John the Dwarf

ON ST. JOHN THE DWARF, OR COLOBUS, HERMIT OF THE DESERT OF SCETIS IN EGYPT,

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 5TH CENTURY.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

John the Dwarf or Colobus, hermit in the desert of Scetis in Egypt. (S.)

E. C.

§ I. The ancient and present state of the desert of Scetis. The Tree of Obedience. The monastery of St. John the Dwarf.

A notice Scete, otherwise Scitis, Scythis, in Ptolemy Sciathis, and the Scethiac region, is a wilderness between Egypt and Libya, of which there has often been talk in the Acta Sanctorum, for example on the 17th of January in the Life of St. Antony, where the ancient division of all Egypt is given Volume II of January, p. 108, no. 3.. This region has been assigned to Egypt by most, but those who inhabited Scete thought that they lived outside Egypt, as the things collected from the Lives of the Fathers in the place just indicated will teach. La Croze and Jablonski note Opuscula, volume I, p. 311. Voces Aegyptiacae. that the word Scete, or rather Schihet as the Egyptians wrote it, signifies "the balance of the heart", namely from Assemani, in whose Bibliotheca Orientalis such an interpretation is attached to a certain Nitrian codex Volume I, p. 563.. Although Schihet, according to the observation of the most learned Mingarelli, seems properly to designate the mountain of that same wilderness on which the monastery of St. Macarius was built, while the surrounding desert itself was called in Coptic Scythes or Scythis. In Coptic writings (for that language uses for the most part Greek characters) it is called σκυθης and σκυθις Jablonski, place cited.. Rightly, therefore, is it called Scythis by Cassian, who lived for some time in this desert; but the Greeks commonly write σκήτη. This wilderness was visited in the year 1712 by Father Claude Sicard, S.J., missionary in Egypt, by no means unknown to investigators of Egyptian antiquities, whose clear Commentaries occupy almost an entire volume among the Letters of the Missionaries Lettres édifiantes et curieuses, volume V, edition of 1810.. But in order that a notice not only of the ancient but also of the present state of this wilderness may not be lacking in our Acta, I shall excerpt certain things in summary from the account of the aforesaid missionary and of others.

[2] of the desert of Scetis. Three places distinct from one another were inhabited by anchorites in the fourth century and the following ones, namely the desert of Scetis, the mountain of Nitria Volume II of October, p. 413, no. 1., which St. Ammon is said to have been the first to inhabit, and the place of the Cells Ibid., no. 2, and p. 417, nos. 21 and 22., which Rufinus says is about ten miles distant from that mountain, while Cassian, Conference 6, chapter I, says: "Which place, situated between Nitria and Scythis, and distant five miles from the monasteries of Nitria, is separated by eighty miles (cf. below nos. 8 and 9) of intervening wilderness from the desert of Scythis in which we were dwelling." But Cassian here seems to me to have spoken of the village of Nitria and the neighbouring places, not of the mountain, which, as the maps drawn in the Egyptian Expedition of the year 1799 show it, is situated lower down toward the north. Palladius also writes, chapter LXIX in Rosweyde, that the monks in Nitria sometimes lived at the third and fourth milestone from one another. And thus the difficulty vanishes which many have found in reconciling these things. But lest we be drawn here into a longer discussion, that distinction of places does not flourish so much today. Writing of the whole desert, the said Father Sicard says: "It is famous for the journeys of SS. Paula Cf. the Acts on the 26th of January. and Melania, and for more than five thousand monks who lived there together." Among the inhabitants of this desert there stood out the holy men Ammon (of whom in the Acta on the 6th of October), Arsenius (19th of July), Moses the Ethiopian (28th of August), Ephrem, Apollo, Pambo (1st of July), Serapion, Poemen (27th of August), Daniel, and John the Dwarf, of whom we have here to treat.

[3] Its monasteries today. I here pass over some other saints of Scetis or Nitria who have likewise been given in our Acta, but not to be omitted is St. Macarius the Elder (15th of January), whose name some monastery of Scetis still bears today, and the adjacent region is called the desert of St. Macarius. Of so many monasteries as once flourished there, in the year 1712 only four existed. Similarly, in the French expedition of the year 1799 four were found, and in them, taken together, 59 monks; which number is greater than that which Father Sicard had come upon [Cf. Mémoire sur la vallée des lacs de Natroun, by General Andréossy, in the work Description de l'Égypte, volume XII, p. 23 and following, 2nd edition, Paris 1822.]. The same four monasteries are enumerated in the year 1820 by H. von Minutoli Reise zum Tempel des Jupiter Ammon, Berlin 1824, p. 195.. And they are these: first that of St. Macarius, which is also called Sciathis, in Arabic Askyt, and which according to Father Sicard is one day's journey distant from the Nile, at about 30° 13' of latitude; second that of Our Lady of the Syrians, which Syrian monks formerly inhabited, situated half a day's journey, or about five hour-leagues, beyond the first, toward the west and north, at latitude 30° 17'; third that of Abbot Bishoi (Anbabichay and Abisay), who is also called Pesoës Assemani, Bibliotheca Orientalis, volume I, pp. 41 and 305., and by Palladius, chapter XV, Paesius, distant from the preceding only two musket-shots; fourth, finally, is the monastery of the Greeks, Elbaramous, Baramays or Piromaus, which are corruptions from the Arabic article el, or the Coptic pi, and Romaous; for the Greeks of Constantinople were often called Πωμαίοι. It will be useful to set down the distances also from Andréossy: from the monastery of the Greeks to the monastery of the Syrians 9258 metres; from the latter to Anba Bichay 444 metres; from the monastery of the Syrians to the monastery of St. Macarius 3 hour-leagues.

[4] There were innumerable monasteries there anciently. Our already praised missionary describes most curiously the individual monasteries and the monks who lived there, but, omitting all these things, which may be read in their place, I shall report only the words with which, in the presence of the ruins lying around the monastery of St. Macarius, the abbot of the monastery himself, whom he had as companion of his journey, addressed him: "In this desert of Scete," he said, "and on the Mount of Nitria which you see far off to the north, there were once numbered as many monasteries as there are days in the year; these ruins are their remains, and those which you tread here with your feet are called to this day the Castle of the Virgins, because in it women who had embraced the monastic institute lived." "And when I was amazed," says Father Sicard, "that there had been so many dwellings of monks there, 'let us go on,' he answered, 'and you will see many more.' In fact, when we had made our way for three or four hours, I saw more than fifty monasteries distinct from one another, but now collapsed and almost thrown down."

[5] On the tree of obedience There again the abbot: "You see only part of the ruins of the much more numerous monasteries which the piety of the faithful had once built in this asylum of penitence." Then he subjoins a narration which, since it concerns our saint, is by no means to be omitted: "Look at this tree; it is called the tree of obedience, and for twelve centuries it has resisted all storms and the attacks of beasts and Arabs; it is now a hawthorn [*], but it was once a dry staff fixed by Abbot Poemen in this sterile and burning sand. This abbot had once given the celebrated John the Dwarf the command to water the staff daily; which that obedient monk constantly performed for two years. God permitting it, in order to reward the persevering obedience of his servant, the staff put forth roots, then branches and most beautiful leaves, such as you yourself see before you. In memory of the prodigy the tree was named after the virtue of obedience." "I admired this tree," says Father Sicard, "which indeed beautiful foliage adorns and which every year yields a huge quantity of fruit."

