Macarius the Roman

ON ST. MACARIUS THE ROMAN, THE LEGENDARY SAINT WHO WAS FOUND NEAR PARADISE, ONCE VENERATED IN THE PATRIARCHATE OF CONSTANTINOPLE,

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

Macarius the Roman, who is said to have been found near Paradise and was once venerated by the Greeks. (S.)

BY V. D. B.

§ Sole. The deeds of St. Macarius the Roman are fabulous. Whether the person himself is fabulous. His cult among the Greeks and Russians.

[In the Bollandist work inquiry must be made not only into the existence of things, but also of persons;] Who is ignorant that the aim and end of the Bollandist work is placed not only in narrating the deeds of the Saints, but also in weighing their histories and weighing all their affairs? Hence we must inquire not only into what the saints have said, done and suffered, but also discern whether those who are called saints have a lawful cult. And this is nearly our daily labour. But

it seems that at times one must go further, and that sometimes (though more rarely) the question must be raised whether those who are held to be saints have existed in the nature of things; and indeed such a mass must now be turned over by us. Behold then what the matter is. He who is called St. Macarius the Roman is venerated from most ancient times in the eastern church on the 19th day of January or the 23rd of October; but his history is most certainly a fiction of men with time on their hands: whence the doubt arises whether those who invented the deeds which are contained in that writing likewise produced from their own brain St. Macarius, to whom they attributed them.

[2] such a question must be raised concerning St. Macarius the Roman. For suppose that there should meet us a recent composition in which three travellers are set forth narrating that they have crossed the sea and gone to America; that on the way they suffered shipwreck and arrived at an island, in which they saw many wonders: namely the cave of Aeolus, occupied by sixteen genii, blowing the wind into all parts of the world; fountains, some pouring wine, others milk; apes carried in chariots or sitting on horses, and other prodigies of that kind; and then that there was found there by them a venerable old man, who, when he saw them perishing with hunger and cold, received them in most friendly fashion, fed them and cherished them; then that he told them how he himself at one time, carried by an aerostatic balloon, came to this island and expelled from it the magicians and sorceresses who held it; that after they had heard these things and refreshed their strength, they cut wood, built a ship and with it returned as soon as possible to Europe. Now I ask, if a little narrative of this kind were put before us, what would seem should be determined. First of all no one would doubt that it was full of fables and falsehoods; then we should be uncertain whether those travellers had lived, or were no less fabulous than the wonders they are alleged to have seen; and thirdly at last, even if it were established that those travellers truly lived and are still living, the doubt would remain whether they saw on that island a beneficent old man formerly carried there through the air. And (unless I am mistaken) even if those travellers should erect statues out of their money in memory of his benefits, we should give them little credence, unless by other testimonies, much better, it were certain that in fact there dwelt on that island an excellent old man, always prompt and ready to help the shipwrecked; for as long as those witnesses are lacking, it will be permissible, not imprudently, for every provident man to say that those travellers could equally well have invented the existence of this old man as so many other portents which they have fabricated.

[3] This Macarius is not the same as the one praised by Palladius; Now the prodigies which are narrated in the history of St. Macarius the Roman are no less incredible than the cave of Aeolus, the wine-bearing and milk-bearing streams, the riding apes and other things of that kind. Then the three travellers who are said to have set out to him are otherwise wholly unknown; and thirdly that St. Macarius is known from no other testimony. And here we meet Baronius, who thought that St. Macarius the Roman was the same as that Macarius whom Palladius counts among those who, not far from Rome, visited Opianus, called by others Pinianus, once the husband of St. Melania the Younger, afterwards abbot of thirty monks. "To him," he says [Historia Lausiaca, cap. 36, aliis 129, 130 et 132, ap. Rosweydum, Vitæ Patrum, pag. 775.], namely to Opianus, "came a man of proconsular rank, by name Pammachius, who, when he had renounced the world, led an excellent life and scattered his wealth partly while living, and partly dying left it to the poor; likewise also a certain man by name Macarius from the vicariate; Constantius too, assessor of the prefects of Italy: distinguished and most learned men, who reached the summit of piety and religion; who I think are still even now in the flesh, practising the best manner of ordering life and awaiting a blessed life subject to no destruction." So Palladius about the year 413: which mark of time may be the first argument that a different Macarius from the Roman is here meant; since the latter, as will be clear from what is to be said, was reported to have begun the ascetic life before the beginning of the IV century. Then the Macarius of Palladius, before he became a monk, had held the vicarial prefecture; whence he is called Macarius from the vicariate. But the vicarial prefecture he could by no means have held, having scarcely passed his boyish years; at which age St. Macarius the Roman professes to have been, when, urged by his father to marriage, he fled from home and went away into the solitude. So Rosweyde judges, and (unless I am mistaken) all now agree with him, that the Macarius of Palladius is the same as the Macarius to whom Rufinus inscribed the Apology for Origen and his version of the Principles Vitæ Patrum, pag. 231., or also to whom St. Paulinus of Nola wrote his letter XLIX, otherwise XXXVI; of whom also Gennadius makes mention in chap. 28 of the Catalogue of illustrious writers of the Church, and to whom finally St. Jerome alludes in Apology II against Rufinus [Cfr Annotatum 197 Rosweydi in scripta S. Paulini, ap. Migne, Patrologia latina, tom. LXI, col. 898.].

[4] [but that fabulous man of whom St. Jerome speaks in the prologue to the Life of St. Paul,] But St. Macarius the Roman is not only wholly unknown to all other writers (and yet we have many who in the IV and V centuries collected the deeds and sayings of notable monks), but seems to have been counted among fables by St. Jerome. For when he in the Prologue to the Life of St. Paul, called the first hermit, was inquiring by what monk the desert first began to be inhabited (which question is very different from the doubt as to who first practised the religious life), on the testimony of two disciples of St. Anthony he determined that this praise was to be given to St. Paul the hermit. But at once he objects to himself that a number boast of other things; namely that in an underground cave a man with hair down to his heels gave himself to eremitic asceticism before St. Paul, "and they devise many incredible things which it is idle to pursue." "Whose opinion," so the most learned writer goes on Ap. Rosweydum, Vitæ Patrum, pag. 17., "because it was a shameless lie, does not even seem to need refuting." In which words St. Jerome must be judged to have denied that that ancient monk existed; since otherwise the argument would have no strength at all. For if he had wished only that that man did not dwell in an underground cave, but under the sky or in a hut; that he did not have hair down to his heels, but with his hair cut was covered with garments; it would by no means follow from this that he had not existed before St. Paul. So the most holy man contends that the whole history was a lie, and that the man himself was never among the living.

