously victorious martyrs, although she honoured the martyrs more than all; for laying her face, her ears, her breast and every limb of hers upon the coffers of their glorious relics, to be continually sanctified, she embraced them with exceeding love;

ἠκολούθησαν δὲ αὐτῆς τῷ σκοπῷ ἑπτὰ εὐνοῦχοι καὶ τρεῖς κουβικουλαρίαι, καὶ αἱ μὲν τρεῖς σὺν V writes twice. αὐτῇ ἐμόνασαν ἐν τῷ μοναστηρίῳ, and dies after fifteen years. τοὺς δὲ εὐνούχους ἀπέστειλεν εἰς ἀνδρικὰ μοναστήρια· πεντεκαίδεκα δὲ omits V. ἔτη βιώσασα ἐν ταῖς χερσὶ τῆς μακαρίας Ματρώνης καὶ ὑπόδειγμα γενομένη τελείας ὑποταγῆς ἀποταγῆς V. καὶ ταπεινοφροσύνης παντὶ τῷ βίῳ καὶ ταῖς σὺν αὐτῇ αὐταῖς V. ἀγωνιζομέναις ἀδελφαῖς, μετέστη πρὸς Κύριον (π. κ.) omits V. τῆσδε τῆς βιοτῆς βιώτητος V. , προστεθεῖσα τοῖς ἀπ᾽ αἰῶνος εὐαρεστήσασι τῷ omits V. Χριστῷ.

and seven eunuchs and three chamber-women followed her aim; and the three became nuns with her in the monastery, while she sent the eunuchs to men's monasteries; and having lived fifteen years in the hands of the blessed Matrona, and become an example of perfect submission and humility to the whole of life and to the sisters contending with her, she passed to the Lord from this life, added to those who from the beginning of the age have been well-pleasing to Christ.

[48] In the midst of laboursἘντεῦθεν ἔνθεν V. τοιγαροῦν, ὡς εἴρηται, πλατυνθείσης τῆς μακαρίας Ματρώνης ἔν τε οἰκήμασι οἰκήσει V. καὶ ἀναλώμασιν, εἴχετο μὲν adds V. τῆς συνήθους V. ἀσκήσεως δι᾽ ἀκριβοῦς πολιτείας ἑαυτὴν προσάγουσα τῷ Θεῷ, προσκομίζουσα δὲ adds V. αὐτῷ καὶ ἄλλας πολλὰς τετελειωμένας ψυχάς· γεωργὸς γὰρ ὑπάρχουσα πνευματικὸς ἡ omits V. μακαρία omits V. ἠμελημένας τε omits V. καὶ χερσομανούσας ψυχὰς δεχομένη χ. δεχ. χώρας ψυχῶν V. , δι᾽ ἐμπόνου καὶ ἐμπείρου ἀσκητικῆς ἀκριβείας γεωργοῦσα, ταύτας καρποφόρους δι᾽ omits V. ἔργων ἀγαθῶν προσῆγε Χριστῷ.

[48] From then on, therefore, as has been said, the blessed Matrona, being widened both in buildings and in resources, held fast to asceticism, bringing herself to God through exact conduct, and presenting to him also many other perfected souls; for being a spiritual husbandman, the blessed woman, receiving neglected souls running wild like waste land, and cultivating them through laborious and experienced ascetic exactness, brought them to Christ fruitful through good works.

Ταῦτα δὲ οὐ μὴν ταῦτα V. διαπραττομένη οὐ διέφυγε τῶν πειρασμῶν τὰς ἐφόδους τῶν π. διέφυγεν τὰς ἐφ. δυνάμεις V. Matrona is exposed to temptations; · ἀλλ᾽ ὁ κακομήχανος ἐκεῖνος δαίμων, ὁ ἐν τῇ Βηρυτῷ εἰρηκὼς αὐτῇ ὅτι “κἂν ἐν τῇ νεότητί σου μὴ δυνηθῶ σε ἀπατῆσαι (σε ἀπ.) σοι V. , ἐν τῷ γήρει σου πειρασμοῖς ἀνηκέστοις σοι σε V. περιβαλῶ”, οὐκ ἐπαύσατο θλίβων αὐτῆς τὴν ζωήν, νυκτεριναῖς φαντασίαις δεδιττόμενος, ἡμεριναῖς περιστάσεσι περιπείρων, πάντα κινῶν καὶ πραγματευόμενος ὁ δείλαιος καὶ omits V. μήτε ἄνεσιν αὐτῇ ἐνδιδοὺς κἂν τὸ βραχύτατον.

But in doing these things she did not escape the assaults of temptations; but that evil-contriving demon, who had said to her in Berytus: “Even if in your youth I cannot deceive you, in your old age I will surround you with irreparable temptations,” did not cease afflicting her life, frightening her with nightly phantasms, piercing her with daily troubles, the wretch moving and contriving everything and not granting her rest for even the briefest while.

[49] as the end of life approaches,Ὡς δὲ εἶδεν ἑαυτὴν ἡ μακαρία τὸ πλέον τῆς ἡλικίας ἀναλώσασαν καὶ τοὺς τῆς ἀσκήσεως ἀγῶνας Θεοῦ χάριτι διανύσασαν καὶ 〈εἰς V, omits A. 〉 γῆν κάτω λοιπὸν A. νεύουσαν καὶ τὸ τῆς φύσεως προσῆκον ἀποδιδόναι μέλλουσαν — δεῖ γὰρ ἀποθανεῖν καὶ τοὺς κατορθοῦντας καὶ τοὺς ἀποθ. καὶ τοὺς μὴ (μὴ in another hand in the margin) V. ῥᾳθυμοῦντας πρὸς τὴν τῶν βεβιωμένων ἄμειψιν — ἐπεθύμησεν ἰδεῖν τὴν τοῖς δικαίοις μετὰ τὴν ἔνθεν ταλαιπωρίαν ἀποκειμένην ἀνάπαυσιν· καὶ ἐπιθυμήσασα ἱκέτευε συνήθως τὸν δεσπότην Χριστὸν φανερῶσαι αὐτῇ· καὶ ἐπὶ ἑπτὰ ἡμέρας τῇ ἀσιτίᾳ καὶ τῇ προσευχῇ καρτερῶς ἐγκειμένη τῷ ////τῶ V; αὐτῶ A. ὕπνῳ κατενεχθεῖσα ἔδοξεν ὁρᾶν ἑαυτὴν ἔν τινι κήπῳ γενομένην χλοηφοροῦντι καὶ ἀλσοκομοῦντι δένδρεσί τε πολλοῖς καὶ παντοδαποῖς κεκοσμημένῳ καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο ἐνδοτέρῳ ἐν ἐνδοτέρω V. μικρὸν μικρω V. καὶ ὑπερλάμπρῳ οἴκῳ, φωτί τε καὶ αὐτῷ ἀκραιφνεστάτῳ καταλαμπομένῳ, γυναῖκα δὲ ἐν τούτῳ εἶναι καὶ αὐτὴν κόσμον περιβεβλημένην βασιλικὸν καὶ πᾶσαν ὡραιότητα ἠμφιεσμένην·

[49] And when the blessed woman saw that she had spent the greater part of her life and had accomplished the contests of asceticism by the grace of God, and was bending down toward the earth and about to render what is due to nature — for both those who do rightly and those who are slack must die, toward the recompense of what they have lived — she desired to see the rest laid up for the righteous after the wretchedness here; and having desired it, she supplicated the Master Christ as usual to reveal it to her; and for seven days, persevering steadfastly in fasting and prayer, being overcome by sleep she seemed to see herself in a certain garden, green and full of groves, adorned with many and various trees, and after this a little further within, in a surpassingly bright house, itself illumined by a most pure light; and that there was a woman in it, she too clad in royal adornment and arrayed in all beauty;

ταύτης τοῖς γόνασι προσελθοῦσαν, she enjoys the solace of a vision. ἐν ἑτέρῳ οἴκῳ ἐνδοτέρῳ πάλιν ἀπεστάλθαι παρ᾽ αὐτῆς, πολλῷ τῷ μεγέθει καὶ τῇ δόξῃ περιφανεστέρῳ ὄντι τοῦ προτέρου. Ἐν τούτῳ οὖν γενομένη καὶ ἄλλαις τισὶ γυναιξί, καὶ τῷ σχήματι καὶ τῇ εἰδέᾳ τεθαυμασμέναις, ὁμιλήσασα διυπνίσθη. Ταύτην τὴν ὀπτασίαν πρὸς τῷ τέλει τοῦ σεμνοῦ αὐτῆς βίου θεασαμένη ἡ μακαρία Ματρῶνα καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν ἑαυτῆς πληροφορήσασα ἐν τοῖς οἴκοις, οὓς ὁ Κύριος ἐκάλεσε μονάς, ἐν αἷς οἰκεῖν ἀξιοῦνται οἱ καλῶς βιοῦντες, ἔσπευδεν ἑαυτὴν ἀξίαν ποιῆσαι τῆς ἐν αὐταῖς οἰκήσεως. John 14, 2.

that, having come to her knees, she was sent by her again into another house further within, much more conspicuous in size and glory than the first. Having come into this, then, and conversed with certain other women, admirable both in form and in appearance, she awoke. Having beheld this vision toward the end of her grave life, and having assured her soul concerning the houses which the Lord called mansions, in which those who live well are counted worthy to dwell, the blessed Matrona hastened to make herself worthy of dwelling in them.

[50] Ταύτην τὴν omits V. ὀπτασίαν omits V. καὶ ἡμεῖς οἱ καταξιωθέντες μετὰ ταῦτα συγγράψαι τὸν βίον αὐτῆς ἐπισφράγισμα τῶν αὐτῆς κατορθωμάτων ποιούμεθα· οὐ γὰρ περιούσης αὐτῆς ταῦτα συνεγράφησαν, ἀλλὰ μεταστάσης εἰς τὸν ἀμείνονα βίον, τῆς θεοφιλεστάτης Εὐλογίας διηγησαμένης ταῦτα omits V. , Eulogia, witness of Matrona's deeds, καὶ αὐτῆς ἀναγκασθείσης παρὰ τῶν μετὰ ταῦτα ἐπιθυμησασῶν μαθεῖν τὰ περὶ αὐτῆς· αὐτὴ γὰρ ἡ μακαρία Εὐλογία (ἡ μ. Ε.) omits V. συνασκήσασα καὶ συνδιαπράξασα αὐτῇ omits V. ἐξ ἀρχῆς, τὰ μὲν τῶν κατορθωμάτων αὐτῆς ἀκριβεστέρως ὄψει παρέλαβεν, τὰ δὲ διηγουμένης αὐτῆς ἀκούσασα ἐσημειώσατο. Ἡ γὰρ μακαρία Ματρῶνα ἐκ τοῦ κατ᾽ αὐτὴν ὑποδείγματος σπεύδουσα ἐπαλείφειν τὰς συνούσας αὐτῇ ἀδελφὰς πολλάκις μετ᾽ αὐτῶν μεταξὺ αὐτῶν V. καθεζομένη, ὡς μήτηρ φιλόστοργος νουθετοῦσα αὐτάς, διηγεῖτο τὴν εἰς αὐτὴν γενομένην παρὰ τοῦ φιλανθρώπου Θεοῦ παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ γενομένην V. ἀντίληψιν, οὐκ ἐπιδεικτιῶσα ἐπιδεικτιοῦσα V. — μὴ γένοιτο

[50] This vision we too, who were afterwards counted worthy to write her life, make the seal of her achievements; for these things were not written while she was alive, but after she had passed to the better life, the most God-beloved Eulogia relating them, she too having been compelled by those who afterwards desired to learn about her; for the blessed Eulogia herself, having practised asceticism with her and worked together with her from the beginning, received some of her achievements more exactly by sight, and noted down others having heard her relating them. For the blessed Matrona, hastening to anoint the sisters who were with her by her own example, often sitting with them and admonishing them as a loving mother, related the help that had come to her from God, the lover of mankind, not making a display — far be it

— οὐδὲ δημοσιεύουσα τὰ αὐτῆς κατορθώματα, ἀλλ᾽ οἰκοδομοῦσα καὶ πείθουσα αὐτάς, ὅτι ὁ τὸν Θεὸν θεραπεύων καὶ τὰ ἀρεστὰ αὐτῷ πράττων, κἂν διώκηται, κἂν πολεμῆται, κἂν ἐν ἐρήμῳ τυγχάνῃ παρὰ μηδενὸς γινωσκόμενος, οὐκ ἐγκαταλιμπάνεται ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ.

— nor publishing her achievements, but edifying them and persuading them that he who serves God and does what is pleasing to him, even if he is persecuted, even if he is warred against, even if he happens to be in a desert known by no one, is not forsaken by him.

Οὕτως οὖν ἡ τιμία omits V. καὶ omits V. ὁσιωτάτη Εὐλογία χρόνους οὐκ ὀλίγους μετ᾽ αὐτῆς διαγομένη καὶ τὰ μέν, ὡς εἴρηται, θεασαμένη τὰ δὲ σημειωσαμένη γραφῇ παραδέδωκεν· she commits them to writing. τοιαῦτα δὲ διηγήσατο καὶ τοσαῦτα συνεγράφησαν, ὅσα ὁ καιρὸς συνεχώρησεν ἀποκαλυφθῆναι· ἡ γὰρ καταλαβοῦσα καὶ omits V. τότε omits V. καταιγὶς τοὺς τῷ Χριστῷ δουλεύειν ἐθέλοντας γνησίως καὶ τῶν ἁγιωτάτων ἐκκλησιῶν ὁ τάραχος [That storm is to be understood, unless I am mistaken, of which Theophanes speaks, Chronographia, at the year 5991, De Boor, vol. I, pp. 141 – 42.] τὰ πλείω τῶν κατορθωμάτων αὐτῆς ἀπεκρύψατο.

So, then, the honoured and most holy Eulogia, spending no few years with her, and having seen some things, as has been said, and noted down others, handed them down in writing; and she related such things, and as many were written down, as the time allowed to be revealed; for the storm which then also overtook those who wished to serve Christ genuinely, and the disturbance of the most holy churches, hid the greater part of her achievements.

Αὕτη οὖν ἡ μερικὴ τῶν κατορθωμάτων αὐτῆς διήγησις δέδωκεν ἡμῖν τοῖς μετ᾽ αὐτὴν καυχᾶσθαι ἐν αὐτῇ ὡς περιούσῃ (ὡς π.) omits V. · οὕτως καὶ οἱ μεθ᾽ ἡμᾶς οἰκοδομηθήσονται ἐν αὐτῇ· οὐ μόνον δὲ ἡμῖν, ἀλλὰ (οἱ - ἀλλὰ) omits V. καὶ τοῖς μετὰ ταῦτα διδάσκαλος ἀκριβὴς omits V. ἡ μακαρία Ματρῶνα δειχθήσεται ὥσπερ οὔση οὕτως καὶ οἱ μεθ᾽ ἡμᾶς οἰκοδομηθήσονται ἐν αὐτῆ adds V. , οὐχ ὁρωμένη καὶ φθεγγομένη, ἀλλὰ ἀναγινωσκομένη καὶ γινωσκομένη καὶ γιν. omits V. , ἕως τῆς συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος· οὕτως καὶ τοῖς αἰῶσι τοῖς ἐπερχομένοις ὑπόδειγμα σωτηρίας τοῖς βουλομένοις σῴζεσθαι γενήσεται· οὕτως τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν πολλοὺς καὶ ἀνέδειξεν καὶ ἀναδείξει μετὰ ταῦτα ἀξίους, οὕτως πολιτευσαμένη πολλοὺς μὲν ἐφωταγώγησεν, πολλοὺς δὲ καὶ omits V. πεπλανημένους ἐπέστρεψεν· οὕτως ποιήσασα καὶ διδάξασα (π. κ. δ.) πολιτευσαμένη V. , μίμημα ἀκριβὲς τοῦ διδασκάλου αὐτῆς τοῦ ἁγιωτάτου Βασιανοῦ ἐγένετο καὶ ἔσοπτρον ἀκηλίδωτον τῆς πολιτείας αὐτοῦ ἐδείχθη, Matrona the examples of Bassianus φυλάξασα μὲν τὴν παράδοσιν αὐτοῦ ἀκριβῶς, παραδοῦσα παραδώσασα V. δὲ καὶ αὐτὴ ταῖς μετ᾽ αὐτήν.

This partial narrative of her achievements, then, has granted us who come after her to boast in her as though she were alive; so too those after us will be edified in her; and not only to us, but also to those hereafter, the blessed Matrona will be shown an exact teacher, not seen and speaking, but read and known, until the consummation of the age; so too to the ages to come she will become a pattern of salvation for those who wish to be saved; thus she both showed many worthy of the kingdom of heaven and will show them hereafter; living thus, she enlightened many and turned back many who had gone astray; doing and teaching thus, she became an exact imitation of her teacher, the most holy Bassianus, and was shown a spotless mirror of his conduct, guarding his tradition exactly and herself handing it down to those after her.

[51] Ἐκεῖνος γὰρ ὁ ἅγιος ὁ τῶν ἀγγέλων ὁμόσκηνος καὶ τῶν ἁγίων ὁμότιμος μετὰ τὸ τὴν ἔρημον τοῖς κατορθώμασι κοσμῆσαι καὶ πολλὰς τοῦ διαβόλου μηχανὰς καταλῦσαι θεόθεν τὴν τοῦ σχήματος διατύπωσιν δεξάμενος καὶ παρ᾽ ἀγγέλου τὴν ἀκολουθίαν διδαχθείς, πολλὰ μὲν κατὰ πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην τῆς αὐτοῦ παραδόσεως συνεστήσατο μοναστήρια, δύο δὲ ἐν τῇ βασιλίδι τῶν πόλεων συνεκρότησεν, ἓν μὲν ἀνδρικὸν δι᾽ ἑαυτοῦ δι᾽ ἑαυτοῦ ἀνδρικὸν V. , ὃ καὶ μέχρι τοῦ παρόντος Θεοῦ χάριτι ἵσταται, τὴν παράδοσιν αὐτοῦ κρατῦνον καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ τὴν κλῆσιν δεξάμενον, τὸ δὲ ἄλλο διὰ τῆς ὁσιωτάτης Ματρώνης, ὃ καὶ αὐτὸ συνίσταται τὴν αὐτὴν ἀκολουθίαν φυλάττον· ἀφ᾽ ἧς καὶ τὴν ὁμωνυμίαν ἐδέξατο·

[51] For that holy man, the fellow dweller of the angels and peer in honour of the saints, after adorning the desert with his achievements and overthrowing many devices of the devil, having received from God the pattern of the habit and been taught its order by an angel, established many monasteries of his tradition throughout the whole world, and gathered two in the queen of cities: one, of men, through himself, which to the present by the grace of God stands, maintaining his tradition and having received its name from his name; the other through the most holy Matrona, which too subsists, keeping the same order, and from her also it received its name;

ὃν γὰρ τρόπον τρ. γὰρ V. ἀποταξαμένη ἡ ὁσιωτάτη Ματρῶνα ἠξιώθη λαβεῖν παρὰ τοῦ ἁγίου γέροντος τὸ τοῦ τὸ τοῦ V, τοῦτον A. μονάζοντος σχῆμα, τῷ αὐτῷ τρόπῳ καὶ αὐτὴ ταῖς προσιούσαις προσιοῦσιν V. αὐτῇ ἔμεινε παρέχουσα· καὶ ὥσπερ ὁ ὁσιώτατος Βασιανὸς μετὰ πολὺν χρόνον καὶ μετὰ omits V. πολλῆς τῆς δοκιμασίας ἐπετίθει χεῖρα χεῖρας V. οἷς ἐπετίθει, οὕτως καὶ ἡ μακαρία Ματρῶνα, εἰ μὴ τὸν χρόνον ἐδέξατο μαρτυροῦντα τὴν προαίρεσιν τῆ προαιρέσει V. τῆς προσελθούσης, also in ordering the monastery οὐ κατεδέχετο αὐτῇ δοῦναι δοῦναι αὐτῆ τὸ V. σχῆμα·

for in the way in which the most holy Matrona, having renounced the world, was counted worthy to receive from the holy old man the habit of the monastic life, in the same way she too continued to provide it to those who came to her; and as the most holy Bassianus laid his hand on those on whom he laid it after a long time and with much testing, so too the blessed Matrona, unless she had received time bearing witness to the resolve of the woman who came, would not consent to give her the habit;

καὶ ὥσπερ πάλιν ὁ ἁγιώτατος γέρων πρὸ τοῦ ἁγίου θυσιαστηρίου καὶ adds V. , τῶν μυστηρίων προκειμένων καὶ omits V. ἀναγνωσμάτων προσφόρων γινομένων καὶ ψαλμῳδίας ἐπιτελουμένης, μετὰ πολλῆς νουθεσίας καὶ omits V. κατηχήσεως omits V. λαμβανόντων τὸ ἅγιον σχῆμα (τὸ ἅγ. σχ.) omits V. καὶ τὴν σταύρωσιν τοῦ Κυρίου παραδηλούντων καὶ ὁμολογούντων διὰ τοῦ σχήματος τὴν τῶν οἰκείων θελημάτων ἄρνησιν καὶ πρῶτον μὲν κουρευομένων παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ, ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ περιζωννυμένων καὶ τὸ παλλίον τῶ παλλίω A. τελευταῖον περιβαλλομένων ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ, οὕτως καὶ ἡ μακαρία Ματρῶνα ἐποίει πρὸ τοῦ ἁγίου θυσιαστηρίου δεχομένη τὰς προσερχομένας καὶ ταῖς ὀφειλούσαις φροντίζειν αὐτῶν μεταδιδοῦσα ταύτας ταύταις A. , diligently imitates. πρὸ τοῦ ἁγίου θυσιαστηρίου πάλιν ἐτελείου τὰς αὐτάς, τῶν ὑποδεξαμένων μαρτυρουσῶν τῇ πολιτείᾳ αὐτῶν πρότερον, καὶ ἁπλῶς εἰπεῖν πάντα καθ᾽ ὁμοιότητα τοῦ ἡγουμένου αὐτῆς ἐποίει.

and as again the most holy old man, before the holy altar, the mysteries being set forth and fitting readings being made and psalmody performed, with much admonition and catechesis, when they received the holy habit and signified the crucifixion of the Lord and confessed through the habit the renunciation of their own wills, first tonsured them, then girded them, and lastly put the mantle about them, so too the blessed Matrona did before the holy altar, receiving those who came and handing them over to those who were to care for them; and before the holy altar again she perfected the same women, those who had received them first bearing witness to their conduct; and, to put it simply, she did everything in the likeness of her hegumen.

Καὶ γὰρ ἡνίκα τῆς Βηρυτοῦ ἐπανελθοῦσαν ἐπίσκοπον, ὡς ἄν τις εἴποι, ἐχειροτόνησεν αὐτὴν ψυχῶν καὶ χεῖρας ἐπιβάλλειν ἐπ᾽ ἀλλήλοις ἐπάλλοις V. ἐξουσίαν ἐδίδου αὐτῇ, οὐκ ἐρεᾶ δὲ omits V. ζωνάρια καὶ μαφόρια, οἷσπερ ὥσπερ V. εἰώθασι γυναῖκες κεχρῆσθαι, αὐτῇ δέδωκεν, ἀλλὰ ζωνάρια λώρινα πλατέα ἀνδρικὰ μαῦρα καὶ παλλία (κ. π.) omits V. ἀνδρικὰ λευκά [On the three girdles and mantles given by Bassianus to Matrona, above, c. 29, p. 804.] , ἅπερ καὶ φοροῦσι διηνεκῶς. Αὕτη ἡ ἀκολουθία εὐμενείᾳ καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ (κ. φ.) omits V. τοῦ δεσπότου ἡμῶν omits V. Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ σῴζεται ἕως τοῦ παρόντος ἐν τῷ μοναστηρίῳ αὐτῆς, παρὰ τῶν μετ᾽ αὐτὴν τὰ αὐτῆς διαδεξαμένων φυλαττομένη.

For indeed, when she returned from Berytus, he ordained her, as one might say, a bishop of souls, and gave her authority to lay hands on others; and he gave her not woollen girdles and veils, such as women are accustomed to use, but broad black leather men's girdles and white men's mantles, which they also wear continually. This order, by the kindness and love for mankind of our Master Jesus Christ, is preserved to the present in her monastery, guarded by those who after her have succeeded to her place.