[6] various I wonder that our missionary raised no doubt about so great an age of the tree, and therefore neither shall I. For the rest, what is related in the Lives of the Fathers (below no. 1) is plainly in conformity, except, however, for the name of Abbot Poemen, which is lacking there. Wansleben, who made an Egyptian journey in the year 1672, says that he read in an old Arabic codex of seven monasteries in the desert of St. Macarius Relation d'un voyage en Égypte, Paris 1677, p. 277 and following.; and in listing them he names the same four as Father Sicard, with this difference, however, that he marks the fourth monastery with the title of SS. Maximus and Timothy, who in Father Sicard Lettres édifiantes, volume V, p. 36. are said to be the sons of a certain Greek nobleman. Moreover, he adds the monasteries of St. John the Dwarf, who was called Hegumen, of Amba-Moyse and of Amba-Kema. And, what pertains more nearly to the present matter, adding some things from the account

of a certain man who had held the office of abbot in one of these monasteries: "In the monastery of John the Dwarf," he says, "which is now almost collapsed, a tree is seen which grew miraculously from the staff of the same saint, namely when by the command of his superior he planted and watered it. For which reason the monks still today call the tree Scieigiaret ittaa, or the Tree of Obedience." The monastery of St. John the Dwarf is also mentioned by an Arabic codex of the year 1691 in His Eminence Mai, in the Collection of ancient writers Volume IV, p. 194.: "This blessed book, inscribed to the holy great Simeon, son of Cholail, monk of the monastery of the holy father John the Little, of the valley of Habib, in the desert of Scetis, etc." A second codex of the year 1580 has similar things Ibid., p. 195.. And what that valley of Habib is we have from Renaudot's History of the Patriarchs of Alexandria P. 167., in which a certain Coptic Calendar has thus on the 13th of January: "The consecration of the church of St. Macarius in Chiha of Scetis" (on these names see no. 1 above), and Renaudot subjoins: "That the desert which is commonly called that of St. Macarius, and the valley of Habib, or Natron, which is the Nitria of the ancients, are so called, Makrizi teaches us in his description of Egypt." The monastery of St. John, therefore, can be numbered among the Nitrian monasteries, and nevertheless it is said to be situated in the desert of Scetis.

[7] testimonies. To the preceding testimonies about the tree of obedience I shall add another very ancient one, namely that of Postumianus, who from the year 402, as it seems to most, travelled for three years through Africa, Egypt and Palestine, and narrates his journey to a certain Gallus and to Sulpicius Severus in the latter's Dialogues Dialogues of Sulpicius Severus, dialogue I, § XVIII.: "I shall relate to you," he says, "two very great miracles of incredible obedience, although more are at hand to one who recalls them: but for stirring up emulation of virtues, to him for whom few do not suffice, many will be of no use. When, therefore, a certain man, having renounced the affairs of the world, had entered a monastery of great discipline and asked to be received, etc.… And what I am about to tell was reported, in recent memory, to have happened in the same monastery. A certain man had likewise come to the same abbot to be received: when the first law of obedience was laid upon him, and he promised a perpetual patience for all things, even the most extreme, the abbot by chance was holding in his hand a staff of storax wood, long since dry; this he fixed in the ground, and laid upon that newcomer this task, that he should keep supplying the twig with water for watering until, which was contrary to all nature, the dry wood should grow green in the parched soil. The newcomer, subject to the command of the hard law, carried water daily on his own shoulders, which was fetched from the river Nile almost two miles away: and now, when the space of a year had passed, the labour of the worker did not cease, and there could be no hope of fruit from the work; yet the virtue of obedience endured in the labour. The following year too mocked the vain labour of the now exhausted brother. At length, as the course of the third year of the succeeding seasons was slipping by, when that water-carrier did not cease from his work either by night or by day, the staff blossomed. I myself saw a little tree from that twig, which still today, remaining in the court of the monastery with green branches as if in testimony, shows how much obedience merited and how much faith can do."

[8] Postumianus in the First Dialogue of Sulpicius Severus, Everything here agrees exceedingly well with what is narrated of St. John the Dwarf (below in Apophthegm I), except the distance of two miles from the monastery to the Nile. I know that the desert of Scythis is extended by Cassian as far as eighty miles from the Cells and from the mountain of Nitria (above no. 2), but that is to be taken, unless I am mistaken, from that same mountain as far as Lake Moeris, not toward the Nile and Memphis. Wherefore, although it is not certain to me that the staff was planted there where the ruined monastery of St. John the Dwarf was shown to Father Sicard by the Coptic abbot of St. Macarius, I think that the place in which this happened cannot be put in such proximity to the Nile. For in the same Apophthegm just cited it is read that the water was so far away that St. John went in the evening and returned in the morning. But is it therefore to be thought that a twofold miracle of this kind happened, without anything being different in the two except the distance of the water? I prefer to say here that an error was committed by Postumianus in indicating the distance or the river, which latter, concerning the river, I see is also preferred by Tillemont Mémoires, 1705, volume X, p. 800.. And what the same writer objects to himself, that monasteries are not easily to be admitted in the desert, while Postumianus nevertheless testifies that he saw the tree of obedience in a monastery, he himself confidently resolves, saying that a monastery was understood of any dwelling of monks however small.

[9] seems to have spoken of St. John the Dwarf Moreover the whole region from the marsh of Moeris as far as the mountain of Nitria was sometimes called Scete or the Scythiac region, so that the mountain of Pherme, on which Palladius, chapter XXIII, writes that five hundred monks lived, and also the Nitrian lakes and the village of Nitria, came under the same appellation. It is not, therefore, to be doubted that there were monasteries in Scete, or at least Lauras (that is, many cells built around some church and not so far distant from one another), not where it verges toward the south, which part above the rest was called the desert, and was inhabited by hermits in separate little cells, or by those anchorites who, without any tents, never stayed in any fixed place Sulpicius Severus, Dialogue I, § XV., not in that part, I say, but toward the north, in the neighbourhood of the Nitrian lakes. Cassian, however, writes that in the desert of Scythis, that is, as I gather from the same (above nos. 2 and 8), at the extremities of the Scythiac region toward the south, there were four churches, which with their adjacent cells could also easily have been called monasteries Cf. below no. 14.. From which it becomes plain that what was objected by Tillemont rests on no foundation. And if anyone will diligently follow the narration of Father Sicard, he will find that the monastery of St. John the Dwarf was situated between the monasteries of St. Macarius and of Abbot Bishoi or Pesoës, but much nearer to the latter, and distant from the greater Nitrian lake, which the same missionary afterwards visited, only three or four leagues, and perhaps scarcely one from the nearest smaller one. But before I proceed to investigate the age of our saint and to establish his legitimate cult, I must not pass over another thing which is objected by the learned editor of Sulpicius Severus, Girolamo de Prato Verona, 1741, volume I, p. 363.. He asserts in his observations that Postumianus was never in Scete, and consequently that what is narrated by him about the prodigious tree cannot be attributed to St. John the Dwarf. I have not been able to find the proof of the assertion, and since I see that the matter escaped Tillemont too, I think that what is opposed to this opinion should be brought forward here.