[5] [as Papebroch rightly thought, the judgment of Rosweyde and Henschen being abandoned.] But what Rosweyde noted at this place seems to need weighing: "Such," he says Ibid. pag. 22., "is St. Macarius the Roman described here afterwards in his Life: The hair of his head covered the man's whole body. But he was later than St. Paul of Thebes: because he lived after the reign of Julian, as is found in his Life… With such hair is also St. Onuphrius, below in his Life: He had such a length of hair that his body was covered by its spreading. He too was later than St. Paul, and his Life is approved. Wherefore St. Jerome will have had in view here some other fable of a fictitious hermit:" which opinion Henschen also approved with his vote Act. SS. tom. I Januarii, pag. 604.. Against this Papebroch contends in several places [Ibid. tom. I Maji, Ephemerides Græco-Moscæ, pag. XII et XIII et tom. III Maji, pag. 359.] that St. Jerome with those words as with a censor's rod lashed the Life of St. Macarius the Roman, and he scarcely allows it to be called in doubt that this in fact was St. Jerome's mind. I indeed also judge the thing to be so: for the underground cave agrees, the man with hair down to his heels; many incredible things, shameless lies; yet it must be admitted that the difficulty put forward by Rosweyde and Henschen is serious, so as by no means to be despised. For St. Paul withdrew into the desert about the year 250 and died in it in the year 342, at 113 years of age; but St. Macarius is said to have been found among the living after the slaying of Julian the Apostate, carried out in the year of Christ 363; and since from elsewhere he is reported to have sought the solitude at the time of his nuptials, which the Romans were not wont to enter before the eighteenth year of age, that he may be said to have gone to it before St. Paul, it must be determined that he lived more than one hundred and thirty-one or two years. A very great old age indeed and scarcely credible. But since those fable-makers knew well that hermits commonly live a very long life, certainly they would not have been deterred from assigning so many years to St. Macarius. But they nowhere report accurately at what time he entered the desert or how many years he lived; but they narrate only that the hair of his head and beard was white as milk; that because of excessive old age his eyes were not open, in that his eyebrows covered them; and that the skin of his face was like the shell of a tortoise. Weighing these things Rosweyde Vitæ Patrum, pag. 22. admits that St. Macarius could have been contemporary with St. Paul; and from this perhaps St. Jerome also gathered that the intention of those fable-makers (who however nowhere disclose it) was that St. Macarius should be held to have begun the ascetic life before the middle of the III century.

[6] [Papebroch doubted whether St. Macarius the Roman had ever been in the nature of things;] Relying therefore on that opinion of St. Jerome, Papebroch in his remarks on the Greco-Muscovite Ephemerides openly calls in doubt whether any St. Macarius the Roman ever existed: "If however there truly was any," he says Act. SS. tom. I Maji, pag. XII.; and in the Commentary on St. Pachomius, or rather in the appendix on Pachomius the Younger, he went even further (if that could be) Act. SS. tom. III Maji, pag. 358 et 359, num. 2 et 5.. And since, as we shall forthwith see, the Greeks and other Orientals subject to the patriarchate of Constantinople festively recall the memory of St. Macarius the Roman every year on the 19th day of January or the 23rd of October, and from this an argument can be drawn, by which at least it may be urged that one should not proceed too hastily in denying the existence and holiness of that saint, he adds the following: "Rosweyde, not daring to approve it (the Life of St. Macarius), yet excuses himself for having allowed it to be reprinted as it had been printed before, because at the XXIII of October he found an epitome taken from it in the Menaea of the Greeks, and a passage cited from it in the Decree of Gratian. But in this he would perhaps have made less of the Menaea, if, having seen as many manuscript synaxaria as we have seen, he had recognized that such an epitome is everywhere lacking, and so that that addition may be judged a novelty equally with others: and though several synaxaria should have it, no other thing would follow from that

than that a most ancient fable (written namely before the year 380, in which St. Jerome published the Life of St. Paul) was given credence of old by some of the Greeks." And so he.

[7] Politus on the contrary doubted nothing; but the reasons which he brings forward To a wholly different opinion went Alexander Politus, a member of the society of clerics regular of the Pious Schools; who, not at all thinking or turning over in his mind whether it is sufficiently established that St. Macarius the Roman was ever of the human race, and so asking this one thing, whether his cult is lawful, committed the following to writing Martyrologium Romanum, commentariis illustratum, Januarius ad d. 2, pag. 48.: "That Macarius the Roman the Latins do not at all venerate. Yet let the Greeks be permitted by us to honour him. For it is not because many false and fabulous things have flowed down to the common people about him that the holiness of the man is to be placed in suspicion: concerning which there exists, as if from blessed Jerome, a renowned testimony in Gratian, cause 27, question 2, chap. 26: 'Betrothed men, even without consulting those whom they had betrothed to themselves, are proved by examples and authority to be able to keep continence. For as blessed Jerome reports, Macarius, foremost among the hermits of Christ, when the nuptial banquet had been celebrated, and he was about to enter the bridal chamber at evening, going out of the city sought lands beyond the sea and chose for himself the solitude of the desert.' And though Jerome did not at all write the Life of Macarius the Roman, yet so great among us is and ought to be the authority of the Greek church, that those whom the Greeks from ancient and certain memory hold in the number of the saints, the Latin church approving, or certainly not opposing, the Latins wish to stand wholly in their place: since indeed there is one catholic church of Christ everywhere in lands and among nations. For very many other saints the credit of their holiness stands firm, although rascals have at times attached to their histories many παραδοξα and incredible things. There is that elogium of the Greeks on the 23rd day of October on St. Macarius the Roman:

Ἐρημον ἠγαπησας οἰκειν, Παμμακαρ, Θεῷ ὁμιλειν καταμονας τῳ μονῳ."

[8] are plainly empty. But these things are very light. For who is ignorant that the Roman church tolerates many things without anything being able to be concluded from this? It is surely one thing, the general cult of some saint, solemnly approved by the Roman pontiff or by the catholic church; another a particular cult, customary only in some individual churches (such as is that of Constantinople), especially if it has been introduced without a previous examination of virtues and miracles, by the fervour of the common people or by the authority of individual men. That error can underlie this particular cult is admitted by Benedict XIV De servorum Dei beatif. et canoniz. lib. I, cap. XLII, num. 9 et 10.; and that it in fact often underlies it has been shown in a number of places in the Ecclesiastical Annals of Baronius, and in many more in our Acts of the saints. But as these things are most evident, there is no need to dwell on them longer. Nevertheless Politus must not be dismissed without a censure, because in the place cited a little before he wrote that Papebroch, on the Greek or Greco-Muscovite Ephemerides, had judged this Macarius the Roman to be the same as the Alexandrian. For so far was he from confusing the two that on the contrary he wrote that Macarius the Roman was painted there naked and shaggy like a dog, that by these signs he might be indicated to be different from the Macarii called the Alexandrian and the Egyptian. For the rest, all the things that are ascribed to St. Macarius the Roman are different from the deeds of the other saints of the same name, so that a blind man could distinguish him from them; and for this cause too we omit this part, since it is plainly useless in this place.