[52] Οὕτως δὲ φιλοθέως καὶ εὐσεβῶς (φ. καὶ εὐς.) omits V. βιοῦσα ἡ μακαρία Ματρῶνα καὶ οὕτως τὴν παραδοθεῖσαν αὐτῇ ἀκρίβειαν τοῦ μοναχικοῦ σχήματος παρὰ τοῦ ἁγιωτάτου Βασιανοῦ (τοῦ μον. - Βασιανοῦ) omits V. φυλάττουσα καὶ omits V. περὶ τὸ ἑκατοστὸν ἔτος διαγενομένη, Aged almost a hundred years πέντε μὲν καὶ εἴκοσι ἔτη [ἔτων V; Cf. M: ἐξ ὧν εἴκοσι μόνοι τυγχάνουσι πρὸς τοῖς πέντε ἐφ᾽ οἷς ὁ κοσμικὸς αὐτὴν εἶχε βίος.] μονάσασα, τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ ἐν τῇ ἀσκήσει διατελέσασα καὶ τὸν (τὰ δὲ - τὸν) τὸν δὲ V. δρόμον τοῦ ἀγῶνος τῆς ἀσκήσεως αὐτῆς καλῶς (τοῦ - καλῶς) omits V. τελέσασα καὶ τὴν ὀρθόδοξον omits V. πίστιν μέχρι omits V. τέλους omits V. τηρήσασα μετήλλαξεν τὸν τῇδε omits V. βίον ἐν γήρει καλῷ, II Timothy 4, 7. she dies on the 7th of November. μηνὶ νοεμβρίῳ ἑβδόμῃ (μηνὶ - ἑβδ.) omits V. καὶ προσετέθη τοῖς ἀπ᾽ αἰῶνος ἁγίοις (ἀπ᾽ - ἁγ.) omits V. πατράσιν αὐτῆς καὶ omits V. ἀδελφοῖς omits V. , διάδοχον καὶ φροντίστριαν τῆς ποίμνης αὐτῆς καταλιποῦσα τὴν τιμίαν omits V. καὶ omits V. θεοφιλεστάτην διάκονον Μωσιλίαν Μουσιλίαν V. , βίῳ μὲν καὶ συνέσει κεκοσμημένην, ταπεινοφροσύνῃ δὲ καὶ ἀγάπῃ πλουτοῦσαν.

[52] Living thus God-lovingly and piously, and thus guarding the exactness of the monastic habit handed down to her by the most holy Bassianus, and having lived to about her hundredth year, having been a nun twenty-five years and having spent the rest in asceticism, having finished well the course of the contest of her asceticism and kept the orthodox faith to the end, the blessed Matrona departed this life in a good old age, on the seventh of the month of November, and was added to her holy fathers and brothers of all ages, leaving as successor and caretaker of her flock the honoured and most God-beloved deaconess Mosilia, adorned in life and understanding, and rich in humility and love.

Πατέρες δὲ καὶ ἀδελφοὶ πνευματικοὶ (καὶ ἀδ. πν.) V. τῆς ὁσιωτάτης καὶ omits V. ἁγίας omits V. Ματρώνης γεγόνασί τε καὶ εἰσι ὁ ἁγιώτατος Βασιανὸς ὁ ἡγούμενος αὐτῆς καὶ ὅσοι τὰ ἐκείνου μετ᾽ ἐκεῖνον φυλάξονται· ὧν ταῖς πρεσβείαις ἐλέους τυχεῖν ἀξιωθείημεν ἅπαντες ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς κρίσεως, χάριτι καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ᾧ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς [(ἅπαντες - τοὺς) χάριτι Χριστοῦ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν ὧ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος νῦν καὶ εἰς τοὺς ἑξῆς καὶ ἀτελευτήτους ἅπαντας V.] αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων· ἀμήν.

And spiritual fathers and brothers of the most holy and saintly Matrona have been and are the most holy Bassianus her hegumen and all who after him will keep his ways; by whose intercessions may we all be counted worthy to obtain mercy on the day of judgement, by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the might unto the ages of ages. Amen.

II. THE SECOND LIFE OF ST. MATRONA

Greek text only in the Acta; the English here is translated from the Greek.

Matrona, hegumena, at Constantinople (S.)

Edited from the Vatican codices 804 (= M 1), 810 (= M 2), Ottobonian 427 (= M 3), Munich 364 (= M 4). — Cf. Preliminary Commentary, no. 14, p. 788.

Βίος καὶ πολιτεία καὶ ἄσκησις καὶ ἄσκησις omits M 2, 3. τῆς ὁσίας Ματρώνης.

The Life and conduct and asceticism of the holy Matrona.

[1] Prologue. Τοὺς σώφρονας τὸν βίον καὶ φιλαρέτους κατὰ δύναμιν ἐπαινεῖν ὅσιόν τε ὁμοῦ καὶ ὠφελιμώτατον. Αὐτοί τε γὰρ ἐπαίνων ἄξιοι, καὶ ὁ περὶ αὐτῶν λόγος τῶν ὁμοίων ἐφάπτεσθαι καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους διαθερμαίνει πρὸς ἔρωτα. Ὅταν δὲ καὶ τὸ ἐπαινούμενον γυνὴ ᾖ, τὸ ἀσθενὲς τῆς ἀνθρώπων φύσεως καὶ πρὸς τὸ τῶν πόνων τραχὺ μαλακώτατον, πῶς οὐ λυσιτελὴς ὁ ἔπαινος ἀνδράσιν ἅμα καὶ γυναιξίν, ἀμφοτέρους ἀμφοτέρας M 1. πρὸς τὰ καλὰ διεγείρειν δυνάμενός, ταῖς τὰς M 3. μὲν ἵνα τοῦ αὐτοῦ κοινωνήσασαι γένους καὶ τῶν αὐτῶν εἶεν ἐπειλημμέναι πόνων πόνων ἀπειλημμέναι M 4. καὶ ἀμοιβῶν, τοῖς δὲ ἵνα μὴ ἄνδρες ὄντες δεύτεροι γυναικῶν ὀφθεῖεν καὶ πρὸς τὸ πονεῖν ἀγεννέστεροι.

[1] To praise, as far as one can, those who are temperate in life and lovers of virtue is at once holy and most profitable. For they themselves are worthy of praise, and the account of them warms others too with love of laying hold of like things. And when the one praised is a woman, the weak part of human nature and the softest toward the roughness of labours, how is the praise not profitable to men and women together, being able to rouse both to noble things: the women, that, sharing the same sex, they may lay hold also of the same labours and rewards; the men, that, being men, they may not be seen to come second to women and to be more ignoble for toil?

Τούτων οὖν τῶν ἐπαινετῶν βίων καὶ φιλαρέτων καὶ ὁ Ματρώνης καθέστηκεν, ἀνδράσι μὲν ἁμιλληθείσης τὴν ἀρετήν, παρενεγκούσης δὲ τούτους ὑπερφυέσι τοῖς κατορθώμασιν, ὡς προἳόντα δηλώσει τὰ λεχθησόμενα.

Among these praiseworthy and virtue-loving lives, then, stands that of Matrona too, who rivalled men in virtue and surpassed them by her extraordinary achievements, as what is to be said will show as it proceeds.

[2] Matrona, born at Perge, Χώρα τις ἔστιν ὑποτεταγμένη τῇ Ῥωμαίων ἀρχῇ ἐν μεθορίοις Κιλίκων τε καὶ Ἰσαύρων κειμένη, τοὄνομα Παμφυλία, ἣ καὶ διὰ τὸ κουροτρόφον ταύτης καὶ πολυάνθρωπον καὶ τὸ ἐξ ἁπασῶν τῶν πόλεων οἰκήτορας ἔχειν τοιαύτης ἔτυχε τῆς προσηγορίας. Μία δὲ τῶν ὑπ᾽ αὐτὴν ὑπ᾽ αὐτῆ M 4. πόλεων Πέργη κατονομάζεται, ἣν θρεψαμένην ἔσχεν ἡ μακαρία αὕτη Ματρῶνα, ἥτις ὑπὸ τῶν γειναμένων ἐλευθερίου τυχοῦσα παιδείας καὶ ἀγωγῆς εἰς ὥραν τε γάμου καταστᾶσα — ἦν γὰρ καὶ τῷ κάλλει περίβλεπτος, — ἀνδρὶ συνάπτεται οὐ τῶν πολλῶν ἑνὶ καὶ τῶν τυχόντων, τοὔνομα Δομετιανῷ, marries Domitian. μιᾶς τε παιδὸς omits M 3, 4. γίνεται μήτηρ παιδὸς adds M 4. , ᾗ τὴν προσηγορίαν ἐκ τῶν ἐσομένων εὐθὺς ἡρμόσατο, Θεοδότην μὲν ὀνομάσασα ὀνομάσασαν M 4. , Θεῷ δὲ δοῦσα ταύτην ἐκ σπαργάνων αὐτῶν.

[2] There is a country subject to the rule of the Romans, lying on the borders of the Cilicians and the Isaurians, Pamphylia by name, which on account of its nurturing of youth and its populousness, and its having inhabitants from all cities, obtained such an appellation. And one of the cities under it is named Perge, which this blessed Matrona had as her nurse; she, having received from her parents a liberal education and upbringing, and having reached the age of marriage — for she was also conspicuous for beauty — is joined to a husband not one of the many and ordinary, Domitian by name, and becomes the mother of one child, to whom she at once fitted the name from what was to be, naming her Theodote, and giving her to God from her very swaddling clothes.

[3] Ὅπως μὲν οὖν μετὰ τὸν γάμον καὶ τὴν συνοίκησιν τὸ μέτριόν τε καὶ ἄτυφον αὐτῇ μεμελέτητο καὶ τὸ φιλόκοσμον οὐκ ἐν τοῖς ἐπιπλάστοις καὶ κομμωτικοῖς κάλλεσιν, ἀλλ᾽ εἰς τὸν ἐντὸς τῆς ψυχῆς ἄνθρωπον ἤσκητο, τιθεμένη διὰ σπουδῆς σωφροσύνῃ τε καὶ τῇ κατὰ βίον Θεὸν M 4. σεμνότητι διαζῆν ἐπαινετὸν μὲν καὶ ἄλλως ἀγαπητὸν τὸ περὶ τούτων ἐπεξιέναι, at Constantinople day and night περιττὸν δὲ δόξειε πάντως, εἰ τὰ μείζονα παρέντες καὶ τελεώτερα περὶ τὴν τούτων μνήμην ἀπασχολεῖν τοὺς ἀκροατὰς ἑλώμεθα.

[3] How, then, after the marriage and the cohabitation, she practised moderation and unpretentiousness, and exercised her love of adornment not on feigned and cosmetic beauties but on the inner man of the soul, setting herself zealously to live in chastity and the gravity that befits life — to go through all this would be praiseworthy and otherwise welcome, but would seem altogether superfluous if, passing over the greater and more perfect things, we chose to occupy the hearers with the memory of these.

Ὃ δὲ τῶν ἄλλων αὐτὴ προτετίμηκε, τοῦτο καὶ προθεῖναι τῆς διηγήσεως ὡς adds M 4. ἁρμόζον ἐστίν. Ἔκρινε γὰρ τὸ τοῦ ἀποστόλου εἰς ἄκρον αὐτῇ φυλαχθῆναι. I Corinthians 7. 20. Δεῖν γὰρ ἐκεῖνός φησι τοὺς ἔχοντας γυναῖκας ὡς μὴ ἔχοντας διακεῖσθαι.

But what she herself honoured before the rest, this it is fitting to set first in the narrative too. For she judged that the saying of the apostle should be kept by her to the utmost. For he says that those who have wives must be disposed as though they had none.

Ὅθεν ἑκοῦσα τῆς ἐνεγκαμένης ἐκστᾶσα κατὰ θείαν φημὶ πρόνοιαν, ἣν ἔσχε καὶ συμπράττουσαν τῷ βουλεύματι, εἰς τὴν προκαθεζομένην τῶν πόλεων τὸ Βυζάντιον Βιζάντιον corrected by a recent hand M 4. τὴν ἀποδημίαν ἅμα τῷ συνοικοῦντι πεποίηται, ὃν εἶχε μὲν συναποδημοῦντα καὶ μηδὲ τὸ τυχὸν ἀφιστάμενον, οὐ μὴν τῶν μελετωμένων

Whence, willingly leaving the land that bore her — by divine providence, I say, which she also had cooperating with her plan — she made her journey to the presiding city of cities, Byzantium, together with her husband, whom she had as fellow traveller, not departing from her in the least, yet not

συνίστορα οὐδὲ ὅπερ εἶχεν αὕτη κατὰ νοῦν εἶχε κατὰ νοῦν αὕτη M 3. ἐπιστάμενον.

sharing in what she was practising, nor knowing what she had in mind.

she frequents the churches, Εἶτα τὴν βασιλεύουσαν εἰσελθοῦσα τοῖς ναοῖς ἀνὰ πᾶσαν ἡμέραν προσήδρευε τῶν ἁγίων, νύκτα καὶ μεθ᾽ ἡμέραν αὐτῶν οὐκ ἀφισταμένη, νηστείας τε καὶ προσευχῆς ἐπιμελομένη καὶ τῶν ὄντων κοινωνοῦσα τοῖς δεομένοις Θεοῦ τε διὰ παντὸς δεομένη κατευνασθῆναι ταύτῃ τὸν ἔμφυτον πόλεμον τῆς σαρκός. Καὶ γὰρ ἦν τότε νέαν ἄγουσα ἄγουσαν M 1. τὴν ἡλικίαν, οὐ πλείω τῶν εἴκοσι πρὸς τοῖς πέντε χρόνοις γενομένη.

Then, having entered the reigning city, she attended the churches of the saints every day, not departing from them night or day, taking care of fasting and prayer, sharing her possessions with those in need, and beseeching God continually that the inborn war of the flesh be lulled to sleep in her. For she was then of young age, being no more than twenty-five years old.

[4] Ἐδεῖτο γοῦν, ὥσπερ εἴρηται, τῶν ἐκ τῆς σαρκὸς ὀχλήσεων ἀνεθῆναι, her husband taking her absence ill ἵνα καὶ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἄνευ ζῆν δυναμένη σχολάζειν adds M 4. ἐλευθερίως ἔχῃ ἔχην M 4. τοῖς πνευματικοῖς τε καὶ θειοτέροις. Ἡ δὲ πρὸς περὶ M 3. τὰ καλὰ ταύτην διερεθίζουσα Εὐγενία τις ἦν εὐγενὴς τὸν τρόπον φερωνύμως ὑπάρχουσα, μία τε τε M 1. τῶν ἐν ταῖς παννύχοις στάσεσι καὶ ἐντεύξεσι τὸν πάντα βίον καταναλίσκουσα· πρὸς ἣν ἤριζε καὶ αὕτη τὴν ἀγαθὴν ἔριν πρὸ adds M 3. τῆς ἀσκήσεως, τὰ τῶν ἀσκητῶν φιλοπόνως γυμναζομένη.

[4] She besought, then, as has been said, to be released from the troubles of the flesh, so that she might be free to live without her husband for spiritual and more divine things. And the one who spurred her on to good things was a certain Eugenia, noble in manner, true to her name, one of those who spend their whole life in all-night stations and supplications; with her she too vied in the good rivalry of asceticism, exercising herself laboriously in the practices of the ascetics.

Τούτοις ὅσαι ἡμέραι πραττομένοις ὁ Δομετιανὸς ἀχθόμενος ἦν καὶ εἰς ἀτόπους ἐννοίας ἐξέπιπτεν, οὐκ ἐπὶ καλῷ λέγων τὸ τῆς προόδυ γίνεσθαι συνεχές, ἀλλὰ κατά τινα γνώμην εἰς φαύλας χωροῦσαν ἐπιθυμίας, τὸ ἀπ᾽ ἐκείνου τε πᾶσαν φυλακὴν ἐποιεῖτο, μηδὲ τοῦ δωματίου ταύτην προκύπτειν προκύπτειν ταύτην M 3. ἐῶν· ἀγών τε ἀμφοτέροις καθίστατο, τῷ μὲν μὴ ἀφιέναι ταύτην τὰ συνήθη ποιεῖν, τῇ δὲ τῶν ἱερῶν συνάξεων μὴ ἀπολιμπάνεσθαι. Ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἀπειθοῦντα τοῦτον ὀψὲ καὶ μόλις λίαν ἐγκειμένη ταῖς παρακλήσεσι λαμβάνει καταπειθῆ πράττειν ὅ τι καὶ βούλοιτο.

At these things done every day Domitian was vexed and fell into unseemly thoughts, saying that her constant going out was not for a good purpose but from some mind tending to base desires; and from then on he kept every guard, not allowing her even to peep out of her chamber; and a contest arose for both, for him not to let her do her customary things, for her not to be absent from the sacred assemblies. But at last, and with great difficulty, pressing hard with entreaties, she finds him, disobedient as he had been, persuaded to let her do whatever she wished.

[5] she desires above all to flee the world. Σπουδῇ τοίνυν τὸν τῶν ἱερῶν Ἀποστόλων καταλαμβάνει ναόν· ἐφ᾽ οὗ γενομένη καὶ συντονωτέραν ποιουμένη τὴν δέησιν ἐζήτει ἐζήτειν M 4. μηδὲν ἐμποδὼν αὐτῇ γενέσθαι πρὸς τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ κόσμου φυγήν, ἀλλὰ Χριστῷ Χριστὸν M 4. καὶ ταύτην προσενεγκεῖν μετὰ τοῦ ἤδη πρότερον ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν προσενεχθέντος πληρώματος. Οὕτως αὐτῆς δεηθείσης, ἑσπέρας ἤδη καταλαβούσης καὶ τῶν τὴν φυλακὴν τοῦ ναοῦ ποιουμένων ἐξιέναι πάντας διακελευομένων, αὕτη ἐπί τινα τῶν ἐκεῖσε στοῶν Σωσάννης τινὸς πάλαι συνήθους εὑροῦσα καταγωγήν, ὥτις ἐκ νεαρᾶς ἔτι omits M 4. τῆς ἡλικίας τὸ παρθενεύειν ὁμοῦ καὶ τὴν κατὰ Θεὸν πολιτείαν προείλετο, σὺν αὐτῇ τὴν νύκτα πᾶσαν διατελεῖ.

[5] With zeal, then, she reaches the church of the holy Apostles; and having come there and making her supplication more intense, she asked that nothing should stand in her way toward flight from the world, but that they should present her too to Christ with the fullness already presented by them before. When she had prayed thus, evening having come on and those who kept guard of the church ordering all to go out, she found in one of the porticoes there the lodging of a certain Susanna, a former acquaintance, who from early youth had chosen virginity and the life according to God, and she spends the whole night with her.

Ἡμέρας οὖν ἤδη διαφαινούσης ἡ Ματρῶνα πρὸς τὴν διδάσκαλον Εὐγενίαν φοιτᾷ περὶ τῶν προκειμένων αὐτῇ κοινολογουμένη. Ῥηθέντων δὲ λόγων πολλῶν ἐφ᾽ ἑκάτερα φερόντων ἡ διδάσκαλος· “Τοῦτο πρὸ τῶν ἄλλων, ἔφη, σκοπεῖσθαι δεῖ, πῶς τὰ περὶ τῆς παιδὸς Θεοδότης διατεθῇ.”

When day was now dawning, then, Matrona goes to her teacher Eugenia, conferring with her about the matters before her. And when many words had been spoken tending this way and that, the teacher said: “This must be considered before the rest, how the matters concerning the child Theodote are to be arranged.”

Ἡ Ματρῶνα δὲ μόνον γενομένη γινομένη M 3, 4. τοῦ κατὰ Θεὸν σκοποῦ καὶ πάσης ἄλλης φροντίδος καταφρονοῦσα· “Ἐμέ, εἶπεν, ὁ ἀσκητικὸς καὶ μονοτρόπος λαμβανέτω βίος· Θεοδότην δὲ Σωσάννῃ καὶ Θεῷ Θεῶ καὶ Σωσάννη M 3. παραδίδωμι, καὶ τῆς περὶ αὐτῆς ἤδη φροντίδος λύομαι ἀπολύομαι M 3. .” Εἵπετο τοῖς λόγοις καὶ τὸ ἔργον εὐθύς.

But Matrona, becoming wholly of the aim according to God and despising every other care, said: “Let the ascetic and solitary life take me; Theodote I hand over to Susanna and to God, and I am now released from the care of her.” The deed followed the words at once.

[6] Her vision. Αὖθις δὲ περὶ τοῦ πῶς δεῖ καθ᾽ ἡσυχίαν βιῶναι καὶ εὐαρεστῆσαι Θεῷ ἡ Ματρῶνα ζητοῦσα μαθεῖν διὰ τῆς κατὰ τοὺς ὕπνους ἐναργοῦς ὄψεως παρὰ Κυρίου διδάσκεται. Καὶ ἡ ὅρασις τοιάδε καὶ θαυμαστή. Ἐδόκει γὰρ τὸν ἄνδρα διώκοντα μέν, αὐτὴν δὲ φεύγουσαν ὑπό τινων σεσῶσθαι μοναχῶν, ὅπερ συνιέναι ἐδίδου, ὡς ἐν φροντιστηρίῳ δέον αὐτὴν ἀνδρῶν τὸν τῶν μοναχῶν βίον ὑπελθεῖν. Οὕτω γὰρ ἂν καὶ τῷ συνοίκῳ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἔσται ἀγνοουμένη. Ἐν χρῷ οὖν κειραμένη καὶ εἰς εὐνοῦχον ἑαυτὴν σχηματίσασα, πάλιν εἰς τὸν ῥηθέντα σύναμα τῇ Εὐγενίᾳ τῶν θείων Ἀποστόλων ἧκε ἧκεν M 4. ναόν, δήλωσίν τε τῶν ἀφανῶν ἐκ τῶν θειοτέρων βουλομένη μαθεῖν, τὸ ἱερὸν ὑπανοίγνυσιν εὐαγγέλιον, καὶ τοιούτῳ εὐθὺς ἐντυγχάνει ῥητῷ· “Ὅστις θέλει ὀπίσω μου ἐλθεῖν, Luke 9, 23. ἀπαρνησάσθω ἑαυτὸν καὶ ἀράτω τὸν σταυρὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀκολουθείτω μοι.”

[6] Again, Matrona, seeking to learn how she should live in quiet and be well-pleasing to God, is taught by the Lord through a vivid vision in sleep. And the vision was such, and wonderful. For she seemed, her husband pursuing and she fleeing, to have been saved by certain monks; which gave her to understand that she must enter on the life of monks in a house of men. For so she would be unknown both to her husband and to the others. Having cropped her hair close, then, and fashioned herself as a eunuch, she came again with Eugenia to the aforesaid church of the divine Apostles, and, wishing to learn from things more divine a declaration of things unseen, she opens the holy gospel, and at once comes upon this saying: “Whoever wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow me.”

Ἐντεῦθεν ἀνενδοίαστον γνῶσιν σχοῦσαι τῶν ἀρεσκόντων Θεῷ, καὶ τούτῳ τὰ καθ᾽ ἑαυτὰς ἀναθέμεναι, καὶ τῶν πραττομένων ἕξειν αὐτὸν συλλήπτορα συλλήπτορα αὐτὸν M 3. προσδοκήσασαι, ἀπ᾽ ἀλλήλων διεχωρίζοντο.

From this, having gained an undoubting knowledge of what is pleasing to God, and having referred their affairs to him, and expecting to have him as helper in what they were doing, they parted from one another.

She feigns herself a eunuch Ἡ Ματρῶνα μέντοι, ὡς εἴρηται, τὸν εὐνοῦχον προσποιηθεῖσα καὶ Βαβύλαν betterΒαβυλᾶν. Cf. Life I, and Pape-Benseler, under the word. ἑαυτὴν ὀνομάσασα ὀνομάσασαν M 4 , τῷ τοῦ ὁσίου Βασιανοῦ παραβάλλει σεμνείῳ, καὶ παρὰ τῶν μοναχῶν εἰσδεχθεῖσα πρὸς ἀγῶνας πνευματικοὺς εὐθὺς ἀπεδύετο, οὐκ ὠχρότητι ὄψεως προσώπου τε σκυθρωπότητι τὴν εὐλάβειαν corrected, previously εὐλάβει M 4. ὑποκρινομένη, ἀλλὰ γνησίως μᾶλλον καὶ ἀληθῶς τὴν ἀρετὴν μετιοῦσα καὶ παντὶ τρόπῳ λανθάνειν σπουδάζουσα, ὡς ἐν ὀλίγῳ πρὸς ἀκρότητα τοῦ κατὰ Θεὸν ὑψωθῆναι βίου καὶ διὰ θαύματος πᾶσι καθίστασθαι, and lives holily among the monks. ὅτιπερ ὥσπερ M 3. ἀνὴρ τὴν κατ᾽ εὐνοῦχον ἀσθένειαν περικείμενος οὕτω διακαρτερεῖ πρὸς τοὺς πόνους καὶ τοὺς μοναχοὺς ἅπαντας παρελαύνειν φιλονεικεῖ, τοῦ θυμικοῦ τε γενναίως κρατῶν καὶ δόξης ὡς ματαίας καταφρονῶν, ὑπακοῆς τε omits M 3, 4. πάσης κατὰ πολλὴν μετριοφροσύνην περιεχόμενος περιεχομένη M 4. .