[10] he seems to have spoken. What then prevents Postumianus, while, having returned from Mount Sinai to the Nile, he surveyed the monasteries on both sides Ibid., § XVII,, from having come to the most celebrated desert of Scetis and to the Nitrian monasteries? "He spent a whole year and almost seven months stationed within the wildernesses … he went to the two monasteries of blessed Antony, he approached also that place in which the most blessed Paul, the first hermit, dwelt, he saw the Red Sea, he ascended the ridge of Mount Sinai, and, having departed from Mount Sinai, he returned to the river Nile, whose banks, thickly set with frequent monasteries, he surveyed on both sides Ibid., §§ XVI–XVII.." Having set these things out, he relates two examples of admirable obedience, as you have above at no. 7. Why then should he not have seen them in Scete? Why should he not have visited the places of which Cassian says Conferences, I, chapter I.: "in the desert of Scythis … the most approved fathers of the monks, and the perfection of all the saints, dwelt"? It will perhaps be objected that there were then dissensions between Theophilus, Patriarch of Alexandria, and the Nitrian monks, for which cause Postumianus at first had been unwilling to stay at Alexandria Place cited, § VIII.. But did he not afterwards return there and remain for some time § IX.? Moreover, Sozomen writes that already in the year 403 peace was restored to the monks of Scetis or Nitria Paris edition 1618, p. 780.. But what moves me most is that passage where he asserts that the book of Sulpicius on the Life of St. Martin had already passed through Egypt, Nitria, the Thebaid and all the kingdoms of Memphis § XXIII.. For if the disturbance of the monks on account of the accusation of Origenism had still persisted, and Postumianus had therefore been unable to visit the most celebrated places where the little work of Sulpicius was being read, since he visited all the rest, he could not have failed to give the causes of the omitted visit. And all these things, if they do not settle the matter absolutely, certainly show that in the First Dialogue of Sulpicius Severus nothing prevents the narration of Postumianus from being applied to St. John the Dwarf.

* un alizier a service-tree.

§ II. When St. John the Dwarf flourished. He is distinguished from John the steward of Scetis. Of his cult.

Whether he lived in Scetis under St. Poemen. Of the life of St. John the Dwarf, besides the sayings and excellent examples of virtues, as they will be reprinted below, very little has become known. Here, however, there must not be omitted a certain Synaxarium from the Martyrology of the Copts, which in the year 1633 Simon Moses, a Maronite and alumnus of the Maronite College there, translated at Rome for Father Melchior Inchofer, S.J. Father Janning, having received this Martyrology at Rome in the year 1698, brought it to the Bollandian Museum, in which it is preserved still today. Further, on the 17th of October the following Synaxarium is read in it: "Saint Abu (or Abbot) Jahnas, of small stature, who received the monastic habit by the hand of an angel, to whom also angels gave seven crowns, and placed them on his head on account of his patience and the penance which he did; and in sign of his holiness Father Bamuihe (perhaps Poemen) gave him a dry piece of wood and said to him: Plant it and water it, that it may put forth leaves; and he did so, he planted this dry wood and watered it for the space of three years, and it produced green leaves, and bore fruit, and that father took of its fruits, and went to the remaining old fathers, saying: Take and eat of the fruits of obedience. And God, before the day of his passing, sent to him St. Antony the Great and Mary, to announce to him his happy passing, and they did so, and after a few days the angels of God received his soul into heaven. And he worked many miracles and the Lord glorified him." Of what age that Coptic Martyrology is, or what credit it deserves, I do not know. From the first apophthegm it is plain that St. John began the eremitical life in the desert of Scete under a certain Theban old man, and, if the Coptic abbot of St. Macarius, who accompanied Father Sicard, is to be believed,

(above no. 4), that Theban old man is not different from St. Poemen, whose Acts were formerly given in our Work on the 27th of August, and it is easy to gather the same from the recited Synaxarium on account of the similarity of the names. In which matter, although it is nowhere read that Poemen was a Theban, there is perhaps nothing that greatly conflicts. In Apophthegm XIII, indeed, and some others, St. Poemen himself reports practical sayings of St. John the Dwarf, from which it can be concluded that the latter departed this life before the former; but since St. Poemen is said to have lived beyond a hundred years Volume VI of August, p. 28, no. 17., he could, when already old, have had St. John as a disciple and nevertheless have survived him. Yet the name of Poemen has perhaps been intruded into the story of the tree of obedience, and this could have happened from the fact that that saint is reported in very many places in the Apophthegms of the Fathers to have spoken of St. John the Dwarf, while the names of others who celebrated his teaching or his splendid virtues are not expressed.

[12] When he flourished. Concerning the age in which St. John flourished, it can only be established that he received the eternal rewards of his most meritorious asceticism before St. Poemen, that is, before the year 450. From Apophthegm XV and others it is gathered that he reached old age, and since he himself reports the sayings and deeds of the old men and fathers of Scetis Below, passim., it is rightly asserted that he was not among the first inhabitants of the desert. From which it becomes likely that St. John the Dwarf flourished about the beginning of the Fifth century. This indeed agrees very well with what Postumianus narrates about the tree of obedience, that when he was in Egypt, probably in the year 403, the prodigy had happened within recent memory; yet uncertain things cannot in this way be propped up by uncertain things. The opinion is perhaps more strengthened by the fact that Rufinus, or St. Petronius, Palladius and Cassian, all of whose journeys took place before the year 400 Tillemont, Mémoires, volume XI, p. 514, volume XII, p. 658., nowhere make mention of St. John the Dwarf. Cassian indeed narrates of St. John of Lycopolis an example of obedience similar in some respects, but in others so different that it can by no means be applied to our saint, or rather seem transferred from John of Lycopolis to ours. It can be read in the Acta on the 27th of March Volume III of March, p. 698., and I note here in passing that that most celebrated John, the hermit near Lycopolis in the Thebaid, is the same who in the Life of SS. Cyrus and John composed by St. Sophronius is called by the Coptic word Senuphius, that is, Prophet Volume II of January, p. 1087, no. 19.. For this was sufficiently demonstrated by Antonio Giorgi in the Preface to the Graeco-Copto-Theban Fragment of the Gospel of St. John Rome 1789, in 4to, p. CLV and following., and at the same time he notes that in the same place of the Acts of SS. Cyrus and John "Scete" is wrongly written for "Siut"; and that Siut designates Lycopolis itself. Which see set out more copiously in him.

