Andronicus and Athanasia

ON SS. ANDRONICUS AND ATHANASIA, CONFESSORS, IN EGYPT,

THE FIFTH CENTURY SOMEWHAT ADVANCED.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

The memory of the holy Spouses in the sacred Fasti, their age, their Acts.

Andronicus, monk, conf., in Egypt. (S.)

Athanasia, monk, conf., in Egypt. (S.)

BY J. B.

Although this holy pair of spouses did not migrate from this mortal life to the immortal on the same day, yet, lest we separate those whom God joined in mind, in body, and in the profession of the eremitical life, in the Latin we give them today conjointly, as our Predecessors promised at the 27th day of February, following the Roman Martyrology, the Typicon of St. Sabas and the Slavo-Russian Menology. Metaphrastes, Surius, and Molanus treat of them at the 27th day of February; the Greek Menology of the most eminent Cardinal Albani at the 2nd day of March: but Chastelain in the universal Martyrology commemorates both today indeed, but Athanasia separately at the 22nd day of July, undoubtedly because he had read that she died on that day. At the 9th day of October the Roman Martyrology has thus: At Jerusalem, of SS. Andronicus and Athanasia his wife. Baronius, in the Annotations subjoined to this Announcement, praising the Menaea of the Greeks, which the most eminent Cardinal Sirleto translated into Latin, indicates the source from which these Saints were brought into the Roman Martyrology: and these, in Sirleto's translation, have thus at this day: The commemoration of SS. Andronicus and Athanasia his wife. Andronicus was from the great city of Antioch, who, having left his wealth, came together with his wife to Jerusalem, where, having venerated the holy places, practising works of piety, after very many labours, fasts, vigils and visits to the holy places, after the admirable falling-asleep of the most blessed Athanasia, he too fell asleep in the Lord.

[2] These are the words of the Menaea in Sirleto: it is clear indeed from them and are known to the Greek Fasti that SS. Andronicus and Athanasia visited the sacred places of Palestine — which the Acts of them in Surius at the 27th day of February, and the Menaea to be praised below, also say they did twice — and were intent on pious works there: but as to what the Sirletian Menaea may further seem, by the words just cited, to assert, that they died at Jerusalem, this is probably beyond the intention of him who inserted into the Menaea the words just transcribed about SS. Andronicus and Athanasia, and he perhaps wished by those words only to signify that after their visits to the sacred places they rested in the Lord with a holy and wonderful end, though elsewhere. This indeed is plainly in conformity with the Menaea to be praised below, with their Acts in Surius, and likewise with other Mss. transcribed from the imperial Library of Vienna and kept with us, according to which both went to Jerusalem twice; but they died in Egypt, certainly not far from the Scetic desert and the city of Alexandria, twelve years having passed since their last visit to the holy places, in the monastery which they call the Eighteenth; most probably for this reason, that it was eighteen miles, or about six French leagues, distant from Alexandria. But whatever be the mind of the author of the Sirletian Announcement — perhaps not entirely explored by the emenders of the Roman Martyrology — I have at any rate preferred to assign SS. Andronicus and Athanasia, on account of their stable dwelling there, to Egypt, in which they began and ended the solitary life, rather than to Palestine or Jerusalem, to which they travelled only twice for devotion's sake within a space of twenty-four years, as will appear from the Menaea.

[3] The holy spouses: whose age We must now speak of the time at which they migrated from this life. Surius, cited above, assigns them about the year three hundred and eighty. Was it because he believed Andronicus flourished about that year? Or because they migrated from this life about that year? The first is perhaps true

is: but the other appears less likely: for according to the Acts edited from Metaphrastes by Surius himself, Andronicus did not take Athanasia to wife before the reign of Theodosius the Great, which began in the year 379: In the days of the emperor Theodosius the Great, they say, there was in the great city of Antioch a young silversmith named Andronicus. And he took as wife the daughter of a silversmith named John. And her name was Athanasia. Surius therefore seems only to have indicated, in some fashion, the year both in which Andronicus flourished and in which Theodosius took up the reins of empire. Further, from the same Acts we have that Andronicus lived with Athanasia in the world for 12 years: and after he gave himself to the monastic life, for 24 years. Wherefore according to the same Acts both he himself and his wife, who died not long before her husband, prolonged their life at least to the year 415. The reign of Theodosius the Great is the first chronological mark from which you may in some fashion gather the age of Andronicus and Athanasia: the other is supplied by the abbot Daniel, whom they not only used as master after, having left Antioch and been bereaved of their children, they went off into the solitudes of Egypt to spend the rest of their life there solely on God; but while he was still surviving they also died. But who was that abbot Daniel, and at what time did he live?