[9] Politus therefore did not advance much in establishing the holiness of St. Macarius, much less in confirming his existence. On the other hand Papebroch does not at all seem to be approved, when he tried to persuade that the cult of St. Macarius the Roman was recent. [The cult of St. Macarius among the Greeks is ancient, as is evident from the Menologion of Basil,] It is not so. For in the Menologion of Basil Porphyrogenitus, written before the year 984, at the 19th day of January it is read [Menologium Græcorum, jussu Basilii imperatoris Græce olim editum, part. II, pag. 121.]: "On the same day the commemoration of our holy fathers Macarius the Roman and the other Macarius the Egyptian. St. Macarius the Roman, forced against his will by his father to take a wife, abandoned her and determined to take flight and to provide for his salvation. Wherefore an angel of God, taking him up at once, offered himself to him as a guide, and leading him as far as Paradise, placed him in a location twenty miles distant from it: where three monks found him, Theophilus, Sergius and Hyginus, to whom he set forth all the wonderful and stupendous things he had seen. At length in decrepit age he departed to the Lord. The other St. Macarius etc."

[10] which book was truly liturgical. But that book is not ecclesiastical, you will say. In very truth menologies are no longer in use among the Greeks; but that they were once in use is a most certain thing. For this is urged first of all by the phrase everywhere met: Τῃ αὐτῃ ἡμερᾳ μνημη του ἁγιου*; On the same day the commemoration of St. N.; which in the present Menaea is still read after the sixth ode. Then there exists not only one Menologion of Basil Porphyrogenitus; but several others have nearly the same norm, especially the Sirmondian, wholly consisting of brief elogia of the saints. Third, the Menologion is nothing other than a part of the Menaea, which are surely ecclesiastical books; just as the Legendaries or Passionals of the Latins likewise pertained to the divine office; and so between the encomia of the saints which are read in the published Menaea and those which are contained in the Basilian Menologion there is this one difference, that in the Menaea the saints of whom the festivity is properly kept have there a longer Life, and other saints, of whom only a commemoration is made, a somewhat briefer one; while in the Menologion the same brevity is everywhere kept. Fourth, it seems formerly to have been free to use either kind; for among the Nanian codices, which Mingarelli illustrated, there comes at number CXC a paper codex, written in the XVI or XV century, containing a common Menaeon of July and having this special feature, that for most of the saints two offices are set down, one longer, the other briefer. "To the briefer," says the illustrator Græci codices manu scripti apud Nanios, patricios Venetos asservati, pag. 395., "there are prefixed several iambic verses and one hexameter: there is also added a brief elogium of the saint who is venerated on that day, little different from that which exists in the Menologion of Basil." Finally, as extrinsic authority is not to be rejected, Leo Allatius without doubt counts the Menologia among ecclesiastical books [De libris ecclesiasticis Græcorum dissertationes duæ, edit. Fabricii, pag. 61 et seqq.]; with whom however I cannot agree that the Menologia of the Greeks are nothing other than what the Latin would call Martyrologies or Calendars. For they are rather to be equated with the lessons of the second Nocturn and the third of the third Nocturn, when the commemoration of a simple feast is to be made.

[11] Among the Russians also there was a cult and he is probably venerated. However that may be, from what has been said it is established that already in the X century the memory of St. Macarius the Roman was celebrated at Constantinople. That this began to be done long before I would not dare to say, since the name of St. Macarius the Roman is absent from the Calendar of Constantinople, written in the VIII century and edited with excellent care by Morcelli. I should believe however that at the beginning of the X century, when the Russians most certainly received the Calendar and Offices of Constantinople, or at least increased from there those which they had before Cfr Précis historiques, 1858, pag. 340 et 341., the feast or at least the commemoration of St. Macarius the Roman was in use. For we have already quite often said that in the Greco-Muscovite Ephemerides which Papebroch edited the name and effigy of St. Macarius the Roman (namely the form of a naked and hairy man) are painted; and indeed at the 19th day of January, at which we have already noted that his commemoration and encomium are written in the Basilian Menologion; while in the more recent Menaea, for example in those from which Sirleto drew his Menologion and which Rader, writing his Viridarium of Saints, and Rosweyde, preparing the edition of the Lives of the Fathers, used, the history of St. Macarius the Roman is read not at the 19th of January but at the 23rd of October. When on this latter day mention of St. Macarius the Roman began to be made in the ecclesiastical office, who could say? This however is certain, that in the newest Menaea, which saw the light at Venice in the year 1843 and following, there has been expunged not only the history of St. Macarius the Roman at the days of the 19th of January and the 23rd of October, but also every memory of him.

[12] Why this Life is printed in an appendix. Because those who took care of this edition saw that this narrative was mere fable, certainly for that reason it was omitted by them. But whether they believed that the very person of St. Macarius the Roman was no more in the nature of things than Robinson Crusoe, celebrated by the French, and Don Quixote, most renowned among the Spaniards, is uncertain to me. But if my opinion is asked, I will openly declare that I have found nothing (as I have now sufficiently said) on account of which I should believe that St. Macarius the Roman was ever counted among men. And for this cause too I was unwilling to have the commentary on St. Macarius the Roman printed among the Lives of the Saints, but in an appendix to the XXIII day of October: which method Papebroch also held in editing the Life of St. Pachomius the Younger, because not only the deeds, but also that Pachomius himself was held by him to be fabulous. It remains that there should now follow the Life of St. Macarius the Roman according to the edition of Rosweyde, which he prepared according to the preceding editions of the Lives of the Fathers and the Einham manuscript codex.

THE FABULOUS LIFE OF ST. MACARIUS THE ROMAN, SERVANT OF GOD,

Who was found near Paradise,

BY

Theophilus, Sergius and Hyginus.