Matrona, however, as has been said, having pretended to be the eunuch and named herself Babylas, betakes herself to the convent of the holy Bassianus; and being received by the monks she at once stripped for spiritual contests, not feigning piety by paleness of face and gloominess of countenance, but rather pursuing virtue genuinely and truly and striving in every way to escape notice, so that in a short time she was raised to the summit of the life according to God and became an object of wonder to all, because a man clothed in the weakness of a eunuch so persevered in labours and strove to outstrip all the monks, nobly mastering his temper and despising glory as vain, and embracing all obedience with much modesty.

[7] From her pierced ears Ἀμέλει καὶ βασκαίνειν μὲν οὐκ εἶχον αὐτῇ· ἐλεύθερος γὰρ ὁ κατ᾽ ἀρετὴν ζῆλος φθόνου παντός· ὡς διδασκάλῳ δὲ μᾶλλον προσέχειν ἠβούλοντο, ὡρμημένοι καὶ πρότερον πρὸς τὴν μίμησιν. Μικροῦ δὲ καὶ τὸ κρυπτόμενον ἐγινώσκετο ἄν, καὶ ὅτι γυνὴ ἦν omits M 3. , φανερὰ καθίστατο, εἰ μὴ τὴν ἐπισχοῦσαν ὑπόνοιαν τῇ πνευματικῇ σοφίᾳ διέλυσε.

[7] Of course they could not envy her; for zeal for virtue is free of all envy; they wished rather to attend to her as to a teacher, having been eager already before for imitation. And very nearly what was hidden would have been known, and it would have been made manifest that she was a woman, had she not dissolved the suspicion that arose by spiritual wisdom.

Κατά τινα γὰρ χρόνον οὕτω συμβὰν περὶ τὴν ἐκεῖσε τυγχάνουσαν κηπεύσιμον ἐργασίαν συμπονούσῃ συμπονοῦσι M 1, 4. τοῖς μοναχοῖς τοῦ ἔργου τε προθυμότερον ἐχομένῃ ὁ σὺν ἐκείνῃ λαχὼν ἐργάζεσθαι μοναχός, Βαρνάβας αὐτῷ ὄνομα, περιεργότερον ἐπιβαλὼν τὴν ὄψιν αὐτῇ, ἅτε πρὸ μικροῦ τῷ τῶν μοναχῶν βίῳ ἀπὸ τῆς σκηνῆς προσελθών, κἂν εἰς ὕστερον προκόψας εἰς ἀρετὴν καὶ τὸ καθηγεῖσθαι τῶν μοναχῶν ἐπιστεύθη, she is almost recognized as a woman. ἠρώτα εἰπεῖν, πόθεν ἀμφοτέρων τῶν ὤτων ταύτῃ τέτρηνται οἱ λοβοί.

For at a certain time, as it so happened that she was toiling with the monks at the garden work there and holding to the work rather eagerly, the monk who had been allotted to work with her, Barnabas by name, casting his eyes on her rather curiously, inasmuch as a little before he had come to the life of the monks from the stage — even if afterwards he advanced in virtue and was entrusted with governing the monks — asked her to say whence the lobes of both her ears had been pierced.

Ἡ μακαρία δὲ σύντομον ὁμοῦ καὶ λελογισμένην τὴν ἀπόκρισιν ἀπεδίδου· “Πέπονθας, ἀδελφέ, λέγουσα, ἀνθρώπινον μέν, τοῦ καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς δὲ omits M 3. ἀλλότριον ἐπαγγέλματος· τῇ γῇ γὰρ δέον omits M 4. προσέχειν ἢ ὄψεις ἀνθρωπίνας περιεργάζεσθαι. Πλὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ οὕτω τὴν λύσιν μάνθανε τοῦ ζητήματος· ἡ γὰρ ἐμὲ πρότερον σχοῦσα καὶ θρεψαμένη φιλόστοργόν τινα πρός με κεκτημένη διάθεσιν ἐφιλοτιμήσατό μου καὶ τὰ adds M 3. χρυσᾶ κόσμια τοῖς ὠσὶν ἐμβαλεῖν.”

And the blessed woman gave an answer at once brief and considered, saying: “You have suffered something human, brother, but foreign to our profession; for one ought to attend to the soil rather than busy oneself with human faces. But nevertheless learn thus the solution of the question: she who first had me and brought me up, having a loving disposition toward me, was ambitious to put gold ornaments in my ears.”

Οὕτως ἡ μακαρία τὸν μοναχὸν σοφῇ περινοίᾳ τῆς ὑπονοίας ἀπήγαγεν. Αὐτὴν δὲ πολύς τις εἰσῄει λογισμῶν ὄχλος καὶ εἰς μνήμην τῶν τῆς Εὐγενίας καθίστατο παραινέσεων· “Δυσχερές τι πρᾶγμα, λεγούσης, γυναῖκα συνδιατρίβειν ἀνδράσι καὶ ἄνδρα κατ᾽ ἐκείνους πειρᾶσθαι πειρασθῆναι M 4. δοκεῖν· ἀμήχανον γὰρ ἄχρι τέλους διαλαθεῖν τὴν ὑπόκρισιν.”

Thus the blessed woman led the monk away from his suspicion by a wise contrivance. But a great crowd of thoughts came upon her, and she was brought to remember the admonitions of Eugenia, who said: “It is a difficult thing for a woman to spend her time with men and to try to seem a man like them; for it is impossible to keep the pretence hidden to the end.”

She casts all her hope on God. Ὅμως προσεκτικωτέρᾳ τῇ διανοίᾳ μόνη τῷ μόνῳ Θεῷ ἐντυγχάνουσα· “Τῷ σῷ νεύματι, δέσποτα, ἔλεγε, τὸν τῶν μοναχῶν ἐπανῄρημαι βίον, ἀκολουθῆσαί τε omits M 1. κελεύσαντι ἀμεταστρεπτὶ ἠκολούθησα· διὸ μήτε μή με M 3, 4. τῶν ἐλπισθέντων ψευσθῆναι παρασκευάσῃς μηδὲ τῆς ἀγαθῆς ταύτης διαμαρτεῖν προθέσεως, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἐμῆς αὐτὸς προἳστάμενος ἀσθενείας κατάλληλόν μου συνδραμεῖν τῷ σκοπῷ καὶ τὸ τέλος ἐπίνευσον.” Τοιαῦτα λέγουσα καὶ ὁρᾶν ἐδόκει τῷ καθαρῷ τῆς ψυχῆς χρηστοτέραν τὴν ἔκβασιν (τοιαῦτα - ἔκβασιν) omits M 4. .

Yet, alone, meeting the only God with a more attentive mind, she said: “At your nod, Master, I have taken up the life of the monks, and when you bade me follow I followed without turning back; wherefore do not let me be cheated of the things hoped for, nor fail of this good purpose, but, yourself standing over my weakness, assent to help my aim fittingly and to its end.” Saying such things, she seemed also to see by the purity of her soul the more favourable outcome.

[8] Οὕτως οὖν ἐχούσης αὐτῆς καὶ ἀγωγῆς ἀντεχομένης πνευματικῆς ἐπὶ χρόνον συχνὸν τὰ κατ᾽ αὐτὴν ἠγνοεῖτο Βασιανῷ, καίτοι μηδὲ τοῦ διορατικοῦ χαρίσματος ἀμοιροῦντι. Ἐλάνθανε δ᾽ οὖν ὅμως Θεοῦ σοφίᾳ καὶ ἀπορρητοτέροις τοῖς κρίμασιν, ὥσπερ καὶ Ἐλισσαῖόν ποτε τὸ τῆς Σουμανίτιδος. IV Kings 4.

[8] While she was in this state, then, and holding to spiritual discipline, for a long time her affairs were unknown to Bassianus, although he was not without the gift of discernment. Yet it escaped him by the wisdom of God and his more secret judgements, as once the matter of the Shunammite escaped Elisha.

Ὀψὲ δὲ καὶ σὺν χρόνῳ μακρῷ δῆλα τὰ περὶ αὐτῆς αὐτῷ γίνεται· γίνεται δὲ οὕτως. Ἔδοξε κατὰ τοὺς ὕπνους ὁρᾶν ὁ μέγας Βασιανὸς ἄνδρα κόσμιον μὲν τὴν ἀναβολὴν ἐκπρεπῆ δὲ δὲ omits M 3. τὴν ὄψιν· καί τινος θειοτέρας εἶναι δοκοῦντα φύσεως, Bassianus's vision. καὶ τοῦτον τρὶς πρὸς M 1. αὐτὸν προσειπεῖν, ὅτι “Βαβύλας ὁ εὐνοῦχος ὁ τῶν παρὰ τῇ σῇ ποίμνῃ μοναχῶν εἷς γυνὴ μέν ἐστιν ἄντικρυς, εὐνοῦχος δὲ εἶναι διὰ τὸ λαθεῖν ὑποκρίνεται.”

At length and after a long time her affairs become plain to him; and they become so thus. The great Bassianus seemed to see in his sleep a man orderly in dress and distinguished in appearance, seeming to be of a more divine nature, and that he said to him three times: “Babylas the eunuch, one of the monks in your flock, is plainly a woman, but pretends to be a eunuch in order to escape notice.”

Κατὰ ταὐτὸν κατ᾽ αὐτὸν M 3, 4. δὲ καὶ Ἀκάκιός τις ἀνὴρ ἐπ᾽ εὐλαβείᾳ περιφανής, ὃς καὶ τῆς εἰς τὸ Τρίτον μονῆς τοῦ θεοφόρου Ἀβραμίου ποιμὴν ἐτύγχανε [These words were wrongly rendered thus in the Latin version published by Lippomano (above, p. 788, no. 14): Acacius … who was also for the third part shepherd of the monastery of the divine Abramius. ThatΤρίτον is the name of a place we said at chapter 6 of the first Life, p. 793.] , τὴν αὐτὴν ὅρασιν ἐθεᾶτο ἐθεᾶ M 4. . Ἕωθεν οὖν ὁ Βασιανὸς μεταπεμψάμενος ἕνα τῶν μοναχῶν Ἰωάννην τινά, ὃς δεύτερος μετ᾽ αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ σεμνείῳ καθίστατο, ὅπως εἶχε τὸ ὄναρ αὐτῷ διηγεῖτο. Ἐν ὅσῳ δὲ διελέγετο ταῦτα ἧκέ τις πρὸς Ἀκακίου πεμφθείς, τὰ τῆς ὄψεως ὥσπερ δὴ καὶ αὐτὸς εἶδεν ἀπαγγέλλων ἀπαγγέλων M 4. Βασιανῷ.

At the same time a certain Acacius too, a man conspicuous for piety, who happened to be shepherd of the monastery of the God-bearing Abramius at the Tertium, beheld the same vision. At dawn, then, Bassianus, sending for one of the monks, a certain John, who stood second after him in the convent, related the dream to him as it was. And while he was discussing these things, there came someone sent by Acacius, reporting to Bassianus the matters of the vision just as he too had seen it.

Τηνικαῦτα τοίνυν καὶ omits M 4. ὁ μέγας Βασιανὸς πλείονα πίστιν ἐθέλων ἐπὶ τούτῳ λαβεῖν, τὸ ἱερὸν ἐπὶ μετὰ M 3. χεῖρας λαβὼν εὐαγγέλιον καὶ omits M 4. ἀναπτύξας, ἐκείνοις ἐντυγχάνει τοῖς λόγοις οἳ διελάμβανον ὁμοίαν εἶναι ζύμῃ ζύμην M 4. τὴν τῶν οὐρανῶν βασιλείαν, ἣν λαβοῦσα γυνὴ ἔκρυψεν εἰς ἀλεύρου σάτα τρία, ἕως οὗ ἐζυμώθη ὅλον. Luke 13, 21.

Then, therefore, the great Bassianus, wishing to receive greater assurance on this, taking the holy gospel into his hands and opening it, comes upon those words which declared that the kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened.

[9] Detected as being a woman, Συνεὶς οὖν τὴν διὰ βάθους δηλουμένην διάνοιαν, τὸ μετὰ ταῦτα καθ᾽ ἑαυτὸν ἐσκέπτετο, πῶς ἂν μετέλθοι δεξιῶς τὸ προκείμενον καὶ μὴ δῆλον τοῦτο τοῖς πολλοῖς γένηται. Μετακαλεῖται τοίνυν τὴν μακαρίαν, καὶ δριμὺ ταύτῃ ἐνατενίσας· “Τί τὸ παρασκευάσαν σε, γύναιον, ἔφη, τηλικοῦτον καθ᾽ ἡμῶν ὑπελθεῖν τόλμημα, καὶ omits M 1. κατ᾽ οὐδὲν ἡμῖν προσήκοντα πειρασμὸν καὶ ὄνειδος ἐπιτρίψασθαι τὸ λαθεῖν χρόνον τοσοῦτον ἐπιτηδεύσασαν;” Ἡ δὲ τὸ λεχθὲν συνεῖσα καὶ τὸ αὐστηρὸν ὑποπτήξασα τῶν ῥημάτων, πρὸς δὲ καὶ τὸ περὶ τὴν ὄψιν ἐπιφανὲν αὐτοῦ τῆς πικρίας νέφος καταπλαγεῖσα, μάλιστα καὶ τὴν συνείδησιν ἔχουσα μαρτυροῦσαν τοῖς εἰρημένοις, καταβάλλει μὲν ἑαυτὴν εὐθὺς εὐθὺς ἑαυτὴν M 1. εἰς τὸ ἔδαφος, τῶν τοῦ ὁσίου δὲ ποδῶν ἐπιλαβομένη λόγους πολὺ

[9] Understanding, then, the meaning declared in the depth, he considered thereafter by himself how he might deal skilfully with the matter in hand and it might not become plain to the many. He summons, then, the blessed woman, and gazing sharply at her said: “What led you, woman, to undertake so great a piece of daring against us, and to wear us out with a temptation and reproach in no way befitting us, contriving to escape notice so long a time?” She, understanding what was said and cowering at the severity of the words, and struck also by the cloud of bitterness that appeared on his face, and above all having her conscience bearing witness to what was said, at once throws herself to the ground, and taking hold of the holy man's feet,

μὲν τὸ ταπεινὸν ἔχοντας, μόλις δὲ ὑποφθεγγομένους προΐει· “Οὐ πειρασμόν, she gives an account of the deed, ὦ δέσποτα, λέγουσα, ἐπαγαγεῖν βουλομένη, τῇ σῆ adds M 3. ποίμνῃ ἐμαυτὴν ἐγκατέλεξα, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἀπὸ τῶν ἐναντίων μᾶλλον διαφεύγουσα πειρασμὸν καὶ τὰς ἐν τῷ βίῳ πάγας ἐκκλίνουσα.”

she let out words that had much humility but were scarcely uttered: “It was not wishing to bring a temptation, master,” she said, “that I enrolled myself in your flock, but rather fleeing the temptation from the adversaries and avoiding the snares in life.”

Πρὸς ἣν αὖθις ὁ Βασιανὸς ἀπεκρίνατο· “Πῶς δὲ καὶ γυνὴ τυγχάνουσα τοῖς θείοις μυστηρίοις γυμνῇ προσήρχου τῇ κεφαλῇ καὶ ἐν omits M 3. τῷ πρὸς εἰρήνην ἀσπασμῷ τὸ στόμα τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς ἀδεῶς ὑπεῖχες;”

To her Bassianus answered again: “But how, being a woman, did you approach the divine mysteries with bare head, and in the kiss of peace offer your mouth to the brothers without fear?”

Ἡ δέ· “Περὶ μὲν τὰ θεῖα δῶρα, φησί, προσποιουμένη ἀσθένειαν, οὐ δι᾽ ὅλου τὸ πρὸς τῇ κεφαλῇ κάλυμμα ἕλκουσα, οὕτω τῇ μεταλήψει τῶν θείων adds M 3. μυστηρίων προσεφερόμην· τὸ δὲ τῆς ἀγάπης πρὸς τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς σύμβολον οὐδαμῶς παρῃτούμην· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀνθρωπίνοις στόμασιν, ἀλλ᾽ ἀνθρώποις τὴν ἀγγελικὴν ζηλοῦσιν ζητοῦσιν M 1. ἀπάθειαν προσάγειν ἐμαυτὴν ὑπελάμβανον.”

And she said: “At the divine gifts, feigning weakness, and drawing the covering on my head not wholly, so I came forward to the partaking of the mysteries; and the token of love toward the brothers I by no means declined; for I supposed that I was offering myself not to human mouths, but to men emulating the angelic passionlessness.”

[10] and narrates her deeds. Πρὸς δὲ τὴν συνετὴν ταύτην ἀπόκρισιν ὁ Βασιανὸς ἐκπλαγείς· “Καὶ διὰ τί μὴ ἑτέρῳ φροντιστηρίῳ, φησί omits M 3. , καὶ ᾧ γυναιξὶν ἐφεῖται διάγειν σεαυτὴν ἐγκατέλεξας;” Ἡ δὲ μικρὸν ἐπισχοῦσα καὶ τὸ πολὺ τοῦ δέους ἀποθεμένη, ἅτε καὶ ἀφορμὴν λαβοῦσα πλείοσι πρὸς ἀπολογίαν χρήσασθαι λόγοις, κατὰ μέρος ὅπως εἶχε τὰ καθ᾽ ἑαυτὴν ἐξεκάλυπτεν, ὡς συναφθείη μὲν τε M 1. κατὰ νόμους ἀνδρὶ καὶ μιᾶς μήτηρ κληθείη κληθείη μήτηρ M 3. παιδός, διάγοι διαγάγοι M 3. δὲ ὅλας νύκτας τοῖς τῶν ἁγίων ἐνδιαιτήμασι διατρίβουσα, καὶ ὡς παρὰ τοῦ συνοικοῦντος ποτὲ μὲν ἀπειλοῦντος, ποτὲ δὲ καὶ πληγὰς ἐντείνοντος, τῆς τοιαύτης ἐπισχεθείη ὁρμῆς καὶ προθέσεως, καὶ ὡς ζητοίη τινὰ προφάσεως σωτήριον M 3. μηχανὴν ἥτις καὶ τὸν ἄνδρα παρασκευάσει λαθεῖν καὶ ἑαυτὴν τὰ κατὰ γνώμην τελεῖν.

[10] Astounded at this intelligent answer, Bassianus said: “And why did you not enroll yourself in another house, one in which women are permitted to live?” And she, pausing a little and putting off much of her fear, inasmuch as she had received an occasion to use more words in her defence, uncovered her affairs one by one as they stood: how she had been joined lawfully to a husband and called mother of one child, and spent whole nights abiding in the dwellings of the saints; and how by her husband, now threatening and now laying on blows, she had been checked from such an impulse and purpose; and how she was seeking some contrivance of a pretext that would make her escape her husband's notice and accomplish what she had in mind.

Τούτοις ἐπεξῄει καὶ τὴν τῆς παιδὸς πρὸς τὴν Σωσάνναν ἐγχείρισιν, καὶ τέλος ἐπῆγε τὴν κατὰ τοὺς ὕπνους θέαν ὡς φεύγουσα τὸν ἄνδρα μοναζόντων ἐδόκει περισεσῶσθαι χερσίν, ὃ καὶ συνεῖσα εἰς τόδε τὸ σχῆμα μετήμειψεν ἑαυτὴν καὶ αὐτὴν τὴν προσηγορίαν μεταβαλοῦσα.

To these she added the handing over of the child to Susanna, and at last brought in the sight in sleep, how, fleeing her husband, she seemed to have been saved by the hands of monks; understanding which, she changed herself into this guise, changing even her very name.

Τούτων ὁ Βασιανὸς ἀκούσας, καὶ τὸ περὶ σύνεσιν αὐτῆς ἐκτόπως omits M 3. ὀξὺ ἐν θαύματι ποιησάμενος καὶ τὸ τῆς προαιρέσεως ἀπόδεκτον λογισάμενος, εἰ πρὸς τὸ λοιπὸν αἱρετὸς ὁ τῶν μοναχῶν βίος αὐτῇ ἐπυνθάνετο. Τῆς δέ· “Καὶ λίαν” εἰπούσης, διὰ γὰρ τοῦτο κόσμου τε καὶ τῶν τοῦ κόσμου γενέσθαι μακράν, “θάρσει, τέκνον, περὶ τοῦ μέλλοντος”, ὁ Βασιανὸς ἀπεφθέγγετο, νουθετήσας τε ὅσα συνοίσειν ἠπίστατο· “Τὸ λοιπόν, εἶπε, τέκνον, ἀνάδημα περιθέσθαι σε τῇ κεφαλῇ διὰ τὸν τῆς φύσεως νόμον προσήκει, προσμένειν τε οὕτως εὐδοκίαν τὴν ἄνωθεν, καὶ ὅτι καὶ αὐτὸς τὰ δυνατὰ συμπράττειν οὐ περιόψεται.”

Hearing these things, Bassianus, holding in wonder the extraordinary sharpness of her understanding and reckoning her resolve acceptable, asked whether for the future the life of monks was her choice. And when she said, “Very much so,” for it was for this that she had gone far from the world and the things of the world, Bassianus pronounced: “Take courage, child, about the future”; and having admonished her in whatever he knew would be profitable, he said: “For the rest, child, it is fitting that you put a fillet on your head because of the law of nature, and so await the good pleasure from above; and that he himself would not neglect to cooperate in what was possible.”

[11] Matrona's daughter departs this life. Οὕτω δὴ τηνικαῦτα ἐκεῖθεν διαστάσης αὐτῆς, ὁ πάντα πρὸς τὸ συμφέρον οἰκονομῶν Κύριος καὶ τὴν τῆς Ματρώνης παῖδα τοῦ βίου μεθίστη καὶ εἰς ἑαυτὸν προσελάμβανεν, ἵνα μὴ τῷ πονηρῷ γένοιτο κατ᾽ αὐτῆς ἀφορμή, καὶ ὡς ἤδη διαγνωσθεῖσαν γνωσθεῖσαν M 1. ὅτι γυνὴ ἦν, τῇ προφάσει τῆς περὶ τὴν παῖδα φροντίδος, ἀπὸ τῆς θειοτέρας αὐτὴν κατάγοι καταγάγοι M 3. μερίμνης, καὶ τῇ διανοίᾳ ταύτης λογισμοὺς ἐνσπείρῃ τοὺς κοσμικούς. Ὅθεν οὐ πένθος, ἀλλ᾽ ἡδονὴν ἐπὶ τῷ πράγματι προσελάμβανε προσελάμβανεν M 3. , τὸ πραχθὲν οὐκ ἀποβολὴν τιθεμένη παιδός, ἀλλὰ τῶν περὶ ταύτης φροντίδων ἀπαλλαγὴν καὶ ἀπόθεσιν.

[11] When she had then thus departed from there, the Lord, who orders all things for what is profitable, removed Matrona's child too from life and took her to himself, so that there might be no occasion for the evil one against her, and lest, now that she had been recognized as a woman, under the pretext of care for the child, he should draw her down from the more divine concern and sow worldly thoughts in her mind. Whence she received not grief but pleasure at the event, reckoning what had happened not the loss of a child, but release from and putting off of the cares about her.

Ἐκρύπτετο τοίνυν αὕτη παρὰ Σωσάννῃ, μᾶλλον δὲ ὁ Θεὸς διὰ Σωσάννης ταύτην ἐφύλαττεν. Ἡ φήμη δὲ τὰ κατὰ ταύτην ἁπανταχῆ διήγγελλε, καὶ διὰ πάσης ἐχώρει τῆς ἀκοῆς τὰ τοῦ δράματος.

She was hidden, then, with Susanna, or rather God was guarding her through Susanna. But rumour announced her affairs everywhere, and the matters of the drama went through every ear.