[4] so far as is permitted us, Daniel, of whom mention is made in the Acts of SS. Andronicus and Athanasia, was an inhabitant of the Scetic desert: and a distinguished man of this name Cassian saw in the same desert toward the end of the fourth century, whom he introduces in the fourth Conference discoursing with him on the concupiscence of the flesh and of the spirit. Among the other men of Christian Philosophy, he says in chapter 1, we also saw the abbot Daniel, equal indeed in every kind of virtue to those who dwelt in the desert of Scete, but more especially adorned with the grace of humility. Then he says that Daniel, although he was younger than many, was raised to the grade of the priesthood through the care of the abbot Paphnutius, to whom the surname Bubalus clung; and he finally adds: Not long afterwards (that is, shortly after the priesthood had been entered on by Daniel) he (Paphnutius) sent ahead to the Lord this man whom he had prepared as his successor. From these words of Cassian I gather that this Daniel did not reach old age, nor survive the deceased SS. Andronicus and Athanasia: but indeed the Daniel whom they used as guide and master of the ascetic life for at least twenty-four years, and who was present at their deaths, is not rarely called the Old Man in the Acts on account of his advanced age, which does not fit Daniel, the disciple of Paphnutius Bubalus. Another Daniel must therefore be sought, who a little later, heavy with years and merits, inhabited the Scetic desert; so that from his age it may be confirmed that Andronicus and Athanasia died in the fifth century rather than in the fourth.

[5] Further, a Daniel of this kind occurs in the Acts of St. Arsenius, it is determined in some fashion. illustrated in our Work in volume IV of July from page 605. This Daniel is treated of there at page 613, and it is shown that he practised the monastic life under Arsenius in the Scetic desert and that he survived Cyril, bishop of Alexandria, who died in the year 444; more about him can be read in the same place. Likewise at the 14th day of April he is related to have ordered the body of St. Thomais, slain for her chastity, to be carried to Scete, and to have buried it there in his own cemetery; which kind of office is read in their Acts to have been rendered by him to SS. Andronicus and Athanasia also. It becomes therefore very probable that the Daniel treated of in the Acts just praised is Daniel the disciple of Arsenius; and so that our saints were called from this life to heaven in the fifth century, at least somewhat advanced: but in what year of this century is not clear. Arsenius, in the Commentary prefixed to his Acts, page 613, is related to have dwelt at Scete from the year 394 to the year 434; at which time it is probable that his disciple Daniel instructed Andronicus and Athanasia with salutary admonitions and finally stood by them as they died; for after the year 434 Arsenius dwelt, until the year 449 or 450, the last of his life, either at Canopus or at Troe, whither Daniel probably followed him: but their Acts forbid extending the life of Andronicus and Athanasia to the year 450 or beyond: for let us suppose that they entered into marriage in the last year of the reign of Theodosius, that is of Christ 395; let there be added to this the 12 years in which they lived in the world; then the 24 years in which they led the solitary life; we shall reach only the year 431. From what has been said, therefore, both here and at number 3, they will have died within the interval of time which elapsed from the year 415 to the year 431.

[6] The Acts which are to be published. For the rest, the deeds of SS. Andronicus and Athanasia scarcely need commentary: if anything shall seem to serve for illustrating them, it will be furnished in the Annotations to their Acts. These have already been printed from Metaphrastes in Surius at the 29th day of February, as I said above. They agree throughout with the Menaea of the Greeks printed at Venice in the year 1595, in which likewise the Acts of SS. Andronicus and Athanasia are inserted at the 9th day of October. These we give from there, with a Latin version added; nor, if they differ or disagree in anything from the Acts of Surius, or from another Greek apograph of the same, transcribed from the imperial library of Vienna, shall we pass it over in the Annotations. The Menaea, according to their custom, set before the Acts two verses, in which allusion is made to their almost perpetual companionship both in marriage and in the monastic life (in which Athanasia, clad in a man's habit, spent 12 years with Andronicus, but unknown to him): they run thus:

Σύσκηνον Ἀνδρόνικος Ἀθανασίαν Κόσμῳ τ᾽ ἐν ἀσκήσειτε κἂν πόλῳ έχει.

Andronicus has Athanasia as his tent-companion in the world, in the monastic life, and in heaven.

ACTS

FROM THE MENAEA.

Andronicus, monk, conf., in Egypt. (S.)

Athanasia, monk, conf., in Egypt. (S.)