BHL Number: 5104

[Theophilus, Sergius and Hyginus are feigned to have found St. Macarius near Paradise and to narrate that wonderful journey.] Glory and magnificence to God alone, most kind, who through innumerable examples of miracles daily invites us, lukewarm and unworthy, to the joys of the blessed heavenly life. We therefore, wretched and humble monks Theophilus, Sergius and Hyginus, beseech you all, most holy fathers and brothers, to lend your ears to these things which we are about to narrate to you concerning the life and conduct of the Most Holy Macarius the Roman, who appeared to us near Paradise at twenty miles. And this we ask, that you give credence to what is said, we who indeed believe that it would have been much better for us to remain harmless under the harbour of silence than to be punished as guilty of falsehood.

[2] They are said first to have dwelt in the desert in Mesopotamia under Asclepion, We, therefore, the brothers named above, Theophilus, Sergius and Hyginus, the divinity being propitious, renouncing the world, came to the monastery which is in Mesopotamia of Syria in the middle of the two rivers Tigris and Euphrates, in which the most renowned man Asclepion was hegumen

^b, the father of many monks. There at length, joining them, gratefully received by the aforenamed father and the whole company of the brothers, and submitting our necks to the yoke of the rule, we lived in the common life.

[3] then they came to Jerusalem, It came about a long time after these things, at the ninth hour on a certain day, when the synaxis had been completed ^c, that going to the bank of the river Euphrates we sat down there, and for some time there was discussion among us on the endurance and conduct and likewise the labour of the servants of God. Then there came into the mind of me, wretched Theophilus, a thought: and answering, I said to my brothers Sergius and Hyginus: It is my wish, O most beloved brothers, on all the days of my life to walk ^d, and to go to where heaven joins itself to earth [e. But they said: You, Brother Theophilus, we have always had as a spiritual brother, and as prior, and henceforth we will in no way be separated from you; for your words please us: therefore, where you have conceived in your heart, go on; and we in life and death will be with you. So rising from the place, we entered the monastery: and when evening had come, and every prayer of the daily office had been completed, the others resting, we went out secretly from the monastery. After this, walking for seventeen days, we reached Jerusalem ^f, and adored the holy resurrection of Jesus Christ and the cross. Then going out to Bethlehem, we saw and saluted the holy manger, where Christ deigned to be born, and where the star led the Magi, bringing gifts to Christ: and we saw the wonderful place where the angel with a multitude of the heavenly host sang glory to God in the highest: which place is situated two miles away from Bethlehem ^g. We also went up the mount of Olives, and adored in that holy place where Christ stood with his feet, when he was lifted up, and, received by a cloud, ascended to the heavens. Returning from there to Jerusalem we adored God, and signing ourselves ^h and commending ourselves to Christ and his saints, we went out, no longer having spirit and mind in this world.

[4] afterwards into the plain where Julian the apostate was slain; So with the grace of Christ accompanying us, setting out forthwith on the road, and on the fiftieth day crossing the bed of the river Tigris, we entered the land of the Persians, and came into a great and level plain, by name Assia, in which Mercurius the martyr of Christ is read to have slain Julian the apostate ⁱ. Then entering a city of Persia, by name Kitissefodo ^k, in which the three boys Ananias, Azarias and Misael rest, not far from Babylon, we adored there and, eating in the same place, and offering to the Lord a hymn of praise, we stayed some days. Setting out from there, after four months we crossed the region of Persia and entered the land of India. Entering a certain house, and finding no inhabitant there, we spent two days in that place. And behold on the third day after this there appeared coming two armed persons, a man and a woman. We, terrified by excessive fear, rose up and resolved to go to meet them. But they, seeing us and at the same time believing us to be spies, went back with quickened step by the way by which they had come: and after a little, having gathered, about three thousand Ethiopians ^l of their people came. They in haste surrounded with a rampart the house in which we were praying, and all looking at us, applied copious fire through the four corners of the same house, striving to burn us alive. When we saw this, terrified with strong fear, we called on Christ the Saviour of all, and leapt forth into their midst. Then they, murmuring much among themselves in their language, and gnashing long against us, since neither we could in any way understand them, nor they us, seized us and shut us in a dark prison. As we sat therefore in the darkness, there was no one to give bread or water. We at length with tears did not omit to call on the mercy of almighty God, the creator of all. When we had spent some days there, they gathered again, and, believing us lifeless from hunger and thirst, surrounded the prison. But when they saw us praying, they opened the door and led us out: and when they had spoken much, murmuring among themselves, lastly, beating us sharply with rustic cudgels, they cast us out of their borders; and we completed eighty days without food, as God is our witness.

[5] then into the land of the Canaanites; Cast out therefore from those borders, we journeyed many days to the east: and we came to a wonderful place and a glorious plain, which was full of very high trees and abounded in honey-flowing fruits. At length, glorifying and praising God, we ate the sweet-flowing fruits, and sated ourselves greatly. Going out therefore from there, we entered the land of the Canaanites, who are called by others Cynocephali ^m: and seeing them, we marvelled greatly at their appearance; but they, with their women and little ones, dwelling below in the rocks, did not touch us at all, the grace of Christ protecting us.

[6] and of the pygmies, Setting out therefore from there toward the east, when for one hundred and ten days, passing through them, we had made our way: we entered the land of a nation which is named Pichiti ⁿ: this nation in stature and height had no more than the measure of one cubit. And seeing us, struck with fear they fled. We, praising God together, who had freed us from their hands, hastened our course daily.

[7] afterwards into a place wholly occupied by beasts. After this we came to very high and terrible mountains, where the sun does not enter, nor do tree or grass grow: there therefore we saw innumerable serpents, and dragons, and asps, and basilisks, and vipers, and unicorns, and many buffaloes: many other deadly beasts too, and poisonous animals, whose names or nature we wholly do not know. The right hand of God therefore protecting us, we passed through these unhurt: but we also had the hissing of dragons and serpents in our ears for twenty continuous days, and only by stopping our ears could we bear it.

[8] [They see continual prodigies and an arch, written by Alexander the Great, an indicator of the way;] Meanwhile we fell into a terrible place, having most rugged crags, raised on high and descending into the depths. We spent seven days there, unable to go further. On the seventh day after this there appeared a stag walking before us bellowing, and rising up we followed it. Making our way, we found before us much greater crags. We with the greatest labour and distress escaped from there, and came to a level and great plain, in which there stood a great multitude of elephants: and we passed through their midst unhurt: after this no road at all appeared to us. Then we, calling on the clemency of the Lord with tears, and for nine days walking without food through trackless places, reached at last a place wide in its plain, which abounded in very many fruits. Now most dense darkness filled all those places: nor was anything shining, but the clouds were most obscure. Then we, exceedingly troubled and afflicted, falling on the ground, cried out to God, praying with strong lamentation, and in the same place we completed seven days, not eating nor drinking, nor seeing the light of heaven. As we were much afflicted and persisting in prayer, after seven days there came a dove, which, drawing near to us, and long fluttering around us, and strongly beating its little wings, as it were encouraged us to walk. Then we, giving thanks to God, rose up: and with it going before, we made our way through trackless places: and behold, before us we found a very great arch ^o written round about. Seeing that writing, we rejoiced, and praised the Lord together. This was the writing: "This arch was made by Alexander of Macedon, son of Philip, emperor, when he pursued Darius king of the Persians. Whoever wishes to enter this land, let him go to the left hand: for to the right the land is trackless and full of crags and straits."