[13] Whether he is different from John the steward of Scetis I wonder that Tillemont, who admits that Postumianus speaks of John the Dwarf, does not think him different from John the steward in the desert of Scythis, or the one who presided there over the diaconia Cassian, Institutes, book V, chapter XXXX, and Conference 21, chapter I.. For Postumianus says that the prodigy happened within recent memory, and since from Apophthegm I and from the very words of Postumianus ("A certain man had come to the same abbot to be received") it is most likely that St. John the Dwarf gave so great an example of obedience at the beginning of his religious life, and it is established from elsewhere that John the steward of Scetis died before the year 400, if he were the same as the preceding, the tree would have grown from the staff about 360 or 370, especially since in various places St. John the Dwarf is called Abbot and Old Man. Why then would Palladius, Cassian and the author of books II and III among the Lives of the Fathers not have commemorated the prodigy of obedience and the tree, its living witness? Moreover, that John the steward of Scetis ended his life in the office of the diaconia is plain from Cassian, where he writes of a certain Theonas Conference 21, chapter IX: "Forthwith, stripped of all worldly means, he flew to the monastery. Where in a short time he shone with such splendour of holiness and humility that, when John of blessed memory departed from this light to the Lord, and St. Helias, a man who was not less than his predecessor, likewise departed, Theonas, the third, chosen by the judgment of all, succeeded them in the dispensation of the diaconia."

[14] is different. From which I shall first deduce that John the steward of Scetis was steward in a monastery, and consequently, as was already said at nos. 8 and 9, that it can by no means be doubted that there were monasteries in Scete. But since at the same time it is clear from this that he met his last day in Scete, it seems that another argument of difference can be taken from what is read of St. John the Dwarf in certain Coptic Calendars. In the Synaxarium or Martyrology of the Alexandrian Church of the Copts, by Michael, bishop of Atrib and Melij in Lower Egypt, who flourished about the year 1425, on the 20th of the month Baba, that is, on the 17th of October, is announced "the repose of St. John the Little," and His Eminence Mai adds in summary from the Synaxarium as it was read in his Arabic codex: "Abbot of Tabennisi, who, having professed the monastic institute in the desert of Scetis, is said to have been illustrious for many miracles. The author testifies that his body is preserved today in the church of the monastery of St. Menas in Egypt Veterum Scriptorum, volume IV, p. 98.." How far these things agree I do not well know, but that St. John the Dwarf did not finish his life in Scete seems to be confirmed from the same Martyrology on the 29th of Mesori, or the 22nd of the month of August: "The translation of the body of St. John the Little, abbot, into Scete"; and the same things, except the place in which the translation was made, are read in the Ethiopic Calendar in Ludolf Ad historiam Aethiopicam Commentarius, p. 395.. Relying on all which, we shall rightly establish that St. John the Dwarf is different from John the steward.

[15] His cult from the synaxaria Now, since we have begun to bring forward Martyrologies, his cult must be treated briefly from them and from other monuments. In a certain Coptic Martyrology, whose half-year Calendar was handed to the Bollandists two centuries ago at Rome in the Maronite College, the death of John the Dwarf, hermit, is assigned to the 17th of October. The same men did not yet know our John well when, commenting on the Acts of John of Lycopolis or Senuphius on the 27th of March, they supposed that the same was treated there; but the difference of the two is already clearly established from no. 12 and from this whole Commentary. Mention of John the Dwarf is likewise made in the Copto-Arabic Calendars given to the public light by Selden De Synedriis Ebraeorum, Frankfurt 1696, pp. 1308 and 1320.: "17th of October: Of the holy father John …" but some things are lacking. I think, however, that in the other Calendar the following is wrongly attached to the same day: "The martyrdom of John," for that St. John the Dwarf was not a martyr is plain both from the time in which he lived and from the silence of all the monuments. Moreover, Ludolf notes that many things in these Calendars, written by some Mohammedan, are expressed most faultily. He has only, in his Ethiopic Calendar, on the same day: "St. John the Little." In no Calendar of the Copts, therefore, at least that I know, is the feast of St. John lacking; and not only in the Calendars, but in the codices of the Gospels too, where the Eclogadia, or Gospels distributed through the greater feasts, are shown, the same is noted Veterum Scriptorum, place cited, p. 18..

[16] and from the missal of the Copts. Finally, to make it certain that the modern Copts too greatly venerate St. John the Dwarf, in their public prayers and Liturgies the invocation of this saint is frequent. The Copto-Arabic Missal was published at Rome in the year 1736 by Raphael Tuki, an Egyptian monk, afterwards bishop of Arsinoë, under the auspices, namely, of the Congregation specially deputed for the correction of Greek books. The Monophysite Copts invoke also the heresiarchs Dioscorus and Severus, whose names, all the Catholic ones being retained, the editor of the Missal rightly rejected. From this Missal, therefore, I shall draw two prayers, so that it may be plain in what place the Copts, heretical as well as Catholic, set St. John the Dwarf among their saints. In the Anaphora, then, of St. Basil P. 129 (ρκθ) and 177 (ροξ)., between the Consecration and the Communion of the priest, according to Assemani's version in his Alexandrian Missal Rome 1754, volume II, pp. 64 and 88., the priest speaks thus: "Lord, save your people … through the prayers and supplications … of the great abbot Antony and the just Father Paul, Macarius, (the other) Macarius, abbot John the Little, Father Paul, Father Isidore, Father Moses, Father Pachomius, Father Paphnutius, and of all who rightly taught the word of truth, the orthodox bishops, etc." Then again toward the end of the Mass: "… through the prayers and supplications which are made for us by the Lady of us all, the Mother of God, the divine and holy Mary, … and my holy lord George, holy Theodore, holy Mercurius, lover of the Father, holy Menas, and every choir of martyrs, and our just Father the great abbot Antony, the holy Father Anba Paul, and our Fathers, abbot Macarius and abbot Macarius, abbot John the Little, and our Father abbot Bishoi, and our Father Anba Paul [To be corrected: Phileas of Thmuis, as Agostino Antonio Giorgi notes in the Graeco-Copto-Theban Fragment of the Gospel of St. John, Rome 1789, p. VII. Cf. our Acta on the 4th of February on St. Phileas, and likewise on the 22nd of May on St. Donatus, martyr of Thmuis.] of Thmuis, our Father Anba Moses, and every choir of the Cross-signed, of the just, of the pious, and the Angel of this blessed day."

[17] His cult among the Greeks and Ruthenians; In the series of illustrious anchorites and monks, therefore, fifth after both Macarii, namely the Egyptian and the Alexandrian (for the third, who was a heretic, has been omitted in the Roman edition of the Coptic Missal), after these, I say, St. John the Dwarf is invoked fifth. It is strange, then, that none of the ancient and classical Martyrologies of the Latins commemorates St. John, but this is doubtless to be attributed to the Dioscorian heresy which invaded Egypt from the middle of the fifth century, from which time the rest of the Christians shrank from the Egyptians as Monophysites. Yet since the Greeks retained their Patriarch of Alexandria, who was Catholic down to the schism of Photius, and their monks frequently read of St. John the Dwarf (whether in the Fifth Book on the Lives of the Fathers, which, first published in the Greek tongue, was turned into Latin by Pelagius the deacon, or in the Apophthegms of the Fathers, which, rendered from Greek into Latin, are presently to be published), they did not forget our saint in the great Menaea. Of him you have these few things on the 9th of November: τῇ αὐτῇ ἡμέρᾳ ὁ ὅσιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Κολοβὸς

ἐν εἰρήνη τελειοῦται

Στίχοι·

Ἰωάννην ἔκρυψε γῆς βραχὺς τόπος Ὃς, κἂν βραχὺς τὸ σῶμα, τὴν πρᾶξιν μέγας

That is: "On the same day (the 9th of November) the holy monk (for that is what ὅσιος means) John Colobus rests in peace.