Ἀφ᾽ ἧς καὶ Δομετιανὸς ὁ ταύτης ἀνὴρ κατὰ μικρὸν θηρεύων τὴν τῶν γενομένων γινομένων M 3. ἀλήθειαν, Her husband seeks her in the monasteries ἅτε μὴ παυσάμενος τὰ περὶ τῆς γυναικὸς τῆς ἰδίας ἰχνηλατεῖν ἰχνηλατῶν M 3. , μετὰ τὸ καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ περιελθεῖν φροντιστήρια καὶ ἐπ᾽ ἐκεῖνο ἔνθα ἡ μακαρία διέτριψε γίνεται, ἀσήμους τινὰς ὑπὸ θυμοῦ καὶ ἀκόσμους φωνὰς ἀφιεὶς θυροκοπῶν τε ἀκαίρως καὶ θρασυνόμενος· “Τίς ἡ περὶ ἐμέ, λέγων, βία, τί τὸ μέγα τοῦτο ἀδίκημα; Καλά γε ΐκαλάγε M 2, which is repeated in the margin. , ὦ μοναχοί, καλὰ λίαν τὰ παρ᾽ ὑμῶν γενόμενα. Ἵνα τί τοὺς καλῶς συναφθέντας ὑμεῖς κακῶς διαιρεῖν βούλεσθε; Δότε μοι σύνοικον τὴν ἐμήν, δότε τὴν κατὰ νόμους ἐμοὶ συναφθεῖσαν.”

From which Domitian her husband too, hunting little by little the truth of what had happened, inasmuch as he did not cease tracking the affairs of his own wife, after going round the other houses comes to that one too where the blessed woman had lived, letting out certain inarticulate and disorderly cries from anger, and knocking at the doors unseasonably and behaving insolently, saying: “What is this violence against me, what is this great wrong? Fine indeed, monks, very fine are the things done by you. Why do you wish to divide badly those who were well joined? Give me my wife, give me her who was joined to me according to the laws.”

[12] demands her back Ταῦτα καὶ πλείονα τούτων πόθῳ κινούμενος καὶ ἀθυμίας ἡττώμενος καὶ τὴν φωνὴν ὑπὸ τοῦ πάθους ἐγκοπτόμενος ἐξεβόα. Ἤκουσε ἤκουε M 2. δὲ παρ᾽ αὐτῶν, ὡς· “Ἡμεῖς μὲν γυναῖκα οὐκ εἰσδεδέγμεθα· μηδὲ γὰρ εἶναι θεμιτὸν τῇ μονῇ γυναιξὶν ἐφεῖσθαι τὴν εἴσοδον· εὐνοῦχον δέ τινα μοναχὸν Βαβύλαν οὕτω καλούμενον ἴσμεν ἐπὶ καιροῦ τινος τὴν σύναμα ἡμῖν διαγωγὴν ποιησάμενον, εἶτα ἀθρόως μεταβαλόντα τὴν ἐπὶ τὰ Ἱεροσόλυμα βουλεύσασθαι πορευθῆναι. Τοῦτον οὖν τοιαύτην ἔχοντα τῆς ἀποδημίας ὑπόθεσιν οὐ πρὸ πολλῶν τούτων τῶν ἡμερῶν ἀφ᾽ ἡμῶν διαστάντα γινώσκομεν. Ὅπου δὲ νῦν διάγει, μόνῳ πάντως γνωστὸν οὗ μηδὲν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἀθεώρητον. Ὅτι δὲ ἀληθῆ ταῦτα μαρτυρήσειεν ἂν καὶ τὸ πᾶν πλῆθος τῆς πόλεως.”

[12] These things and more than these he shouted out, moved by longing and overcome by despondency, his voice broken by passion. And he heard from them: “We have not received a woman; for it is not lawful for the house to permit women entry; but we know a certain monk, a eunuch, called thus, Babylas, who for some time made his manner of life together with us, then, suddenly changing, resolved to go to Jerusalem. We know that he, having such a reason for his journey, departed from us not many days ago. Where he now lives is surely known only to him from whose eyes nothing is unseen. And that these things are true, the whole multitude of the city too would bear witness.”

Τούτων ἀκούσας ὁ Δομετιανὸς καὶ τῆς περὶ τὴν ζήτησιν ἀποκρουσθεὶς ἐγχειρήσεως εὐπροσώπου τε πάσης ἀφορμῆς στερηθεὶς παντοῖος ἐγίνετο, διὰ τὴν ἀποτυχίαν ἀνιώμενος, διὰ τὸν ζῆλον θυμούμενος, διὰ τὸ πρὸς αὐτὴν φίλτρον τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν ἐρεθιζόμενος. Ἐκεῖνος μὲν οὖν omits M 3. οὕτως ἀπῄει τοιούτοις πάθεσι μεριζόμενος.

Hearing these things, Domitian, repulsed from his undertaking of searching and deprived of every plausible occasion, became all manner of things: grieved on account of his failure, angered on account of his jealousy, stirred in desire on account of his love for her. He, then, went away thus, divided by such passions.

[13] Τῷ δὲ Βασιανῷ φροντίδων ἐπετίθετο σμῆνος, ὅπως ἣν ἐπιστεύθη τῆς Ματρώνης ψυχήν, μὴ τὴν ὄντως ἀπώλειαν ὑποστῇ. Καὶ μεταστειλάμενος τοὺς τάξει τινὶ πρώτους τῶν μοναχῶν· “Ἐν πλείονι σκεπτέον ἡμῖν, Having care for her salvation ἔλεγε, περὶ τῆς διαστάσης ἡμῶν ἀδελφῆς. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ τὴν φύσιν ἑτέρα τις ἦν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπείπερ ἐνεγράφη κύκλῳ τῷ καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς, μέλους μέρους M 1. ἀφαίρεσιν λογίζεσθαι δεῖ χρὴ M 1. τὴν ἀφ᾽ ἡμῶν ταύτης διάζευξιν. Διαθώμεθα γοῦν τὰ κατ᾽ αὐτήν, ὅπως εἰς πέρας καταλήξοι χρηστόν, μήπως ὁ πονηρὸς καὶ καθ᾽ ἑκάστην ἐπιβουλεύων ἡμῖν κατισχύσῃ ταύτης τὸ εὔτονον, περὶ τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν ὀργάνῳ χρησάμενος τῷ ἀνδρί.”

[13] But a swarm of cares was laid upon Bassianus, lest the soul of Matrona, with which he had been entrusted, should undergo true perdition. And sending for those first in rank among the monks, he said: “We must consider at greater length about our sister who has departed. For even if she was of another nature, yet since she was enrolled in our circle, her separation from us must be reckoned the removal of a limb. Let us order her affairs, then, so that they may come to a good end, lest the evil one, who plots against us every day, overpower her vigour, using her husband as an instrument for the plot.”

Οὕτως μὲν οὖν ὁ Βασιανὸς ἔλεγεν, ἐν κοινῷ θέμενος τὴν διάσκεψιν. Μάρκελλος δέ τις τὸ τηνικαῦτα διάκονος γνώμην εἰσηγεῖται τοιαύτην, Bassianus ἐν Ἐμέσῃ μέση M 1, and before correction M 2. λέγων τῇ πόλει — ἐκ ταύτης γὰρ κἀκεῖνος ὡρμᾶτο — ἀσκητήριον εἶναι γυναικῶν ἐν ᾧ καὶ ἀδελφὴν αὐτοῦ μίαν εἶναι τῶν ἀσκουμένων. “Εἴπερ οὖν ἀρεστόν σοι δοκεῖ, πρὸς τοῦτο πεμφθήτω· ἔσται σοι γὰρ οὕτω καὶ τὰς περὶ αὐτῆς ἐκδῦναι φροντίδας.” Συνθεμένου δὲ τοῦ Βασιανοῦ τῷ λόγῳ καὶ ἐπιτρέψαντος, ὁ διάκονος παραυτίκα πλοίου ἐκεῖσε ἀναγομένου τυχὼν τούτῳ τὴν ἁγίαν ἐνθέμενος ἐπανῄει.

Thus, then, Bassianus spoke, putting the consideration in common. And a certain Marcellus, at that time a deacon, introduces such an opinion, saying that in the city of Emesa — for he too came from it — there was an ascetic house of women, in which one of his sisters too was among those practising asceticism. “If, then, it seems pleasing to you, let her be sent to this; for so you will also be rid of the cares about her.” And Bassianus agreeing to the word and permitting it, the deacon, at once finding a ship putting out for there, put the holy woman on it and returned.

[14] sends her to Emesa, Ἡ δὲ εὐθύμως τὸ γεγονὸς ὡς οὐκ ἀθεεὶ πραχθὲν ἀποδεξαμένη, ὀλίγα τε ἄττα πρὸς τροφὴν συγκομισαμένη εὐφόρως ἅμα καὶ καλῶς μαλακῶς M 3. τοῦ πνεύματος ἐπωθοῦντος τὸν πλοῦν διαβᾶσα, τὸ ἐν Ἐμέσῃ κατέλαβε φροντιστήριον. Φιλοφρόνως οὖν δὲ M 1. εἰσδεχθεῖσα καὶ δεξιῶς τῶν κατ᾽ ἀρετὴν εἴχετο πόνων οὕτω σπουδαίως, ὡς οὐ ῥᾴδιον ὀφθῆναι ταύτην ταῖς μοναζούσαις ἀρχέτυπον πρὸς τοὺς ἴσους αὐτῆς ἀγῶνας ἁμιλλωμέναις. Ὅθεν καὶ συνεδόκει πάσαις μετὰ τὴν ἐνθένδε τῆς ἄρτι καθηγουμένης ἀπαλλαγὴν αὐτῇ πᾶσαν ἐπιτρέψαι τὴν τῆς μονῆς προστασίαν.

[14] And she, cheerfully accepting what had happened as not done without God, and having gathered a few things for food, crossed over prosperously and well, the wind driving on the voyage, and reached the house at Emesa. Being received kindly, then, she held to the labours of virtue skilfully, and so zealously that it was not easy for her not to be seen as an archetype by the nuns vying in contests equal to hers. Whence it seemed good to all, after the departure from here of the present hegumena, to entrust to her the whole presidency of the house.

Ὅσον δὲ ἄρα Ματρῶνα τὸ λανθάνειν ἐσπούδαζε, τοσοῦτον ἔμελε Θεῷ τὸ δήλην αὐτὴν ποιῆσαι καὶ τὸ ἐκείνης φῶς ἐπὶ τῆς λυχνίας θεῖναι καὶ τὴν ἀρετὴν φανερὰν καταστῆσαι. Κατ᾽ ἐκεῖνο τοίνυν καιροῦ γεηπόνος τις τὸ γήδιον ἐργαζόμενος ἐπὶ συχναῖς ταῖς ἡμέραις ἀναδιδομένην ἑώρα φλόγα τῆς γῆς, καὶ ἡ ἀνάδοσις συνεχής τε καὶ οὐδαμῶς λήγουσα. where the head of St. John is found. Οὗτος οὖν ἅτε δὴ γεωργὸς οὐδὲν δυνηθεὶς συμβαλεῖν ὑψηλότερον, τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ τῆς πόλεως προσελθὼν ἀπαγγέλλει ἀπαγγέλε M 1. .

But as much as Matrona was zealous to escape notice, so much was God concerned to make her manifest, and to set her light upon the lampstand, and to make her virtue plain. At that time, then, a certain tiller of the soil, working his plot, for many days saw a flame being given up from the earth, and the giving up was continual and in no way ceasing. He, then, inasmuch as he was a farmer, being unable to conjecture anything higher, goes to the bishop of the city and reports it.

Καὶ ὃς ἐκ τοῦ φαινομένου μέγα τι συνεὶς τὸ δηλούμενον, ἅμα τῷ ὑπ᾽ αὐτὸν κλήρῳ τὸν τόπον καταλαβών, καὶ ὡς προσῆκον ἦν εὐχὴν ποιησάμενος, τὴν γῆν ἐπέτρεπεν ἀνορύττειν. Οὗ καὶ γενομένου στάμνος εὑρέθη οὐ χρυσὸν ἔνδον κρύπτουσα ἤ τι ἄλλο τοιοῦτον οἷον ἂν φιλόκοσμον θέλξῃ ψυχήν, ἀλλὰ τίμιόν τι omits M 1. χρῆμα καὶ τοῦ παντὸς ἄξιον, τὴν σεβασμίαν τῷ ὄντι τοῦ Βαπτιστοῦ κεφαλήν.

And he, understanding from what appeared that what was being indicated was something great, reached the place together with the clergy under him, and having made prayer as was fitting, gave orders to dig up the earth. When this was done a jar was found, hiding within not gold nor any other such thing as would charm a soul fond of finery, but a precious possession and worth everything, the truly venerable head of the Baptist.

[15] Ταύτης πανταχοῦ διαδραμούσης τῆς φήμης, οὐδεὶς ἦν ὅστις οἴκοι παρῆν, ἀλλὰ παμπληθεὶ πάντες πρὸς τὴν θέαν συνέρρεον· ὑφ᾽ ὧν ἡ τιμία κεφαλὴ αὕτη σὺν πάσῃ δοξολογίᾳ καὶ αἴνοις ἔνδον εἰσάγεται τοῦ ναοῦ. Ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ ἡ Ματρῶνα σύναμα πάσαις ταῖς μοναζούσαις κατὰ θέαν τοῦ φανέντος παρῆν προσῆλθέ τε καὶ τοῦ προκειμένου τῆς κεφαλῆς ἠρύσατο μύρου, μετάδοσις αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀκούσης ταύτης πρὸς τοὺς παρόντας ἐγίνετο. Ὅπως δὲ τοῦτο καὶ πρὸς τί συνωθεῖτο παρὰ Θεοῦ τὸ ἀκούσιον omits M 3. προσέχειν ὁ λόγος ὥστε μαθεῖν ὑμᾶς βούλεται. Κατὰ μέσου γὰρ τοῦ πλήθους ἀποληφθεῖσα καὶ μὴ συγχωρουμένη τὴν ἔξοδον, ὡς πάντων πρὸς τὸ λαβεῖν ἑαυτοὺς εἰσωθούντων, ἐξ οὗπερ αὕτη εἴληφε μύρου καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἠναγκάζετο κοινωνεῖν.

[15] As this report ran everywhere, there was no one who stayed at home, but all streamed together in a body to the sight; by whom this precious head is brought into the church with all doxology and praises. And since Matrona too was present with all the nuns at the sight of what had appeared, and came up and drew some of the unguent laid out from the head, a distribution of it took place through her, even against her will, to those present. How this happened, and to what end the involuntary thing was pressed upon her by God, the discourse wishes you to attend to, that you may learn. For caught in the midst of the multitude and not allowed a way out, since all were pushing in to receive, she was compelled to share with the others too some of the unguent she had received.

A blind man is enlightened. Ἐν δὲ τῷ διαδιδόναι ταύτην πηρός τις τὰς ὄψεις ἐκ γενετῆς παραδραμὼν πάντας, ἦσαν γὰρ καὶ τῶν ἱερέων τινὲς οἳ καὶ τὴν τοῦ θείου μύρου τότε διάδοσιν ἐποιοῦντο, πρὸς αὐτὴν ἧκε, πολὺς ἐγκείμενος ταῖς δεήσεσιν. Ἡ δὲ τῷ τιμίῳ μύρῳ τοὺς τύπους τῶν ὄψεων ἐπιχρίσασα παραχρῆμα φωτὸς ἐποίει θεατὴν τὸν οὔποτε οὔπω M 3. πρότερον αὐτὸ θεασάμενον. Τοῦτο μεγάλην αὐτὴν ἐκήρυξε καὶ λαμπρὰν καὶ παρὰ πᾶσιν εἶναι διαβόητον παρεσκεύασεν, ὥστε λέγειν ἅπαντας αὐτὴν εἶναι τὴν λαθεῖν ἐπὶ χρόνον τοσοῦτον ἐπιτηδεύσασαν καὶ μετ᾽ ἀνδρῶν τὰ τῶν μοναχῶν διανύσασαν.

And while she was distributing it, a man maimed in his sight from birth, running past all — for there were also some of the priests who were then making the distribution of the divine unguent — came to her, pressing hard in entreaties. And she, anointing the shapes of his eyes with the precious unguent, at once made a beholder of light one who had never beheld it before. This proclaimed her great and illustrious and made her celebrated among all, so that all said that she was the one who had contrived to escape notice for so long a time and had accomplished the life of monks among men.

[16] Again she flees her husband Ἡ λαμπρὰ αὕτη φήμη καὶ Δομετιανὸν αὖθις ἐκάλει καὶ οἱονεὶ χειρὸς ἁψαμένη πρὸς τὸ μοναστήριον ἐποίει καταλαβεῖν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τοῦτο ἀνδράσιν ἠκούετο κεκωλυμένην ἔχειν τὴν εἴσοδον, κρύψας ὅπερ ἠβούλετο, εὐλάβειαν ὑπεκρίνετο, καὶ διά τινων γυναικῶν ἀξιοῖ εὐχῆς χάριν χάρα M 3. καὶ προσκυνήσεως τὴν Ματρῶναν ἰδεῖν. Ἡ δὲ δι᾽ ἀκριβεστέρων τῶν ἐρωτήσεων καὶ τῶν ἐν τῷ omits M 3. προσώπῳ συμβόλων ἀφ᾽ ὧν ἤκουε τὸν ἄνδρα ταύτης εἶναι καλῶς ἀναγνοῦσα, τί μηχανᾶται; Ἑπτὰ ἡμερῶν αἰτεῖται καιρόν, καὶ μετ᾽ ἐκείνας ὑπὸ τὴν αὐτῶν ὄψιν

[16] This illustrious report called Domitian again too, and as though taking him by the hand made him reach the monastery. And since he heard that entry to it was forbidden to men, hiding what he wanted, he feigned piety, and through certain women asks to see Matrona for the sake of prayer and veneration. And she, recognizing well, through more exact questions and the marks of his face, from what she heard, that he was her husband — what does she contrive? She asks for a respite of seven days, and after them, under their eyes,

ἐντυχεῖν ἐκείνῳ κατὰ σχολήν. Τοῦτο πρὸς τῶν γυναικῶν Δομετιανὸς ἀκούσας, αὐτὸς μὲν τῶν ἐλπίδων ἀναρτηθεὶς καθῆστο κάθητο M 3. τὴν ὡρισμένην ἐπὶ νοῦν στρέψων ἰδεῖν τε ἀναμένων καὶ ἤδη ἐν χερσὶν ἔχειν αὐτὴν φανταζόμενος. Ἡ Ματρῶνα δὲ σπεύδουσα καὶ αὖθις λαθεῖν εὐθὺ τῶν Ἱεροσολύμων ἐχώρει, οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἢ ῥάκος ἐνδεδυμένη τὸ τρίχινον, καὶ ἄρτου τι ἐλάχιστον ὅσον τρύφος ἐπαγομένη.

to meet him at leisure. Domitian, hearing this from the women, sat hanging on his hopes, turning over in his mind the appointed day, waiting to see her and imagining that he already had her in his hands. But Matrona, hastening to escape notice again, went straight to Jerusalem, clothed in nothing other than the rag of hair-cloth, and taking with her a very little bread, as much as a morsel.

[17] who pursues her, Διαγενομένων δὲ τῶν ἑπτὰ ἡμερῶν κατὰ μὲν τὸ συντεταγμένον αἱ γυναῖκες ἧκον· παρὰ δὲ τῶν μοναζουσῶν ἤκουον πολλῇ καὶ αὐτῶν τῇ λύπῃ βεβαρημένων, ὅτι ἀφ᾽ οὗπερ εἰς λόγους ἦλθον αὐτῇ “οὐδὲ ἡμῖν τὸ λοιπὸν ὤφθη οὐδὲ ὅπου γῆς τυγχάνει γινώσκομεν.” Ἐκεῖναι ταχὺ ἀπελθοῦσαι, ὡς ἔμαθον ταῦτα, τῷ Δομετιανῷ ἔλεγον, καὶ οὗτος τῇ λύπῃ στερρότερον τὴν καρδίαν πληγεὶς οὐκ ἀνίει τὰ κατ᾽ αὐτὴν περιεργαζόμενος, ἕως καὶ above the line M 3. εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα παρεγένετο.

[17] When the seven days had passed, the women came according to the arrangement; and they heard from the nuns, who were themselves weighed down with much grief, that from the time they had come to speak with her “she has not been seen by us any more, nor do we know where on earth she is.” They, going away quickly as they learned this, told Domitian; and he, struck in his heart more severely by grief, did not stop busying himself with her affairs, until he came to Jerusalem.

Καὶ αὖθις ἑτέραις περιτυχὼν γυναιξὶν ὅπως τε εἶχεν ἡ ζητουμένη κατὰ τὴν ἰδέαν ὑπογράφων αὐταῖς, πάντα λίθον ἐκίνει, μαθεῖν ἐθέλων τὰς ἐκείνης διατριβάς. Αἱ δὲ ἰδεῖν μὲν τοιαύτην ὄψιν γυναικὸς ἔλεγον, οὐκ ἔχειν δὲ εἰδέναι σαφῶς ὅπου καὶ εἴη· “ἔνθα γὰρ ἂν εἰς καταγωγὴν ὀψισθείη, ἔν τινι μὲν τῶν ἐκεῖσε ναῶν καταλύει, σπεύδει δὲ πάλιν ἀλλαχοῦ μεταβαίνειν. Ὅμως ἡμεῖς σοι, φασί, πρὸς τὴν αὐτῆς εὕρεσιν ὑπουργήσομεν· ἑαυτὰς γὰρ κατὰ μίαν διελόμεναι σπεύσομεν, ἥτις ἂν αὐτὴν αὐτῆ M 1. πρώτη καὶ ἴδοι, τάχιστά σοι προσελθοῦσα προσελθοῦσαν M 3. καταμηνῦσαι.” Ἐκεῖναι μὲν οὖν ὥσπερ εἶπον ἐποίουν.

And again, falling in with other women and describing to them how the one sought looked in appearance, he left no stone unturned, wishing to learn her haunts. And they said that they had seen such an appearance of a woman, but could not know clearly where she might be: “For wherever evening overtakes her for lodging, she lodges in one of the churches there, but hastens to move elsewhere again. Yet we,” they say, “will help you toward finding her; for dividing ourselves one by one, we will hasten, whichever of us first sees her, to come to you very quickly and inform you.” They, then, did as they had said.

[18] yet does not recognize her. Ἡ Ματρῶνα δέ, οὕτω συμβάν, ἐπιόντι τῷ Δομετιανῷ συναντήσασα καὶ γνωρίσασα, τὸ βλέμμα τε ἐπ᾽ ἐδάφους ἐρείσασα καὶ τὴν χεῖρα δῆθεν ἐπὶ τῷ λίθον ἆραι προσενεγκοῦσα τῇ γῇ ἀντιπαριόντα τοῦτον ἐλάνθανε συνετῶς. Κἀκείναις δὲ συναντήσασα καὶ συνεῖσα, ἐφ᾽ ᾧ κύκλῳ πᾶσαν ἐκπεριέρχονται τὴν περίχωρον ἐκείνην ἐπιμελῶς ἀνιχνεύουσαι καὶ ὅτι δήλη γέγονεν ἀπὸ τῶν τῆς μορφῆς χαρακτήρων καὶ ὅσον οὔπω ἁλώσιμός ἐστι, σοφῇ ἐπινοίᾳ καὶ ταύτας ἀπεσκευάσατο, ἐνδοθῆναι αὐτῇ ἀπιούσῃ παρὰ τὸ Σίναιον τρεῖς τὰς ὅλας ἡμέρας αἰτησαμένη, καὶ μετ᾽ αὐτὰς ἥξειν τε τάχιστα, καὶ ἀνδρὶ τούτῳ εἰς ὄψιν ἐλθεῖν.

[18] And Matrona, as it so happened, meeting Domitian as he came on and recognizing him, fixing her gaze on the ground and bringing her hand to the earth as if to pick up a stone, prudently escaped the notice of him as he passed by on the other side. And meeting those women too, and understanding for what purpose they were going round all that surrounding country, carefully tracking her, and that she had become plain from the marks of her form and was all but caught, by a wise contrivance she got rid of them too, asking that she be granted, as she was going away to Sinai, three whole days, and that after them she would come very quickly and come into the sight of this man.

Ὁ Δομετιανὸς δὲ τοῦτο μαθὼν σκῆψίν τε εἶναι καὶ αὖθις τὴν τοιαύτην ἀπόκρισιν λογισάμενος, κατόπιν εὐθὺς ὡς εἶχε τάχους ἐδίωκεν. Ἡ Ματρῶνα δὲ τοῦτο μαθοῦσα πάλιν καὶ ὅτι πάρεστιν ὁ διώκων καὶ αὕτη ἐντὸς ἤδη omits M 3. θήρας ἐστί, She lies hidden in a certain shrine. δέει συσχεθεῖσα πολλῷ ἐπί τινος εἰδωλείου εἰδωλίου M 1. , ὅπερ ἀνὰ τὴν Βηρυτὸν ἦν, εἰσελθοῦσα κατέλυσε βέλτιον ἡγησαμένη δαίμοσι περιπεσεῖν ἢ θηρσὶν ἤπερ ταῖς Δομετιανοῦ ληφθῆναι χερσίν.