[9] the place of judgment and punishments, men of a hundred cubits, We therefore, entering to the left, walked many days. And it came about after forty days, as we were going, that there came a most evil and intolerable stench; from which, made as if lifeless, and falling on the ground, we prayed the Lord that he would now mercifully command our souls to be received. After a short time, rising from the ground, we saw a great lake, and a multitude of fiery serpents in it: and from that lake there came out voices, and we heard a great howling and lamentation, as of an innumerable people; and from heaven a voice sounded, saying: This place is of judgment and punishments, in which those who have denied Christ are tortured. We, hearing this voice, and beating our breasts with tears and excessive fear, passed that lake, and came between two very high mountains, and in the midst of them there appeared to us a man of long stature, about a hundred cubits, and he was bound with brazen chains, bound in his whole body. Two chains from one part of his body were fixed in the mountain, and two in the other mountain, and a very great fire round about him on every side. The voice of his cry was heard for about forty miles. When he saw us, weeping and wailing he cried out most mightily: for he was being cruelly burned by the fire.

[10] a woman wound around by a dragon, And when we saw such things, we were greatly afraid: and covering our faces, we passed those mountains from afar: and behold, forthwith we came to another place, where there were many crags and a great depth. There also we saw a certain woman standing with loosened hair, entwined in her whole body by a very great and terrible dragon. Whenever therefore she wished to open her mouth to speak, the dragon at once put its head into her mouth and bit her tongue. The hair of this woman came down to the ground. And as we looked at her marvelling and fearful, suddenly from the depth of the valley we heard miserable voices, saying: Have mercy on us, have mercy, O Christ, Son of the most high God. We therefore, vehemently terrified, putting our knees on the ground, prayed, saying with tears: O Lord who created us, take our souls, for our eyes have seen your judgments on the earth.

[11] speaking fowls, Rising up, with immense grief and sorrow and likewise fear we came to another place, in which we saw many and very great trees having the likeness of fig trees: and on those branches many fowls, like the birds of heaven, were crying strongly with a human voice, saying: Spare us, O Lord, who formed us; spare us, O merciful one: because we have sinned before your face over all the earth. We prayed, saying: O most merciful Lord, show us these your miracles which we have seen, for we do not know what they are. There came therefore a voice saying: It is not yours to know the mysteries which you have seen: go on your way.

[12] four men fortifying the way with sword and fire, Going out therefore from there with immense dread, we came to a more honourable and most beautiful place,

in which four men were standing, having venerable forms, comely as it were with wonderful beauty, such as could scarcely be easily believed or spoken: for they had on their heads golden crowns, honourably composed of gems and stones, and in their hands they bore golden palms. A very great terrible fire was before them, and they held most sharp swords before them. We, seeing these things, and struck with strong fear, cried out to them, saying: Lords and servants of God most high, have mercy on us, that the swords and this fire may not prevail to harm us. But they, answering us, said: Do not fear; go secure on the way which God has shown you: for the Lord has placed us in this place, to keep and guard this road, until the day of judgment, when he will come to judge the world.

[13] a wonderful crystal church, Hearing this from those holy men, and saluting them from afar, we passed through that place: and for forty continuous days we walked, taking no food at all, only drinking water. As we walked, therefore, suddenly we heard the voices of an innumerable people singing psalms, and a most sweet odour as of the best and most precious balsam came to us, and sweetened our mouth as if from a most sweet honeycomb. From the most sweet nectar of that odour, then, and the heavenly melody of the song, sleep seized us. After a short time, rising from sleep, we saw before us a church, adorned with wonderful adornment and most precious, which seemed wholly as if of crystal; and in the middle of that church an honourable altar, and from the altar water came forth, which had the colour of the whitest milk. We truly took that water to be milk. Around that fountain stood holy and honourable men, and they sang a heavenly song, that is, the voices of the Cherubim. Beholding these things, we feared greatly; and the church itself on the southern side had the likeness of a precious leek-green stone, on the austral side it presented the colour of the purest blood, and on the western side it was wholly white, like milk and the whitest snow: the stars above that church shone more than the stars of this world, the sun there shone and warmed sevenfold more than in the region of this earth; the alps and all the trees were higher, and had more and sweeter leaves and fruits than the trees of this world: and the birds of heaven too sang otherwise than the birds of this earth: and the whole earth itself had double colours, that is, one face was white as snow, and the other was of most ruddy colours. We therefore, astounded, and adoring in the same place, and saluting those men, went out with fear and hastened to take up the road we had begun.

[14] and men a cubit tall. At length after this a hundred days were completed, as the Lord is our witness, in which we were refreshed by no food, reviving ourselves more frequently with water: when behold, suddenly as we were going, there came to meet us an innumerable multitude of people, men and women, massed together: but we saw among them no longer stature than that of one cubit. Then I, the wretched sinner Theophilus, said to my brothers Sergius and Hyginus: Loosing our hair, let us come against them; perhaps they will flee from us, and the Lord will free us from their hands. When this had seemed good to them, loosing our bands and hair, we rushed on them suddenly; and they, seeing this, at once seized their sons and, gnashing their teeth, all fled very quickly. We praised the Lord together, who had snatched us away: and crossing a river, we found herbs white and pale as milk, sweet as honey, high up to one cubit. Eating therefore of the honey-flowing herbs, and satisfying ourselves with them, we offered thanksgivings to the creator of all, who had kept us through so great dangers, and was nourishing us by his free grace. Meanwhile, making our way through trackless places, we suddenly found a beautiful path, and falling on the ground we adored and praised together the merciful Lord who had shown it to us.]