Verses: A small place of earth has buried John, Who, though small in body, was great in deeds."

From the Menaea the name of St. John passed into the Synaxarium of the Ruthenians of the diocese of Kiev, as I read in the Latin translation which George David, S.J., sent to our predecessors in the year 1688: "9th of November: Of our venerable father John Kolovas."

[18] and likewise Some Latins, similarly from the Lives of the Fathers, have drawn mention of St. John, among whom Peter de Natalibus, book III, chapter CLVII, on the 27th of February, on the occasion of St. John Calybita; and he, however, in the first little narrative confuses him with John of Thmuis, who visited Abbot Paesius or Bishoi in the great desert Cassian, Institutes V, chapters XXVII, XXVIII, and Conference 14, chapter IV., while in the second he relates of our John the second apophthegm among those presently to be reprinted, and finally in the third place he again praised the abbot John in the neighbourhood of the city of Thmuis, not ours From Cassian, place cited.. After the bishop of Equilio, Maurolico in his Martyrology, similarly on the 27th of February, mentions St. John the Dwarf somewhat more distinctly: "Likewise John of short stature, conspicuous for obedience at Scyathis; at whose watering a dry shoot bore fruit." From Maurolico the German Martyrology of Canisius and the General Catalogue of Ferrarius have the same, and finally, following all these, our predecessors on the 27th of February among the Passed Over, who, since they do not commemorate any other watering of dry wood than that which Cassian has in commending the obedience of John of Lycopolis, consequently refer to the 27th of March, on which day they treated of that John.

[19] among the Latins It has already been said above at no. 15 that the same men, in the Acts of St. John of Lycopolis, bring forward a certain announcement of St. John the Dwarf which was attached in the Coptic Synaxarium to the 17th day of October. This, further, Claude Chastelain, relying, as I think, on the commentaries of Tillemont, assigned to this very 17th of October in his French Martyrology Martyrologe universel, Paris 1709., in about this manner: "In the desert of Scete in Egypt, of St. John the Dwarf, solitary; he is noted in the Calendar of the Copts." There are not lacking other Martyrologies which have registered St. John, but that there should be a place for him in our Collection was brought about chiefly by that Coptic Missal published at Rome, from which it is plain that St. John the Dwarf is held among the principal saints by the Catholic Copts. —

The Apophthegms of the Fathers concerning Abbot John Colobus or the Short must now be subjoined, from the edition of J. B. Cotelier in the Monumenta Ecclesiae Graecae Volume I, p. 468 and following, Paris 1677., at the end of which certain other things collected from various sources will be reprinted. It has pleased me to retain Cotelier's marginal indications, so that what is read here may be found in other places, but I note that the things which differ from those published here I have reprinted almost all in the Annotations or in the little Appendix. In these Apophthegms scarcely any order appears, for which reason it is useful here to indicate certain principal heads to which they may be referred. To Obedience belongs Apophthegm I; to Charity toward one's neighbour Apophthegms XVII, XVIII, XXXIX, XL and in the Appendix nos. 5 and 10; to Humility Apophthegms VIII, XX, XXXVI and in the Appendix no. 1; to Mortification Apophthegms III, IV, XXVIII and in the Appendix nos. 3, 4, 6, 7; to the pursuit of Perfection and continual labour Apophthegms XXX, XXXII, XXXIV, XXXVII and in the Appendix nos. 2, 8, 9, 11; to the spirit of Prayer Apophthegms XIII, XVI, XXVII, XXXI, XXXV; to the flight from occasions Apophthegms V, VI. The rest are mostly of various argument.

APOPHTHEGMS.

From Cotelier, volume I of the Monumenta ecclesiae graecae, p. 468 and following.

John the Dwarf or Colobus, hermit in the desert of Scete in Egypt. (S.)

FROM PRINTED SOURCES.

Lives of the Fathers edited by Rosweyde, book V, booklet XIV, no. 3.

They related of Abbot John the Short ^a that, withdrawing to a Theban old man ^b in Scetis ^c, he dwelt in the desert. And his abbot, taking a dry piece of wood, planted it, and commanded him: "Water this daily with one little flask of water, until it produces fruit." Now the water was far from them, so that he went in the evening and returned in the morning. And so after three years it lived, grew green and bore fruit. Which fruit the old man, taking it, carried to the church, and said to the brethren: "Take, eat the fruit of obedience ^d." II.

Book V, booklet X, no. 27; Fulbert, folio 183.

They related of Abbot John the Short that he once said to his elder brother [e]: "I should like to be free of cares, as the Angels are, doing no work, but serving God without intermission." And, taking off his cloak, he went out into the wilderness. But after one week he returns to his brother. And when he knocked at the door, his brother recognized him before he opened, and said: "Who are you?" He answered: "I am John, your brother." Then his brother said to him: "John has become an Angel, and no longer lives among men." But he begged, declaring: "It is I." And he did not open, but left him to struggle until the next morning. But afterwards, opening, he says: "You are a man; you must work again, in order to feed yourself." And so he asked pardon as a suppliant, saying: "Forgive me." III.

V. IV. 19.

Abbot John the Short said ^f: "If an Emperor wishes to seize a city of enemies, he first holds back the water and the food, and thus the enemies, perishing with hunger, are subjected to him. So too with the passions of the flesh; if a man lives in fasting and hunger, the enemies of his soul become feeble."

[2] IV.

St. Ephrem, edition of Vossius, p. 387.

V. IV. 20 and VII. XXVII. 2 and Appendix, p. 1003, edition of 1628, no. 12.

He related further: "Once, as I was going up the road of Scetis with plaited palm-leaf, I met a camel-driver who by his talk provoked me to anger, and, leaving my goods, I fled." VI.

Appendix, p. 1003, no. 13.

At another time, when it was summer, he heard a brother speaking in anger to his neighbour and saying: "Ha, you too?" And, leaving the harvest, he fled. VII.

V. X. 28.

Certain old men came to Scetis for leisure and were taking food together; and Abbot John too was with them. A certain presbyter of great virtue rose, therefore, to give a cup of water, but no one would accept it from him except John the Short alone. They therefore wondered, and said to him: "How did you, since you are the least of all, dare to accept the service of the presbyter?" He says to them: "When I rise to give the water-jug, I rejoice if all take it, that I may receive the reward; for this reason, then, I accepted, that I might be a cause of reward for him, lest he be afflicted with sadness because no one had received from him." When these things had been pronounced by him, they marvelled and profited from his discretion. VIII.

V. XVI. 3.

When he was sitting one day before the church, the brethren surrounded him and were asking about their thoughts. Seeing which, one of the old men, stirred by envy, said to him: "Your water-jug, John, is full of poison." Abbot John answered: "It is so, abba; and you have spoken thus because you see only the outward things; but if you saw the inward things, what would you have to say?"

[3] IX.