But Domitian, learning this and reckoning such an answer to be again a pretext, at once pursued after her as fast as he could. And Matrona, learning this again, and that the pursuer was at hand and she was already within the hunt, seized with great fear, entered an idol-temple which was near Berytus and lodged there, thinking it better to fall among demons or beasts than to be taken by the hands of Domitian.

Οἱ μὲν γάρ, εἰ λάβωσι, τὸ σῶμα πάντως βλάψουσι μόνον· ὁ δέ γε ἀνήρ, εἰ χειρώσεται, καὶ δαιμόνων ἔσται καὶ θηρίων ὀλεθριώτερος, ἅτε μετὰ τοῦ σώματος καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν βλάψαι δυνάμενος, πρὸς τὰ τοῦ κόσμου πάλιν omits M 3. ἕλκων αὐτὴν καὶ ὡς γυναικὸς ἰδίας ἀντιποιούμενος.

For they, if they seize her, will surely harm the body only; but her husband, if he gets her into his power, will be more destructive than demons and beasts, inasmuch as he is able to harm the soul together with the body, dragging her again to the things of the world and laying claim to her as his own wife.

[19] She puts the demons to flight with the sign of the cross. Ἐν τούτῳ τοίνυν αὕτη γενομένη καὶ προσεχόντως ταῖς πρὸς Θεὸν ὑμνῳδίαις καὶ ταῖς εὐχαῖς σχολάζουσα, τῶν δαιμόνων ἤκουεν ἀντιψαλλόντων αὐτῇ καὶ τὰς ὁμοίας ἀφιέντων φωνάς· καὶ τοῦτο ἐπὶ συχναῖς ἐγίνετο ταῖς ἡμέραις. Δειλίαν οὖν αὐτῇ καὶ ὑποστολὴν ἐνίει τὸ δρώμενον. Εἶτα τῷ σταυρικῷ τύπῳ φραξαμένη ἐξῄει κατὰ τῶν φοβερῶν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ οὖδένα εἶχεν ὁρᾶν, τῆς θείας ἐδεῖτο χάριτος δῆλον γενέσθαι αὐτῇ αὐτῆ γενέσθαι M 3. τὸ διαπορούμενον. Εὐθὺς οὖν δήλους ὄντας ἑώρα τοὺς ἀφανεῖς ἀσήμους τε φωνὰς ἀφιέντας καὶ πῦρ ἐπιφερομένους, αὖθίς τε παρ᾽ αὐτῆς ἐπιτιμωμένους καὶ ἐκχωροῦντας καὶ ὡσεὶ καπνὸν ἐκλείποντας.

[19] Being in this place, then, and devoting herself attentively to hymnody to God and to prayers, she heard the demons psalming against her and letting out like cries; and this happened for many days. The thing, then, put fear and shrinking into her. Then, fencing herself with the figure of the cross, she went out against the fearful ones. And since she could see no one, she besought the divine grace that what perplexed her might become plain to her. At once, then, she saw the unseen ones plainly, letting out inarticulate cries and bringing fire, and again, rebuked by her, withdrawing and vanishing like smoke.

Ἐνίοτε νίοτε M 1. δίψους τὴν γενναίαν κατασχόντος κατ. τὴν γενναίαν M 3. οὐ φορητοῦ, Food and drink ὀλίγον ἐκείνη προελθοῦσα προσελθοῦσα M 3. τοῦ εἰδωλείου εἰδωλίου M 1. καὶ δρεψαμένη παρὰ τὴν πόαν δροσώδεις βοτάνας καὶ χλοερὰς εἰς μετρίαν παραψυχὴν τῷ στόματι προσηνέγκατο. Ὁ δὲ παράδοξον ὄμβρον adds M 3. τὸ μάννα ὑετίσας ποτὲ omits M 3. Κύριος καὶ λαὸν ἑστιάσας ἄχρι κόρου, τὸν πονηρὸν καὶ ἀχάριστον, αὐτοσχέδιον ταύτῃ τὸ ποτὸν ὁμοῦ καὶ τὴν τράπεζαν ἀνεδείκνυεν.

Sometimes, when an unbearable thirst seized the noble woman, going a little out of the idol-temple and plucking dewy and green herbs by the grass, she put them to her mouth for moderate refreshment. And the Lord, who once rained down the marvellous manna and feasted to satiety the wicked and ungrateful people, displayed for her an improvised drink and table together.

Ἐν καυσώδει γὰρ χώρῳ καὶ πολὺν τὸν ἥλιον δεχομένῳ τόπον εὑροῦσα νοτίδος μικρᾶς ἐγκύμονα, καὶ τοῦτον ὀξέσι λίθοις ὅσον ἐφικτὸν ἦν κοίλαις ἀρύεσθαι ταῖς χερσὶν ἀνορύξασα, are provided for her by God. ἐπιλαβούσης ἤδη νυκτὸς αὐτὴ μὲν τὰς συνήθεις εὐχὰς ἀποδώσουσα τῷ Θεῷ ἐπανῄει· τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ δὲ πάλιν ἀφικομένη μεστὸν εὑρίσκει τὸν λάκκον ὕδατος βρωσίμων τε βοτανῶν τράπεζαν οὐδαμῶς ἄτιμον τῇ ἑστιωμένῃ, ἀλλὰ πολλῷ μᾶλλον τῶν τοὺς ἁβροὺς θεραπευουσῶν καὶ omits M 1. πλουσίων αὐτὴν εὐφραίνουσαν.

For in a burning spot that received much sun, finding a place pregnant with a little moisture, and digging it with sharp stones as far as it was possible to draw with hollowed hands, as night had already come on she returned to render to God her customary prayers; and coming again on the next day she finds the pit full of water, and a table of edible herbs in no way dishonourable to her who feasted on it, but delighting her much more than the tables of the rich that serve the dainty.

[20] She is tempted by a demon; Οὕτως οὖν omits M 3. ἐχούσης αὐτῆς καὶ Θεῷ διὰ παντὸς προσεχούσης, δεινὸν ὁ δεινὸς τοῦτο καὶ οὐκ ἀνεκτὸν ἔκρινεν. Ὅθεν ἑαυτὸν δὶς εἰς εὐπρεπῆ γυναῖκα διαμορφώσας καὶ προσελθών· “Ἵνα τί, κυρία μου, ἔλεγε, τὸ ζοφῶδες τοῦτο καὶ ἔκτοπον προῄρησαι κατοικεῖν; Ἥ τε γὰρ ἐρημία μακρὰ καὶ ἡ τῶν ἐπιτηδείων σπάνις συχνή. Ἄλλως τε δὲ omits M 3. καὶ τὴν ἡλικίαν ἔτι νεάζουσα εἶ καὶ τὸ κάλλος διαπρεπής· καὶ λίαν δέδοικα περὶ σοῦ μὴ τὸ ἐπέραστον τοῦτο πρόφασις ἐπιθυμίας ἀκολάστοις ὀφθαλμοῖς γένηται, καὶ διὰ τὴν τοῦ τόπου μόνωσιν καὶ τὴν ἐρημίαν τοῦ βοηθήσοντος βοηθήσαντος M 3. ὕβριν ἐπαγάγῃς τῷ ἑαυτῆς σώματι. Ἀλλ᾽ εἴ μοι πειθομένην σεαυτὴν σαυτὴν M 1. παράσχοις, καταγάγοιμι ἄν σε πρὸς αὐτὰ τὰ τοῦ ἄστεος, ἔνθα καὶ οἰκίαν κατὰ γνώμην εὑρήσεις καὶ ὡς σοὶ φίλον ἀθορύβως οἰκήσεις καὶ τῶν εἰς χρῆσιν ἐπιτηδείων οὐδαμῶς ἀπορήσεις.”

[20] While she was thus, then, and attending to God continually, the terrible one judged this terrible and not to be borne. Whence, twice transforming himself into a comely woman and coming to her, he said: “Why, my lady, have you chosen to dwell in this gloomy and out-of-the-way place? For the desert is long and the lack of necessities frequent. And besides, you are still young in age and distinguished in beauty; and I am very much afraid for you, lest this loveliness become an occasion of desire to licentious eyes, and through the solitude of the place and the lack of anyone to help you, you bring outrage on your own body. But if you would show yourself obedient to me, I would bring you down to the city itself, where you will find a house to your mind and dwell undisturbed as you please, and you will lack nothing of what is suitable for use.”

Ἡ δὲ φωράσασα τοῦ ἐναντίου ταύτην εἶναι τὴν ἐπίβουλον συμβουλὴν ὡσεὶ λῆρον ταυτὶ τὰ ῥήματα ἐλογίσατο, καὶ ἀνωτέρα τῆς παγίδος διέβη. Ἀλλὰ πάλιν τὸ πονηρὸν ἐκεῖνο δαιμόνιον οὐκ ἀνίει διὰ πάσης τέχνης προσβάλλον καὶ τῇ Ματρώνῃ ἐπιτιθέμενον. Ἀμέλει καὶ γραὸς ἀγύρτιδος μορφὴν ὑπελθὸν καὶ πῦρ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἀφιέναι φαινόμενον ἐμμανῶς ὁμοῦ καὶ θρασέως τοῖς ποσὶν αὐτῆς ἐπερρίπτετο δεδιττόμενόν τε καὶ φθεγγόμενον ἄτοπα καὶ σαπρά.

But she, detecting that this treacherous counsel was the adversary's, reckoned these words as nonsense and passed above the snare. But again that wicked demon did not leave off, attacking with every art and setting upon Matrona. Of course, entering into the form of a beggar old woman and appearing to send forth fire from its eyes, madly and boldly it threw itself at her feet, frightening her and uttering monstrous and rotten things.

Ὡς δὲ οὔτε λόγου adds M 3. παρ᾽ αὐτῆς ἠξιοῦτο οὔθ᾽ ὅλως ἐπιστρεφομένην ἑώρα omits M 3. τὴν μακαρίαν, χαλεπαῖνον οἷα καὶ θρασυνόμενον· “Εἰ καὶ νέαν οὖσαν, ἐβόα, σὲ τὴν γενναίαν ἡττῆσαι οὐκ ἴσχυσα, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν τῷ γήρᾳ τὰ πάντων ἐπάξω σοι χαλεπώτατα. Τὸ δὲ νῦν ἔχον κατὰ σοῦ διαστήσω διαναστήσω M 3. τοὺς ἐν Βηρυτῷ ὡς ἀτιμούσης τε τὸ εἰδωλεῖον αὐτῶν καὶ τό γε ἧκον εἰς σὲ παρεωραμένον αὐτὸ δεικνυούσης.”

And when it was not deemed worthy of a word by her, and saw the blessed woman not turning round at all, being angry and acting insolently it cried out: “Even if, when you were young, I could not defeat you, noble one, yet in old age I will bring on you the hardest things of all. And for the present I will set the people of Berytus against you, as one who dishonours their idol-temple and, as far as in you lies, shows it to be neglected.”

God consoles her. Τὰς τοιαύτας δὲ κακομηχάνους ἐπιβουλὰς τοῦ πονηροῦ διεδέχοντο ἀποκαλύψεις καὶ ὀπτασίαι διεδ. ὀπτασίαι καὶ ἀποκ. M 3. θειότεραι, ὅσπερ τρόπος θεοῦ παρακαλεῖν ἐν ταῖς θλίψεσι καὶ τὰ σκυθρωπὰ λύειν διὰ τῶν χρηστοτέρων. “Κατὰ τὸ πλῆθος γάρ,” φησὶν ὁ θεῖος Δαυΐδ, “τῶν ὀδυνῶν μου ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ μου αἱ παρακλήσεις σου εὔφραναν τὴν ψυχήν μου.” Εἶχε δὲ οὕτως. Psalm 93, 19.

Such evil-contriving plots of the evil one were succeeded by more divine revelations and visions, as is God's way, to comfort in afflictions and to dissolve gloomy things through better. “For according to the multitude,” says the divine David, “of the sorrows in my heart, your comforts have gladdened my soul.” It was thus.

[21] Ἑσπέρας κατὰ τὸ σύνηθες τὰς εὐχὰς αὐτῆς ποιουένης, ἐπιστάντες τρεῖς ἄνδρες ἐν φανερῷ συμψάλλειν αὐτῇ ἐῴκεσαν, καὶ ὥραις ἐπὶ συχναῖς γονάτων αὐτοῖς κλίσις Ματρώνης ὄπισθεν ἐτελεῖτο. Τῆς δὲ τὴν ὄψιν μεταστρεψάσης μεταστρεφούσης M 3. ὥστε τίνες εἶεν μαθεῖν, αὐτοὶ πράως οὕτω καὶ γαληνῶς τρὶς corrected, previously τρεῖς M 3. ἤδη τὸ “Ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν εὔχου,” εἰπόντες, εὐθὺς ἀπῄεσαν.

[21] As she was making her prayers in the evening according to custom, three men standing by her seemed openly to psalm with her, and for many hours the bending of the knee was performed by them behind Matrona. And as she turned her face to learn who they were, they, gently and calmly, having said three times, “Pray for us,” at once went away.

Into her discipline Δήλην οὖν αὐτὴν ἐπιπλέον τῆς ἀρετῆς ποιούσης, ἡ φήμη διὰ πάντων ἐχώρει ὅτι Ματρῶνα καὶ τὰ πονηρὰ πνεύματα φεύγει καὶ κενὰ δαιμόνων τὰ εἰδωλεῖα καθίσταται· ὅθεν καὶ πολλοὶ πρὸς αὐτὴν ἐφοίτων τὸ καὶ μόνον κοινωνῆσαι λόγων αὐτῆς αὐτοῖς M 1, 2; αὐτῆ M 3. μέγα οἰόμενοι. Ἐξ οὗ καὶ γυνή τις καλουμένη Σωφρόνη Σωφροσύνη M 1, 3. σωφρονικῶς μὲν καὶ κατ᾽ ὄνομα ζῶσα, τῆς ἑλληνικῆς δὲ θρησκείας ἀντεχομένη, σύναμα δὲ αὐτῇ καὶ ἄλλαι τῆς ἴσης κοινωνοῦσαι δόξης, when other women give themselves up, γονεῦσί τε καὶ φίλοις καὶ τοῖς τοῦ κόσμου πᾶσιν ἀποταξάμεναι τῇ Ματρώνῃ ἑαυτὰς ἐνεχείρισαν καὶ οὖς αὐτῇ εὐπειθὲς πρὸς τοὺς λόγους ὑπεῖχον, αἳ καὶ ἐντὸς ὀλίγου ὑπ᾽ αὐτῆς τοῦ σωτηρίου βαπτίσματος ἠξιώθησαν.

As virtue, then, made her still more manifest, the report went through all that Matrona both puts the evil spirits to flight and makes the idol-temples empty of demons; whence many too came to her, thinking it a great thing even only to share in her words. From which a certain woman called Sophrone, living chastely and true to her name, but holding to the Hellenic religion, and together with her others too sharing the same opinion, renouncing parents and friends and all the things of the world, handed themselves over to Matrona and offered her an ear obedient to her words; and within a short time they were counted worthy by her of saving baptism.

Ἐν οἷς καὶ παρθένος τις ἑλληνὶς ἱέρεια τῶν εἰδώλων τυγχάνουσα τὰ περὶ τῆς ὁσίας ἀκούσασα καὶ τῶν ἑαυτῆς Θεῶν καταγνοῦσα, then a certain priestess of the idols, ζήλου τε πληρωθεῖσα θείου, τὰ μὲν παρ᾽ ἑλλήνων τοῖς δαίμοσι προσφερόμενα καὶ εἰς ἀθέσμους θυσίας καταναλίσκεσθαι μέλλοντα πένησι παρέσχεν· αὐτὴ δὲ πάντων ἀποστᾶσα τῇ Ματρώνῃ θερμῶς προσέρχεται, καὶ μίαν ἑαυτὴν ποιεῖ τῶν ἐκείνῃ ἀκολουθεῖν αἱρετισαμένων.

Among these also a certain Hellene virgin, who happened to be a priestess of the idols, hearing about the holy woman and condemning her own gods, and filled with divine zeal, gave to the poor the things offered by the Hellenes to the demons and about to be spent on unlawful sacrifices; and she herself, departing from all things, comes warmly to Matrona and makes herself one of those who had chosen to follow her.

[22] who is sought by her parents. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἡμέρα παρῆν καθ᾽ ἣν ἔδει τὰς θυσίας τελεῖσθαι πλῆθός τε λαοῦ καὶ οἱ κατὰ γένος ταύτῃ αὐτῆ M 3. προσήκοντες συνηθροίζοντο, αὐτὴν μὴ εὑρίσκοντες εὑρόντες M 3. οὐκ εἶχον ὅπως τὰ νενομισμένα τελέσωσι τελέσουσι M 3. μὴ παρούσης τῆς ἱερείας. Ὡς δὲ συνιδεῖν οὐκ ἠδύναντο τὸ γενόμενον, ὀψὲ καὶ μόλις οἱ γονεῖς αὐτῆς τοῦτο μαθόντες εἰς τὸ εἰδωλεῖον, ἔνθα ἡ ὁσία ἐτύγχανε, πρὸς τάχος χωροῦσι, καὶ κατιδόντες τοῖς τῆς ὁσίας ποσὶ προσκειμένην αὐτὴν προπετέστερον ἐχρῶντο τοῖς λόγοις· “Ἵνα τί, λέγοντες, ὦ νεᾶνις, τῶν μεγίστων ὑπεριδοῦσα θεῶν, ἀτέλεστα μὲν τὰ τῶν θυσιῶν καταλέλοιπας, τὸ πλῆθος δὲ καθ᾽ ἡμῶν ἀνηρέθισας τὴν εἰς τοὺς θεοὺς ὕβριν οὐ φέρον, αὐτὴ δὲ ἀντὶ τῆς ἀρίστης καὶ ζηλουμένης διαγωγῆς τὴν ἄτιμον ταύτην εἵλου καὶ ἐξουδενωμένην;

[22] And when the day had come on which the sacrifices had to be performed, and a multitude of people and those related to her by birth were gathered, not finding her they had no way to perform the customary rites, since the priestess was not present. And as they could not perceive what had happened, at last and with difficulty her parents, learning it, go with speed to the idol-temple where the holy woman happened to be, and seeing her lying at the holy woman's feet they used words rather rashly, saying: “Why, girl, despising the greatest gods, have you left the rites of the sacrifices unperformed, and stirred up against us the multitude, which does not bear the outrage to the gods, and chosen for yourself, instead of the best and enviable manner of life, this dishonoured and despised one?

Οὐκοῦν ἀποβαλοῦσα τὴν ἀθρόως ἐπισχοῦσάν σε ἄνοιαν, γενοῦ ποτε καὶ διανοίας συνετῆς τε καὶ ἔμφρονος, καὶ τὸ πένθιμον ἀποθεμένη τοῦτο τουτὶ M 3. σχῆμα φαιδρὰ πρὸς φαιδροὺς ἡμᾶς ἔξιθι, μὴ τάφος ἀπωλείας ὁ τόπος τῆς δοκούσης σοι σωτηρίας γένηται. Σοῦ γὰρ τὸ κελευόμενον μὴ πραττούσης, εἰς τὴν ἐπιοῦσαν ἀνάλωμα πυρὸς ἔσται τὸ παρὸν ἐνδιαίτημα.” Τοιαῦτα εἰπόντες παρ᾽ αὐτῆς μὲν οὐδὲν ἤκουον.

Cast off, then, the folly that has suddenly seized you, become at last of an intelligent and sensible mind, and putting off this mournful garb, come out bright to us who are bright, lest the place of what seems to you salvation become a tomb of perdition. For if you do not do what is commanded, on the morrow the present dwelling will be fuel for the fire.” Having said such things, they heard nothing from her.

[23] The threats of the impious Ἡ Ματρῶνα δὲ πρὸς αὐτοὺς φιλίως τε καὶ εἰρηνικῶς· “Ταύτην ἐᾶτε, ἔφη· αὕτη τοῦ Θεοῦ τῶν ὑμετέρων θεῶν ἤδη δούλη καθέστηκεν. Οὐδὲν αὐτῇ λοιπὸν καὶ ὑμῖν κοινόν.” Ταῦτα ἀκούσαντες ἐκεῖνοι μὲν ὑπέστρεφον ἐμπρησμόν τε τοῦ ναοῦ καὶ ἄλλα τὰ χαλεπώτατα ἀπειλούμενοι. Ἡ δὲ κόρη πρὸς τοῖς ποσὶ τῆς μακαρίας

[23] But Matrona said to them in a friendly and peaceable way: “Let her be; she has already become the servant of the God of your gods. For the rest there is nothing in common between her and you.” Hearing this, they turned back, threatening the burning of the temple and other most grievous things. And the girl, at the feet of the blessed woman,

κειμένη πολλή τις ἦν δεομένη Χριστοῦ τῇ σφραγῖδι ἐνσημανθῆναι καὶ τοῦ ἱεροῦ βαπτίσματος ὡς τάχος ἀξιωθῆναι.

lying there, was earnest in begging to be marked with the seal of Christ and to be counted worthy of holy baptism as quickly as possible.

Προσμένειν οὖν ἡ Ματρῶνα ταῖς λοιπαῖς ἐπιτρέψασα ἐπὶ συλλογὴν ὕλης ἐκείνη προῆλθεν προῆλ //// M 2; ἐκείνη προῆλεν ὕλης ξηρᾶς M3. ξηρᾶς, καὶ πολλήν τινα συναγαγοῦσα καὶ ὑποστρέψασα ἀναστρέψασα M 3. Matrona despises it with great spirit; · “Τινὲς ἐξ ὑμῶν ἀπελθοῦσαι κατὰ τάχος, εἶπεν, ὑπαγορεύσατε τοῖς πρὸ πρὸς M 1. βραχέος ἥκουσιν, ὅτι πῦρ ὑμῖν καὶ ὕλη ἄφθονος ηὐτρεπίσθη εὐτρεπίσθη (εὐ over an erasure) M 2. , τίνος δὲ χάριν ἡ ὑμῶν ἄφιξις ὑστερεῖ, ἵνα καὶ τέλος τὰ ἠπειλημένα παρ᾽ ὑμῶν λάβωσι.”

Matrona, then, bidding the others wait, went out to gather dry wood, and having collected a great deal and returned, she said: “Let some of you go away quickly and tell those who came a little while ago that fire and abundant wood have been got ready for you; and why does your arrival lag, so that the things threatened by you may at last be fulfilled?”

Τούτων ἐκεῖνοι ἀκούσαντες καὶ τὸ τῆς ἐπινοίας σοφὸν καὶ τὸ τοῦ φρονήματος εὐθαρσὲς διὰ θαύματος ποιησάμενοι πάσης ἠπόρουν ἀνταποκρίσεως μηδὲ τὴν ἐκεῖσε ὑποστροφὴν τὸ μετὰ ταῦτα ἀναθαρρήσαντες. Τότε δὴ τότε M 3. ταῖς ἀναστρεψάσαις ἑτέραν αὖθις ἡ μακαρία ὑπουργίαν ἐπέταττεν ὑπέταττεν M 1. ἀπιέναι τε καὶ τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ ἐντυχεῖν καὶ μεθ᾽ ἑαυτῶν ἀγαγεῖν τῶν ἱερέων ἕνα τινὰ καὶ διάκονον. Οὗ δὴ καὶ κατὰ πολλὴν γενομένου τὴν ταχυτῆτα, τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν ἤδη ἀφικομένοις τὴν ἔναγχος ἔναγχον M 1. αὐτῇ προσελθοῦσαν ἱέρειαν παρεδίδου, κατηχῆσαί τε ταύτην ἐπέτρεπε καὶ βαπτίσαι καὶ πρὸς αὐτὴν αὖθις ἀγαγεῖν.

Hearing these things, they, holding in wonder both the wisdom of the contrivance and the boldness of the mind, were at a loss for any reply, nor did they afterwards take courage to return there. Then the blessed woman again enjoined on those who had returned another service, to go away and meet the bishop and bring back with them one of the priests and a deacon. And when this had been done with great speed, she handed over to the priests, when they had arrived, the priestess who had lately come to her, and charged them to catechize her and baptize her and bring her back to her again.