[15] They enter the cave of St. Macarius. Following that road therefore for very many days, we came at last to an honourable cave. Then with the sign of the holy cross fortifying our members on all sides, we went into that crypt; but finding no inhabitant there, we said among ourselves: This cleanness is not except by the hand of man. Let us stay here therefore until evening, and we shall see the inhabitant of this place. When this had been said, we sat down for one hour, being weary, and suddenly bathed in a most sweet odour, we fell asleep. Roused again from sleep after a short interval, we went out of the cave, and looked toward the east: and behold, suddenly we saw the figure of a man hastening from afar, whose hair of the head, like the whitest milk or snow, as if flying in the air, covered the man's whole body. And he, as soon as he saw us from afar, cast himself forthwith on the ground, and raising himself again began to cry out to us thus: If you are from God, fortify yourselves with the sign of the holy Cross, hastening to me: but if from the devil, flee from me the servant of God. As he said these things, we addressed him with such a voice: Bless us, holy Father, and do not be troubled: for we too are servants of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. For we have renounced this vain world and become monks. When he heard such things, he came to us at once: and raising his hands to heaven, he prayed for a long time: and rising from prayer, taking the hair away from his mouth and face, he blessed us and spoke to us. The hair of his head and beard was white as milk, and his face like the countenance of an Angel. For he was like a tree planted beside the running waters, and through excessive old age his eyes were not opened, in that his eyebrows covered them: the nails of his hands and feet were also exceedingly long, and his beard and hair surrounded his whole body: his speech was thin, and as if sent forth from the depth: the skin of his face was like the shell of a tortoise [p].

[16] who tells them that this place is twenty miles distant from the earthly Paradise Then he with tears began to us thus: My blessed brothers, where are you from? or from where have you come here? tell us how the human race fares, or how the faith of the Christians, and whether Saracens or Heathens still bring persecution on the people of Christ [q]. We then, as we were asked, gave him an answer in order, telling at the same time the straits and dangers which we had suffered along the whole road, and we disclosed that it was our will and desire to go to where heaven joins itself to earth. He answering these things said: My dearest little sons, hear me. From this place further to the places of paradise a man clothed in flesh cannot go. For I, a small sinner, also greatly laboured in this wish, desiring to proceed further, that I might be able to see the end of earth and sky, but on a certain night the Angel of the Lord stood by me in a vision and said to me: Do not proceed further, nor presume to tempt the Lord. To him I said: For what cause, my Lord, is it not lawful to go on ahead? And he said: From this place there are twenty miles to paradise, where Adam and Eve were in delights. The Lord set before that paradise the cherubim with a fiery and turning sword [r] to guard the tree of life: and it has from the feet to the navel the likeness of a man, its chest like the chest of a lion, its hand like crystal, having a sword to keep paradise, that no one may be able to draw near there. Hearing these things from the Angel, I answered no further, nor did I try to proceed further. I, Theophilus, therefore, and my companions and brothers of the journey, hearing these things from the holy man, with the whole body prostrate, praised the Lord together and saluted that servant of Christ.

[17] and that he has tame lions; at evening he holds the synaxis with them. When evening had come, he said to us: My most beloved brothers, go out of the little cell, and wait a little: for I have two lions, who, walking outside through the day, return to me in the evening [s]; lest, coming suddenly, you should suffer some evil from them. As we therefore went out a little way with dread, the lions forthwith came roaring, and adored that saint of God. And he, placing his hands on them and stroking their necks, said to them: My little sons, three good brothers have come to us from the world; do not do them harm. At once calling us, he said: Brothers, come, and now do not fear. We, entering with excessive dread, saluted him, and the evening synaxis having been celebrated, we sat down, taking acorns and roots of herbs for food, and drinking water in silence. When morning had come, we spoke to the holy man, saying: Holy Father and lord, we beseech your beatitude to narrate your conduct to us, and tell us how you came here, or from where, and by what name you are called.

[18] [The next day he tells them that he fled from his nuptials, and that he once had St. Raphael as guide,] The Saint gave us such an answer: I, he said, my most loving brothers and sons, am called Macarius, born and nourished in the royal city, son of a Roman man who was renowned and was powerful in the imperial city [t]. When I had passed my boyish years, against my refusal and unwillingness, my father betrothed a wife to me and appointed the day of the nuptials. Meanwhile, the bridal chamber having been adorned, when a throng of people had already been invited, and the bride was sitting, my father, made more cheerful, exhorted all those invited to the pleasure of the banquet. When all who were present were intent on jests and dances, I went out secretly and entered the house of a certain widow, an acquaintance, and stayed hiding with her for seven days. She, going daily into my father's house, heard what was being said about the search for me: and coming, she repeated everything and told me. My father, when he could not find me by searching on all sides, wept most bitterly, and also my mother and the whole household. On the eighth day from then, that is, on Sunday night, I saluted that woman, and going out into the public road, I found a certain man venerable with white hair, standing as if ready to walk. Adoring him I said: Where are you going, holy old man? And he, turning to me with cheerful face, said: Where you desire to go, I dispose myself to go with you, since those roads are exceedingly well known to me. Then I, comforted, began to follow the man. Entering then through the neighbouring houses, along the way we asked to receive bread, and received it. Walking for very many days, we came at last to the place of torments, and entered the straits of all the roads, from which you

have said you came. When therefore we had come to about thirty miles near this grove, on a certain day as we sat, amid our mutual conversation, my companion suddenly disappeared. Then I, exceedingly troubled, and not knowing where to turn, falling on the ground, lamented most vehemently. And behold, at once without delay he who had disappeared before appeared with great brightness, and thus addressed me: Do not be troubled, most beloved, for I am the angel Raphael, sent for your help, who have led you here by the precept of the Most High. The Lord has made your way prosperous. You have passed through the places of darkness, the places of torments, the places of punishments; you have come into the light, you have seen the fountain of living water and the places of the just: therefore do not fear, but rising go on your way. When this had been said, he who had appeared disappeared again.

[19] that he once dispersed an onager, and with the sign of the cross I then, meanwhile having recovered my strength, rising began to walk, and seeing an onager from afar, I cried out and said to it: Hail, by Christ who created you, show me the way by which I should walk: and it, running up quickly, went before me through a certain small and narrow path. I followed it, and thus we completed two days, walking together. On the third day we saw a stag of wonderful size from afar. The onager seeing it and being afraid turned aside from me; left alone again, I was distressed, having no road at all. Then crying toward the stag, I said: Because you have brought me help, I conjure you by God, show me a path. At this voice, turning aside to me like a tame animal, it entered on a narrow track, always looking back at me behind. Thus therefore we walked together three days. Then behold, on the fourth day we came on an immense and terrible dragon, stretched out in the middle of the road. When the stag saw it, it suddenly slipped away and escaped in flight. I meanwhile, struck with strong fear, fell on the ground: then, comforted in the Lord, I rose up: and fortifying myself with the sign of the holy cross, I said to the dragon: Fear almighty God, and do not harm me. Then it, terribly raising itself from the ground, addressed me with a human voice, saying: Come, blessed of the Lord, for you are the servant of the most high God, Macarius. The holy Angel Raphael, showing me your figure and face, commanded me quickly to meet you and lead you to the place prepared for you by God. And so for four days today I have been waiting for you here, eating nothing at all. This night I saw you sitting on a most bright cloud, and at the same time I heard a voice from above saying to me: Hasten to rescue Macarius the servant of God, who is at hand, as I foretold to you. Wherefore rising, follow me, do not doubt, but come, and I will show you the place where you should praise the Lord. When this had been said, he appeared as a young man, and went with me as far as this cave. And when we had entered, he suddenly vanished.