Οὕτος ὁ ὅσιος Ἀνδρόνικος ἦν ἐξ Αντιοχείας τῆς μεγάλης, ἀργυροπράτης τὸ ἐπιτήδευμα, εὐλαβης πανὺ, καὶ πλήρης ἀγαθῶν ἔργων, καὶ πλούσιος. Ἔγημε δὲ γυναῖκα τὴν Ἀθανασίαν, σεμνὴν καὶ θεοφιλῆ καὶ αὐτὴν οὖσαν. Μεθ᾽ ἧς ἐπ᾽ ἀγαθῷ συμφωνήσας, εις τρία διεῖλον ἀει τὸν βίον αὐτων. Καἰ τὸ μὲν ἕν μέρος τοῖς πτωχοῖς ἀφθόνως παρεῖχον· τὸ δὲ ἕτερον, δάνειον παρεῖχον ἀμισθὶ τοῖς χρείαν ἔχουσι· τὴν δὲ τρίτην μερίδα, λόγῳ τοῦ ἀργυροπρατείου, καὶ τῶν πρὸς τὸ ζῆν αναγκαίων οἰκονόμουν· ἔτεκον δὲ δύο παῖδας, ἁρρἑν καὶ θῆλυ. Τεχθέντων δὲ αὐτοῖς τούτων τῶν δύο παίδων, οὐκ ἕτι προσέθεντο προσεγγίσαι ἀλλήλοις, ἁλλ᾽ ἦσαν ἀμφότεροι ἐν σοφροσύνη καὶ προσευχαῖς, καὶ ταῖς τῶν πτωχῶν καὶ νοσούντων εὐποιΐαις ἐνδελεχῶς σπουδάζοντες. Μετὰ δὲ δώδεκα ἔτη τῆς αὐτῶν συνοικήσεως, ὅντων τῶν τέκνων αὐτῶν ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡλικία, ἧ ἀγάλλειν τους γονεῖς εἶχον, ἐν μῖα τῶν ἡμερῶν τεθνήκασιν ἀμφότερα· ὁ δὲ μακάριος Ἀνδρόνικος οὐδὲν ἀγενὲς ἐπὶ τῳ συμβεβηκότι ἐνδειξάμενος, τὴν μακαρίαν μᾶλλον φονὴν τοῦ Ιὼβ ὲξεβόησεν. αὐτὸς γυμνὸς ἐξῆλθον, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς· ἡ δὲ τούτου σύμβιος Ἀθανασία ἀπαραμύθητον ἔσχε τὴν λύπην· ὄθεν καὶ ταφέντων τῶν παιδίων ἐν τῶ μαρτυρίῳ τοῦ ἀγίου Ἰουλιανοῦ, οὐκ ἠθέλησεν ἐκεῖθεν ἐξελθεῖν, λέγουσα, συναποθανοῦμαι καὶ αὐτῆ, καὶ συνταφήσομαι τοῖς τέκνοις μου. Λαβόντος οὖν τοῦ πατριάρχου τὸν μακάριον Ἀνδρόνικον ἐν τῷ πατριαρχείῳ, χάριν παραμυθίας, ἡ γυνὴ οὐκ ἠνέσχετο τοῦ μαρτυρίου ἐξελθεῖν, ἀλλ᾽ ἔμεινεν ἐκεῖ γοερῶς κοπτομένη.

[2] Μεσούσης δὲ τῆς νυκτὸς, ὤφθη αὐτῇ ὁ μάρτυς Ἰουλιανὸς, ἐν σχήματι μοναχοῦ, λέγων αὐτῇ, τί ἔχεις, ὀ Γύναι, τί οὐκ ἐᾶς ἡρεμεῖν τοὺς ὧδε. Ἡδὲ ἀποκριτεῖσα, ἔφη· μὴ βαρυνθῆς, κύριέ μου, κατὰ τῆς δούλης σου· ἐπεὶ σφοδρὸν πόνον κέκτημαι, δύο γὰρ μόνα τέκνα ἔχουσα, σήμερον ἀμφότερα ἐξεκόμισα. Ὁ δὲ λέγει αὐτῇ· μὴ κλαῖε περὶ αὐτῶν· λέγω γάρ σοι, Γύναι, ὅτι ὅν τρόπον ἀπαιτεῖ ἡ φύσις τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τὴν βρῶσιν, καὶ ἀδύνατον μὴ δοῦναι ἐαυτῷ φαγεῖν, οὕτω καὶ τὰ νήπια ἀπαιτοῦσιν τὸν Χρίστον ἐν τῃ ἡμέρα ἐκείνη τὰ μέλλοντα ἀγαθὰ· λέγοντα, Δικαιοκρίτα, ἀντὶ τῶν ἐπιγείων ὧν ἐστερήθημεν, μὴ στερήσης ἡμᾶς τῶν ἐπουρανίων. Ἡδὲ ἀκούσασα, κατενύγη, καὶ μετέβαλε τὸ πένθος εἰς χαρὰν· λέγουσα, ἄρα ζῶσι τὰ τέκνα μου ἐν οὐρανοῖς, τί κλαιώ; καὶ στραφεῖσα ἐζήτει τὸν λαλήσαντα αὐτῇ ἀββᾶν, καὶ περιελθοῦσα ὅλον τὸν ναὸν, οὐχ εὗρε. καὶ λέγει τῶ θυρωρῶ. Ποῦ ἐστιν ὁ ἀββᾶς ὁ είσελθῶν ἐνταῦθα ἄρτι; Λέγει αὐτῃ ὁ θυρωρὸς· ὁρᾶς πάσας τὰς θύρας ἠσφαλισμένας, καὶ λέγεις ποῦ ἐστιν ἄρτι; ἔγνῳ δὲ ὁ θυρωρὸς, ὃτι ὀπτασίαν ἑώρακεν. Ἡ δὲ φόβῳ συσχεθεῖσα, ἀπῆλθεν είς τὸν οἶκον αὐτῆς, καὶ διηγήσατο τῳ Ἀνδρὶ αυτῆς, ἅ εἶδεν, καὶ ἠτήσατο βαλεῖν αυτὴν είς μοναστήριον. Ὁ δὲ καὶ γὰρ καὶ αυτὸς ἦν τοῦτο ποθῶν, ἀστμένος τὸν λόγον δεξάμενος, δέδωκε πλεῖστον μέρος τῆς οὐσίας αὐτοῦ τοῖς πτωχοῖς, καὶ τοὺς ὠνητοὺς τῶν δούλων ἠλευθέρωσεν· τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ τῶν ὑπαρχόντων αὐτοῦ ἀνέθετο τῳ πενθερῷ αὐτοῦ, παραγγείλας αὐτῷ, ποιῆσαι νοσοκομεῖα καὶ ξενοδοχεῖα μοναχῶν· αὐτὸς δὲ μικρᾶ ἐφόδια λαβὼν, ἐξῆλθεν νυκτὸς ἐκ τῆς πόλεως, αὐτὸς καὶ ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ μόνοι.