[24] is loved by many for her holy life. Ἀχθεῖσα οὖν μετὰ τὸ βάπτισμα ἡ Εὐχή — οὕτω γὰρ αὕτη μετωνόμαστο, — διὰ πάσης ἤγετο παιδείας πνευματικῆς, καὶ συνησκεῖτο τὰ θειότερα ταῖς λοιπαῖς εἰς ὀκτὼ περιισταμέναις τὸν ἀριθμόν. Οὕτω δὲ ἦν ἡ ὁσία τὴν ὁμιλίαν ἐπίχαρις καὶ εὐωδίας πνέουσα τῆς κατὰ Θεόν, ὥστε πολλοὺς πολλάκις τῶν ἐντυχόντων αὐτῇ μετὰ τὸ παύσασθαι τοὺς λόγους ἐπανελθεῖν οἴκαδε βουλομένους δυσαπαλλάκτως ἔχειν καθάπερ ὑπὸ δεσμῶν τινων τοῦ πρὸς αὐτὴν πόθου κεκρατημένους ἢ τοὺς ἐν δίψῃ καλῷ ὕδατι πρὸς κόρον οὐ χρησαμένους, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο βαρέως ὑπομένειν τὴν ἀναχώρησιν.

[24] Brought back, then, after baptism, Euche — for so she had been renamed — was led through all spiritual discipline, and practised divine things together with the others, who came round to eight in number. And the holy woman was so gracious in converse, and breathed so the fragrance according to God, that many of those who met her, often, after the words had ceased and they wished to return home, could hardly tear themselves away, as if held fast by some bonds of longing for her, or like those in thirst who had not had their fill of good water, and for this reason they bore their departure heavily.

Οὕτω μὲν ἐπέραστος ἦν αὕτη κατὰ πνεῦμα τοῖς προσιοῦσιν· εἶχε δὲ καὶ αὐτὴν πόθος ἐντυχεῖν πάλιν Βασιανῷ. Ἐπεὶ δὲ οὗτος εἰς τὴν βασιλεύουσαν τῶν πόλεων τὴν Κωνσταντινούπολιν ἦν, ἐν αὐτῇ δὲ παρῆν καὶ Δομετιανὸς ὁ ταύτης ἀνήρ, διωθεῖτο τὴν ἔφεσιν ὁ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς φόβος, μήποτε καὶ εἰς τὰς αὐτοῦ χεῖρας ἐμπέσοι καταλαβοῦσα τὴν βασιλεύουσαν· ὅθεν καὶ δυσὶ τούτοις μεριζομένη τοῖς λογισμοῖς, πατρός τε πνευματικοῦ πόθῳ καὶ φόβῳ τοῦ κατὰ νόμους ἀνδρός, τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρειαν μᾶλλον ἐνενόει καταλαβεῖν ἢ ταύτης ἀποτυχοῦσα ἀποτυχοῦσαν M 1, 2, 3. τὴν Ἀντιόχειαν. Ταύτῃ τοι καὶ συντονώτερον προσέκειτο ταῖς δεήσεσι, καὶ τὴν τοῦ συνοίσοντος δήλωσιν παρὰ Κυρίου προσέμενε.

So lovable was she in spirit to those who came to her; but a longing possessed her too to meet Bassianus again. But since he was in the reigning city of cities, Constantinople, and Domitian her husband too was there, fear of her husband thrust back her desire, lest, reaching the reigning city, she fall into his hands; whence, divided by these two thoughts, longing for her spiritual father and fear of her lawful husband, she thought rather to reach Alexandria, or, failing that, Antioch. For this reason, then, she applied herself more intently to supplications, and awaited from the Lord the declaration of what would be profitable.

[25] A wonderful vision. Κατενεχθεῖσα γοῦν εἰς πρὸς M 3. ὕπνον ἐδόκει τρεῖς ἄνδρας ὁρᾶν, διατείνεσθαί τε τούτων ἔκαστον καὶ ἰσχυρῶς ἀνθίστασθαι, τίς τῶν τριῶν εἴη προτιμητέος ἀγαγεῖν αὐτὴν εἰς γυναῖκα. Τῆς δὲ ὥσπερ ἐκτρεπομένης τὴν ἀκοὴν καὶ τὸ πρᾶγμα κομιδῆ ἄτοπον ἡγουμένης, — θορυβεῖ γὰρ καὶ ὄναρ ἀπεναντίας τοῖς μεθ᾽ ἡμέραν λογισμοῖς ὁρώμενον, — “Τίνες δὲ ὑμεῖς ἐστε, πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἡ ἁγία λέγειν ἐδόκει, καὶ τίνα ὑμῶν τὰ ὀνόματα;” Οἱ δὲ τὸν ἕνα μὲν Ἀλέξανδρον ὀνομάζεσθαι, θάτερον δὲ Ἀντίοχον, τὸν δὲ καὶ τὸν M 1. λοιπὸν Κωνσταντῖνον, καὶ τελευτῶντας κλήρῳ πειρᾶσθαι διαλύειν τὴν ἀμφισβήτησιν· πεσεῖν δὲ τοῦτον εἰς τὸν καθ᾽ ἡλικίαν νεάζοντα, Κωνσταντῖνος οὗτος ἐτύγχανε. Διυπνισθεῖσα γοῦν καὶ τὴν τῆς ὄψεως ἀποκάλυψιν ὅ τι βούλοιτο ἡ ἁγία συνεῖσα, τὴν μὲν πρὸς Ἀλεξάνδρειαν ἢ Ἀντιόχειαν μεθεῖναι διέγνω, ὅλη δὲ τῆς πρὸς Κωνσταντινούπολιν ἀποδημίας ἐγίνετο· εἰς εὐαρέστησιν γὰρ εἶναι τοῦτο ἔλεγε τῷ τὴν τῶν ἀφανῶν δήλωσιν ἐναργῶς Θεῷ παραστήσαντι.

[25] Being overcome by sleep, then, she seemed to see three men, and each of them strained and resisted strongly as to which of the three should be preferred to take her as wife. And as she, as it were, turned away her hearing and thought the matter utterly unseemly — for even a dream seen contrary to the thoughts of the day disturbs one — the holy woman seemed to say to them: “Who are you, and what are your names?” And they said that one was named Alexander, the second Antiochus, and the remaining one Constantine; and at last they tried to settle the dispute by lot; and it fell to the one who was youngest in age, and this happened to be Constantine. Awaking, then, and understanding what the revelation of the vision meant, the holy woman decided to give up the journey to Alexandria or Antioch, and became wholly taken up with the journey to Constantinople; for she said this was to the good pleasure of God, who had vividly set before her the declaration of things unseen.

[26] Her daughters Κοινωσαμένη δὲ τὸ ὄναρ καὶ ταῖς περὶ αὐτὴν ἀδελφαῖς, ἀντιπραττούσας ἑώρα ταύτας τῇ βουλήσει τῇ ἑαυτῆς, οὐχ ὡς ἕτερόν τι κρινούσας τὸ ὀφθὲν ἐκεῖνο δηλοῦν, ἀλλ᾽ ὅτι λίαν αὐτῆς περιείχοντο καὶ ἀποστῆναι οὐδαμῶς ἠνείχοντο, ὥσπερ νεόφυτά τινα ὑπὸ τῶν ἐκείνης λόγων ἀρδόμεναι καὶ τῇ αὐτῆς στερήσει κινδυνεύουσαι μαρανθῆναι. “Ὄμως ἐπεὶ θεία τις, ἔφησαν, πρόνοια συνεργὸς κατέστη σοι τῷ βουλεύματι, τῆς προθέσεως ἀνακόπτειν σε οὐδαμῶς ἐσμεν δυναταί· ἀλλὰ δεύτερος, φασί, πλοῦς, τίσιν ἡμᾶς καταλείψεις μετὰ τὴν σὴν ἀναχώρησιν, διὰ φροντίδος γενέσθω σοι.”

[26] Having shared the dream also with the sisters about her, she saw them opposing her will, not because they judged that what was seen declared something else, but because they clung to her greatly and could by no means bear to be parted from her, like young plants watered by her words and in danger of withering through her loss. “Yet since,” they said, “a divine providence has become a cooperator with your plan, we can by no means cut you off from your purpose; but let it be your concern, as a second-best course,” they say, “to whom you will leave us after your departure.”

Ἡ δὲ εὐθέως τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ τὰ περὶ τούτων δῆλα καθίστησι, she commits to two deaconesses. καὶ δύο τῶν διακόνων τινὰς αἷς ὁ χρόνος τὴν ἀρετὴν ἐβεβαίωσε, πέμψαι παρ᾽ αὐτὴν κατεμήνυε. Παραγενομέναις οὖν ἡ πολλάκις μακαρία τὰς ὑπ᾽ αὐτὴν οἷά τινα παρακαταθήκην ἐπίστευε, παρῄνει τε περὶ πλείονος τίθεσθαι τὰς πιστευθείσας ψυχάς· “Ἴνα μὴ ἃς ὁ Θεός, φησίν, παρεσκεύασε τὸν κόσμον ἀπολιπεῖν, ἐάσητε πάλιν τῇ τοῦ κόσμου ματαιότητι προσελθεῖν καὶ τῶν συνθηκῶν ἀμελῆσαι.”

And she at once makes these things plain to the bishop, and informed him that he should send to her two of the deaconesses whose virtue time had confirmed. When they had come, then, the often-blessed woman entrusted to them those under her as a kind of deposit, and exhorted them to make much of the souls entrusted to them: “Lest those whom God,” she says, “prepared to leave the world, you let come back again to the vanity of the world and neglect their covenants.”

[27] she sets out for Constantinople; Ταῦτα εἰποῦσα καὶ ἀσπασαμένη τὰ τελευταῖα, μίαν τε μόνην αὐτῶν τὴν Σωφρόνην Σωφροσύνην M 1, 3. μεθ᾽ ἑαυτῆς λαβοῦσα τοῦ πλοίου ἐπέβη, εὐφόρῳ τε ἀναχθεῖσα τῷ πνεύματι τὴν Κωνσταντίνου καταλαμβάνει. Εἶτα πρὸς τὸν ἐπ᾽ ὀνόματι corrected M 3. τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ Εἰρήνης ἱδρυμένον παρὰ τῇ θαλάσσῃ ναὸν γενομένη τὸν διάκονον μετακαλεῖται Μάρκελλον, ἥτις ἦν ἑαυτὴν καταστήσασα δήλην. Οὗτος δὲ ἦν ὃν ὁ λόγος φθάσας ἐδήλωσε συμβουλεῦσαι Βασιανῷ πρὸς τὸ ἐν Ἐμέσῃ πεμφθῆναι ταύτην σεμνεῖον.

[27] Having said these things and embraced them for the last time, and taking with her one of them only, Sophrone, she went on board the ship, and putting out with a favourable wind she reaches Constantine's city. Then, coming to the church built by the sea in the name of the Peace of God, she summons the deacon Marcellus, making herself known to him who she was. This was he who, as the discourse showed earlier, advised Bassianus that she be sent to the convent at Emesa.

Ἀσμένως οὖν παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ εἰσδεχθεῖσα ἠρωτᾶτο τίς εἰπεῖν ἡ αἰτία τῆς μακρᾶς ταύτης ὁδοιπορίας. Ἡ δέ· “Οὐδὲν ἕτερον, ἔφη — τί γὰρ ἂν καὶ εἴη τὸ τοσούτου καταφρονῆσαι κόπου ποιῆσαι ταύτην δυνάμενον; She narrates her deeds to Marcellus. — εἰ μὴ ἄμαχός τις ἐπιθυμία τῆς αὐτῶν ὁμιλίας, καὶ μάλιστα, φησί, τοῦ θείου Βασιανοῦ, ὑφ᾽ ἧς καὶ γήρως ἤδη καὶ γυναικῶν ἀσθενείας καὶ φιλησύχου διαγωγῆς καὶ τῶν ἄλλων πάντων ὑπεριδοῦσα μόνης ἐγενόμην τῆς πρὸς ὑμᾶς φερούσης ὁδοῦ.”

Received gladly by him, she was asked to say what was the cause of this long journey. And she said: “Nothing else — for what else could there be able to make one despise so great a labour? — but an irresistible desire for your converse, and above all,” she says, “for that of the divine Bassianus, by which, overlooking now old age and the weakness of women and the quiet-loving way of life and all other things, I have become wholly of the road that leads to you.”

Εἶθ᾽ οὕτως ὑπεξῄει ἐπεξήει M 3. συντετμημένως τήν τε τοῦ Δομετιανοῦ εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα καὶ τὸ Σίναιον μεταδίωξιν καὶ τὴν εἰς τὸ εἰδωλεῖον ταύτης διατριβήν, καὶ ὅπως ὄχλος οὐκ ἐφικτὸς ἀριθμῷ τῇ εὐσεβείᾳ δι᾽ αὐτῆς προσετίθετο. Ἐπεξῄει δὲ οὐκ ἐπιδεικτικῶς, ἀλλὰ φιλαλήθως· ἀλλότριον γὰρ μετρίου φρονήματος καὶ τῆς οὐδὲν οὕτω σπουδασάσης ὡς τὸ λαθεῖν ἡ ἐπίδειξίς· ἄλλως τε δὲ καὶ τὸ λειποταξίου γραφῆναι τὴν ἅπαξ εἰσ ἅπαξ M. 3. εἰς τὸν τῶν μοναχῶν ἀπογραψαμένην βίον ἀσύμφορον ἔκρινεν εἶναι καὶ σκανδάλου πρόφασιν παρέχειν δυνάμενον.

Then thus she went through briefly both Domitian's pursuit to Jerusalem and Sinai and her stay in the idol-temple, and how a crowd beyond numbering was added to piety through her. And she went through these things not for display, but out of love of truth; for display is foreign to a modest mind and to one who was zealous for nothing so much as to escape notice; and besides, she judged that to be charged with desertion, for one who had once enrolled herself in the life of the monks, was unprofitable and able to furnish an occasion of scandal.

[28] With Bassianus's favour, Ὁ δὲ Μάρκελλος ἕκαστα τῷ θείῳ Βασιανῷ παραχρῆμα διασαφεῖ. Καὶ ὃς ἐπιστυγνάσας τῇ ἀκοῇ, ὡς εἶχε τάχους τάχος M 3. ἀπιέναι τοῦτον παρεκελεύετο καὶ ἤρεμόν ἤρεμον (ἤ over an erasure) M 2. τινα καὶ ἀθόρυβον οὑ πόρρω που τῆς μονῆς ἀφορίσαι ταύτῃ καταγωγήν, ὥστε καὶ βουλομένῳ πρὸς αὐτὴν φοιτᾶν ῥᾴδιον εἶναι. Ὁ δὲ ὀξέως ἐνήργτει τὸ προσταττόμενον, καὶ οἰκίαν ἑτοιμάσας ἐπιτηδείαν οἰκίζει ἐν αὐτῇ τὴν ἁγίαν· ἔνθα ὁ μέγας Βασιανὸς ἀφικόμενος ἐντυχών τε καὶ ὅσα δέον εἰπών, ἀλλὰ καὶ παρ᾽ αὐτῆς πάλιν περὶ τῶν ταύτῃ συνενεχθέτων μαθών, καὶ ὧν ἔχρῃζε μεταδούς, καὶ εἰ ἑτέρου δέοιτό τινος παρ᾽ αὐτῆς ἐπυνθάνετο.

[28] And Marcellus at once makes each thing clear to the divine Bassianus. And he, looking gloomy at what he heard, ordered him to go away as fast as he could and set apart for her a quiet and undisturbed lodging somewhere not far from the monastery, so that it would be easy for him to visit her when he wished. And he quickly carried out what was ordered, and having prepared a suitable house settles the holy woman in it; where the great Bassianus, having arrived, met her and said what was needful, and learned again from her about the things that had befallen her, and shared with her what she needed, and inquired whether she required anything else from him.

Τῆς δὲ καὶ ἑτέρας εἴναι ἐν Βηρυτῷ ἀδελφὰς εἰπούσης, καὶ βούλεσθαι παρ᾽ αὐτὴν ἀφικέσθαι ταύτας καὶ συνδιάγειν, γράμμασιν εὐθὺς τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ Βηρυτοῦ ἐγνώριζε περὶ τούτου, καὶ ἃς ἡ Ματρῶνα κατ᾽ ὄνομα ἐπεζήτει παρ᾽ αὐτὴν ἐπέτρεπε τὸ τάχος ἐκπέμψαι.

And when she said that there were also other sisters at Berytus, and that she wished them to come to her and live together, he at once made this known by letter to the bishop of Berytus, and charged him to send to her with speed those whom Matrona sought by name.

Αὗται τοιγαροῦν ἐκπεμφθεῖσαι καὶ συνοικήσασαι τῇ Ματρώνῃ ἄκραν ὑπεῖχον αὐτῇ τὴν εὐπείθειαν τύπον ἐκείνης ἑαυτὴν παρεχούσης εἰς ἀρετὴν ἀκριβέστατον ἐκείνης εἰς ἀρετὴν ἑαυτὴν ἀκριβέστατον παρεχούσηςM 3. , she establishes a convent. ἣ καὶ μεῖζον πολλῶν στομάτων ἐκήρυττε ταύτην καὶ καταφανῆ πᾶσιν ἐποίει. Μετὰ γὰρ πολλῶν ἄλλων καὶ ἡ βασιλὶς Βερίνα ἡ τοῦ μεγάλου Λέοντος γαμετὴ ὡς αὐτὴν ἐφοίτα, καὶ οὐκ ἐκείνην μᾶλλον, ἀλλ᾽ ἑαυτὴν ἔκρινεν ἐν τούτῳ τιμᾶν. Δεξιουμένη τε παρ᾽ αὐτῆς μετρίοις τοῖς δεξιώμασι καὶ οἷς εἰκὸς ἦν τὴν ἀπράγμονα καὶ φιλόσοφον ἐκείνην χαρίζεσθαι, ἀπῄει θαυμάζουσά τε τὴν αὐτῆς ἀρετήν, καὶ ὅτι μηδὲν ἠξίου λαβεῖν παρὰ τῆς πολλὰ δοῦναι καὶ δυναμένης καὶ βουλομέης.

These, therefore, having been sent and living with Matrona, showed her the utmost obedience, she offering herself as a most exact pattern for virtue; which proclaimed her more loudly than many mouths and made her manifest to all. For with many others the empress Verina too, the wife of the great Leo, came to her, and judged that in this she was honouring not her but rather herself. And being welcomed by her with modest welcomes, such as it was fitting for that unbusied and philosophic woman to bestow, she went away marvelling at her virtue, and that she asked to receive nothing from one who was both able and willing to give much.

[29] Euphemia, wife of Anthemius, Εὐφημία δέ τις ἡM3, 4. Ανθίμου ποτὲ τοῦ Ῥωμαίων ἡγεμόνος σύνοικος, συνήθης τῇ ὁσίᾳ γενομένη καὶ πείρᾳ πιστωθεῖσα τὰ κατ᾽ αὐτήν, κατ᾽ ἐκεῖνο καιροῦ τὴν τῷ πατρικίῳ Σφορακίῳ omits M 3; Σφορακίω M 1, 4, and previously M 2, which corrected toΣφωρακίω. εἰς γυναῖκα συναφθεῖσαν, νόσῳ περινεσοῦσαν δεινῇ καὶ τέχνας ἰατρικὰς ἐλεγχούσῃ ἐλπίδα τε ξωῆς μηδὲ μίαν ὑποφαινούσῃ, ἐπεὶ οὕτως ἔχουσαν ἐθεάσατο. “Εἴ τι ἐμοὶ πείθῃ, ἔφη, ἰατροῖς χαίρειν εἰποῦσα πρὸς τὸ νῦν τῇ πόλει κοινὸν ἀγαθὸν ἐπιδημῆσαν σεαυτὴν ἐπίδος, Ματρῶνάν φημι τὴν ὁσίαν, ἥτις πολλοῖς οὐ σωμάτων μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ψυχῶν ἔλυσε νόσους, ἐξ ἀσεβείας μεταγαγοῦσα πρὸς θεοσέβειαν, καὶ ἔσῃ οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν διὰ θαύματός τε αὐτὴν ποιουμένη καὶ πολλοὺς ἄλλους πρὸς αὐτὴν παραπέμπουσα.”

[29] And a certain Euphemia, once the wife of Anthimus, the ruler of the Romans, having become familiar with the holy woman and assured of her affairs by experience, at that time, when she beheld the woman who had been joined as wife to the patrician Sphoracius fallen into a terrible disease, which put the arts of the physicians to the proof and showed not one hope of life, being so ill, she said: “If you will obey me at all, bid farewell to physicians and commit yourself to the common good which has now come to dwell in the city, I mean the holy Matrona, who has loosed the diseases of many, not of bodies only, but also of souls, bringing them over from impiety to the worship of God; and before long you will be holding her in wonder and sending many others to her.”

Τοῦτο εἰποῦσα καὶ οἵα τις ἦν καὶ οἷον διήνυσε βίον ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς εἰς τέλος αὐτῇ διηγεῖτο. Τῇ ἑξῆς οὖν ἀμφότεραι γίνονται παρ᾽ αὐτῇ καὶ εἰς μακρὸν μακρὰν M4. τῆς ὁμιλίας παραταθείσης ἡσυχῆ πως ἡ κάμνουσα τῆς δεξιᾶς λαβομένη τῆς μακαρίας τῷ πάσχοντι μέρει ταύτην ἐπέφερε, καὶ παραυτίκα τοῦ πάθους ῃσθάνετο κουφοτέρου. Ἡ Ματρῶνα δὲ τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς ἐπαφῆς ἐπυνθάνετο. Τῆς δὲ καμνούσης τὸ ἀληθὲς εἰπούσης· “ Ὁ Κύριος, ἔφη, τοῦ συνέχοντός σε λύσει ἀνιαροῦ. Τὰ γὰρ ἡμέτερα οὐχ οἷά τέ ἐστι πρὸς τοιαύτην πρὸς////// τοιαύτην M3. ἐνέργειαν.”

Having said this, she related to her what sort of woman she was and what life she had accomplished from beginning to end. On the next day, then, they both come to her, and as the converse was drawn out at length, the sick woman, quietly somehow taking the right hand of the blessed woman, brought it to the suffering part, and at once felt the affliction lighter. And Matrona inquired the reason of the touch. And when the sick woman had told the truth, she said: “The Lord will loose you from the grief that holds you. For our things are not capable of such working.”

[30] joins herself to Matrona Ἡ πάσχουσα γοῦν ἐξ ἐκείνου ὑφειμένως προσβάλλουσαν τῆν τοῦ πάθους ἐννοοὑσα βαρύτητα παρὰ τῇ ἁγίᾳ μένειν ἐσκέπτετο τελείαν ἀπαλλαγὴν τοῦ λυποῦντος προσμένουσα· διὰ τοῦτο καὶ τὰ πρὸς τὴν ὑπηρεσίαν ζῷα ἐκεῖσε διαμένειν προσέταττεν. Διαγγελθέντος δὲ αὐτῇ omits M 1. μὴ ἕτερον εἶναι τὸ ὑποδεξόμενον οἴκημα, ἓν γὰρ εἶναι καὶ τοῦτο οἰκεῖσθαι μισθοῦ, εὐθὺς εἰς λόγους συνελθοῦσα τῇ μακαρίᾳ· “Κτῆσιν ἐμοὶ περιττήν” περιττὸν M 1. , ἔλεγε, τὸ τοῦ γένους περιφανὲς ἐχορήγησε, καὶ δὴ καὶ οἰκιῶν ἀφθονίαν ἀφθονιῶν M 4. εἰς κάλλος ἐξειργοσμένων καὶ μέγεθος. Τούτων ὅσας ἄν καὶ βούλῃ ὑπὸ μίαν τὴν περιοχὴν τυγχανούσας, ἑτοίμη ἐγώ σοι χαρίζεσθαι, πολλῶν ἐσομένας ψυχῶν σῴζεσθαι μελλουσῶν μελουσῶν M 4. οἰκητήρια εἰς ἐμοῦ τε αὐτῆς προηγουμένως ὠφέλειαν. Ἡ δὲ κατὰ πνεῦμα γνοῦσα, οπόσαις ἐκ

[30] The suffering woman, then, perceiving that from that time the heaviness of the affliction attacked her more mildly, thought to stay with the holy woman, awaiting complete release from what pained her; for this reason she also ordered the animals for her service to remain there. And when it was reported to her that there was no other building to receive them, for there was this one only, and it was inhabited for hire, at once coming to speak with the blessed woman, she said: “The illustriousness of my family has furnished me abundant possessions, and indeed an abundance of houses wrought out in beauty and size. Of these, as many as you wish, lying within one enclosure, I am ready to give you, to be dwellings of many souls that are to be saved, and first of all for my own benefit.” And she, knowing in the spirit how many

τούτου ψυχαῖς θύρα διανοιγήσεται σωτηρίας, συνέθετο λήψεσθαι, καὶ τὸν διάκονον μεταστειλαμένη Μάρκελλον, καὶ αὐτῷ τὰ τοῦ πράγματος ἀναθεῖσα πέμπει θεάσασθαι τὰ ἐπαγγελθέντα. Ὃς ἐπεὶ ἐθεάσατο, ἀναστρέψας εὐφυῶς μὲν ἔχειν τὸν τόπον θέσεως διηγόρευεν διηγόρευε M 1. , ἐν δεξιᾷ μὲν τὴν θάλατταν ἔχοντα, ἑτέρωθι δὲ ἐκ γειτόνων παρέχοντα τὸ τοῦ Βασιανοῦ φροντιστήριον, μὴ μικρᾶς μικρᾶ M 3. δὲ καὶ τῆς τυχούσης, ἀλλὰ πολλῆς ὅτι μάλιστα δεῖσθαι τῆς ἐπιμελείας.

souls would have the door of salvation opened to them from this, agreed to accept; and sending for the deacon Marcellus and committing the matter to him, she sends him to view what had been promised. And he, when he had viewed it, came back and declared that the place was well situated, having the sea on the right and, on the other side, the house of Bassianus in its neighbourhood, but that it needed no small nor ordinary attention, but a very great deal.