V. III. 6.

The Fathers related that once, when the brethren were eating at an Agape ^h, one of them laughed at table. Looking at him, Abbot John wept, and said: "What can this brother have in his heart, that he laughed, when he ought rather to have wept, who eats the Agape?" X.

V. XI. 13.

Certain of the brethren once came to tempt him, since he did not allow his mind to wander, nor did he speak of any business of this world; and they say to him: "We give thanks to God that this year it has rained much and the palms have been watered and are putting forth shoots, and the brethren will find wherewith to work with their hands according to custom." Abbot John answered them: "So is the Holy Spirit; when he descends into the hearts of men, they are renewed, and put forth shoots in the fear of God." XI.

V. XI. 14.

They said of him that he once wove the plait of two baskets, and used it all up in making one basket, and did not notice until he had come close to the wall. For his mind was free for contemplation. XII.

III. 208.

Abbot John said: "I am like a man sitting under a great tree and watching many beasts and serpents coming toward him; who, when he cannot stand against them, at once climbs into the tree and is saved. So too I; I sit in my cell, I see evil thoughts rising up against me, and when I am not strong against them, I take refuge in God by prayers, and thus I am rescued from the enemy."

[4] XIII.

V. VII. 8.

Abbot Poemen ⁱ related of Abbot John Colobus that he prayed God and the passions were taken away from him, and he became free of anxiety. Then he went to a certain old man, to whom he said

John Climacus, Step 29, and Dorotheus, Instruction 13.

V. XVIII. 8.

This we learned from the account of Abbot John: one of the old men had a vision in ecstasy or rapture of mind; behold, three monks stood across the sea, and from the opposite shore a voice of this kind came to them: 'Take wings of fire and come to me.' And two of them indeed took them, and by flying reached the other shore; but the third remained, and wept vehemently and cried out. But afterwards wings were given to him too, not indeed fiery, but infirm and weak; so that, sometimes submerged, then emerging from the waters, he crossed over with much labour and difficulty. In like manner this age, although it receives wings, scarcely receives them fiery, but infirm and weak. XV.

VI. IV. 10.

A brother asked Abbot John: "How is it that my soul, afflicted with wounds, is not ashamed to speak against its neighbour?" The old man tells him a parable on account of detraction. "There was a certain poor and married man, who, having looked upon another beautiful woman, joined her also to himself in wedlock; and both were naked. And when a fair was being held somewhere, they asked the husband, saying: 'Take us with you.' Wherefore, taking both, he placed them in a cask, and, having boarded a ship, came to the place of the market. And after the heat of the day had come and the men had given themselves to rest, one of them, looking out and seeing no one, leapt out on to a dunghill, and, gathering old rags, made herself a loincloth, and then walked about with confidence. But the other, sitting inside naked, said: 'Look at this harlot, she is not ashamed to go about naked.' And her husband, taking it ill, replied: 'A marvellous thing! She at least modestly covers her body,

but you are wholly naked, and are you not ashamed to say these things?' So it is with the sin of detraction."

[5] XVI.

VI. IV. 13.

Further, the old man related to the brother about the soul which wishes to do penance: "There was," he said, "in a certain city a beautiful harlot, who had many lovers. And one of the governors of the province, approaching her, said to her: 'Promise me that you will live chastely, and I will take you as my wife.' She promised. He therefore took her and led her into his house. But her lovers, seeking her, said: 'That governor has taken her into his house; if then we go there and he finds out, he will punish us. But come, let us go behind the house and call her with a whistle; for, recognizing the sound of the whistle, she will come down to us, and we shall be free of blame.' And so, when she heard the whistle, stopping her ears, she leapt into the inner chamber and shut the doors." And the old man said that the harlot is the soul; the lovers, the passions and men; the governor, Christ; the inner house, the eternal mansion; those whistling, the evil demons: but that this soul always takes refuge in God.

XVII.

V. XVII. 7.

When once Abbot John was going up from Scetis with other brethren, the one who was guiding them lost the way; for it was night. The brethren say to Abbot John: "What shall we do, abba, since the brother has lost the way, lest perhaps we die wandering?" The old man answered them: "If we tell him, he will be affected with sadness and shame. But see, I will make myself out to be weak and will say: 'I cannot walk, but I remain here until dawn.'" And so he did. And the others said: "Neither do we go on, but we sit with you." And they sat down until the morning time, and were not authors of scandal to the brother.

[6] XVIII.

V. XI. 15

A certain old man of Scetis, laborious indeed in bodily exercises but unskilled in thoughts, went to Abbot John to ask him about forgetfulness. And having heard a word from him, he returned to his cell, and forgot what Abbot John had taught him. He came, therefore, again to question the same. And when he had heard a word in like manner, he withdrew. But when he reached his cell, he again lost the memory of the matter. And so, going frequently, on returning he was seized by forgetfulness. But afterwards, meeting the old man, he said: "Do you know, abba, that what you had said has again slipped out of my memory? But lest I should be troublesome to you, I did not wish to come." Abbot John said to him: "Go, light a lamp." And he lit it. Again to him: "Bring other lamps and light them from it." This too he did. Then Abbot John to the old man: "Has it in any way harmed the lamp that you lit others from it?" The old man: "By no means." "So," he replied, "neither John; even if the whole of Scetis came to me, it would not turn me away from the grace of Christ. Wherefore, whenever you wish, come, hesitating not at all." And thus through the patience of both God took away the forgetfulness from the old man. For the rest, this was the work of the men of Scetis, to add eagerness to those who were assailed; for this they did violence to themselves, that they might gain one another for good. XIX.

V. XI. 16

A brother questioned Abbot John thus: "What shall I do? A brother often comes to take me to work; but I am wretched and infirm, and grow weary at it. What then shall I do about the commandment?" The old man answered in these words: "Caleb said to Joshua son of Nun: I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me and you from the desert into this land: and now I am eighty-five years old. As I was then, so now too I am able to go in and go out to war. Joshua XIV, 7. 19. So you too, if you are strong, so that as you go out so also you come in, go; but if you cannot do so, sit in your cell weeping for your sins, and when they find you mourning, they will not compel you to go out."

[7] XX. Abbot John asked: "Who sold Joseph?" And one of the brethren answered: "His brothers." The old man said to him: "By no means, but his humility sold him. For he could have alleged that he was their brother, he could have contradicted; but by keeping silent he sold himself through humility, and humility made him ruler of Egypt." XXI.

III. 155.

Abbot John said: "Leaving the light burden, that is, accusing ourselves, we have taken up a heavy one to carry, which is justifying ourselves." XXII.

V. XV. 22.

Appendix, p. 1001, no. 19.

Codex 237 of Lambeck, Matthew XXV. III. 66.

Abbot John admonished: "Prison is to sit in the cell and always to remember God. And so is that saying to be understood: I was in prison and you came to me."

XXVIII. ^m He said again: "What animal is as strong as the lion? and yet on account of its belly it falls into a snare, and all its strength is brought low." XXIX.

Appendix, p. 1002, no. 1.

And again ⁿ: "The fathers of Scetis, eating bread and salt, said: 'Let us not impose on ourselves the necessity of eating salt and bread.' And so they were strong for the work of God."