[3] Ἡδὲ μακαρία Αθανασία, μακρόθεν ἰδοῦσα τὸν οἶκον αὐτῆς ἀναβλέψασα εἰς τόν οὐρανὸν εἶπεν· ὀ Θεὸς ὸ εἰπὼν τῷ Αβραὰμ καὶ τῆ Σαῤῥα, ἔξελθε ἐκ τῆς γῆς σου καὶ ἐκ τῆς συγγενείας, καὶ δεῦρο εἰς γῆν, ἣν ἄν σοι δείξω, αὐτὸς τά νῦν ὁδήγησον ἡμᾶς εἰς τὸν φόβον σου; ἰδοὺ γὰρ κατελείψαμεν τὸν οἶκον ἡμῶν ἀνεωγμένον διὰ τὸ ὄνομά σου, μὴ κλείσης ἡμῖν τὴν θύραν τῆς βασιλείας σου, καὶ κλαυσαντες ἀμφότεροι ἀπῆλθον. Καὶ φθάσαντες εἰς τούς ἁγίους τόπους, προσεκυνήσαν· καὶ συνέτυχον πολλοῖς πατρᾶσιν. Ὑποστρέψαντες δὲ ἐκεῖθεν, ἐπορεύθησαν ἀμφότεροι εἰς τὸν ἀββᾶν Δανιὴλ καὶ αἰτησαμένων αὐτῶν ἀναθῆναι τὴν Ἀθανασίαν ἐν μοναστηρίω, ἀπέστειλεν αὐτὴν εἰς τὴν μονὴν τῶν Ταβενησιωτῶν· ὁ δὲ Ἀνδρόνικος δεξάμενος τὸ ἀγγελικὸν σχῆμα παρὰ τοῦ γέροντος, ἔμεινεν παρ᾽ αὐτῷ ἒτη δώδεκα. Διελθόντων δὲ τῶν δώδεκα ετῶν παρεκάλεσεν τὸν αββᾶν Δανιὴλ συγχωρῆσαι οἱ ἀπελθεῖν αὖθις εἰς προσκύνησιν τῶν ἁγίων τόπων· ὁ δὲ ποιήσας εὐχὴν, ἀπέλυσεν αὐτὸν. Ὁδεύων δὲ ὁ ὅσιος Ἀνδρόνικος κατὰ τὴν Αἴγυπτον ἐκάθισεν ὑποκάτω φυτοῦ, ἳνα ἀναψὺξη ἀπὸ τοῦ καύματος· καὶ ἰδοὺ κατ᾽ οἰκονομίαν θεοῦ, καὶ ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ ἀπερχομένη καὶ αὐτὴ εἰς τούς ἁγίους τόπους ἐν ἀνδρικῷ σχήματι συνήντησε τῷ ὁμοζύγῳ αυτῆς Ἀνδρονίκῳ, καὶ ἀσπασαμένων ἀλλήλους, ἐκείνη μέν ἀνεγνώρισεν αὐτὸν, ἐκεῖνος δὲ οὐκ ἐγνώρισεν αὐτὴν, διὰ τὸ μαρανθῆναι τὸ κάλλος αὐτῆς ὑπὸ τῆς ἄγαν ἀσκήσεως, καὶ ὡς Αἰθίοπα αὐτὴν φαίνεσθαι.