[31] and bestows much on her. Οὔπω οὕτω M 3. ταῦτα ἠγγέλλετο, καὶ τὰ τῆς ἐπαγγελίας πέρας ἐδέχετο, γράμμασι πιστωθείσης τῆς δωρεᾶς, καὶ εὐθὺς κἀκείνῃ παρὰ Θεοῦ τελεία ἡ τῆς ὑγείας ἀντεχαρίζετο δωρεά. Μετὰ ταῦτα δὲ καὶ φιλοτιμότερον ἐξειργάσατο τὰς οἰκίας, ὅσων ἐδέοντο τῶν ἀναλωμάτων πρὸς διόρθωσίν τε καὶ διακόσμησιν ἀφθόνῳ παρασχοῦσα χειρί, ἀφ᾽ οὗ the margin of folio 98 being cut away, many words are mutilated in M 1. μέχρι καὶ τήμερον ταύτας τὰ Σευηριανὰ πάντες λέγουσιν. Ἐντεῦθεν ἡ ὁσία τῆς προτέρας οἰκήσεως μεταβᾶσα οὐδὲν ὅλως τοῦ κατὰ Θεὸν μετέβη σκοποῦ καὶ τῶν ἔργων, εἰ μὴ τοῦτο καλοίης μετάβασιν τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν ἐλαττόνων ἐπὶ τὰ μείζονα, ἀφ᾽ ἧς καὶ ἐπὶ μέγα χωρῆσαι τὸ κατ᾽ αὐτὴν ποίμνιον παρεσκεύασε, καὶ τῆς τῶν ἐπιτιθεμένων διετήρησε βλάβης ἀμέτοχον adds M 3. , συλλήπτορι τοῦ ἔργου τῷ τῶν ἀγαθῶν αἰτίῳ χρωμένη.

[31] Scarcely had this been reported and the promise received its fulfilment, the gift being confirmed by documents, when at once the complete gift of health was granted to her in return by God. And after this she worked on the houses more generously, supplying with ungrudging hand whatever expenses they needed for repair and adornment, from which even to this day all call them the Severiana. From then on the holy woman, moving from her former dwelling, did not move at all from her aim according to God and from her works, unless you call this a move, from the lesser to the greater, by which she caused her flock to advance greatly and kept it free of harm from those who attack, using as helper of the work the cause of good things.

Γίνεται δέ τι τοιοῦτον πρὸς τοῖς ἄλλοις καὶ ἕτερον, ὅ καὶ πλέον τὰ κατ᾽ αὐτὴν ἐμεγάλυνεν.

And there happened, besides the others, another thing of this kind, which magnified her affairs still more.

[32] Athanasia, Ἐτελεῖτο μὲν omits M 3. δημοτελὴς ἑορτὴ καὶ σεβάσμιος Λαυρεντίου τοῦ μάρτυρος, ὄχλος δὲ τε M 4. κατὰ τὸν τούτου ναὸν εἰς πλῆθος συνέρρει καὶ διημέρευεν. Ὡν καὶ δύο ἐτύγχανον ἀδελφαὶ μὲν τὴν φύσιν, τὸν δὲ τρόπον οὐκ ἀδελφὰ φρονοῦσαι, ἀλλὰ κομιδῆ διαλλάττουσαι, τὸ μέντοι γένος ἐπίσημοι καὶ περιφανεῖς. Αὗται τοίνυν τῆς ἑορτῆς τελεσθείσης ἐκεῖθεν ἐπανιοῦσαι ἡνίκα γεγόνασι περὶ τὸν τόπον ἐν ᾧ τὸ τῆς ὁσίας φροντιστήριον ἦν, ἦχός τις ἐμμελὴς θείων ὕμνων ταῖς αὐτῶν προσέβαλεν προσέβαλλεν M 3, 4. ἀκοαῖς· ἐφ᾽ οἷς ἡσθεῖσαι καὶ τίς ἡ τοῦ φροντιστηρίου καθηγουμένη μαθοῦσαι πρὸς ταύτην εἰσῄεσαν.

[32] The public and venerable feast of Lawrence the martyr was being kept, and a crowd streamed in great numbers to his church and spent the day there. Among them were two who were sisters by nature, but not of sisterly mind in manner, rather quite different, yet distinguished and illustrious in birth. These, then, returning from there when the feast had been completed, when they came near the place where the house of the holy woman was, a melodious sound of divine hymns struck their ears; delighted at which, and having learned who was the hegumena of the house, they went in to her.

a noble woman, Ὡς δὲ πρὸς λόγους αὐτῇ συνῆλθον καὶ τοῦτο μὲν ἐξ αὐτῶν αὐτῆς M 4. , τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν ἠθῶν εὐκοσμίας πολλῆς ἀπέλαυσαν ὠφελείας, ἡ μία τούτων ἔρωτι ταύτης ἁλοῦσα πνευματικῷ· “Σὺ μὲν ἄπιθι, ἔφη πρὸς τὴν ἑτέραν, ἐγὼ δὲ παρὰ ταύτῃ ταύτην M 4. μενῶ· λήθη γάρ με καὶ ἀνδρὸς καὶ οἴκου καὶ συγγενῶν ἔσχε καὶ κατὰ τὸν θεῖον φάναι Δαυΐδ, ἐξελεξάμην παραρριπτεῖσθαι ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ μου μᾶλλον ἢ τῆς κατὰ κόσμον ἀπολαύειν εὐημερίας.” Psalm 83, 11.

And when they had come to speak with her, and had enjoyed much benefit partly from her words and partly from the good order of her manners, one of them, seized with spiritual love for her, said to the other: “Go away, you; but I will stay with her; for forgetfulness of husband and house and kindred has taken hold of me, and, to speak with the divine David, I have chosen to be an outcast in the house of my God rather than to enjoy prosperity according to the world.”

Ὡς δὲ ταῦτα ἡ Ἀθανασία, τοῦτο γὰρ αὐτῇ τὸ adds M 4. ὄνομα, πρὸς τὴν ἀδελφὴν εἶπεν, οὐκ ἔσχεν αὐτὴν αὐτῆ M 3 συμφρονοῦσαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ φανερῶς ἀντιφθεγγομένην καὶ κουφότητος εἶναι τὸ πρᾶγμα λέγουσαν καὶ ἀλόγου θερμότητος ῥᾷον χωρούσης εἰς μεταμέλειαν. Ταῦτα δὲ ἔλεγε γνώμῃ φιλοκόσμῳ μᾶλλον ἢ φρονήματι στερροτέρῳ.

But when Athanasia — for this was her name — had said these things to her sister, she did not find her of the same mind, but even openly speaking against her and saying that the matter was one of lightness and of an irrational warmth that more easily turns to regret. And she said these things from a mind fond of finery rather than from a more steadfast purpose.

Ἡ ὁσία δὲ τὸν μὲν κατὰ Θεὸν αὐτῆς omits M 1. ἐπῄνει ἐπήνει αὐτῆς M 3. σκοπόν, πλὴν οὐδὲ αὐτὴ τὴν ἀθρόαν μετάθεσιν ἐδοκίμαζεν, ἀλλὰ παρῄνει πρὸς τὸν ἄνδρα πρότερον ἀπελθεῖν καὶ κοινώσασθαι περὶ τούτου, longing to attach herself to Matrona, “βίου τε, φησί, ἐπιμεληθῆναι ὡς οἷόν τε λιτοτέρου, καὶ Θεοῦ δεῖσθαι διὰ παντὸς θεῖναί σοι εὔοδα τὰ κατὰ σκοπόν· καὶ τότε ἀφίξῃ μὲν παρ᾽ ἐμέ, κατὰ νοῦν δέ σοι ἀπαντήσει ἀπαντήσοι M 3. τὸ σπουδαζόμενον. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ πόθος θεῖος εἰσῆλθέ σου τὴν διάνοιαν καὶ οὐκ ἀνίησι κατασχών, ἀλλὰ πολλά με τοῦ θαρρεῖν ἀπάγει ἐπάγει M 1, 4. αὐτό τε τὸ τῆς ἡλικίας νεάζον καὶ τὸ περὶ τοὺς πόνους ἀνάσκητον, ὑπηρετεῖσθαι μᾶλλον, οὐχ ὑπηρετεῖν πεφυκός· τὸ δὲ μεῖζον ἡ παρὰ περὶ M 1. τοῦ ἀνδρὸς κώλυσις.”

And the holy woman praised her aim according to God, but she too did not approve the sudden change, but exhorted her first to go away to her husband and confer with him about this, “and to take care,” she says, “of a life as simple as possible, and to beseech God continually to make prosperous for you the things according to your aim; and then you will come to me, and what you are zealous for will turn out for you as you have in mind. For even if a divine longing has entered your mind, and having seized it does not let go, yet many things lead me away from confidence: the very youthfulness of your age, and your being untrained in labours, being accustomed rather to be served, not to serve; and the greater thing, the hindrance from your husband.”

[33] forms herself in imitation of her;Τούτοις εἰρημένοις ἡ Ἀθανασία ἡσυχάζουσα ἦν ἀνιωμένη μὲν ὡς ἀπωθουμένη, μὴ βουλομένη δὲ ἀντιλέγειν καὶ τὸ ἑαυτῆς θέλημα συνιστᾶν· διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἀνεχώρει, τοῦ σκοποῦ τούτου καὶ τῆς προθέσεως ἰσχυρῶς ἐχομένη καὶ κατὰ τὴν τῆς ἁγίας παραίνεσιν σώφρονος βίου καὶ λιτότητος ἐπιμελουμένη καὶ οἱονεὶ προπαιδείαν τοῦτο πρὸς τὸν ἀσκητικὸν ποιουμένη βίον. Καὶ δὴ κατά τινα τῶν αὐτῆς ἀγρῶν γενομένη (καὶ κατὰ τὴν-γενομένη) omits M 3, 4. καὶ μονωθεῖσα τοῦ συνοικοῦντος, ἔσπευδε κατὰ μίμησιν τῆς ἁγίας καὶ αὐτὴ διατίθεσθαι, τροφῆς τε κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν καιρὸν μνημονεύουσα καὶ λιτῶς ὥσπερ ἐκείνη ἐσθίουσα, εὐχάς τε πρὸ τροφῆς καὶ μετὰ τὴν τροφὴν ποιουμένη καὶ τἄλλα ὅσα δύναμις μιμουμένη τῆς μακαρίας.

[33] When these things had been said, Athanasia was quiet, grieved as one thrust away, but not wishing to contradict and to establish her own will; for this reason she also withdrew, holding strongly to this aim and purpose, and according to the holy woman's exhortation taking care of a temperate life and simplicity, and making this as it were a preliminary training for the ascetic life. And indeed, being at one of her country estates and separated from her husband, she hastened to dispose herself too in imitation of the holy woman, taking food at the same time and eating simply as she did, making prayers before food and after food, and imitating the blessed woman in the other things as far as she could.

Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ οὔσης αὐτῆς καὶ εὐπρεπῆ ζητούσης τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ συνοικοῦντος διάζευξιν, τοιόνδε τι συνηνέχθη, λίαν εὐπρόσωπον παρέχον ἀπαλλαγήν. Ἀποδημούσης γὰρ ταύτης, ὡς ὁ λόγος φθάσας omits M 3. ἐδήλωσεν, οὗτος πολυδάπανος ὢν καὶ τὸν τρόπον ἀκόλαστος, πλείοσιν ἐχρῆτο τοῖς ἀναλώμασιν. Ἐν ἀπορίᾳ τοίνυν αὐτῶν γενόμενος πείθει τὸν παῖδα λάθρα τι τῶν κιβωτίων ὑφελέσθαι τῶν τῆς δεσποίνης καὶ τούτῳ προσαγαγεῖν.

While she was in this state and seeking a seemly separation from her husband, something of this kind happened, furnishing a very plausible release. For while she was away, as the discourse showed earlier, he, being extravagant and licentious in manner, was making greater expenditures. Being in want of means, then, he persuades the servant secretly to steal something from the chests of his mistress and bring it to him.

Ὅπερ γενόμενον οὐκ ἔλαθε τὴν θεράπαιναν ἣ τὰ τῆς κυρίας φυλάττουσα ἦν· παρ᾽ ἧς πάλιν ἐκείνη μαθοῦσα τὸ λοιπόν, ὡς εὐλόγου προφάσεως δραξαμένη, παντοία ἦν ἡ Ἀθανασία μηχανωμένη τὴν διάλυσιν, καὶ τέλος τὸν ἄνδρα πείσασα τὸ πολύ τε τῆς οὐσίας καὶ ἐπιβάλλον αὐτῇ αὐτῆς M 4. συγκομισαμένη τῇ Ματρώνῃ τὴν ἑαυτῆς ἐμπιστεύει ψυχήν, καὶ προσελθοῦσα καὶ τὸν πλοῦτον αὐτῇ προσαγαγοῦσα· “Λάβε μοι, and at last gives herself up to herἔφη, ταῦτα καὶ τοῖς ἀσύλοις κατάθου τοῦ Χριστοῦ θησαυροῖς, καὶ μὴ περιίδῃς ὑπερίδης M 4. ψυχὴν τῆς σῆς ἁγίας ἐξεχομένην ἐξομένην M 4. ψυχῆς καί σοι πάντα καθ᾽ ἑαυτὴν ἀνατιθεῖσαν ἀνατιθείσης M 1, 2, 3, 4. .”

This, when done, did not escape the maidservant who was guarding her mistress's things; and when Athanasia in turn learned the rest from her, as one who had seized on a reasonable pretext, she was all-contriving for the dissolution; and at last, having persuaded her husband and gathered the greater part of her property and what fell to her, she entrusts her soul to Matrona, and coming and bringing her wealth to her, she said: “Take these things for me and lay them up in the inviolable treasuries of Christ, and do not overlook a soul that clings to your holy soul and refers all her affairs to you.”

[34] with her means. Ἡ Ματρῶνα δὲ τὸ μὲν περὶ τὴν διοίκησιν ὡς ὀχληρὸν καὶ ἄσχολον ἀποβαλλομένη ἀποβαλομένη M 4. , ἀποδεχομένη ἀποδεχομένω M 3. δὲ τὴν ἱκέτιν τῆς προαιρέσεως, ἐν ἀπόρῳ τοῦ τί χρὴ καθίστατο διαπράξασθαι διαπρ. καθίστατο M 4. . Κοινοῦται τοιγαροῦν Βασιανῷ τὰ τοῦ πράγματος καὶ γνώμην παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ λαβοῦσα δέχεται τὰ προσενεχθέντα καί τινα μὲν τῶν χρημάτων εἰς ἔργα τὰ κατὰ τὴν μονὴν ἀναλίσκει, τὸ ἀσκητήριον μὲν διατειχίσματι τειχίσματι M 4. κυκλόθεν περιλαβοῦσα, τριώροφον δὲ οἰκητήριον δειμαμένη, τὸ μέν πρῶτον καὶ περὶ γῆν πρὸς τάφους ἀφωρισμένον διατελοῦν adds M 4. , τὸ δὲ μετ᾽ ἐκεῖνο καὶ μέσον χειμάσαι τε ἁρμόδιον ὂν καὶ ναὸν ἔχον ἐν καιρῷ τοιούτῳ πρὸς σύναξιν ἐπιτήδειον· τὸ δὲ τρίτον καὶ τελευταῖον καὶ αὐτὸ ναῷ καλλίστῳ κοσμούμενον καὶ πρὸς τὸ ἐαρίζειν εὖ διακείμενον καὶ adds M 1. · ἃ καὶ εἰς δεῦρο διαμένει κηρύττοντα τὸ φιλότιμόν τε omits M 4. καὶ μεγαλοπρεπὲς τῆς οἰκοδομῆς.

[34] And Matrona, putting off the administration as troublesome and occupying, but accepting the suppliant's resolve, was at a loss as to what she ought to do. She shares the matter, therefore, with Bassianus, and having received his opinion she accepts what was offered, and spends some of the money on works in the monastery, enclosing the ascetic house round about with a wall and building a three-storeyed dwelling: the first, at ground level, set apart for tombs; the one after it, in the middle, fitted for passing the winter and having a church suitable for assembly at such a season; the third and last, it too adorned with a most beautiful church and well arranged for spending the spring; which remain to this day proclaiming the generosity and magnificence of the building.

Ἐν τούτοις μέν, ὥσπερ εἴρηται omits M 1. , ἔνια τῶν τῆς Ἀθανασίας ἀναλώθη χρημάτων· τὰ δ᾽ ἄλλα πρός τε τὰ ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις σεμνεῖα διένειμε μοναστηρίοις τε ἑτέροις ἐνδεῶς ἔχουσι καὶ τοῖς ἄλλως ἄλλοις M 4. τῶν ἀναγκαίων ἀπορουμένοις, Μαρκέλλου πρὸς ταῦτα τοῦ σπουδαίου φιλοθέως ὑπηρετήσαντος. Ἡ Ἀθανασία Ἄθανα previously M 1. μὲν οὖν, ὡς εἴρηται, πλοῦτον ἀποβαλοῦσα τὸν ῥέοντα πλοῦτον ἄφθαρτον ἀντεκτήσατο ἐκομίσατο M 4. .

On these, then, as has been said, some of Athanasia's money was spent; the rest she distributed to the convents at Jerusalem and to other monasteries in need and to those otherwise lacking necessities, the zealous and God-loving Marcellus serving for this. Athanasia, then, as has been said, having cast off flowing wealth, acquired in exchange incorruptible wealth.

[35] As the end of life approaches, Δέκα δὲ πρὸς τοῖς πέντε ἔτη ἐν τῇ ἀγωγῇ ταύτῃ ἐπιβιώσασα τῶν παρόντων ἀπαλλαγεῖσα τὴν μακαρίαν πρὸς Θεὸν πορείαν ἐστείλατο. Οὕτω τῆς Ματρώνης εἰς πλατυσμὸν ἐχώρει τὸ ποίμνιον πολλῶν καθ᾽ ἑκάστην προσερχομένων καὶ ὑπὸ παιδαγωγῷ ταύτῃ ποιμαίνεσθαι βουλομένων. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ὁ τῆς ἀναλύσεως αὐτῆς αὐτη M 4. ἐφειστήκει καιρός, δήλη ἦν ἡ ὁσία μήτε τῇ ἑτοιμασίᾳ τῶν ἔργων ταραττομένη πρὸς τὴν διάζευξιν· “Ἠτοιμάσθην γάρ,” φησὶν ὁ θεῖος Δαυΐδ, “καὶ οὐκ ἐταράχθην·” μήτε πάλιν τὸν χωρισμὸν ἐπισπεύδουσα, τὸ μέν, ὥσπερ εἴρηται, διὰ τὸ θαρρεῖν, τὸ δ᾽ αὖ πάλιν διὰ τὸν τοῦ ποιμνίου πόθον. Psalm 118, 60, Philippians I, 24. Διὸ καὶ ἀναγκαιότερον ἦν αὐτῇ τὸ ἐπιμεῖναι τῇ σαρκὶ κατὰ Παῦλον καὶ χάριν τοῦ τοὺς M 4. πλείονας καταβαλλομένην καταβαλομένην M 2, 4. τοὺς πόνους, πλείονας ἐκεῖθεν καὶ τοὺς καρποὺς δρέψασθαι· ὅθεν καὶ μείζοσιν ἑαυτὴν κατέτεινε πρὸς τῷ τέλει τοῖς κόποις, κατὰ τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς τῶν δρομέων, εὐχαῖς τε omits M 4. πλείοσι καὶ συντονωτέραις σχολάζουσα ἦν.

[35] And having lived fifteen years in this discipline, released from present things she set out on the blessed journey to God. Thus Matrona's flock advanced to breadth, many coming every day and wishing to be shepherded under her as tutor. And when the time of her departure was at hand, the holy woman was plainly neither disturbed at the separation, owing to the readiness of her works — “For I was ready,” says the divine David, “and was not disturbed” — nor again hastening the separation, partly, as has been said, through confidence, and partly again through longing for her flock. Wherefore it was the more necessary for her to remain in the flesh, according to Paul, and, laying down more labours, to gather more fruits from there; whence she stretched herself toward the end to greater toils, like good runners, and was devoting herself to more and more intense prayers.

[36] is refreshed by a vision of the blessed life; Τοῦ Θεοῦ μέντοι βουλομένου μηδὲ ταύτης ἀποστερῆσαι Ματρῶναν τῆς παρακλήσεως, τὸ καὶ πρὸ τῆς ἐντεῦθεν ἀπαλλαγῆς τὴν ἐκεῖθεν αὐτὴν διαδεξομένην γνῶναι κατάστασιν, ὕπνος αὐτὴν καὶ κατὰ M 1. πλέον τοῦ συνήθους λαμβάνει, ᾧ ἐδόκει τόπον περιιέναι δένδρεσι μὲν ἐκτόπως κατάφυτον, ὕδασί τε κατάρρυτον ἡδυτάτοις καὶ πολλῇ ὅσῃ τὸν χῶρον περιβάλλουσιν περιβάλουσιν M 4. ἡδονῇ, ἐν ᾧ γυναῖκές τινες omits M 3, 4. σεμναὶ καὶ κόσμιαι παρεστῶσαι καὶ σαφῆ τῆς ἀρετῆς ἴχνη δηλοῦσαι τοῖς προσώποις, οἰκίαν τινὰ ἐνδοτέραν omits M 3. ἐῴκεσαν αὐτῇ τῇ χειρὶ δεικνύειν, ἀπορρήτῳ κάλλει καὶ οἵῳ μήτε ἀνθρωπίνην χεῖρα ἐργάσασθαι μήτε γλῶσσαν γλῶτταν M 3, 4. εἶναι δυνατὴν ἐξηγήσασθαι (μήτε- ἐξηγήσασθαι) omits M 1. κατεσκευασμένην· καὶ παρ᾽ αὐτὴν ἐκάλουν εἰσελθεῖν τὴν Ματρῶναν σὴν εἶναι ταύτην λέγουσαι καὶ σοὶ κατ᾽ ἐξαίρετον ἀφωρίσθαι.

[36] God, however, wishing not to deprive Matrona of this consolation either, of knowing even before her release from here the state that would receive her there, sleep takes her beyond the usual, in which she seemed to go about a place extraordinarily planted with trees and watered with most sweet waters, and with all the pleasure that surrounds such a place, in which certain grave and orderly women standing by, showing clear traces of virtue in their faces, seemed to point out to her with the hand a certain house further within, built with an ineffable beauty, such as neither a human hand could work nor a tongue be able to describe; and they called Matrona to go in beside it, saying that this was hers and had been set apart for her specially.

Διυπνισθεῖσα δὲ ὅπῃ τείνει ἐπητείνει M 1. τὸ ὄναρ συνίει, εἶχέ τε λαμβάνειν εἰς πίστιν ὁποῖα μετὰ τὴν ἐνθένδε ἐνθένδε (θένδε over an erasure) M 2. ἀπαλλαγὴν τὰ omits M 4. ἐκδεξόμενα ταύτην ἔσται.