[8] XXX. A certain brother came to receive baskets from Abbot John. He, going out, said to him: "What do you want, brother?" He said: "Baskets, abba." But going in to bring them, he forgot; he sat down, and began to sew. The brother knocked again; and when John had come out: "Bring," he said, "the baskets, abba." But going in again he sat down to sew. The other knocked anew. Going out he says to him: "What do you want, brother?" And he: "The basket, abba." Then, taking him by the hand, he led him in, saying: "If you want baskets, take them and go away; for I have no leisure." XXXI. Once a camel-driver came to take his goods and go off to another place. But he, going in to bring him the plaited work, forgot, because he had his mind intent on God. Again, therefore, the camel-driver disturbed him, striking the door. And again Abbot John went in, and did not remember. So when the camel-driver knocked a third time, he went in saying: "Plait, camel; plait, camel." And he repeated this lest the thing should again slip from his memory. XXXII. The same man was fervent in spirit. And so someone visiting him praised his work; now he was making plaited work. And he was silent. Again the other began speaking to him. And still he was silent. The third time he said to the visitor: "Since you came in here, you have driven God out of me." XXXIII. A certain old man came into the cell of Abbot John, and found him sleeping, and an Angel standing by, who was fanning him; and when he had seen it he withdrew. And when he awoke, he said to his disciple: "Did anyone come while I was asleep?" He answers: "Yes, that old man." And Abbot John knew that the old man was of equal virtue with himself and had seen the Angel.

[9] XXXIV.

V. I. 8. Dorotheus, Instruction 14. ^o

Abbot John spoke these words: "I wish a man to take a little of all the virtues. And so, rising each day in the morning, make a beginning toward every virtue and commandment of God; in the greatest patience, with fear and equanimity, in the love of God, with all eagerness of soul and body, and with much humility, in the endurance both of affliction of heart and of watchfulness, in much prayer and supplications, with groaning, purity of tongue, and custody of the eyes; dishonoured, and not angry; peaceable, and not returning evil for evil; not attending to the faults of others; not measuring yourself, but being beneath every creature, through the renunciation of matter and of carnal things; by the cross, by struggle, by poverty of spirit, in will and spiritual exercise, in fasting, penance, weeping, in the agony of battle, in discretion, in holiness of soul, in good perception; exercising the work of the hands with quiet; in night vigils, hunger, thirst, cold, nakedness, labours, and close your tomb as though already dead, so that you think your death to be as it were at every hour." XXXV.

Appendix, p. 991. [p] They said of the same Abbot John that, when he returned from the harvest or from a meeting with the old men, he gave himself to prayer, meditation and psalmody until his mind had been restored to its former order. XXXVI. One of the fathers declared of him: "Who is John, that by his humility he holds up the whole of Scetis from his little finger?" XXXVII. One of the fathers asked Abbot John the Short what a monk is. He said: "He is labour; because a monk labours in every work. So is a monk." XXXVIII. Abbot John the Short recalled this: "A certain spiritual old man shut himself in, and he was distinguished in the city, full of glory and praise. It was indicated to him: 'One of the saints is about to be dissolved or to die; come, greet him before he dies.' He reckoned therefore with himself: 'If I go out by day, men will run together, and there will be much glory for me, and I do not rest in these things. Hence I shall go off late, under the darkness, unknown to all.' In the evening, therefore, he went out from his cell, as one wishing to lie hidden; and behold, two Angels with lamps are sent by God to give him light; and then the whole city ran together to see the glory. And the more he wished to escape glory, the more he obtained it. In these things is fulfilled what is written: Everyone who humbles himself shall be exalted." Luke XIV, 11.

[10] XXXIX.

Abbot John the Short said: "A house cannot be built from the top downward, but from the foundation to the roof." They ask him: "What does this saying mean?" He answered: "The foundation is your neighbour, that you may gain him, and one must begin from here. For on this thing all the precepts of Christ depend." XL. They related of Abbot John in this manner: The parents of a certain young girl departed from the living, and she was left an orphan; her name was Paesia. She resolved to make of her house a hospice for the use of the fathers of Scetis. And so for a long time she continued thus, receiving the fathers with hospitality and cherishing them. Afterwards, her means being consumed, she began to be in want. Perverse men therefore attached themselves to her, who turned her away from her good purpose, and from that point she began to act wickedly, so that she came to fornicating. When this was heard, the fathers were affected with the greatest sadness. And calling Abbot John the Short, they say to him: "We have heard of that sister that she lives badly; but she, when she could, exercised her charity toward us: now in turn let us show charity toward her by succouring her. Therefore undertake this labour, to go to her, and dispose of the matter according to the wisdom which God has given you." Abbot John came to her, and said to the old woman who kept the door: "Tell your mistress that I am here." She sent him away, saying: "You from the beginning consumed her goods; she is now in want." Abbot John says: "Tell her, for I bring her a great advantage." Then her servants, smiling, ask: "What then will you give her, that you wish to speak with her?" He answered: "How do you know what I shall bestow?"

The old woman, therefore, going up, announced to her mistress concerning

John. The girl says to her: "These monks continually go about by the Red Sea and find pearls." Then, when she had adorned herself: "Go before," she says, "and bring the man to me." And when he came up, she, going ahead, sat upon the bed. And Abbot John, approaching, sat down beside her, and, looking intently into her face, spoke thus: "What have you found to reproach in Jesus, that you have come to this state?" Hearing this, she wholly froze. But Abbot John, bowing his head, began to weep vehemently. Then she said to him: "Abba, why do you weep?" He looked up, and again bowed himself weeping, and said: "I see Satan playing in your face, and shall I not weep?" Hearing this, she said: "Is there, abba, a place for penance?" He answered: "Yes." She to him: "Lead me wherever you please." The abbot: "Let us go." And she rose to follow him. Further, John noticed that she had given no order about her house, nor had spoken, and he marvelled. When, therefore, they reached the wilderness, evening came on. He makes her a small pillow out of sand, and, having made the sign of the cross over her, says: "Sleep here." And when he had likewise made one for himself at a little distance, and had finished his prayers, he lay down. But about midnight, waking up, he saw a shining way which stretched from heaven right down to her; he also beheld the Angels of God bearing up the soul of the girl. Rising therefore and going, he touched her with his foot. But when he found she was dead, he fell on his face, praying to God. Then he heard that one hour of her penance had been preferred to the penance of many who persevere long indeed in penance, but do not show so great an ardour.

ANNOTATA.