[20] many phantasms; and that he was deceived by a demon in the guise of a woman. Then I, a sinner, saw in another part two lion's whelps lying; and their mother lay dead beside them. Her I cast outside and buried, and praising the Lord I glorified him who had done such wonders in me, and had freed me from such grave straits; and those little lions, plucking the leaves of trees and holding them out to them, I nourished as my own sons [u]; and thus we completed two years dwelling together quietly. When behold, after this there came the snare of the devil, whose envy never ceases from the servants of God. For on a certain day, about the seventh hour, going out of the cave, I sat down in the heat of the sun: then suddenly I saw lying on the ground beside me a fine little band [x], delightful to the eyes. I, thinking within myself, said: Whence in this solitude a little band? Judging however that it was truly a little band, and forgetting, most wretched that I was, to fortify myself with the sign of the cross, since indeed the sign of the most holy cross enervates every phantasy of the enemy, I put out my hand and, lifting up the little band, carried it back into the cave. On the next day nonetheless, going out, I found women's shoes [z] lying on the ground: but neither then did I, wretched, noticing the snares of the devil, or fortifying myself with the banner of the cross, I picked up the shoes, and carrying them into the cave, joined them to the little band. On the third day, going out again, I found the devil standing in the comeliness or appearance of a woman clothed in precious garments: and I, wretched, not even thus recalling the snares of the enemy, nor in any way signing myself, but believing in truth that it was a woman, said to her: Whence have you come here? or who has led you into this solitude? She forthwith began to weep most bitterly. Then I, poor wretch, as if suffering with her, wept greatly. After this she answered and said: I, most wretched, O most holy father, am the daughter of a Roman man: who, when he had betrothed me against my will and refusal to a certain most noble Roman youth, and the day of the nuptials had come, in the midst of the nuptials themselves my betrothed disappeared. And when all, troubled, were disturbed, searching for him here and there, I, made glad, went out secretly: and taking to the road that same night, and having no guide of the journey in any way, wandering through the narrow places of mountains and valleys I have come even here. When I had heard these things, and had believed that all was so, and at the same time hoping that she was my betrothed [aa], I took her by the hands, and led her into this cave: and the tears in no way ceased from her eyes. Then I, compassionating her miseries and tears, and greatly grieving over her, had her sit beside me: likewise I gave her acorns to eat; for I did not understand the snares of the devil, nor did I in any way fortify myself with the sign of the cross: but sitting together we held conversation for a long time. Then I began to be weighed down with sleep as if from excessive labour: and she with her hands stroked and touched all my members, and I was the more weighed down with sleep. Why do I linger? Wretched I, who before had never consented to sin with a woman, recognized that in sleep I had committed sin: for suddenly awakened from sleep, I found myself lying uncovered on the ground as if with a woman; but she no longer appeared.

[21] The lions flee and Macarius does penance, buried in the ground. Then I, unhappy, noticing too late the snares of the devil, went out of the cave very quickly, and beating my breast, poured out immense tears. Meanwhile the lions who were with me, understanding my offence, fled from me as quickly as possible. When I saw this, namely that the lions had fled, with exceeding grief and sorrow I began devoutly to call on the mercy of Christ, that he would show me a norm of penance and command those lions to return. There was no delay; the most clement father, who wished to keep me for penance, at once made those lions return, and entering with me into this cave, they heaped up the earth with their feet to the height of one man: and I, understanding these things, entered that pit up to the neck, commanding the lions themselves to bury me in the same place. When this had been done, I passed three years buried in that pit. Meanwhile, a huge rain coming down, the cave was broken open above my head where I was standing, and I saw the light, and putting my hands outside, I plucked the herbs which were around above my head and ate. When three years had passed, therefore, the lions came, and seeing the light around me, dug up the earth in which they had buried me: and I came out healthy in my whole body, feeling my former strength in me. Then glorifying my Lord Jesus Christ, I went out of the cave, and putting my knees on the ground, for forty days and forty nights I remained immovable in the same place, praising and beseeching God, and offering thanksgivings, who continually furnishes such gifts of mercies to us sinners.

[22] Christ appears to him in the cave. When these days had been completed, I looked into the cave, and behold, the four corners of that cave shone greatly with heavenly light: and I saw Christ the Saviour in the form of a man, as if having a golden rod in his hands, and with sweet-sounding voice singing forth a wonderful song; and his voice, vehement and strong, was heard as that of a thousand men. When now the melodies of the heavenly song were being completed, suddenly a voice sounded three times, saying: Amen, and for ever amen. In that very hour, going out from the cave, the Saviour ascended to the ether, and behold, forthwith a very great column of fire, like a strong cloud, entered the cave, and there were thunders and immense lightnings, and I heard all the fowls of heaven singing according to their proper voices, saying: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God. While I saw these things and at the same time heard them, I was greatly terrified on account of the greatness of the vision, and rapt in ecstasy, I fell on the ground, and remained so for eight days; for then I understood that Christ the Lord, the Saviour of the world, entering this cave had blessed it and sanctified it. Then I, going into it, began to make satisfaction for my ignorance and negligence, praising and glorifying Christ our saviour and redeemer and the creator of all, who bore with me with such patience, and led me to penance, and again showed me such clemency. When these things were done, I had seven years in this cave, and forty of age. Behold, now I have narrated to you, as to dearest sons, my whole life in truth. Consider therefore whether you can bear the battles or snares of the malignant enemy, and stay here with us: but otherwise, return to the monastery from which you have gone out, and may the Lord be on your journey.