[4] Λέγει οὖν αὐτῷ ἐκείνη, ποῦ ἀπέρχη Κύριε ἀββᾶ; Λέγει αὐτῇ, εἰς τοὺς ἁγίους τόπους, Λέγει αὐτῷ, ἐκεῖ βούλομαι κᾀγω ἀπελθεῖν. Λέγει

οὖν αυτῇ, θέλεις ὁδεῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀμφοτέρους ὁμοῦ; Λέγει αὐτῷ, ὡς κελεύεις· πλήν, ὡς μὴ ὄντος μου, οὕτως ὁδεύσωμεν σιωπῶντες. Ὁ δὲ Ἀνδρόνικος ἔφη, ὡς κελεύεις. Λέγει αὐτῷ, ὄντως οὐκ εἶ μαθητὴς τοῦ ἀββᾶ Δανιὴλ; Λέγει αὐτῇ, ναὶ. Καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ, οὐκ Ἀνδρόνικος ὀνομάζη; Λέγει αὐτῇ, ναὶ. Εἶπεν αὐτῷ, αὶ εὐχαὶ τοῦ γέροντος συνωδεύσουσιν ἡμῖν. Λέγει ὁ Ἀνδρόνικος, ἀμήν· καὶ συνώδευσαν ἀμφότεροι καὶ προσκυνήσαντες τοῦς ἁγίους τόπους ὑπέστρεψαν σιωπῶντες ἐν Ἀλεξανδρεια. Καὶ λέγει ὁ αββᾶς Ἀθανάσιος (οὕτω γὰρ μετωνομάσθη ἡ Ἀθανασία) τῷ Ἀνδρόνίκῷ, θέλεις ἵνα μείνωμεν ὁμοῦ εἰς κελλίον; Λέγει ὁ Ἀνδρόνικος, ὡς κελεύεις· ἀλλὰ θέλω πρῶτον ἀπελθεῖν καὶ λαβεῖν τὴν εὐχὴν τοῦ γέροντος. Λέγει αὐτῷ, ὕπαγε, καὶ μένω σε εἰς τὸ ὀκτωκαιδέκατον· καὶ ἐὰν ὑπομένης μεῖναι μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ σιωπηρῶς, ὡς ωδεύσαμεν, ἐλθὲ· εἰ δὲ μὴ, οὐκ ἐλεύση. Ὁ δὲ ἀπελθὼν, ἀνήγγειλε τῷ γέροντι τὰ περὶ τοῦ πράγματος· ὁ δὲ γέρων, εἶπεν αὐτῷ, ὕπαγε, ἀγάπα τὴν σιωπὴν, καὶ μεῖνον μετὰ τοῦ αδελφοῦ· μοναχὸς γὰρ ἐστὶν, ὡς δεῖ εἶναι· Επαναλύσαντος δὲ αὐτοῦ ἔμειναν ὁμοῦ, ὅτε Αθανάσιος καὶ ἡ αὐτοῦ σύζυγος, ἄλλα δώδεκα ἔτη, καὶ οὐκ ἐγνώσθη αὐτῷ, ὅτι ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ ἐστι· πολλάκις οὖν ἥρχετο ὁ γέρων εἰς ἐπίσκεψιν αὐτῶν, διαλἐγόμενος αὐτοῖς τὰ περὶ ὠφελείας, Ἅπαξ οὖν ἀνελθόντος τοῦ γέροντος καὶ συνταξαμένου αὐτοῖς ἐν τῷ ὑποστρέφειν αὐτὸν, ἔδρα μεν ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ ὁ ἀββᾶς Ἀνδρόνικος, καὶ καταλαβὼν αὐτὸν, λέγει, ὁ ἀββᾶς Ἀθανάσιος ὑπάγει πρὸς Κύριον.