This apophthegm is had by Peter de Natalibus in the Catalogue of the Saints, and likewise by the third book (no. 56) among the Lives of the Fathers, which they attribute to Rufinus. In this latter place our Rosweyde adduces certain verses of Fulbert, bishop of Chartres, one of the most learned men of his age, who is said to have died in the year 1029. Here are Rosweyde's words: "Fulbert of Chartres, bishop, at the end of his letters, after the hymn on the Nativity of Christ and the Epiphany, renders this narration of John the Dwarf from this place (of Rufinus) or from Pelagius below, booklet X, no. 27 (as you have it noted in the margin at Apophthegm II), in the verses and rhythms of his age thus Bibliotheca Patrum, Lyon, 1677, volume XVIII, p. 52.:

In the Lives of the ancient Fathers I read a pleasant thing, Apt, however, for example, which I tell you in rhythm. Abbot John, small in stature, not in virtues, Thus to his elder companion, with whom he was in the desert: "I wish," he said, "to live free of care, like an Angel, To enjoy neither garment nor food that is laboured for with hands." His brother answered: "I warn you, be not hasty in what you begin, Lest it be better for you afterwards not to have begun." But he: "Who does not fight, does not fall, nor does he conquer." And naked he penetrates into the inner desert, Where for seven days he scarcely endures on a grassy fodder; On the eighth, hunger commands that he return to his companion; Who late, the door being shut, sits safe in his little cell, When the younger with feeble voice calls: "Brother, open, John, in need of help, stands at the doors he knows, Let not your piety spurn him whom necessity brings back." The other answered from within: "John has become an Angel, He marvels at the hinges of heaven, he cares no more for men." Outside John keeps watch, and endures a bad night, And besides the voluntary one, performs this penance. Morning come, he is received, he is scorched enough with words. Thus intent on the crusts, he bears all things patiently. Refreshed, he gives thanks to the Lord and to his companion, Then tries to move the little rake with languid arms. Chastened by the hardship for his excessive levity, Since he could not be an Angel, he learned to be a good man."

p. The same things are given more extensively in our Appendix, no. 2, from the old translation of the Lausiac History which Rosweyde has.

APPENDIX FROM VARIOUS SOURCES.

John the Dwarf or Colobus, hermit in the desert of Scete in Egypt. (S.)

BHL Number: 4383

FROM PRINTED SOURCES.

VI. IV. 12 and III. 84.

Abbot John said to certain brethren: "There were three philosophers, friends, one of whom, dying, left a son commended to another; who, when he had advanced in youthful age, committed adultery with the wife of his foster-father. When this crime was known, he was sent out of doors. Then, when he greatly repented, he did not grant him a return; but said to him: 'Go, and be for three years among the condemned who unload metals in the river, and so I pardon you your fault.' When he returned after three years, he said again: 'Go another three years; pay fees in order to suffer insults.' And he did so another three years. He said to him: 'Come now, then, to the city of the Athenians ^a to learn philosophy.' Now there was at the gate of the city a certain old philosopher sitting and insulting those who entered; he insulted, therefore, that young man too. But he, being insulted, laughed. The elder said to him: 'What is this, that I do you injuries and you laugh?' The young man says to him: 'Do you not wish me to laugh, I who for three years paid fees to suffer insults, and today suffer them for nothing? It is for this altogether that I laughed.' And the old man said to him: 'Go up and enter the city.'" And when Abbot John had related this, he said: "This is the gate of the Lord, and our fathers, through many insults, entered into it rejoicing." That this John is St. John the Dwarf is made out from the last words, which are attributed to him elsewhere. See Apophthegm XXII and the Annotation at that place. Further, Rufinus in Rosweyde, book III, chapter 84, has the same things: "The disciple of a certain philosopher sinned; and when he wished to be pardoned, the philosopher says to him: I do not pardon you unless in these three years you carry the burdens of others. When he returned after three years, etc." The rest scarcely differ in words.

[2] In a certain old edition of the Lausiac History of Palladius, chapter XI, these things are read Appendix, p. 994. Cf. above Apophthegm XXXV.: "The holy fathers said of St. John, who was surnamed Colob, that when he returned from the work of the harvest very tired, he presented himself to the holy elders, and, having made prayer with them, he went at once to his cell and for a long time gave himself in silence to prayers and readings and the meditation of the holy scriptures, and, exercising the work of the hands daily, allowed no one to come to him. For he said: 'Because in the work of the harvest the attention of the mind is by occasion scattered and suffers wandering, and therefore is entangled with divers thoughts.' And he added more abstinence for himself, saying: 'Because, on account of the labour of the harvest, in those days I ate bread daily to satiety. But now, since I rest in my cell, I must add abstinence and vigils, so that what was intermitted in those days may be compensated and repaired.'"

III. 66.

[3] Certain of the brethren questioned this same blessed John about the cause of his abstinence. And he answered, saying: "Because Daniel the prophet said: I did not eat bread in desire." He also said, admonishing the brethren: "Consider, most beloved, that nothing is stronger among the beasts than the lion, and yet on account of its belly it falls into a snare, and that savage and great strength of its is humbled."

III, 92; V. XVI, and above Apophthegm VIII.

[4] When Abbot John was sitting among the brethren and each was asking him about his own thoughts, and he was giving an answer to all, a certain old man out of envy says to him: "This John is like a harlot woman adorning herself to gather

lovers to herself." To whom Abbot John said: "You say the truth, abba, and it is not otherwise, for God revealed this very thing to you." That old man answered him again, saying: "For your vessel too, John, is full of poison." But John said to him: "It is so, abba, as you have said, and you say this because you see only those things which are outside; for if you saw the things which are within, how much more would you have to say?" And after this one of his disciples said to him: "Were you not troubled within, abba, at the words of this old man?" He answered him: "No, but as I am outside, so I am within."

III 135 and above Apophthegm XXI.

[5] Abbot John used to say: "We have let go the small burden, that is, reproaching ourselves; and we have chosen to carry the heavy one, that is, to justify ourselves and condemn others."

[6] Abbot John From the Appendix, no. 1002. See the Annotation, p. 1002, at Apophthegm XXIX. said to his disciples: "The Fathers, eating only bread and salt, became strong in the work of God, while they straitened themselves; let us therefore constrain ourselves in this very bread and salt. For those who serve God must be restricted in these very things, because the Lord himself said: Narrow and strait is the way that leads to life." Matthew 7

[7] A brother questioned the same old man, saying: "The fasts and vigils which we keep, what do they do?" He answered: "They make the soul become humble. For it is written: See my humility and my labour and forgive all my sins. For if the soul labours in these, God has mercy on it and suffers with it."

[8] … "Of this kind we know [From the Opuscula of St. Nilus, Rome 1673, p. 502, treatise On Prayer, chapter 107.] was he who kept silent in solitary quiet in a pit, John the Little, or rather the very great monk, who from fellowship with God remained unmoved, while the demon in the form of a dragon coiled around him and gnawed his flesh and belched into his face."

[9] A certain brother inquired of Abbot Poemen: "Can a man trust in one action?" The old man answered that the saying of Abbot John the Short had been: "I desire to take something from all the virtues" [Cotelier, Monumenta ecclesiae graecae, volume I, p. 602, on St. Poemen, Apophthegm XLVI, and in the Acta Sanctorum on the 27th of August.].

[10] Likewise he (Abbot Poemen) related that if any brother had gone to Abbot John the Short, he handed on to him the charity of which it is read in the Apostle: "Charity is patient, charity is kind" Ibid., LXXIV..

Miscellanea of Vossius, pp. 132, 133.

III, 177.

[11] ^b A brother inquired of Abbot Poemen in this manner: "Why am I not permitted to speak freely with the old men about my thoughts?" And the old man reported to him the saying of Abbot John the Short: "In nothing does the enemy so rejoice as in those who will not disclose their thoughts" Ibid., CI..

ANNOTATA.