[23] [The three pilgrims, blessed by St. Macarius, with lions as guides, return to the monastery,] When we had heard these things from the saint of God, falling on the ground, we glorified the Lord, who alone does wonders, and we spoke to the saint and servant of Christ Macarius, saying: Most blessed Father Macarius, pray for us to the Lord, that we may be able to return to our monastery, and to narrate your holy conduct through all the churches of Christ: for we believe that the Lord for this reason led us to you. Then the old man poured out prayer over us for a long time, and the prayer having been poured out, blessed and kissed us all, and commended us to Christ, that he would direct our way in peace; then he handed us over to those lions, commanding them to conduct us until we should pass through the places of darkness, where earlier we had lain in the darkness seven days and as many nights. Dismissed therefore by the servant of Christ St. Macarius, we came prosperously to the arch of Alexander, where the lions, saluting us, returned with quickened step to the servant of God.

[24] and they narrate to the brothers what they have seen. So with Christ God favouring, we walked our way without any distress, and entering the land of the Persians, we came into the plain

wonderful, which is called Assia, where St. Mercurius slew Julian the apostate, and we entered again the city of Kitissefodo, in which the three boys rest, not far from Babylon. After this, crossing the river Tigris, on the fifteenth day we entered Jerusalem, and at the tomb of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying through all the places of the Holy of Holies, we poured out thanksgivings to Christ the Saviour of all, who by his grace kept us unharmed going and returning. Going out from there, then, with swift course we came to our monastery; and finding our hegumen and all our brothers in peace and safety, we narrated to them in order the wonders which we had seen and heard, and the mercies of the Lord, and also the life and conduct of most blessed Macarius. As many as heard these things praised and glorified, and said a hymn to God the Father almighty, and to his only-begotten Son, our Lord and Saviour, and also to the Spirit, the giver of life and illuminator of our souls, who, named three in persons and one in Deity, lives and reigns everywhere, God blessed and praiseworthy, now and always, through the immortal ages of ages. Amen.

ANNOTATIONS.

It was the opinion of many ancients, Rosweyde notes at this place, that the earth was flat and that there were no antipodes; and that thus heaven was joined somewhere to the earth. Indeed many placed Paradise in a certain higher region of the earth, where heaven is joined to the earth. Alcimus Avitus, book I on Genesis:

So where, [the Indies being crossed, the head of the world begins, Where they say the earth joins its borders to heaven, A grove remains, in a citadel inaccessible to all mortals.

See other ancient writers of like opinion listed in Kirchmaier's little treatise on Paradise Ap. Crenium, Fascis IV exercitationum philologico-historicarum, pag. 68.

while he wandered too incautiously through the column, the dust having been raised, snatched from the sight of his own men, was wounded by an enemy horseman he encountered, a pike being driven through his flank as far as the groin. Yet very many, even among the heathens, were persuaded that there was something divine in this slaying. We heard Callistus a little before. Ammianus Marcellinus Res Gestæ, lib. XXV, cap. 2. relates that a terrifying vision was offered to him the night before the emperor was wounded. A rumour also grew, and was accepted as true by Sozomen Hist. eccles. lib. VI, cap. 2, col. 1293., that a certain one of Julian's intimates, sleeping on a journey in a church, was terrified by another vision. Moreover Theodoret is the authority that Bl. Julian, surnamed Sabas, knew of Julian's fall from afar Hist. eccles. lib. III, cap. 24, pag. 145, edit. Valesii.; likewise Sozomen Hist. eccles. lib. VI, cap. 2, col. 1296. and Palladius Palladius in Lausiac. cap. IV, ap. Rosweydum, Vitt. Patt. pag. 711. that Didymus did, staying at Alexandria; and finally Bishop Ammon has handed down in writing that the death of Julian was also made known divinely to St. Theodore of Tabennesi and to Pammon, abbot of the Arsinoites, and that St. Athanasius received the same knowledge from their mouth Act. SS. tom. III Maji, pag. 356.. And these things stand on such firm testimonies that no sensible man can doubt of them. Now since in the slaying of Julian there must be considered not only that common providence of God, without which one sparrow does not fall on the earth, but rather the extraordinary providence by which he singularly procures certain particular things, I would not dare to deny that St. Mercurius, who died under Decius at Caesarea in Cappadocia and is venerated on the 5th day of November, was the minister of the divine will. For this is narrated not only by the fable-maker, the biographer of St. Macarius the Roman; but also by Malalas Chronographia, pag. 332., by the writer of the Paschal Chronicle Tom. I, pag. 552., and (to omit others) by Helladius, disciple and successor of St. Basil the Great. For hear St. John Damascene De imaginibus Orat. I, Opp. tom. I, pag. 327.: "That the invention of images is not new, but ancient, and known and customary to the holy and exceptional fathers, I would have you hear. It is written in the Life of Blessed Basil, written by Helladius, his disciple and successor in the episcopal see, that the holy man once stood before an image of our Lady, on which also was painted the figure of the most praised martyr Mercurius. He stood there supplicating that Julian, the impious apostate, might be taken from the midst. And from that image he learned what was to happen. For he saw the martyr vanishing from his eyes for a short time, and not long after holding a bloody spear: so that the narrative of the slaying of Julian, which no one saw done, rests on this vision."

p. In Greek in the Menaea the delineation of St. Macarius proceeds a little otherwise; but the sense is plainly the same, except that it is said only of the hairs of the beard, not of the hair of the head, that they came down to the feet; on the other hand it is said that not the face alone, but the whole body was like the shell of a tortoise. See the Greek text in Rosweyde.

q. So St. Paul, who is called the first hermit, asked St. Anthony S. Hieronymus, Vita S. Pauli, cap. VIII, ap. Rosweydum, Vitæ Patrum, pag. 19.: "Tell me, I beg, how the race of men fares; whether new roofs are rising in the ancient cities; by what empire the world is ruled; whether there survive any who are snatched by the error of demons."

r. From the Commentary of our Perera on chap. III of Genesis Rosweyde cites Theodoret, Theodore of Heraclea and Procopius of Gaza, who were of the same opinion about the guardians of Paradise. He could have added very many others.

s. They are said to walk outside by day, contrary to the custom of others. The lion, says Jerome on chap. 2 of Nahum, always goes about by night. And Ps. 103: In it (the night) all the beasts of the forest will pass through.

t. All these things are feigned to have happened more than eighty years before Constantine transferred the royal seat to Byzantium.

u. Certainly the little lions could not be nourished on leaves: but why should I point out these fables?

x. Σουδαριον in Greek in the Menaea.

z. Manuscript: caligas; namely caligae were formerly in place of shoes. Thus Acts chap. 12: Put on your caligas. So Rosweyde. Caligae were generally of soldiers, coming very near to the sandals of the Capuchins.

aa. Now for the second time the word sperare comes in place of credere. Among the classical authors themselves that word occurs in more than one sense. This passage in the Greek Menaea is a little different; but since it too is foul, I should not wish to dwell on describing it.