[5] Καὶ ἐπαναλύσας ὁ γέρων, εὗρεν, αὐτὸν πυρετῷ συνεχόμενον, καὶ ἤρξατο κλαίεν ὁ ἀββᾶς Αθανάσιος. Λέγει αυτῷ ὁ γέρων, ἀντὶ τοῦ χαρῆναι σε· ὅτι ἀπέρχη ἀπαντῆσαι Θεῷ κλαίεις; ἡ δὲ ἔφη, οὐ κλαίῳ, εἰ μὴ διὰ τὸν ἀββᾶν Ἀνδρόνικον· ἀλλὰ ποίησον ἀγάπην, καὶ μετὰ τὸ θάψαι με, ευρήσεις πιτάκιον κείμενον πρὸς κεφαλῆς μου, καὶ ἀνάγνωθι αὐτὸ, καὶ δὸς αὐτὸ τῷ ἀββᾶ Ἀνδρονίκῳ. Καὶ ποιησάντων εὐχὴν, ἐκοινώνησε καὶ ἐκοιμήθη ἐν Κυριῷ. Ἦλθον δὲ κηδεῦσαι αὐτὸν, καὶ ἰδοὺ τῇ φύσει εὑρέθη γυνὴ, καὶ ἠκούσθη εἰς ὅλην τὴν λαύραν. Καὶ πέμψας ὁ γέρων ἀνήνεγκεν ὅλην τὴν Σκήτην, καὶ τοὺς εἰς τὴν ἐσωτέραν ἔρημον οἰκοῦντας ἀδελφοὺς, καὶ ἀνῆλθον πᾶσαι αἱ λαύραι Ἀλεξανδρείας, καὶ πᾶσα ἡ πόλις συνῆλθε, καὶ οἱ Σκιτιῶται λευκοφοροῦντες, οὕτως γὰρ ἐστιν ἔθος ἐν τῇ Σκήτῇ· μετὰ κλάδων οὖν καὶ βαΐων, ἐξεκόμισαν τὸ τίμιον λείψανον Ἀθανασίας, δοξάζοντες τὸν Θεὸν, τὴν τοσαύτην ὑπομονὴν παρασχόντα τῇ γυναικὶ. Ἔμεινε δὲ ὁ γέρων τὰ ἕβδομα τελέσαι τῆς μακαρίας Ἀθανασίας, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἠθέλησεν λαβεῖν μεθ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ τὸν ἀββᾶν Ανδρόνικον· ὀδε οὐκ ἠνέσχετο, λέγων, μετὰ τῆς Κυρίας μου τελευτήσω. Καὶ πάλιν συνταξαμένου τοῦ γέροντος, ἐν τῷ ὑποστρέφειν αὐτὸν, φθάνει αὐτὸν ἀδελφὸς λέγων, ὁ ἀββᾶς Ανδρόνικος πυρετῷ συνέχεται· καὶ πάλιν ἔπεμψεν ὁ γέρων ἐν τῇ Σκήτῇ, λέγων· δεῦτε, ἀνέλθετε, ὅτι ὁ ἀββᾶς Ανδρόνικος ἀκουλουθεῖ τῷ ἀδελφῷ Ἀθανασίῳ· οι δὲ ἀνῆλθον, καὶ κατέλαβον αὐτὸν ζῶντα· καὶ εὐλογηθέντων αὐτῶν παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ, ἐκοιμήθη ἐν Κυρίῷ. Ἐγένετο οὖν ἔνστασις μεταξὺ τοῦ Ὀκτοκαιδεκάτου καὶ τῶν Σκητιωτῶν περὶ τοῦ λειψάνου αὐτοῦ, πότερον τῶν μερῶν λήψεται αὐτὸ. Μόλις οὖν κατέπαυσεν αὐτοὺς ὁ γέρον, ἑᾶσαι αὐτὸ ἐκεῖσε συνταφῆναι μετὰ τῆς Συναγονιστοῦ αὐτοῦ Ἀθανασίας· καὶ οὕτως ἐπαύσαντο τῆς φιλονεικίας ἀμφότεροι, δοξάζοντες τὸν ἐπὶ πάντων Θεὸν. αμὴν.

The holy Spouses, having lost their children, This holy Andronicus, born at Antioch the Great ^a, a silversmith by trade ^b, was very religious, full of good works, and wealthy. He had as wife Athanasia ^c, a venerable woman and equally a lover of God; who, conspiring together in good, perpetually divided their means into three parts. And one part they bestowed liberally on the poor; the second they lent to the needy without interest; and the third they spent on the silver business and on necessary sustenance. And they begot two children, a male and a female ^d. After these were begotten, they did not thenceforth come together, but both lived in continence and prayers, giving assiduous attention to conferring benefits on the poor and the sick. But after twelve years of their living together, both children, when they were of that age at which they could delight their parents, died on the same day. But Andronicus, admitting nothing less than noble on account of what had happened, rather broke out into the blessed saying of Job: "Naked came I out, etc." but his wife Athanasia was seized with inconsolable grief; whence also, the children having been buried in the church of St. Julian ^e, she would not go out from there, saying: I will die and be buried together with my children. The Patriarch ^f therefore receiving Bl. Andronicus into his house for the sake of consolation, his wife could not bear to go out of the church, but remained there, lamenting pitifully.

[2] their goods having been divided for pious uses, But at midnight St. Julian the martyr appeared to her, clad in a monk's habit ^g, saying: What ails you, Woman? Why do you not allow those buried here to rest? And she answering said: Be not angry, my Lord, with your handmaid, for a vehement grief has struck me: for having had only two children, I have carried both out to burial today. But he said: Do not weep on their account: for I say to you, O Woman, that just as the nature of man is such that it demands food, and it cannot be that food is not given to it; so also your children on this very day ask of Christ the good things of the life to come, saying: Just Judge, in return for the earthly things of which we have been deprived, do not deprive us of the heavenly. When she had heard this, she was pricked to the heart, and turned her mourning into joy, saying: My pledges, then, live in heaven: why do I weep? And turning, she sought the abbot who had addressed her, and, having gone through the whole church, as large as it was, did not find him; and she says to the Doorkeeper: Where is the abbot who came in here just now? The Doorkeeper answers: You see all the doors shut, and you ask where is the abbot who came in here just now ^h? But the Doorkeeper understood that a vision had been shown to her. And she, struck with fear, returned home and related to her husband what she had seen, and asked that she might give herself to a monastery. And he (for he too was held by the same desire), having gladly received these words, gave the greatest part of his goods to the needy, and gave freedom to the slaves whom he had bought: and the rest he handed over to his father-in-law ⁱ, instructing him to found infirmaries and hospices for monks: and, having taken a little provision for the journey, he went out of the city by night alone with his wife.