Awaking, she understood where the dream tended, and was able to take for assurance what kind of things would receive her after her release from here.

dies at a great age. Παντὸς οὖν τοῦ τῆς ζωῆς χρόνου εἰς ἑκατὸν αὐτῇ διαμετρηθέντος, ἐξ ὧν εἴκοσι μόνοι τυγχάνουσι πρὸς τοῖς πέντε, ἐφ᾽ οἷς ὁ κοσμικὸς αὐτὴν εἶχε βίος, τοὺς δὲ λοιποὺς ἅπαντας τὴν κατὰ πνεῦμα ζῶσα διήνυσεν ἀγωγήν, τὰ ἐνταῦθα ἐντεῦθεν M 3, 4. λιποῦσα πρὸς τὸν ποθούμενον αὐτῇ Χριστὸν ἐξεδήμει, πράξεις καταλιποῦσα παρὰ πάντων μὲν διαφερόντως θαυμαζομένας, ὀλίγους δὲ πρὸς μίμησιν ὑπάγεσθαι δυναμένας δυναμένους M 4. , αὐτὸν ᾧ καὶ προσῆλθε Χριστὸν διὰ παντὸς ἱκετεύουσα εἰρήνην τε ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις δωρήσασθαι καὶ παντὶ τῷ λαῷ αὐτοῦ σωτηρίαν, ἕνα τοῦτον τῆς ἀδιαιρέτου Τριάδος δοξάζοντι, ᾗ καὶ omits M 3. πρέπει πᾶσα δόξα, τιμὴ καὶ προσκύνησις νῦν καὶ

The whole time of her life, then, having been measured out to a hundred years, of which only twenty fall in addition to the five during which the worldly life held her, while all the rest she accomplished living the discipline according to the spirit, leaving the things here she departed to Christ whom she longed for, leaving deeds especially admired by all but able to lead few to imitation, ever beseeching Christ himself, to whom she went, to grant peace to the churches and salvation to all his people, who glorify him as one of the undivided Trinity, to whom belongs all glory, honour and worship, now and

ἀεὶ καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων, ἀμήν.

ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

III. THE THIRD LIFE OF ST. MATRONA

Greek text only in the Acta; the English here is translated from the Greek.

Matrona, hegumena, at Constantinople (S.)

From the Venetian codex of St. Mark 349 (= B). — Cf. above, p. 708.

Βίος τῆς ὁσίας μητρὸς ἡμῶν Ματρώνας.

The Life of our holy mother Matrona.

The saint's country and parents. Ἡ ὁσία Ματρῶνα αὕτη ἦν ἐπὶ Λέοντος τοῦ μεγάλου βασιλέως καὶ Βερίνας, ὑπῆρχεν ὑπῆρχον B. δὲ ἐκ Πέργης τῆς Παμφυλίας· καὶ συνάπτεται ἀνδρὶ ὀνόματι Δομετίῳ. Μήτηρ μιᾶς παιδὸς γενομένη ἔρχεται ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει μετὰ τοῦ οἰκείου ἀνδρὸς καὶ ἦν διανυκτερεύουσα εἰς τὰς τῶν ἁγίων αὐλὰς ἀσκοῦσα ἐν νηστείαις καὶ ἀγρυπνίαις καὶ τῶν πτωχῶν ἐπιμελουμένη, πέντε καὶ εἴκοσι ἐνιαυτῶν οὖσα, παρθένον τινὰ Εὐγενίαν ὀνόματι διδάσκαλον ἔχουσα.

This holy Matrona lived under Leo the great emperor and Verina, and she was from Perge of Pamphylia; and she is joined to a husband named Dometius. Having become the mother of one child, she comes to Constantinople with her own husband, and she was spending the nights in the courts of the saints, practising asceticism in fasts and vigils and caring for the poor, being twenty-five years old, and having as teacher a certain virgin named Eugenia.

Ταύτην ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς ζηλῶν οὐκ εἴα αὐτὴν ἀπέρχεσθαι ἐν ταῖς παννυχίσιν. Ἐλθοῦσα τοίνυν ἐν τῷ ναῷ τῶν ἁγίων Ἀποστόλων παραδίδωσι τὸ τέκνον αὐτῆς Σωσάννῃ τινὶ γυναικὶ γνωρίμῳ αὐτῆς καὶ ὁρᾷ κατ᾽ ὄναρ φεύγουσαν ἑαυτὴν τὸν ἄνδρα αὐτῆς καὶ ὑπὸ μοναχῶν διασῳζομένην. Ἐπάρασα οὖν εἰς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον εὗρεν οὕτως· “Εἴ τις θέλει ὀπίσω μου ἀκολουθεῖν, ἀπαρνησάσθω ἑαυτὸν καὶ ἀράτω τὸν σταυρὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀκολουθείτω μοι.” Mark 8, 34.

Her husband, being jealous of her, would not let her go away to the all-night vigils. Coming, then, to the church of the holy Apostles, she hands over her child to a certain Susanna, a woman known to her, and sees in a dream herself fleeing her husband and being saved by monks. Opening the gospel, then, she found thus: “If anyone wishes to follow after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

Διὸ πάντα καταλιποῦσα ἔρχεται εἰς τὸ μοναστήριον τοῦ ὁσίου Βασιανοῦ εἰς εὐνοῦχον ἑαυτὴν μετασχηματίσασα καὶ μετονομάσασα Βαβυλᾶν. In the monastery of Bassianus Ἦν δὲ ἀγωνιζομένη ἔν τε νηστείᾳ καὶ τῷ καμάτῳ τῆς γῆς μετὰ τῶν ἀδελφῶν, ἐξ ὧν εἷς προσσχὼν τοῖς ὠσὶν αὐτῆς τετρυπημένοις καὶ διερωτῶν αὐτήν, τοῦτον ἐμβριθῶς ἀπωσαμένη ὡς διαβολικαῖς ἐπιθυμίαις σχολάζοντα ἀπεκρούσατο.

Wherefore, leaving all things, she comes to the monastery of the holy Bassianus, having changed her appearance into that of a eunuch and renamed herself Babylas. And she was contending both in fasting and in the toil of the soil with the brothers; and one of them, noticing her pierced ears and questioning her, she gravely thrust away and repelled as one occupied with diabolical desires.

Μετὰ χρόνον οὖν ὁρᾷ ὁ ὅσιος Βασιανὸς καθ᾽ ὕπνους ἄνδρα τινὰ λέγοντα αὐτῷ· “Ὁ εὐνοῦχος ὃν ἔχεις ἐν τῷ μοναστηρίῳ σου θήλειά ἐστιν.” Τὸ αὐτὸ καὶ ἕτερος ἀρχιμανδρίτης ἀποκαλυφθεὶς ἐδήλωσεν τῷ ὁσίῳ· ἐνέγκας τοίνυν αὐτὴν ἐν τῷ διακονικῷ καὶ ἐμβριθῶς ἐπιπλήξας αὐτήν, ὡμολόγησεν. Ἐγκαλοῦντος δὲ αὐτῇ τοῦ ὁσίου πῶς ἀκατακαλύπτῳ τῆ κεφαλῇ τῶν θείων καὶ φρικτῶν κατετόλμα μυστηρίων μετέχειν καὶ τὴν εἰρήνην τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς ἐν καιρῷ τοῦ ἀσπασμοῦ διδόναι, ἔφασκεν ὅτι· “Τὸ παλλίον μου τιθεῖσα τῇ κεφαλῇ μου ταύτην ἔσκεπον ἀσθένειαν προσποιουμένη. Ἡνίκα δὲ τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς ἠσπαζόμην, τούτους ἔβλεπον ὡς ἀγγέλους Θεοῦ.”

After a time, then, the holy Bassianus sees in sleep a certain man saying to him: “The eunuch whom you have in your monastery is a female.” Another archimandrite too, to whom the same had been revealed, made it known to the holy man; and when he had brought her into the diaconicon and rebuked her gravely, she confessed. And when the holy man charged her with having dared to partake of the divine and awesome mysteries with uncovered head and to give the peace to the brothers at the time of the kiss, she said: “Putting my mantle on my head I covered it, feigning weakness. And when I kissed the brothers, I looked on them as angels of God.”

Αὐτίκα τοίνυν ὁ ὅσιος ἀποστέλλει αὐτὴν ἐν Ἐμέσῃ τῇ πόλει εἰς μοναστήριον ὁσίων γυναικῶν· ἐν ᾧ καιρῷ ἐφανερώθη ἡ τιμία καὶ ἀγγέλοις αἰδέσιμος σεπτὴ κεφαλὴ τοῦ ἁγίου προφήτου προδρόμου καὶ βαπτιστοῦ Ἰωάννου, Γεωργίου τινὸς μονάζοντος ἰδόντος ἐν ὀπτασίᾳ ἐπὶ τοῦ τόπου οὗ ἀπέκειτο πῦρ καιόμενον· ὅστις ἀναγγείλας τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ, ἐλθὼν μετὰ πλήθους λαοῦ τε καὶ κλήρου ὀρύξας εὗρεν αὐτὴν ἐν στάμνῳ· καὶ εἰσήγαγον αὐτὴν εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν βρύουσαν μύρον εὐῶδες· οὗπερ ἀρυόμενοι ὅ τε ἐπίσκοπος καὶ οἱ σὺν αὐτῷ μετεδίδουν τῷ λαῷ· ὅθεν καὶ αὐτὴ ἡ ὁσία ἐκεῖσε παραγενομένη καὶ ἀρυσαμένη καὶ τυφλῷ τινι ἐπιχρίσασα τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐποίησεν ἀναβλέψαι.

At once, then, the holy man sends her to the city of Emesa, to a monastery of holy women; at which time the precious and venerable head, revered by angels, of the holy prophet, forerunner and baptist John was made manifest, a certain George, a monk, having seen in a vision fire burning over the place where it lay; who reported it to the bishop, and he came with a multitude of people and clergy and, digging, found it in a jar; and they brought it into the church gushing fragrant unguent; and drawing of this, the bishop and those with him gave a share to the people; whence the holy woman herself too, having come there and drawn some, anointed the eyes of a certain blind man and made him see again.

Καταλαμβάνει τὰ ἐκεῖσε ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς καταδιώκων αὐτήν· ὅπερ γνοῦσα ἄπεισιν εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα καὶ ἐκεῖθεν εἰς τὸ Σιναῖον ὄρος καὶ εἰς Βηρυτὸν κἀκεῖ ἔμεινεν, then Berytus. εἰσελθοῦσα εἰς ναὸν εἰδωλικόν, ἐν ᾧ ψάλλουσα τὸν κανόνα ἀντέψαλλον οἱ ἐνεδρεύοντες ἐκεῖ δαίμονες. Γνοῦσα δὲ δι᾽ εὐχῆς τῶν δαιμόνων τὴν πλάνην, ἐπετίμησεν αὐτοῖς· ὑπὸ δίψης δὲ κατεχομένη ἐξελθοῦσα τοῦ ναοῦ εὗρεν βοτάνας δροσερὰς καὶ ἐξ αὐτῶν παρεμυθεῖτο. Ὀρύξασα δὲ ταῖς χερσὶν ἐπὶ ἡμέρας ἓξ ἔβλυσεν so with B, unless you prefer ἐξέβλυσεν. ὕδωρ ζῶν.

Her husband reaches those parts, pursuing her; learning which, she goes away to Jerusalem, and from there to Mount Sinai and to Berytus, and there she remained, having entered an idol temple, in which, as she psalmed the rule, the demons lying in wait there psalmed against her. And knowing through prayer the deceit of the demons, she rebuked them; and held by thirst, going out of the temple she found dewy herbs and was consoled by them. And digging with her hands for six days, she made living water gush forth.

She is tempted by a demon. Ταῦτα ὁρῶν ὁ διάβολος μετασχηματίζεται εἰς γυναῖκα εὐπρόσωπον καὶ συνεβούλευεν αὐτῇ ἀποστῆναι τῆς ἀσκήσεως καὶ τοῦ τόπου καὶ τὴν Βηρυτὸν καταλαβεῖν· καὶ μὴ πείσας πάλιν ἐκ δευτέρου παρῄνεσεν καὶ ἄπρακτος ἀνεχώρησεν. Εἶτα φαίνεται πάλιν τῇ ὁσίᾳ ἐν σχήματι γραΐδος συρφετῆς, πυρώδεις ἐχούσης ὀφθαλμοὺς καὶ τὰς χεῖρας ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς ἀπειλῶν καὶ ἐκφοβῶν καὶ λέγων· “Εἰ καὶ ἐν τῇ νεότητί σου οὐκ ἠδυνήθην πρὸς σέ, κἂν ἐν τῷ γήρει σου πολλὰ δεινά σοι ἐπενέγκω.” Μετὰ τοῦτο ψαλλούσης αὐτῆς τὸν κανόνα, ἦλθον ὄπισθεν αὐτῆς τρεῖς ἄνδρες καὶ ἔπεσον εἰς γονυκλισίαν ἐπὶ ὥρας πολλὰς καὶ ἀναστάντες εἶπον αὐτῇ· “Εὖξαι ἡμῖν, δούλη τοῦ Χριστοῦ·” καὶ αὐτίκα ἀφανεῖς ἐγένοντο.

Seeing these things, the devil transforms himself into a woman fair of face and counselled her to depart from asceticism and from the place and to go to Berytus; and not having persuaded her, he exhorted her again a second time and withdrew without success. Then he appears again to the holy woman in the form of a vulgar old woman having fiery eyes, with his hands on his head, threatening and frightening and saying: “Even if in your youth I could not prevail against you, yet in your old age I will bring many terrible things upon you.” After this, as she was psalming the rule, there came behind her three men and fell to kneeling for many hours, and rising they said to her: “Pray for us, servant of Christ”; and at once they became invisible.

Ἔκτοτε ἤρχοντο πρὸς αὐτὴν γυναῖκες ἀποτασσόμεναι τοῦ βίου, ἐν αἷς καὶ ἑλληνίς τις οὖσα ἀναγκαζομένη ὑπὸ τῶν γονέων αὐτῆς θῦσαι τοῖς εἰδώλοις· καὶ μὴ βουλομένη, καταλιποῦσα αὐτούς, ἄπεισι πρὸς τὴν ὁσίαν αἰτοῦσα γενέσθαι χριστιανή. She receives Sophrone. Ἡ δὲ ἐδέξατο αὐτήν. Οἱ δὲ ἐλθόντες ἐπηπείλουν τῇ ὁσίᾳ καίειν αὐτήν τε καὶ τὸν ναὸν ἐν πυρί. Ἡ δὲ δηλοῖ αὐτούς· “Μηδὲν κοπωθῆτε περὶ τοῦ καῦσαί με· μόνον ἔλθετε, ἐπεὶ τὸ πῦρ καὶ τὰ ξύλα ἐγὼ προητοίμασα.” Καὶ ἀπορηθέντες ἐπὶ τῇ στερρότητι τοῦ λόγου αὐτῆς οὐκέτι παρηνόχλησαν αὐτῇ. Μετακαλεσαμένη δὲ διὰ τοῦ ἐπισκόπου πρεσβύτερον καὶ διακόνισσαν ἐβάπτισεν τὴν παῖδα, ἐπωνόμασεν δὲ αὐτὴν Σωφρόνην.

From then on women came to her renouncing the world, among whom also a certain Hellene, who was being compelled by her parents to sacrifice to the idols; and, not wishing to, she left them and goes away to the holy woman, asking to become a Christian. And she received her. And they came and threatened the holy woman to burn both her and the temple with fire. And she declares to them: “Do not weary yourselves at all about burning me; only come, since I have prepared the fire and the wood beforehand.” And being at a loss at the firmness of her word they no longer troubled her. And having summoned through the bishop a presbyter and a deaconess, she baptized the girl, and named her Sophrone.

She leaves Berytus. Καὶ σχεδὸν πᾶσαι αἱ γυναῖκες Βηρυτοῦ ἤρχοντο πρὸς αὐτήν. Φοβουμένη τοίνυν τὸν ἄνδρα αὐτῆς ηὔχετο τῷ Θεῷ, ποῦ ἄρα ἐστὶν εὐάρεστον αὐτῷ ἀπελθεῖν αὐτήν, εἴτε εἰς Ἀλεξάνδρειαν εἴτε εἰς Ἀντιόχειαν εἴτε εἰς Κωνσταντινούπολιν. Καὶ ἰδοὺ κατ᾽ ὄναρ θεωρεῖ τρεῖς ἄνδρας οὕτω προσαγορευομένους Ἀλέξανδρον, Ἀντίοχον καὶ Κωνσταντῖνον, λέγοντας ἀμφοτέρους ἕκαστον καθ᾽ ἑαυτὸν ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς ὅτι· “ἐγὼ ἔχω αὐτὴν λαβεῖν.” Βαλόντες οὖν κλήρους ἐκ τρίτου, ἔπεσεν ὁ κλῆρος ἐπὶ Κωνσταντῖνον· ὅθεν ἔγνω ὅτι ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει δεῖ αὐτὴν ἀνελθεῖν.

And almost all the women of Berytus came to her. Fearing, then, her husband, she prayed to God to know where it was pleasing to him that she should go away, whether to Alexandria or to Antioch or to Constantinople. And behold, in a dream she beholds three men called thus, Alexander, Antiochus and Constantine, each of them saying for himself about her: “I am to take her.” Casting lots, then, a third time, the lot fell on Constantine; whence she knew that she must go up to Constantinople.

At Constantinople Τότε παραδοῦσα τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ Βηρυτοῦ τὰς μαθητευθείσας αὐτῇ γυναῖκας, ἀνῆλθεν ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει μετὰ Σωφρόνης τῆς κόρης· καὶ ὀφθεῖσα τῷ μακαρίῳ Βασιανῷ, δέδωκεν αὐτῇ οἶκον εἰς τὰ λεγόμενα Ἀνθεμίου ἐπάνω τοῦ ἐμβόλου· καὶ ἐνεγκὼν τρεῖς εὐλογίας καὶ τρία ζωνάρια καὶ τρία παλλία καὶ ἐπευξάμενος ἐπὶ ὥρας πολλὰς δέδωκεν αὐτῇ λέγων· “Ἄπελθε καὶ σῷζε ψυχὰς τύπον αὐταῖς τὸν ἴδιον βίον παρέχουσα· καὶ ἅπερ διὰ λόγων διδάσκεις, she is received by Bassianus; ἵνα ταῦτα δι᾽ ἔργων πληρούμενα ἐν σοὶ βλέπωσιν, δούλην δὲ ἄνευ δεσπότου μὴ δέξῃ.”

Then, having handed over to the bishop of Berytus the women who had been made her disciples, she went up to Constantinople with the girl Sophrone; and when she had been seen by the blessed Bassianus, he gave her a house at the place called Anthemius's, above the portico; and bringing three eulogiae and three girdles and three mantles and praying for many hours, he gave them to her, saying: “Go and save souls, offering them your own life as a pattern; and what you teach by words, let them see fulfilled in you by works; and do not receive a slave woman without her master.”

Ἀκούσας δὲ ὁ ὅσιος καὶ περὶ τῶν ἐν Βηρυτῷ ἀδελφῶν ἀποστείλας ἤγαγεν καὶ αὐτὰς πρὸς αὐτὴν ἐντεῦθεν. Βερίνα δὲ ἡ βασίλισσα ἡ γαμετὴ Λέοντος τοῦ πιστοῦ βασιλέως ἐλθοῦσα πρὸς αὐτὴν μετὰ καὶ ἑτέρων πλείστων γυναικῶν καὶ μαθοῦσα τὰ κατ᾽ αὐτὴν ἐθαύμασεν· καὶ λαβοῦσα εὐλογίας παρὰ τῆς ὁσίας ὄσπρια βρεκτὰ λίαν ᾠκοδομήθη. Ὡσαύτως καὶ ἡ γυνὴ Ἀνθεμίου τοῦ ἐν Ῥώμῃ βασιλεύσαντος συνήθης ἦν τῇ ἁγίᾳ· ἥτις καὶ Ἀντιοχιανὴν τὴν γυναῖκα Σπορακίου rather Σφωρακίου, above, p. 805, c. 33. τοῦ πατρικίου, τοῦ τὸν εὐκτήριον οἶκον τοῦ ἁγίου Θεοδώρου οἰκοδομήσαντος ἀγαγοῦσα πρὸς αὐτήν, τῇ ἁφῇ τῆς χειρὸς αὐτῆς ταύτην ἰάσατο.

And the holy man, hearing also about the sisters at Berytus, sent and brought them too to her from there. And Verina the empress, the wife of Leo the faithful emperor, coming to her with very many other women too and learning her story, marvelled; and receiving from the holy woman as eulogiae soaked pulse, she was greatly edified. Likewise the wife of Anthemius, who reigned at Rome, was familiar with the saint; and she brought to her Antiochiana, the wife of Sporacius the patrician, who built the oratory of St. Theodore, and the saint healed her by the touch of her hand.

Ἡ δὲ ἰαθεῖσα δέδωκεν αὐτῇ προάστειον ἔσω τοῦ τείχους, she builds a new monastery, ἐν ᾧ καὶ μετέβη ἐκεῖσε ἡ μακαρία Ματρῶνα μετὰ δώδεκα ψυχῶν, οἰκοδομήσασα ὠκοδομήσασα B. τὸ μοναστήριον, ὅπερ καὶ μέχρι τοῦ νῦν διαμένει, αὐξηθὲν τῇ τοῦ Κυρίου χάριτι εἰς πλῆθος ἀδελφῶν.

And she, being healed, gave her a suburban estate within the wall, into which the blessed Matrona moved with twelve souls, having built the monastery which remains even to now, increased by the grace of the Lord to a multitude of sisters.

Τῆς δὲ ὁσίας Ἀθανασίας ἐκεῖσε ἀποταξαμένης, ᾠκοδόμησεν ἐκ τῶν αὐτῆς χρημάτων οἶκον τριώροφον καὶ εἰς μὲν τὸν ὑποκάτω πεποίηκεν κοιμητήριον τῶν τελευτουσῶν ἀδελφῶν, εἰς δὲ τὸν δεύτερον εὐκτήριον χειμωνικόν, εἰς δὲ τὸν τρίτον καλοκαιρινόν· καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ χρήματα δέδωκεν μοναστηρίοις ἔν τε τῇ τῶν B. Κωνσταντινουπόλει καὶ ἐν τῇ Συρίᾳ· μεθ᾽ ἧς ἀπετάξαντο καὶ ἑπτὰ εὐνοῦχοι αὐτῆς in the margin B. καὶ τρεῖς κουβικουλάριοι.

And when the holy Athanasia had renounced the world there, she built from her money a three-storeyed house, and in the lower storey she made a burial place for the sisters who die, in the second a winter oratory, and in the third a summer one; and the rest of the money she gave to monasteries both in Constantinople and in Syria; and with her seven of her eunuchs also renounced the world, and three chamberlains.

Ὁ δὲ ὅσιος Βασιανὸς τὴν τοῦ σχήματος διατύπωσιν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ θεόθεν δεξάμενος, ἐλθὼν ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει δύο μοναστήρια συνεστήσατο — τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἕν, ὅπερ καὶ ἐπώνυμον αὐτοῦ ἐστιν, in which the rule of Bassianus flourishes. τὸ δὲ ἕτερον τῆς ὁσίας Ματρώνας — κρατοῦντα τὸν αὐτὸν τύπον τὸν παρὰ τοῦ ὁσίου νενομοθετημένον. Ἑκατοστὸν δὲ ἔτος βιώσασα ἡ μακαρία Ματρῶνα ἐν τῇ ἀσκήσει μακαρίως καὶ ὁσίως κεκοίμηται· ἧς ταῖς πρεσβείαις καὶ τοῦ ταύτης καθηγητοῦ, τοῦ ὁσίου λέγω Βασιανοῦ, Χριστὲ ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, καὶ ἡμᾶς τοὺς ἀναξίους δούλους σου καταξίωσον ζηλωτὰς γενομένους τῆς ἐνθέου αὐτῶν πολιτείας τυχεῖν τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς, ὅτι εὐλογητὸς ὑπάρχεις καὶ δεδοξασμένος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων, ἀμήν.

And the holy Bassianus, having received from God in the desert the pattern of the habit, coming to Constantinople established two monasteries — the one which also bears his name, and the other that of the holy Matrona — holding the same pattern ordained by the holy man. And having lived a hundred years in asceticism, the blessed Matrona fell asleep blessedly and holily; by whose intercessions and those of her guide, the holy Bassianus I mean, O Christ our God, count us too, your unworthy servants, having become emulators of their inspired conduct, worthy to obtain eternal life; for you are blessed and glorified unto the ages of ages. Amen.