[3] they become monks: after 12 years And Bl. Athanasia, looking back at her house from afar, raising her eyes to heaven, said: God, who said to Abraham and to Sara: "Go forth out of thy country and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee ^k," do thou now direct us in the way of thy fear. Behold, we have left our house open for thy name's sake; do not shut the gate of thy kingdom against us; and both, weeping, went on their journey. And when they had come to the holy places ^l, having venerated them, they conversed with many fathers. And departing thence they both went to the abbot Daniel ^m, and when they asked him to place Athanasia in a monastery, he sent her to the monastery of the Tabennesiotes ⁿ. But Andronicus, having received the angelic habit ^o from the Old Man, remained with him for twelve years. And when these twelve years had rolled by, he begged Daniel that he might be permitted to make a pilgrimage again to the holy places. He, having poured out prayers, gave him leave to depart. And as Andronicus was making his way through Egypt, he sat down under a tree to refresh himself from the heat, and behold, God so disposing, his wife, having likewise set out for the holy places in a man's habit, met her husband Andronicus; and when they had greeted each other, she indeed recognized him; but he did not recognize her, because her beauty had withered through her excessive exercise in the monastic life, and she appeared like an Ethiopian.

[4] meet each other as they travel on pilgrimage, She therefore says to Andronicus: Whither are you going, Lord Abba [p]? To the holy places, he said. I too am going there, she said. Do you wish, then, that we both make the journey together? said Andronicus. As you bid, she answers, but in silence, and just as if I were not present. As you bid, said Andronicus. Indeed, she said, are you not a disciple of the abbot Daniel? I am, he said. Are you not called Andronicus? Certainly, he said. Then she: The prayers of the Old Man will be our companions. Amen, he answers. And they both set out together, and having venerated the holy places they returned to Alexandria keeping silence. The abbot Athanasius (for so, the name being changed, Athanasia was called) asks whether he would stay with him in a cell? As you bid, said Andronicus, but I wish first to go away and to receive the Old Man's blessing. Go, he said, and I will wait for you at the Eighteenth [q], and if you can bear to stay with me in silence, as we made the journey, come; but if not, do not come; and having set out he reported the matter to the Old Man. The Old Man said: Go, love silence, and dwell with the brother: for he is a monk such as he ought to be. And when he had returned, both he and Athanasius, his wife, lived together again for twelve years [r], and his wife was not recognized by him. And so the Old Man frequently visited them, holding salutary conversations with them. When therefore he had on one occasion come back to them, and, having said farewell, was already on his return, Andronicus, running after him and overtaking him, said: The abbot Athanasius is departing to the Lord.

[5] And the Old Man, returning, found him seized with fever, and the abbot Athanasius began to weep: [and they dwell together, and Athanasia is not made known to her husband until she is dead.] the Old Man said to him: When you ought to rejoice that you are setting out to meet God, do you weep? But she said: I weep, but only on account of Andronicus: but render me this service of charity: when you bury me, you will find a little paper [s] at my head; read it through, and give it to the abbot Andronicus. Having poured out prayers, she received the holy synaxis and fell asleep in the Lord. They came to see to the funeral, and behold, she was found to be a woman by sex, and the report of the matter was heard through the whole Laura, and the Old Man, having sent messengers, called out the whole desert of Scete and the brethren inhabiting the inner desert; and all the Lauras of Alexandria went up, and the whole city, and the Scetiotes clad in white garments [t] (for such is the custom in Scete). And so with leaves and branches of palms they carried out the venerable remains of Athanasia [u], praising God, who had conferred such great endurance on a woman. And the Old Man remained there in order to celebrate the seventh day of Bl. Athanasia [x], and wished then to take the abbot Andronicus away with him: but he would not bear it, saying that he would die together with his Lady. And again, having said farewell, as the Old Man was returning, one of the brethren overtakes him, saying: The abbot Andronicus

saying: Come hither, come up, for the abbot Andronicus is following brother Athanasius. They came up, and found him breathing, and when he had prayed blessings on them, he fell asleep in the Lord. And there arose between the men of the Eighteenth and the Scetiotes a contention, which of them should obtain his remains [y]. The Old Man therefore scarcely restrained them so that they allowed him to be buried together with his fellow-soldier Athanasia; and in this manner both parties were recalled from contention, praising God, the Lord of all things. Amen.

ANNOTATA.

p. This name was also given for honour's sake to monks, especially the elder ones and those outstanding in virtue, even though they were not abbots.

q. It was a monastery near Alexandria, called, as appears, the Eighteenth, because it was distant that many miles from Alexandria.

r. The Vienna apograph has seventeen years.

s. Couched in these words, as is read in the Vienna apograph: ἀββᾶ Ἀνδρόνικε ἐγώ είμι Ἀθανασία ἡ γυνή σου, καὶ τοσούτοις χρόνοις ὀυκ ἐδωκά σοι λόγον γνωριμότητος διὰ τὴν τῶν οὐρανῶν Βασιλείαν. Abba Andronicus, I am Athanasia your wife, and for so long a time I did not give even a sign of myself, for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.

t. Less aptly is it read in Surius: carrying pulse. Did he derive the verb λευκοφορέω from the substantive λευκὰς, άδος, which signifies a kind of herb?

u. The rite of burial then observed in the monastery of Tabennesi is also described thus by Palladius, just praised: if a virgin has died, the other virgins, when they have prepared her for burial, carry her out and place her at the bank of the river. And the brethren, crossing over with palms and olive branches and psalmody, take her across and bury her in their own tombs.

x. That sacrifices and prayers should be made for the dead on the third, seventh and thirtieth day from their death was long ago in use among the Latins: but the Greeks mostly practised it on the third, ninth and thirtieth day. Why Daniel celebrated the seventh, there could have been a private cause; or the later custom among the Greeks did not obtain everywhere and always.

y. No mention of this quarrel is made in the Vienna apograph, although it has nothing improbable about it. Relics of St. Andronicus are said to be kept at Verona in the church of St. Nicholas: but are they of this St. Andronicus, buried at the Eighteenth? Or of St. Andronicus, bishop of Verona, or of someone else? The first I would not dare to assert; although it could perhaps in some way be presumed that his relics were brought from the East to the West. See volume 5 of May at the 20th day of the same month, where St. Thalelaeus and his companion martyrs are treated.

Notes

a. Antioch of Syria is on the river Orontes; to which Philostratus gives the epithet the Great in the Life of Apollonius of Tyana, book 1, chapter 16. The Acts in Surius say that St. Andronicus flourished there in the time of Theodosius the Great: the empire of the East was in his hands from the year 377 until the year 395.

b. In Greek ἀργυροπράτης, from ἄργυρος (silver) and πράτης (seller), whence it may seem doubtful whether he was a silversmith or a money-changer. The Vienna apograph has ἀργυροπράτης τῇ τέχνῃ, and τέχνη signifies a craft and intimates that he was a silversmith.

c. The daughter of John the silversmith, as the Acts in Surius add.

d. The Acts in Surius agree, and add that the one obtained the name of John, the other of Mary: but the Vienna apograph assigns them two males.

e. Procopius, book 2 of the Persian war, makes mention of this celebrated church, dedicated to St. Julian (of Anazarbus) outside the walls of Antioch.

f. At Antioch there sat toward the end of the 4th century and the beginning of the following Flavian, Evagrius, Porphyrius, Paulinus: but since it is uncertain with what year of Christ the twelfth year of the marriage entered on by SS. Andronicus and Athanasia concurs, about which time they were bereaved of their children, it is also uncertain of what patriarch there is talk here.

g. A monastery was attached to the church of St. Julian: St. Julian could have offered himself to be seen in the appearance of the abbot of that monastery and have consoled St. Athanasia. For the rest, he was not in fact a monk. See volume 1 of January, page 571: likewise volume 2 of March, page 422 and following. The Vienna apograph does not mention St. Julian, at least openly: it says, however, that a heavenly voice was heard by St. Athanasia.

h. Nor is this conversation of St. Athanasia with the doorkeeper of the church read in the Vienna apograph.

i. Again, there is no mention of St. Andronicus's father-in-law in the Vienna apograph.

k. Book of Genesis, chapter 12, verse 1.

l. By the holy places I understand Jerusalem, with Rader, Viridarium, part 1, page 49.

m. According to the Acts in Surius, both came first to Alexandria; then St. Andronicus, having left his wife there, who frequently visited the church of St. Menas, went off alone to Scete to the abbot Daniel, and having returned to Alexandria went back thence again together with his wife to Daniel in Scete. But concerning Daniel see number 5 of the Preliminary Commentary.

n. St. Pachomius founded a double monastery in the upper Thebaid on the borders of the Tentyrite and Theban nomes, the one for men, the other for his sister, into which she drew many of her sex by the odour of her virtues. The women were across the river Nile, and the men opposite them, says Palladius, Lausiac History, chapter 39, in Rosweyde. In this St. Athanasia led the monastic life for some time.

o. That is, the monastic habit.